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Aung San Suu Kyi leaves home to meet junta official

Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met for one hour yesterday with a junta official, in what her party described as a positive sign nearly two months after her last contact with the regime.

The Nobel peace prize winner was taken from her rambling lakeside home in Yangon, where she has been held under house arrest for a total of 12 years, to meet with Labor Minister Aung Kyi at a nearby military facility, Myanmar officials said.

He was appointed by the junta to handle contacts with Aung San Suu Kyi in the wake of the regime's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September.

Security was tight around the facility, and officials declined to say what was discussed.

It was the fourth meeting between the pair since the military opened fire on peaceful protesters in the streets of Yangon, leaving at least 31 dead, a UN report said.

The two last met on Nov. 19 and have had no known contacts since then, despite intense international pressure on the regime, including a raft of new sanctions on the military leadership imposed by the US and the EU.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said it had received no information about the meeting, but spokesman Nyan Win said he hoped she would also be allowed to meet with her supporters.

"It's a positive sign if they really met," he said. "They have to talk."

Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to meet with four NLD officials on Nov. 9, but the party has had no direct contact with her since then.

She has been confined to her home for 12 of the last 18 years. She led the NLD to a landslide victory in 1990, but the result has never been recognized by the junta, which has instead tried to silence her.
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