Aung San Suu Kyi sounded 'fairly healthy' in first call in five years, son says
Kim Aris spoke to his detained mother for 20 minutes as Myanmar's rulers increasingly publicise her contacts with the outside world.
Aung San Suu Kyi's son says the detained former Myanmar leader sounded "fairly healthy" when they spoke by telephone on Thursday. It was their first conversation in more than five years, CNA reported, citing comments he made to AFP.
Suu Kyi, 81, has been held since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup that ended a decade-long experiment with democracy. Myanmar authorities say she was moved in April from a prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, to house arrest there.
Kim Aris, who lives in the United Kingdom, said his mother told him she was in good health, though he noted that at 81 "things aren't getting any better". He said her first question was whether he was well. They mainly discussed family matters because they knew the call would be recorded.
Myanmar's presidential spokeswoman released photographs of the pair speaking on telephones, with Suu Kyi seated beneath a calendar marked with Thursday's date. An official statement described a 20-minute "consular telephone conversation", which Aris took from Myanmar's embassy in London.
It was the second rare update on the Nobel Peace Prize laureate this week. On Monday, authorities published pictures of her receiving a package from King Charles III, which they said contained two books about soil and a "sealed diplomatic communication". Buckingham Palace declined to comment. In August, authorities released images of her meeting Myanmar's Red Cross representative.
Analysts say the country's rulers are increasingly advertising Suu Kyi's wellbeing as they try to shed their post-coup pariah status. Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted her as military chief, was installed as civilian president in April after an election that democracy watchdogs called a charade. He has since been invited on numerous diplomatic trips, including to ASEAN nations. The regional bloc has excluded Myanmar from high-level meetings because it has failed to make meaningful progress on ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus.
Morgan Michaels, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP that authorities were "using" Suu Kyi to extract concessions from the international community. He said such gestures were likely to be well received even if insincere or tactical.
A former senior member of Suu Kyi's dissolved National League for Democracy, speaking anonymously for security reasons, said she was "not a hardliner" and would likely engage with Min Aung Hlaing if released.
This report is based on reporting by CNA: Myanmar's Suu Kyi sounded 'fairly healthy', son says after first call in years.
