Myanmar's national reconciliation effort will be "incomplete and lacking in credibility" if it does not include the main political opposition party whose leader is under detention, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Tuesday. The National League for Democracy (NLD) leader, Nobel Peace prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been detained by the military regime in the country formerly known as Burma. The regime has rejected calls for her release and failed to include her in discussions for a new constitution. Unless the NLD and other opposition groups are included in the National Convention, which was drafting a new constitution, "it and the roadmap process will be incomplete, lacking in credibility, and therefore unable to gain the full support of the international community, including the countries in the region", Annan said. Annan said he issued the statement to comment on the proceeding of the National Convention, which adjourned on July 9. He said he accepted the fact that Myanmar is facing "complex and difficult challenge in its transition to democracy and quest for national reconciliation". --More 2259 Local Time 1959 GMT
