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Bono and Suu Kyi in Dublin on Monday. (AFP)
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Oslo, June 18 (AP): Aung San Suu Kyi and Bono joined forces today as the Myanmar democracy activist’s European tour moved from the home of the Nobel Peace Prize to the land of U2.
The pair spent more than an hour answering questions at an Oslo conference of peace mediators at the end of Suu Kyi’s four-day visit to Norway. Then they jetted together to the Irish capital, Dublin, for a concert in her honour. Bono, who wrote the 2000 hit Walk On in praise of Suu Kyi’s long exile from her family and dedicated U2’s 2009 world tour to her, had never met her before. He admitted he found her a wee bit intimidating. “I’m star-struck ... but I’m managing to get over it,” said Bono, 52, who donned his trademark wraparound glasses and high-heeled boots.
Suu Kyi, in turn, said Bono had hit the right note with Walk On, which was written from the point of view of her husband Michael Aris, who was not permitted to see his wife from 1995 to his death from cancer in 1999.
“I like that song, because it’s very close to how I feel, that it’s up to you to carry on,” said Suu Kyi, who turns 67 tomorrow. “It’s good if you have supporters, it’s good if you have people who are sympathetic and understanding. But in the end, it’s your own two legs that have to carry you on.”
In Norway, Suu Kyi gave two acceptance speeches for awards she received long ago — the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and the Rafto Prize in 1990 — and is set to embrace more time-delayed honours in Dublin.
At the concert, Bono is scheduled to unveil Amnesty International’s top prize, the Ambassador of Conscience, an award for Suu Kyi that the singer announced at a Dublin U2 concert in 2009. Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest the following year.
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