YANGON (AFP) – A UN special envoy began a five-day visit to Myanmar on Monday to discuss human rights ahead of national polls, days after the military regime freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's deputy.

Tomas Ojea Quintana met judges and opposition lawyers in the former capital Yangon but officials said there were no plans yet for him to meet either Suu Kyi or reclusive junta head Than Shwe.

Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Yangon but the regime on Saturday freed Tin Oo, the elderly vice chairman of her National League for Democracy (NLD), who welcomed Quintana's visit.

"If the UN human rights envoy can come and meet and cooperate with us frequently, things can be resolved," Tin Oo told reporters Monday during his first visit to the party headquarters since his release.

Four lawyers for the NLD met with Quintana for an hour.

Party spokesman and lawyer Nyan Win said the four explained to Quintana the legal arguments against Suu Kyi's detention and outlined the plight of more than 2,100 other political prisoners around the country.

Suu Kyi's house arrest was extended last August by 18 months when she was convicted over an incident in which a US man swam to her house, effectively ruling her out of the polls and sparking global outrage.

"We believe that his visit will be beneficial. He should come here very often so there will be no more human rights abuses, or at least it can be contained," said Nyan Win.
Quintana later met two Myanmar judges, according to officials.

Tin Oo, 83, had been detained since 2003, following his arrest with Suu Kyi after a pro-regime mob attacked their motorcade in May that year. Seventy people were killed in the attack.

His release and Quintana's visit come ahead of elections promised by the junta at some point in 2010. They would be Myanmar's first elections in two decades, although no date has been set.

NLD leaders have yet to decide whether the party will take part in the elections.

Quintana was making his third trip to Myanmar since his appointment in 2008 and spoke with UN staff before visiting the legal representatives.

The Argentinean was scheduled to fly to the western state of Rakhine, near the Bangladeshi border, on Monday evening, but will now go on Tuesday morning, said officials.

On Thursday the envoy is due to return to Yangon to visit the notorious Insein prison, where dozens of political dissidents are held, and will later meet representatives of ethnic groups.

He will go to the remote capital Naypyidaw to meet senior government officials including the foreign minister, also called Nyan Win, on Friday before leaving the country.

Quintana has said that he wants to meet Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years since the NLD won elections in 1990 and was prevented from taking power by the military.

In a statement issued last week ahead of his visit, Quintana said 2010 was "a critical time for the people of Myanmar".

"It would be important for me to meet with political party leaders in the context of this year's landmark elections," he said. "I hope that my request to the government to meet with... Aung San Suu Kyi will be granted this time."

Myanmar's junta exercises strict controls on all visiting UN officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who last year was refused access to Suu Kyi.

US officials have by contrast received a warm welcome in recent months since President Barack Obama's administration announced that it would pursue a dual track of engagement alongside sanctions.