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Aung San Suu Kyi campaigns in Myanmar despite illness Ed: Updates with details of illness, return to Mandalay

Mar 4, 2012, 10:04 GMT

Yangon - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi campaigned for her National League for Democracy (NLD) Sunday in north-western Myanmar despite a bout of illness, a party official said.

Suu Kyi, 66, told an election rally in Sagaing city, 690 kilometres north of Yangon, that she felt energized by the enthusiasm of her reception.

'I was feeling unwell, but now I am feeling good because of the people's kindness,' she said.

She urged voters to cast their ballots for the NLD and then returned to Mandalay where she planned to rest Sunday night before resuming her campaign tour.

The party official in Yangon said Suu Kyi vomited several times during an airplane trip on Saturday.

She was also reported to have interrupted a speech to some 100,000 supporters in Mandalay after complaining of illness.

Suu Kyi is running for a parliamentary seat for a constituency north of Yangon in an April 1 by-election.

On the campaign trail, Suu Kyi has called for reconciliation with the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, and vowed to fight in parliament for full democracy.

'I will say what the people dare not say, which is that we want our Tatmadaw to stand for democracy,' she was quoted by the Myanmar Times as saying in Heho township on Thursday.

She also urged soldiers to vote for her, reminding them that her father is regarded as the architect of the country's independence from Britain.

'I am the daughter of Bogyoke Aung San, father of independence,' she said. 'I was born into a Tatmadaw family. I want see a warmer relationship between the people and Tatmadaw based on trust.'

The enthusiastic crowds attending Suu Kyi's campaign stops are seen as confirmation of democratic reforms introduced by the military-backed government.

The army ruled the country from 1962 until a year ago, when President Thein Sein took office and introduced reforms, including the release of political prisoners and allowing Suu Kyi to run for office.

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