Burma's military junta has ignored an international plea to free opposition leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, who marks the 10th anniversary of her Nobel Peace prize under house arrest.
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A spokesman for the military regime said the government "warmly appreciates the opinions, concerns and interests of its partners in the international community" about democracy in Burma.
"[The government] believes that all of us are on the winning side already since we all have the common objective of creating a functioning democracy in Burma," an official statement said.
The statement was in response to a request for the regime's reaction to a petition signed by former Nobel Peace laureates urging the junta to free Ms Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 prize for her non-violent struggle to bring democracy to her country.
Burma's statement made no mention of Ms Suu Kyi or her house arrest. Instead, it said although there was no co-operation in the past between the government and Ms Suu Kyi's National League Party due to "misunderstanding", that was not the case today.
AP