Myanmar: Sanctions should end
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Aung San Suu Kyi's detention is causing international outcry.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Myanmar's foreign minister has told the U.N. General Assembly that economic sanctions against his country should be ended.
"Myanmar has taken substantial steps on the road to democracy," Foreign Minister U Wing Aung said on Monday.
"It is important that the international community recognize the positive changes. Credit must be given where credit is due ... It is disconcerting that some countries have chosen to turn a blind eye to the reality and have subjected Myanmar to a wide array of unfair economic sanctions for their political ends."
Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta since 1962. Prime Minister Khin Nyunt unveiled a seven-step road map to democracy last month but many are critical of it, saying there is no role for opposition parties.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, of the National League for Democracy (NLD), has spent more than seven of the past 14 years under some form of arrest.
She recently was held three months by the government in a secret location, then was taken to a privately run hospital where she underwent surgery for a gynecological condition.
She was released from a hospital Friday and went to her home, where her doctor said she remains under house arrest.
Asked about her current status, U Wing Aung said, "We don't call this house arrest."
"She is now recuperating. Let us see in the week how conditions are improved. We are helping her to overcome the health problems," he added.
U.N. envoy Razali Ismail arrived in Myanmar on Tuesday in an attempt to revive talks between the military and the NLD.
The United States and the European Union tightened sanctions on Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest.
