During his transit, Professor Ibrahim Gambari met officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the MFA said in a statement yesterday.

The UN envoy is on a six-nation consultation tour in Asia to drum up support to resolve the Myanmar crisis, before his return visit to Myanmar next month.

'The officials encouraged Mr Gambari to continue his consultations in the region and assured Mr Gambari that Singapore would continue to do all it could to support his efforts to promote national reconciliation and a political solution in Myanmar,' the ministry said.

Prof Gambari, who was heading for India, has also held meetings with Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian leaders.

He will visit China and Japan later for consultations.

Singapore officials, in their meeting with the envoy, reiterated the Republic's concerns about the situation in Myanmar.

They hoped that the Myanmar authorities would extend the fullest cooperation to Prof Gambari by agreeing to his early return to Myanmar, and giving him access to all key parties in the country, including the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the MFA said.

The SPDC is the official name of the Myanmar military government.

Singapore officials further hoped that the Myanmar authorities would facilitate meetings for him with the widest possible range of other contacts, especially opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, members of her National League for Democracy, the monks and members of the State Constitution Drafting Commission, the MFA statement said.