The ruling junta on Sunday lashed out at global efforts to bring democracy to the tightly controlled nation, timing its message for the day a UN envoy headed to Asia to rally Myanmar’s neighbours for help with the country’s crisis.

Meanwhile, a total of six activists were rounded up by the Myanmar authorities in a raid on a safehouse over the weekend, Amnesty International said on Sunday, as the junta continued to hunt for protesters.The London-based human rights watchdog had on Saturday reported that four political dissidents, including two prominent leaders of recent anti-junta rallies, had been arrested in Yangon. New information confirmed that in fact six people were arrested in a raid early on Saturday by security forces on a house in Myanmar’s commercial hub, an Amnesty spokesperson in Bangkok said.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was flying into Bangkok ahead of talks on Monday with Thailand’s leaders. He was then scheduled to travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan before returning to Myanmar amid growing pressure on the junta to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and open talks with the democratic opposition.

Gambari met with the junta’s leaders earlier this month during a four-day trip to Myanmar after troops opened fire on peaceful protests in Yangon. On Gambari’s return, the UN Secretary-General had said he could not call Gambari’s trip “a success”. This time Gambari’s mission is aimed at coordinating efforts among key Asian governments to help resolve the crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was “encouraging special envoy Gambari to get back to Myanmar (also called Burma) as soon as possible”.

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