Tue Oct 9, 7:43 PM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's opposition on Tuesday cautiously welcomed moves by the junta towards dialogue with its leader Aung San Suu Kyi but insisted that any offer should come with no strings attached.

With the United Nations weighing up a statement criticising the government, junta chief Senior General Than Shwe named deputy labour minister Aung Kyi to build "smooth relations" with the detained opposition leader.

The appointment of Aung Kyi, a general with a reputation as a moderate, who has a track record of dealing with the United Nations, is the latest in a series of small gestures apparently aimed at appeasing UN member states.

The junta last week said that Than Shwe was willing to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years, albeit with strict conditions attached, including that she drop support for sanctions.

"Finding a solution through dialogue is the natural way to help the people and the country," the National League for Democracy (NLD) said in a statement.

"A willingness to hold dialogue is the main way to solve the problems now facing the country," it added.

But it also said: "There are no preconditions if they really want to solve the problems through dialogue."

The party, which won elections in 1990 yet was never allowed to govern, also denied that Aung San Suu Kyi had called for economic sanctions, although she has publicly discouraged foreign investment.

Some analysts questioned whether the junta's gestures would be enough, saying the situation in Myanmar -- ruled by the military since 1962 -- remained largely unchanged.

"I think they recognise they have to do something without really giving up any power, they have to make a public gesture," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert from Georgetown University in the United States.

"But it does not amount to anything right now given the leadership... I would say right now it is the status quo, with a few frills attached."

The official New Light of Myanmar paper said the appointment of a liaison official for Aung San Suu Kyi was suggested by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his mission here last week.

A bloody junta crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks in Yangon last month left at least 13 people dead and roused an international outcry.

The United States, France and Britain are pushing for a UN Security Council statement this week condemning the regime, but Myanmar's ally China is leading a drive to soften its tone.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Tuesday said that Beijing opposed any strong pressure against Myanmar, which it warned could exacerbate tensions.

"Sanctions or pressure will not help to resolve the issues," he said.

In an apparent attempt to forestall any punitive UN action, the junta has made a series of conciliatory moves.

Over the weekend, state media trumpeted the release of nearly half of the more than 2,100 people arrested during September's rallies, and said the military had donated thousands of dollars as well as food and medicines to monasteries.

But the junta's tough talking in its mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday demonstrated that conditions on the ground remained oppressive.

The paper warned that nearly 1,000 people still being held over the protests could face jail sentences.

"Anyone who is detained for his violation of law must be charged and serve prison terms if he is found guilty," it said.

It also accused pro-democracy protesters of derailing the economy of the impoverished nation, saying the mass rallies "made the people poorer" because restaurants and shops had to be closed.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that a diplomat at Myanmar's London embassy has resigned to protest the "appalling" crackdown.

Ye Min Tun, a second secretary at the embassy, according to British government records, said Myanmar's military leaders had ignored the people's wish to negotiate.

The protests began in mid-August over outrage at an overnight hike in fuel prices that left many commuters unable even to afford the bus fare to work.

But the movement took off in late September when Buddhist monks led up to 100,000 supporters onto the streets in peaceful marches that became the most potent threat to the regime in almost two decades.

The protesters were only silenced when the junta unleashed baton charges, tear gas and live rounds.

Tue Oct 9, 7:22 PM ET

WASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called first lady Laura Bush on Tuesday to thank her for her support for the people of Myanmar and to keep international attention on the crisis there, the White House said.

The United Nations will continue to pressure the military junta in Myanmar, also called Burma, to end its crackdown on protests and to stop arresting those participating in nonviolent demonstrations, Ban told the first lady.

"Mrs. Bush expressed her hope that the international community will help to effect positive and peaceful change in Burma," her press secretary, Sally McDonough, said in a statement.

Ban also reported that the military regime had appointed a senior official to begin a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's popularly elected National League for Democracy Party.

"Mrs. Bush believes that the regime's appointment ... will be seen as a genuine effort toward national reconciliation when they release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners," McDonough said.

Tue Oct 9, 6:34 PM ET

YANGON, Myanmar - The party of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi called Tuesday for talks with Myanmar's military regime following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters, but it urged the junta not to set conditions for any meetings.

The junta's top general offered earlier this week to meet with Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. But he said she must first renounce her calls for international sanctions against the regime, which has been widely condemned for crushing the protests last month.

"The success of a dialogue is based on sincerity and the spirit of give and take," Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said in a statement, which was based on her past speeches. "The will for achieving success is also crucial and there should not be any preconditions."

In its first comment since the regime held up the prospect of talks, the party appeared to be trying to encourage negotiations without abandoning its platform. The party emphasized past statements by Suu Kyi, but also said it could make "adjustments" for the sake of dialogue.

On Monday, state media said the regime had appointed Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi as the Cabinet's "minister for relations" to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi. He is considered more open than top junta leaders, who are deeply insular and fiercely hostile toward Suu Kyi.

The Southeast Asian country has been ruled by the military since 1962, and protests that broke out in August over a fuel price hike quickly ballooned into mass demonstrations calling for democracy when widely respected Buddhist monks began spearheading daily marches.

Troops crushed the protests by shooting at demonstrators Sept. 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of people have been arrested.

The brutal crackdown ignited outrage around the globe, and international demands have grown for the junta to release 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.

The government said last week that the junta's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet personally with Suu Kyi if she met its conditions. Than Shwe has met with Suu Kyi only once, in 2002, and the talks quickly broke down.

Although it named a liaison official to deal with Suu Kyi, the junta did not indicate when he might meet with her.

The appointment of Aung Kyi, a retired major general, appeared to be a nod to the United Nations. The world body's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, suggested creating the Cabinet-level job during his visit to Myanmar last week, state media said.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations circulated a draft statement late Tuesday that would have the Security Council strongly deplore "the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions."

The statement also urges the junta to stop all "repressive measures," including the detention of protesters, and open a dialogue with the various political and ethnic groups.

Western nations are trying to find a consensus position acceptable to China and Russia, which have blocked previous resolutions on the grounds that Myanmar's political unrest is an internal matter and not a threat to security in its region.

The head of the U.N. Human Rights Council appealed to junta Tuesday to allow a visit by the body's Myanmar specialist, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who has been barred from the country since 2003.

Romanian Ambassador Doru-Romulus Costea, who presides over the council, said it wants Pinheiro to go to Myanmar as soon as possible to assess the human rights situation.

Tue Oct 9, 7:17 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's main opposition gave a cautious welcome on Tuesday to the junta naming its main trouble-shooter as "Minister of Relations" to act as a go-between with detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, in its first response to a highly conditional offer from Senior General Than Shwe for unspecified talks, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party said any negotiations should have no prior strings attached.

"If dialogue is to be held with true desire to find a solution, preconditions are not set," the NLD, which won a massive election landslide in 1990 only to be denied power by the army, said in a statement.

However, party spokesman Nyan Win described the appointment of Aung Kyi -- a big hitter in the regime despite being only a deputy labor minister -- as liaison between Suu Kyi and the former Burma's ruling generals as "a good sign."

"It shows they seem to have become a little more pragmatic," he said.

Those who know Aung Kyi said he would be more than an errand boy, suggesting that after crushing the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, the junta might be showing a rare willingness to listen to its opponents and critics.

"He's serious, he's senior and he's been sent in to difficult situations before to resolve them and trouble shoot," a former Yangon-based official of the International labor Organization (ILO) said.

"He's not a stonewaller. He's someone who's sent in to fix problems, and he seems like a very good choice if you do want to have a credible dialogue," said the ILO official, who dealt with Aung Kyi directly in a bid to curb the use of forced labor.

"UTTER DEVASTATION?"

After last month's protests against decades of military rule and deepening poverty, Senior General Than Shwe offered direct talks with Suu Kyi if she ended her "confrontation," support for sanctions and "utter devastation" -- a term not clarified.

However, critics said Than Shwe had no intention of ever talking to a woman he is known to loathe, and that the proposal was just a sop to the international outrage at the military crackdown, in which at least 10 people were killed.

Even China, the closest the junta has to a friend, issued a rare call for restraint when the troops moved in to end the biggest anti-junta movement since a 1988 uprising that was eventually crushed with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives.

However, Beijing underscored its opposition to U.N. sanctions on Tuesday, saying any international response should be "extremely prudent and responsible."

India, another energy-hungry regional giant with its eyes on Myanmar's huge natural gas reserves, has also come under fire for appearing to ignore the protests, which started in mid-August against shock increases in fuel prices.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee's word-for-word repetition on Sunday of a speech he gave four months ago about the need for closer ties with the generals is being seen as proof of uncompromising real politics in New Delhi.

Suu Kyi, a 62-year-old Nobel laureate, remains under house arrest and incommunicado, as she has been for nearly 12 of the last 18 years. An editorial in Myanmar state newspapers on Monday suggested any release was a dim and distant prospect.

During her previous periods of isolation she has had other "liaison officers" whose mediation with the junta came to naught.

Given the frequency with which optimists have been proved wrong, other analysts cautioned against seeing Aung Kyi's role as leading to talks on restoring a semblance of civilian authority in a country crippled by 45 years of military rule.

"It's too early to assess this gambit by the regime," said a retired professor in Yangon, who asked not to be named. "It comes at a time of mounting pressure from the international community. We need to wait for further movement."