Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official, junta says

Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with an International Committee of the Red Cross representative on Monday, one of the few confirmed interactions with an outside party since the military seized power in February 2021. The encounter took place in the capital Naypyitaw with ICRC resident representative Arnaud de Baecque, confirmed by the military-backed government through four photographs released to the public.

Two images depict Suu Kyi and de Baecque shaking hands in a dimly lit room, while two others show the Nobel laureate cutting a birthday cake, likely around her 81st birthday in June. The government has not disclosed the topics of discussion during the meeting. Suu Kyi, currently serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges her allies claim were politically motivated, has not been seen in public since her detention.

Despite being described as in good health by the junta in December, her whereabouts and health remain unclear. The ASEAN bloc, following the election that installed former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing as president, refused a request for a special envoy to visit Suu Kyi in late April. Despite this, pressure for access to Suu Kyi has increased from other ASEAN members amid efforts to resolve Myanmar's political crisis, now exacerbated by a civil war following the coup.

Suu Kyi's son, Kim Aris, who resides in London, has been campaigning online for evidence that his mother is alive and well.