Aung San Suu Kyi Accepts Nobel Peace Prize In Oslo

'It Made Me Feel Real Again' Aung San Suu Kyi Accepts Nobel Peace Prize After 20 Years

Aung San Suu Kyi has accepted the Nobel peace prize more than 20 years after it was awarded to her.

Burma’s opposition leader, who has spent a quarter of a century under house arrest, accepted the peace prize awarded to her in 1991 on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. She said the award had made her feel “real once again” during her time as a political prisoner.

"Often during my days of house arrest it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world," she said.

Suu Kyi, who left Burma for the first time since 1988 this year, was placed under house arrest in 1989 after the Burmese junta declared martial law. Despite a convincing win in the country's 1990 polls, she was disqualified by the junta and spent subsequent years as a prisoner.

Suu Kyi says the Nobel Peace Prize she won while under house arrest 21-years ago helped to shatter her sense of isolation

The 66-year-old said she learned she won the prize from the radio, saying the award "opened a door in my heart." The politician did not go to collect the prize fearing she would be allowed back.

Burma, which held its first national elections in 2010, has recently embarked on a series of reforms, with Cameron saying last week he would support suspending sanctions on the country last week. Suu Kyi was elected as an MP in March.

The country's president Thein Sein unexpectedly embarked on a series of democratic reforms, including releasing political prisoners and allowing peaceful protest, prompting Suu Kyi's party to participate in elections following the changes.

Accepting the Nobel peace prize, Suu Kyi said: "My party, the National League for Democracy, and I stand ready and willing to play any role in the process of national reconciliation."

She also spoke up for prisoners still detained by the Burmese government, saying: "It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten."

Of the process of reform in her country, she said she advocated “cautious optimism.”

“It is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith,” she said.

"There have been changes in a positive direction; steps towards democratisation have been taken."

Suu Kyi will be making a week long visit to the UK from 18 June, where she will make a historic address to both Houses of Parliament.

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