Myanmar bans Suu Kyi from attending ceremonies

The junta left the 61-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who has spent 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest, locked in her home.

Myanmar's military junta barred pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from honouring her father on Wednesday at annual ceremonies paying tribute to him and other slain independence leaders.

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The junta left the detained 61-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who has spent 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest, locked in her home. She was also barred last year but has attended previously.

The regime also stopped members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party from attending the ceremonies in the capital Yangon.

Instead, national police chief Khin Yee and the culture minister, Lieutenant General Khin Aung Myint, laid wreaths at a mausoleum in an official ceremony.

Aung San Suu Kyi's older brother, Aung San Oo, attended to represent the family. Unlike his sister, he has steered clear of politics.

The NLD planned its own small ceremony at party headquarters later in the day.

A heavy security presence and numerous checkpoints were scattered across Yangon after the government last week accused the NLD and other dissidents of plotting with "terrorists" to disrupt the annual event.

The ceremony marks the 1947 killing of General Aung San, a nationalist hero, and members of his cabinet.

The general and eight others were shot in a plot attributed to U Saw, a pre-World War II political leader.

Myanmar, then known as Burma, achieved independence from Britain in January 1948 and has been ruled by the military since 1962.

Its junta has been heavily criticised for its autocratic rule and the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.