Stories related to: Aung San Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi Rejects Food Deliveries, Sparks Rumors of Hunger Strike

Associated Press  |  Aug 26, 08 12:23 PM CDT

(Newser) - Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has refused food deliveries to her house for two weeks, prompting speculation that she is on a hunger strike against the government, the AP reports. Supporters say she's grown increasingly frustrated with the UN's failure to intervene in the junta-ruled nation—the Nobel Prize laureate refused to meet with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his visit last week. More »

Activist Suu Kyi Should be Flogged: Burma Junta

Reuters  |  Jun 11, 08 4:35 AM CDT

(Newser) - Official media controlled by Burma's junta said today that Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader and Nobel laureate, deserves to be flogged "as in the case of naughty children." Editorials in several Burmese newspapers accused Suu Kyi of being in the pay of rebel guerrillas and foreign governments, Reuters reports. The victor of Burma's 1990 democratic election has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years. More »

Burma Junta: No Freedom for Opposition Leader

Guardian (UK)  |  May 27, 08 8:13 AM CDT

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize-winning leader of the Burmese opposition will spend another year under house arrest, the country's military government announced today. Hopes that international pressure, along with the national crisis in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, might lead the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi were dashed by a 10-minute official visit to her Rangoon home this morning. More »

Burma Votes Amid Cyclone Chaos

AFP  |  May 10, 08 6:49 AM CDT

(Newser) - Burma plowed ahead with a referendum on its constitution today despite cyclone devastation that has left much of the country in ruins, AFP reports. The junta has postponed the vote for two weeks in the worst-hit areas, including the capital and the Irrawaddy delta, where hundreds of thousands have been left starving and homeless, with aid still only trickling in. More »

Bush to Junta: Let the US Help

VOA News  |  May 6, 08 2:07 PM CDT

(Newser) - President Bush today expressed “heartfelt sympathy” to the victims of the Myanmar cyclone and called on the ruling junta to allow the US to offer more help, the Voice of America reports. The government has accepted $250,000 of US aid but balked at letting US Navy rescue teams assist in finding the 41,000 people who remain missing. More »

Myanmar Activist Wins Congressional Gold Medal

Reuters  |  Apr 25, 08 2:29 AM CDT

(Newser) - The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, reports Reuters. Politicians praised her courage, and said the award was a gesture of solidarity with the oppressed Burmese people. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains under house arrest in Rangoon, a prisoner of Myanmar's military junta, which violently put down pro-democracy protests last year. More »

Burma Pledges Free Elections in 2010

Reuters  |  Feb 9, 08 4:00 PM CST

(Newser) - The military junta in Burma said today the nation will have multiparty, democratic elections in 2010, Reuters reports. Opposition leaders greeted the decision with a heavy dose of skepticism and charged that even if the vote goes through, the military will not release its grip on power. The regime has been under heavy international pressure for reform since its violent crackdown on protesters in the fall. More »

Burma Frees Thousands in Nod to United Nations

Associated Press  |  Dec 4, 07 3:29 AM CST

(Newser) - Burma's military junta has freed 8,585 prisoners but it's not clear if any of those arrested in September's crackdown are among them, AP reports. Burmese state media said the amnesty was to mark progress on drafting a new constitution, and a gesture to the United Nations. Similar amnesties in the past have freed common criminals rather than political prisoners. More »

Suu Kyi Sees Hope for Burma Peace

AFP  |  Nov 9, 07 9:41 AM CST

(Newser) - Aung San Suu Kyi expressed hope for a peaceful end to Burma's strife today after meeting with her party for the first time in 3 years and with a representative of the ruling junta, AFP reports. Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, says it is time for the "healing process" to begin, according to a party spokesman. More »

Suu Kyi: 'I Stand Ready to Cooperate'

Associated Press  |  Nov 8, 07 12:07 PM CST

(Newser) - Aung San Suu Kyi is ready to cooperate with Burma's military rulers, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari announced today, reading a statement from the long-imprisoned opposition leader. “I stand ready to cooperate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success,” she wrote after the government said it would allow her a rare meeting with her party. More »

Burma Junta Nixes Talks With UN, Dissident

AFP  |  Nov 7, 07 3:26 PM CST

(Newser) - The junta ruling Myanmar—formerly Burma—today rejected a UN proposal for three-way talks that would have included detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Agence France-Presse reports. It is the latest disappointment to mar the visit of UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, in which he has been denied an audience with top general Than Shwe and admonished for UN "interference" in state affairs. More »

Suu Kyi Health Declining, Backers Say

Guardian (UK)  |  Nov 6, 07 8:31 AM CST

(Newser) - The UN's special envoy to Burma has returned to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, writes the Guardian , amid reports she is being treated for an unspecified illness. Ibrahim Gambari held talks with senior members of the military junta—though not its top general, who refused to meet him—in their isolated new capital, Naypyitaw. Gambari is en route to Rangoon today to meet the leader of the democratic opposition. More »

Burmese Monks Back in Streets

BBC  |  Oct 31, 07 8:52 AM CDT

(Newser) - Picking up their quashed demands, more than 100 Burmese monks marched in defiance of the military junta today in the first marches since the government crackdown on pro-democracy protests late last month. "This is very significant... we are very encouraged to see the monks taking up action," one Burmese human rights watcher told the BBC. More »

Suu Kyi Meets With Junta Liaison

Guardian (UK)  |  Oct 25, 07 9:27 AM CDT

(Newser) - Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi today met with the military junta minister in charge of opposition group relations, a day after marking her twelfth year under house arrest, the Guardian reports. Former general Aung Kyi was appointed earlier this month in an apparent concession to international pressure, and spent an hour with Suu Kyi in their first meeting. More »

Supporters Rally for Suu Kyi