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Obama to Myanmar: Free Suu Kyi

First direct appeal for pro-democracy leader's release

By the Associated Press

Posted Nov 15, 2009 8:08 AM CST

(AP) – President Barack Obama today abandoned decades of Western avoidance and told Myanmar's prime minister to free opposition leader and fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a rare face-to-face meeting. The strong message, delivered during his summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations,... Read full story »

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'Serpent Pastor' Dies of Snake Bite

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diplomacy • Asia • Myanmar • Burma • Aung San Suu Kyi • ASEAN • military junta • Southeast Asia • President Obama

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(NEWSER) - The US will directly engage with Burma's military leadership in addition to its current sanctions, Hillary Clinton said yesterday. The secretary of State acknowledged that sanctions alone had failed to change "the lack of democracy in Burma and the authorities’ abysmal record on human rights," and it was time for a strategy change. More»

Suu Kyi Leaving Burma on Historic Trip

President Thein Sein's reforms have obviously convinced her

(NEWSER) - Burma's most popular political activist is leaving her country for the first time in decades, a sure sign of confidence in the nation's fledgling steps toward democracy, Reuters reports. Aung San Suu Kyi plans to arrive in the Thai capital of Bangkok tomorrow to give a speech at the World Economic Forum on East Asia. Since returning to Burma in 1988, she has refused to leave during her times of freedom, thinking the military junta wouldn't let her back in. More»

Clinton Dangles Aid to Burma

Will meet with Aung San Suu Kyi today

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton had what she described as a “candid, productive” meeting with Burma President Thein Sein and other officials in Naypyitaw today, offering support for more aid to the country, and dangling the possibility that the US might lift sanctions and station an ambassador there for the first time in decades, Reuters reports. In exchange, Clinton urged the leadership to release political prisoners, end ethnic conflicts, stop its suspicious dealings with North Korea, and build on promised democratic reforms. More»

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(NEWSER) - Next month, Hillary Clinton will become the first American secretary of state to visit Burma in more than 50 years. President Obama, who is on a diplomatic mission to southeast Asia, announced the historic visit today, citing "flickers of progress in these last several weeks" in the long-shunned nation, the AP reports. "Of course there’s far more to be done," he said, but we want to "make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America." More»

Suu Kyi: 'I Have So Much to Tell You'

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader picks right up where she left off

(NEWSER) - “We haven’t seen each other for so long, I have so much to tell you,” Aung San Suu Kyi told a jubilant crowd of thousands celebrating her release last night. The Nobel laureate emerged from seven years of house arrest with such a rapport with her supporters and an unbowed attitude that made it seem that not a day had gone by, reports the New York Times. "You have to stand up for what is right," she told the crowd, calling free speech the "basis of democratic freedom" and urging the people to keep their government in check. More»

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Obama to Myanmar: Free Suu Kyi

First direct appeal for pro-democracy leader's release

diplomacy • Asia • Myanmar • Burma • Aung San Suu Kyi • ASEAN • military junta • Southeast Asia • President Obama

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US to Engage Burmese Junta

Clinton announces change in policy, says sanctions will remain

Suu Kyi Leaving Burma on Historic Trip

President Thein Sein's reforms have obviously convinced her

Clinton Dangles Aid to Burma

Will meet with Aung San Suu Kyi today

Clinton to Make Historic Visit to Burma

In other big news, Aung San Suu Kyi to rejoin politics

Suu Kyi: 'I Have So Much to Tell You'

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader picks right up where she left off

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