News
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Zardari honours Myanmar’s Suu KyiYANGON: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday presented Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi with an award in recognition of her long struggle for democracy as he visited the military-dominated country. “I’m sure she will be this century’s leader to be remembered by the coming generation,” Zardari said as he bestowed the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Award for Democracy, created in memory of the former prime minister, on the opposition leader. He added that Benazir Bhutto held Suu Kyi in high esteem and used to call her “a brave inspiration to us all”. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. She was released from her latest stint of detention just days after 2010 elections, following half a century of outright military rule. “We want to stop as far as possible the suffering of families in our country,” Suu Kyi said at the award presentation in Yangon. “I hope the day will come when our two countries will be able to cooperate very closely to ensure that the rights of families and people everywhere are safeguarded by sound, secure values,” she added. Suu Kyi also lauded Benazir Bhutto for her unparalleled struggle for the cause of democracy in Pakistan. Suu Kyi held about 45 minutes of talks with Zardari in private. The president also held talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday about upgrading relations, and promoting economic and trade cooperation. Later, President Zardari paid a visit to the mausoleum of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The president also presented a cheque worth $50,000 to the administrators of the mausoleum for taking care of the historical site. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk