The release of Aung San Suu Kyi

The release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was "long overdue" and that her detention a "travesty", Prime Minister David Cameron has said. He also called her "an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights".

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said she was "the world's most renowned and courageous prisoner of conscience". Burma Campaign UK urged the immediate release of 2,202 political prisoners.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms Suu Kyi has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years.

Mr Cameron said: "This is long overdue. Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights. "Her detention was a travesty, designed only to silence the voice of the Burmese people. Freedom is Aung San Suu Kyi's right. The Burmese regime must now uphold it."

Mr Brown said Ms Suu Kyi's release would bring "joy round the world". But he said her freedom would only be a "partial victory, because her liberation and that of the Burmese people will not be complete until she is able to take up her position as the rightful leader of her country".

Sidelined for Burma's first elections in two decades in November 2010, she remains nonetheless a potent symbol of hope to many Burmese people.

Ms Suu Kyi, 65, lived in London and Oxford while she raised her two sons with her late husband, British scholar Michael Aris.

The Claretians rejoice with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.and are looking forward to the liberation of all political prisoners in Burma.