Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is "completely free" following her release after spending 15 of the past 21 years in detention, an official says.

The official claimed there were no conditions attached to her newly granted freedom, which was followed by wild celebrations among her supporters.

The Nobel peace prize winner appeared at the gates of her Rangoon compound as thousands of people chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.

She greeted the crowd, telling them: "We must work together in unison to achieve our goal."

Mrs Suu Kyi will make her first speech to supporters on Sunday morning.

Sky's correspondent at the scene - who we are not naming because she has had to defy a ban on foreign media to enter the country - said: "Aung San Suu Kyi looks humbled by this occasion.

"She has been handed white flowers by the crowd. She's wearing a lilac dress. She looks in good spirits and looks healthy."

Ms Suu Kyi, 65, has become a symbol for a struggle to rid Burma of decades of military rule.

Her release was granted on the day her seven-year house arrest term was due to expire.

She has been in jail or under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years.

The correspondent added: "It's getting dark here and people had begun to perhaps fear this was not going to happen but in the end this period of house arrest finally came to an end.

"There was a phenomenal amount of pushing and shoving as everybody was desperate to get to the front of the house to get a glimpse of this woman."

A release order was read by authorities to Ms Suu Kyi before barricades were removed from her home and police guards removed from their posts.

Reacting to news of her release, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This is long overdue.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights. Her detention was a travesty, designed only to silence the voice of the Burmese people.

"Freedom is Aung San Suu Kyi's right. The Burmese regime must now uphold it."

US President Barack Obama called her "a hero of mine", while the Burma Campaign UK also welcomed her freedom.

But the organisation warned it should not be interpreted as a sign that democratic reform is on the way.

International co-ordinator Zoya Phan said: "The release of Aung San Suu Kyi is about public relations, not democratic reform.

"I am thrilled to see our democracy leader free at last, but the release is not part of any political process.

"Instead it is designed to get positive publicity for the dictatorship after the blatant rigging of elections on November 7."

Burma Campaign UK called for the immediate release of 2,202 political prisoners who remain in detention.

In the hours before her release thousands of Ms Suu Kyi's supporters had gathered outside her home calling for her to be freed.

The Sky correspondent said: "All day since first light here there had been police at the barricade, but in fairly small numbers.

"But a couple of hour ago, a crowd started to grow in numbers and about 40 riot police went up to the barricade - it was very intimidating.

"However things all started to come to an end when they started to unpick the wire and pull back those barricades.

"The crowd started running a quarter of a mile towards Aung San Suu Kyi's house - a place that had been denied to Burmese for seven years."

Ms Suu Kyi was detained because of her opposition to the junta in one of the world's most reclusive, oppressive countries.

Last week, an army-backed party won the country's first election in 20 years - it was widely dismissed as a sham to cement military power under a facade of democracy.

The generals may be trying to seek some international legitimacy by freeing Suu Kyi.

And it could be the first step towards a review of Western sanctions against the nation.

Many experts argue that the sanctions benefit the junta, allowing generals and their cronies to dominate industry in a country rich in natural gas, timber and minerals.

Pessimists also question whether the generals really care about their image when they are assured of diplomatic and economic support from their neighbours, in particular China.

Ms Suu Kyi was due for release last year but was convicted for violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited across a lake to her home.

She took up the democracy struggle in 1988, after being thrust into a leadership role primarily due to her being the daughter of martyred independence leader General Aung San.

Ms Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, having been detained on national security charges and put under house arrest the previous year.

She was released in 1995 but has spent much of the time since then in detention, either in jail or under house arrest.

In neighbouring Thailand, the younger of her two sons, Kim Aris, was seeking the chance to see his mother for the first time in 10 years.

Aris lives in Britain and has been repeatedly denied visas.

Her eldest son, Alexander Aris, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his mother's behalf in 1991 and reportedly lives in the United States.

Her husband Michael Aris died of cancer in 1999 at age 53 after having been denied visas to see his wife for the three years before his death.

I thought she was from Myanmar. ???

I thought she was from Myanmar. ???
Myanmar is the new name for Burma.

Myanmar is the new name for Burma.


Oh cool.  Kinda like Sri Lanka is the new name for Ceylon.  Or like Congo is the new name for Zaire, which used to be the new name for Congo.  :D

Oh cool.  Kinda like Sri Lanka is the new name for Ceylon.  Or like Congo is the new name for Zaire, which used to be the new name for Congo.  :D
These countries are changing all the time.

Oh cool.  Kinda like Sri Lanka is the new name for Ceylon.  Or like Congo is the new name for Zaire, which used to be the new name for Congo.  :D


No.  More like how "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" was the new name for "Russia".

I don't care what a bunch of thugs with guns want to call it.  I don't even particularly care that much about the country.  But I know Orwellian attempts to erase history when I see them.

And so, until those thugs lay down the guns and hold free and fair elections (or at least until Wikipedia throws in the towel and stops redirecting the entry for the misnamed country to Burma, and starts redirecting Burma to the entry for the misnamed country), I'm going to be grateful I live under the rule of someone whose thugs won't shoot me for calling the nation in question Burma.

Myanmar's thugs
Should be ashamed
I maintain
The country's named
Burma (Shave!)