Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi now has internet access

Yangon - Aung San Suu Kyi has been set up with wireless broadband at her home after the military junta authorised a network connection.

Technicians have installed a network in her home but the signal strength is said to be too weak for her to use it at present. Suu Kyi has also been feeling unwell in recent days, according to her assistant. However, she said she is "glad" to be online at last. Suu Kyi has never been on the internet before, having spent several years under house arrest, reports BBC Asia-Pacific. Her security chief, Win Htein, said she is looking forward to contacting her worldwide network of fans, and is keen to join social networking sites so she can keep in touch with her younger supporters. Her Facebook fan page already has a following of over 320,000 people. Fans are wondering anxiously if she will use the page with one user, Seng Aung, commenting, "I heard she start using internet today. Will she use this FB account ?". Suu Kyi, who was detained for seven years with no telephone or web access until November, has expressed an interest in using the social networking site as well as the micro-blogging site Twitter, as reported by a Philippine media outlet, Inquirer Politics. She applied for internet access only days after her release in November and Myanmar internet service provider, Yatanarpon Teleport, have only now provided her with access. But the ISP is controlled by the military authority in a country where only 1 in 455 are online.