Burmese democracy leader urges discussion, debate - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The leader of Myanmar's democracy movement has told thousands of supporters at a northeastern Indiana arena that she will work to make sure everyone who wants to return to the southeast Asian nation will be welcome there.

Aung San Suu Kyi addressed an estimated 5,000 people Tuesday at Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum during a stop on her 17-day visit to the United States.

See a transcript of her speech here.

The 67-year-old Nobel laureate told supporters who greeted her with cheers and a standing ovation that people should work together toward goals and should strive to avoid envy and jealousy.

She told the crowd in the city with one of the nation's largest Burmese communities about the importance of resolving problems through "discussion and debate."

Some in the crowd held aloft signs, including one that reads "WE (heart) Suu Kyi." Another says "Free Burma Action Day."

Burmese immigrants who attended the speech say the Nobel laureate was inspiring and brought some of them to tears.

San San Oo left Burma in 2006 and now lives in Fort Wayne. She says seeing Suu Kyi during her Tuesday visit to Fort Wayne was wonderful and left her almost speechless. She called the 67-year-old Suu Kyi "our mother."

Han Han Thi of East Lansing, Mich., left Burma in 2002. She says she's glad Suu Kyi called for an end to the tough economic sanctions that Burma has faced for years.

Suu Kyi spent nearly 20 years under house arrest by Myanmar's military junta after being democratically elected in 1989. Read more about her life here.

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