U.S. welcomes Suu Kyi release

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House has echoed Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's call for a "new dawn" in the country following her release Monday from 19 months of confinement.

Welcoming news of her release President Bush in a statement called on all parties to "seize this opportunity to press ahead with the urgent work of restoring the rule of law and basic political and civil rights for all Burmese."

The daughter of Burma's independence leader and the face of Myanmar's opposition movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, 56, has been under some form of detention for much of the past 12 years.

In 1990 her National League for Democracy party scored a massive victory in nationwide elections but the result was ignored by the military junta that still rules the country.

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"Only a return to democracy and reintegration with the international community can bring freedom and prosperity" to Myanmar, Bush said.

The Nobel committee awarded Suu Kyi its Peace Prize in 1991, citing her "non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights."

On Monday, human rights group Amnesty International lauded her release but called for further progress towards democracy.

"We hope it will soon be followed by the releases of dozens of other prisoners held for peaceful political views," the organization said, noting a recent decrease in the number of "political arrests" in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi left her house Monday for the first time since September 2000 and was met by cheering crowds when she arrived at NLD headquarters in Yangon.

There are no restrictions on her movements, government officials said, but Suu Kyi indicated she had no immediate plans to leave the capital.

Her release was not unexpected -- United Nations envoy Razali Ismail, who visited Myanmar recently, had been hinting that Suu Kyi might be freed soon.

Burma was renamed Myanmar by its government in 1989, but many still refer to it by the former name.