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US moves to ease Burma sanctions after reforms
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to relax some sanctions on Myanmar to recognize its fledgling democratic transition, including a ban on US companies investing in or offering financial services to the country.However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the Obama administration wanted to move cautiously, saying that the resource-rich Southeast Asian country has a long way to go to shake off decades of military rule. Clinton hailed as a dramatic demonstration of popular will Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyis gaining of a seat in the lower house in a parliamentary by-election on Sunday which yielded a landslide victory for her party. We fully recognize and embrace the progress that has taken place and we will continue our policy of engagement, Clinton said in a brief appearance before reporters three days after Suu Kyis party won 43 of 45 seats available in the by-election. The package Clinton unveiled on Wednesday reflected a modest first step toward lifting the complex web of US sanctions that have contributed to the countrys isolation for decades. The United States will seek to name an ambassador to Myanmar after an absence of two decades, to set up an office of the US Agency for International Development there and to support a regular UN Development Program operation in the country. Clinton also said the United States was committed to beginning the process of a targeted easing of our ban on the export of US financial services and investment as part of a broader effort to help accelerate economic modernization and political reform. She provided no details. Clinton said the United States was also ready to allow private US aid groups to pursue non-profit activities on projects such as democracy building, health and education and to give select Myanmar officials and lawmakers permission to visit the United States, relaxing long-standing visa bans. US officials said they want Myanmar to free all political prisoners, lift restrictions on those who have already been released, seek national reconciliation, especially with ethnic groups that say they have long been oppressed by the central government, and to end any military ties to North Korea. Walter Lohman of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, welcomed the cautious US approach, saying some steps should wait until after a 2015 election in which 75 percent of parliamentary seats in Myanmar will be contested. We need to reserve some ammunition for the real goal - the 2015 general election. Lets not give it away too quickly, he said, saying he favored easing the visa bans, opening a USAID office and sending an ambassador but reserved judgment on easing the financial sanctions until there is more detail. Posted by: Steve White 2012-04-06 |
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