Insurgents operating from Bangladesh, Myanmar
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India seeks release of political prisoners in Myanmar
November 12, 2007: (Sify News) New Delhi: Pressing for "immediate" and "inclusive" political reforms in Myanmar, India on Monday sought release of important political prisoners and probe into alleged excesses resorted to by the military junta.
"We want political reforms (in Myanmar) and the process of reconciliation has to start immediately and it has to be inclusive," Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Asian economic integration.
"As far as possible important political prisoners should be released. There should be some sort of inquiries into the excesses which were resorted to as it is being alleged by the media and other sources," he said.
Mukherjee's comments came as in Myanmar, UN human rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro met with officials on his mission to discover how many people were killed during the junta's suppression of pro-democracy protests.
Monks were at the forefront of the protests, which began in August in response to a spike in fuel prices but swelled in the following weeks into the biggest anti-government demonstrations the junta has faced since 1988.
The government maintains 10 people died but diplomats and dissidents have put the number far higher.