World's pop stars band together Suu Kyi

FOR THE LADY

(Music Album dedicated to Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi)

World's pop stars band together for Burma's Suu Kyi

Sep 21 (AFP) - Some of the world's top artistes and musicians have banded together to push for the freedom of Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, activists said as US legislators considered seeking UN Security Council action against the military regime in Rangoon.

Bands U2, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, Sting, R.E.M, Travis, Indigo Girls and Matchbox Twenty and several top artistes including Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton will launch an album on October 26 dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Anytime anyone inside Burma listens to my music, I want them to know that they are listening to an artist that supports their freedom," said Clapton, the quintessential blues guitarist, using Myanmar's previous name.

The album, entitled "For The Lady: Dedicated to freeing Aung San Suu Kyi and the courageous people of Burma" will be released by Rhino Records.

Proceeds from the sale of the double CD featuring 27 tracks will benefit the non-profit group US Campaign For Burma, comprising activists around the world seeking an end to the military dictatorship in the impoverished nation.

"Music has helped bring about change in many parts of the world," said Jeremy Woodrum of the US Campaign for Burma.

Burma's military rulers have detained Aung San Suu Kyi for more than a year and clamped down on her National League for Democracy party for their relentless push for democratic reforms in Myanmar.

Burma has been run by the military since a 1962 coup. The NLD won overwhelmingly in 1990 elections, considered free and fair by the international community, but was not allowed to govern.

"Her dedication, resolve, courage and patience are the mark of a leader. We stand tall for her, as she will again stand tall for herself," said Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M.

The album will feature exclusive numbers by R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Tom Morello's The Nightwatchman, Damien Rice, Lili Hadyn and Better Than Ezra as well as previously released tunes by Lavigne, Coldplay, Bright Eyes and Travis.

It also features a song banned by Burma's military regime, "Walk On," which U2 dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi on their last album and a song in Myanmarese written by jailed student activist Min Ko Naing.

Singing a freedom-seeking song in Burma can result in a minimum seven-year prison sentence, according to the US Campaign for Burma group.

Meanwhile, American legislators are considering a resolution seeking Security Council action on Burma's military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council.

Nearly identical resolutions have been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate calling for such action, congressional aides said.

The House resolution, a copy of which was made available to AFP Tuesday, asked the Security Council to "immediately consider and take appropriate action to respond to the growing threat that the ruling State Peace and Development Council in Burma poses to the Southeast Asia region and to the people of Burma."

Myanmar posed a threat to regional stability because of its arms buildup and a continuous cross border flow of illegal narcotics, trafficked persons, and the unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS, the resolution said.

It added that more than 200,000 refugees have fled to Thailand and Bangladesh in an attempt "to escape systematic terrorizing by the Burmese military."

Last May, Aung San Suu Kyi's party sought Security Council intervention in Burma.

Burma launched a national forum earlier this year which it billed as the first step in its "road map" to democracy but the process has been rejected as a sham by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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