Free Suu Kyi, world leaders tell Rangoon

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who is founder and president of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, released a letter signed by the former leaders urging the Burmese junta to free Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, 61, has been under house arrest at her home in Rangoon for 11 of the past 17 years without charge or trial.

In a letter dated May 14 and addressed to the head of the Burmese junta, General Than Shwe, the 59 signatories called "for the immediate release of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi".

Her latest period in detention began after a May 2003 attack on her convoy by a junta-backed militia.

Her detention comes up for review on May 27 - an "excellent opportunity" for her release, the letter said - though the junta has on several past occasions extended her house arrest.

Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, but was not allowed to make the trip to Oslo to receive the award. It was presented to her two sons, Alexander and Kim, who live in Britain.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is not calling for revolution in Burma, but rather peaceful, non-violent dialogue, between the military, National League for Democracy (Suu Kyi's party), and Burma's ethnic groups," the letter said.

The signatures come from former leaders in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. In a highly unusual move, this large group of leaders across the political spectrum joined together, showing the unanimity of world opinion on the matter.

From Southeast Asia, leaders included former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, Cambodian prime minister Ung Huot, former Indonesian presidents Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri, Filipino former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicly called for her release in January but received no response.