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After six months in solitary confinement as a political prisoner in Myanmar, Nyi Nyi Aung of Montgomery Village returned home Friday.

The Burmese-born pro-democracy activist, who has been a naturalized American citizen since 2002, was arrested in September at Yangon's international airport as he tried to enter his native country to visit his dying mother, who remains a political prisoner in Myanmar.

The Southeast Asian country, formerly known as Burma, is ruled by a military junta and remains under U.S. sanctions. In recent months, U.S. officials ranging from Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have intervened on Aung's behalf.

After touching ground at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on Friday afternoon, Aung, 40, thanked the individuals, organizations and government officials who helped to free him and said the 2,100 political prisoners he left behind remain on his mind.

"My freedom is not really the point. We want to try to reach freedom for Burma," Aung said, his arms around his fiancée, Wa Wa Kyaw, also of Montgomery Village.

"My family and friends all stay in prison, so I feel not really happy."

Aung came to the U.S. as a political refugee in 1993 after being jailed and beaten for organizing and participating in demonstrations against the junta in 1988, his fiancée and legal representatives said. He received a degree in computer science from Montgomery College in Rockville, and continued to support pro-democratic forces.

Aung was known to Myanmar officials as Nyi Nyi Aung, a combination of a childhood nickname and his father's last name, and he has used that name for most his life, Kyaw said. In recent years, he has traveled to and from Myanmar five or six times, using a Burmese passport that bears his legal name, Kyaw Zaw Lin.

After Aung helped deliver a petition to United Nations officials in August bearing 680,000 signatures and calling for the release of all political prisoners in Burma, news reports included both names and Myanmar authorities made the connection, Kyaw said.

Since September, the Myanmar government has denied Aung access to the American consulate, lawyers and medical treatment, while keeping him imprisoned in "military dog-cell confinement, which is essentially what it sounds like: a dog cell from hell," said Beth Schwanke, legislative counsel for Freedom Now. The Maryland and Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide.

"Going up against the Burmese junta, especially when the U.S. has very little leverage with them [is] a tough fight, absolutely," said Jared Genser, board president of Freedom Now.

Kyaw, a nurse who works for Montgomery Hospice, twisted her diamond engagement ring and clasped her hands together at the airport, as she waited for Aung to make his way through customs.

"Oh my God! I am so nervous. I am so happy!" she said.

Her beloved traveled home to Myanmar after months of nightmares and worrying about his mother and aunt, who are serving prison sentences of five and 65 years respectively for participating in anti-government demonstrations, Kyaw said.

She burst into tears as Aung finally hugged her.

"Joy," she said, describing her relief. "Very happy, excited, overwhelmed, all those mixed feelings."

Aung plans to spend the next weeks recovering. Then he will consider his next steps, he said.

"In the prison, it's physically fine, but mentally they torture you."

Aung was kept in a cramped unlit cell surrounded by barking military dogs, Schwanke said. Aung said his cell was crawling with insects.

He maintained mental strength during his confinement, he said, by thinking about his fiancée, family and his responsibility to do more to free Burma.