EU agrees to start lifting sanctions on Myanmar

BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to begin easing sanctions against Myanmar to encourage reform but will await further positive signals before calling an end to restrictive measures, diplomats said.

“We will begin by suspending some visa bans as a first stage from today,” said a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity as EU foreign ministers began a day of talks in Brussels.

Lifting all sanctions will be “conditional on the continuation of positive action by the authorities,” the source added.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed “the quite extraordinary changes in the last weeks and months” and announced she would visit the country in April as she went into the ministerial meetings.

The 27-nation bloc has been divided over how soon to lift sanctions, with some insisting on waiting for by-elections on April 1, which will see a historic bid for parliament by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ashton said the European Union had been in contact with her on the issue. AGENCIES

Suu Kyi urges freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar

YANGON: Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar, urged thousands of supporters to stand up for their rights, and indicated she may urge the West to end sanctions.

Suu Kyi’s first major speech since being freed from seven years of house arrest a day earlier left little doubt she would resume an influential political role in one of the world’s most isolated and oppressive countries.

“The basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech,” she said to roaring cheers from thousands of supporters crammed into a cordoned-off street in front of her party’s headquarters. “Even if you are not political, politics will come to you.”

The 65-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who had lost none of her ability to rouse and mesmerise crowds, offered an olive branch to the military junta, saying she had no antagonism for

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi says could pursue lifting of sanctions

YANGON: Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Sunday she was willing to enter into dialogue with Western nations to lift sanctions on the country if the Burmese people wanted it.

“If the people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider it,” Suu Kyi told her first news conference following her release from seven years of house arrest on Saturday.

“This is the time that Burma needs help,” she said, referring to the country by it’s former name. “Western nations, Eastern nations, the whole world… everything starts with dialogue.”

Analysts expect Suu Kyi will work with the West to lift sanctions she once supported but now believes are hurting the Burmese people rather than the ruling military junta. AGENCIES

Obama says Suu Kyi release long overdue

YOKOHAMA: U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that he welcomed the release of Myanmar pro- democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“She is a hero of mine and a source of inspiration for all who work to advance basic human rights in Burma and around the world. The United States welcomes her long overdue release,” the president said in a statement. AGENCIES

Junta silent as Myanmar awaits Suu Kyi release

YANGON: Detained Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was due to be freed from house arrest on Saturday, but there was still no sign Myanmar’s army rulers were ready to release her.

The charismatic leader of the Southeast Asian country’s fight against military dictatorship remained in her crumbling lakeside home, despite rumours paramount leader Senior General Than Shwe had approved an order to free his arch enemy from seven years of house arrest.

A crowd of about 300 people, among them many journalists, waited anxiously near her house, chatting in small groups or drinking in tea shops. Some wore T-shirts with the message: “We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi”. Suu Kyi received no visitors.

A government source told Reuters she would likely be released in the evening, but in one of the world’s most secretive countries, the comment could not be officially

Indian completes 10 years on hunger strike, vows to continue

MANIPUR: A human rights activist in northeast India who is dubbed the “Iron Lady of Manipur” has completed 10 years on hunger strike and vowed to continue her protest, her supporters said Wednesday.

Irom Chanu Sharmila, from the remote state of Manipur, which borders Myanmar, began her fast on November 2, 2000 after witnessing the killing of 10 people by the army at a bus stop near her home.

Now 38, she was arrested shortly after beginning her protest — on charges of attempted suicide — and was sent to a prison hospital where she began a daily routine of being force-fed vitamins and nutrients via a nasal drip.

Sharmila is frequently set free by local courts, but once outside she resumes her hunger strike and is rearrested.

She is campaigning for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that enables security forces to shoot on sight

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index, War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to a new report from Transparency International. Pakistan dropped to 34th from 42nd in the ranking of global corruption index.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained their top position on the list with scores of 9.3. They were followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1. The US ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog group showed in its Corruption Perceptions Index published today. Meanwhile, emerging economic powerhouse China is in 78th place.

Countries that improved their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
This years index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a countrys corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. Its an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.

Thirty killed in Myanmar boat accident, many missing

YANGON: At least 30 people were killed and about two dozen are missing after a ferry carrying mostly students and teachers capsized in Myanmar’s southern Irrawaddy delta region on Wednesday, witnesses and authorities said.

Most of the passengers were young students travelling to watch a football match when the overloaded boat sank in Labutta township, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Yangon, the commercial capital of the former Burma.

Boat accidents are common in the impoverished army-ruled country where several sinkings or collisions involving overloaded vessels occur each year. About 40 people were killed when a passenger boat sank in the Yway River in July 2008. AGENCIES

Suu Kyi to sue Myanmar junta over dissolution

YANGON: Myanmar’s detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will try to sue the country’s military rulers for dissolving her political party after it decided to boycott next month’s election, her lawyer said on Monday.

Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest for breach of an internal security law, told lawyers of her now defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) party to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court.

“On her behalf we will demand that the court declares that the NLD is still in existence,” lawyer Nyan Win told Reuters.

Legal experts said it was highly unlikely the case would be accepted by the court, which usually rules in favour of the military regime that has kept Suu Kyi in detention for 15 of the last 21 years.

Some even suggested the move could anger the junta so much that it might seek to detain her longer to prevent her from

Czechs oppose plans for Michael Jackson statue

PRAGUE: Thousands of Czechs are protesting plans to place a Michael Jackson statue in Prague.

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Czechs oppose plans for Michael Jackson statue

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