Suu Kyi urges U.S. to end Myanmar sanctions

WASHINGTON -- Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, began her first visit to the United States in four decades, urging Washington to begin lifting remaining economic sanctions, which she credited for helping to pressure the government to allow vastly greater freedoms.

"I think our people must start to take responsibility for our own destiny," Suu Kyi said to a packed auditorium at the U.S. Institute of Peace after she met Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the State Department. "We should not depend on U.S. sanctions to keep up the momentum for democracy."

Clinton warmly introduced and embraced Suu Kyi before the speech, her first public appearance on a 17-day visit to the United States.

Suu Kyi's release from 15 years under house arrest in November 2010 and her election in April to parliament were key factors in the White House decision to step up engagement with the nominally civilian government.

The White House, which has already allowed U.S. companies to resume investing in Myanmar, is now weighing whether to lift a ban on imports. That time has now come, the Nobel laureate said.

"We are not yet at the end of our struggle," she said. "But we are getting there. . . . . There are many more hurdles to go." She praised the Myanmar regime for releasing several hundred prisoners this week, including 90 she said were political prisoners.

Suu Kyi will go to Capitol Hill to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, which she was awarded in absentia in 2008, when she was under house arrest. She is also scheduled to visit New York, the Midwest and California.

Her itinerary has been arranged to avoid upstaging Myanmar President Thein Sein, who arrives in New York next week for the annual UN General Assembly.

-- Chicago Tribune