Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met the country’s new civilian

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met the country’s new civilian president for the first time on Friday, in the latest sign the regime is reaching out to its opponents.

The one-hour meeting with President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw marked a rare encounter between the Nobel laureate and one of the former top generals who kept her locked up for much of the past two decades.

The meeting was held behind closed doors at the presidential office, according to a government official and a member of Suu Kyi’s entourage, but it was unclear what was discussed.

It was the democracy icon’s first visit to the capital Naypyidaw, at the invitation of the government.

The meeting comes five months after power was handed to a new nominally civilian government led by Thein Sein, following nearly half a century of military rule.

A Western diplomat who did not want to be named described the dialogue with Suu Kyi as “significant” but said the government’s motives were unclear.

Source AFP