BURMA: Speculation mounted in Burma yesterday that the opposition leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, may be released from house arrest as a UN envoy spoke of an imminent breakthrough in his efforts to end the country's political deadlock.
A government source said yesterday that she will be released "within a day or two".
Burma's military junta has kept the Nobel Peace Prize winner confined to her house since September 2000 after she defied the authorities by trying to travel outside Rangoon for a political meeting.
As a delegation of media and diplomats waited in anticipation outside her house, a government source said the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader would not be given her liberty yesterday.
"The NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be released today. The government is making arrangements to release her from house detention within a day or two," he said. "If released from house detention, she will be able to go any place she likes as before," he said, declining to elaborate.
Diplomats and analysts believe a release this week would signal that the junta and the opposition leader have forged an agreement on how Ms Suu Kyi (56) will be permitted to operate as leader of the NLD.
"She has always asked that if she were to be released she doesn't go back to her conditions between 1995 and 2000 when she didn't have the right to leave Rangoon," said one source.
"But this unlimited movement for her could happen gradually and it's very possible she could use quite a lot of self-restraint." Apart from the release, the international community is watching for a highly anticipated statement on the progress and content of the secret national reconciliation talks. Ms Suu Kyi's release, they believe, would signify that the process is at a stage where both sides are confident it can withstand public scrutiny, heightening the prospect of an end to four decades of military rule.
A release would be credited squarely to the efforts of the UN special envoy, Mr Ismail Razali, who brokered landmark talks between Ms Suu Kyi and the junta which began in October 2000 and are aimed at introducing democratic reforms.
"This would be a goodwill gesture for the international community.
"It's a result of Razali's visit, and it's part of the continuum of the dialogue process," the source said.
Observers spent yesterday watching closely for signs of a release, particularly as major announcements are typically made ahead of important holidays, like today's May Day celebrations. A high-ranking junta official made a rare visit to Ms Suu Kyi's lakeside home yesterday morning, heightening speculation she would soon be freed.
Brig-Gen Than Tun, the official liaison officer between the opposition leader and the regime, spent 10 minutes at the University Drive residence, in his first visit for several months.
Brig-Gen Than Tun, the head of the political department of the defence ministry, does not see Ms Suu Kyi on a regular basis, but typically only when there is a matter that needs to be attended to.
The two are known to have a friendly working relationship. Mr Razali said yesterday that there is immense expectation for the junta to release Ms Suu Kyi, who recently received the freedom of Dublin and is the widow of an Oxford don.