Rare photos of ex-Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi give her family hope

Asia Rare photos of ex-Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi give her family hope August 3, 20265:42 AM ET By  Lorcan Lovett In this photo released by Myanmar President Office on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, shakes hands with Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, during their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Myanmar President Office/AP hide caption toggle caption Myanmar President Office/AP CHIANG MAI — The son of Aung San Suu Kyi has told NPR that rare new pictures of the detained former Myanmar leader released by the country's military have given them renewed hope over her well-being. Kim Aris, the younger son of Suu Kyi, said photographs released Monday of his mother meeting the head of an international humanitarian group gave him "a reason to hope" for the first time since the military coup that ousted her in 2021. Sponsor Message Asia 'I just want to see her again' says son of imprisoned Myanmar ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi After years of enforced isolation, Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s resident representative in Myanmar, in the capital Naypyitaw on Monday, according to government spokeswoman Khine Khine Soe, who announced the meeting via Telegram. The ICRC confirmed in a statement it took place and "included the opportunity" to speak in private with her. Photographs released alongside the announcement show Suu Kyi shaking hands with de Baecque in a sparsely furnished, wood-paneled room. "I hope this is the beginning of transparency, humanitarian access and, ultimately, my mother's freedom," said Aris – who is based in London – in an email to NPR. "But hope is not proof, and one meeting cannot answer the questions my family has lived with since the coup." Reports by Myanmar's military regarding Suu Kyi have long been treated with scepticism, as she has been held incommunicado since her arrest – a move that has si...