US, EU Call for Release of Suu Kyi

By LALIT K JHA / New York

The release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi should be the first step towards the reintegration of Burma with the international community, a United States official said on Wednesday.

The call for Suu Kyi’s release was made in a US State Department statement released in Washington on the eve of the 13th anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest.

Supporters of Suu Kyi have planned a series of meetings and demonstrations across the world. The US Campaign for Burma on Wednesday announced that it would hold protest demonstrations at the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

"As the Burmese regime's single most important supporter, China holds the key to Aung San Suu Kyi's release," said Aung Din, the executive director of US Campaign for Burma. "Nelson Mandela was locked up for decades before the world came to his aid— Aung San Suu Kyi shouldn't have to wait that long."

The US statement said: "As of October 24, 2008, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent a total of 13 years under house arrest. We again call upon the Burmese regime to immediately and unconditionally release her and the more than 2,000 political prisoners it holds."

Observing that October 24 also marks the anniversary of the coming into force of the United Nations charter, the statement said: "We renew our support for the UN efforts, under the leadership of Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, to obtain the release of Burma's political prisoners and encourage Burma to move toward democracy."

"We further join the United Nations and the rest of the international community in calling upon the regime to engage credibly in an inclusive, time-bound dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic and ethnic minority leaders to bring about a genuine democratic transition."

Meanwhile, the European Parliament called on Asian and European leaders at a meeting in Beijing on Friday and Saturday to launch a joint appeal to the Burmese military government for the release of all political prisoners.

European MPs, meeting in Strasbourg, condemned the continued detention of Suu Kyi and called for her immediate release. The parliament also denounced "the arbitrary charges behind the arrests of many dissidents and the harsh conditions of detention of political prisoners, including widespread use of torture and hard labor."