NAYPYIDAW - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said on Friday that Myanmar's junta chief rejected his initial request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - a rocky start to what he has called "a very tough mission" to win her freedom.

Mr Ban emerged from a two-hour meeting with Myanmar's reclusive Senior General Than Shwe, saying he still hoped to meet the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate before he leaves the country on Saturday.

"I told him that I wanted to meet her, but he told me that she is (on) trial," said Mr Ban. "I told him that this is my proposal, and this is important, and I'm waiting for their reply."

Mr Ban also urged the junta "accelerate the process of democratisation" and to free its estimated 2,100 political prisoners.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's leaders paid a secret visit to North Korea at the end of last year and pledged to expand co-operation in arms production, according to a leaked document.

Both sides have had increasingly close ties since they quietly resumed diplomatic relations two years ago.

The report said the Myanmar delegation was shown North Korean surface-to-air missiles and rockets, along with naval and air defence systems and tunnel construction, including how Pyongyang stores aircraft and ships underground to protect them from aerial attack.

The delegation also visited a Scud missile factory. Since the 1980s, Pyongyang has been a major supplier of Scud missiles to Iran, Egypt, and Syria.

Experts suggested that the news of the leaked document was timed to coincide with Mr Ban's visit by members of the junta who are unhappy with the co-operation with North Korea.

Reports in South Korea suggest that the North may already be illegally exporting weapons to Myanmar via overland routes in China in order to avoid naval interception.

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