US official meets with Suu Kyi in Myanmar

• Source: Global Times
• [10:56 November 06 2009]
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By Zhang Wen

A high-ranking US official met Wednesday with disposed Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi – the first such meeting by a US official in 14 years.

According to a Reuters report, Suu Kyi was allowed a rare break from detention Wednesday to meet with US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell for more than two hours at a hotel near Yangon's Inya lake, close to her home.

She continues to be kept under house arrest after having her detention extended by 18 months in August over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house uninvited.

Before the meeting, the Campbell met Thein Sein, the Myanmar military government's prime minister, in the capital of Naypyidaw earlier in the day, but details of the talks were not immediately available.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in September that Washington would adjust its policy toward Myanmar through direct engagement.

Bridget Welsh, an expert on Southeast Asian politics, told Al Jazeera news that the main aim of Campbell's Myanmar visit was to engage the isolated country and bring it into the international community by trying to open up a process of dialogue.

She said there were now two key strategic issues: the growing power of China and concerns over security issues, particularly Myanmar's ties with North Korea.