Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater on the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi

We applaud the Nobel Prize Committee's decision to award the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to Aung San Suu Kyi (Owng Sahn Soo Chee). Her leadership of the Non-Violent Movement for Democratic Reform in Burma is in the best tradition of previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the leader of the Opposition National League for Democracy Party which swept to victory in the 1990 national elections.

Arrested because of her political activities, she has been held incommunicado under house arrest for over 2 years. Even her husband and her children have not been allowed to visit her.

Her courage and her sacrifice are an inspiration to all who believe in democratic principles and government. Her continued detention without trial is the most obvious sign of the repressive manner in which the Burmese military maintains its rule.

The United States once again urges the Burmese military regime to transfer power to the duly elected civilian government and release all political prisoners, including this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.