Burma: Supporters Gather to Welcome Suu Kyi

Source: www.srilankaguardian.org - Friday, November 12, 2010
by Ko Htwe (November 12, Rangoon, Sri Lanka Guardian) As anticipation mounts that National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi will soon be released, dozens of supporters wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “We Stand With Aung San Suu Kyi” had gathered outside the party's headquarters in Rangoon by 12 midday while correspondents from foreign new agencies and Rangoon-based journals waited nearby. Suu Kyi's period of house arrest is due to expire on Saturday, but rumors have circulated that Snr-Gen Than Shwe had signed an authorization to release the Nobel laureate. Earlier on Friday, more than 100 NLD members and other supporters donated blood at a local hospital in Rangoon to draw attention to the potential for her release that day. “We are donating blood from our body because it is a mark of respect for our leader's potential release,” said Yar Zar, an NLD youth member. Several NLD leaders have said they are looking forward to her release and to discussing pertinent issues such as the politician situation in Burma following last week's general election. “We plan to meet with her as soon as she is released,” said lawyer Nyan Win who is also a spokesperson for the NLD. Security around Suu Kyi's Inya Lake house on University Avenue Road in Rangoon is said to be normal, but has tightened a little around the NLD headquarters, at Hledan Junction and near Bogyoke Market, added Yar Zar.