Australia to lift some Myanmar sanctions

SYDNEY – Foreign Minister Bob Carr on Monday said Australia will lift sanctions against Myanmar’s president and more than 200 others who are currently under travel and financial bans.

Aung San Suu Kyi. AP FILE PHOTO

However, about 130 names will remain on the restricted list, including senior members of the military and others suspected of human rights abuses, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“We’re easing sanctions after talking to Aung San Suu Kyi and others in the opposition, after talking to the government itself, (and) after talking to other nations,” Carr said.

Speaking from London where he was to meet British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Carr said it meant the number of people in the Myanmar government subject to restrictions would be reduced from 392 to about 130.

“That removes many of the civilians from the list, and that includes President Thein Sein and government ministers.

“But senior serving military officers and people of human rights interest will stay subject to those Australian sanctions.”

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has surprised observers with a series of reforms in the past year after the end of nearly half a century of military rule, and historic by-elections this month have been widely praised.

The elections gave democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi her first seat in parliament after spending 15 of the past 22 years locked up by the junta.