Suu Kyi to hold talks with Myanmar regime

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will hold another round of talks with the new army-backed government, her spokesman said today, following signs of a thaw in relations.
Friday's meeting with labour minister Aung Kyi in Yangon will be the third since the Nobel Peace Prize winner's release from seven straight years of house arrest last November, shortly after a widely criticised election.
The opposition leader also met President Thein Sein, a former junta prime minister, in the capital Naypyidaw last month, one of several tentative signs that the regime is reaching out to its opponents.
Myanmar is now ruled by a nominally civilian government but its ranks are filled with former generals and the country still has about 2,000 political prisoners.
In an interview with AFP earlier this month, Suu Kyi said there had been "positive developments" in Myanmar, but added that it was unclear whether Thein Sein would be able to carry through his reform pledges.
Her spokesman Nyan Win said Friday's meeting with Aung Kyi , the former liaison between Suu Kyi and the junta, would take place at the State Guest House, but he gave no information about what might be discussed.
The 66-year-old dissident's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a 1990 election but was never allowed to take power.
Last month the daughter of Myanmar's liberation hero General Aung San travelled unhindered on her first overtly political trip outside her home city since being released from detention, addressing thousands of supporters.
The international community has called for a number of reforms in Myanmar including the release of political detainees and an end to rights abuses, particularly against ethnic minorities.