Suu Kyi finally accepts Nobel Peace Prize after 21 years
Source: Agencies |
June 17, 2012, Sunday
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MYANMAR opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepted her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo yesterday after spending a total of 15 years under house arrest and said full political freedom in her country was still a long way off.
"Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal," Suu Kyi said in her acceptance speech during her first trip to Europe in nearly 25 years.
"Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today."
Suu Kyi, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, advocated caution about transformation in Myanmar.
A day earlier, she arrived from Switzerland to a jubilant reception as crowds filled Oslo's streets and showered her with flowers.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in.
Her sons, Kim and Alexander had accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in 1991, with her husband Michael Aris also attending. A year later Suu Kyi announced she would use the US$1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for Myanmar people.
She was unable to be with Aris, an Oxford academic, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Britain in 1999.
Suu Kyi, who was elected to parliament in April, thanked Norway for its support and the instrumental role it played in Myanmar's transformation.
During her acceptance speech, Suu Kyi skirted the issue of sectarian violence between Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas, which has tested Myanmar's 15-month-old government.
According to government accounts, 29 people have died and 30,000 been displaced.
"We hope ceasefire agreements will lead to political settlements founded on the aspirations of the people, and the spirit of union," she said.
"Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal," Suu Kyi said in her acceptance speech during her first trip to Europe in nearly 25 years.
"Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today."
Suu Kyi, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, advocated caution about transformation in Myanmar.
A day earlier, she arrived from Switzerland to a jubilant reception as crowds filled Oslo's streets and showered her with flowers.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in.
Her sons, Kim and Alexander had accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in 1991, with her husband Michael Aris also attending. A year later Suu Kyi announced she would use the US$1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for Myanmar people.
She was unable to be with Aris, an Oxford academic, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Britain in 1999.
Suu Kyi, who was elected to parliament in April, thanked Norway for its support and the instrumental role it played in Myanmar's transformation.
During her acceptance speech, Suu Kyi skirted the issue of sectarian violence between Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas, which has tested Myanmar's 15-month-old government.
According to government accounts, 29 people have died and 30,000 been displaced.
"We hope ceasefire agreements will lead to political settlements founded on the aspirations of the people, and the spirit of union," she said.
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