Seventy protestors freed in Burma

At least 70 people arrested by the military junta after protests in Burma have been released, a party spokesman said Friday, according to The Associated Press. Fifty of the 70 were members of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.

The detainees were released from the infamous Insein Prison in Yangon on Thursday, said Nyan Win, the spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party. At least 250 members of the party are still being held, he added.

The move to release detainees came after Suu Kyi met with a top-government official on Thursday. The meeting is part of a U.N. attempt to promote reconciliation between the junta and the democracy party. U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari said the meeting was a good beginning, but more talks will be needed in order to produce results. Western diplomats and residents are skeptical, believing the government’s move was intended to ease international pressure on the junta rather than produce results.

“[Suu Kyi’s] very conscious of the difficulties her people are experiencing,” Gambari said. “Her concern is to put an end to the violence and that prisoners are released.”

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