Myanmar extends Suu Kyi house arrest

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, a government source and diplomats said.

The official, who asked not to be named, said a government officer had gone to the Nobel laureate's home to read out a six-month extension order in person.

However, a Yangon-based diplomat said it was for a year.

Oxford-educated Suu Kyi, 62, has been under house arrest or in prison for nearly 13 of the last 18 years.

The extension is likely to dismay Western donor nations which have pledged tens of millions of dollars in conditional aid since Cyclone Nargis hit on May 2, leaving up to 2.4 million people destitute.

Activists criticised U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for not speaking out about Suu Kyi's detention during his weekend visit to Myanmar, which the U.N. chief said was purely a humanitarian mission.

"It is shameful that Ban Ki-Moon went to Burma and failed even to utter her name," Mark Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, said in a statement.

"He is playing into the regime's hands. The U.N. is crawling on its knees before the regime, afraid to speak the truth in case it affects aid access deals, which the regime is already breaking in any case," he said.