Myanmar Says No Timeframe for Suu Kyi's Release

July 28, 2003 - 0:0
JAKARTA - Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung said on Sunday there was no immediate schedule for the release of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I can't see a timeframe right now," Win Aung told reporters shortly after arriving in Indonesia.

Myanmar is facing mounting international pressure over Suu Kyi, detained since a deadly May 30 clash between her supporters and a pro-government group.

Win Aung is due to meet Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Monday to discuss what he said were "issues of mutual interest" before heading to the West Java city of Bandung for the two-day Asia-Africa Subregional Organisations Conference.

Last week's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Bali issued an unprecedented joint demand for the Nobel laureate's immediate release and Indonesia said it would anxiously await Win Aung's message during his visit to Jakarta.

ASEM, which brings together the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations and 15 European Union nations, demanded Suu Kyi's release following an unprecedented rebuke by Southeast Asia's main political group last month.

Wirajuda acknowledged Myanmar's response to the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's demand five weeks ago for Suu Kyi's immediate release would be disappointing.

Indonesia, the ASEAN chairman, has also made clear the regional bloc was not willing to wait indefinitely.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.