U.N.'s Ban denied Suu Kyi meeting

Ban, who was made to wait overnight for the decision, said junta supremo Than Shwe's reason for the denial was because Suu Kyi was on trial and he 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'm very sorry to report to you that this is not possible."

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.

Suu Kyi's trial was adjourned on Friday until July 10 because of a clerical error by the court, according to her lawyer.

The secretary-general, one of the few top world figures the Myanmar supremo is willing to meet, also presented Than Shwe with a number of proposals to help the development of democracy.

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