15 August,2011 07:51 AM IST | | Agencies
After being released from seven years of house arrest, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has made her first political trip outside Rangoon since her release from house arrest last November.
She called for national unity as she visited Bago, about 80 km north of Burma's main city. Police tried to clear the streets where thousands of people lined up as her convoy made its way to Bago.
Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi pays her respects
to Buddhist monks during a visit to a monastery in Bago, some
80 km north of Yangon yesterday
Suu Kyi travelled in a three-car convoy that was followed by a host of vehicles carrying reporters and supporters.
Thousands of people lined the roads in towns and villages on the way to Bago, waving banners and shouting slogans.
At a pagoda in Bago, crowds shouted "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!"
Well-wisher Ma Thuza said, "I can die happily now that I've seen her." Suu Kyi delivered a speech to about 600 people as she opened a library in Tha Nat Pin, close to Bago.
"We can develop this country only when we all work together," she said.
"Unity is a strength, unity is needed everywhere and it is needed especially in our country." She vowed to continue her work "as much as I can".
