UN envoy meets Myanmar's Suu Kyi - govt source

YANGON, May 20 (Reuters) Senior UN official Ibrahim Gambari met detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a Yangon guest house today, her first contact with an outsider in three years, a government source said.

The meeting followed an audience between Gambari and Than Shwe, the ruling military junta's supremo, in his new jungle capital. It lasted for about an hour, according to the source, who asked not to be identified. There were no further details.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, 60, has been in prison or under house arrest for the last three years, with her telephone disconnected and all visitors barred apart from her housemaid and doctor.

Gambari, undersecretary-general for political affairs, is the first senior UN official in two years to be allowed into the former Burma, which has been under military rule of one form or another since 1962.

Suu Kyi's brief trip to Gambari's government guest house sparked immediate hopes among her supporters and National League for Democracy (NLD) party she might be released soon.

She has been under house arrest for more than 10 of the last 16 years.

''This makes us optimistic,'' said NLD spokesman U Lwin.

''Slowly, slowly, catch the monkey.'' Gambari's visit comes amid mounting pressure on the NLD, which won a 1990 election by a landslide only to be denied power by the army.

Last month, the junta accused it of having ties with ''terrorists and destructive groups'' and said there were grounds to have it banned, although it would be allowed to exist for the time being.

Since then, it has been hit by a spate of resignations, which NLD officials blame on pressure from the military rulers.

RENEWED SANCTIONS On Thursday, US President George W Bush renewed broad sanctions against the Yangon junta for failing to take any recognisable steps towards restoring democracy or improving its record on human rights.

''These actions and policies are hostile to US interests and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,'' Bush said in a message to Congress.

''For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma and maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat,'' Bush said.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda yesterday echoed the US call for reform by urging major Myanmar trading partners China, India and South Korea to use their influence to coax the secretive regime to allow more democracy.

Gambari has not spoken to reporters during his three-day visit, which ends today.

The Nigerian envoy had also been expected to query the junta about what appears to be their biggest offensive against the Karen minority ethnic group in a decade.

Thousands of Karen, a mainly Christian ethnic minority making up around 10 per cent of the population, have fled to the Thai-Myanmar border since December to escape what some described as genocide at the hands of the SPDC, as the junta is known.

Gambari will brief foreign diplomats later today.

REUTERS SHR RK1701