Suu Kyi to give Nobel speech 21 years after winning prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will finally get a chance to deliver her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, nearly 21 years after winning the prestigious award.

Aung San Suu Kyi. Pic: AP.

Suu Kyi is set to deliver her speech in Oslo’s City Hall on June 16, during a visit to Norway, Nobel Peace Institute spokeswoman Sigrid Langebrekke told The Associated Press on Monday.

After becoming leader of Burma’s pro-democracy movement, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for 15 of the following 22 years of military rule. Her confinement kept her from attending the ceremony for the 1991 peace prize.

Norway’s government said Suu Kyi also will meet Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg during her June 15-18 visit. She also is expected to visit Britain during her first travels abroad since 1988, when she returned to Burma to care for her ailing mother. She received her first passport in 24 years earlier this month.

Suu Kyi’s eldest son, Alexander Aris, accepted the peace prize on her behalf during the 1991 ceremony.