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Q&A: Burmese Opposition Reconsiders Stance on Sanctions

   Sarah Williams  February 08, 2011
   Myanmar's  pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with youths at
   the National League for Democracy (NLD) head office in Yangon February
   8, 2011.

Photo: REUTERS

   Burma's  pro-democracy  leader  Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with youths at
   the National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon, February 8,
   2011.

   Burma's  most  prominent  opposition  party  is calling for talks with
   Western   nations   to   see   if   international   sanctions  on  the
   military-controlled  government  can be reworked to improve the living
   standards of the average Burmese citizen.
   The  [1]National  League  for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate [2]Aung
   San  Suu  Kyi, says the sanctions should not be lifted as long as more
   than 2,000 political prisoners remain in captivity. But the party also
   urges  talks  with  the  United States, the European Union, Canada and
   Australia   to  consider  "when,  how  and  under  what  circumstances
   sanctions  might  be  modified  in  the  interests of democracy, human
   rights and a healthy economic environment."
   Since  1997,  the  United  States  has  imposed  a  range  of economic