YANGON, 20 June 2005 — Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, turned 60 yesterday alone and under house arrest as her supporters here and around the world demanded her freedom.

For the woman known affectionately as “The Lady”, the day was probably much like any other in the past two years she has been under house arrest, allowed no visitors besides a doctor and with her telephone line cut.

But at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD), hundreds of people gathered to mark the occasion. Security was visibly tighter than normal there and outside her home.

Supporters later clapped and prayed as 10 doves, representing peace, and 60 colorful balloons were released. Security forces watched and videotaped the event.

Inside the headquarters, NLD Central Executive Committee Chairman Aung Shwe read a statement before about 400 guests including diplomats, saying the party prayed for the “longevity, blissfulness and proper health” of Aung San Suu Kyi.

He also hinted at the party’s readiness for talks with the ruling junta. “I dare say that there would be no difficulties to hold dialogue with the leaders of the armed forces for the establishment of democracy and human rights for the benefit of the nation,” Aung Shwe said.

Police briefly detained 10 NLD members at the Shwedagon pagoda for wearing traditional longyis in the NLD’s official colors of orange and brown, and released them only after they changed their clothes, party sources said.

A small group of elderly Myanmar politicians known as the Veteran Politicians Group marked Suu Kyi’s birthday with a separate service in Yangon at which five more monks recited prayers as the group called for her release and urged the military to open talks with her party.

World leaders including US President George W. Bush and the foreign ministers of Germany and Myanmar’s former colonial ruler Britain also called for Suu Kyi’s release and praised her as a symbol of freedom.

“I send my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi for her 60th birthday,” Bush said in a statement echoing the thoughts of other leaders and Nobel Laureates, including South African archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.

“Her strength, courage, and personal sacrifice in standing up for the oppressed people of Burma have inspired those who stand for freedom,” Bush said.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was among those appealing yet again for the release of Suu Kyi.

In Thailand, the respected Thammasat University in Bangkok awarded an honorary doctorate in political science to Suu Kyi. It was accepted by one of her representatives.

The award was originally bestowed in 1991 but never given because Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for nine of the past 16 years.

Activists at the university also held 60 minutes of silence in honor of the Nobel laureate’s birthday.

In Malaysia, about 50 human rights activists and Myanmar expatriates met to call for Suu Kyi’s release and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to not let Yangon assume the chair of the ASEAN regional bloc in 2006. Various activities were also planned in a dozen other cities around the world, pro-democracy exile groups said.

Suu Kyi may be able to hear of the protests on a short-wave radio, but few expected the global calls for her release to sway the country’s reclusive generals, who have shown themselves impervious to international demands even in the face of crippling US and European sanctions.

Her friends and relatives said the junta was unlikely to allow her any special privileges for her 60th birthday.

“Her house arrest this time around is much worse than it has ever been before,” a close friend of the family told AFP. “Only her doctor gets to see her now, and that’s only once every month.”

She receives a daily supply of vegetables and other basic goods, but even that is screened at the well-guarded gate to her compound. “At least she’s getting fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis and we’re happy about this,” a family friend said.

The NLD — which scored a landslide victory in 1990 elections but was never allowed to take office —said the party had standing orders not to accept any gifts for her but to donate them to the families of the other more than 1,300 political prisoners in Myanmar.