Activists holds pictures of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi while slogans outside the... 
(Chaiwat Subprasom /Reuters)
The highest-ranking American diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years offered improved relations Wednesday if its military regime moves toward democracy, putting into action the Obama administration's new policy of engagement with the isolated country.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke after both talks with the ruling generals and a rare meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for most of the last two decades.
Campbell called on the military — which has ruled the impoverished country since 1962 — to open a dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minority groups, which are seeking a measure of autonomy. He also urged the military government to allow Suu Kyi more freedom to meet with people concerned with the political process, particularly her own party's senior executives.
The goals of the new U.S. policy are "strong support for human rights, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and the promotion of democratic reform," Campbell declared to reporters at the end of his two-day visit. He met Wednesday morning with Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein.
Campbell and his deputy, Scot Marciel, are the highest-ranking American diplomats to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1995, when then-U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright made an official visit.
It was the second time in a few months that the junta allowed Suu Kyi to meet with a senior American official. In August, visiting U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia met her and also held talks with Thein Sein and top junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Suu Kyi, 64, has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years and until recently was allowed regular visits only from her doctor, and very occasional ones from visiting U.N. emissaries seeking to mediate with the government.
For years, the United States had isolated the junta diplomatically and applied political and economic sanctions, which have failed to force the generals to respect human rights or release jailed political activists. The Obama administration decided recently to step up diplomatic engagement as a way of promoting reforms.
