Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet a minister on

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 labor 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.

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.

Source AFP