Junta 'hints at release for opposition leader'

A senior figure in Burma's military junta has suggested that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed from house arrest in about six months, Singapore's foreign minister said.

Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win made the hint at a dinner yesterday attended by all the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), who began their weeklong meeting in Singapore today.

Asean later expressed "deep disappointment" at the junta's decision in May to extend Ms Suu Kyi's detention by another year - an unprecedented criticism of Burma by the region's main bloc.

Asean members usually adhere to a policy of not interfering in each other's domestic affairs.

The comments are the most optimistic by the junta on Ms Suu Kyi's future, and the closest Burma's military rulers have come to a definite timetable for her release, as demanded by the international community.

According to Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, Mr Nyan said that under Burmese law a political detainee can be held for a maximum of six years.

"And he told us that the six-year limit will come up in about half a year's time," Mr Yeo said.

Asked if this means Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, could be released in six months, Mr Yeo said: "That is not an inaccurate inference."

The military regime extended Ms Suu Kyi's house arrest on May 27 for the sixth straight year. She has now been detained for more than 12 of the last 18 years at her home.

After the dinner, the ASEAN members issued a statement that came down heavily on Burma.

"The foreign ministers expressed their deep disappointment that ... Suu Kyi's detention has been extended by the Myanmar (Burma) government," it said, adding that the ministers repeated a call by their governments for her to be released.