Asean leaders call for lifting of Myanmar sanctions

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Southeast Asian leaders on Tuesday, April 3, called for the lifting of international sanctions on Myanmar after the country’s historic by-elections, a senior Cambodian official said at a regional summit.

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) “call for the lifting of all sanctions on Myanmar,” Cambodian Secretary of State Kao Kim Hourn told reporters on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Phnom Penh.

“The lifting of sanctions would contribute positively to the democratic process and especially economic development of Myanmar,” he said, quoting leaders inside the closed-door summit room.

Myanmar President Thein Sein assured the other leaders of the 10-nation bloc that Sunday’s election was “transparent, free and fair, so he accepts the result”, Kao said.

“So the Asean leaders congratulated and praised Myanmar about the election result.”

The by-elections were a resounding victory for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, and saw the former political prisoner and Nobel laureate win a seat in parliament for the first time. – Agence France-Presse