Yangon: Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed US plans for a major policy shift that would see Washington engaging with the country`s military regime in a bid to promote reform.
Her comments, reported by her lawyer, came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the possibility of an eventual easing or lifting of sanctions if US engagement produces political changes in Myanmar.
"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that direct engagement is good," lawyer Nyan Win told reporters after meeting her at her home in Yangon Thursday to discuss her appeal against her recently extended house arrest.
"She accepts it but she says that engagement must be with both sides," he said, adding that Suu Kyi was referring to the need for Washington to speak to both the government and the opposition.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar due to its continued detention of Suu Kyi and its refusal to recognise her National League for Democracy`s (NLD) victory in the country`s last elections in 1990.
The junta sentenced the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner to an extra 18 months in detention at her lakeside home in August after an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her house.
The move effectively ruled the 64-year-old out of elections due in 2010 that the ruling generals have promised in Myanmar, which was previously known as Burma.
Critics have dismissed the planned polls as a sham designed to entrench the military`s hold on power.
Clinton told reporters on Wednesday that "we believe that sanctions remain important as part of our policy, but by themselves they have not produced the results that had been hoped for on behalf of the people of Burma."
"So going forward, we will be employing both of those tools pursuing our same goals, and to help achieve democratic reform, we will be engaging directly with Burmese authorities," the chief US diplomat said.
Taking a less confrontational international approach than his predecessor George W. Bush, US President Barack Obama has already taken steps or announced plans to engage hardline regimes in Tehran, Pyongyang, Damascus and Havana.
Clinton said she could "preview" the new approach toward Myanmar, because a policy review begun by the administration days after it took office in January was almost complete.
Clinton said the "basic objectives" of US policy towards Myanmar had not changed.
"We want credible democratic reform, a government that responds to the needs of the Burmese people, immediate, unconditional release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi," she said.
Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention.
Nyan Win, who is also the spokesman for the NLD, said that the party was still formulating its policy on sanctions and would inform the regime of its decision before making it public.
"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has already said regarding sanctions that we have to inform the authorities by letter," he said.
Suu Kyi has previously discouraged foreign investment in Myanmar in a bid to pile pressure on the junta, but US Senator Jim Webb said after a rare meeting with her in August that she would not oppose the lifting of some sanctions.
Separately Myanmar`s second largest political party urged the NLD not to boycott the elections. The NLD has not yet said whether it will take part amid concerns over a controversial constitution approved in a referendum last year.
"We want all political parties to participate and compete fairly in the coming elections," said Khin Maung Gyi, joint general secretary of the National Unity Party (NUP), which celebrated its 21st anniversary Thursday.
The party won 12 seats in the 1990 elections, in which the NLD won a landslide victory of 392 seats.
Bureau Report
