Burma's National League of Democracy has called for the release of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 17 years under house arrest.
The opposition party made its appeal in a letter to Burma's military junta leader, General Than Shwe.
The request comes just weeks before Aung San Suu Kyi's current house arrest term is to end on May 27th.
Aung San Suu Kyi's latest period of detention came after an attack on her convoy by a pro-government mob in May 2003. She was charged with inciting unrest.
The Nobel laureate's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the military never allowed the party to take power.
