EU Calls on Myanmar's Rulers to Free Political Prisoners

(19 Feb 08 - RV) EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday called upon Myanmar's military government to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners to show it is serious about transition to civilian rule. Myanmar's generals made a surprise announcement last weekend that a referendum on a new, as yet unfinished, constitution in May is to be followed by a general election in 2010. The generals last held elections in 1990, but ignored them when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide.The EU tightened sanctions last year after a bloody crackdown in September on peaceful pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks and warned today that sanctions could be toughened if there is no progress on human rights.The spokesperson for the EU’s External Relations is Christiane Hohmann. She says that more needs to be done in the country...