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US Congressional Staffers Meet With Burma Opposition Leaders


Members of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy have met with staff members of a key U.S. congressional committee.

The American officials arrived in Rangoon on Friday. They work for the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The meeting comes nearly two weeks after U.S. Senator Jim Webb arranged the release of an American man detained for illegally visiting Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. John Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years in prison after swimming uninvited to the Nobel laureate's lakeside home back in May.

Burmese authorities say Yettaw's visit violated Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest. The same court that convicted Yettaw also extended her detention by 18 months.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in some form of detention.

The U.S. embassy in Rangoon says the committee staffers are visiting Burma as part of a regional tour to assess U.S. public diplomacy and assistance programs.


Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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