Worldwide celebrations for Suu Kyi

Myanmar refugees shout slogans during a rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Worldwide celebrations were held Sunday marking the 60th birthday of detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as supporters in her own country were taken into custody by the ruling military junta during a rally at a pagoda.

A symbol of nonviolent resistance to oppression, Suu Kyi was feted around the globe by human rights groups, pop stars and world leaders, who renewed long-standing calls for her release.

While the Nobel Prize Peace Prize laureate -- who has spent almost 10 of the last 16 years in confinement -- remained locked inside her dilapidated lakeside residence in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, several hundred members of her party and a handful of foreign diplomats gathered at its headquarters several kilometers (miles) away.

They cheered and clapped as 10 doves and 61 balloons -- signifying the start of Suu Kyi's 61st year -- were released into the air, as more than 30 plainclothes police videotaped the events from across the street.

Separately, nearly a dozen members of her National League for Democracy party wore T-shirts bearing Suu Kyi's photo and the slogan "Set her free" at the capital's famed golden Shwedagon pagoda, where they also released 61 doves. They were detained by authorities and freed only after they removed the shirts.

"Religious ceremonies and other quiet ceremonies are being held all over the country," party official Nan Khin Htwe Myint said. "In some districts, authorities warned party members not to hold birthday celebrations."

Suu Kyi was most recently detained in May 2003 after a pro-government mob brutally attacked her entourage as she was making a political tour of northern Myanmar. She is in her third period of extended detention since 1989. Her party vice chairman, Tin Oo, has also been detained since May 2003.

The military has ruled Myanmar, also called Burma, since 1962, and the current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.

In other countries, supporters held rallies and other activities to offer birthday wishes and demand political change by Myanmar's ruling junta.

In the Philippines, former President Corazon Aquino and pro-democracy groups offered prayers for Suu Kyi's release.

"I continue to pray for her, that she will finally get justice," said Aquino, who took power in 1986 after helping lead the struggle to oust Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos. She has lobbied for Suu Kyi's release for many years.

In Malaysia, human rights groups and Myanmar activists also demanded her release, and called on Malaysia's government to release 68 Myanmar nationals who were detained on Thursday for protesting outside the Myanmar Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Thursday's demonstrators were held for assembling without permission.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, dozens of Myanmar refugees rallied, with one child holding a poster of Suu Kyi with a message reading "Justice is a dream, but it is a dream that we are determined to realize."

Thailand's Thammasat University awarded Suu Kyi an honorary doctorate as part of a daylong birthday tribute.

About 300 people gathered at the YMCA in Tokyo, where the birthday program included a film about Suu Kyi and a play performed by Myanmar activists showing pro-democracy demonstrators being gunned down by soldiers.

In a park outside the South Korean capital, Seoul, a crowd of about 100, including 60 Myanmar exiles, demonstrated with placards calling for Suu Kyi's release and an end to oppression by Myanmar's military.

Other events were planned for later in the day in Europe and North America.

The flurry of publicity over Suu Kyi's birthday sparked rumors Saturday evening in Yangon that she would be released from house arrest. However, there were no indications that her freedom was imminent or even under consideration.

"Security around Suu Kyi's house, as well as the guard posted outside Tin Oo's house, remain the same, which indicates that rumors of their freedom were not true," said a member of her party, who asked for anonymity to avoid harassment from the government.