Generals deny Suu Kyi in Insein jail

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is not being held at the infamous Insein prison as stated by the British government, the ruling military junta has told a Japanese envoy.

Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano said military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt had made it clear to him during talks on Monday that Aung San Suu Kyi was not being held in the jail.

Britain's last week that the Nobel peace laureate was languishing at Insein under a draconian internal security act, after the junta said she was only in "protective custody," drew widespread international outrage.

Asked Aung San Suu Kyi was being held at Insein, Yano said: "Secretary Khin Nyunt made it clear that he is aware of this kind of information, however, [he said] it is not a fact, it is not a fact."

Yano, speaking to reporters in Bangkok late on Monday upon arrival from a one-day mission in Yangon, did not say whether Khin Nyunt specified where Aung San Suu Kyi was being held.

The junta has consistently refused to specify where she has been detained, and UN special envoy Razali Ismail, who met with Aung San Suu Kyi early this month, was asked by the government not to disclose her location.

The Japanese envoy suggested he was not satisfied with the outcome of his mission, despite being the first senior official of a foreign government to visit Yangon since Razali.

"I tried to break the ice, but it didn't work out as I expected, due to the insufficient efforts made by the SPDC," he said.

He said the "close personal relations" between him and Khin Nyunt, the third ranking leader in the country whom he first met in 1998, was not enough to "break the ice of this stalemate."

Yano briefly with Khin Nyunt to deliver a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi demanding the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The letter also demanded an "accountable and transparent" explanation for deadly clashes that erupted May 30, when the democracy leader was arrested, Yano said.

The envoy added he requested that Japan's ambassador to Yangon be allowed to meet with her as soon as possible, though he did not say how the junta reacted to the request.

Aung San Suu Kyi and several of her party members were arrested during a political tour of northern Myanmar after a brutal attack on her entourage by a junta-backed mob.

The government said four people died in the melee, while diplomats, dissidents and rights groups say they believe dozens died.

Yano held talks with Home Minister Tin Hlaing, a key junta figure who monitors activities involving the opposition.

"The minister of interior [Tin Hlaing] made it clear that no legal measures have been taken towards Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

Yano not elaborate on the discussions regarding the democracy campaigner's legal status.

It was unclear whether the junta addressed whether Aung San Suu Kyi was being held under Section 10(a) of the 1975 State Protection Act, which allows for up to five years imprisonment without a legal charge.

UN General Kofi Annan said through a spokesman on Monday the democracy leader was being kept in "deplorable" conditions and should be released immediately.

The spokesman also said that Razali Ismail was told that Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under the 1975 law designed to "safeguard the state against the dangers of subversive elements".

Japan, Myanmar's top donor country, has threatened to cut off tens of millions of dollars in aid if it does not release Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections that were never recognized by Myanmar's rulers.