Jan 11, 2008 (AP), Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of Burma’s ruling junta Friday for the first time in nearly two months, a government official said.
Western nations and the United Nations have pressed the military to open a sustained dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi to bring about democratic reforms following the brutal suppression of anti-regime demonstrations last fall.
An official, who requested anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the press, said a government-appointed liaison official, Aung Kyi, met with Aung San Suu Kyi for about an hour. It was their fourth meeting, and the first since 19 November.
No details of the meeting were immediately available.
On Tuesday, the US State Department’s No. 3 official, Nicholas Burns, urged the junta to begin talks with opposition leaders and release political prisoners.
Burns wrote in The Washington Post that the leaders in Burma and their "policies are the greatest threat to Burma’s unity, stability and prosperity".
The United States supports UN efforts to start a national dialogue in Burma, Burns wrote.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
