Albright, Suu Kyi sons off blacklist

2012-08-30 16:02

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi puts her autograph on the shirt of a man as she greets local people near an old temple in the country's ancient city of Bagan. (AP, File)

Yangon - Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright and Aung San Suu Kyi's two sons are among hundreds of people who have been removed from Myanmar's entry blacklist, according to the presidential office.

Others who are no longer banned by the regime include several Western journalists such as award-winning BBC correspondent Sue Lloyd-Roberts, as well as American John Yettaw, who was briefly jailed for swimming to Suu Kyi's home.

Myanmar said on Tuesday that it had taken about 2 000 people off the immigration blacklist, but about 4 000 remained.

Several million people fled the country to escape the corrupted economy and political repression under army rule, which ended last year, leaving a shortage of professionals to help manage economic and political change.

Since taking office last year, President Thein Sein has overseen a number of dramatic changes such as the release of hundreds of political prisoners and Suu Kyi's election to parliament.

Thein Sein's office said Suu Kyi's sons Kim and Alexander Aris had been removed from the blacklist. Kim had already been allowed to visit Myanmar twice to see his mother since her release from years of house arrest in late 2010.

- AFP