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Suu Kyi seen needing medical care for leg cramps


    YANGON (Reuters) - The party of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed "grave concern" on Friday for her health while she is in prison facing charges that could jail the Nobel laureate for up to five years.

    "It is learnt that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not been able to sleep well at night because she gets cramps in her legs day after day," the National League for Democracy (NLD) said.

    The 63-year-old was moved from her home to a guest house in Yangon's notorious Insein Central Prison on May 14 to face charges of violating her house arrest. Only days earlier, she had been treated for low blood pressure and dehydration.

    Her prison trial began on May 18 and final arguments are due on Monday.

    The NLD said she "is in desperate need of proper medical treatment and we are very much concerned about her health."

    Suu Kyi has spent more that 13 of the past 19 years in some form of detention, and activists fear for her health if she is convicted.

    She faces a three to five year prison term if found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay for two days after he swam to her home on May 4.

    The case has been widely condemned as a "show trial" to keep Suu Kyi detained during the military regime's promised elections next year.

    (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)