UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday made a direct appeal to Myanmar's junta leader to release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi when her house arrest comes under review this weekend.
"I'm relying on you, General Than Shwe, to do the right thing," Annan said in a statement in Bangkok, one day before the term of her current house arrest expires.
"Her release will facilitate national dialogue and allow the National League for Democracy (NLD) to participate in that dialogue," he said. "The government will be reviewing her status within 24 hours," he said. "I take this opportunity to appeal to General Than Shwe and the government to release her."
Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won 1990 elections in a landslide but has never been permitted to govern.
The order confining the Nobel peace laureate to her home expires Saturday and hopes for her freedom were lifted last week when Myanmar's military rulers allowed her to meet with a visiting UN envoy.
UN under-secretary general Ibrahim Gambari said Wednesday there appeared to be a willingness by the Myamnar junta to "turn a new page in relations with the international community."
Annan said the visit by Gambari was "a welcome development for he was the first foreigner to see her in two years."