Bangkok: Pro-Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed next month, one year after she was taken into custody and put under house arrest by the military junta, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung said today (April 3, 2004).

However he did not give an exact date for Suu Kyi's release, saying it was "too early to say", but said her party would be allowed take part in a Constitutional convention starting on May 17.

The Minister was speaking to a Japanese TV channel soon after arriving here for talks with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai.

Asked by if Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will be released before the event, he said, "Yes, May 17.''

Asked to give an exact date for her release, he said, "It is too early to say.''

Suu Kyi's National League For Democracy (NLD) will be invited to take part in the national convention, said Aung.

"The NLD were original members of the national convention. They will be invited," he said.

However, talking to reporters later, the Minister did not confirm the release, only saying, "The problem of Aung San Suu Kyi will be taken care of."

"I am not in a position to inform you right now about it," he said about the intense speculations, adding, "we don't have any hate, any animosity against Suu Kyi."

There has been continuous international pressure on the military junta to release the charismatic leader of the NLD, under house arrest in Yangon since May 2003 after a clash between her supporters and pro-Government crowds.