Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi discusses sanctions with NLD members

"Sanctions imposed by other countries are not the concern of Daw (Mrs) Aung San Suu Kyi. It is a concern of the authorities and related countries," said NLD spokesman Nyan Win, after he and three other NLD members met with Suu Kyi at the government's Sein Le Kan Tha State Guest House in Rangoon.

In what was deemed a breakthrough, United Nations Special Envoy Imbrahim Gambari persuaded Burma's junta to allow Suu Kyi to meet her fellow-politicians as part of his efforts to start a political dialogue between the military and the opposition.

It was the first such meeting Suu Kyi has been permitted in more than four years. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been under house arrest since mid-2003, and kept in near total isolation.

Senior General Than Shwe, Burma's military supremo, on October 3 told Gambari that he would personally launch talks with Suu Kyi on the preconditions that she stop her "confrontational" tactics and ends her support for economic sanctions against Burma.

The preconditions were seen as a tactic to scuttle a political dialogue and place the blame on Suu Kyi.

Burma's Minister of Relations Aung Kyi, who also met with Suu Kyi on Friday, told reporters that he would "smooth out the matters regarding preconditions set by the government for the dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior General Than Shwe."

Suu Kyi met with Aung Kyi twice Friday afternoon, before and after she met with the NLD leaders.

So far, the arranged meeting between Suu Kyi and her NLD followers has been the most positive sign of progress Gambari has achieved in his efforts to bring about national reconciliation in Burma.

Gambari departed Burma Thursday after spending six days in the country. It was his second visit to the country since early October, when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dispatched the special envoy to Burma in the wake of a brutal crackdown on monk-led protests in Rangoon that left at last ten people dead. Others estimate up to 200 died in the melee.

Suu Kyi passed Gambari a statement Thursday that he released in New York.

"In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and welcome the necessary good offices of the UN to help facilitate our efforts in this regard," her statement said.

There is great skepticism in Burma about the junta's desire to open a political dialogue with the opposition. Burma has been under military rule for the past 45 years.

Under General Ne Win, who seized power in a coup in 1962, the country was virtually closed to the outside world for two decades as it pursued its disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism."

In 1988, after a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that left an estimated 3,000 dead, the army discarded its socialist ideology but has maintained its wariness about the international community, especially Western democracies.

Earlier in New York - Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday said she was ready to talk with the military regime and urged "all relevant parties" in the troubled country to hold a constructive dialogue to resolve their differences.

In what appeared to be signs of an increased freedom to speak out after more than 10 years under house arrest by the country's military junta, Suu Kyi issued a statement that was read by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in Rangoon as he concluded his six-day visit. The statement was made public at UN headquarters in New York.

"In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and welcome the necessary good offices of the UN to help facilitate our efforts in this regard," her statement said.

She said she will be guided by the "policies and wishes" of her party, the National League of Democracy. But she said the political crisis in the country demanded that she give "constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organisations and forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality."

"To that end, I am committed to pursue the path of dialogue constructively and invite the government and all relevant parties to join me in this spirit," the statement said.

Suu Kyi met with Gambari to discuss talks aimed at national reconciliation, which the UN has been urging in order to end the impasse on democratic reform in the country. The UN has also demanded the release of political prisoners and pro-democracy marchers arrested in a brutal crackdown by the military in September.

Gambari has accepted to return soon to Burma to continue the talks with the military government. He is due back in New York Monday to report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on his mission.//dpa