Suu Kyi’s son seeks Myanmar visa to visit mother

The democratic leader's inner circle is optimistic she will be released after this weekend's polls.

One of Aung San Suu Kyi’s two sons is seeking a visa to Myanmar to visit his mother for the first time in a decade,amid speculation the Opposition leader will be freed from house arrest after this weekend’s election.

Kim Aris,33,lives in Britain and last saw his mother in December 2000. He has repeatedly been denied visa ever since by the government in military-ruled Myanmar.

Suu Kyi’s lawyer Nyan Win said on Friday that Aris was in the Thai capital,Bangkok,and was “trying to get a visa to see his mother on her release”. He did not say if Aris had already submitted the visa request to the Myanmar Embassy,which could not be immediately reached for comment.

Myanmar will hold its first election in 20 years on Sunday and Suu Kyi’s latest detention expires shortly after on November 13. The military junta has not confirmed if it will release her,but Suu Kyi’s inner circle says they are optimistic.

“We all believe she will be released by November 13,” Nyan Win said.

Sunday’s elections will be the first since Suu Kyi’s opposition party won a landslide victory in 1990 that the junta ignored. The fresh vote,which Suu Kyi’s party has been banned from taking part in,has been slammed internationally as a sham designed to cement the military rule in the country.

The 65-year-old Suu Kyi’s political struggle has come at great personal cost. She has been imprisoned or under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years. She was first arrested in 1989 when her sons were 11 and 16.