Sen. Webb meets with political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) (L) meets with General Thein Sein in Yangon, Myanmar on August 15, 2009. Webb also met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years and was convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing American John Yettaw to stay at her home for two days. After Sen. Webb's visit, the generals of Myanmar agreed to release Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years of hard labor. UPI/Sen. Webb's office
Latest Headlines
Tensions are rising in areas of Rakhine state where the Myanmar government is re-housing Muslims displaced after ethnic clashes with Buddhists last year.
Fighting and human rights abuses in Myanmar means the country continues to pose a threat to U.S. interests, U.S. President Barack Obama said.
A U.S. government commission recommended that Myanmar remains on a State Department blacklist of 15 governments responsible for "systematic" violations of freedom of religion.
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in Myanmar announced Thursday that President Thein Sein has stepped down as party chairman.
There are no plans to amend the constitution in Myanmar so pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi can run for president, a leader said.
Aid deliveries to parts of Myanmar controlled by the separatist Kachin movement are severely restricted, relief officials said.
At least 56 political prisoners were freed in Myanmar after the European Union lifted sanctions against the country Monday, human rights activists said.
The EU decision to lift sanctions on Myanmar removed one of the mechanisms encouraging reforms, Human Rights Watch said.
The BBC aired what it says is a video of communal violence shot by Myanmar police and in which Buddhists kill at least two people.
Myanmar shouldn't be held accountable to external influences when charting a path of political reform, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said.
