Suu Kyi 'ready' to work with junta

BURMA: Detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday she was ready to work with Burma's military junta to ensure proposed negotiations on political reform were a success.

The statement by Ms Suu Kyi, issued on her behalf by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, followed a September crackdown on pro-democracy protests in which at least 10 people were killed. "In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to co-operate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success," said the statement by Ms Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

At the end of a six-day trip to Burma, Mr Gambari said in Singapore that he managed to establish a path towards "substantive dialogue" between the generals and Ms Suu Kyi. He was heading to New York, where he will brief UN Security Council members next week on his second visit to Burma since the crackdown.

© 2007 Reuters

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times