Myanmar ? Myanmar’s military regime on Tuesday extended the house arrest of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, refusing to bow to international pressure of the sort that persuaded the generals to let in foreign help for cyclone victims.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been detained for more than 12 of the past 18 years, had her detention extended by one year.

Today, her National League for Democracy party denounced the extension as “illegal,” saying it would launch an appeal. Party spokesman Nyan Win said the regime should also open a public hearing on the case.

Her detention has long been the symbol of the regime’s heavy-handed intolerance of democratic opposition to its rule, and there is a worldwide campaign lobbying for her release.

President Bush said he was “deeply troubled” by the extension of Suu Kyi’s house arrest but stressed that the U.S. would continue to provide aid for Myanmar’s cyclone survivors.