YANGON - MYANMAR on Friday resumed its trial of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi after a six-week adjournment and a week after a failed bid by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to see the Nobel peace laureate, officials said.

The court at the notorious Insein prison in Yangon heard from legal expert Khin Moe Moe, a rare witness for the defence, after a ban on his testimony was overturned last month, the officials said.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, met with Senior General Than Shwe in Myanmar a week ago to press the head of the ruling junta to free political prisoners, including the 64-year-old opposition leader.

But the UN chief failed to secure any concessions from the government and was not allowed to meet with Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, leading human rights groups to describe the trip as a failure.

Also being tried on the same charges are two women members of Ms Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions while under house arrest, and the American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri.

The prosecution has so far called 14 witnesses, fuelling opposition and international claims that the hearings are a show trial designed to keep Ms Aung San Suu Kyi locked up ahead of elections scheduled for 2010.

Before Friday, the court had not heard from any witnesses since late May while Yangon's higher courts heard appeals from Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers to overturn bans on its witnesses.

The two witnesses barred from appearing are Win Tin, a dissident journalist who was Myanmar's longest serving prisoner until his release in September, and Tin Oo, the detained deputy leader of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers went up to Myanmar's highest court to reinstate two key defence witnesses but the High Court last month rejected their request, ruling it was 'intended to disturb and delay the trial'. -- AP, AFP