Police chief denies plot against Suu Kyi involving US national

Police chief denies plot against Suu Kyi involving US nationalYangon - Myanmar's police chief on Friday denied foreign media reports that the government plotted with a US national to keep pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under arrest.

In a rare press conference, police chief Major General Khin Yi repeatedly denied the junta used American John William Yettaw as a tool to keep Suu Kyi under arrest.

Yettaw, 53, swam to Suu Kyi's lakeside home on May 3 and stayed there until May 5. He had previously visited her compound in November uninvited and gave her servants a copy of the Book of Mormon.

As a result of the May 3-5 visit, Suu Kyi, 64, stands accused of breaking the terms of her house detention by allowing Yettaw to swim to her home and stay, albeit uninvited, in her compound.

Her two housekeepers, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, face similar charges for accommodating Yettaw's surprise visit, and Yettaw faces several months in jail for breaching various laws, including a prohibition against swimming in Inya Lake, on which Suu Kyi's family compound sits.

Some foreign media reports speculated that Myanmar's military government used Yettaw to set up Suu Kyi so they could keep her detained at least until after elections scheduled next year.

The reports argue Suu Kyi's house is surrounded by police and it would virtually impossible to get in without being detected.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent a total of 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. If found guilty of breaking the terms of her house detention, which officially ended on May 27, Suu Kyi faces a minimum of three years in jail and a maximum of five.

The court on July 31 postponed until August 11 its verdict on Suu Kyi and the three others in order to review legal questions related to the case.

On Monday Yettaw was hospitalized at Yangon General Hospital for epilepsy, the police chief confirmed. But he would not comment on if the verdict will be postponed once again if Yettaw remains in hospital on Tuesday when the court date is set.

"It is up to the health authority and the court," he said.

Khin Yi also said authorities have taken action against security personnel who were watching Suu Kyi's house the days Yettaw was there.

"We have taken action against 20 police including two colonels who where on duty during the intrusion. Higher ranked police were demoted and transferred. Low rank policemen were sentenced to three months in prison." (dpa)