The White House on Monday called Aung San Suu Kyi an inspiration to justice-seekers the world over as the Myanmar democracy leader spent her 61st birthday alone and still under house arrest.
WASHINGTON: The White House on Monday called Aung San Suu Kyi an inspiration to justice-seekers the world over as the Myanmar democracy leader spent her 61st birthday alone and still under house arrest.
"Aung San Suu Kyi's courage and fortitude are an inspiration to those who seek freedom and justice in all parts of the world," spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.
"The United States urges the international community and the United Nations to take up its responsibility to address the plight of the Burmese people and the need for an inclusive, genuine political dialogue in Burma," he said.
The statement came as some 300 supporters held a day of ceremonies and protests near the crumbling Yangon house where the Nobel peace prize laureate has spent 10 of the past 17 years behind barbed wire and isolated from the outside world.
Aung San Suu Kyi studied and worked abroad including for the United Nations but returned to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in 1988 to care for her ailing mother.
That same year mass pro-democracy rallies broke out but were bloodily crushed by the military. Aung San Suu Kyi co-founded the National League for Democracy and was put under house arrest in 1989. She refused an offer of freedom if she left the country for good.
The opposition party won 1990 elections by a landslide but the military, which has ruled the country since 1962, ignored the results. Her most recent house arrest began after her convoy was attacked by a regime-backed mob during a political tour of northern Myanmar on May 30, 2003. The attack left four people dead and Aung San Suu Kyi was briefly jailed.
She has had no contact with the outside world since, except for a short-wave radio and a monthly visit from her doctor. She lives with two maids but is not allowed to receive guests, including her two adult sons.
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