Myanmar junta for smooth relations with Suu Kyi

MYANMAR, Myanmar's ruling junta said Tuesday it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a day after suggesting that her release from house arrest was unlikely to happen anytime soon.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece of the junta, printed a brief official announcement on its front page saying that Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi had been appointed "minister for relations" to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi, the country's democracy icon.

The appointment was suggested by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the statement said. It added that the junta had accepted the idea "in respect of Gambari's recommendation and in view of smooth relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi." "Daw" is a polite term for addressing older women.

The printed statement followed a similar announcement the night before on state radio and television, a move that came amid intense international pressure for the junta to enter talks with Myanmar's democracy movement.

The new official's duties were not detailed, and the announcement did not say when he might meet with the 62-year-old Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years without trial.

It appeared, however, that Aung Kyi would coordinate Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the U.N., which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy advocates and a military that has ruled since 1962.

Yangon, Tuesday, AP