Detainees freed as Myanmar softens

YANGON, Myanmar -- The military government has released eight political prisoners and allowed some opposition party offices to reopen.

Despite improvements the movements of Aung San Suu Kyi remain restricted

The moves are being seen as a sign of easing tension between the ruling generals and the pro-democracy movement, Reuters reports.

The prisoners -- who all won parliamentary seats in the 1990 elections won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) -- were released on Thursday, government sources said.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has never recognized the result of the elections and has detained dozens of opposition MPs in government "guest houses."

A government spokesman said the release of the eight MPs was a result of talks between the military and the NLD, Reuters reported.

"Due to an understanding between the SPDC and the NLD party, the eight MPs who stayed at guest houses were allowed to return to their families," a government spokesman said.

"They were all in good health."

Six of the MPs were members of the NLD, while the other two were from ethnic minority parties.

Possible sign of headway

A senior opposition leader said the prisoner release "could be" a sign that talks between the generals and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi were making headway.

But NLD sources say authorities are still keeping its top three leaders -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung Shwe and Tin Oo -- confined to their homes.

Since talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the generals began in October last year, both sides have agreed to keep the content of their discussions confidential.

Myanmar pro-democracy activists in exile in Thailand welcomed the government's move, saying both the release of political prisoners and freedom of political activity were primary NLD demands.

Meanwhile, authorities had also allowed some of the NLD offices closed during a government crackdown in 1998 to reopen, Reuters reports.

"The government has so far allowed 20 NLD township offices, of the 40 in Yangon division, to resume normal operations," the official said.

"We are expecting the government to allow more offices to reopen soon, and more prisoner releases," he said.

U.N. appeal for detainees

At United Nations headquarters in New York, a spokesman said Secretary General Kofi Annan hoped more detainees would soon be freed.

Annan "reiterates that there is no alternative to the ongoing talks between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi to bring about democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar," spokesman Manoel Almeida e Silva said.

"He urges the two sides to make further efforts to achieve tangible progress and calls on the international community to continue supporting the dialogue process in Myanmar."

The moves come just two weeks after the U.N. special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, visited the country to meet with leaders on both sides of the political divide.

Although there was speculation that the talks between the military and the NLD had reached a stalemate, Razali said he was hopeful civilian rule would emerge within four years.

Reuters contributed to this report.