YANGON: Myanmar’s military government freed its archrival, democracy leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, on Saturday after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to her residence.

A smiling Ms Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket and a flower in her hair, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.
Speaking briefly in Burmese, she thanked the well-wishers, who quickly swelled to as many as 5,000, and said they would see each other again on Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, whose latest period of detention spanned 7 1/2 years, has come to symbolise the struggle for democracy in the South-East Asian nation ruled by the military since 1962.
The release from house arrest of one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners came a week after an election that was swept by the military’s proxy political party and decried by western nations as a sham designed to perpetuate authoritarian control.
Supporters had been waiting most of the day near her residence and the headquarters of her political party. Ms Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.
As her release was underway, the riot police stationed in the area left the scene and a barbed-wire barricade near her residence was removed, allowing the waiting supporters to surge forward.
Her release was immediately welcomed by several activist groups around the world. Hailing the release of Ms Suu Kyi the US President, Mr Barack Obama called for more of the country’s political prisoners to be freed.
“She is a hero of mine and a source of inspiration for all who work to advance basic human rights in Burma (Myanmar) and around the world,” the President said, calling the release “long overdue”.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was long overdue.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights,” he said in a statement.
India also hailed Ms Suu Kyi’s release and termed it as a step towards national reconciliation.
“India welcomes the release of Suu Kyi. We hope that this will be the beginning of the process of reconciliation in Myanmar,” the External Affairs Minister, Mr S M Krishna said.
The European Commission President, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso said he was “delighted” by the release of Ms Suu Kyi.
In a statement, Mr Barroso said that “after an ordeal of more than 20 years”, Ms Suu Kyi has become “a global symbol of courage and hope”.
The UN’s top human rights official also welcomed the release of Ms Suu Kyi, but also urged Myanmar’s ruling military junta to release all political prisoners.
“It is important that her release is unconditional, and that this is honoured in practice,” said Mr Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, adding that some 2,200 political prisoners still remain locked up.
Critics allege the November 7 elections were manipulated to give the pro-military party a sweeping victory. Results have been released piecemeal and already have given the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party a majority in both houses of Parliament.
The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, but the military refused to hand over power and instead clamped down on opponents.
Ms Suu Kyi was convicted last year of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, extending a period of continuous detention that began in 2003 after her motorcade was ambushed in northern Myanmar by a government-backed mob.
Ms Suu Kyi has shown her mettle time and again since taking up the democracy struggle in 1988.
Having spent much of her life abroad, she returned home to take care of her ailing mother just as mass demonstrations were breaking out against 25 years of military rule. She was quickly thrust into a leadership role, mainly because she was the daughter of Aung San, who led Myanmar to independence from Britain before his assassination by political rivals.
She rode out the military’s bloody suppression of street demonstrations to help found the NLD. Her defiance gained her fame and honour, most notably the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
Charismatic, tireless and outspoken, her popularity threatened the country’s new military rulers. In 1989, she was detained on trumped-up national security charges and put under house arrest.
She was not released until 1995 and has spent various periods in detention since then.
Ms Suu Kyi’s freedom had been a key demand of western nations and groups critical of the military regime’s poor human rights record.
The military government, seeking to burnish its international image, had responded previously by offering to talk with her, only to later shy away from serious negotiations.
Ms Suu Kyi -- who was barred from running in this month’s elections -- plans to help probe allegations of voting fraud, according to Mr Nyan Win, who is a spokesman for her party, which was officially disbanded for refusing to reregister for this year’s polls.
Awaiting her release in neighbouring Thailand was the younger of her two sons, Mr Kim Aris, who is seeking the chance to see his mother for the first time in 10 years.