SETTING FREE "THE LADY"

By Anthony Spaeth

Freedom, as Flannery O'Connor wrote, cannot be conceived simply. Few could understand this better than Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's chief dissident and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Placed under house arrest by a military junta in 1989, Suu Kyi spent six years confined to her family's deteriorating lakeside bungalow in Rangoon. At any time, she was free to join her husband and two children in London -- knowing that the generals would never allow her back. That was a definition of freedom she refused to accept. When the junta abruptly announced last week that Suu Kyi, 50, was free after 2,190 days of incarceration, it was a constant stream of well -- wishers, not guards, that kept her in the bungalow. Upon learning she was being released, Suu Kyi told TIME, "I said to myself, 'Well, I'm free.' But then I have always felt free."

But how free is she -- or will she remain? As the week went on, it became apparent that there was nothing simple, or certain, about Suu Kyi's liberty. It was tempting to imagine a Burmese equivalent of the release of Nelson Mandela: in other words, a signal that the 21 generals who govern the country through the State Law and Order Restoration Council, known by the acronym SLORC, intend to take Burma in a new direction with some important, if undefined, role for the steely lady.

That hopeful scenario is far from being a done deal, however. The government made no public statement about the ending of Suu Kyi's house arrest. Nor is it clear that she is truly free to say or do what she wishes. Inside the bungalow at 52 University Road last week, SLORC intelligence officers in plain clothes mingled with the visiting oppositionists, diplomats and journalists who gathered. Many of her supporters suspect that the generals are merely trying to woo foreign governments, investors and such institutions as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund by making a single concession-the release of the lady -- with no intention of further loosening their hold on Burma. That grip is indeed tight: the government jails and tortures political prisoners, forces peasants to labor on roads and railways without pay, and is supervising the writing of a new constitution for its 45 million people that will enshrine the military's role in running the country.

Suu Kyi admits that her release raises more questions than it answers. "Was it just a publicity stunt?" she asked TIME. "Or was it designed to get more investment from abroad? Was it merely a way to lighten international pressure, or was it really for the good of the nation for all of us to work together? I certainly hope it is the latter, but only time will tell." At the same time, she has been painstakingly cautious in her statements. She confessed to a natural affinity for the military because her father, Burmese nationalist hero Aung San, was a general. Her charm offensive was extraordinary -- but how will the junta react when the iron-willed Suu Kyi starts speaking more freely? "They have been known to misjudge the situation very badly," says Zunetta Liddell, a researcher for Human Rights Watch/Asia in London, "and I think they may have done so now too."

There were several reasons why the generals decided to take a gamble on Suu Kyi's release. First, the domestic political situation is more stable than it has been in the recent past: the government has concluded peace negotiations with 11 of the country's 12 major ethnic and tribal groups, and there haven't been recent student protests of importance. SLORC 's tailor-made constitution is nearly complete; it includes a provision that disqualifies for the presidency anyone wed to a foreigner, such as Suu Kyi, who is married to British academic Michael Aris. slorc's current leader, Senior General Than Shwe, has improved the image of the junta that killed more than 3,000 student protesters in the late 1980s and early 1990s, changed the country's name to Myanmar and nullified the general election of May 1990 in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy routed the pro-government party.

Second, the country has emerged from three decades of economic isolationism and needs investment, particularly the highways, irrigation systems, schools and hospitals funded by such institutions as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which stopped lending to the country under U.S. pressure. No thaw was possible before Suu Kyi was released.

Ultimately, many Burmese hope for a gradual return to civilian rule, with the military taking a backroom power- and money-sharing role, as it does in Thailand and Indonesia. But everything depends on Suu Kyi. Now she is free to walk from the house that has been her prison for six years. But is she free to travel? To take up her democratic campaign -- or, indeed, the mandate given to her by the Burmese people in 1990? That's almost certainly not the kind of freedom handed to her by the 21-general junta last week. The only thing that's sure is that Aung San Suu Kyi cannot conceive of freedom simply -- and the fate of her country may depend on her subtlety.

--Reported by Sandra Burton/Rangoon, John Colmey/Hong Kong and Tamala Edwards/Washington

With reporting by SANDRA BURTON/RANGOON, JOHN COLMEY/HONG KONG AND TAMALA EDWARDS/WASHINGTON