Detained Suu Kyi not hurt, says junta

MYANMAR’S military government yesterday said detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had not been harmed in last week’s clashes between her supporters and pro-government groups, rejecting rumours she had been injured.

World leaders have urged Myanmar to release the Nobel peace laureate and democracy leader who was detained last Friday after violence erupted as she toured a northern town.

The government said four people were killed and 50 injured in the disturbances, but there has been a flurry of rumours in Myanmar dissidents circles which include many exiles in Thailand that she had received a head injury.

Deputy foreign minister Khin Maung Win told diplomats in Yangon that was not true.

"The minister said that reports that Aung San Suu Kyi was injured were false," said a diplomat who attended a briefing by Khin Maung Win.

He said the junta cited "security" as the reason they would not divulge where she was being held in "protective custody."

In Malaysia, an aide of a UN special envoy to Myanmar said he still planned to visit the country this Friday, despite Ms Suu Kyi's detention and a crackdown on her party.

"We've received no indication from the government that he can't go," said the aide to veteran Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail.

Diplomats have voiced fears that the latest detentions could deal a death blow to stalled, UN-brokered reconciliation talks between the generals and Ms Suu Kyi that began in 2000.

Khin Maung Win told the diplomats it was up to Mr Razali if he wanted to visit, but suggested he might not be allowed to meet Ms Suu Kyi.

After the military took Ms Suu Kyi into custody, other opposition leaders were detained, her party offices were shut and colleges and universities traditional bastions of dissent where she is believed to command strong support were closed.

US President George W Bush called on the military to release Ms Suu Kyi and her supporters "immediately and permit her party headquarters to re-open," according to a statement issued by the White House.

Britain, Australia, Canada and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also called for her release, but Myanmar need not fear pressure from its immediate Asian neighbours who have favoured a more conciliatory approach to relations.

The 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, said while it was concerned it did not plan to take any action.

"You cannot go in and tell your family member you cannot do this, you cannot do that," ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong was quoted as saying by Malaysia's Bernama news agency.

Ms Suu Kyi had been growing frustrated in recent months with the reluctance of the generals to get talks going.

Released from 19 months of house arrest in May last year, Ms Suu Kyi's party won the country's elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the generals refused to hand over power.