Myanmar’s military government has met with a top UN humanitarian official in their new administrative capital Naypyidaw to discuss cooperation with the world body, official media said Saturday.

The UN’s deputy chief for humanitarian affairs Margareta Wahlstrom met with Lieutenant General Thien Sein, the junta’s fifth-most powerful man, as well as the health minister and other officials, the state-run New Light of Myanmar said.

The government mouthpiece newspaper gave no details of the meeting, which came amid increased pressure on aid groups from the military.

The International Committee of the Red Cross last month closed two of its field offices, saying that its humanitarian work in Myanmar was at “near-paralysis” because of obstruction by the authorities.

The group has been barred from visiting prisons for more than a year. Police say they stopped the visits because the ICRC had favoured political prisoners.

In August 2006, the UN-initiated Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria withdrew from Myanmar due to the junta’s restrictions on relief efforts.

But a group of European-led donors set up a new fund to fight deadly diseases among Myanmar’s 54 million people. The 100-million-dollar Three Diseases Fund launched operations in October.