Aung San Suu Kyi sick, but at home: party

10 July 2006 (AFP) - Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was briefly hospitalized this week but was on Saturday resting at home where she remains under house arrest, her party spokesman said.

Reports of her illness had earlier prompted the US State Department to say it was "very concerned" and call on the country's military rulers to ensure she received prompt treatment.

"I understand that she went for treatment to hospital on Friday, but she is now back at her home," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, adding that the opposition leader was treated for acute diarrhea.

Burma's police chief, Major General Khin Yi, said she had been treated by her personal doctor on Thursday and that said she was currently resting at home.

"She is at her house now. She was suffering from diarrhea," he told reporters while travelling in eastern Karen state.

Her doctor, Tin Myo Win, could not be reached for comment, but the NLD spokesman said that he might be caring for her inside the lakeside home where she is confined under house arrest.

"It is possible that Doctor Tin Myo Win and his wife are with her at this moment looking after her," he said.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Friday expressed concern at reports of her illness, while at the time saying he was unable to confirm the information, which apparently came from exiles originally from Myanmar -- formerly known as Burma.

"We would call upon the Burmese government to provide Aung San Suu Kyi any and all medical assistance that she might need and to do so expeditiously and to ensure her safety during any treatment," he told reporters.

Defying international demands for her freedom, Myanmar 's military rulers in late May extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest for another year.

The 60-year-old opposition leader has been detained at her residence in Yangon following a May 2003 attack on her convoy by junta-backed militia in the country's central region.