30 Suu Kyi men arrested in Myanmar

They were arrested at different spots around Yangon as they prepared to join a weekly prayer vigil, said Han Zaw, a spokesman for her National League for Democracy party.

"One group leader, Su Su Nway, and about 20 people were arrested on their way to a pagoda in Insein Township for their prayer vigil," Han Zaw told AFP.

"Another 11 people were also arrested in separate incidents. They were spotted because they were wearing T-shirts saying 'Free Aung San Suu Kyi'," he said.

Police declined to comment on the arrests.

Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters began holding a weekly prayer vigil on May 1 to seek her freedom. The order confining her to her home comes up for renewal on May 27, although it has been routinely extended in the past.

The 61-year-old Nobel peace laureate has spent more than a decade confined to her home in three major periods of house arrest. Her latest forced isolation began after a pro-junta mob staged a deadly attack on her convoy four years ago.

Former US president Bill Clinton and 56 other former world leaders on Monday appealed to Myanmar's military regime to free Suu Kyi, according to the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights.

The NLD on Monday also called for her immediate and unconditional release.

The party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never allowed them to take office. Myanmar has been ruled by the military in various guises since 1962.