Myanmar:
Released Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met a senior UN official on Saturday and said that she hopes the talks will be the first of many to solve the country's problems.
Suu Kyi met for more than an hour with Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy to the military-controlled country.
Nambiar met earlier with Myanmar's foreign minister, but details of the talks were not available.
Suu Kyi told reporters in brief comments at her lakeside home that her talks with the UN envoy were "very valuable."
"But one meeting is not enough," she said.
"I hope this is the first of many meetings. I think we may need many and frequent meetings to sort out all the problems that the United Nations is dealing with at the moment in Burma."
Since her release on November 13 from more than seven years of continuous house arrest, Suu Kyi has been busy talking with diplomats, politicians and international agencies.
The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has made it clear she plans to pursue her goal of a democratic Myanmar but has been careful not to verbally challenge the ruling junta.
Suu Kyi's spokesman said before the meeting that she believed the visit could be conducive to Myanmar's political development.
This is Nambiar's first visit to Myanmar since he took over the position of special envoy from Ibrahim Gambari, who last travelled to Myanmar in June 2009.
A long line of UN officials, including Ban, has attempted to broker talks between the opposing sides, but have failed to bring them together despite numerous claims of breakthroughs.
The ruling generals and Suu Kyi, their longtime archrival, have had no contact since she was freed. She has called for face-to-face reconciliation talks with junta leader General Than Shwe.
Suu Kyi's political party overwhelmingly won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
No elections were held until this month, when the pro-military party was victorious amid widespread claims the balloting was rigged.
The junta regards Suu Kyi and her non-violent struggle for democracy as a threat to its power. She has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years.