World

Myanmar minister says Suu Kyi to be freed in Nov

by Amitjha | January 25, 2010 at 12:49 am

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If true it is is definitely good news that, Suu Kyi will be released. But the expected November release will be too late for her to participate in democratic election.

But critics say that Junta will definitely find some other reasons to detain her some more period. The diplomatic pressure from world leaders is paying some dividend.

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed when her house arrest ends in November, according to a government minister quoted by witnesses on Monday, but critics said that may be too late for this year's elections.

Home Minister Major General Maung Oo told a Jan. 21 meeting of local officials the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner would be released in November, a month after many observers expect the country to hold its first parliamentary elections in two decades.

The information could not be verified independently but three people who attended the meeting said the comment was made to an audience of several hundred people in Kyaukpadaung, a town about 565 km (350 miles) north of the former capital, Yangon.

The three witnesses requested anonymity.

Suu Kyi, detained for 14 of the past 20 years, was sentenced to a further 18 months of detention last August for harbouring an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, raising questions over whether the election will be a sham.