UN envoy meets Burmese PM

Mr Pinheiro wants an end to restrictions on the opposition

A UN rights envoy has met Burma's Prime Minister, Khin Nyunt, on a visit aimed at persuading the country's military to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro hopes to meet Aung San Suu Kyi herself, who has been confined to her home since September after spending months in detention.

Mr Pinheiro is also due to investigate alleged forced labour and other abuses.

He will present his findings to the United Nations on 12 November.

It is not yet known what was discussed during Mr Pinheiro's meeting with Khin Nyunt, who is believed to be a moderate in Burma's ruling junta.

He has already held talks with the International Labor Organisation, which has demanded that Burma end its practice of slave labour.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Pinheiro said his visit had so far been smooth, and that he was receiving the full co-operation of the Burmese authorities.

Mr Pinheiro was last in Burma in March, when he abandoned his mission prematurely after finding a bugging device while interviewing prisoners in the country's notorious Insein prison.

The UN envoy told the BBC's World Today programme he was unclear about whether he'd been given permission to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he had not seen any sign to suggest that he would not be able to see her.

If he is given permission, he would be only the second outsider to visit the Nobel peace laureate since her detention in May, following clashes between her followers and pro-government supporters.

She was shifted to house arrest after major gynaecological surgery.