Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent books from King, says government

Myanmar’s military-backed government said it had delivered two books sent by the King to detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with a sealed envelope and diplomatic correspondence.

President Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in February 2021 as an army chief, has been seeking to end Myanmar’s international isolation, imposed after Ms Suu Kyi was removed and imprisoned.

He has faced sanctions but is now trying to project a return to normalcy after holding an election in 2025 and increasing Myanmar’s engagement with its regional neighbours.

The Presidential Press and Information Bureau said in a statement released on its Telegram channel that two officials from the home affairs ministry delivered the materials to Ms Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyitaw, on Monday.

The books were identified as The Land Gardeners: Soil To Table, by British authors Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld, which explores the relationship between healthy soil and food, and Soil: The World At Our Feet, the catalogue from an environmental exhibition in London.

Charles, who has long championed environmental protection and sustainable agriculture, met Ms Suu Kyi in London in 2017, when he was Prince of Wales and she was Myanmar’s state counsellor.

Ms Suu Kyi, who has served several sentences in prison and under house arrest, has spoken about the influence of literature on her life during her previous periods of detention, and is known to enjoy fiction and detective books.

Accompanying Monday’s statement were two photos of the 81-year-old leader dressed in a traditional pale-green blouse and skirt and seated across a small table from two men in white shirts inside a wood-panelled room.

The statement did not provide details about the correspondence nor explain how the books were sent.

The meeting lasted about 10 minutes, according to the statement, which did not disclose the location nor provide details about what was discussed.

The announcement provides another rare update about Ms Suu Kyi’s circumstances while she remains in detention.

She is currently serving her sentence under house arrest at an undisclosed location in Naypyitaw on charges that her supporters and human rights groups have said are politically motivated.

She has not been seen publicly since then and her whereabouts and condition have been largely kept from public view.

In August, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Ms Suu Kyi, her first known contact with an outside international independent humanitarian organisation since her detention in February 2021.

The international community, including Myanmar’s fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has called for Ms Suu Kyi’s release and access to or engagement with her as part of efforts to resolve the country’s political crisis but the government has rejected the calls.