Brussels - The European Union's leaders joined a worldwide push to hail detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's sixty-fourth birthday on Friday by issuing a 64-word statement in her honour and projecting an image of her face on to a key EU building.

"The European Council calls for the immediate unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has tirelessly defended universal values of freedom and democracy. Unless she is released, the credibility of the 2010 elections will be further undermined," a

draft statement for an EU summit on Friday said.

"The EU will respond with additional targeted measures. We urge Burma/Myanmar to embark on a genuine transition to democracy bringing peace and prosperity to its people," the statement said.

The statement, which counts 64 words if either the word Burma or the word Myanmar is deleted, comes as the latest step in a global internet-based campaign to highlight the Nobel Peace Prize winner's plight and honour her birthday with a 64-word message.

The campaign, www. 64forsuu. org, has already drawn statements from international names such as Paul McCartney, David Beckham and United Nations human-rights commissioner Mary Robinson.

The EU has long called on Myanmar authorities to release Suu Kyi, maintaining a lengthy list of sanctions on regime figures and companies linked to the military junta.

In a second paragraph, the EU statement hailed the call from Myanmar's neighbours for a "free, fair and inclusive political process" and gave its backing to UN efforts in the country.

In a further act of support, British diplomats overnight projected a giant image of Suu Kyi's face on to one of the European Union's headquarters buildings just opposite the summit venue.(dpa)