Myanamar Pro-Democracy Leader Faces Junta Trial

Myanamar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to face trial for breaching the conditions of her detention under house arrest, her lawyer has said.

Suu Kyi will stand trial on 18 May, her lawyer, Hla Myo Myint, said. She was taken to a prison from her home in Rangoon, where she has spent most of the past 19 years, to hear the charges.

A US man whose uninvited visit to her home led to the charges, will also be tried on immigration and security offences, the lawyer added, cited by the BBC.

The American man, John Yettaw, was arrested after swimming across a lake to her house and staying there secretly for two days. The charges are yet to be confirmed by the government.

The Nobel Peace laureate has been under house arrest for much of the past 19 years.

The latest detention began in May 2003, after clashes between opposition activists and supporters of Myanmar's military government.

The house arrest was extended last year, a move which analysts say is illegal even under the junta's own legal limits.

It is now due to expire at the end of May. Earlier this month, the military government rejected an appeal for the 63-year-old to be freed, despite NLD claims that she was suffering from low blood pressure and dehydration.

Suu Kyi was detained after the NLD's victory in a general election in 1990. Burma's junta refused to allow the party to assume power.

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