Progress on Burma?

A chink of light perhaps?

Senator Jim Webb today won the release of John Yettaw, the American whose intrusion on Aung San Suu Kyi led to her recent sentence, and an unexpected meeting with the detained Burmese opposition leader. This is a significant development. Only a few weeks ago the country's leader, Gen Than Shwe, refused to allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon a similar visit to Suu Kyi.


http://tiny.cc/yp1w4

Another reason why this may mark the beginnings of a new approach towards Burma is that Senator Webb, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, has been a strong proponent of moving to a new policy of engagement with the generals.

This also comes a day after there were reports that Suu Kyi has softened her stance towards tourism to Burma. Whereas previosuly she had called on a complete boycott, unsubstantiated reports yesterday suggested she was now calling for people to visit the country but to avoid tourist companies and hotels that were owned by, or linked to the Junta.

To early to say where this goes next but this could mark the start of the new approach Hiliary Clinton hinted at several months ago when she made a speech in which she said that neither sanctions nor the ASEAN policy of constructive engagement had worked and that a new approach was needed.