UK urges release of Burma leader

Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of the last decade under house arrest

Britain has called for the immediate release of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was arrested on Friday after a clash between her supporters and thousands of pro-government protesters in northern Burma.

She is being held in "protective custody" with other members of her National League for Democracy (NDL) party.

Diplomats said on Sunday that remaining members of the pro-democracy party have been effectively placed under house arrest after their homes were surrounded by security forces.

Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said there had been "persistent, credible reports" over the past few weeks that supporters of the military regime had been inciting people to attack the NDL.

I call on the Burmese authorities to release immediately Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Mike O'Brien
UK Foreign Office

"It is not the first time such pseudo-protesters have threatened violence against Daw Suu Kyi's party," he said.

He said he had asked British embassy staff to call on senior NDL leaders in Burma's capital Rangoon to get their version of events.

"I call on the Burmese authorities to release immediately Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other party members, and to take rapid action against the Union Solidarity Development Association and others responsible for the provocation that led to this incident."

Mr O'Brien said the UK was backing the visit soon by the United Nations secretary general's special representative Razali Ismail to Burma.

"We attach great importance to his efforts and urge all sides to take this opportunity to move rapidly to a genuine process of dialogue and political reform that could overcome this present tension," he added.

Aung San Suu Kyi was released from a long spell under house arrest last year - a move welcomed at the time as a sign that the regime was ready for political reform.

In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to Burma.