Myanmar: Suu Kyi Wants To Meet Myanmar Rep, Says Lawyer

YANGON, MYANMAR: A report that detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet with the government minister who acts as her liaison officer is misleading, her lawyer said Wednesday (3 Sept).

The state-run Myanma Ahlin daily reported Wednesday that the government had arranged a meeting between Suu Kyi _ who has been detained without charge since 2003 _ and Relations Minister Aung Kyi on Tuesday (2 Sept) but that she had refused to meet him.

Lawyer Kyi Win, who met Suu Kyi at her lakeside house on Monday (1 Sept), said she had conveyed a message through him that she wished to see the minister but said "she was a little tired and needed some rest."

"I am very upset because Daw Suu had politely conveyed the message through me that she wanted to see U Aung Kyi and also sends her regards to him," Kyi Win said. 'Daw' and 'U' are honorifics conveying respect.

"I am very upset because the message was a misrepresentation by omission," he explained added.

Myanmar's junta appointed Aung Kyi last year to facilitate talks aimed at bringing political reconciliation and democratic reforms to the impoverished and isolated country.

Earlier Wednesday, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said on the basis of the newspaper report that any reluctance on Suu Kyi's part to have a meeting indicated her continued frustration at the slow pace of reform in the military-ruled country.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is dissatisfied with the lack of progress from the talks and also unhappy with the lack of a time frame," said Nyan Win.

The 63-year-old Suu Kyi has made several gestures recently whose intention has not been clear. She has repeatedly turned away food deliveries to her house in recent weeks and refused to meet U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari when he visited Myanmar last month.

After Kyi Win visited her on Monday he said she had lost weight and was shunning food deliveries. He would not comment on rumors that the opposition leader had gone on a hunger strike.

The lawyer said Suu Kyi had asked for "certain living conditions to be solved and that has not happened yet."

He said some of the living conditions involved granting greater freedom of movement to two female companions who live with her and help take care of the house. She also wishes to be allowed access to some publications, Kyi Win said.

Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest for years and relies on food delivered to her home by her party. Supporters said last week she had not accepted food deliveries since 15 Aug.

Kyi Win declined to say why Suu Kyi was refusing food deliveries.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won general elections but was not allowed to take power by the military.

The United Nations has tried with little success to nudge the government toward talks with the opposition. But the junta has not responded to international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its violent suppression of massive anti-government protests last year. (AP)