A top US official will make a second visit to Myanmar on Sunday to pursue Washington's new policy of engagement, a diplomat said, ahead of controversial elections being prepared by the country's military regime.
The trip by Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, comes days after the formal disbanding of the main opposition party led by detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi has accused the ruling junta of trying to engineer the upcoming elections to ensure it retains its half-century-long grip on power.
Campbell, on his second visit in six months, will fly to Myanmar's administrative capital of Naypyitaw on Sunday to continue talks with senior Myanmar officials, according to the diplomat who was not authorised to speak to the press and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A government official said Campbell is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Thein Sein, Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Information Minister Kyaw San. The official spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Campbell also will meet Monday with Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, said her lawyer, Nyan Win.
{{/usCountry}}Campbell also will meet Monday with Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, said her lawyer, Nyan Win.
{{/usCountry}}"I welcome the visit of Mr Kurt Campbell but I don't really understand what he expected to achieve from the visit," said Nyan Win, who also is a spokesman for Suu Kyi's now-dissolved National League for Democracy.