But sources said that on the opening day of the visit Razali did not secure meetings with the democracy icon or top members of the regime who put her under house arrest last week after holding her in custody for nearly four months.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 58, was taken to her famous lakeside residence after undergoing major gynaecological surgery on September 19.

Razali is expected to see her as well as Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe and Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt on Wednesday.

"I will be making my program now," he told reporters as he began his 11th visit on a low-key note with talks with Home Minister Tin Hlaing and a dinner hosted by Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win.

Razali acted as the catalyst for landmark national reconciliation talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta which began in October 2000 but collapsed earlier this year.

He now faces the difficult task of reviving the contacts and advancing a seven-point "roadmap" for democratic reform unveiled by the military regime in August, as well as pushing for Aung San Suu Kyi's release.

Ethnic political parties, who form an important third sphere of influence in Myanmar after the ruling junta and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said they are to meet with Razali on Wednesday.

"I am very optimistic that Razali will be able to achieve something significant this time around, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," said Khun Tun Oo, chairman of the Shan National League for Democracy.

He said that if the junta was sincere about the roadmap, he would ask Razali to insist that the first step in the process -- a national convention to draft a new constitution -- was totally revamped.

"It should be an entirely new national convention with the ethnic minorities genuinely represented," he told AFP.

The NLD quit an earlier national convention in 1995, saying it was illegitimate and unrepresentative because participants were hand-picked by the government.