Aung San Suu Kyi, the international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression, walked to freedom and spoke of fighting for human rights after the military regime in Myanmar released her from house arrest.
The defiant and dignified Suu Kyi, who is known among her supporters as "The
Lady", initially appeared in front of a weeping and cheering crowd who had rushed to her house in Yangon after the Government barricades were swept away.
Jubilation was tempered, however, by the reality that Myanmar is still in the grip of the generals who have run the country since overthrowing the democratically elected Government more than 20 years ago and who cemented their hold last week in an orchestrated election.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, acknowledged the crowds and urged them to work together. "I am so glad to see so many people here and so happy to be free," she said, standing on a stool and looking over the gate of the house where she had been confined for 15 of the past 21 years.
"There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal."
After just 10 minutes outside, she returned to the home that is no longer her prison. Thousands of her supporters, many wearing T-shirts bearing her image alongside the words "We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi", stayed outside for several hours. Suu Kyi emerged later, thanking her supporters.
Then last night thousands of wildly cheering supporters greeted her as she arrived at the headquarters of her political party. Inside, she met Yangon-based diplomats.
She told her supporters: "I believe in human rights and I believe in the rule of law. I will always fight for these things," she said. "I want to work with all democratic forces and I need the support of the people."
She added that the "basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech."
Suu Kyi's release was momentous for Myanmar, but it is what happens next that is important. For all of her personal following, after seven years of isolation Suu Kyi faces a different political landscape. The country has just completed an election she was not a part of. With her National League for Democracy (NLD) party banned, she is no longer the head of a recognised political organisation.
What role does she wish to play in Burma's future? And what role will she be allowed?
While her term of detention has technically finished, it was not immediately clear how long that respite would last. During previous brief spells of freedom she has railed against, and defied, the conditions restricting where she could go - banning her from leaving Yangon, for instance - and who she could meet.
The Government says that this time her freedom will not be restricted.
"She is completely free - there are no conditions at all," an unnamed senior government official was quoted as saying. But Suu Kyi's supporters fear her freedom may again be short-lived, and that the generals will seek to rearrest her for some technical infringement.
A defiant Suu Kyi clearly intends to reimpose her leadership on Myanmar's splintered NLD.
"The Lady will defy," lawyer U Nyan Win said. "She will not accept conditions from the regime. She must see her people, she is a politician, the people love to see her free, and she wants to meet with her people."
Her release was welcomed around the world, not least by her late husband's family in Britain. It is understood that she was able to speak on the phone to her youngest son, Kim, who is currently in Bangkok. She has not seen her two sons for 10 years, and Kim last week failed again in his attempt to get a visa to travel to Myanmar. He has two children whom Suu Kyi has never met.
It was a "happy day", said Suu Kyi's British brother-in-law, Adrian Phillips. "We are obviously very pleased if it means we can contact her again after so many years of silence," Phillips said.
"The last time I spoke to her was when her husband [Michael Aris] died in 1999 ... She has a granddaughter, Jasmine, who she has never seen."
President Barack Obama said: "She is a hero of mine and a source of inspiration for all who work to advance basic human rights in Burma and around the world."
"Aung San Suu Kyi has long been a beacon of hope for the Burmese people and a focal point for their desire for a democratic nation. Her release from years of detention is long overdue," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
Myanmar's state media attributed Suu Kyi's release to good conduct. "Aung San Suu Kyi behaved well according to the regulations during the period she was under a suspended sentence, so she was allowed to be released," government-run TV reported. The report noted that Suu Kyi was "the daughter of the leader General Aung San who gave his life for Myanmar's independence". It also expressed a desire "not to hold a grudge against each other".
Suu Kyi was first imprisoned in June 1989. She has spent more than 15 years in detention and under house arrest.
LONGEST JOURNEY
1988
Aung San Suu Kyi leaves husband and two sons in Oxford and travels to Rangoon (now Yangon) to care for her critically ill mother.
August 8
Series of marches protesting against the ruling Burma Socialist Programme party, known as the 8888 uprisings.
August 26
Makes a speech saying she "could not, as my father's daughter, remain indifferent to all that was going on". Travels Burma calling for peaceful democratic reforms.
September 18
Demonstrations are brutally suppressed as the Army seizes power.
1989
Placed under house arrest as the junta declares martial law.
1990
National League for Democracy wins national elections, despite the fact that Suu Kyi is disqualified from standing. Military disregards the result.
1991
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1995 Released from house arrest but her movements are restricted.
2000-02
House arrest imposed again after she tries to travel to a rally in Mandalay.
May 2003
Just over a year since her "unconditional release", she is imprisoned after clashes between NLD followers and junta forces.
September 2003
After medical treatment she is allowed home from prison under effective house arrest.
September 2007
Greets protesting Buddhist monks in her first public appearance since 2003.
May 2008
House arrest extended for a further year.
May 2009
Charged with breaking detention rules after an American swims to her compound.
August 2009
Sentenced to 18 months' further house arrest.
November 13, 2010
Released from house arrest.
- OBSERVER, AP, REUTERS
<i>Suu Kyi free:</i> 'The Lady' free to fight
Aung San Suu Kyi, the international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression, walked to freedom and spoke of fighting for human rights after the military regime in Myanmar released her from house arrest.
The defiant and dignified Suu Kyi, who is known among her supporters as "The
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