Burma's military government says a new draft of the country's constitution will bar the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running for election.
In an announcement on state-run radio Tuesday, the government said the 54-member Constitution Drafting Commission had completed and approved the draft, in preparation for a national referendum on the document.
Government officials say the constitution will bar Aung San Suu Kyi from running because she was married to a foreigner.
Burma's previous constitution was scrapped in 1988. The country recently announced its plans to hold a national referendum in May to approve the new document and to hold general elections in 2010.
The constitution drafting process has been criticized because independent political parties were barred from participating in the drafting process.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the last 18 years under some form of detention and remains under house arrest in Rangoon.
Her party won elections in 1990, but the military government refused to recognize the results and prevented the party from taking office.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
