Burma rejects Suu Kyi release

Burma's universities, often the source of protest, have been shut.

Burma's military rulers have said opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to remain in what they call "protective custody".

Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told diplomats in the capital Rangoon that Aung San Suu Kyi was in good health and that she would be released in due course.

He denied reports that she had been injured during clashes last week between supporters of her National League for Democracy and pro-government forces.

TENSIONS MOUNT

6 May - Aung San Suu Kyi begins tour of North

24 May - 10 NLD members jailed

26 May - NLD complains of government 'harassment'

30 May - Clashes between NLD and pro-government supporters leave several dead

1 June - Aung San Suu Kyi taken to Rangoon for 'protective custody'

However, he refused to say where the Nobel Peace Prize winner was being held. Burma activists believe that she is at a government guesthouse in Rangoon.

World leaders have called on the Burmese authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately.

No one has yet been given access to her.

The BBC's Burma analyst, Larry Jagan, says the dialogue process between the opposition leader and the military regime is now in crisis.

UN envoy Razali Ismail who helped broker talks between the two sides is scheduled to return to Rangoon later this week.

But our correspondent says that Mr Razali is likely to find the government's comment that it cannot guarantee him access to Aung San Suu Kyi unacceptable, and diplomats in Rangoon now fear that this may mean the end of the talks process.