YANGON - Myanmar's military-backed government on Monday released rare photos of the country's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, receiving letters and books from Britain's King Charles.
Observers believe the move is meant to signal that the treatment of the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has improved as the pro-military government seeks to gain legitimacy and end its international isolation following the 2021 coup that toppled her democratically elected government.
A brief announcement accompanying the photos said officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs visited Suu Kyi at an undisclosed location for 10 minutes and delivered two books, a sealed letter and a sealed diplomatic communication, sent from the king.
Myanmar was formerly a British colony. Suu Kyi's family lives in Britain.
Suu Kyi, former state counsellor and de facto leader of Myanmar until her government was ousted by the military in February 2021, has been kept under house arrest in an undisclosed residence in the capital Naypyitaw since she was moved out of prison in April this year.
Min Aung Hlaing, the former commander-in-chief who carried out the coup and became president this April following much-criticized elections, is seen as aiming to end his government's isolation on the international stage.
Monday's move comes weeks ahead of the next summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila in November. ASEAN leaders are expected to discuss Myanmar's possible return to key political meetings of the grouping.
Myanmar, wracked by civil strife following the coup, has been sidelined from the regional bloc's key summits due to a lack of progress in implementing an ASEAN-proposed peace plan.
In August, the pro-military government released photos of the resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Myanmar meeting Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw.
