Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi to be released in next few days:

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi to be released in next few days: source

Agence France-Presse Yangon

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for the past 18 months, will be released "within a day or two", a government source said on Tuesday.

United Nations envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail, who made a four-day visit to Myanmar last week, hinted in Kuala Lumpur earlier Tuesday that Aung San Suu Kyi's release could be imminent.

As a delegation of media and diplomats waited in anticipation outside her house, the government source said the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader would not be given her liberty on Tuesday.

"The NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be released today. The government is making arrangements to release her from house detention within a day or two," he told AFP.

"If released from house detention, she will be able to go any place she likes as before," he said, declining to elaborate.

However, Aung San Suu Kyi was in fact strictly forbidden to leave Yangon, and the house arrest restrictions were laid down in September 2000 after she attempted to defy the ban and travel to the northern city of Mandalay.

Diplomats and analysts believe a release this week would signal that the junta and the opposition leader have forged an agreement on how Aung San Suu Kyi will be permitted to operate as leader of the NLD.

"She has always asked that if she were to be released she doesn't go back to her conditions between 1995 and 2000 when she didn't have the right to leave Yangon," said one source.

"But this unlimited movement for her could happen gradually and it's very possible she could use quite a lot of self- restraint."

Apart from the release, the international community is watching for a highly anticipated statement on the progress and content of the secret national reconciliation talks.

Aung San Suu Kyi's release, they believe, would signify that the process is at a stage where both sides are confident it can withstand public scrutiny, heightening the prospect of an end to four decades of military rule.

A release would be credited squarely to the efforts of Razali, who brokered landmark talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta which began in October 2000 and are aimed at introducing democratic reforms.

"This would be a goodwill gesture for the international community. It's a result of Razali's visit, and it's part of the continuum of the dialogue process," the source said.

Myanmar observers spent Tuesday watching closely for signs of a release, particularly as major announcements are typically made ahead of important holidays, like Wednesday's May Day celebrations.

A high-ranking Myanmar junta official made a rare visit to Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside home on Tuesday morning, heightening speculation she would soon be freed.

Brig. Gen. Than Tun, the official liaison officer between the opposition leader and the regime, spent 10 minutes at the University Drive residence, in his first visit for several months.

Than Tun, the head of the political department of the defense ministry, does not see Aung San Suu Kyi on a regular basis, but typically only when there is a matter that needs to be attended to.

The two are known to have a friendly working relationship, and for many years he has been charged with acting as her official government escort at important events and national celebrations.

Analysts say the notoriously secretive junta is likely to go to great lengths to ensure a release remains low-key, as they are terrified adoring crowds will rush to the lakeside villa to greet her.

Despite the regime's dogged efforts over the years to demonise and vilify the democracy leader, she commands immense support and loyalty among ordinary Myanmar citizens.

For the last 18 months the street that runs past her home -- normally a busy thoroughfare -- has been closed off to traffic and barbed-wire barricades erected to prevent unauthorized access.

However, on Tuesday road crews were seen patching up potholes and generally neatening up the area, in apparent readiness for her to be freed.