Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi- Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's detained opposition leader who could soon be released from house arrest, was a political newcomer when she took up the struggle for democracy in 1988.

Following are the major events in the history of her role in Burma's politics since a military crackdown in 1988 and the formation of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party that followed.

1988:

• August: Thousands of people believed killed after troops open fire on mass protests. Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, delivers a speech at Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda to a crowd of 500,000
• September: Military takes charge with the creation of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
• Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is formed.

1989:

• July: Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest

1990:

• May: Her NLD wins 392 out of 485 seats in parliamentary elections but the junta refuses to recognise the results

1991:

• October: Suu Kyi wins Nobel Peace Prize

1994:

• September/October: Talks with junta number one and three, Senior General Than Shwe and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt

1995:

• July: Released after six years under house arrest

1996:

• May: Some 10,000 supporters of Suu Kyi march in Rangoon in the biggest demonstration since 1990, which the junta declares illegal.

1999:

• March: Her husband Michael Aris, a British academic, dies from cancer having not seen his wife in four years

2000:

• August: Suu Kyi defies order confining her to Rangoon. Again placed under house arrest the following month after attempting to travel to Mandalay

2002:

• May: Released after 19 months under house arrest

2003:

• May: Arrested in the country's north after a violent clash between her supporters and a pro-junta group leaves four dead
• September: Moved to her Rangoon home and placed under house arrest for a third time

2007:

• September: Suu Kyi prays with Buddhist monks outside her home during a monk-led uprising against escalating fuel costs, in her first public appearance since 2003

2008:

• May: Her detention is extended again three days after a referendum is held to confirm a new constitution that paves the way for an election in 2010
• August/September: Refuses food and placed on intravenous drip
• October: Appeals through her lawyers against her detention

2009:

• May: Appeal against detention is rejected

US national John Yettaw is arrested for swimming uninvited across a lake to her home and spending two days there. Suu Kyi placed on drip again shortly afterwards for dehydration and low blood pressure

Charged with breaching terms of her detention

• August: Given another 18 months of house arrest
• November: Appeals detention at Supreme Court

2010:

• February: Supreme Court rejects appeal
• March: Suu Kyi says she opposes contesting the election because of rules that forbid prisoners from being members of political parties.

Her party announces it will boycott the vote

• May: The NLD is forcibly dissolved by the junta

Suu Kyi lodges last-ditch appeal with Supreme Court against her detention

• October: She says she will refuse to vote

Supreme Court hears her appeal against detention

• November: Suu Kyi remains in detention at her lakeside mansion as Burma holds its first election in 20 years
• Officials say preparations are under way for her expected release

( telegraph.co.uk )