US calls for Suu Kyi's immediate release as she is moved to house arrest

Washington: The United States on Friday called for Myanmar to immediately release deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi after the junta said it would move her to house arrest, five years since putting her into detention in a coup.

A senior source from her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party told AFP she would likely be kept under arrest at an address in the capital Naypyidaw.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing toppled Suu Kyi's elected government in 2021, detaining her on a host of charges which rights groups say were confected to sideline her.


The ensuing civil war has killed thousands and displaced millions in the Southeast Asian country of roughly 50 million.

Suu Kyi, 80, remains massively popular inside Myanmar, but has been held almost completely incommunicado as her family warned of her ailing health.

"We continue to call for her immediate and unconditional release," a US State Department spokesman said.

"We urge the regime to ensure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has proper access to medical care given continued reports of her poor health."

The office of Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday shared a photograph seeming to show Suu Kyi sitting flanked by two men -- one in a khaki shirt and another in a police uniform.