Yangon: Myanmar’s main opposition party said Tuesday it expects the country’s military rulers will allow an ASEAN envoy to meet its detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his scheduled visit in March.

“We believe that the envoy is also trying to meet with her,” Lwin, spokesman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), told AFP.

He added that other members of the NLD leadership were ready to meet Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who is being sent as an envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“We do not think the envoy will ask for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to be released immediately but will ask for dialogue with her,” Lwin said.

His comments came ahead of the scheduled arrival Wednesday of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on a two-day visit as part of a regional tour.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 60, a Nobel Peace prize laureate, has been held under house arrest since 2003 and had her detention extended on November 27 by six months. Her deputy Tin Oo had his house arrest extended by a year on February 14.

Syed Hamid said Saturday a date had been fixed for his visit to Myanmar but declined to disclose it.

Official sources in Kuala Lumpur said he was expected to visit in March ahead of an annual ASEAN foreign ministers’ retreat in Indonesia in April.

Under pressure from the international community, ASEAN at its annual meeting in December reached agreement with member Yangon to allow Syed Hamid to visit as an envoy to check on the progress of democracy.

The visit was expected to occur in January but the junta announced it was too busy moving its administrative capital.

The NLD has also given the junta proposals for reaching a compromise on democratic reforms, including letting Aung San Suu Kyi take part freely in political movements.

The proposals were given to the military rulers February 12.

“We think that the transition (to reform) could be started systematically from when the Malaysian foreign minister visits,” Lwin added.

The opposition NLD won 1990 elections in a landslide but the result was never recognised by the military which has ruled Myanmar in various guises since 1962. All NLD offices have been shut except its Yangon headquarters.