Poll ban on Burma democracy chief

The Political Parties Registration Law, published in official

newspapers, excludes anyone convicted by a court of law from party membership and may force Ms Suu Kyi's expulsion from her National League for Democracy.

The leader of an activist group described the law as a slap in the face for the international community, which is calling for free and fair elections in the southeast Asian nation.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence.

She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest which will end in November. The sentence was seen as a way to keep Ms Suu Kyi locked up during the election campaign. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed her latest appeal for freedom.

The election law says existing political parties have 60 days from Monday, when the law was promulgated, to register with an Election Committee whose members are to be appointed by the junta. The government currently recognises 10 parties.

Parties are also instructed to expel members who are "not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party", a clause that could force Ms Suu Kyi's expulsion. Parties that do not register automatically cease to exist, the law says.

The law also bars members of religious orders and civil servants from joining political parties.

The date of the elections has not been announced, and Ms Suu Kyi's party has not said whether it will contest the balloting.

The regime enacted five election-related laws on Monday, two of which have now been made public. Three more are to be unveiled in coming days.

The government announced in 2008 that elections will take place

sometime in 2010. The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Ms Suu Kyi's party but the military refused to hand over power. Her party says the new constitution of 2008 is unfair and gives the military a controlling say in government.

Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer and a senior party member, Nyan Win, said the new law also bars people who have lodged an appeal against a conviction, which he said "clearly refers" to Ms Suu Kyi, who is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San. He declined to comment further.

It was widely assumed that Ms Suu Kyi would be shut out since a provision in the constitution bars anyone with foreign ties from taking part in elections.

Ms Suu Kyi's now-deceased husband was British, her two sons have British citizenship, and she has been described by the junta as enjoying special links with Britain.

In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to Burma, the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Francis Sejested, calling her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless".