The Burmese junta lifted its curfew and issued an unusual plea over state media Saturday for the country's detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to compromise and hold talks with them.
The government announced earlier in October that junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet with Suu Kyi if she renounced her support of foreign sanctions targeting the military regime.
She would also be forced to give up what the junta called her support for "confrontation" and "utter devastation" ahead of the talks. Those are apparent references to the recent public protests, the largest the country has seen in nearly two decades.
The government statement said it was the right time for Suu Kyi to accept the offer to talk "with a view to serving the interest of all.
"We are tired of watching a stalemate for a long time considering that we should not go on like this forever," said the commentary published in New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper..
"There should be some forms of compromise. If one side makes a concession, the other side should do so. The situation will get worse if both sides are arrogantly intransigent, refusing to budge from their stand."
Suu Kyi, who has spent the last 12 of 18 years silently protesting the junta under house arrest, has yet to accept the offer.
As leader of the quashed National League for Democracy (NLD), she saw her party win 82 per cent of parliamentary seats in a 1990 general election. The junta declared her ineligible to run the year before and placed her under house arrest shortly after the election.
The junta accuses her of trying to sabotage, with the help of other nations, the military's own plans to phase in democracy in the South Asian country.
The announcement of the curfew's end was made over loud speakers on military vehicles that rolled through the streets of Rangoon. A ban against public gatherings of five or more people was also lifted; however it's unclear if the renewed freedoms also apply to the city of Mandalay.
Second round of sanctions
The softening of the government's position comes as U.S. President George Bush issued a new round of crippling financial sanctions against the Burmese government and its backers on Friday.
Restrictions targeted a dozen other individuals and entities associated with the regime, which has continued its repression of the pro-democracy movement, despite condemnation of its use of military force to quash the demonstrations last month, Bush said.
Bush made a particular point to call on Burma's neighbours, India and China, to intensify their pressure on the regime.
It was the second round of U.S. sanctions against Burma since security forces brutally attacked demonstrators, detained Buddhist monks and raided monasteries last month.
The pro-democracy uprising began in August when the government doubled its fuel prices in the already impoverished nation. State-run media said 10 people were killed, though dissidents maintain the death toll is much higher.
With files from The Associated Press
