Supporters of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gathered near her home and at her party's headquarters Saturday, hoping to see the Nobel Peace Prize laureate taste freedom after seven years of detention by the country's ruling generals.

Colleagues have said that an order to set her free has already been signed by the military government. Legally, the period of her latest house arrest expires on  Saturday.

However, there have been no official announcements by the secretive junta, so there were concerns that a last-minute hitch could keep her detained.

Her reported refusal to allow conditions to be attached to her freedom poses a dilemma for the junta, which fears her ability to rally supporters. But failing to free her could undo whatever credit the isolated regime has gained in the international community for finally holding elections last Sunday — the country's first in 20 years.

Jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years, Suu Kyi has become a symbol for a struggle to rid the Southeast Asian country of decades of military rule.

Crowds returned to their vigil Saturday near her house and party headquarters, after going home disappointed Friday after rumors of her release first began flying.

Adding to the expectant atmosphere was a sharply stepped-up security presence in Yangon, with truckloads of riot police cruising the streets and parked at major junctions — a familiar sight to city residents during times of political tension.

Critics allege the Nov. 7 elections were manipulated to give a pro-military party a sweeping victory. Results have been released piecemeal and already have given the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party a majority in both houses of Parliament.

The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, but the military refused to hand over power and instead clamped down on opponents.

Suu Kyi, 65, was convicted last year of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, extending a period of continuous detention that began in 2003 after her motorcade was ambushed in northern Myanmar by a government-backed mob.

Some 200 supporters on Saturday made occasional forays up to the barbed-wire barricades blocking the road to Suu Kyi's home to shout "Good health, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!" Daw is a term of respect used for older women.

"We are here to show our support to Daw Suu," said 29-year-old Kyaw Win, who drove Friday from Bago, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Yangon, along with a friend.

British Ambassador Andrew Heyn made a short stop outside Suu Kyi's house but did not enter. He said he had no information on her possible release.

"We're just keeping our fingers crossed like everybody else," he said.

Another 500 party members and supporters gathered at the NLD's ramshackle headquarters, laying flowers before posters of Suu Kyi and her late father, revered independence hero Gen. Aung San.

Some wore T-shirts reading "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi" and "Freedom from Fear," a title of one of her books. Undercover police were present in force, taking photographs.

Suu Kyi has shown her mettle time and again since taking up the democracy struggle in 1988.

Having spent much of her life abroad, she returned home to take care of her ailing mother just as mass demonstrations were breaking out against 25 years of military rule. She was quickly thrust into a leadership role, mainly because she was the daughter of Aung San, who led Myanmar to independence from Britain before his assassination by political rivals.

She rode out the military's bloody suppression of street demonstrations to help found the NLD. Her defiance gained her fame and honor, most notably the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Charismatic, tireless and outspoken, her popularity threatened the country's new military rulers. In 1989, she was detained on trumped-up national security charges and put under house arrest. She was not released until 1995 and has spent various periods in detention since then.

Suu Kyi's freedom has been a key demand of Western nations and groups critical of the military regime's poor human rights record. The military government, seeking to burnish its international image, has responded previously by offering to talk with her, only to later shy away from serious negotiations.

Suu Kyi — who was barred from running in this month's elections — plans to help probe allegations of voting fraud, according to Nyan Win, who is a spokesman for her party, which was officially disbanded for refusing to reregister for this year's polls.

Such action, which could embarrass the junta, poses the sort of challenge the military has reacted to in the past by detaining Suu Kyi.

Awaiting her release in neighboring Thailand is the younger of her two sons, Kim Aris, who is seeking the chance to see his mother for the first time in 10 years. Aris lives in Britain and has been repeatedly denied visas.

Her late husband, British scholar Michael Aris, raised their sons in England. Their eldest son, Alexander Aris, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his mother's behalf in 1991 and reportedly lives in the United States.

Michael Aris died of cancer in 1999 at age 53 after having been denied visas to see his wife for the three years before his death. Suu Kyi could have left Myanmar to see her family but decided not to, fearing the junta would not allow her back in.