The delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is part of the Obama administration's ongoing efforts to reach out to the military junta in the nation also known as Burma.

Campbell is the highest-ranking American official to visit Myanmar since Madeleine Albright went there in 1995.

During the two-day visit, he and other U.S. officials are expected to hold meetings with senior members of the regime, including Prime Minister Thein Sein.

The talks will be a follow-up to discussions last month in New York that marked the highest-level American contact with the regime in more than a decade.

Campbell is expected to push for the Burmese government to hold fair elections next year.

Campbell will then meet with detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 1/8 1/8 ang sun soo chee 3/8 3/8 and members of her National League for Democracy party.

In August, U.S. Senator Jim Web made a groundbreaking trip to Myanmar and won the release of John Yettaw, an American who had been imprisoned after paying a highly unusual and unannounced visit to the home where Suu Kyi is being held.

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)