UN envoy to Myanmar says Aung San Suu Kyi should be released

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Myanmar's ruling military junta must release detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi if it is serious about making the democratic reforms demanded by the international community, a UN envoy said. The envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, made the comments at the end of a two-day visit to Cambodia, shortly after Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein arrived in the country. The two did not cross paths and officials said the timing of the visits was coincidental. Gambari also said he will return to Myanmar next month on his third mission to nudge the junta toward reconciliation talks with the opposition since the government's September crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. The United Nations has repeatedly called for the release of Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate under detention for 12 of the past 18 years, and for the junta to hold reconciliation talks with her opposition party.