Myanmar's stubborn military regime has decided to carry on with its controversial constitutional convention even as National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her lieutenant, U Tin U, remain under house arrest. The last time a free and fair election was held -- in 1990 -- the NLD won a landslide victory, taking 395 of 485 parliamentary seats.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has voiced his concern and worry about the manner in which the military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, is conducting the national convention, but his efforts have not born any fruit.

The United States and Britain have criticized the convention, while demanding the immediate release of Suu Kyi, but Myanmar's generals have replied that America and Britain should stop lecturing them about democracy as the failure in Iraq shows how interference in another country's affairs only worsens the situation.