Reelected Obama - First US President to Visit Myanmar
2012-11-09 11:35:50

Newly reelected US President Barack Obama will visit Myanmar and meet leaders there as part of his trip to Asia later this month, the White House announced.

Obama will stop in Myanmar, also known as Burma, during a November 17-20 trip to "speak to civil society to encourage Burma's ongoing democratic transition," according to a news release.

This will be the first time a US president visits the country.

The US president is scheduled to confer with Myanmar's new reformist President Thein Sein and the Nobel laureate and human rights advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, with whom he met in September.

Barack Obama will also at the summit discuss a range of issues with Asian leaders, including job growth, trade, energy and security partnerships and human rights, officials said.

Under Thein Sein, the Myanmar government has released hundreds of political prisoners in the past year, part of a series of reforms that have followed decades of repressive military rule.

Western governments have responded to the efforts by starting to ease sanctions put in place to pressure the military regime.