Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi told antiregime protesters in Egypt yesterday that "we're all with you", as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Cairo.

In a live question and answer session on BBC World Service radio, the Nobel peace laureate, who has fought the military regime in Myanmar for decades, said she was "very interested" in the situation and urged protesters to stay strong.

"It's necessary to keep cool heads and strong hearts and not ever to lose hope and to keep on going," she said, in response to a caller from Cairo who asked her advice as he faced a "very scary moment of transition" in Egypt.

She added: "And I would want you to know that we're all with you — that people all over the world who want freedom, somehow or the other feel connected to other people who are struggling for freedom."