Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled plans to directly engage Myanmar's junta to help promote democratic reforms in the country.

Clinton told journalists on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday that the administration of President Barack Obama decided on a double-pronged approach of both engagement and continued sanctions.

"We believe that sanctions remain important as part of our policy, but by themselves, they have not produced the results that had been hoped for on behalf of the people of Burma," Clinton said, referring to the South-East Asian country by its former name.

"Engagement versus sanctions is a false choice in our opinion," she said.

Congress was to be informed about details of the planned talks on Thursday.

Washington has been calling on Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country since 1962, to improve its human rights record, allow democratic reforms and release political prisoners, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of a planned general election in 2010. (dpa)