Myanmar reopens opposition HQ
YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar's military government has reopened the headquarters for the opposition's National League for Democracy almost a year after shutting it down.
Officials broke open the lock on the pro-democracy party's door near the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital Yangon on Saturday, news agencies reported. The party is led by detained Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ruling generals shut down the office on May 31 after a bloody clash between Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters and a pro-government group.
The reopening comes one month before a convention aimed at producing a draft constitution to move the country toward democracy.
The NLD has refused to consider joining the talks until Aung San Suu Kyi and party vice chairman Tin Oo are freed from house arrest and meet with other senior party leaders.
Suu Kyi has been detained by Myanmar officials for nearly a year. While Myanmar's military government has said previously that Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed, it has refused to specify when.
Myanmar -- formerly Burma -- is due to hold a national convention to draft a constitution on May 17 as part of its road map to democracy.
Myanmar's military has ruled the country since 1962. The government remains largely isolated with the United States, the European Union and Japan either imposing sanctions or withholding aid.
In 1990, the nation's military rulers refused to acknowledge an 82 percent landslide victory by the NLD. But many people outside the nation consider the NLD the legitimate government.
In March Myanmar's appointed prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, met with U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail, on a mission to bring Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition NLD and the regime closer to an agreement on restoring democracy.
The real head of government, however, is Gen. Than Shwe, who does not speak in public.
Aung San Suu Kyi, whose pro-democracy efforts in her country earned her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was detained in May 2003.
She was held for months in an undisclosed location after a clash between her supporters and a pro-government group.
After undergoing a medical operation in October, she was placed under virtual house arrest.
