Exhausted Suu Kyi falls ill during news conference

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A rock star welcome greeted Ms Aung San Suu Kyi as she embarked on her first trip to Europe in 24 years. But after a whirlwind of standing ovations, speeches and receptions, it all became too much, and she fell ill yesterday during a news conference in Switzerland.

The 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate became sick shortly after saying how exhausted she was after her long trip from Asia to Europe, which brought her to Geneva late Wednesday night. It was not known how her apparent exhaustion would affect the rest of a tightly-packed schedule, which includes delivering her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on Saturday, 21 years after winning the award.

Ms Suu Kyi looked pale as she took questions yesterday evening alongside Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter in the Swiss capital of Bern. After a few minutes, she pressed a finger to her lips and motioned to an aide who rushed to her side with a bag. She then bent over and threw up before being escorted out of the room by officials.



A spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Ms Suu Kyi recovered enough to briefly attend a reception with government officials later but then retired to her room.

"I've been so exhausted preparing for the trip that I've had no time to think about how I'm going to feel about Oslo, but perhaps this evening I'll sit back and think about it," Ms Suu Kyi told reporters after her speech to the UN labour office.

She said foreign investment must help - not hurt - Myanmar's goal of moving toward full democracy, referring to the exploitation of Myanmar's oil and gas riches, the subject of recent deals between the government and China. Western companies, too, have been eager to invest in the South-east Asian nation as the sanctions it faced under military rule are gradually lifted.

Asked about the abuses committed by the junta during its decades-long rule, Ms Suu Kyi struck a conciliatory note, citing fellow Nobel winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"At this moment, what I want most of all is reconciliation and not retribution," she said. "In some ways I don't think they really did anything to me," she said. "I do not think I have anything to forgive them for."