Burma's generals have freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, but she is refusing to accept liberty until 35 colleagues are released from detention, UN envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has said. The UN human rights envoy said he had been told by the ruling generals during talks in Rangoon this week that Ms Suu Kyi, detained after a bloody clash between her followers and government supporters, was no longer under house arrest. Mr Pinheiro, who talked with Ms Suu Kyi for two hours on Thursday, said she demanded the release of 35 colleagues in the National League for Democracy before she would consider herself free. She also demanded an inquiry into the May 30 violence, which each side blames on the other, and for those responsible to be held accountable, he said. "She wants justice, not revenge," the Brazilian academic added. He quoted her as saying: "Let's move forward. Let's work so it doesn't happen again."
| For that to happen, you've got to fire the generals and probably disband the military and start a new one from scratch... |
However, Mr Pinheiro said, the generals who have ruled Burma since 1962 "have not yet agreed" to his offer to conduct "an independent assessment" of the May violence and gave no indication on when Ms Suu Kyi might move around again.
| Did anyone expect they would? Go ahead, raise your hand... Dumbass. |
She has made similar pronouncements before during the long periods she has spent confined to her lakeside house in Rangoon, including the last time when she emerged just weeks before the May violence. |