UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Myanmar's move to democracy will lack credibility without the release of Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
In a statement released by his spokesman Tuesday Annan said if the ruling council does not engage in meaningful dialogue and release Suu Kyi from house arrest, Myanmar's seven-stage roadmap for democracy and reconciliation "will be incomplete, lacking in credibility" and without the support of the country's neighbors or the rest of the world.
Annan believes the National Convention, a body set up by Myanmar's leaders to help achieve peace and democracy, "does not currently adhere to" successive U.N. General Assembly resolutions.
He called on the ruling State and Peace Development Council to take advantage of last month's adjournment of the National Convention and seek the views of the National League for Democracy and other opposition groups.
Annan said Myanmar's rulers should immediately release Suu Kyi, the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and the General Secretary of the NLD, from house arrest. She has been confined to her home since last year.
