Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from detention. Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. A small group of her supporters gathered on Saturday outside a barbed wire barrier reading Restricted Area, some holding her portrait, some wearing white T-shirts with the words, We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi. Her release has been the first priority for Western nations seeking to pressure the ruling junta on questions of human rights and political freedom, and the generals may see less need to isolate her because long-awaited parliamentary elections are over and the parties they backed are firmly in power. After her release, there may be no immediate change to long-standing policies of isolation and sanctions against the military leadership. Western diplomats said they would assess the degree of liberty she would be afforded and watch the behavior of the military toward her. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyis lawyer, U Nyan Win, said recently that she intended to plunge again into political activities, no matter what restrictions might be placed on her. The possibility remained of future confrontations that would bring further condemnation from the West.
