Bush urges pressure on Myanmar

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- President Bush announced Monday orders for targeted sanctions against people allegedly complicit in the Myanmarese military regime's opposition to reform.

Bush announced the U.S. Treasury Department will apply sanctions against alleged drug trafficker and Myanmar government ally Steven Law along with his financial network. The Treasury Department also placed sanctions against two resorts owned and operated by alleged arms merchant Tay Za, who has personally already had sanctions placed on him.

"As one element of our policy to promote a genuine democratic transition, the U.S. maintains targeted sanctions that focus on the assets of regime members and their cronies who grow rich while Burma's people suffer under their misrule," Bush said in a statement.

The sanctions from the Treasury Department add to the growing list of 33 individuals and 11 entities designated with U.S. sanctions. Bush called on the international community to put additional pressure on the military regime in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which has rejected calls for dialogue with opposition groups and has refused to recognize the result of a 1990 election in which National League for Democracy candidate Aung San Suu Kyi won.

"The situation in Burma remains deplorable," Bush said. "The regime has rejected calls from its own people and the international community to begin a genuine dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minority groups. Arrests and secret trials of peaceful political activists continue. … Severe human rights abuses by the Burmese army, including burning down homes and killing civilians, continue in ethnic minority areas in eastern Burma."