Global protesters call for Suu Kyi's release

Isolated both from the outside world and her supporters at home, Suu Kyi is confined to a now dilapidated, two-story family house overgrown by jungle in the Myanmar capital of Yangon. It is sealed off around the clock by security forces.

But the Nobel Peace Prize laureate articulate, attractive and unquestionably brave remains the great hope for those around the world seeking to end more than four decades of harsh military rule in her homeland, also known as Burma.

"We are trying to use the opportunity of Suu Kyi's 60th birthday to galvanize public opinion and politicians into finally taking some action on Burma," said Mark Farmaner, spokesman for the British-based Burma Campaign.

The birthday campaign is particularly important, he said, because lately interest in Suu Kyi's plight has tapered off. "The international response has been quite pathetic since her latest arrest," Farmaner said.

In fact, little more than statements of concern followed Suu Kyi's detention in May 2003 after a pro-government mob savagely attacked her car convoy in northern Myanmar, killing a number of her companions.

The global birthday effort is modeled after the 1988 "Mandela at 70" campaign to free Nelson Mandela from imprisonment in then apartheid-era South Africa.