Norway offers open invitation to Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi

Nov 17, 2010, 15:51 GMT

Oslo - Freed Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been invited to visit Norway 'at her convenience,' Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Wednesday.

Norway is home to the Nobel Peace Prize - the prestigious award that Suu Kyi won in 1991 and which helped draw international attention to the military-rule in Myanar.

Suu Kyi said Norway was the first country she hoped to visit when she is allowed to leave Myanmar, Store added.

Suu Kyi was in house arrest at the time of the announcement and also missed out on the award ceremony where she was represented by her sons and late husband.

The invitation was conveyed to Suu Kyi, 65, by Norwegian Ambassador Katja Nordgaard at a meeting in Yangon, the Norwegian foreign ministry said.

Suu Kyi was freed over the weekend
from seven years under house arrest. She has spent 15 of the past 20 years in house arrest.