Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi begins visit to UK with London School of Economics speech - @BBCNews

Aung San Suu Kyi

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Aung San Suu Kyi: "I never knew how much people cared for us"

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has begun her four-day UK visit, during which she is set to meet Royal Family members and address Parliament.

On Tuesday, her 67th birthday, Ms Suu Kyi is visiting the London School of Economics and the BBC Burmese Service.

She is due to meet the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall later in the trip - her first to Europe since 1988.

The pro-democracy leader spent much of the last 24 years under house arrest in Burma. She was freed in late 2010.

Her two-week-long tour - seen as another milestone for Burma's political progress - includes visits to the UK, Switzerland, France and Norway.

It is her second recent overseas trip, after visiting Thailand in May.

Her decision to travel has been seen as a sign of confidence in the government of President Thein Sein, who has pursued a course of reform since coming to power last year, in Burma's first elections in 20 years.

Earlier this month Ms Suu Kyi gave her Nobel Peace Prize speech in Oslo more than 20 years after being awarded the prize.

She chose not to travel to Norway's capital in 1991 to collect her prize in person fearing she would not be allowed to return to Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi

  • 1945: Born in Rangoon to independence leader Aung San and Khin Kyi, a nurse
  • 1947: Her father is assassinated
  • 1964-67: Studies at Oxford University, where she meets future husband Michael Aris
  • 1972: Marries Aris, with whom she has two sons
  • 1988: Returns to Rangoon and co-founds the National League for Democracy (NLD) after the army seizes power in Burma
  • 1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law
  • 1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
  • 1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
  • 2000-02: Second period of house arrest
  • 2003: Detained after clash between NLD and junta forces before being placed under effective house arrest again
  • November 2010: Released from house arrest
  • April 2012: Stands for parliament for first time

In her Nobel lecture, Ms Suu Kyi said she heard she had received the prize on the radio and it had felt "unreal".

Winning the Nobel Peace Prize "made me real once again. It had drawn me back into the wider human community", she said.

Ms Suu Kyi also said Western support had contributed to changes in Burma.

She began her tour in Geneva, at the UN's International Labour Organization.

And she visited the Republic of Ireland on Monday where she received the freedom of the city of Dublin and met U2 singer Bono.

Royal meeting

Having arrived in London on Tuesday morning, Ms Suu Kyi is first attending a debate at the London School of Economics. She will later visit the BBC's Burmese service at Broadcasting House.

The opposition leader will then travel to Oxford, where she will address Oxford University on Wednesday. She is expected to receive an honorary degree.

She lived in the city for a number of years with her British husband, Michael Aris, before returning to Burma.

Ms Suu Kyi will meet Prince Charles and Camilla on Thursday.

She will also address both Houses of Parliament on Thursday and meet Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Ms Suu Kyi is the daughter of Burmese independence leader Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947.

She became the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement when, after living abroad for many years, she returned to Burma in 1988, initially to look after her sick mother.

She never left the country, fearing its military rulers would not allow her to return and was unable to receive her Nobel Peace Prize in person, or be with her husband when he died in 1999.