2 TOP U.S ENVOYS ARRIVED IN MYANMAR FOR TALKS

Two top US envoys arrived in Myanmar for talks with the ruling junta and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, making the highest level visit to the country in 14 years as Washington looks to improve ties.

• The trip by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel is the latest move by President Barack Obama's administration to engage Myanmar's reclusive military regime.
• The two men touched down in the remote administrative capital Naypyidaw on a US Air Force plane from Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand, US embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.
• “They are due to meet with senior government officials today. Tomorrow they will be in Yangon and meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders,” Mei told AFP.
• Myanmar officials said the US delegation was unlikely to meet hardline junta chief Than Shwe, but will hold talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein in Naypyidaw.
• The Obama administration recently shifted US policy because its longstanding approach of isolating Myanmar had failed to bear fruit, but Washington has said it would not ease sanctions without progress on democracy and human rights.
• The junta extended Suu Kyi's house arrest after she was convicted in August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house, but critics say the charges were trumped up to keep her out of elections in 2010.

Source: Times Live