Released Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has decided to talk to European leaders about cutting down sanctions on her land.
It is a important move for Aung San Suu Kyi, who in the past has supported sanctions as a way of pressuring the junta, and even questioned visitors visiting for the country because their cash helps fund the regime.
But there's matter that the sanctions affect the folks of Burma a lot more than they do its military-turned-civilian government.
In a press conference, the Nobel Laureate and democracy icon said she would talk to Western leaders about removing sanctions - if that was what the Burmese people wanted.
Ms Suu Kyi addressed tens of thousands of her supporters in her first speech in seven years, outside the headquarters of her banned political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"I want to hear the voice of the people, after that we will decide what we want to do, " she told the sea of followers.
"I want to work with all democratic forces.
"I believe in human rights and I believe in the rule of law. "
She told them she wants to find out what has changed during her most recent period of detention and to find out what they want.
She asked them not to give up hope for change, to have courage and perservere and to take an interest in politics because its important, and said freedom of speech is essential for democratic freedom.
Ms Suu Kyi had been under house arrest since 2003 - just one of several stretches of detention at the hands of the ruling generals.
Her sentence was extended last year over a bizarre incident in which an American swam uninvited to her lakeside home, sparking international condemnation and keeping her off the scene for last Sunday's vote.
The pro-democracy leader swept her party to victory in a 1990 election, but it was never allowed to take power.
Ms Suu Kyi's struggle for her country has come at a high personal cost: her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in 1999, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the junta refused him a visa to see his wife.
She has not seen her two sons for about a decade and has never met her grandchildren.
It is a important move for Aung San Suu Kyi, who in the past has supported sanctions as a way of pressuring the junta, and even questioned visitors visiting for the country because their cash helps fund the regime.
But there's matter that the sanctions affect the folks of Burma a lot more than they do its military-turned-civilian government.
In a press conference, the Nobel Laureate and democracy icon said she would talk to Western leaders about removing sanctions - if that was what the Burmese people wanted.
Ms Suu Kyi addressed tens of thousands of her supporters in her first speech in seven years, outside the headquarters of her banned political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"I want to hear the voice of the people, after that we will decide what we want to do, " she told the sea of followers.
"I want to work with all democratic forces.
"I believe in human rights and I believe in the rule of law. "
She told them she wants to find out what has changed during her most recent period of detention and to find out what they want.
She asked them not to give up hope for change, to have courage and perservere and to take an interest in politics because its important, and said freedom of speech is essential for democratic freedom.
Ms Suu Kyi had been under house arrest since 2003 - just one of several stretches of detention at the hands of the ruling generals.
Her sentence was extended last year over a bizarre incident in which an American swam uninvited to her lakeside home, sparking international condemnation and keeping her off the scene for last Sunday's vote.
The pro-democracy leader swept her party to victory in a 1990 election, but it was never allowed to take power.
Ms Suu Kyi's struggle for her country has come at a high personal cost: her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in 1999, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the junta refused him a visa to see his wife.
She has not seen her two sons for about a decade and has never met her grandchildren.
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