UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN troubleshooter Ibrahim Gambari is planning a return visit to Myanmar in mid-August at the invitation of the military regime, the UN deputy spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Marie Okabe told reporters that Gambari, the UN special envoy tasked with mediating reconciliation talks between Myanmar rulers and the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, received a letter inviting him to make the visit in mid-August.

The visit, initially planned for last May, was postponed due to Cyclone Nargis which struck Myanmar's key rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta on May 2-3 and left 133,000 people dead or missing, she noted.

Gambari "looks forward to returning to Myanmar on behalf of the secretary general and discussions are going on regarding the precise timing, program and objectives of his visit," Okabe said.

The UN envoy visited Myanmar last March and said afterwards that the trip had been disappointing.

During his March visit, the military junta refused his proposal to amend the constitution and rejected an offer of UN technical assistance and foreign observers during the May referendum.

While Gambari held two meetings with detained opposition chief Aung San Suu Kyi, he was unable to see junta leader General Tan Shwe.

The referendum to approve a new constitution was held a week after Cyclone Nargis struck. It was the first vote in the country since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League to Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in elections, a result the junta has never recognised.

The regime said the constitution would clear the way for democratic elections in two years, but the NLD argued that it would entrench military rule.

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