US Secretary of State Colin Powell turned up pressure on Myanmar's military rulers over the detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he would seek action from their Asian neighbors at a meeting next week.
Powell's comments, in a signed article published in the Asian Wall Street Journal yesterday, were the latest expression of international outrage over the treatment of the pro-democracy activist, who is now in her 14th day of detention.
"The junta that oppresses democracy in Burma [Myanmar] must find that its actions will not be allowed to stand," he said in the commentary in which he called for financial measures against Myanmar's military rulers.
The junta took Suu Kyi into what it called "protective" custody during a trip to the north on May 30 after a violent clash between her supporters and government henchmen.
"The administration agrees with members of the US Congress... that the time has come to turn up the pressure on the SPDC," Powell wrote, referring to Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council, the body that detained Suu Kyi.
The US Senate voted 97-1 on Wednesday to approve a bill to ban all imports from the Myanmar in response Suu Kyi's detention.
Suu Kyi and about two dozen senior members of her National League for Democracy have been held at locations in or outside the Myanmar capital, sources said.
Powell said that he would use a trip to Asia next week for a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum to push Myanmar's neighbors to bring pressure to bear.
"I will press the case in Cambodia next week when I meet with the leaders of Southeast Asia despite their traditional reticence to confront a member and neighbor of their association," he wrote.
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