I'm generally pleased to see this:U.S. Sen. Jim Webb met with Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday, the first foreign official allowed to see her since the military junta sentenced her to 18 months of detention, witnesses said.A few words of caution, however:
[...]
On Saturday, the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate was driven from her residence to a nearby government guest house for a 40-minute meeting with Webb, then reporters saw her taken home by car.
In a letter to Webb, dissident groups warned the junta would use the senator's trip for its own ends.Anyway, I look forward to hearing details of what happened with Webb's trip to Burma. What I really want to hear about is progress on the abysmal human rights front in Burma, the release of Suu Kyi from her completely unjust confinement, and a return of Burma to civilian rule after years under a bunch of military thugs and corrupt hoodlums. (as you might have guessed, I'm not a fan of Burma's ruling junta)
''We are concerned that the military regime will manipulate and exploit your visit and propagandize that you endorse their treatment on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 political prisoners, their human rights abuses on the people of Burma, and their systematic, widespread and ongoing attack against the ethnic minorities,'' the letter said. Daw is a term of respect for older women in Myanmar.
Possibly reflecting a similar wariness, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said the party ''has no interest in Jim Webb because he is not known to have any interest in Myanmar affairs.'' He did not elaborate.
UPDATE: Jim Webb's office just issued this press release:
"U.S. Senator Jim Webb has finished up a two-day visit to Myanmar by obtaining the release of American prisoner John Yettaw and meeting with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Webb, who on Saturday became the first American leader ever to meet with Myanmar President Than Shwe, raised both issues during his meeting. He also requested that the country’s leadership release Suu Kyi from her eighteen month sentence of house arrest following her recent conviction for violating the terms of her house arrest.
“I am grateful to the Myanmar government for honoring these requests,” noted Webb. “It is my hope that we can take advantage of these gestures as a way to begin laying a foundation of goodwill and confidence-building in the future.”
Webb met with Suu Kyi for nearly an hour on Saturday afternoon. He described the meeting as “an opportunity for me to convey my deep respect to Aung San Suu Kyi for the sacrifices she has made on behalf of democracy around the world.”
Yettaw will be officially deported from Myanmar on Sunday morning. Senator Webb will bring him out of the country on a military aircraft that is returning to Bangkok on Sunday afternoon.
