U.N.'s Ban denied Suu Kyi meeting

By Louis Charbonneau

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he was "deeply disappointed" that military-ruled Myanmar's top general had rejected his request to meet with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban, who was made to wait overnight for the decision, said he pressed junta supremo Than Shwe but was told that Suu Kyi was on trial and the regime did not want to be seen to interfere with the judicial process.

"I'm deeply disappointed," Ban told reporters after his 30-minute meeting with the regime's reclusive 76-year-old leader.

"I think they have missed a very important opportunity of demonstrating their willingness to commit to continuing reconciliation with all political leaders.

"I pressed as hard as I could as a way of committing themselves to this (democratisation) process," he said.

Ban requested the visit during a rare meeting on Friday with Than Shwe, but he left the two-hour session with no clear answer.

Suu Kyi, who has spearheaded the campaign for democracy for two decades in the former Burma, is currently on trial for breaching terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home on May 4.

Critics have dismissed her hearing as a show trial and an attempt by the generals to keep her out of multi-party elections to be held next year.