Top UN official returns to Myanmar

YANGON, Nov 9 (Reuters) A top UN envoy began a four-day visit to Myanmar today, a rare meeting with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on his schedule and aiming to improve strained relations with the military junta.

Ibrahim Gambari, who saw the Nobel Peace laureate during his last visit in May, was scheduled to meet Suu Kyi on Saturday in Yangon, where she is confined to her lakeside villa without a telephone and allowed few visitors by the military.

Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, has been under house arrest for more than 10 of the last 17 years.

The Nigerian envoy, who did not speak to reporters, was due to fly earlier on Saturday to the regime's new jungle capital, Nay Pyi Taw, to hold talks with Senior General Than Shwe.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and the government has ignored a 1990 landslide election victory by Suu Kyi's party.

Gambari became the first foreigner to see Suu Kyi in more than two years when he was allowed to hold an hour-long meeting with her at a Yangon guest house in May.

The contact, a week before Suu Kyi's house arrest was due to expire, led to optimism that the generals in charge of the former Burma might be about to release her.

However, they extended her detention by another year despite a direct appeal from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Annan said on Tuesday he hoped Gambari's visit could lead to greater cooperation between the United Nations and Myanmar.

''The secretary-general emphasizes, however, that the continued value of such engagement can only be demonstrated by tangible steps forward on central issues such as human rights, democratic reform and national reconciliation,'' said the statement read by UN chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

REUTERS PDM DS1158