Nobel committee invites Suu Kyi to Oslo

OSLO - Norway’s Nobel committee Saturday invited Aung San Suu Kyi to Oslo to make a belated acceptance speech for the peace prize she won 19 years ago but did not pick up.

The Myanmar opposition icon was honoured in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights, but was unable to travel to Scandinavia because she was under house arrest.

She also feared she would not be allowed to return to Myanmar, and asked her husband, who has since died, to accept the prize on her behalf.

The head of the Nobel committee, Thorbjrn Jagland, said he would seek a guarantee from the government in Yangon that Suu Kyi would be allowed back if she visited Oslo.

“I don’t believe she would leave the country without first obtaining such a guarantee, Jagland told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

Her release Saturday after a decade-and-a-half of house arrest was good news for political prisoners all over the world, he said.

This year’s peace prize was warded to Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison term in his native China for his commitment to democracy.

The Norwegian committee believes neither Liu nor his wife Liu Xia will be allowed to travel to Norway for the award ceremony Dec 10.