The Capital otherwise remained calm with only some extra traffic police stationed outside schools since university exams were being conducted for the first time since the campuses were closed following unrest in December 1996. ``They don't want to give anyone any reason to complain, about traffic jams or about anything,'' a resident said.

Foreign diplomats have warned the Nobel Peace laureate on Friday that deadline for the junta to convene Parliament or face unspecified consequences could spark unrest.

But local analysts in Yangon said the situation had been defused by a meeting on Tuesday between the chairman of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung Shwe, and Junta Intelligence Chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, widely seen as No 2 in the military hierarchy.

Details of the one hour meeting have not been revealed by either side but the Junta, in a statement, said that it would be the first in a series of talks. ``That has really taken the pressure off,'' said a local analyst, who declined to be named. ``We have talked about it and the consensus is that August 21 is no longer important,'' he revealed.

Exiled Myanmar Opposition groups, however, have called for a campaign of mass civil disobedience if the Parliament is not convened on Friday and the diplomats said the NLD was no longer the sole player in the ultimatum it issued.

``The NLD might decide to do nothing if it is happy with the way things are going,'' informed a foreign diplomat. ``But they must realise their credibility is at stake. You can't just issue ultimatums then walk away if they are ignored. The other groups know this too and perhaps they are more militant. They certainly aren't obligated to the NLD and they could take some action of their own,'' the diplomat said.

The NLD-led Opposition won the 1990 polls by a landslide but the Junta has refused to relinquish power. Yangon markets have been abuzz with rumours that unrest will erupt if the Junta fails to convene the Parliament. There have also been widespread rumours of the impending release of key political prisoners following Tuesday's talks.

Truckloads of troops have been deployed late at night at strategic locations this week in what residents said was an apparent bid to discourage any form of protest.

Aung San Suu Kyi was on Friday spending her tenth day in a minibus parked on a small bridge 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Yangon after being blocked from travelling to meet provincial supporters.

Meanwhile, in Geneva, a UN human rights body on Thursday urged the Myanmar government to ensure the security of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the NLD.

A resolution on human rights activists adopted by a UN subcommission requests Myanmar authorities to ``guarantee her freedom of movement and expression''.

The resolution, backed by 21 of the subcommission's 24 experts in a secret ballot, also urges the government to allow the UN special activist on human rights in Myanmar to visit the country.

In Bangkok, some 30 exiled Myanmar students maintained their vigil outside the Myanmar embassy to support the call for Parliament to be convened in Myanmar, where the kyat currency has hit a new lows amidst rising political tensions.

The kyat was trading around 380 to the dollar in Yangon's black market on Friday, against 150 to the dollar before Asia became embroiled in an economic crisis last July.