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International
IN THE NEWS - May 11, 2002: Aung San Suu Kyi Released
By Caty Weaver
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English
program, IN THE NEWS.
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was
freed Monday after nineteen months of house arrest. Thousands of supporters
welcomed the leader of the National League for Democracy as she travelled
to party headquarters. People gathered in the streets of Rangoon to
cheer her release.
Mizz Aung San Suu Kyi said her release was a
"new dawn" for Burma. She said the military government placed
no conditions on her release. She also said she was ready to cooperate
with the military government.
The government also seemed to express a new
willingness to change. It announced that it firmly believed in letting
all citizens take part in the political process. Government officials
also said that Mizz Suu Kyi will be permitted to travel anywhere in
Burma. But, they said she would be provided security.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Aung San
who led Burma to its independence from Britain in nineteen-forty-eight.
He was killed shortly before that independence became official. Her
mother held important political positions after Aung San's death, including
serving as Burma's ambassador to India.
Aung San Suu Kyi entered Oxford University in
Britain in nineteen-sixty-four. She studied politics and economics.
She married student Michael Aris. Their two children were born in the
early Nineteen-Seventies.
In nineteen-eighty-eight, Mizz Suu Kyi made
a trip back to Burma to care for her sick mother. When she arrived her
country was in political crisis. There was growing activism against
Burmese military rulers.
Aung San Suu Kyi joined in the activism. She
soon became the leader of the opposition. She formed the National League
for Democracy. She travelled the country speaking to huge gatherings
of supporters although such meetings were banned.
The Burmese government arrested the N-L-D leader
for the first time in nineteen-eighty-nine. She was restricted to her
house in Rangoon for the next six years. In Nineteen-Ninety, Burma held
parliamentary elections. The N-L-D won eighty-two percent of the seats.
However, the military government canceled the results. The Burmese Parliament
never met.
Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in nineteen-ninety-one. Her sons accepted the award for their
mother. The Burmese opposition leader had refused a government offer
to let her leave the country if she would never return.
United Nations official Razali Ismail helped
secure the release of Mizz Suu Kyi Monday. He had organized secret talks
between the opposition leader and the Burmese military government in
October, two-thousand. Thursday, the government said it was preparing
for more such talks. Aung San Suu Kyi says the next step is discussions
about policy.
This Special English program IN THE NEWS was
written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.
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