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YANGON - Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party is hoping the pro-democracy leader will soon meet Myanmar's junta chief after signs of a resumed dialogue between the two sides, a spokesman said Friday.
The detained Nobel Laureate was granted rare permission to meet Western diplomats in Yangon Friday and in the past week has twice held talks with a junta minister, following a letter she wrote to Senior General Than Shwe.
"We are hoping that the Senior General and Aung San Suu Kyi will meet soon," said her lawyer and spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party Nyan Win. It would be the first meeting between the pair in several years.
After years of advocating punitive measures against the junta, Suu Kyi's letter marked an easing of her stance, offering suggestions for getting Western sanctions lifted and requesting a meeting with diplomats to discuss this.
"The authorities allowing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's request is good -- she is getting what she needs," said Nyan Win. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar.
"I think they will be discussing mainly the lifting of sanctions. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wanted to get the facts and figures on Western sanctions," he added.
He said the meeting with diplomats meant she "could get chances to do politics, as she is a politician".
On Saturday and Wednesday the Nobel Laureate had meetings with Myanmar labour minister Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta -- the first time they have met for talks since January 2008.
State media reported Sunday that they discussed her letter at the first meeting, but further details of the talks have not yet emerged.
The US recently unveiled a major policy shift to re-engage the junta, but has warned against lifting sanctions until there is progress towards democracy and repeatedly pressed for Suu Kyi's release.
Lawyers for the frail 64-year-old, kept in detention by the ruling generals for much of the past 20 years, say she welcomes US re-engagement.
Her NLD won the last elections by a landslide in 1990, a result the junta refused to acknowledge, leading the US and the European Union to impose sanctions.
- AFP/ir
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