Myanmar Frees Leading Dissident

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest by Myanmar’s military rulers for much of the last decade, was freed today and left her home without restrictions for the first time in 19 months.

Arriving at midday at the Yangon headquarters of her party, the National League for Democracy, the 56-year-old pro-democracy leader was greeted by more than 1,000 supporters chanting, “long live Suu Kyi.”

Officials said Suu Kyi, who has long opposed military rule, would be permitted to travel freely and resume speaking out on political matters. “As of today, she is at liberty to carry out all activities, including her party’s,” a government spokesman told reporters.

Suu Kyi’s supporters had insisted that she be released without any conditions.

The government also said it would continue releasing some of an estimated 1,800 political prisoners it is holding, many of whom are members of Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.

“We shall recommit ourselves to allowing all of our citizens to participate freely in the life of our political process, while giving priority to national unity, peace and stability of the country as well as the region,” the military government said in a statement released in both Yangon and Washington.

The announcement, following months of negotiations with military rulers and Suu Kyi by United Nations envoy Razali Ismail, signals the regime’s desire to end the country’s isolation and persuade the international community to lift economic sanctions.

The country, formerly known as Burma, has been under strong pressure from Washington to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. The United States and other nations have imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar that have left the dictatorship largely isolated from the rest of the world.

Western critics say the impoverished country’s rulers have survived in large part by relying on the illegal opium trade.

A former British colony, Myanmar has been run by the military since 1962. In 1988, the regime put down a pro-democracy uprising by killing hundreds.

The government called parliamentary elections in 1990, but after the National League for Democracy won in a landslide, the military refused to let Suu Kyi take power. Arrested in 1989, the charismatic daughter of independence leader Aung San was held under house arrest until 1995. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

She was placed under house arrest again in September 2000 after she twice attempted to travel outside Yangon, the capital city formerly known as Rangoon, and has been held for the last 19 months.

Although no official announcement of her release was made, word spread quickly and a throng of supporters gathered at her party headquarters.

She arrived in a white Toyota and was mobbed by the cheering crowd. Some of her supporters linked arms to hold the crowd back and form an aisle so she could enter the building.

Government officials and party leaders had hinted for days that she would be released. The government statement does not mention her by name but says the country will celebrate “a day of national unity” by taking “a series of steps.”

“We have released nearly 600 detainees in recent months and shall continue to release those who will cause no harm to the community, nor threaten the existing peace, stability and unity of the nation,” the statement said.

Democracy advocates said earlier that the government had released about 200 of an estimated 2,000 political prisoners in recent months. The government’s higher figure might include the release of detainees not considered to be political prisoners by the opposition.

Western diplomats say the regime was compelled to seek international assistance because it has run the country into the ground during the last decade.

Universities have been closed more often than they have been open, and libraries have been shut. Health care has sharply deteriorated, and doctors have little contact with medical advances in the West. The banking system is near collapse, diplomats say.

While the families of the military rulers drive expensive foreign cars, the public transportation system is so near collapse that rickety buses crammed to capacity carry loads of passengers sitting on top as well as inside.

Citizens are denied access to the Internet. Cellular phones are virtually unheard of.

The government’s statement indicates that the military rulers are ready to seek help from the outside world. It said it would join other nations to combat terrorism and AIDS, and fight for the “total eradication of narcotic drugs which are threatening mankind.”

“Today marks a new page for the people of Myanmar and the international community,” the statement said. “As we look forward to a better future, we will work toward greater international stability and improving the welfare of our diverse people.”