Meeting general Than Shwe, leader of the ruling military junta in Myanmar, UN sec. gen. Ban Ki-moon asked that political prisoners (estimated at about 2100) be released before the 2010 elections; he also asked to meet the dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. Than Shwe appears rarely in public and rarely agrees to meet UN or foreign officials. The televised meeting took place in the general’s office in Naypyidaw (since 2005 the country’s new capital), 350 km. north of Yangon. Prior to departing, Ban Ki-moon had described his mission to Myanmar as a very difficult one given his goal to restart a credible dialogue of national reconciliation between the junta and the National League for Democracy led by Aung Sann Suu Kyi, who won the 1990 elections only to be prevented from ruling and placed under house arrest. Ban said he hoped to meet Ms. Suu Kyi prior to his departure tomorrow; the dissident is being tried at the prison in Insen for allegedly having violated house arrest rules. Ban Ki-moon has also stressed the UN’s will to help Myanmar, expressing appreciation for Than Shwe’s efforts toward progress in his country.

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