Twenty years afer, Suu Kyi delivers Nobel acceptance speech

Myanmar's democracy activist Aung Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, delivered her acceptance speech in Oslo today, almost 21 years after she received the award.

The 66-year-old Suu Kyi has been feted across European capitals this month after the Burmese government granted her permission to travel. She has spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest.

In her speech at Oslo Podium, Suu Kyi said that "Western support had contributed to changes in Burma (Myanmar)." The country, long famous for its despotic military dictatorship that left the country's finances in tatters and its people starving en masse, has tried to project a more progressive face over the last two years.

Suu Kyi in her speech recalled the time when she heard that she had received the prize on the radio, saying it had felt "unreal", adding that "it had opened a door in my heart".

She received the prize in 1991 through her two UK-based sons, and used the accompanying money to create scholarship programmes in Myanmar.

Recollecting her 15 years under house arrest, she said, "Often during those days it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world." Winning the Nobel Peace Prize made her ''real'' once again - "It drew me back into the wider human community."

She also welcomed steps by the global community to reach out to her long-isolated country. "The international community is trying very hard and it's up to our country to respond the right way," she said. "I would like to call for aid and investment that will strengthen the democratisation process by promoting social and economic progress that is beneficial to political reform.