No Ban-Suu Kyi meeting

Myanmar court adjourns Suu Kyi's, trial after the arrival of the UN chief

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that Myanmar's junta chief rejected his initial request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a rocky start to what he has called "a very tough mission" to win her freedom.

Ban emerged from a two-hour meeting with Myanmar's reclusive Senior Gen. Than Shwe, saying he still hoped to meet the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate before he leaves the country today.

"I told him that I wanted to meet her, but he told me that she is (on) trial," Ban told reporters afterward. "But I told him that this is my proposal, and this is important, and I'm waiting for their reply."

The two met in an ornate reception hall with a colonnaded walkway and an indoor waterfall in Naypyidaw, the junta's remote administrative capital.

If Ban is allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, he will be the first UN secretary-general to do so since her first period of detention started in 1989.

Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest.

In May, she was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her lakeside home in May and stayed for two days. She has pleaded not guilty and faces five years in prison if convicted.

Ban said he also urged Than Shwe to "accelerate the process of democratisation" and reiterated calls for the junta to free its estimated 2,100 political prisoners ahead of the elections.

"I was assured that the Myanmar authorities will make sure that this election will be held in a fair and free and transparent manner," he said, without elaborating.

Shortly after the UN chief arrived yesterday, the court presiding over Suu Kyi's widely criticised trial announced an adjournment until July 10. The trial had been set to resume after a month-long delay during which lawyers appealed the court's decision to ban three key defence witnesses, one of whom was reinstated by an appeals court.

Defence witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was due to testify yesterday.

But the presiding judge told lawyers that the case file had not yet been returned by the appeals court that had ruled to reinstate the witness, said attorney Nyan Win.

Suu Kyi is being detained at Myanmar's notorious Insein Prison, as is 53-year-old John William Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, the intruder who is charged with trespassing.

Ban was also scheduled to meet ethnic minority groups and leaders of political parties, including senior members of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, who were driven to Naypyidaw, government officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the itinerary.

Ban had previously said his talks would focus on "three of the most important issues for the future of Myanmar". They are gaining the release of all political prisoners including Suu Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the military government and its opposition; and creating conditions for credible elections.

Human Rights Watch urged Ban to make the trip "meaningful" after years of failed UN attempts to win Suu Kyi's freedom and promote democratic reforms. Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962.

"Time and again, the UN has politely requested Aung San Suu Kyi's release, but her 'release' back to house arrest would be a huge failure," Kenneth Rothof Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "He should make it clear that the time for stalling and playing games is over and that real change is needed now."AP