YANGON: Myanmar’s detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a Red Cross representative on Monday, the humanitarian group said, her first publicised meeting with a foreign official since she was oustedin a2021coup.
The military deposed Suu Kyi in Feb 2021, jailing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and triggeringan ongoing civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitor ACLED.
The coupleaderandformer junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, was installed as civilian president in April followinghighlyrestricted elections, which did not include Suu Kyi’s party.
Analysts say the vote was part of an effort to whitewash Min Aung Hlaing’s rule.
A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that its resident representative to Myanmar, Arnaud de Baecque, visited Suu Kyi on Monday.
The visit included the opportunity to speak with Suu Kyi ‘in private’, the ICRC said in a statement.
Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, has sought independently verified proof that his mother is alive after she was transferred from prison to house arrest in April following Min Aung Hlaing’s change in posi-tion.
Kim Aris, a British national, described the ICRC meeting as ‘an important first step’ that brought hope. He said in a social media post he hoped the meeting would lead to ‘greater humanitarian access, direct contact with my mother, credible and independently verified information about her wellbeing, and ultimately her immediate andunconditionalrelease, together with all political prisoners’.
The Myanmar president’s office earlier announced the meeting, releasing photos of Suu Kyi shaking hands and sitting with de Baecque.
The ICRC spokesperson confirmed the veracity of the two images, and said the group did not take them. ‘We are happy to see her photo like this...
We can know now that she’s alive,’ a veteran politician ofher party said.
Suu Kyi ‘should be released immediately as she’s being detained unlawfully’, the politician added.
Government spokeswoman Khaing Khaing Soe said in a statement that the meeting lasted more than 30 minutes. Suu Kyi’s health was ‘stable and in good condition’, she said, the government’s usual description of the politician’s well-being.-AFP