The invitation was directed at political parties and other ethnic minority organisations that back the ruling junta, which has been in power since crushing pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, the National League for Democracy said Tuesday in a statement.

Ms Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election but the military refused to hand over power, putting the country into a long and bitter political stalemate.

Many but not all of the country's fractious ethnic groups - which have for decades sought autonomy from the central government - have signed cease-fire pacts with the junta, implicitly accepting its legitimacy.

Others are in a de facto alliance with Ms Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement but have little power to influence the junta.

'The NLD understands expressing one's opinions and dissenting freely are the practice of democracy. We also understand that having discussions among parties is also an essence of democracy,' the party's statement said.

To that end the party invited 'ethnic political parties and organisations that have different views and opinions' to its headquarters in Yangon, the country's biggest city.

The unexpected appeal came less than a week after Ms Suu Kyi, in remarks released through her party, expressed dissatisfaction and pessimism about the prospects for reconciliation talks with the military government.

Under international pressure after violently suppressing massive pro-democracy protests in September last year, the junta appointed a Minister for Relations to coordinate with Ms Suu Kyi.

But the minister, Mr Aung Kyi, has had just a handful of meetings with Ms Suu Kyi, who has complained that they seemed to be accomplishing very little.

In a statement last week, Ms Suu Kyi said Myanmar's ethnic minorities must participate in any reconciliation talks if there is to be progress in restoring political stability.

Tuesday's entreaty from the NLD statement reiterated Ms Suu Kyi's position, stated prominently last November in a statement released through the UN, supporting inclusion of the ethnic groups in seeking a solution for the country's problems.

The state-controlled media at that time printed numerous statements from the 'cease-fire groups' - ethnic organisations backing the government - rejecting her position as an unwanted attempt to speak on their behalf and vowing allegiance to the junta's seven-step 'road map to democracy,' which is supposed to lead to free elections. -- AP