British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, set out similar conditions for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country under the previous military regime at an historic meeting on Friday. Western countries are cautiously renewing ties with the civilian government in place since last March and Hague, in the former Burma for a two-day visit, has set out four conditions for the easing of sanctions.
Those are the release of hundreds of political detainees, an end to human rights abuses by the army, an effort to resolve ethnic conflicts and the holding of free and fair elections. Asked at a news conference what she wanted to see before sanctions should be lifted, Suu Kyi referred to what Hague, standing beside her, had said the day before.
"All political prisoners should be released and there should be all efforts made to put an end to all ethnic conflict within our country. Certainly we would want to see free and fair by-elections," she said.
At a later news conference at the end of his visit, Hague was asked how quickly he wanted his conditions met. "My view is they should be completed as soon as possible. It's important to bear in mind the European Union makes an important decision on sanctions in April this year," he said.
The EU reviews sanctions each year. Last April, after the transition to a civilian government, it lifted travel bans and asset freezes affecting a number of top government officials. Hague and Suu Kyi spoke to the media on the lawn of her lakeside home, where she spent years under house arrest until her release days after a general election in November 2010. Scores of journalists were in attendance, photographers and television crews scrambling to get shots of them as they strolled around the grounds after their talks.
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