Aung San Suu Kyi begins historic visit to US

YANGON - Myanmar opposition leader and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi left Yangon Sunday evening for Washington DC to begin her first visit to the United States in 24 years.

Suu Kyi's 20-day historic trip to the U.S., invited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, followed her visit to Thailand in May and Europe in June.

During her visit, Suu Kyi will receive the U.S. congressional Gold Medal award, the highest civilian honor, as well as the Global Citizen Award presented by the Atlantic Council based in New York, disclosed the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Besides attending the freedom forum in San Francisco, she will meet U.S.-based Myanmar citizens in some U.S. cities.

In May-June, Suu Kyi paid her first visit to Thailand in 24 years and attended the World Economic Forum.

In June, she continued to pay a 17-day historic visit to five European countries -- Switzerland, Norway, Britain, Ireland and France.

She collected in Oslo her Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1991, picked up in Dublin the prize "Ambassador of Conscience" awarded by the Amnesty International, received an honorary doctorate from the Oxford University in Britain and an honorary citizen award of Paris.

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union had all moved to ease or suspend sanctions on Myanmar as the nation embarked on democratic reform and sought engagement with the world.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) overwhelmingly won the April 1 by-elections, taking 43 out of 45 open parliamentary seats, of which 37 with the House of Representatives (Lower House).

Suu Kyi herself won a seat of House of Representatives with Yangon region's Kawhmu constituency.

She and her party's MPs were sworn in to office on May 2, while insisting on its three-point stance -- rule of law, internal peace and constitution amendments.

On August 7, Suu Kyi was named chairperson of a 15-member central-level Committee for Rule of Law and Tranquillity of the Lower House.