US senator thanks Myanmar junta for American's release

US senator thanks Myanmar junta for American's releaseBangkok  - US Senator Jim Webb on Sunday expressed gratitude to Myanmar's junta for freeing an American national whose "regrettable" swim to the house of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May provided a pretext for both to be jailed.

Webb, a Democrat from Virginia who is chairman of the US Senate's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, arrived in Bangkok aboard a private plane from Yangon Sunday afternoon with John William Yettaw, 53, whose release from a seven-year jail term he had secured from Myanmar's military on his three-day visit to the pariah nation.

"This was a gesture from the Myanmar government that we should be grateful for and should build upon," Webb told a press conference in Bangkok.

Webb, an outspoken proponent for change in US foreign policy towards Myanmar - also called Burma - on Saturday became the first US politician to meet with Myanmar's military leader Senior General Than Shwe who has headed the junta since 1992.

In his talks with Than Shwe Webb asked for Yettaw's release "on humanitarian grounds," permission to visit with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and for her release as well.

He was granted two of his requests, securing Yettaw's freedom and being allowed a meeting with Suu Kyi on Saturday, but it was deemed unlikely that the junta would release the democracy icon soon.

Yettaw, a member of the Mormon sect, was sentenced last week to seven years in prison with labour for swimming uninvited to Suu Kyi's lakeside family compound on May 3 and staying until May 5.

He was hospitalized in Bangkok upon arrival after suffering a "medical incident" in Yangon Sunday morning.

Yettaw reportedly confessed to swimming to Suu Kyi's house to warn her of an assassination attempt he had seen in a vision. In November, Yettaw first visited Suu Kyi's guarded residence to pass her a copy of the Book of Mormon.

"I believe what he did was regrettable because it was hurtful to the person he was trying to help," Webb said.

Yettaw's unauthorized visit allowed Myanmar's junta to bring charges against Suu Kyi and her two household helpers for violating the terms of her house arrest. A Myanmar court on Tuesday found all three guilty and sentenced them to three years in prison.

Than Shwe commuted the sentence to 18 months of house detention, effectively keeping Suu Kyi out of the political picture for the junta to push through its planned general election in 2010.

Webb urged Than Shwe to release Suu Kyi as a means of adding credibility to next year's polls.

"I told him I believe it would be impossible for the rest of the world to belive the election would be free and fair if was not released," Webb said.

Webb, who will present the result of his visit to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urged all Asian counties to pressure China to change its stance on Myanmar. China, a rising economic power in Myanmar, is one of the regime's few backers.

The United Nations, Western democracies and even Myanmar's fellow members in the Association of South-East Asian Nations have urged Than Shwe to free Suu Kyi and some 2,100 other political prisoners prior to the polls, if the regime wants legitimacy.

Webb's breakthrough in Myanmar sparked immediate criticism from Myanmar pro-democracy activists.

"This will surely make a negative impression among the people of Burma," said Aung Din, who heads the US campaign for Democracy. "They will think that Americans are easy to satisfy with the dictators when they get their citizens back," he said.

"I don't think Senator Webb can be proud for the release of John Yettaw, while our leader Daw (Madame) Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the real victim of this conspiracy and injustices and two women colleagues are still under detention," Aung Din said.

Than Shwe's amnesty for Yettaw was not unprecedented. In 1999, eighteen US college students travelled to Yangon where they staged a pro-democracy protest, urging the people to revolt against the military regime that has ruled with an iron fist since 1962.

The so-called "Rangoon 18" were arrested, sentenced to jail and then immediately deported.

Webb's trip to Myanmar is part of a five-nation tour of Southeast Asia that is also to include stopovers in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. (dpa)