YANGON -- The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar met separately with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the military government's powerful intelligence chief on Saturday in an effort to kickstart talks on political change, Reuters said.

Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, on his eighth visit to Myanmar in two years as UN envoy, met Suu Kyi for the first time since she was freed from house arrest in May, sources in her party said.

He also met with military intelligence chief and number three in the ruling junta, Khin Nyunt.

It was the highest level meeting Razali was scheduled to have with the government during a four-day visit that diplomats say aims to persuade the ruling generals to start a dialogue with Suu Kyi on a democratic transition.

Razali's trip coincides with a visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Myanmar since 1983. Kawaguchi was scheduled to arrive on Saturday evening.

Japan has shown more willingness to engage Myanmar than most Western countries, and Kawaguchi's visit is seen as an effort to urge meaningful dialogue. A three-way meeting between Razali, Kawaguchi and Suu Kyi has not been ruled out, officials say.

_____________ Release of Political Prisoners _______________ The secretary of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, U Lwin, told Reuters "national reconciliation" -- a euphemism for talks between the military and the opposition -- and the release of political prisoners topped Razali's agenda.

"We are optimistic about the release of more political prisoners. In the past, the government used to release about 10 political prisoners per month," U Lwin said. "But altogether 45 were released in July alone. It was a great progress and we hope more will be released shortly."

Razali has concentrated on pushing for the release of political prisoners since he brokered talks between the military and the NLD in late 2000.

Since then, the government has released more than 300 prisoners. After Razali's last visit, the generals released Suu Kyi from house arrest, a concession diplomats say was prompted by growing impatience among Western countries -- and increasingly fom Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors.

But more than 200 NLD members are still behind bars along with hundreds of other political prisoners.

_________ Substantive Political Issues _______ Diplomats said any optimism generated from Suu Kyi's release has begun to evaporate. The charismatic daughter of independence hero Aung San has been allowed freedom of movement but her calls for substantive political dialogue have gone unheeded.

The Razali-brokered talks are still stuck at what the junta calls "the confidence-building phase" and have yet to even begin addressing substantive political issues.

Since Suu Kyi's release on May 6, there have been no meetings with any of the country's senior ruling generals, diplomats say.

The military government may have decided it can risk giving Suu Kyi freedom of movement without seriously weakening its grip on power, they say.

Razali will also meet representatives of ethnic minority groups, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung and leaders of the NLD.

The NLD won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 by a wide margin, but the military refused to hand over power. The junta says moving too quickly towards democracy risks unleashing anarchy in the multi-ethnic country, formerly known as Burma.