Democratic activist meets with leaders in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar -- Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the ruling junta Friday for the first time in nearly two months, the government announced.

Following the brutal suppression of anti-regime demonstrations last fall, Western nations and the United Nations have pressed the military to open a sustained dialogue with Suu Kyi to bring about democratic reforms.

The government-appointed liaison official, Aung Kyi, met with Suu Kyi for an hour and 10 minutes at a government guest house, said an announcement on the evening news on state radio and television.

Television showed a picture of the meeting between the two, but did not give details of the meeting.

It was their fourth meeting, and the first since Nov. 19.

The junta rarely reports on Suu Kyi's activities, but wants to show that it is willing to engage in a dialogue with the opposition, a major demand of the regime's critics.

The military government is widely criticized for human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

On Tuesday, the U.S. 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 Myanmar, also known as Burma, and their "policies are the greatest threat to Burma's unity, stability and prosperity."

The United States supports U.N. efforts to start a national dialogue in Myanmar, Burns wrote.

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.