Myanmar's Suu Kyi may lose home

Aung San Suu Kyi continues to fight for democracy in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could stand to lose her home after a court ruled that her brother has the theoretical right to inherit the property.

On Monday a court in the capital Yangon rejected an application by the Nobel Peace Laureate to have a claim by her estranged brother Aung San Oo for a share of the property dismissed.

Aung San Oo, who has been living in the United States for several years and has American citizenship, is claiming the right to inherit the house.

He has fought a long legal battle for the property, in which his sister has lived in for more than a decade and where she is now held under de facto house arrest.

The house is located in Yangon's elite residential area on University Avenue.

Aung San Suu Kyi has used the house as a base for her struggle to bring democracy to the country since she returned in 1998.

As General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), she won a landslide victory in 1990 general elections, but the ruling military has refused to recognize the result.

Instead the armed forces, which have run Myanmar for most of the last 40 years, arrested several NLD leaders and closed many of its offices

Aung San Suu Kyi was herself placed under house arrest.

Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, was assassinated in 1947 when the country was on the threshold of independence from Britain. He is revered in Burma as a national hero.

The timing of the court case has caused some observers to question whether it has been designed to put pressure on the opposition leader when she is reported to be taking part in secret talks with the military over the country's future.

The government maintains the issue is purely a domestic family affair.

The hearing of the case has been adjourned until November 2.