Kofi Annan appeals for San Suu Kyi release

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to Burma’s military junta to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and start “a substantive dialogue” with her party to show the government’s commitment to a road map to democracy.

Since the government announced the seven-step road map on August 30, Mr Annan said, it has not shown any indication that political parties and ethnic groups will be allowed to participate, nor has it set out a timeline for transition to democracy.

“The only way to ensure that the road map process is productive and credible, and proceeds in a stable and orderly fashion, is for it to involve all Myanmar’s political parties, national leaders, ethnic nationalities and strata of society from the beginning,” Annan said in an updated report to the General Assembly on Burma’s human rights situation.