|
US increases Myanmar sanctions
25/09/2007 21:51 - (SA)
New York - US President George W Bush on Tuesday denounced the "19-year reign of fear" by Myanmar's military rulers as he unveiled new sanctions on the regime's leaders.
As world powers warned the generals in Yangon against using force to break up the biggest protests in two decades, Bush called on the UN General Assembly to side with the demonstrators and "help bring peaceful change" there.
"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear," he said. "The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable."
He was speaking as the Mynamar junta deployed hundreds of soldiers and riot police in Yangon on Tuesday, after Buddhist monks defied warnings of a crackdown and led 100 000 people in another day of peaceful protests against the regime.
Bush said the United States would step up efforts to foster democracy in Myanmar.
"The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers. We will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights, as well as their family members," Bush said.
"We will continue to support the efforts of humanitarian groups working to alleviate suffering in Burma and urge the United Nations and all nations to use their diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom."
He noted the military had detained Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, whose opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections in 1990 that the military never recognised. She has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest in Yangon.
- AFP
|
News
