Myanmar hopes high for Suu Kyi release

Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since September 2000

YANGON, Myanmar -- Speculation is growing in Myanmar that the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi may be imminent after 18 months under de facto house arrest.

Hopes have been raised after the visit to Myanmar, formerly Burma, last week by United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail.

During his four-day visit he held talks with leading generals in Myanmar's military government and Aung San Suu Kyi herself in her lakeside home.

Razali, who left the country on Friday, has since been quoted as saying he expects a "major development" to occur in the next few days, although he stopped short of saying this might include Aung San Suu Kyi's release.

"I think something big will happen, something notable," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday.

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Razali's visit was seen as a last ditch attempt to kickstart talks between the military government and the opposition which he first brokered almost two years ago.

Diplomats said they were looking for some concrete sign from the generals that they were serious about political change and not just mouthing words in the hope of easing crippling international sanctions.

Razali's comments followed statements from several ministers in the Myanmar government hinting that some kind of breakthrough may be on the cards.

'Wait and see'

Over the weekend Myanmar Labor Minister Tin Win told reporters that the government would make a major announcement "in a few days."

Asked if this was to announce the outcome of talk with the U.N. envoy he said only: "Just wait and see."

On Tuesday Reuters quoted a source in Myanmar it said was close to the ruling regime, confirming to the news agency that the government would announce the opposition leader's release.

"It will be more than the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and some other political prisoners. It will be a breakthrough in Myanmar politics," Reuters quoted the source as saying.

Under the deal, Aung San Suu Kyi would agree to co-operate with the military government in administering humanitarian work in fields such as health and education, the source added.

Cleaning

Witnesses have reported unusual activity in the area outside Aung San Suu Kyi's Yangon home

Reports have also quoted witnesses as saying they had seen unusual activity outside Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside villa on Tuesday.

They said municipal workers had been seen cleaning and sweeping the area around her home on Yangon's University Avenue.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under various forms of house arrest for most of the past 12 years.

Although the government has refused to call her current detention 'house arrest', since September 2000 she has not been allowed to leave her home, her phone has been cut, and visitors have been strictly vetted by government officials.

In 1990 her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in national elections.

However, the military -- which has ruled Myanmar since 1962 -- refused to recognize the result, instead rounding up and jailing hundreds of NLD members.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International estimates that as many as 1,500 NLD members remain in Myanmar's jails, never having been convicted of a crime.