Myanmar: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other prisoners should be freed - Annan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the authorities in Myanmar to seize the momentum created by recent announcements that some 9,000 prisoners will be released to also free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and others jailed for expressing their political beliefs.

The Secretary-General "reiterates his belief," which is shared by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the countries of the region, "that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention is not in the interest of the process of national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar," said a statement issued by Mr. Annan's spokesman.

Over the past several years Mr. Annan has been pushing the Government of the South Asian country to include opposition parties such as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in a democratic transition, and most recently has been urging it to allow his Special Envoy, Razali Ismail, to visit again as soon as possible.