'Suu Kyi detainment reasonable'

'Suu Kyi detainment reasonable'

THAILAND: Myanmar's military junta has reasonable and
convincing reasons for continuing to keep pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra said Saturday.

Speaking on his weekly radio broadcast, Thaksin said he asked
Myanmar's leaders about the Nobel Peace laureate's detention on a
trip Thursday to the Southeast Asian nation. The response from
the ruling generals was that political instability caused by Suu
Kyi's release could lead the country to break up, he said.

More than 100 different ethnic groups exist in Myanmar, the
junta told Thaksin, and unless stability was assured, all would
want to have their own states.

"(Myanmar) will be torn apart into many different countries,"
Thaksin quoted the junta as saying. "(The) country will be a
mess, nothing will be left.

"These are the reasons they gave (for holding Suu Kyi), which
are reasonable enough and convincing, because I have witnessed
many things in their process," said Thaksin, without elaborating.
-- AP