The Burmese junta has condemned a report commissioned by former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa calling on the UN Security Council to take immediate action against Burma. Opposition parties, however, welcomed the report.

A statement issued on Thursday by Rangoon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and carried by the official New Light of Myanmar on Friday said the report was “based on misinformation by a few remaining insurgents and foreign funded expatriates,” and was an “attempt to discredit the government.”

The 70 page report, entitled “Threat to the Peace—A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma”—released last week. The Foreign Ministry statement described it as “counterproductive and not of assistance in the efforts of Myanmar [Burma] towards democratization.”

The opposition National League for Democracy and ethnic exiled groups such as the umbrella organization Committee Representing the People’s Parliament welcomed the report, however.

“We believe that the call is based on good will to help solve the country’s problems peacefully,” Fu Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress and an ethnic member of the CRPP, told The Irrawaddy. He said the government’s rejection of the report was regrettable as it ignored the welfare of the Burmese people.

One prominent student leader, Min Ko Naing, said: “The call aims to support the UN’s efforts to help Burma’s reform. We can work something out in common even if we have our own differences.”

The US last week announced its intention to place the Burma issue on the UN Security Council agenda. Testifying before a congressional hearing in Washington, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric John said the bid would be made despite the blocking of a similar initiative in June by Russia and China. John urged Asean and Burma’s neighbors to help achieve democracy in Burma.

The prime minister of Singapore and the deputy prime minister of Malaysia stressed this week that Asean’s aim was to maintain its constructive engagement approach in dealing with Rangoon.

Min Ko Naing said Asean should regard the positive response by opposition and ethnic groups to the call for the Burma question to be addressed by the UN Security Council as “a reflection of the will of Burmese people.”