Nepalese Parliament wants Suu Kyi released

Kathmandu, Dec 16: The Nepalese Parliament has demanded the immediate release of pro-democracy leader of Myanmar, Ang San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest by the military dictatorship.

Speaker of the House Subhash Nembang presented the proposal for the release of popular leader and Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi.

''Suu Kyi symbolises Asian democracy,'' Mr Nembang said. Burmese leader Tint Swe was also present in the Parliament yesterday.

Members of the Ex-MPs' Club and the South Asian Forum for Peoples' Initiatives (SAFPI) took out a rally from Maitighar yesterday and submitted a memorandum to the United Nations Security Council through the UN office in Kathmandu, requesting the world body to pass a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar, The Himalayan Times said.

Mathew Kahane, UN resident representative in Nepal, said he would pass it to the UN Security Council.

''The issue of Myanmar is a long-standing one. I hope the council takes up the issue seriously,'' Kahane is quoted as saying.

Tint Swe and a representative of the SAFPI, Sudhindra Bhadoria, are here to participate in programmes being organised by the civil society and former MPs with an aim to press for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar and for the release of Suu Kyi.

''The Security Council should pass a binding resolution on the situation in Myanmar. We have already had a number of resolutions in the past to address our problem, but in vain,'' Swe said speaking at a programme in Kathmandu.

According to him, there are as many as 1,144 political prisoners, including 14 Members of Parliament, in Myanmar.

Nepalese parliamentarians of all political parties expressed their full support for the restoration of democracy in Burma and release of Suu Kyi.

UNI

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