YANGON, May 6: Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was freed on Monday from 19 months of house arrest in Myanmar and told rapturous supporters she would carry on the fight for democracy in the military ruled country.

Calm and composed, her hair tied back with flowers, Suu Kyi was driven from her lakeside home to the ramshackle Yangon headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) to cheers from a huge crowd gathered in the most overt display of political activism in years.

She told a news conference although her party remained opposed to foreign investment, aid and tourism while the military held power, the junta had placed no conditions on her release.

Announcing the release of the 56-year-old daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero, the military government said it had begun “a new page for the people of Myanmar and the international community”.

Suu Kyi said while she was pleased the junta was proclaiming a new dawn, she wanted real political change. “We only hope the dawn will move forward very quickly into full morning,” she said.—Reuters