For the first time since 1955, a UK foreign secretary visited Burma.
Following on from a visit by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the UK foreign secretary, William Hague, visited Burma on Thursday, holding talks with both the government and the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Stressing the importance of taking concrete steps towards reform, to his counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwi, Hague urged the release of political prisoners.
Hague said,
"My message is, if you want those sanctions - those restrictive measures as we call them - lifted, then it is very important to show that you are completing this process of reform."
"We believe now that you are sincere about it, so now get ahead quickly and complete it by releasing the remaining political prisoners and by showing that the upcoming elections are free and fair."
However, according to the BBC, in a later interview with the BBC's Burmese service, Maung Lwi had denounced the political prisoners as nothing more than criminals.
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