Protests mark Suu Kyi's birthday
Hundreds of pro-democracy activists have gathered in the Burmese capital, Rangoon, to mark the 59th birthday of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

From the BBC News

They went to the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD), where monks offered prayers and party representatives called for her release.

The commemoration came as the US State Department again called for Ms Suu Kyi and her deputy, Tin Oo, to be freed.

The two have spent more than a year under house arrest.

Ms Suu Kyi has also been confined on two previous occasions and has now spent nearly nine of the past 15 years in some form of detention.

In Saturday's commemorations, supporters released nine doves of peace and sent balloons floating into the sky.

They shouted "Free Aung San Suu Kyi" before marching towards the city's famous Shwedagon pagoda.

International concern

US Secretary of State Colin Powell sent his personal greetings to Ms Suu Kyi, while a statement issued by the State Department described her continued detention as "without cause and unacceptable".

The State Department urged the Burmese government to work with the NLD to restore democracy - but the BBC's correspondent in the region, Kylie Morris, says that is unlikely to happen.

Our correspondent says the Burmese government's trenchant position is causing problems with its neighbours - fellow members of the Asean group of nations who normally do not comment on one another's internal affairs.

Despite this, Thailand and Malaysia have both raised Ms Suu Kyi's continued detention with Burma's Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who has now postponed plans to visit a number of other countries in the region.

Last month, the Burmese government opened talks on a new constitution, but NLD members refused to attend while Ms Suu Kyi was still in detention.

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