U.S. to Myanmar: Democracy will bring better ties

YANGON, Myanmar -- The highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years offered improved relations Wednesday if its military regime moves toward democracy, putting into action the Obama administration's new policy of engagement with the isolated country.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke after talks with the ruling generals and a rare meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades.

Campbell called on the military - which has ruled the impoverished country since 1962 - to open a dialogue with the opposition and with ethnic minority groups who are seeking a measure of autonomy. He also urged the military government to allow Suu Kyi more freedom to meet with people concerned with the political process.

The goals of the new U.S. policy are "strong support for human rights, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, and the promotion of democratic reform," Campbell told reporters at the end of his two-day visit. He met Wednesday morning with Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein.

Campbell and his deputy, Scot Marciel, are the highest-ranking U.S. diplomats to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1995, when then-U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright made an official visit.

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