Obama nominates ambassador to Myanmar
May 18th, 2012 - 6:18 am ICT by IANS
Washington, May 18 (IANS) US President Barack Obama Thursday nominated Derek Mitchell as the country’s first ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years.
“Today , I am nominating our first US ambassador to Burma (Myanmar) in 22 years, Derek Mitchell, whose work has been instrumental in bringing about this new phase in our bilateral relationship,” Obama said in a White House statement.
Mitchell has been serving as the special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar in the Obama administration. Obama also announced that his government will ease its ban on “exportation of financial services and new investment” in Myanmar.
He said that greater economic engagement between the two countries is critical to supporting reformers in Myanmar and bringing the country out of isolation, Xinhua reported.
But he noted that Washington remains concerned about Myanmar’s “closed political system, its treatment of minorities and detention of political prisoners, and its relationship with North Korea”.
A framework will be established to ensure “that those who abuse human rights, engage in corruption, interfere with the peace process, or obstruct the reform process” do not benefit from the investment from the US, Obama said in the statement.
The announcement by the Obama administration was viewed as a reward to the recent democratic reforms in Myanmar. The country held its parliamentary by-election April 1, in which the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Aung San Suu Kyi secured big gains, winning 43 of 45 parliamentary seats available.
Also on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with visiting Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Washington. During their joint press conference, Clinton appealed for the country’s remaining political prisoners to be freed.
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- India to scale up ties with democratic Myanmar - Jan 18, 2012
- US to ease financial restrictions on Myanmar - Apr 05, 2012
- No turning back on democracy: Myanmar foreign minister - Jan 25, 2012
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Tags: aung san suu, aung san suu kyi, barack obama, bilateral relationship, burma myanmar, democratic reforms, derek mitchell, economic engagement, exportation, hillary clinton, lwin, nld, north korea, parliamentary seats, peace process, policy coordinator, political prisoners, reformers, us secretary of state, xinhua