Myanmar opposition leader given passport

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YANGON, Myanmar, May 8 (UPI) -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel laureate, was issued a passport by the government Tuesday, finally allowing her to travel abroad.

The head of the opposition National League for Democracy will be allowed to travel out of the country for the first time in 24 years, Voice of America reported. She plans to visit Oslo, Norway, next month to claim the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her in 1991.

As pro-democracy protests erupted across the country in 1988 shortly after she returned from England, she was targeted by Myanmar's government and required to turn in her passport. Much of her time since then has been spent in government-ordered house arrest. Up until 2011, while the military junta was in power, she never left the country for fear the government would not allow her back in, forcing her into exile.