Rangoon - United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Saturday, after the military junta make it clear they would not allow her to contest polls scheduled for 2010.
Gambari arrived on Thursday on a mission to persuade the ruling regime to include Suu Kyi more in the reconciliation process.
He conferred with members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Suu Kyi heads, at the Sein Le Kan Tha State Guest House Saturday morning, and later with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the same venue.
The contents of the talks were not immediately known, but Burmese leaders had earlier made clear to Gambari that they will not allow Suu Kyi to contest a general election planned in 2010 - allegedly because she was once married to a foreigner, a gigantic no-no in the eyes of the dictators.
The NLD, led by Suu Kyi, won the 1990 polls but has been denied power for the past 18 years.
According to state media reports, Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan told Gambari on Friday that it had rejected a request by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the regime amend the new constitution to "ensure inclusiveness."
"The constitution has already been drafted and it should not be amended again," Kyaw Hsan said.
In a letter dated February 19 to Burma's military supremo Senior General Than Shwe, the UN Secretary General called for an amendment to the current draft constitution that would drop a clause excluding all Burmese nationals married to foreigners from running for election.
Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003, was married to the late Michael Aris, a British professor at Oxford University.
The new constitution, drafted by a military-appointed forum, will be voted on in a referendum in May.
It is widely expected that the constitution will be approved by the referendum, especially since almost everyone in Burma expects manipulation by the regime.
The referendum is part of the dictatorship's so-called "seven-step road map" to democracy, which will culminate in a general election now scheduled in 2010.
Critics have faulted the constitution-drafting process for failing to include input from the NLD and other opponents to the regime, leading the UN to call the document a "sham."
Kyaw Hsan accused the UN of being biased against the regime, which last September cracked down on anti-military protests led by Buddhist monks, leaving at least 31 people dead.
The information minister noted that the world community has not objected to Thailand's new constitution, passed last year, despite the lack of participation by Thai opposition parties in the drafting process. He pointed out that al-Qaeda was not allowed to take part in drafting the Iraq or Afghanistan constitutions.
"We haven't heard any objection to these events by those persons and organisations who are objecting to us," Kyaw Hsan said. "It is not fair. The United Nations should stand fair and square without bias."
He also criticised Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, for rejecting the regime's request that she openly oppose Western sanctions on Burma as a precondition for holding talks with her.
"Although we have opened the door for (a) 'win-win' situation, (the) NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are refusing to join hands," Kyaw Hsan said.
He urged the visiting envoy to support the junta's "seven step" road map and stop pursuing alternatives suggested by western democracies.
"We shall not accept any attempt to hinder or reverse the process of the seven-step road map. However, we will heartily welcome the positive suggestions of the UN to help implement the seven-step road map," Kyaw Hsan concluded.
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