Junta extends Burma's Suu Kyi detention
Burma's military rulers extend house detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by six months
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Tuesday, 27, May 2008 12:59
Burma's military rulers have extended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by another six months.
Government officials visited the pro-democracy figurehead's Rangoon home on Tuesday to announce her continued detention.
Several supporters were arrested as they marched to her home, the Reuters news agency reports.
The 62-year-old has spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest.
In 1990 her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide election victory, but has never been allowed to govern.
Daw Suu Kyi's house arrest, which had been due to expire today, comes as the world's eyes are focused on Burma and its relief efforts following Cyclone Nargis.
More than 2.4 million people have been affected by the storm, which struck at the beginning of the month, with the junta coming under intense international criticism for initially refusing to allow foreign aid workers into the country.
Up to 134,000 people have been left dead or missing by the cyclone.
Official results of a nationwide referendum on Burma's new constitution, which critics say will strengthen their grip on power, have also been greeted with deep suspicion.
Votes were carried out in the weeks after Cyclone Nargis, but the country's rulers put turnout at 98 per cent, with the vast majority of Burmese voting in favour of the constitution.