RI special envoy Alatas not to meet Suu Kyi

RI special envoy Alatas not to meet Suu Kyi

Agencies, Yangon

Indonesian special envoy Ali Alatas, who held talks with
Myanmar's top military leader on Tuesday, will not meet detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi while she is still recovering
from surgery.

Suu Kyi, 58, was doing well at a private Yangon hospital, but
her doctor has ruled out visitors while she rests, Western
diplomats said on Tuesday.

Alatas arrived in Myanmar on Sunday seeking to persuade the
military government to release the 1991 Nobel peace laureate who
had been held at a secret location for more than three months
despite international outrage and concern for her health.

Alatas, a former foreign minister, said on Monday he had asked
to see Suu Kyi, who underwent surgery for unspecified
gynecological problems last week.

"He will not see her," an Indonesian diplomat told Reuters
after Alatas met Gen. Than Shwe, the chairman of Myanmar's ruling
military council.

The diplomat gave no details of the one-hour meeting.

Separately, the Philippines urged Myanmar on Tuesday to free
Suu Kyi during the Alatas' visit.

"The visit of Minister Ali Alatas provides an important
opening for Myanmar to seriously consider releasing Daw Suu Kyi,"
Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said in a statement.

"We strongly support the efforts of Indonesia to help initiate
the release of Daw Suu Kyi and genuine democratic reforms," he
added.

Indonesia, current chairman of the 10-member Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has made clear it wants Yangon
to free the democracy icon before its leaders meet next month in
Bali.

In June, it gave Yangon an unprecedented rebuke over Suu Kyi's
detention after a bloody clash between her followers and
government supporters on May 30.

There has been no confirmation of the nature of the operation
on Suu Kyi. Her doctor, Tin Myo Win, briefed a group of Western
diplomats on Tuesday, saying only that she was fine and the
surgery showed no signs of cancer.

"He can't allow anyone to visit her because of her medical
condition. She is recovering and everything is okay," one
diplomat told Reuters after the briefing.

Medical sources said Suu Kyi had her uterus removed.

There has been speculation that the operation may provide a
face-saving way out for the military government before the ASEAN
Summit on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8.

It provides an opportunity to allow Suu Kyi to return to her
Yangon home to recover under house arrest, as she has been for
more than half of the last 14 years.

Diplomats said Suu Kyi's move could coincide with a visit by
United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail, who is due to arrive
on Sept. 30 on his 11th mission to the country.

The military council "may not want to deny Razali Ismail
access to Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he has met so many times. We
think they will move her back home before Razali arrives," one
said.

"They may decide to send her home but keep on restricting her
movements and access to her."

Myanmar says Suu Kyi is being held for her own protection and
has promised to release her when the political temperature cools.
Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to victory in
a general election in 1990, but the military blocked the party
from taking office.