Western governments lashed out at the extension of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest, but the outrage at Burma's generals was tempered by concern over disrupting aid flows to desperate cyclone victims.
The former Burma has been promised millions of dollars in Western aid after Cyclone Nargis, but this cut no ice with the junta regarding the opposition leader, who has been under house arrest or in prison for nearly 13 of the last 18 years.
Officials drove to Suu Kyi's lakeside Yangon home on Tuesday to read out an extension order in person, but it was unclear whether the extension was for six months or a year.
"It is more likely one year," said a senior police source close to officials in charge of Suu Kyi's detention.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who just returned to New York from an aid mission in Burma, expressed disappointment but refrained from sharp criticism.
"The sooner restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and other political figures are lifted, the sooner Burma will be able to move toward ... restoration of democracy and full respect for human rights," he said.
He added that his special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, would raise the issue of Suu Kyi with the junta. Gambari's previous missions have so far failed to coax any meaningful concessions from the generals.
Western nations were more forthright in their criticism of Suu Kyi's ongoing detention.
U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "deeply troubled" by the extension and called for the more than 1,000 political prisoners in Burmato be freed. However, the State Department said it would not affect U.S. cyclone aid.
The 62-year-old Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a 1990 poll by a landslide only to be denied power by the military, which has ruled the impoverished country for 46 years.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the generals missed a historic opportunity to reconcile "political life in Burma at a time when national and social cohesion, and solidarity and dialogue are more needed than ever."
