Diplomats granted access to Suu Kyi

Burma opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi was unexpectedly allowed to speak to diplomats at her internationally condemned trial yesterday and expressed hope for "better days" in the future.

A protester joins a rally in support of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in front of Myanmar's embassy in Manila.

Mrs Suu Kyi smiled and looked healthy as she thanked envoys for coming to Insein prison in her first public comments since the ruling junta charged her last week with breaching her house arrest, an AFP reporter inside the court said.

"Thank you very much for coming and for your support," the 63-year-old, wearing pink Burmese traditional dress, said inside the courtroom at the end of the third day of the trial.

"I can't meet you one by one, but I hope to meet you all in better days."

Mrs Suu Kyi then met the ambassadors of Singapore and Russia and a senior diplomat from Thailand at the so-called "guest house" inside the prison compound where she is being held.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya quoted the Thai diplomat who met the Burmese opposition leader as saying she was in good health and expressed hope to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations one day.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate told the envoys she "did not wish to use the intrusion into her home as a way to get at the Burma authorities" and expressed hope for "national reconciliation if all parties so wished", the Singapore government said.

"She also expressed the view that it was not too late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident."

Mr Kasit praised the Burmese government for allowing the diplomats to meet her and witness the trial but said the positive signs should not end there.

The Burmese government should release all political prisoners from jail to clear the way for national reconciliation, he said.

Authorities held the first two days of hearings behind closed doors and had turned away European diplomats on Monday, but yesterday representatives from 30 embassies were allowed in.

The regime also allowed five journalists from foreign news organisations and the same number from local organisations to report on the hearing. Details had previously emerged only in state media or through Mrs Suu Kyi's lawyers.

The case against Mrs Suu Kyi, accused of violating the terms of her house arrest after American intruder John Yettaw swam to her lakeside home two weeks ago, has outraged the West and triggered threats of new sanctions.

The surprise move to allow diplomats and media access to the trial followed intense international pressure and a scathing condemnation by Burma's normally placid Southeast Asian neighbours.

EARLIER REPORT By AFP

Rangoon - Burma opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi was unexpectedly allowed to speak to diplomats at her internationally condemned trial on Wednesday and expressed hope for "better days" in the future.

She smiled and looked healthy as she thanked envoys for coming to Insein Prison in her first public comments since the ruling junta charged her last week with breaching her house arrest, an AFP reporter inside the court said.

"Thank you very much for coming and for your support," the 63-year-old, wearing pink Burmese traditional dress, said inside the courtroom at the end of the third day of the trial.

"I can't meet you one by one, but I hope to meet you all in better days," she added.

Mrs Suu Kyi then went for a meeting with the ambassadors of Singapore and Russia and a senior diplomat from Thailand at the so-called "guest house" inside the prison compound where she is being held.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner told the envoys that she was "well and being well treated" in prison, the Singaporean government said.

She also said that she "did not wish to use the intrusion into her home as a way to get at the Burma authorities" and expressed hope for "national reconciliation if all parties so wished."

The surprise move by the military regime to allow some diplomats and media access to the trial followed intense international pressure and a scathing condemnation by Burma's normally placid Southeast Asian neighbours.

Mrs Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail if convicted of charges of breaching her house arrest stemming from an incident earlier this month in which an American man, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside house.

Authorities held the first two days of hearings behind closed doors and had turned away European diplomats on Monday, but on Wednesday said representatives from all 30 foreign embassies would be allowed in.

The regime also allowed five journalists from foreign news organisations and the same number from local organisations to report on the hearing. Details had previously emerged only in state media or through Mrs Suu Kyi's lawyers.

But diplomats said they did not have much confidence in the trial.

"I think this is a story where the conclusion is already scripted," the British ambassador to Rangoon, Mark Canning, told the BBC.

"I don't have any confidence in the outcome. While the access we had today was very welcome, it doesn't change the fundamental problem."

Mrs Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the regime refused to recognise her party's landslide victory in the last elections to be held in Burma in 1990.

She has recently suffered from poor health, but Burma's tightly controlled state television announced in a report on the trial late Wednesday that she was receiving medical care in jail.

It also showed rare footage of her meeting diplomats.

"The chief of the prison medical department and her doctors are caring for her health every day. Two specialists from Rangoon General Hospital and one cardiological specialist gave her medical checks this morning," it said.

Critics say the junta has trumped up the charges to keep Mrs Suu Kyi locked up during elections due next year, and also to beat a May 27 deadline when her latest six-year period of detention expires.

EU nations have said they are mulling tighter sanctions over the handling of the trial, while US President Barack Obama formally extended American sanctions last week.

The trial on Wednesday heard from only one police witness about the arrest of Yettaw, who used a pair of home-made flippers to swim across the lake before spending two days at Mrs Suu Kyi's residence.

Yettaw, a 53-year-old US army veteran from Missouri, and two female aides who live with the opposition leader are also on trial.

EARLIER REPORT:

Rangoon - Burma allowed reporters and diplomats to attend the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, as foreign envoys prepared to meet the democracy icon after an apparent climbdown by the ruling junta on Wednesday.

The surprise moves by the military regime followed days of intense international pressure over the case against Aung San Suu Kyi and a scathing condemnation by Burma's normally placid Southeast Asian neighbours.

Authorities held the first two days of the trial behind closed doors.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner faces up to five years in jail if convicted of charges of breaching her house arrest stemming from an incident in which an American man, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside house.

"I confirm that the Thai, Singaporean and Russian ambassadors in Rangoon will be able to meet with Madam Suu Kyi in her 'guest house' in Insein prison" after Wednesday's hearing is adjourned, a western diplomat told AFP.

Thailand was picked because it holds the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), while the Singaporean envoy is the doyen of Rangoon's diplomatic corps and Russia heads the UN Security Council.

Authorities earlier allowed diplomats from all 30 foreign embassies in Rangoon to attend the trial on Wednesday, along with five journalists from foreign news organisations and the same number from local organisations.

The junta turned several European diplomats away from the trial on Monday although it has allowed Yettaw to have a US consular officer present for the proceedings.

All media were also barred from the trial for the first two days. Details about the case have so far emerged in the tightly controlled state media or through Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers.

Asked to explain the regime's apparent change of heart, the western diplomat said that following international pressure on the ruling generals, particularly by Asean, "one has to ask if all these pressures played a role."

The Southeast Asian bloc, which has faced trouble with Burma since admitting the country in 1997, warned on Tuesday that the regime's "honour and credibility" were at stake over Aung San Suu Kyi's trial.

EU nations have said they were mulling an increase in sanctions over the handling of the trial, while US President Barack Obama formally extended American sanctions last week.

Critics say the military regime has trumped up the charges to keep Aung San Suu Kyi locked up during elections due next year, and also to beat a May 27 deadline when her latest six-year period of detention expires.

Nine Nobel Peace Prize winners became the latest to demand the 1991 laureate be freed, describing her trial as a "mockery" in a letter to the chiefs of the United Nations and Asean.

The trial has so far heard from five police witnesses recounting the arrest of Yettaw, who used a pair of homemade flippers to swim across the lake and then spent two days at Aung San Suu Kyi's residence earlier this month.

Yettaw, a 53-year-old former US army veteran from Missouri, and two female aides who live with the opposition leader are also on trial.

The government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper gave more details of the case on Wednesday, saying Aung San Suu Kyi had offered Yettaw cookies and two meals during his time there.

It also said he had entered her house by climbing up a drain.

Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers have described Yettaw as a "fool" and said she only allowed the American, reportedly a diabetic, to stay after he complained of suffering from leg cramps.

She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the military regime refused to recognise her party's landslide victory in the last elections to be held in Burma in 1990.

Generals have ruled the country since 1962 and are currently keeping more than 2,000 political activists in jail, many of them in appalling conditions inside Insein prison.

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