Foreign Minister Nyan Win met with Sri Lankan ambassador Newton Gunaratna at the foreign ministry in Yangon on Thursday afternoon, according to the English-language New Light of Myanmar.

Colombo has angrily fended off criticism of its massive offensive against the Tamil Tigers that put an end to a nearly four-decade conflict in May.

Sri Lanka barred aid workers, rights activists and journalists from working freely in the north, where hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the fighting are confined to heavily-guarded camps.

Myanmar's junta, in power since 1962, is subject to economic sanctions from the US and European Union over its poor human rights record and lack of democracy.

However, Western nations continue to donate large amounts of humanitarian aid to Myanmar, in particular since a cyclone last year that left 138,000 people dead or missing. -- AFP