Myanmar's Suu Kyi calls for 'freedom from fear'

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for "freedom from fear" and further moves towards democracy in her first ever televised election campaign speech aired Wednesday.

"Unless people get human rights with freedom from fear, a democratic system cannot be established and developed," Suu Kyi said, echoing the title of her well-known political essay "Freedom from fear."

"Only under the rule of law can people really feel the taste of freedom by really getting protection of the law," she said, ahead of April 1 by-elections in which the pro-democracy icon is standing for parliament for the first time.

The speech was censored by Myanmar's authorities to remove criticism of the former junta, the democracy icon said earlier.

Suu Kyi also called for the abolition of laws which have "oppressed the people."

"We have to write and enact laws that can protect the people," she said.

The Burmese-language speech, which was leaked om the Internet ahead of its official broadcast, can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3vv0DK_jw.

Seated in front of an NLD flag, the Nobel peace prize winner also called for a ceasefire to bring an end to the country's long-running conflicts with ethnic minority guerrilla armies.

The appearance on national television of Suu Kyi, who spent much of the past 22 years under house arrest, would have been unthinkable until recently and is a sign of how far the regime has moved with a surprising series of reforms following the end of nearly five decades of outright military rule.

Since a nominally civilian government took power early last year, Suu Kyi has been welcomed back into the political mainstream and her NLD is contesting 47 seats of 48 available in the upcoming by-elections.

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi calls for 'freedom from fear'