YANGON, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari met briefly Wednesday with top leaders from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, but his planned meeting with her did not take place, a party spokesman said.

Gambari spoke for 20 minutes with five NLD leaders at a military facility in Yangon, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

The envoy told the party that he had not yet met Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been kept under house arrest for most of the last 19 years.

He said that he wanted to press the junta to free the Nobel Peace Prize winner as well as other political prisoners, while relaunching a dialogue between her and the regime, Nyan Win said.

Gambari said he would also ask the junta to allow the appointment of a special UN liaison officer in Yangon, who would coordinate contacts with the generals, according to the spokesman.

The Nigerian diplomat expressed concern over Myanmar's crumbling economy, and said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon could visit the country in December to press the case for political reforms, Nyan Win added.

Since he arrived Monday, Gambari has not met with any of the military's top leadership, although he has held talks with the ministers of information and foreign affairs.

Officials declined to give any details on his itinerary, and it was unclear if he would be allowed to meet the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, or Aung San Suu Kyi.

After the military's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks last September, the junta sought to ease international outrage by making several conciliatory gestures.

They allowed Gambari and other UN officials to make a series of visits, and appointed a liaison officer, labour minister Aung Kyi, to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the two have not met since January, when the democracy leader complained about the slow pace of their talks.

Gambari's last visit in March saw the junta publicly rebuff his calls for political reform, while rejecting his offer to send election monitors for a referendum that approved a new constitution in May.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta has never allowed them to take office.