Mynamar talks possible; protesters march in London

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - The door to talks between Myanmar's ruling generals and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be ajar on Saturday as Western powers pressured the junta to begin a dialogue with the opposition.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, who initially rejected the junta's offer of talks as unrealistic, said it could clear the way for discussions about discussions.

"We can say it is a significant improvement on the past situation. They have never committed themselves to talking to her," Nyan Win said.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who outraged the world by sending in soldiers to crush peaceful monk-led demonstrations last week, offered direct talks if Suu Kyi abandoned "confrontation" and her support for sanctions and "utter devastation."

Myanmar analysts caution against optimism as hopes of change in the past have been dashed so often in 45 years of military rule, punctuated by the army killing 3,000 people in crushing an uprising in 1988.

Two years later, the NLD won a landslide election victory that the generals ignored. Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years in detention.

A global day of demonstrations against the junta's actions failed to spark in Asia on Saturday, although several thousand people marched through central London waving placards and wearing red headbands to show solidarity with detained monks.

On the way, they dropped petals into the River Thames and tied ribbons and robes to the gates at the entrance of the road to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office. Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, formerly Burma.