Pro-democracy activists around the world have turned up the pressure on Burma after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 58th birthday on Thursday in prison.
Supporters held rallies in her honor across Europe, India, Japan, and Thailand.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell sent birthday greetings, but the U.S. embassy said it was unable to deliver them.
A State Department spokesman noted this was the seventh birthday Aung San Suu Kyi has spent in prison, and said he hoped she will celebrate future birthdays in a free Burma.
The British Foreign Office in London said it has learned she is being held in Burma's notoriously harsh Insein Prison outside Rangoon. An official said she is being confined to a two-room hut and has not been allowed to change clothes for almost three weeks.
Britain calls her detention unacceptable.
Canada says it is considering tougher sanctions against Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi rallies were held Thursday across Europe, India, Japan, and Thailand.
Burma's military government arrested her on May 30th after deadly clashes between opposition members and government supporters in the north.
It says she is being held for her own protection against unidentified assassins.
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung said Thursday at the ASEAN meeting in Cambodia his government takes worldwide criticism of its treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi very seriously. But he refused to say when she would be freed.
The ASEAN foreign ministers demanded Burma free the pro-democracy leader.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.