Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) yesterday prepared to celebrate the 60th birthday of their detained leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as international pressure mounted for the democracy leader's release from house arrest.
Events around the world have highlighted Suu Kyi's and her country's plight -- from a small celebration of Myanmar culture in Thailand, to anti-regime protests outside Myanmar embassies, to calls for her freedom from world leaders, including US President George W. Bush.
Bush issued a statement saying that "only a return to democracy and reintegration with the international community can bring the freedom and prosperity that the people of Burma deserve."
PHOTO: AFP
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country's independence hero, is under her third term of house arrest since the junta ignored the NLD's sweeping victory in 1990 elections. She has no communication with the outside world, save for her shortwave radio.
Her latest detention began in May 2003, after she and NLD members travelling in a convoy were attacked in northern Myanmar by thugs in what was believed to be a botched assassination attempt ordered by the junta.
To mark her birthday, NLD members in Yangon planned to release 10 doves, representing peace, and 60 balloons, one for each year of Suu Kyi's life, as well as issue a letter urging dialogue with the ruling generals.
PHOTO: AP
One balloon would feature a card with the words "may Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be freed," and anyone returning both items to the NLD's headquarters would receive 10,000 kyats (US$11), NLD women's committee member Lai Lai said.
The NLD has invited diplomats, officials from political parties allied with the NLD, former student leaders and veterans to attend the celebrations. Ten Buddhist monks were scheduled to perform religious rites at dawn before offering food alms.
"The number 10 in Burmese also means either `save' or `salvage' and conveys our desire to have all political prisoners, including Daw Suu Kyi, saved from their present predicament," Lai Lai said.
"Whether or not Daw Suu is freed ultimately depends on the whims and fancies of the military leaders. We can but hope and pray for her freedom," Lai Lai said.
During the celebrations stationary and other school materials would be given to the children of political prisoners, of whom, watchdog group Amnesty International estimates, at least 1,350 remain in Myanmar's prisons.
Suu Kyi remains in good health, NLD spokesman U Lwin said.
"Her personal doctor, who gets to see her but once a month, assured us that her health is generally good," he said, without adding when the last visit was.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has taken the rare step of making a public statement about a past Nobel Peace Prize winner, asking Myanmar's military regime to free Suu Kyi.
The five-member committee on Friday expressed its continuing admiration for Suu Ky.
``We ask that she be set free immediately. We look forward to the day that democracy again rules her country,'' said a statement issued by committee chairman Ole Mjoes.
Suu Kyi won the coveted prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy and human rights to her country. She was unable to attend her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.
Fellow Noble laureates, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama have sent messages.
Meanwhile, at the Myanmar Embassy in Washington on Friday, Democratic Representative Tom Lantos hailed Suu Kyi as "one of the greats of our age" and delivered a box containing hundreds of birthday cards sent from from 20 countries and each of the 50 US states. The mission appeared shut and no one accepted the cards.
The gesture by Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the US Congress, capped a protest of about 100 Myanmar exiles and US activists.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
APPORTIONING BLAME: The US president said that there were ‘millions of people dead because of three people’ — Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy US President Donald Trump on Monday resumed his attempts to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump — who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelenskiy six weeks ago — said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. Trump told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin No. 1, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and
RSS