The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Bangkok

Senior diplomats from Britain and the United States on Friday urged Myanmar's military junta to include Aung San Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy party in a promised referendum and elections. Myanmar's generals earlier this month made a surprise announcement that they would bring the recently-completed constitution before the public for approval in May, setting the stage for elections in 2010 -- the first in two decades. Any hopes of real democratic reform in Myanmar were quickly dashed, however, when the regime said detained Aung San Suu Kyi could not run, while her National League for Democracy (NLD) party slammed the constitution. Meg Munn, a British foreign office minister, told reporters in Bangkok that the referendum in the country formally know as Burma must be a "genuine process" rather than a charade to quell growing world pressure.