Burma
democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday said her country was at
the start of the road to reconciliation as she arrived in Norway to
finally give her Nobel Peace Prize speech.
After years of house arrest and isolation, Ms Suu Kyi arrived to a
rapturous welcome on a Europe tour that follows sweeping change in her
homeland, where a former military junta has promised to follow a path to
democracy.
On Saturday she was due to finally deliver her Nobel lecture, more than
two decades after winning the prize for her dogged campaign to free her
people, which has seen her separated from her family since 1988.
"I thank the people of Norway and all others who have helped us along
this very difficult path," said Ms Suu Kyi, wearing a trademark white
flower in her hair as she stood beside Norway's Prime Minister Jens
Stoltenberg.
"We're certainly not at the end of the road. By no means. We are just starting out," she told a joint press conference.
"And this road is not going to be a straightforward, smooth one. There
are going to be many twists and turns and there'll be obstacles. But
we'll have to negotiate these in the spirit of national reconciliation."
There was concern over the punishing schedule of Ns Suu Kyi's trip,
which will also take her to Britain, Ireland and France, after the
activist, who turns 67 next week, cancelled some events in Switzerland,
citing exhaustion.
But Ms Suu Kyi, wearing a pale pink silk dress, looked sprightly in
Oslo, where she was greeted by Burmese community members with song and
flowers.
Asked by the media whether she had ever dreamt of coming to Norway, she
said: "Yes, of course! I've always believed that... I've never doubted
that."
She said she was on a journey of "rediscovery and discovery, seeing the world with new eyes".
On Saturday, she was to deliver the Nobel lecture at Oslo City Hall for
the prize she won in 1991 but was unable to accept in person, fearing
that the regime would bar her from returning to her country.
Her husband Michael Aris and their two sons, Kim and Alexander, accepted the award on her behalf.
When her husband died of cancer in 1999, Aung San Suu Kyi could not be by his side, for the same reason.
It is Ms Suu Kyi's personal courage that has led admirers to liken her
to history's great human rights defenders, from Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson
Mandela.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg told her: "You've been a champion for
democracy, you have been a champion for your people, and you have
dedicated your life to the struggle for democracy in your country, and
you are an inspiration for all of us."
He said "the new political reality in Myanmar (Burma) is remarkable",
reflecting on a year in which Burma’s President Thein Sein has freed
political prisoners and welcomed Ms Suu Kyi's party back into mainstream
politics.
"We have witnessed great changes in less than a year," the premier said.
"Your presence here in Oslo is proof that your long fight for democracy
and justice for your people is really paying off."
But he also warned: "A great deal remains be done... We need to be
realistic. This process is not irreversible. There will be setbacks,
there will be disappointments."
Ms Suu Kyi's trip has been clouded by ethnic strife at home, where
regional clashes between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya have claimed
dozens of lives and displaced more than 30,000 people.
Speaking earlier in Switzerland, the Oxford-educated daughter of the
country's independence hero stressed "the need for rule of law", saying
that without it "such communal strife will only continue".
Burma’s crumbling economy lags far behind those of its dynamic Asian
neighbours, although eased Western sanctions have sparked a business
bonanza, with investors starting to flock to the resource-rich country.
Ms Suu Kyi said that "human-rights friendly, democracy-friendly
investment is what we're looking for," adding that it should benefit the
private sector "rather than strengthen the hand of the government over
the economy".
"Burma has been a command economy for far too long and we never
prospered along the road... Now that we have the opportunity, we want to
make sure that we open up in the right way."
Asked whether ties with Burma’s leaders might be strained by her Europe
trip, she said, "I do not see why anyone should object to my travelling
abroad".
"Certainly I don't think they have anything to fear from the interest
that other countries show in my party and myself, because we want to
work for national reconciliation."
- AFP
