Suu Kyi now held for six months
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Supporters in exile keep up pressure for Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and three of her top lieutenants completed six months in detention Sunday with no sign of when they might be freed, despite international calls for their release.
Aung San Suu Kyi was detained at an undisclosed location after a bloody clash between her supporters and a government-backed mob on May 30 when she was touring northern Myanmar. Eight leaders of her National League for Democracy party were also detained.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was placed under house arrest in late September.
Five of the eight party leaders were freed last Sunday. NLD Chairman Aung Shwe and Secretary U Lwin remain under house arrest, while Vice Chairman Tin Oo, who accompanied Suu Kyi on the political tour, is being held in Kalay Prison in northern Myanmar.
Red Cross officials have been allowed to check on Tin Oo, a 77-year-old veteran politician, but his wife told The Associated Press recently that she is concerned about his health because of the harsh weather in the country's north.
It is the third time that Aung San Suu Kyi has been under detention since 1989, when she was put under house arrest for six years. She was arrested again in late 2000 and released in May 2002 amid hopes that a political settlement was imminent.
She has been held at her lakeside house since Sept. 26, after spending a week at a private hospital in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, where she underwent gynecological surgery.
The only foreigners known to have met with Aung San Suu Kyi since her detention are U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail, U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and representatives of the Red Cross.
The junta has also allowed Aung San Suu Kyi's personal physicians to visit since her operation, but members of her party were turned away by authorities when they tried to pay their respects during a religious holiday in October.
'Road map'
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Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since May.
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The May 30 incident all but halted a slow-moving reconciliation process initiated by Razali in late 2000 in an effort to bridge Myanmar's political divide.
Three months after the clash, however, the junta unveiled a seven-point "road map" to democracy, which outlined a path to national elections and a new government, but provided no details or timeline.
Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly told Razali in October that she could work with the government's road map, but told Pinheiro that she would not accept freedom from house arrest until her party members were also released.
World leaders have expressed hope that all parties, including the NLD, will be included in the implementation of the road map.
It is unclear, however, whether Aung San Suu Kyi's party will be allowed to participate in the drafting of a new constitution.
Myanmar does not currently have a constitution. A constitution introduced in 1974 was dropped in 1988 when the current military regime took power after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Aung San Suu Kyi's party won.
The junta created a committee to draft a new constitution in 1993, but suspended it in 1996 when the NLD walked out, saying it was being forced to rubber stamp decisions made by the military government.
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
