Suu Kyi intruder freed by Burma

AN American man imprisoned in Burma for sneaking into the home of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi flew out of the country yesterday after a visiting US senator won his release.

John Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, arrived in Bangkok on a US government plane with Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, who secured his freedom with a plea to Burma’s ruling military junta.

Webb’s visit to Burma was the first by a member of the US Congress in more than a decade, and could presage a new approach by Washington toward the military government, which it has shunned.

A pale and haggard-looking Yettaw smiled as he left the small plane and flashed sign language for “I love you” to waiting reporters but did not respond to questions.

Yettaw, 53, was convicted last week of breaking the terms of Suu Kyi’s house arrest by swimming to her lakeside home in early May and staying for two days.

Webb was also allowed a rare meeting with Suu Kyi, who is tightly restricted in her house arrest.

Webb said he also asked Burma’s military rulers to release Suu Kyi, 64, a long-standing demand of the US and much of the international community.

“I am hopeful that the relations between the US and Burma will move forward and that the government will consider strongly” the request, Webb told reporters before leaving Burma.