From the ArcaMax Publishing, News & Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/newsheadlines/s-575566-836107
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said
Saturday he's been turned down in his bid to visit Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban told reporters traveling with him in Myanmar that the country's
ruling military junta rebuffed his request to see Suu Kyi, who has
been held under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, CNN
reported.
Ban made the comments after meeting with junta leader Than Shwe. The
U.N. leader was in Myanmar at the invitation of the government for
talks with officials, the U.S. broadcaster said. The Nobel Peace
Prize-winning Suu Kyi has been on trial for subversion in connection
with a May 3 incident in which an American man swam across a lake to
her house and stayed for at least a night.
The secretary-general's trip to the country formerly known as Burma is
intended to convince the generals to release Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners before the general election next year. Suu Kyi has
been under house arrest for much of the past two decades.
"This election should be a credible, fair, inclusive and legitimate
one where all the Myanmar people can express their will in a free
way," Ban said. "I was assured that Myanmar's authorities will make
sure that this election will be held in fair and free and transparent
manner."
Suu Kyi is being held in Insein Prison.