Myanmar Meetings "Very Productive": UN Special Envoy

YANGON, Aug 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Working to speed up Myanmar's stalled reconciliation talks, visiting UN special envoy Razali Ismail described on Sunday meetings with both sides of the political divide as "very productive".

The reconciliation talks, which Razali helped broker in October 2000, have so far led to the May 6 release of the Nobel peace laureate but are yet to progress substantively beyond the confidence-building stage.

The Malaysian diplomat met Saturday with both Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I found both my meetings with Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt and Aung San Suu Kyi very productive, and I am very encouraged by the progress towards national reconciliation," he told reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

He was speaking after a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, who is in the capital on a two-day visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister since 1983.

Japan is the biggest creditor nation and aid donor to Myanmar.

Before her arrival here Saturday, Kawaguchi said she too would urge both the junta and opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to prevent the democratization process from backsliding.

Kawaguchi on Sunday met for an hour with Khin Nyunt, who is also Myanmar's chief of military intelligence, and was meeting with her Myanmar counterpart Win Aung on Sunday evening before attending a dinner hosted by him in her honor.

On Monday, Kawaguchi will make a courtesy call on Myanmar's military chief and head-of-state Senior General Than Shwe, and then meet with Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside residence.

The charismatic leader has been permitted to make political visits outside the capital -- both of which drew crowds in their thousands - and a number of NLD offices have been reopened across the country.

But no other progress is believed to have been made towards bringing democratic reform to the military-run state.

NLD spokesman U Lwin told AFP Sunday that it was too early to comment on Razali's five-day visit.

"We have to talk about the period since his last visit, developments in the situation, and the future. He has to talk further with the other side. These are things we cannot make a public statement about," he said.

U Lwin also refuted reports that de facto political dialogue had already begun between the two sides.

Razali also met separately on Sunday with Chinese Ambassador Li Jing Jun over lunch and played a round of golf with U.S. charge d'affaires Priscilla Clapp.

On Saturday he met with the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), an informal coalition of pro-democracy ethnic minority parties who pressed him for help in officially reinstating their parties.

Ethnic minorities make up one-third of the country's population of 50 million, and have made it clear that they too wish to be included in the talks.

UNA spokesman Khun Tun Oo told reporters after the meeting that he believed Razali was "still on the right track" as far as his efforts for reconciliation were concerned.

He also quoted Razali describing the dialogue process between the two sides as remaining at "a low level", without elaborating.

Razali is to hold a second meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday evening, according to his government program, which for the first time also lists his non-military appointments.

As a goodwill gesture leading up to Razali's eighth mission here, the junta released 43 political prisoners, while nearly 300 have been released since the secret talks began.