Myanmar minister says junta ready to cooperate with US

NYAUNG-HNA-PIN, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military government is ready to cooperate with any country _ including its strongest critic the United States _ in the interest of bilateral and international relations, a senior official said Wednesday.

Responding for the first time to questions about a rare meeting between Myanmar ministers and a U.S. official in Beijing in June, Information Minister Brig. Gen. Kyaw Hsan said: "We are always ready to cooperate with any country in the interest of the two countries ... including the United States. It is better to meet than not meeting at all."

He did not indicate if specific moves were afoot to foster better relations, however. The United States, like many Western nations, ostracizes the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

Eric John, a deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state, met in Beijing with Myanmar ministers in June to urge the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 11 of the past 18 years in detention.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey called the unusual meeting "a very frank discussion of our concerns about the regime, about its behavior."

The United States has an embassy in Myanmar, but top U.S. officials refuse to travel to the country unless the junta allows access to Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest.

Washington has also imposed sanctions against Myanmar.

The military took power in 1988 after crushing democracy demonstrations. When Suu Kyi's party won a general election by a landslide in 1990, junta leaders refused to hand over control.