Suu Kyi barred from honouring father

The junta left the detained 61-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who has spent 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest, locked in her home. She was also barred last year but had attended previously.

The regime also stopped members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party from attending the ceremonies in Yangon.

Instead, national police chief Khin Yee and the culture minister, Lieutenant General Khin Aung Myint, laid wreaths at a mausoleum in an official ceremony.

Aung San Suu Kyi's older brother, Aung San Oo, attended to represent the family. Unlike his sister, he has steered clear of politics.

The NLD held its own ceremony at party headquarters with some 500 people, including western diplomats.

Some 200 members of the NLD's youth wing then tried to bring flowers to the mausoleum but were stopped by police at a roadblock.

In a statement, the party renewed its calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the 1,100 other political prisoners believed held by Myanmar.

"The NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi is always working together with the people to find a solution through dialogue and national reconciliation, leading to the establishment of a union with a democratic system," it said.

A heavy security presence and numerous checkpoints were scattered across Yangon after the government last week accused the NLD and other dissidents of plotting with "terrorists" to disrupt the annual event.

The ceremony marks the 1947 killing of General Aung San, a nationalist hero, and members of his cabinet.