July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s military junta blocked Ban Ki-moon from meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the United Nations chief seeks to free political prisoners in the Southeast Asian country.

The regime announced the decision after a second meeting between the UN head and Myanmar leader Than Shwe in the capital of Naypyidaw, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Ban.

Ban is on a two-day visit to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, pressing the government to free 2,100 political prisoners, resume national reconciliation and ensure credible elections next year.

“I am deeply disappointed that senior general Than Shwe refused my request,” Ban said. Allowing the meeting, he said, “would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that is essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible.”

Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 years in detention since her party won the last elections in 1990, faces prison for allegedly violating a house arrest order. Pro-democracy campaigners say the potential five-year jailing is designed to prevent the 64- year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner from contesting polls promised by the ruling generals in 2010.

Suu Kyi was transferred to prison last month to face trial, with prosecutors alleging she allowed an American intruder to stay for two days after he swam to her lakeside home in Yangon.

‘Strongest’ Terms

Ban said in Tokyo earlier this week that he would “raise in the strongest possible terms” the international community’s concerns about the situation in Myanmar.

The visit is Ban’s first since he persuaded the junta to accept international aid last year in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which killed about 138,000 people.

The military regime plans to hold elections in 2010 after 92 percent of voters approved a new constitution in a referendum last year. The opposition has denounced the charter because it bars Suu Kyi from holding office, and says the election is designed to entrench the power of the generals who have ruled Myanmar for almost half a century.

President Barack Obama has described Suu Kyi’s arrest and court case as a “show trial” based on “spurious charges.” Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry denied the charges are political, saying they were “taken unavoidably” and the court case is being conducted in accordance with “the rule of law.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne rfenner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 4, 2009 13:37 EDT