Laura Bush presses Myanmar gov't on Suu Kyi's release

WASHINGTON, May 23 Kyodo

U.S. first lady Laura Bush urged Myanmar's junta Wednesday to free Nobel peace laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The wife of President George W. Bush said at the launch of the U.S. Senate Women's Caucus on Burma -- Myanmar's former name -- also called on China to cooperate with the United States in restoring human rights in Myanmar.

''I think the people in the regime in Burma do know that their neighbors are losing patience,'' she said. ''And I think that's important for them to know, that the world is speaking together to them.''

''I think that China, especially, because of their closeness to Burma, should worry about the human rights abuses that are there,'' Laura Bush said. ''And so I urge China to stand with us, as well.''

In January, China, along with Russia, vetoed a draft resolution the United States tabled at the U.N. Security Council urging the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.

In Myanmar, Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has spent 11 of the last 17 years in confinement and has been held under house arrest since May 2003.

Although the NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide it was blocked by the military junta from taking power and thousands of political prisoners continue to be detained.

The junta is due to review Suu Kyi's detention Sunday. But it is widely expected that the country's military rulers will pay no heed to calls from around the world for her release.

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