Obama Pushes for Suu Kyi’s Release

President Obama, at an ASEAN summit in Singapore, urged Burma’s premier to free pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in a rare meeting between American and Burmese leaders.

The Guardian:

Barack Obama today urged Burma to release the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a landmark meeting with the country’s prime minister.

He made the demand during a summit in Singapore with Thein Sein and nine other leaders of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).

The meeting made Obama the first US president to be present in the same room as a Burmese leader since Lyndon Johnson met Prime Minister Ne Win in 1966.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama had raised the subject of Aung San Suu Kyi “directly with that government”, indicating that he had spoken directly to Thein Sein. There were conflicting reports whether the US president had shaken hands with the Burmese premier.

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Protesters carry posters demanding freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy activist who has been under house arrest in Burma for 14 of the last 20 years.