Burma's Suu Kyi Turns 65 in Confinement

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marked her 65th birthday today locked in her dilapidated lakeside compound as calls for her freedom erupted around the world. President Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded Suu Kyi's release in statements echoed at rallies and prayer vigils across the globe. Supporters at home threw a birthday party attended by more than 300 people—but not the guest of honor.

Holding candles and yellow roses, they lit a birthday cake with 65 candles and released 65 doves into the sky while chanting, "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi." Suu Kyi has now spent 15 birthdays in detention over the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest. She is the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner. Confined to her home, Suu Kyi planned to celebrate by providing a lunch of chicken curry and an Indian-style flat bread for the three dozen workers renovating her crumbling mansion. "It is very sad that she cannot celebrate her birthday in freedom," said her lawyer.
(More Aung San Suu Kyi stories.)