A senior U.S. official paid a rare visit to military-ruled Myanmar for talks on boosting relations, state media said Wednesday, in the latest sign of a possible change in approach by Washington.
Stephen Blake, director of Mainland Southeast Asian Affairs at the U.S. State Department, met with Myanmar foreign minister Nyan Win on Tuesday in the administrative capital, Naypyidaw, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
The government-run paper said they held "cordial discussions on issues of mutual interests and promotion of bilateral relations between the Union of Myanmar and the United States."
The trip comes as U.S. President Barack Obama's administration continues to review the tough stance his predecessor, George W. Bush, took toward Myanmar's ruling junta.
Official sources in Naypyidaw - the remote, purpose-built capital opened by the regime in 2005 - said it was the first time a senior U.S. official had visited the city to promote bilateral relations between two countries.
They also said that a reception held by the U.S. Embassy for officials in Naypyidaw to introduce the visiting director was the first held by any foreign mission in the capital.
U.S. Embassy charge d'affaires Larry Dinger accompanied Blake, they said.
"Myanmar and the U.S. have been friendly countries since the beginning. They were also the first country to recognize our independence from the British in 1948," a senior Myanmar official said on condition of anonymity.
"They misunderstood our country's situation after the 1988 uprising. We will not understand each other without talking. It was the first time a director of the U.S. visited here for talks - the U.S. did what they should do," he said.
There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the army since 1962. A student-led uprising in 1988 ended in a military crackdown that left an estimated 3,000 people dead.
The junta ignored a landslide election victory by the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990, and critics say general elections planned for 2010 are a sham aimed at entrenching the generals' power.
The regime has imposed heavy jail terms on dozens of pro-democracy activists in recent months, many of them involved in protests led by Buddhist monks that erupted in 2007.
But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month that the Obama administration is reviewing its policy toward Myanmar to find ways to better influence the regime and help the country's people.
Bush's administration strengthened decade-old sanctions against Myanmar, imposed under his predecessor, Bill Clinton. Bush's wife, Laura, was an outspoken critic of the military regime.
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EU IS THINKING ABOUT TO EASE SANCTIONS ON BURMA IF DAW AUNG SAN SUU SUU KYI FREES
**********The European Union could consider easing sanctions on Myanmar at a top meeting next month if it sees democratic progress in the military-ruled nation, the E.U.'s senior Myanmar envoy said Wednesday.
The European Council, the E.U.'s principal decision-making body, could vote for an easing of sanctions if Myanmar's military junta eases restrictions on opponents ahead of elections slated for 2010, Piero Fassino told reporters.
"The European Council many times declared we are ready to change the sanctions, suspend the sanctions, if there are some positive steps in the direction of our goal," Fassino said.
"If in the next month, there is some positive evolution, for example putting in place real democratic guarantees, we'll consider this, we'll reflect how to handle these measures," he said.
The European Council's external relations council is slated to discuss sanctions against Myanmar at the end of April.
Fassino said the E.U. would only consider the 2010 elections to be free and fair if the government passes fair electoral rules and frees political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"It is impossible to achieve a free and fair election if the leader of the opposition is in prison," he said.
Fassino's comments were made at the end of his visit to Indonesia, following meetings with Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan.
Asian nations including Indonesia, which underwent a turbulent transition from military-led rule to democracy a decade ago, could play a key role in ensuring the fairness of 2010 elections, Fassino said.
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