Thousands of supporters cheered her during a speech in Pathein, also called Bassein, a city of around 300,000 in southwestern Myanmar.

It's an important inland port and rail head on the Irrawaddy River Delta, around 120 miles west of Yangon.

More than 50,000 people, old and young, cheered the leader of the National League for Democracy as her motorcade moved along city streets to the Koe Thein Football Stadium, a report by the independent Irrawaddy news Web site said.

The NLD is hoping to capture as many as 40 of the 48 vacant seats in the lower house of Parliament.

At the stadium, Suu Kyi, 66, vowed to work for the people who have waited for democracy for more than 20 years.

The reference to 20 years was when Suu Kyi and her NLD party won a national election but was refused power by the ruling military government. She was imprisoned several times for public statements condemning the lack of democracy.

After a national election in November 2010, the new government of ex-junta members took office in January last year, although many Western countries called the process and result fraudulent.

A major issue for Western countries was the exclusion of Suu Kyi from running in the election because she was under house arrest. Also, because of her criminal record, according to laws enacted by the junta, she was ineligible to run for Parliament.

But this week she said her party's decision to enter the by-election was "to make changes in the constitution, to have the rule of law and to work for internal peace," the Irrawaddy report said.

The campaigning by Suu Kyi and the NLD party marks another apparent move toward democratic reforms by the nominally civilian government of former military leaders.

Suu Kyi in the past has expressed caution over pronouncements by the ex-junta leaders that they were reforming the political landscape in Myanmar, formerly called Burma.

In a rare face-to-face interview with a foreign news service, she told the BBC in October that Myanmar may be inching toward democracy but Western countries should remain vigilant that nascent reforms are genuine.

"There are signs that President Thein Sein, a former senior military ruler, wants reform but it's early days," she said. "I believe that the president wants to institute reforms but how far these reforms will go and how effective these will be, that still needs to be seen."

Suu Kyi's public speech in Pathein was the first time local people had seen the opposition icon for 23 years -- her last political campaign trip to the area was in 1989, said the Irrawaddy report.

Last week Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special envoy on the human rights situation in Myanmar, said the government runs a risk of backtracking on progress achieved in the country since general elections in 2010.

"At this a crucial moment in the country's history, further and sustained action should be taken to bring about further change," he said during his six-day visit to the country that included a meeting with Suu Kyi.

The Irrawaddy all also announced its editor, Aung Zaw, is in Myanmar this week for the first time in more than 20 years and since founding the Irrawaddy in Thailand in 1993.

He's traveling on a five-day journalist visa to investigate changes to the publishing climate since the civilian government was elected.

Zaw has contributed articles to international publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and Foreign Policy, the Irrawaddy said.

"I have always wanted to return to Burma as a journalist," Zaw said. "I expect to be very busy meeting with fellow journalists and possibly with government officials."

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Cairo (AFP) Feb 8, 2012 - Egypt's army on Wednesday said it will deploy troops across the country after activists called for "civil disobedience" to mark the anniversary of strongman Hosni Mubarak's ouster, state media reported.

"The Armed Forces decided to deploy their troops in the various Egyptian governorates to protect private and public property, secure main roads and nab outlaws and thugs," the official news agency MENA said.

"The decision came as part of the Armed Forces' efforts to restore the state's prestige and help the police in preserving security and restoring stability to the Egyptian street," it said quoting an army statement.

Students from several universities and pro-democracy activists have called in a statement posted on the Internet for "a general strike and civil disobedience" on February 11, the anniversary of Mubarak's ouster.

The former president was forced to step down last year after 18 days of massive street protests against his three-decade autocratic rule.

Since he quit the country has been ruled by the powerful Supreme Council of the Armed forces led by Mubarak's veteran defence minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

But the pro-democracy protesters who forced Mubarak to quit have been accusing the military rulers of mismanaging the transition and failure to hand over the reins of power quickly to civilian rule.

They also accuse the army of human rights violations and of wanting to stay in power.

Tension has been high in Egypt following last week's deadly football violence that saw 74 people die in the northern city of Port Said.

Since then at least 13 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and police.

Activists blame the interior ministry and the ruling military council, for failing to prevent the football violence.

Top US general to visit Egypt amid row over NGOs
Washington (AFP) Feb 8, 2012 - The US military's top general plans to fly to Egypt this week as the United States presses Cairo to lift criminal charges against American pro-democracy activists, officials said Wednesday.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "is scheduled to travel to Egypt later this week," his spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP.

The "long-planned" visit includes meetings with his counterpart Lieutenant General Sami Enan and the country's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, he said.

"With the Egyptians, Gen. Dempsey will discuss common interests, choices and consequences," Lapan said in an email.

With the US military's deep, longstanding ties to Egypt's top brass, officials are hoping Dempsey will manage to persuade Cairo to back off a planned trial of foreigners who work with non-government organizations.

Egyptian justices have announced plans to put dozens of pro-democracy activists, including 19 Americans, on trial over alleged illegal funding to foreign aid groups.

The move has shaken the Egypt-US alliance that has anchored America's Middle East policy for a generation and helped keep the peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Outraged over the charges, some senior US lawmakers have warned that Washington's aid to Egypt could be jeopardized if the prosecution goes ahead.

The US government currently provides about $1.3 billion a year in aid to Egypt, one of the biggest aid packages offered to any nation.

Egyptian judges on Wednesday accused domestic and foreign groups, including American ones, of illegally meddling in the country's politics.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Salvador De Bahia, Brazil (AFP) Feb 8, 2012 - The Brazilian government accused striking police in Bahia state of sowing panic amid fears that the strike over pay may spread and fuel a wave of violence only days before the start of Carnival.

Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo, in an interview with O Estado de Sao Paulo published Wednesday, spoke of an orchestrated campaign of violence around the country by disgruntled state military police seeking higher pay and better working conditions.

The poorly paid military police -- a state force distinct from the federal police in Brazil -- is responsible for maintaining law and order. They are called 'military' because of their organizational structure, but have no relationship with the armed forces.

Cardozo said the military police were terrorizing people to pressure state governments, like the one in Bahia, into meeting their pay demands.

"We are witnessing increased vandalism during these strikes," Cardozo told the Sao Paulo daily, as striking armed policemen and their families continued to occupy the Bahia legislature building in the state capital Salvador.

"There are growing attempts to sow panic among the population, something which is unacceptable on the part of police officers," he said.

At least 120 murders have been reported in the Salvador metropolitan area since the strike, more than double the daily average in 2011 in Brazil's third largest city. Robberies and looting are also sharply up.

Among those killed were eight homeless people, including a woman who was breastfeeding her baby. Bahia Governor Jaques Wagner suggested that striking police officers might be linked to those killings, which civilian police are investigating.

"Homeless people were killed. I don't want to accuse anyone but this is part of a tactic," he told Globo television.

Wagner cited a police document "which makes clear that the idea is to frighten everybody, including the governor."

He charged that some hooded police strikers on motorcycles roamed the streets, firing into the air and stopping buses to threaten passengers.

One of those killed was Marcos Vinicius Santos, 22, shot dead late Monday. Grieving relatives went to retrieve his body from the morgue on Wednesday.

"We suspect that it was a problem with drug dealers, nobody saw anything," said the victim's aunt, Crispina Monteiro de Santos. "You have no idea how things are in Bahia, in Salvador... there is too much violence."

Criminals "are taking advantage of this strike to murder, because they know there are no police officers on patrol," she told AFP.

The strike raises concerns as Salvador, home to 2.5 million people, prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of tourists for its famed Carnival celebrations later this month.

Salvador is also one of the 12 Brazilian cities to host football games in the 2014 World Cup.

Federal government officials fear the unrest may spread to the other states, including Rio de Janeiro, where policemen called a strike for Friday.

Press reports Wednesday quoted police intelligence as saying the situation in those states was "explosive."

In Rio, a bill to give higher pay for the police was scheduled to come to a vote in the state assembly Thursday.

Since last year, military police in five northeastern states and in three northern states along with Rio firefighters have staged strikes. In all cases, agreements were reached to grant amnesty to the strikers.

Salvador authorities meanwhile urged tourists to stay indoors and postponed the start of the school year.

Wagner blamed the impasse on a "minority group bent on spreading the strike to other states" and vowed security would be maintained during Carnival with the dispatch of military police officers from other parts of the state.

Authorities said a third of Bahia's 31,000-strong police force was on strike.

Some 3,500 soldiers and elite police officers have been deployed in Salvador to restore order.

Wagner said he was willing to meet the strikers' demand for a 17 percent pay hike, but ruled out any amnesty for those strikers who engaged in "criminal acts."

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Washington (UPI) Feb 7, 2012 - U.S. relations with Egypt's ruling military have turned prickly in the dispute over Egypt's clampdown on pro-democracy, non-governmental organizations.

Cairo authorities, amid allegations that foreign NGOs have been fomenting clashes between political activists and military government authorities in the country, has banned some 40 foreign NGO personnel from leaving the country and appears ready to prosecute them for violating Egyptian laws.

Nineteen of those banned are U.S. citizens and the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as members of Congress, have protested the action and demanded those detained be allowed to leave, if they so wish.

At stake, they warn, is the $1.3 billion in annual aid the United States has provided Egypt's military since Egypt signed the U.S.-sponsored Camp David Accords with Israel in 1978. Also at stake is about $250 million in economic aid and possible U.S. support for International Monetary Fund assistance to Egypt, whose revenues have fallen since the ouster last year of President Hosni Mubarak, the street clashes that led to it and which continue.

"We are very clear that there are problems that arise from this situation and that can impact all the rest of our relationship with Egypt," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Added White House spokesman Jay Carney, "These actions have consequences for our relationship and for our assistance programs."

Military authorities in Cairo, however, insist the matter is out of their hands. The NGOs hadn't properly registered with the government and received funds from abroad for their unsanctioned activities. It is a judicial matter, they have argued, and those involved as well as their organizations are under investigation.

And there the matter stands: Washington scowls over what it considers an affront to democratic rights in society; Cairo frowns, meanwhile, over what it sees as U.S. meddling in its domestic affairs.

It's not surprising ties between the United States and Egypt are under strain. Egypt under Mubarak and his authoritarian government was a vital U.S. ally in the region, a fact that the $1.3 billion in military aid underlined. But Arab Spring protests that erupted in Egypt appear to have caught the United States flat-footed and once it was clear Mubarak was as good as gone, Washington rushed to embrace the change despite the uncertainty of it.

Protesters in Cairo were hailed for their courage, their yearning for democracy. The military, which has assumed temporarily control of the country, was encouraged to set the stage for general elections, promote democratic reform and rule of law, which has not come fast enough for demonstrators in Cairo, who believe the military are dragging their feet on reforms to preserve their traditional place of power, nor for the U.S. Congress.

Legislation in the United States now makes it mandatory -- except for a strong, bona fide national security reason -- for the U.S. State Department to verify Egypt is making progress toward democracy for aid to continue.

Preliminary elections have been conducted, with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood claiming the biggest share of the votes. Salafists (even more fundamentalist in their Islam) made a strong showing as well -- a fact that doesn't augur well for Egypt's future relations with Israel or the United States.

In the NGO confrontation, the Muslim Brotherhood has said the country's investigation of non-governmental organizations should take place. Not surprising as it moves toward what it sees as control of the government later this year and that participants in the demonstrations taking place in Cairo tend to be mainly secularists.

What next? Reports from Cairo indicate the country's military well step in and NGO staff members banned from travel will be allowed to leave. Such a move would calm the situation.

But with Egypt's political turmoil continuing and America's strategic interests in the country unchanged, Egyptian-U.S. ties remain in a state of flux and therefore uncertain. The current dispute may just be the beginning of a very rocky road ahead.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Male (AFP) Feb 7, 2012 - Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives, was a former political prisoner who rose from grassroots activism and journalism.

Nasheed, 44, who was educated in Sri Lanka and Britain, came to power after building a pro-democracy movement with local and foreign support in opposition to the 30-year autocratic rule of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving leader, ruled the holiday paradise unchallenged for three decades between 1978 and 2008 and repeatedly threw Nasheed in jail over a period of six years.

Nasheed recounted once in a television interview that he spent 18 months in solitary confinement as his jailors tried to get him to confess to seeking to "overthrow" the state.

The media-savvy father of two daughters and holder of a degree in maritime engineering was at one point an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.

He formed his Maldivian Democratic Party in exile but then returned home to a hero's welcome, sweeping 54 percent of the vote in the 2008 elections whose results brought people into the streets dancing and cheering.

Nasheed said after the election that he had "forgiven my jailors, the torturers" and that he wanted Gayoom "to grow old here" in the Maldives, saying it was "a test of our democracy how we treat" the former dictator.

The president, who was forced out Tuesday by a police mutiny and three weeks of street protests by the opposition, used his mandate to build a reputation internationally as a campaigner against climate change.

In 2009, Nasheed held an underwater cabinet meeting in an effort to press the world to cap carbon emissions that cause global warming, which will lead to rising sea levels which threaten low-lying countries such as the Maldives.

He also shocked observers when he announced he wanted to buy a new homeland to relocate the population of his country, naming India, Sri Lanka and Australia as potential destinations.

The son of a businessman frequently joked about having a "sinking feeling" as he highlighted a potentially watery future for the 1,200 islands that compose the Maldives.

But the environmental stunts had little impact locally in a country whose 300,000 Sunni Muslim population face more immediate concerns.

Problems such as high youth unemployment, a lack of housing on the cramped capital island Male, island widespread illegal drug use and a rise in Islamic fundamentalism fuelled discontent against Nasheed.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Havana (AFP) Feb 6, 2012 - Ten Cuban dissidents are seeking asylum at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba, but "are being treated like terrorists," a blogger close to the Cuban government charged Monday.

The 10 including dissident journalists Olienny Valladares Capote and Adolfo Pablo Borraza Chaple, have been at the US base on Cuba's southeastern tip, for three months and started a hunger strike February 3, blogger Yohandry wrote.

The blogger did not say how the group arrived at the tightly secured US base, which Cuba says the United States operates on its territory against its will. The United States claims it has a valid lease.

"Both journalists have said that at the Guantanamo Bay naval base refugees are treated like terrorists," the blogger added, alluding to the US holding terror suspects there.

Referring to their reported hunger strike, Yohandry said it was not clear if US authorities were force-feeding the group "as Americans usually do in such cases."

After the 1959 revolution that brought ex-president Fidel Castro to power in Havana many Cubans tried to make it to the base, which is surrounded by mine fields, in a bid to emigrate to the United States.

Cuba -- the Americas' only one-party Communist regime -- does not have full diplomatic relations with the United States.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST United Nations (AFP) Feb 4, 2012 - Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government's murderous crackdown on protests for the second time.

Western governments reacted with fury to the new block on UN action over President Bashar al-Assad's 10 month-old assault on demonstrators which followed weeks of acrimonious negotiations over the text.

Russia and China "remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant," US ambassador Susan Rice told the 15-nation council. UN leader Ban Ki-moon said the failure to agree a resolution "undermines" the United Nations.

Thirteen countries voted for the resolution drafted by Arab and European nations which would have given strong backing to an Arab League plan to end the crisis.

Russia and China made a repeat of their rare double veto carried out on October 5 on an earlier condemnation of Assad. Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin called the draft resolution "unbalanced."

The Security Council has now only agreed one statement, which has a lower standing, on the Syrian crisis since protests erupted in March last year.

After the earlier veto, western nations said they made substantial concessions taking out references to an arms embargo, Arab League sanctions and backing for Arab League calls for Assad to hand over power to a deputy.

Diplomats said Russia demanded new changes to the text on Saturday morning so that the withdrawal of Syrian troops from cities should be linked to an end to attacks by opposition groups. It was "unbelievably cynical," said one European diplomat.

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin justified his veto by saying the proposed resolution "sent an unbalanced signal to the Syrian parties."

Western nations backing the resolution had since the start of the Syria crisis been "undermining the opportunity for a political settlement, calling for regime change, pushing the opposition towards power," he added.

Li Baodong, China's UN representative, backed Russia's call for new changes. "To push through a vote when parties are still seriously divided over the issue will not help maintain the unity and authority of the Security Council, or help resolve the issue," he told the council.

But there was widespread condemnation of the new veto from the European and Arab countries behind the resolution, the United States and UN leadership.

"I would like to express our great regret and disappointment" at the veto, said Morocco's UN ambassador Mohammed Loulichki, whose country is the Arab member of the 15-member council.

Western ambassadors highlighted the concessions made to Russia in weeks of negotiations on the draft text.

"It is a disgrace for the council," said Germany's UN envoy Peter Wittig.

France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud noted how the debate was held on the thirtieth anniversary of a massacre in the Syrian city of Hama in which tens of thousands died under Assad's father, Hafez.

"Father and son are killing; it would seem to be hereditary in Damascus," he said.

India and South Africa which abstained in the October vote, backed the latest resolution. Pakistan was also among council members to back the resolution.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon deeply regrets the failure to agree a resolution, said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"It undermines the role of the United Nations and the international community in this period when the Syrian authorities must hear a unified voice calling for an immediate end to its violence against the Syrian people," Ban said.

Many ambassadors predicted that a new effort would be made to agree UN action.

India's UN envoy Hardeep Singh Puri said Russia had wanted to wait three days for a vote "but with the spiralling violence, the council was not in the mood."

He told reporters that the message of the 13-2 vote was clear: "That text is not going to go away."

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Paris (AFP) Feb 5, 2012 - Western and Arab powers have reacted angrily to Russia and China's veto of a Security Council resolution on the Syria crisis, but Moscow and Beijing insisted the text had needed more work.

Russia, a long-time Syrian ally, and China had on Saturday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown despite reports by Syrian activists that troops overnight had killed 230 civilians in the city of Homs.

US President Barack Obama denounced the "unspeakable assault" and demanded that Assad step down.

"Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now.He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately," Obama said in a statement.

"Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence, and Syrian forces continue to prevent hundreds of injured civilians from seeking medical help," the US president said.

"I strongly condemn the Syrian government's unspeakable assault against the people of Homs and I offer my deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones," he added.

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin justified the veto by saying the proposed resolution "sent an unbalanced signal to the Syrian parties".

His Chinese counterpart Li Baodong said pushing through such "a vote when parties are still seriously divided ... will not help maintain the unity and authority of the Security Council, or help resolve the issue."

But the rest of the international community reacted with anger at the double veto, the second by the two countries since the start of the Syrian crisis a year ago.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon expressed deep regret, saying that it undermined the role of the United Nations, according to a statement.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the veto would encourage further crackdowns by the Syrian regime.

"The Syrian tragedy must stop," said Sarkozy in a statement issued through his office.

His Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Moscow and Beijing "bear a heavy responsibility in the eyes of the world and the Syrian people" in vetoing the UN resolution, a move that he said "paralyses the international community".

His British counterpart William Hague said Russia and China had let the Syrian people down.

They had, he said, "sided with the Syrian regime and its brutal suppression of the Syrian people in support of their own national interests".

Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi termed the double veto "very bad news", while Washington's US ambassador Susan Rice described the move by permanent Security Council members China and Russia as "shameful."

Russia and China "remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant," Rice told the council.

In a separate message on Twitter, she wrote: "Disgusted that Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from fulfilling its sole purpose."

European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton also expressed regret at the vetoes.

"The time has come to speak with one voice and demand an end to the bloodshed and speak out for a democratic future for Syria," she said in a statement.

"We condemn the ongoing bloodshed and stand by the Syrian people against the repressive regime.

"We call on President Assad to end immediately the killing of civilians, withdraw the Syrian army from besieged towns and cities and step aside in order to make room for a peaceful transition for the sake of his country."

The European parliament expressed dismay and its president, Martin Schulz, urged Moscow and Beijing to "take their international responsibilities seriously".

London-based rights group Amnesty International called the veto a "shockingly callous betrayal" of the Syrian people.

Moscow and Beijing have acted in a "completely irresponsible" way, the London-based human rights group added.

Thirteen countries voted for the resolution with only Russia and China voting against. Both countries, as permanent members of the security council, have a veto power.

The draft resolution, put forward by Morocco, had called for an immediate end to all violence. It did not impose any sanctions, nor did it authorise military action.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Brasilia (AFP) Feb 5, 2012 - Brazilian security forces took control of Bahia on Sunday, patrolling key intersections in the state capital Salvador after a police strike led to a major spike in murders and violent crime.

A force of 2,600 army, navy and federal police was ordered to Brazil's fourth most populous state after local police went on strike on Wednesday demanding higher pay, weeks before the annual Carnival.

Homicides had skyrocketed. Officials in the northeastern state said 76 murders were reported over the past five days, double the number for the same period last year. Assaults and store lootings also increased.

The strike and the spike in violence came just two weeks before millions of tourists were expected to arrive for Brazil's premier tourist event, the Carnival. Bahia, with a population of 13.6 million, is a main Carnival center.

"This strike, in the way it is being carried out, is unacceptable," Brazilian Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo said.

One strike leader was arrested on Sunday on charges of "incitement to violence, forming gangs and theft of public property," officials said. Arrest warrants were outstanding against the 11 other leaders.

Bahia Governor Jaques Wagner said the strike was illegal and accused the movement's leaders of ordering crimes.

Brazilian soldiers spread out in Salvador to prevent further violence, patrolling highways and the city's renowned beaches.

One group of strikers had reportedly hunkered down in a section of Salvador's legislature after Wagner rejected an amnesty request.

"The government knows that 99 percent of us are armed. If they try to evict us there will be a bloodbath," an unidentified police officer told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Local residents were fearful.

"For the last two days I have not left my apartment," Italian businessman Marco Baghin told reporters. "It made no sense to risk being attacked or robbed."

Crime fears were having a dire economic affect.

Pedro Galvao, president of the Association of Travel Agencies of Bahia, told Brazil's O Globo newspaper that 10 percent of tourists had already canceled their air and hotel reservations for the Carnival.

Some 10,000 police officers, or one third of the Bahia police force, were on strike, demanding a 50 percent pay raise, better work conditions, and no retaliation, the state Public Safety Department said.

Bahia also went on strike in 2001 for one week demanding a pay raise. The average wage for a state officer is about $867 a month.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2012 - China's Premier Wen Jiabao called for open and democratic village elections in comments published Sunday, after unfair polls were part of the reason behind a rebellion against officials in south China.

Residents in Wukan village in the southern province of Guangdong faced off with authorities for more than a week in December in a row over land and corruption and won rare concessions including pledges to hold free village polls.

China -- a one-party state where top leaders are not elected by the people -- nevertheless allows villagers across the country to vote for a committee to represent them, but the process is often tainted with corruption and scandal.

Wukan residents said their leaders had never before allowed these polls to go ahead in an open fashion, and instead selected members of the village committee behind closed doors.

"For direct village committee elections to go well, the most basic thing is to have strict laws and regulations and... also have open, fair and transparent procedures," Wen told residents in another Guangdong village.

"Because if there is no procedural democracy, then there is no real democracy," he said as he toured parts of the province on Saturday after travelling there with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Wen, widely considered one of the more progressive leaders in authoritarian China, has on several occasions said China must seek political reform.

In September, Wen promised to make efforts "to guarantee and perfect democracy", and last March, he urged "gradual" political reform in comments similar to ones he made in the summer of 2010.

However analysts said he was just paying lip service to reform and democracy favoured by the party, which maintains an iron grip on political power and has not lessened its crackdown on dissent.

In his Sunday comments, Wen said China opposed acts such as corruption or family influence influencing direct village elections -- part of the grievances held by Wukan residents.

On Wednesday, the rebel villagers kicked off a key process towards holding their first-ever democratic vote by choosing members of an independent election committee made up of 11 villagers.

These will not be allowed to run for next month's village election, due on March 1.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:33 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D