Suu Kyi returns home after Euro tour

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) and British Prime Minister David Cameron walk in the Rose Garden following their lunch on June 22. AP photo

Myanmar’s champion of democracy Aung San Suu Kyi wrapped up her triumphant tour of Europe in France yesterday, after being lauded during her visits as a model of peaceful resistance to dictatorship.

The Nobel Peace laureate, who spent almost two decades under house arrest for her freedom struggle, has been cheered by crowds and leaders on her five-nation tour, her first visit to Europe in a quarter-century. In France, she was treated with honors normally reserved for a head of state, dining at the Elysee Palace on June 26 with President François Hollande, who pledged support for her country’s transition towards democracy. She had a 45-minute breakfast with former president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in a Paris hotel.

Myanmar was for decades ruled by an iron-fisted junta, but a reformist government under ex-general President Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi’s party back into mainstream politics.