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US to open dialogue with Myanmar junta

AFP, Washington
The United States said Monday it was exploring dialogue with Myanmar to try and open up the military-led nation, but insisted it would keep sanctions until the regime makes progress on democracy.
Wrapping up a months-long policy review on Myanmar, President Barack Obama's administration said that while neither dialogue nor pressure had worked thus far, fresh engagement might bring "new thinking" and reforms by the junta.
"For the first time in memory the Burmese leadership has shown an interest in engaging with the United
States and we intend to explore that interest," said Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for Asia, using Myanmar's former nameofBurma.
"We intend to begin a direct dialogue with Burmese authorities to lay out the path towards better relations," Campbell told reporters.
Ue said the Obama administration -- which has made reaching out to arch US foes such as Iran and Cuba a key policy - wanted a "sustained process of interaction" with Myanmar after only sporadic contacts in recent years.
But Campbell said that the United States would not immediately ease sanctions and would press for the uncondi-
tional release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest.
"Lifting sanctions now would send the wrong signal," Campbell said. "We will tell the Burmese that we will discuss casing sanctions only if they take actions on our core concerns."
Campbell called on Myanmar to free all political prisoners and end conflicts with ethnic minorities and said the United States also reserved the right to expand sanctions depending on events.
Aung Din, a former political prisoner who now heads the US Campaign for Burma, gave a guarded reaction to the
policy review, saying that Washington should tighten sanctions against Myanmar until it ends human rights violations.
"The more leverage the US holds, the better for the engagement," Aung Din told AFP
"We also hope that US engagement with the regime would not be an open-ended process, but with a reasonable time-frame and clear benchmarks," he said.
Campbell said he would be personally involved in the dialogue and called for active participation of Myanmar's neighbours including China, which has been the key commercial and military backer of thejunta.