Aung San Suu Kyi returns to Myanmar after European tour
Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi tours the Nobel Peace center in Oslo on June 16, 2012. Suu Kyi on June 16 pledged to keep up her struggle for democracy as she finally delivered her Nobel Peace Prize speech, 21 years after winning the award while under house arrest.
Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi was welcomed back to Myanmar by cheering crowds after her triumphant five-nation European tour.
Thousands of supporters greeter her at Yangon's airport and lined the streets outside, waving opposition party flags and holding banners, one of which said: " We are proud of you Mother Suu!" according to the Associated Press. Others referred to the honorary doctorate degree Suu Kyi received from Oxford University, shouting: "Long Live Dr. Aung San Suu Kyi!" She smiled and waved at supporters as they handed her bouquets of flowers and she was escorted to a waiting car, which was taking her to her lakeside villa.
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Suu Kyi arrived home Saturday after a two-week visit to Europe, where she was received in a way normally reserved for heads of state and praised for her peaceful resistance to dictatorship, reported Agence France-Presse. She will now prepare for the re-opening of Myanmar's parliament in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, where she will take her place as an elected member of parliament for the first time, alongside her colleagues of the National League of Democracy.
While on her tour of Europe, Suu Kyi visited France, Switzerland, Norway, Britain and Ireland, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. For years she was reluctant to travel outside Myanmar for fear that authorities wouldn't allow her to return home.
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