Bangkok  - Myanmar freed 127 political prisoners in an amnesty of 7,114 jail inmates last week, a prison-watch group based in Thailand said Tuesday.

Myanmar's junta announced a general amnesty Thursday for the prisoners "on humanitarian grounds" and began freeing inmates Friday.

But according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a group based on the Thai-Myanmar border, only 127 political prisoners were released under the amnesty, of whom 43 were members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, who remained under house detention.

"Important political figures like Daw [Madam] Aung San Suu Kyi, Shan NDL leader U Khun Tun Oo, 88 Generation Students leader Min Ko Naing and other prominent activists are still in prison because the regime perceives them as a threat to its absolute power," association head Tate Naing said.

The 88 Generation Students is a group behind the 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was brutally suppressed by the military in a country that has been under military rule since 1962.

The current military regime, which came to power on September 16, 1988, had released 45,732 prisoners under six previous amnesties, but according to association, only
1.3 per cent of them were political prisoners.

An estimated 2,000 political prisoners remained in Myanmar jails, 124 of whom are known to be in poor health.

"We are happy for those political prisoners released and for their loved ones, but from a political perspective, this is just a cynical ploy designed to ease international pressure," Tate Naing said.

Myanmar has been under increasing pressure from the international community to release all its political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, prior to a general election planned in 2010.

Without participation by the country's main opposition figures, the polls would lack credibility and would not be accepted by the international community, both the regime's critics and allies have warned.

"There can be no real progress towards democracy in our country until all political prisoners are released," Tate Naing said.  dpa