Suu Kyi greeted by throngs, diplomats
Activist is ready ‘to talk with anyone’
YANGON, Myanmar – A day after her release from detention, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday met dozens of ambassadors, hundreds of journalists and thousands of Myanmar citizens, underscoring the importance of dialogue, strength and determination in the battle for democracy in her country.
As a jubilant crowd swelled in front of the headquarters of her disbanded National League for Democracy party, traffic ground to a halt, and people perched in trees, on fences and on vehicle roofs for a look at their charismatic leader.
Her eventual appearance at noon in the doorway of the ramshackle building electrified the audience. “I understand what the people want; they want democracy,” she said to a roar from the crowd. “You must make your voices heard. Only then can we take action.”
Suu Kyi, 65, had been detained by the military-led government for 15 of the last 21 years. She was freed days after a controversial parliamentary election in which the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Party garnered about 80 percent of the parliamentary seats.
During her 45-minute speech and a separate meeting with about two dozen ambassadors Sunday, she stressed her willingness to speak with all political parties, reach out to the country’s many ethnic groups and open a dialogue with the military government.
“I am prepared to talk with anyone,” she said.
The government imposed no restrictions on her release, she said, and she planned to travel around Myanmar and go overseas once she’d caught up on her business in Yangon.
On Saturday, Norway’s Nobel committee invited Suu Kyi to make a belated acceptance speech for the prize she won 19 years ago but was unable to pick up because she was under house arrest.
Suu Kyi told reporters that she would reconsider her support of economic sanctions against Myanmar if asked to by the public. The country faces U.S. and European Union sanctions for its human rights record.
“She was very clear she’d like the international community to have one voice and work with the government here, acknowledging that the differences are great but they need to be bridged,” said Larry Dinger, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Myanmar.