President Bush says he is deeply troubled by Burma's decision to continue the house arrest of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since 2003. He called on Burma this week to release all of its political prisoners and to begin a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party, the National League for Democracy, as well as with other pro-democracy and ethnic minority groups.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack says the extension of the Nobel Peace laureate's house arrest was hardly a surprise, and calls it "a sad commentary" on the state of political freedom in Burma. But McCormack says it will not affect U.S. efforts to help the Burmese people recover from Cyclone Nargis.
"We're going to continue to speak out about the nature of the regime and certainly our previous public statements about the terrible state of human rights in Burma stand and we'll continue to speak out on behalf of human rights," says McCormack. "But part of trying to do what is right for the Burmese people is to provide humanitarian assistance in this time of extreme need."
