Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s detained democracy advocate, told her political allies on Friday that she was “very optimistic” at the prospects for change in Burma, after the military’s violent crackdown on Buddhist-monk led anti-government protests.

Ms Suu Kyi, under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years – and continuously since May 2003, offered her upbeat assessment while meeting senior executives of her beleaguered National League for Democracy for the first time in over three years.