The junta also said it had freed hundreds of detained monks, and it restored Internet access after a week, steps that appeared aimed at appeasing world opinion as the generals came under strong attack at the United Nations over their crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

The TV report showed Suu Kyi with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari and said he met the leader of the National League for Democracy [NLD] twice and held talks with regime leader General Than Shwe during his four-day visit this week.

In an interview, Gambari said that she had seemed in good spirits during their talks, despite the military's crackdown on protests.

"I think she was encouraged by the fact that the people of Myanmar [Burma] spoke up, " he said.

"But now I think she wants this to be used as an opportunity to really engage in dialogue with the authorities so that together they can move the country forward."

The junta has said Shwe is ready for face-to-face talks with Suu Kyi, provided she first drops her call for sanctions against the country.

An NLD spokesman said she was looking positively at the offer of dialogue, and Gambari said he hoped the talks would go ahead.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest, and her image has not appeared in state media since before her last period of detention started in 2003.

A day of global protests against Burma's junta began in cities across Asia yesterday. Hoping to send a message to the generals that the world is still watching the situation, rights group Amnesty International organised marches in more than two dozen Asian, European and North American cities.

Hundreds marched in the Australian city of Melbourne behind a banner demanding 'No More Bloodshed'. A smaller crowd of about 50 turned out in Bangkok, Thailand. In Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, 300 people attended a candlelight vigil outside the city's tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers.

More rallies took place in New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, England, France, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, the US and Canada.

Meanwhile, Western powers have circulated a draft statement at the UN condemning the "violent repression" of pro-democracy protests by Burma's military rulers.

The US, France and the UK called for immediate dialogue with opposition leaders, while the US suggested it would push for sanctions.