The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, today strongly condemned the recent decision of the Burmese government to extend the house arrest of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi.
"The decision of the Burmese regime to extend the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi marks a further set back for the people of Burma and their aspiration to live in a free and democratic society," said Mr Ahern. "The Government, together with our EU partners, will continue to use every opportunity to press the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and to allow her and her party to play their full part in the process of national reconciliation and democratisation."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern
The Minister also called on the Burmese authorities to allow the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Mr Razali Ismail, to travel to Burma at the earliest opportunity and, while there, to visit Ms Suu Kyi.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 but was denied power by the army, which has run the country in various guises since 1962.
Ms Suu Kyi (59), has been confined to her home for much of the past 15 years, her phone cut off and requiring official permission to recieve visitors.
Her latest detention began in May last year after a bloody clash between opposition and government supporters which Washington said was orchestrated by the junta, a charge it denies.
Her confinement has outraged the West and embarrassed Burma's neighbours in the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Burma is due to chair in 2006.