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US diplomats meet Burmese leaders US diplomats meet Burmese leaders
(20 minutes later)
Two senior American envoys have been holding talks in Burma with the country's prime minister. Two senior American envoys are holding talks with the detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.
The meeting with General Thein Sein is the highest level contact between the two governments for more than a decade. Earlier the delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, met Burma's prime minister.
The delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, is expected to meet opposition figures, including Aung San Suu Kyi. This was the highest level contact between the two governments for more than a decade.
The US is describing this visit as a fact-finding mission with its two envoys in information-gathering mode. Aung San Suu Kyi said nothing as she entered the lakeside hotel in Rangoon where the talks are taking place.
Clearly Washington is keen to play down expectations. But the fact that she was seen in public, and has been allowed to meet such a high-level American delegation is being seen as positive.
But the trip is the clearest sign yet that America is serious about wanting to engage the Burmese military government, although it says the new policy will supplement rather than replace sanctions. High levels
The key will be what, if anything, comes out of the talks with Gen Thein Sein and Ms Suu Kyi. The two American diplomats earlier met Burma's Prime Minister, Thein Sein in the remote capital city of Naypiyadaw.
It may not be anything very concrete. Details of those discussions have not been made public.
But the fact that the talks are taking place at all marks a significant change in atmosphere. The visit is the latest evidence of Washington's new approach towards Burma - a policy described as engagement alongside sanctions.
There is a growing belief in diplomatic circles that isolating the military leadership has not had the desired effect.
The question now is whether face-to-face dialogue is any more productive.