Opposition leader to cooperate with Myanmar government

(CNN) -- Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is "ready to cooperate" with the government and is committed to pursuing a dialogue with the ruling junta, according to a statement the United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar read Thursday on her behalf.

"It is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible," Ibrahim Gambari said, reading the statement from Suu Kyi.

On Friday Suu Kyi was able to meet with three executive members of her National League for Democracy and a party spokesman -- the first time they have met in more than three years.

Members of her party said Suu Kyi was "very optimistic" about prospects of the process for reconciliation, the Associated Press reported.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has said she will continue to be "guided by the policies and wishes" of the opposition political party she heads -- the National League for Democracy.

In the statement, Suu Kyi also welcomed the appointment of Aung Kyi as the minister of relations, a position the junta created last month to be a liaison between government and Suu Kyi, whom the junta has under house arrest in Yangon.

She has been confined to her home for the better part of almost two decades.

Aung Kyi -- viewed as a moderate -- was appointed as the liaison officer amid international pressure following September's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

As many as 110 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, including 40 Buddhist monks.

Video smuggled out of the country showed unarmed protesters being beaten by the military regime's security forces, and one man -- believed to be a Japanese journalist -- was shot and killed at close range.

The protests were sparked by a huge fuel price increase imposed by the military government, and quickly escalated.

Myanmar's military junta said in mid-October that it had detained more than 2,900 people during the crackdown. Many of them are still believed to be in custody.

Suu Kyi described her October 25 meeting with the liaison officer as "constructive," said the statement read by Gambari. "I look forward to further regular discussions."

Gambari said he will return this week to New York to brief U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the five-day trip to Myanmar, also called Burma.

The situation in the secretive Asian nation is not what it was "a few weeks ago," said a U.N. statement released in conjunction with the end of Gambari's trip.

"We now have a process going which would lead to substantive dialogue between the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement said.

"The sooner such a dialogue can start, the better for Myanmar."

During his trip, Gambari met with Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, and other government officials, as well as Suu Kyi, the United Nations reported. E-mail to a friend

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