Military authorities in Burma have released the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest.
It had been expected that she would be released but the ruling military junta - which looks to have secured the majority of seats in Burma's first election for 20 years - is thought to have limited Ms Suu Kyi's travel privileges.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, was finally released to crowds of her cheering supporters at her party's headquarters on Saturday morning.
Freedom: Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi greets thousands of supporters over the fence of her house today as she is set free in Yangon, Burma
Crowds: More than 5,000 people gathered to see the momentous occasion when Ms Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest
More than 1,000 people, among them many journalists, waited near her lakeside house, many chanting 'Release Aung San Suu Kyi' and 'Long live Aung San Suu Kyi'.
Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with messages pledging to stand with her.
As the crowd swelled, about 30 riot police armed with guns and tear gas ordered Suu Kyi's increasingly vocal and anxious supporters to move back from the barricades.
Military chiefs finally removed heavy barbed wire barricades that had been in place around the 65-year-old's secure compound ready for her to be freed.
Jubilation: Ms Suu Kyi waved to for the first time in seven years to thousands of supporters outside her home
A smiling Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket and a flower in her hair, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.
'There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal. We have a lot of things to do,' Ms Suu Kyi told supporters at the gates of her lakeside compound.
Ms Suu Kyi, who has two grown up sons, spoke briefly in Burmese as she thanked the well-wishers, who quickly swelled to as many as 5,000, and said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
She then retreated back inside her home for the first meeting with her National League for Democracy party in seven years.
Ms Suu Kyi's party colleagues and democracy campaigners around the world welcomed news of her release - but called for Burma's 2,200 other political prisoners to be freed.
Prime Minister David Cameron said her imprisonment was 'a travesty' and her release was long overdue.
He added: 'Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights.'
U.S. President Barack Obama said that he welcomed the release of Myanmar pro- democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
'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. The United States welcomes her long overdue release," the president said in a statement.'
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: 'There will be joy round the world at the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's most renowned and courageous prisoner of conscience.
'Her release proves that no injustice can last forever, and while Burma's junta can continue its policy of repression it has never been able to wholly silence her voice.
'Despite enduring two decades of separation, her family has displayed great strength which has proved an inspiration to us all.'
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: 'Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's arbitrary detention for most of the last 20 years has been deeply unjust.
'Her fortitude in the face of this outrage has been inspirational. I welcome news of her release.'
Freedom: Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi gathered outside her party's headquarters to wait for her release following years of detention
Expectant: Bearing T-shirts which declare 'We Stand With You Aung San Suu Kyi' supporters gather in Rangoon
Aung San Suu Kyi: The pro-democracy campaigner has been released with conditions imposed by the ruling military junta
The pro-democracy leader is thought to have secured her release by signing a strict release order drawn up by the ruling military chiefs.
She had been due for release last year but was convicted for violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited across a lake to her home.
A government official says a release order was read by authorities to Ms Suu Kyi after her latest term of detention officially expired Saturday.
If Ms Suu Kyi had refused to sign the order she may have been held for longer.
The official, who demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, spoke shortly after three official cars entered her compound.
'My sources tell me that the release order has been signed,' said Tin Oo, chairman of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
Ms Suu Kyi's internment in jail or under house arrest has symbolised the struggle to rid Burma of decades of military rule.
'There is no law to hold (Ms Suu Kyi) for another day,' her lawyer, Nyan Win, said on Friday.
'Her detention period expires on Saturday and she will be released.'
Ms Suu Kyi's release has hinged on on whether the Burmese military junta decides to impose conditions.
Her lawyer said the Oxford-educated leader would not accept a conditional release if this meant she would be precluded from engaging in political activity.
'[Her release] must be unconditional,' Nyan Win said. 'As we all know, she has never accepted limited release in the past.'
The democracy icon's release came after a state media announcement on Thursday that the pro-junta political party had secured a majority in both houses of Parliament in last Sunday's elections.
Victory: Win Tin, National League for Democracy (NLD) party's senior leader speaks in the barricaded street leading to the home Aung San Suu Kyi
Placards: Supporters of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi holding her pictures wait for her release at her party's headquarters
Partial results showed the Union Solidarity and Development Party had won 190 of 219 constituencies reported in the 330-seat Lower House and 95 of 107 seats in the 168-seat Upper House.
Leading members of the ruling junta were among those who won seats, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, who also heads the USDP.
The victory is a clear sign that the military, in civilian guise, will continue to control the country for the foreseeable future.
Critics allege the Nov. 7 elections were manipulated to give the pro-military party a sweeping victory.
Results have been released piecemeal and already have given the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party a majority in both houses of Parliament.
Waiting: Supporters of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi wait for her release at her party's headquarters, the National League for Democracy (NLD), in Yangon, Burma
Chants: Protesters from Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) outside the Burmese Embassy in London call for the Burmese junta to release Ms Suu Kyi without imposing conditions
The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, but the military refused to hand over power and instead clamped down on opponents.
Ms Suu Kyi, 65, plans to help her disbanded National League for Democracy party probe allegations of election fraud, said Win, who is also a spokesman for the party.
The junta, however, is unlikely to allow Ms Suu Kyi to play a political role in Burma now that she has been released from house arrest.
In the past she has been prevented from travelling outside of Rangoon for fear her popularity could encourage dissent against the junta.
Suu Kyi's detention began in May 2003 after her motorcade was ambushed in northern Burma by a government-backed mob.
The detention period was extended in August of this year when a court convicted her of briefly sheltering an American intruder who came to her house uninvited.
Her NLD party won the last Burmese election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power and in May this year, was disbanded after refusing to part in the November election.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty, said that Ms Suu Kyi's release marked the end of an 'unfair sentence'.
Barricades: Police at a checkpoint on a road leading to the lakeside home of Aung San Suu Kyi
Popular: Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi wave towards her house at Inya Lake in Yangon
The detention period was extended in August of this year when a court convicted her of briefly sheltering an American intruder who came to her house uninvited.
Her NLD party won the last Burmese election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power and in May this year, was disbanded after refusing to part in the November election.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty, said that Ms Suu Kyi's release marked the end of an 'unfair sentence'.
She said: 'While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is certainly welcome, it only marks the end of an unfair sentence that was illegally extended, and is by no means a concession on the part of the authorities
'The fact remains that authorities should never have arrested her or the many other prisoners of conscience in Burma in the first place, locking them out of the political process.
'This time the authorities must ensure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s security.
'It is high time the government of Burma put an end to the ongoing injustice of political imprisonment in the country, while the international community—including China, India, ASEAN and the UN—must act together to prevent Burma from abusing its legal system to penalise peaceful opponents. The release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must not make them forget other prisoners of conscience.'
Analysts said it was likely only paramount leader Senior General Than Shwe and his closest allies knew the next steps for Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years locked up because of her opposition to 48 years of military rule in the former Burma.
With the Nov. 7 election, the first in 20 years, out of the way and won by a army-backed party, the generals could seek some international legitimacy by freeing Suu Kyi, daughter of the slain hero of Myanmar's campaign for independence from Britain.
Such a move would be the first step towards a review of Western sanctions on the resource-rich country, the largest in mainland Southeast Asia and labelled by rights groups as one of the world's most corrupt and oppressive.
Freeing the charismatic 65-year-old leader could also divert some attention from an election widely dismissed as a sham to cement military power under a facade of democracy.
'The regime needs to create some breathing space urgently,' said a retired Burmese academic, who asked not to be identified.
'They may do that by releasing her and might think it will help improve an image tarnished by electoral fraud.'
Zoya Phan, international co-ordinator at Burma Campaign UK, said: 'The release of Aung San Suu Kyi is about public relations, not democratic reform.
'I am thrilled to see our democracy leader free at last, but the release is not part of any political process, instead it is designed to get positive publicity for the dictatorship after the blatant rigging of elections on November 7.
'We must not forget the thousands of other political prisoners still suffering in Burma's jails.'
FROM HOUSEWIFE IN ENGLAND TO NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER
Born in Rangoon (now Yangon) in 1945, she is the daughter of General Aung San, an independence hero assassinated in 1947. Her mother, Khin Kyi, was also a prominent figure.
She studied politics in New Delhi and philosophy, politics and economics at Britain's Oxford University. In 1972, she married British academic Michael Aris.
Suu Kyi returned to Yangon in April 1988 to take care of her dying mother at a time of countrywide pro-democracy protests against the army regime. Keen to continue her father's legacy, she entered politics and helped set up the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, becoming its secretary-general and calling for an end to military rule.
The junta placed her under house arrest in July 1989 for 'endangering the state'. The next year the NLD won 392 of 485 parliamentary seats in Myanmar's first election in almost 30 years. The military refused to relinquish power.
Suu Kyi, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been in prison or under house arrest off and on for 15 years since 1989.
Her husband died in Britain in 1999. Suu Kyi declined an offer from the junta to go to Britain for his funeral, fearing she would not be allowed back if she left.
She was initially freed in 1995, but was not allowed to travel outside Yangon to meet supporters.
A pro-junta gang attacked a convoy carrying Suu Kyi, top party officials and supporters near Depayin town in 2003. The junta said four people were killed. Rights groups said as many as 70 were killed in the ambush. She was detained again soon after.
She was found guilty on Aug. 11, 2009, of breaking a security law by allowing American intruder John Yettaw (pictured right) to stay at her lakeside home for two nights. Critics said the charges were trumped up to stop her from having any influence over the polls.
She has since made several offers to the junta to lobby the international community to lift a wide range of sanctions on the country, most of which have been in place for more than two decades. Junta strongman Than Shwe never responded and the regime described her move as 'insincere' and 'dishonest'.
Suu Kyi's said she 'would not dream' of taking part in last Sunday's election and her NLD boycotted the vote. As a result, the party was officially dissolved.
A breakaway NLD faction did contest, but won only a handful of seats.
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