Pro-democracy icon Ms Aung San Suu Kyi will be released from house arrest in days after agreeing a deal with Burma's military government, a senior opposition leader said today.
National League for Democracy Vice Chairman Mr Tin Oo told reporters at the opposition's headquarters that Ms Suu Kyi was confident of being freed soon after meeting senior leaders of the ruling junta.
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Aung San Suu Kyi
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"We are expecting some definitely good news about Aung San Suu Kyi in days," he said. "I don't think she will be released today. For the time being she is under house arrest".
Opposition sources said although they were confident Ms Suu Kyi would be freed after 18 months confined to her Rangoon residence, some aspects of the deal had yet to be agreed.
The release of the 56-year-old Nobel peace laureate is among the top demands of the international community, which has isolated Burma and imposed economic sanctions on the poor nation in a bid to force political change.
Ms Suu Kyi has been confined to her home since September 2000 after defying orders not to travel outside the capital.
The NLD, led by Ms Suu Kyi, won Burma's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but the ruling junta refused to hand over power. The military has ruled the country since 1962.
Ms Suu Kyi spent six years in house arrest from 1989 to 1995. Her release in 1995 was marked with jubilant scenes as large crowds thronged the street outside her home.