GENEVA, March 15 (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it had shut two of its offices in Myanmar because restrictions by the military government had brought "near-paralysis" to its operations. The Swiss-based organisation said its staff were unable to conduct visits to detainees in former Burma or run independent operations in sensitive border areas, compromising its mandate to provide neutral humanitarian aid. "The ICRC's humanitarian work in Myanmar has now reached near-paralysis ... A recent meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs made no headway," ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said in a statement. "The ICRC has therefore decided to close two of its offices, one in Mawlamyine (Mon State) and the other in Kyaing Tong (East Shan State). It is carefully considering whether to keep open its remaining field offices," the statement read. Over the past year, the ICRC has cut its expatriate staff in Myanmar to 16 -- from 56 -- because of the junta's restrictions. It halted prison visits in 2005 because of official insistence that ICRC staff be accompanied by government-affliliated agencies. The ICRC, which visits prisoners around the world, insists on the right to carry out private interviews with detainees. Myanmar has been under military rule of one form or another since 1962, during which time its economy has collapsed and dozens of ethnic militias have waged civil war against the Burmese-dominated central government. The United Nations says the junta has more than 1,100 political prisoners under lock and key. Nobel peace laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also under house arrest.
