BURMA: Burma's military government said yesterday that detained opposition leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi had not been harmed in last week's clashes between her supporters and pro-government groups, rejecting rumours she had been injured.
World leaders have urged Burma to release the Nobel peace laureate and democracy leader, who was detained on Friday after violence erupted as she toured a northern town.
The government said four people were killed and 50 injured in the disturbances, but there has been a flurry of rumours in Burma dissident circles, which include many exiles in Thailand, that she had received a head injury.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Khin Maung Win told diplomats in Rangoon that was not true.
"The minister said that reports that Aung San Suu Kyi was injured were false," said a diplomat who attended a briefing.
He said the junta cited "security" as the reason they would not divulge where she was being held in "protective custody".
In Malaysia, an aide of a UN special envoy to Burma said he still planned to visit the country this Friday, despite Ms Suu Kyi's detention and a crackdown on her party.
"We've received no indication from the government that he can't go," said the aide to veteran Malaysian diplomat Mr Razali Ismail. - (Reuters)