Suu Kyi to meet Myanmar minister: official

By Hla Hla Htay (AFP)

democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi(2009)

YANGON — Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet a minister on Monday in her first dialogue with the country's new civilian leadership, a government official told AFP on Saturday.
Suu Kyi has frequently called for dialogue with the government since her release from house arrest just days after last year's November elections, which were marred by claims of cheating and the exclusion of her party.
"Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi will meet at Sein Lei Kan Tha state guest house on Monday afternoon. It will be the first meeting between them after the new government was formed," a Myanmar government official told AFP, without elaborating.
Aung Kyi, who is currently Myanmar's labour minister, was in charge of relations between the military junta and Suu Kyi under Myanmar's previous regime.
The pair -- who are not related -- have met on several occasions, including in late 2009 when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was still under house arrest.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) were unable to confirm the meeting on Saturday.
"We have not been told anything yet," spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.
Journalists have been invited to cover some parts of the meeting, but will not be present during the talks themselves.
Suu Kyi has this month tested the boundaries of her freedom, with her first visit outside Yangon and, after her return, leading hundreds of supporters in memorials for her father, Myanmar's independence hero General Aung San.
News of the talks comes on the same day that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Myanmar's rulers to make "concrete, measurable progress" towards meeting the international community's demands for reform.
In an address to foreign ministers at an Asian security forum in Indonesia, Clinton suggested first steps should include "meaningful and inclusive dialogue" with the opposition and the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a renewal of sanctions on Myanmar, first passed in 2003 in response to alleged rights violations and failure to adopt democratic reforms.
The annual legislation bans the import of goods from Myanmar, including lucrative gems, and restricts visas issued to government officials.
A US official travelling with Clinton also said the Myanmar government's bid for the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014 would be in doubt unless it reformed its ways.
Suu Kyi, 66, was freed by the junta from seven years of house arrest last November, but the government has warned her to stay out of politics.
The 66-year-old has spent much of the last 20 years as a prisoner in her crumbling lakeside mansion and some observers believe the new government would have no qualms about limiting her freedom again if she is perceived as a threat.
She refrained from any overt political activities that might have antagonised the military-dominated government during her four-day excursion to Bagan earlier this month.
Her party, which won a landslide election victory two decades ago that was never recognised by the junta, was disbanded by the military regime last year because it boycotted the latest vote, saying the rules were unfair.
The junta's political proxies claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of fraud and intimidation.