Opposition leader Suu Kyi makes political trip to northern Myanmar ( AFP ) Oct 14, 2002


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Opposition leader Suu Kyi makes political trip to northern Myanmar

YANGON, Oct 14 (AFP)

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi departed Monday for a four-day political trip outside the capital Yangon as she continued to exercise her newly-won right to travel freely around the country.

The Nobel peace laureate was en route to the town of Pyay in Pago division, some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Yangon, sources from her National League for Democracy (NLD) told AFP.

"She is presently heading for Min Hla which is around midway between Yangon and Pyay where she will break the journey for lunch," the NLD official said."The trip is basically party-related during which she will naturally take the opportunity to meet the local people and receive feedback on their living conditions," he said.

Escorted by NLD vice chairman Tin Oo and 15 members of the party's youth wing, she will spend the night in a town along the way before arriving in Pyay on Tuesday morning.

Aung San Suu Kyi's first attempt to travel to Min Hla in July 1998 was aborted when military authorities stopped her before she could cross the state line and she was forced to head back home.Similar attempts to travel outside of Yangon were also thwarted until a stand-off over a planned trip to the northern city of Mandalay resulted in the opposition leader being placed under house arrest.

She was freed in May after spending 19 months confined to her lakeside home, on the understanding she would be free to travel around the country on party business.Since then she has made several extended trips and others to outlying districts of the capital.

The latest four-day trip is taking place ahead of a visit by UN human rights envoy to Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro who is expected to arrive on October 17.

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