Burma defends Suu Kyi custody

By Larry Jagan
BBC Burma analyst

Aung San Suu Kyi's detention has caused worldwide outrage

Burma's military government has launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at blaming the country's opposition leader for the country's political stalemate.

Burma's top leader, General Than Shwe, has despatched his two foreign ministers to countries in Asia with personal letters and an album of photographs of the opposition leader.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained in what the government calls 'protective custody' for more than six weeks.

Her continued detention has outraged the international community, which has demanded her immediate release.

In the past two weeks, General Than Shwe's two envoys, Foreign Minister Win Aung and the Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win, have travelled around the capitals of Asia.

They have met most of the respective prime ministers in these countries and handed over a personal letter from General Than Shwe.

In the seven-page letter, the Burmese military leader accuses the opposition movement of plotting an uprising that would throw the country into anarchy and lead to the fall of the government.

Embarrassment

The letter says Aung San Suu Kyi has been trying to encourage the armed ethnic rebel groups - most of which have signed ceasefire agreements with Rangoon - to join the planned uprising.

General Than Shwe says the government was compelled to act in the light of this threat to national security.

In the past week or so, the deputy foreign minister's whirlwind tour of the region has taken him to Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, while the foreign minister has visited China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

But few Asian leaders will be convinced by these accusations against Aung San Suu Kyi and they are likely to be dismissed as paranoia on the part of Burma's top general.

Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention in solitary confinement has embarrassed most of Burma's allies in South East Asia in particular. They know that the reputation of the regional organisation, Asean, is being tarnished by the military government's actions.

International pressure on Burma to free Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and restart the dialogue process with the opposition movement is bound to increase further.