Yangon  - Myanmar's junta has rejected an appeal by opposition leader leader Aung San Suu Kyi to free her from house arrest in accordance with the country's laws, officials confirmed Tuesday.

"An appeal letter for freeing Aung San Suu Kyi presented by her lawyer was rejected on 30 April," said a government official who requested anonymity.

Suu Kyi's lawyer, Hla Myo Myint, has argued that her detention must end by May 27, because Myanmar law sets a maximum of five years in jail on charges of disturbing the peace, as Suu Kyi was charged with on May 27, 2003.

The appeal was presented to authorities in the military capital of Naypyitaw in October.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has spent about 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest in her family's Yangon compound.

She leads the National League for Democracy (NLD) party that won the 1990 general election but has been blocked from power by the military for the past 19 years.

The NLD last week set several pre-conditions for taking part in the next election, scheduled in 2010, that are unlikely to be met by the military regime. (dpa)