West rebukes Myanmar on "trumped-up" Suu Kyi case

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Western critics slammed Myanmar's ruling generals on Friday for pressing "trumped-up" new charges against detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but the move drew only a mild rebuke from Asian neighbours.

The United States, Britain, the European Union, the United Nations and human rights groups condemned the trial that Suu Kyi faces from Monday on charges she broke the terms of her house arrest after an American intruder stayed in her home.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the "regime is clearly intent on finding any pretext, no matter how tenuous, to extend her unlawful detention."

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was deeply troubled by the "baseless" new charges against Suu Kyi and would raise the issue with China and Southeast Asian countries.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that "instead of being arrested she should have been released from house arrest, which was a clear violation of international law as determined by the United Nations."

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the charges should be dropped and told Myanmar to "release her immediately from her existing detention which is illegal, even under Myanmar's own laws."

"Myanmar authorities might claim Aung San Suu Kyi has breached the conditions of her detention, but they have broken both their own laws and their international human rights obligations," Pillay said in a statement issued in Geneva.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also expressed "grave concerns" and said Suu Kyi "is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation."