Aung San Suu Kyi rejects talks with Burma junta

The prospect of a meeting between Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military ruler faded today, after she refused to accept preconditions for the talks set by the junta.

Last week Burma's reclusive military leader, General Than Shwe, agreed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi but only if she renounced her confrontational stance against the regime and renounced calls for sanctions on Burma.

In a statement today issued by her party, the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi rejected the deal.

She said: "The success of a dialogue is based on sincerity and the spirit of give and take. The will for achieving success is also crucial and there should not be any preconditions."

The statement, which follows similar announcements by party figures, came after the junta said it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with Aung San Suu Kyi, just a day after suggesting that her release from house arrest was unlikely anytime soon.