Suu Kyi returns home after triumphant European tour

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and British Prime Minister David Cameron walk in the Rose Garden at the Prime Minister's country residence Chequers, near Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, England. Suu Kyi on Saturday returned home after a triumphant tour of Europe. Photo: AP

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has returned home after a triumphant tour of Europe, where she won enthusiastic support for her role in Myanmar’s democratic transition and was celebrated like a head of state.

Cheering crowds packed into Yangon’s airport on Saturday and lined the roads outside hoping to see Ms. Suu Kyi.

During her two-week trip, Ms. Suu Kyi met with political leaders in Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, England and France.

The trip’s highlights included Ms. Suu Kyi’s long-awaited acceptance speech for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, which she won while under house arrest in Myanmar.

The former military regime kept Ms. Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 of 23 years. She was freed in 2010, after the military ceded power to a nominally civilian government.