Myanmar pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi freed

YANGON, (Reuters) – Military-ruled Myanmar freed  Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi today after her  latest period of house arrest expired, giving the country a  powerful pro-democracy voice just days after a widely  criticised election.

“There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People  must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal,” Suu  Kyi told thousands of cheering supporters at the gates of her  lakeside compound.

She then retreated back inside her home for the first  meeting with her National League for Democracy party in seven  years as world leaders applauded her release, expressed relief  and urged the military junta in the former Burma to free more  of its estimated 2,100 political prisoners.

Aung San Suu Kyi

“The United States welcomes her long overdue release,” U.S.  President Barack Obama said in a statement. “It is time for the  Burmese regime to release all political prisoners, not just  one.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron also said her freedom  was long overdue. “Freedom is Aung San Suu Kyi’s right. The  Burmese regime must now uphold it,” he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Myanmar’s rulers  to free Myanmar’s remaining political prisoners.
“Aung San Sui Kyi is a symbol for the global fight for the  realisation of human rights. Her non-violence and  relentnessness have turned her into an admired role model,” the  German government said in a statement.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years in  detention, had her house arrest extended last August, when a  court found she had broken a law protecting the state against  “subversive elements” by allowing an American intruder to stay  at her home for two nights.

Supporters had gathered near her lakeside house throughout  the day, many chanting “Release Aung San Suu Kyi” and “Long  live Aung San Suu Kyi”. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with  messages pledging to stand with her.
As the crowd swelled, riot police armed with guns and tear  gas ordered Suu Kyi’s increasingly vocal and anxious supporters  to move back from the barricades.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for most of the past 21 years  because of her opposition to 48 years of military rule in  Myanmar.
A Nov. 7 election, the first in 20 years, was won by an  army-backed party. Freeing Suu Kyi, daughter of the slain hero  of Myanmar’s campaign for independence from Britain, may give  the ruling generals some degree of international legitimacy.
The move may be the first step towards a review of Western  sanctions on the resource-rich country, the largest in mainland  Southeast Asia and labelled by rights groups as one of the  world’s most corrupt and oppressive.
“The regime needs to create some breathing space urgently,”  said a retired Burmese academic, who asked not to be  identified.
Suu Kyi is still believed to have the same mesmerising  influence over the public that helped her National League for  Democracy win the last election in 1990 in a landslide, a  result the military ignored.

Supporters of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi burn firecrackers beside her portraits during celebrations in New Delhi November 13, 2010.
Aung San Suu Kyi walks with National League for Democracy party members after being released from house arrest in Yangon November 13, 2010.
Activists hold portraits of Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon November 12, 2010. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with supporters after she released from house arrest in Yangon November 13, 2010. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with supporters after she released from house arrest in Yangon November 13, 2010. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

She could draw big crowds to the gates of her home in  Yangon and with a few words could rob the election of any shred  of legitimacy it might have, possibly seeking to have the  results annulled on grounds of fraud.
Many experts say the sanctions also benefit the junta,  allowing generals and their cronies to dominate industry in the  country of 50 million, rich in natural gas, timber and minerals  with a strategic port in the Bay of Bengal
Trade with the West has been replaced by strengthening ties  with China, Thailand and Singapore, whose objections to the  regime’s human rights record are relatively muted.
“There are a lot of people with a lot at stake in  maintaining the status quo,” said Sean Turnell, an expert on  Myanmar’s economy at Sydney’s Macquarie University.