Myanmar's Suu Kyi won't be released in 6 months, detention to last until late 2009

By VIJAY JOSHI | Associated Press Writer

11:31 PM EDT, July 21, 2008

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Myanmar's foreign minister has said pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi can be kept in detention legally until late 2009 and not until December this year as reported earlier, Singapore officials said Tuesday.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win was misunderstood by his nine counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during a dinner conversation on Sunday, said a Foreign Ministry official.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo subsequently passed on Nyan Win's remarks to the media, which reported widely that a new glimmer of hope had been raised for Suu Kyi's early freedom.

Yeo had quoted Nyan Win as saying that a political detainee can be held for a maximum of six years, and that the limit was approaching in about "half a year's time."

But the Straits Times newspaper on Tuesday quoted Yeo as saying that the six-year period will only be reached in the six months after May 2009, when her latest one-year detention period expires.

The Times quoted Yeo as saying the ministers had "misunderstood" Nyan Win.

The Foreign Ministry official confirmed Yeo's comments. Singapore government officials cannot be named under briefing rules.

The new position dashes hopes of an early release for Suu Kyi, who has now been detained for more than 12 of the last 18 years at her home in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

In a clear sign that ASEAN is getting fed up of the Myanmar junta's foot-dragging on democracy, the foreign ministers issued a statement Sunday expressing "deep disappointment" at the junta's decision in May to extend Suu Kyi's detention.

The harsh call went against ASEAN's policy of not interfering in each other's domestic affairs.

ASEAN has faced international criticism, especially from the West, for not putting enough pressure on Myanmar, the most recalcitrant member of the grouping.