Ethnic rebels in the far north of Myanmar have urged the United Nations to send observers to monitor fighting with government troops, a Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) official said Thursday.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, emailed to AFP, the KIO "implored" observers to visit the conflict zone where fighting has raged since a ceasefire collapsed last year.

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday she would not oppose a freeze on U.S. sanctions but urged caution, warning that her country could backtrack after dramatic reforms.

Suu Kyi, who was sworn in May 2 as a member of parliament after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, spoke via Skype to a rare event in Washington involving former president George W. Bush.

Myanmar's president has urged the nation's millions-strong diaspora to return, state media reported Saturday, as the country seeks skilled workers to help smooth the passage of reform.

Several million people fled Myanmar's corrupted economy and political repression under army rule, leaving the nation desperately short of professionals to help it manage massive economic and political change.

A bold move by Myanmar's president to take charge of peace talks with ethnic rebels has revived hope of an end to a war in the far north perpetuated by mutual distrust and vested interests, experts say.

Conflict between Myanmar's army and ethnic rebels in Kachin state has raged for a year, displacing around 50,000 civilians and casting a shadow over hard-won government ceasefires in other parts of the country.

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in as a member of parliament Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the Nobel laureate's near quarter-century struggle against authoritarian rule.

The 66-year-old, in the capital Naypyidaw for the ceremony, stood to read the brief oath in unison with 33 other members of her National League for Democracy party elected to the lower house in April, an AFP reporter said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Western nations to drop more Myanmar sanctions, in a show of support for the reformist regime as Aung San Suu Kyi agreed to end a parliamentary dispute.

Ban welcomed moves by the international community to reward sweeping changes in the country since the end of direct army rule last year, in a landmark speech to parliament following talks with President Thein Sein.

The European Union suspended a wide range of trade, economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar on Monday, with the exception of an arms embargo, diplomats told AFP.

A diplomat said the deal on suspending the sanctions had "just gone through" as foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc agreed a one-year suspension of measures against almost 500 individuals and more than 800 firms.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday held talks with Myanmar's reformist regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as he became the first Western leader to visit the country in decades.

The landmark trip comes as world powers consider ending economic sanctions against the former pariah state following recent elections which gave Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi her first-ever seat in parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi claimed victory Monday in Myanmar's historic by-election, saying she hoped it would mark the beginning of a new era for the long-repressed country.

Suu Kyi spoke to thousands of cheering supporters who gathered outside her opposition party headquarters a day after her party claimed she had won a parliamentary seat in the closely watched vote.

Myanmar's opposition claimed a historic victory Sunday for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her bid for a seat in parliament, sparking scenes of jubilation among crowds of supporters.

Hundreds of people cheered as a giant screen outside National League for Democracy (NLD) party headquarters in Yangon announced a big by-election win for Suu Kyi, who was locked up by the junta for most of the past 22 years.