Detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to meet a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the first confirmed outside contact with her since a letter to her son two and a half years ago. Photographs released by the military government showed Suu Kyi appearing healthy during the meeting.
She was detained shortly after the armed forces deposed her government in 2021 and sentenced to 33 years in jail on what are widely viewed as trumped-up charges, although her sentence has been reduced and she has been moved to house arrest. Despite repeated assurances from the military that Suu Kyi is alive and well, they have never provided any convincing evidence of this.
Her son Kim Aris has in recent months mounted an international campaign demanding proof of life for the 81-year-old democracy icon. Now a delegation from the ICRC has been allowed to meet her, marking her first confirmed meeting with anyone outside the government for nearly four years.
Photographs released of her with the ICRC team show Suu Kyi looking relaxed and well, although no details of her state of health have been given, nor of what they talked about.
Why does the meeting matter?
The meeting matters because it is the first confirmed outside contact with Aung San Suu Kyi in nearly four years and the strongest public indication yet that she may be alive and being held in acceptable conditions. It also comes after months of pressure from her son and repeated calls for proof of life.
The Myanmar government, still headed by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and dominated by the military despite an election held earlier this year, is trying to end its diplomatic isolation in a series of official visits to neighbouring countries. Among the top demands being made of Myanmar's military leadership is that they end the aerial bombardment of opposition-held areas, start negotiations to end the civil war, and release Aung San Suu Kyi.
They have so far rejected those calls, but the publication of this morning's meeting suggests they may be willing to accede to the last demand.
Watch: The rebels at the front line of Myanmar's civil war
What pressure is Myanmar facing?
Myanmar's military leadership is facing international pressure on several fronts, including demands to stop aerial bombardment of opposition-held areas, begin negotiations to end the civil war, and release Aung San Suu Kyi. The government has rejected those demands so far, even as it seeks to reduce its diplomatic isolation through official visits to neighbouring countries.
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