Peace Prize laureate worries about health

YANGON, Myanmar — Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner held under house arrest in Myanmar, left her home for the first time since May on Saturday to meet with a U.N. diplomat, telling the official she needed more frequent medical attention.

Suu Kyi made the comments to U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari during an hourlong meeting at the diplomat's government guesthouse, according to a U.N. statement.

"Aung San Suu Kyi conveyed to Gambari that she is in good health but requires more regular medical visits," said the statement issued by the U.N.'s office in Yangon. It did not provide details of her health condition.

Gambari, who is pressing the government to adopt human rights and political reforms, met with Suu Kyi, 61, previously in May — the last time she was permitted to leave her home. The political prisoner has spent 11 of the past 17 years in detention, mostly under house arrest.

This time, like the last, their meeting was conducted under tight security.

Suu Kyi was escorted from her home in a three-car convoy to Gambari's guesthouse, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Suu Kyi was driven in a black sedan with tinted windows, with the country's police chief in the passenger seat.

No details of the meeting were made public. But, Gambari said he was "conveying a message" to Suu Kyi from the head of the junta, according to two diplomats who attended a briefing with the U.N. official earlier in the day, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the visit.

The junta refuses to talk to Suu Kyi or her party.

The U.N. Security Council took the historic step of putting the country on its agenda in September, meaning that Myanmar's ruling junta is subject to greater U.N. scrutiny.

The United States plans to introduce a resolution on Myanmar, also known as Burma, to the Security Council this year. John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., has said Washington will wait until after Gambari's visit before deciding on the contents of the resolution.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory.

Suu Kyi has been kept in near-solitary confinement at her home, and is generally not allowed outside visitors or telephone contact.

Western nations and the United Nations have repeatedly called for her release.

Ahead of Gambari's visit, which started Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he wanted the trip to produce "tangible steps forward" on human rights, democratic reforms and national reconciliation in Myanmar.

Earlier Saturday, Gambari met Senior Gen. Than Shwe at the new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, 250 miles north of Yangon. The meeting was attended by top junta leaders.

Gambari had yet to receive anything concrete from the junta leader, diplomats said.

Before his meeting with Suu Kyi, Gambari also met with senior members of her party, who reiterated their stance that Suu Kyi wants to open a dialogue with the junta and that the opposition party considered talks a crucial step toward political reconciliation in the country, said Myint Thein, a party spokesman.