The United States opens dialogue with Myanmar

The United States said Monday it was starting a 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 name of Burma. "We intend to begin a direct dialogue with Burmese authorities to lay out the path towards better relations," Campbell told reporters.

He said the Obama administration 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 unconditional 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 easing 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 U.S. 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 U.S. holds, the better for the engagement," Aung Din said.

"We also hope that U.S. engagement with the regime would not be an open-ended process, but with a reasonable time-frame and clear benchmarks," he said.

The head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has been critical of Myanmar's rights record, said that the administration should not talk to the junta until it sets exact goals in coordination with U.S. allies.

"Only coordinated sanctions and coordinated diplomacy can convince Burma's military that they have lost the fight with world opinion and need a democratic transformation," said Leonard Leo, chair of the government advisory group.

Campbell said he would consult widely with U.S. allies and Myanmar's neighbors including China, which has been the key commercial and military backer of the junta.

At the United Nations last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton briefed nations interested in Myanmar about the policy shift. She said the "basic objectives" had not changed but that the United States was seeking engagement rather than confrontation.

Myanmar's prime minister, General Thein Sein, on Monday demanded an end to economic sanctions in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. "Sanctions are being employed as a political tool against Myanmar and we consider them unjust," said Thein Sein, the highest-ranking Myanmar official to address the General Assembly in 14 years. "Such acts must be stopped."

The United States and the European Union impose sweeping sanctions including on Myanmar's lucrative gem industry. They tightened measures after the junta crushed protests led by Buddhist monks two years ago, killing at least 31 people.

Thein Sein met in New York with U.S. Senator Jim Webb, a strong advocate for a new course on Myanmar, who paid a rare visit to the country last month. Webb hailed the new policy on Myanmar as a signal "that we have the potential to change the dynamic of this important relationship."