NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi is hopeful of seeing signs of change "very soon" in the formerly military-ruled Asian nation after recently meeting President Thein Sein for the first time.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi was released in November from 15 years of house arrest for campaigning for democracy in Myanmar, which has suffered five decades of military rule.
As a gesture to improved ties from the army-backed government that came to power in March, Thein Sein and Labor Minister Aung Kyi both separately met last month with Suu Kyi, 66, the leader of the country's democratic opposition.
"I have had talks with some of the representatives of the government and we hope that we are going to see signs of real change very soon," Suu Kyi said during a live video appearance at former U.S. President Bill Clinton's philanthropic summit in New York City.
"There has been a lot of talk about change, but people always want to see something concrete and they are right too, talk is never enough. But at least it's a beginning and I think we are beginning to see the beginning of change," she said.
She did not elaborate further on her discussions.
Thein Sein, also 66, is a former prime minister who was the international face of the army junta. He is regarded as one of the more moderate members of the new government elected in November in polls widely criticized internationally as a sham.
"We're at a very difficult stage," Suu Kyi -- the charismatic, Oxford-educated daughter of Myanmar's late independence hero, General Aung San -- told the seventh annual Clinton Global Initiative.
LIFE SPENT FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY
"I am cautiously optimistic that we're going forward and that we will be able to get on the road to a true national reconciliation," she said.
Last week the new U.S. special representative to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, said Myanmar's leaders must pursue "genuine" reforms that involve Suu Kyi and make progress in freeing thousands of political prisoners before ties can improve with Washington, a U.S. envoy said on Wednesday.
Mitchell declined to identify specific conditions for lifting sanctions, in place since the military crushed a 1988 student uprising.
Speaking at the end of a six-day trip to the army-dominated former British colony also known as Burma, Mitchell said he had a "very productive exchange" with Myanmar officials on the issue of political prisoners but received no commitment.
Most analysts believe the openness shown by Myanmar's leaders, who until last year were part of one of the world's most reclusive and oppressive regimes, is aimed partly at ending decades of Western sanctions and consolidating power.
But Western countries first want an estimated 2,100 political prisoners freed.
"I didn't think when I first started out in the movement for democracy that I would have to devote my whole life to it," Suu Kyi told Clinton's summit.
More than 1,200 people, including more than 50 heads of state such, business leaders, humanitarians and celebrities are due to attend the three-day summit that ends on Thursday.
This year the meeting is focusing on creating jobs, sustainable consumption and programs for women and girls. To attend Clinton's summit, commitments must be made on one of those issues and they must be kept or you cannot return.
Clinton's summit came from his frustration while president from 1993 and 2001 at conferences that prompted little action.
(Editing by Mark Egan and Philip Barbara)
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