Myanmar junta’s media hail US senator’s visit

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s government-controlled newspapers on Tuesday hailed the visit of U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, who secured the high-profile release of a jailed American, as “the first step” toward improving relations with Washington.

The full-page commentary titled, “The first step of a long journey,” was published in all three state-run newspapers that serve as mouthpieces for the junta. The tone was highly uncharacteristic for Myanmar media, which typically blast the U.S. as a “neocolonialist,” a “loudmouthed bully,” and the “superpower nation” that has imposed harsh economic and political sanctions against the country.

The Virginia senator’s three-day visit, which ended Sunday, and the junta’s concessions have fueled questions over whether this could mark a turning point in relations between the two countries and lead to a softening of longtime sanctions.

“The visit of Mr. Jim Webb is a success for both sides as well as the first step to promotion of the relations between the two countries,” said the article published in the Myanma Ahlin and Kyemon newspapers and the English-language New Light of Myanmar.

“It is indeed the first step toward marching to a 1,000-mile destination,” said the commentary, which said the junta “enthusiastically cooperated with (Webb) because of its stance to deepen the bilateral relations and relieve the disagreements between the countries.”

Webb’s visit included rare meetings with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe. It was the reclusive general’s first meeting with a senior U.S. political figure.

Webb also won the release of John Yettaw, who a week earlier was sentenced to seven years of hard labor for sneaking into Suu Kyi’s home.

Webb told reporters in Bangkok on Monday that it was time for “a new approach” to dealing with the junta, since sanctions have failed to win the release of Suu Kyi or move the junta closer to democratic reforms. His comments echo similar remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

During his meeting with Suu Kyi, he got the “clear impression from her that she is not opposed to lifting some sanctions,” Webb said Monday.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Relations with Washington have been strained since the junta crushed pro-democracy protests in 1988. The military government called elections in 1990 but refused but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi’s party won overwhelmingly.