Burma's Trial of Suu Kyi Hinders Cyclone Relief

Aid Groups Cite International Outrage

BANGKOK, June 10 -- International donors have warned that the trial of Burmese opposition leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi has made it more difficult to raise money for the victims of last year's cyclone, an official said Wednesday.

"They said there might be some delay, some reservation, that the issue is not separate from the deliberation and consideration of further engagement," Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said after meeting with donors in Bangkok.

Aid groups have been struggling to raise money to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma, also called Myanmar, in May 2008. The cyclone killed at least 140,000 people and left 2.4 million homeless.

"We should be scaling up our efforts, but political considerations are going to make that difficult," a European diplomat said on the condition of anonymity. "It's not only the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, it is the whole political situation in Myanmar."

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years. She could face another five years' imprisonment if she is found guilty of breaching the terms of her detention by allowing an American, John W. Yettaw, to stay overnight after he swam across a lake to her house.

On Wednesday, Suu Kyi instructed her lawyers to launch a further appeal against a decision banning two defense witnesses from testifying. The court is expected to reconvene Friday.

The trial has sparked international outrage, and the fallout is being felt by those in charge of aid budgets.

"They certainly mentioned the fact that it has not helped the inclination of their constituencies to engage more fully," Pitsuwan said of the donors.

Despite her prolonged incarceration, Suu Kyi represents the most serious challenge to the rule of Burma's generals, and critics of the ruling junta say they think that authorities are using Yettaw's uninvited visit as a reason to keep her in jail until after elections next year.

Burma is a member of ASEAN, and the regional group is coordinating the post-Nargis aid program. But relations have been strained since Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand's prime minister and the current chairman of ASEAN, criticized Burma's decision to put Suu Kyi on trial. That provoked a strong response from Burmese authorities, who accused Thailand of interfering in Burma's domestic affairs.