YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - When Aung San Suu Kyi last saw Europe, it was still divided into the democratic West and communist East. Her homeland of Myanmar was still under oppressive military rule.The long-time democracy activist takes her first European trip since 1988 Wednesday to make a long-awaited acceptance speech for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and at a time when Myanmar is making tenuous democratic progress.Her scheduled return to Myanmar by the end of the month gets her back in time to attend the July 4 reconvening of parliament, which was announced Tuesday night on state television. The parliamentary session will be considering crucial legislation, including media regulation and foreign investment.For 24 years, the opposition leader was either under house arrest or too fearful that if she left Myanmar, the former military regime would not let her return. She stayed put even as her British husband was dying of cancer in England in 1999.This will be Suu Kyi's second overseas trip after a recent, five-day tour in Thailand and will be filled with high-profile events bound to burnish Suu Kyi's image as an international political celebrity.At her first stop in Geneva, Suu Kyi will address Thursday's annual conference of the U.N.'s International Labor Organization. Her next stop is Norway for what is expected to be an emotional acceptance speech of her Nobel prize, 21 years late.She will briefly stop in Dublin to personally thank U2 frontman Bono for his support over the years. They will share the stage at a Monday concert in her honor organized by Amnesty International.
Aung Soe Min
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