Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar(***)s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate, has been released after seven years of house arrest.
Published On 13 Nov 201013 Nov 2010
She met crowds of supporters at the gate of her home in Yangon, Myanmar(***)s main city, soon after her release on Saturday.
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Crowds chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem celebrating the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the country(***)s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for "her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights", Aung San Suu Kyi has become an icon of Myanmar(***)s struggle for democracy and of the global struggle against oppression.
Kept under house arrest or in jail for most of the past 21 years, she was the most prominent of more than 1,000 political prisoners held by Myanmar(***)s military government.
The release of one of the world(***)s most prominent political prisoners came a week after the country(***)s first general elections in two decades.
Her release, which has been seen as long overdue after numerous delays, has drawn mixed reactions from across the world over whether it is a sincere move by the government to usher in a new era of democracy.
