Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi meets junta official
YANGON (AFP) — Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met for the first time Thursday with a senior junta official appointed to work with the country's main opposition party, state television reported.
"Today relations manager Aung Kyi met with Aung San Suu Kyi at a state guesthouse," the report said, referring to Myanmar's labour minister, named earlier this month to develop ties with the Nobel peace prize winner.
The report said the pair met for a little over an hour, but did not give any details about the content of the talks.
It showed some brief footage of the meeting, a rarity in a country where Aung San Suu Kyi has spent years out of the public's sight.
Earlier, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) was seen by residents being taken from her lakeside home, where she has been held under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi last left her villa on October 2, when she met UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari at a military guesthouse in Yangon.
Thursday marked her first meeting with Aung Kyi, who was appointed following a recommendation by Gambari that the junta name an official to develop ties with the opposition leader.
It comes amid increasing diplomatic pressure ahead of Gambari's expected second visit to Myanmar since the junta's violent crackdown on peaceful anti-government protests in September, which left at least 13 people dead.
Gambari, who is scheduled to arrive in the first week of November, will be followed by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN special rapporteur on human rights.
"Quite clearly they (the junta) need to show that they are meeting with her and they are talking with her," one Thailand-based analyst told AFP.
"The regime is quite clearly feeling the pressure and needs to respond to it, but at this point it has to be very clear -- a few token meetings are not good enough."
NLD officials said earlier in the day that they were unaware of any meeting between their leader and the government.
Foreign diplomats had also said they had no confirmation of a meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi, but did say they were encouraged by her departure from her home.
"It's about time to start" talks with the junta, said one western diplomat who did not want to be named. "We want genuine dialogue."
Junta chief Than Shwe appointed Aung Kyi earlier this month amid an international outcry over the crackdown on demonstrators.
Buddhist monks led the protests, which saw up to 100,000 people in the streets of the country's main city Yangon and were the biggest challenge to military rule in nearly two decades.
More than 2,100 people were locked up as security forces suppressed the demonstrations with live rounds, baton charges and tear gas.
The junta rarely has any direct dealings with Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD won 1990 elections but was never allowed to govern.
In naming Aung Kyi, the ruling generals seemed to indicate the military was prepared for at least a minimal level of contact.
The general is viewed as a moderate inside the junta, willing to deal with UN agencies and neighbouring countries to improve Myanmar's standing.
Than Shwe has also made an offer to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, although the proposal hinged on major conditions including a demand that she drop her support for international sanctions on the regime.
