Suu Kyi calls for ASEAN support

Suu Kyi calls for ASEAN support

BANGKOK (AFP): Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
called on ASEAN on Tuesday to harden its stance toward the junta
in Yangon, saying the bloc does not have a "clear conscience" on
human rights.

The opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate accused
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) of hiding
behind concepts like "Asian values" and "non-interference" to
avoid taking on the junta.

"The democratization process in Burma can be accelerated if
the international community -- (ASEAN) in particular -- increases
pressure on the military regime," she wrote in an article for
Thailand's Nation daily.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party
won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta has
refused to yield power.

Thousands of democracy supporters, including scores of NLD
MPs, have been harassed and imprisoned since the election.