US President Barack Obama today demanded the immediate and unconditional release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, even as he criticised the first national elections in Myanmar in two decades as "anything but free and fair".
"We renew our calls for the authorities to free Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally," Obama said in a statement here.
"The United States will continue to implement a strategy of pressure and engagement in accordance with conditions on the ground in Burma and the actions of the Burmese authorities," he said.
The terse statement came after the US president publicly criticised today's vote in Myanmar as "anything but free and fair" at a town hall-style meeting with students here on the second day of his maiden visit to India.
"For too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny," he said.
Myanmar's ruling generals say the polls mark a transition to democratic civilian rule, but critics say they are a sham.
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The National League for Democracy - which won the last polls in 1990 but was never allowed to take power - has been forced to disband after it said it was not participating because of laws which banned Suu Kyi from taking part. Suu Kyi, 65, has been under house arrest for over 13 years.
Other parties that are contesting the polls have struggled to fund campaigns and have complained of harassment by the military junta.
Obama also sought an end to "systematic violations of human rights" and a call to make those who abused those rights accountable for their actions.
Pro-democracy campaigners and ethnic minority groups should be brought in to a "long overdue dialogue" towards building a better, more representative and fair future for all the country's citizens, he said.
As it stood, "the November 7 elections in Burma were neither free nor fair, and failed to meet any of the internationally accepted standards associated with legitimate elections," Obama said.
"The elections were based on a fundamentally flawed process and demonstrated the regime's continued preference for repression and restriction over inclusion and transparency."
"Ultimately, elections cannot be credible when the regime rejects dialogue with opponents and represses the most basic freedoms of expression, speech, and assembly," he added. assembly," he added.