The United States asked the military rulers in Burma today to allow access to detained opposition leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi so the world can know for sure whether she has gone on hunger strike.
The United States said on Sunday she had gone on hunger strike. It repeated the assertion on Tuesday after the military junta denied it and other sources could not confirm it.
Today US State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher, asked for an update on the status of the detained opposition leader, said: "We had credible information about Aung San Suu Kyi being on a hunger strike. ... The junta now is denying that she's on a hunger strike but has failed to take the obvious step that would settle any concern or question: by allowing international observers to have access to her immediately.
"The junta in Burma can easily and unambiguously resolve all these concerns and reports, and resolve any questions by releasing her and, for that fact, allowing international access. So that's what we think they should do."
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, won elections in 1990 but the military prevented her party from taking office. She has been in and out of detention for the past 13 years, most recently the last three months despite repeated international appeals for her release.