(CNN) -- United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon was denied permission to see Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, reporters traveling with the secretary-general said Saturday.Ban told reporters about the denial after he met with Than Shwe, leader of Myanmar's military junta. Ban is in Myanmar at the invitation of the ruling military junta for talks that are expected to include the detention of Suu Kyi, as well as the detention of other political prisoners.
Officials in Myanmar delayed the resumption of the trial of Suu Kyi Friday. The delay is the latest in a string of postponements and came as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in the Asian nation for talks with government officials.
"The secretary-general believes that the sooner these issues are addressed, the earlier Myanmar will be able to move towards peace, democracy and prosperity," Michele Montas, Ban's spokeswoman, said this week. "He looks forward to meeting all key stakeholders to discuss what further assistance the United Nations can offer to that end."
Suu Kyi -- the face of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement -- is on trial on allegations of subversion. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and two of her maids have been charged in a May 3 incident in which an American
Ban told CNN in May that he was in talks with Myanmar's leadership about traveling to Yangon to seek Suu Kyi's release, as well as push for democratization. "This is an unacceptable situation when she has been under detention for such a long time," Ban said. "She's a Nobel peace laureate."
Myanmar's military regime has held Suu Kyi under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years and rarely allows her visitors. Suu Kyi has been barred for life from running for political office, but human rights groups suspect that Myanmar's junta worries that her release would invigorate the opposition.