Obama to Meet With Prime Minister of Myanmar

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov.08, 2009.

MANILA — President Obama plans to meet with the prime minister of Myanmar along with other Southeast Asian leaders next Sunday, in a high-level affirmation of the new policy by Washington of engaging the military-ruled country despite its dismal human rights record.

The meeting between Mr. Obama and leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will take place on the sidelines of the annual summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore, the U.S. ambassador for Asean affairs, Scot Marciel, said Saturday.

Prime Minister Thein Sein of Myanmar will attend the meeting, which marks the 32nd anniversary of Washington’s relations with Asean, said a senior Myanmar diplomat, Min Lwin. The junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, typically shuns official meetings outside the country.

The talks would be the highest-level contact between Myanmar and the United States in decades.

Officials have not said whether Mr. Obama will meet privately with Thein Sein. The last U.S. president to meet with a Myanmar head of state was Lyndon B. Johnson. He talked with Ne Win, who was then the prime minister, in September 1966 in Washington, according to Richard Mei, the U.S. Embassy spokesman in Myanmar. The country was then called Burma.

Under Mr. Obama, Washington has reversed the policy of the administration of President George W. Bush of shunning Myanmar in favor of direct talks with the country, which has been under military rule since 1962.

Myanmar welcomed the shift in U.S. policy, Min Lwin said, describing the change as “positive.”