ASEAN FMs 'deeply disappointed' over Suu Kyi detention
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 01:42:00 07/21/2008
SINGAPORE -- ASEAN foreign ministers expressed "deep disappointment" Sunday over the extension of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention and called for all political prisoners in the country to be freed.
"The foreign ministers expressed their deep disappointment that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's detention under house arrest had been extended by the Myanmar government," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said in a statement.
"They repeated the call by ASEAN leaders for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees as part of Myanmar's national reconciliation process," he said at the start of the 10-member bloc's annual talks.
Myanmar's ruling generals extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by one year on May 27. She has spent most of the past 18 years confined to her lakeside home in Yangon.
The Nobel peace prize winner led her National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but it was never allowed to take office.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers also urged the Myanmar junta to engage in talks with Aung San Suu Kyi's movement, which has been frozen out of a much-criticized "roadmap to democracy".
"The Myanmar government should engage in a meaningful dialogue with all political groups and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future," Yeo said.
ASEAN backed the efforts of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who has been attempting to broker reconciliation talks between Myanmar's rulers and the pro-democracy opposition.
"They stressed the importance of Professor Gambari's work in helping Myanmar move forward," the statement said, as the envoy prepares to make another visit in August.
"They urged the Myanmar government to give him access to senior leaders and to facilitate meetings with the widest possible range of contacts including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," Yeo said.
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