Suu Kyi to spend another birthday alone

The opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate, known to many of her followers simply as "The Lady," has spent more than 10 of the past 17 years under house arrest at her lakeside residence in central Yangon.

Her only contact with the outside world has been a shortwave radio and a monthly visit from her doctor. She lives with two maids but is not allowed to receive guests, including her two adult sons.

Hopes for her release ran high after the isolated military regime allowed a top United Nations envoy to visit her on May 20 -- the first meeting between a foreigner and the pro-democracy leader in two years.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also urged junta leader General Than Shwe to free her.

Instead, the regime extended her house arrest by another year on May 27 and rebuffed an ensuing international uproar, calling her detention an internal matter.

The United States, a vocal critic of Myanmar, responded by saying it would pursue an unprecedented UN Security Council resolution to condemn the junta's repressive policies.

But despite rising international pressure on the country formerly known as Burma, isolated for its abuses against dissidents and ethnic minorities, analysts and diplomats say the regime is unlikely to set her free anytime soon.

"The government is afraid of Aung San Suu Kyi because she is still very popular among the people," a Yangon-based diplomat told AFP, asking not to be named. "If she goes free, she can quickly draw people and call for democracy."

Soe Aung, a spokesman for the Network for Democracy and Development, a Thai-based group of Myanmar's pro-democracy exiles, agreed.

"The government is afraid of her charisma," he said. "If she is freed, she will travel all over the country to demand democracy. The government cannot stop her."

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country's independence leader General Aung San, studied and worked abroad, including for the United Nations, but returned to Myanmar in 1988 to care for her ailing mother.