United Nations special envoy Tomas Quintana met Thursday in Burma with leaders of ethnic opposition parties and former political prisoners, as he wrapped up a four-day tour of the country that included a private meeting with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Quintana said he met with leaders of several opposition parties, including the National Democratic Force and the Democratic Party, and he held talks with ethnic Mon and Karen leaders. He told VOA's Burmese service he also met with former opposition figures jailed and later released from prison by the country's former military government. He said the former inmates described a lack of proper health care and poor food while detained.

He described his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi as fruitful and productive, and said he will address Burma's human rights situation in a media statement before departing the country later Thursday.

Quintana, who is charged with assessing human rights in the Southeast Asian nation, had not been permitted to meet Aung San Suu Kyi during previous visits, when the Nobel laureate was serving a lengthy term under house arrest in Rangoon.

Earlier this week, the envoy met with several top government officials in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, including Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo, and Defense Minister Hla Min. He also attended a regular session of the country's new parliament, sworn in earlier this year after more than four decades of military rule in Burma.