WASHINGTON: The US
Senate on Friday confirmed President Barack Obama's nominee to be the first US
ambassador to Myanmar in more than two decades, the latest step in greater
engagement with a nation undergoing dramatic reforms.
Derek Mitchell, a veteran US policymaker on Asia, was
confirmed by unanimous consent, capping a startling series of developments in
recent months which saw the two nations normalise diplomatic relations
following democratic reforms in the reclusive Southeast Asian nation.
In congratulating Mitchell, Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell said the diplomat "has done an excellent job in his current role
as special representative and policy coordinator for Burma," the former
name for Myanmar.
"His experience will serve us well in the region as
he builds on the strong foundation established by (Charge d'Affaires) Michael
Thurston and our embassy team in Rangoon."
The action comes on the same day Myanmar's pro-democracy
champion Aung San Suu Kyi departed France to return home at the end of a
landmark five-nation European tour in which she was lauded as a model of
peaceful resistance to dictatorship.
Myanmar was for decades ruled by an iron-fisted junta.
Washington withdrew its ambassador to Myanmar after a
crackdown on a democracy uprising in 1988 and elections won by Suu Kyi's
democracy movement in 1990 that were never recognised by the junta.
But a reformist government under ex-general President
Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi's party back into
mainstream politics, as he initiated steps designed to break Myanmar's
isolation.
The country held parliamentary by-elections in April, and
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy secured 43 of the 44 seats it
contested.
"As an iron fist has unclenched in Burma, we have
extended our hand, and are entering a new phase in our engagement on behalf of
a more democratic and prosperous future for the Burmese people," Obama
said in May when he named his new ambassador and announced an easing of
investment sanctions.
Suu Kyi, now 67, is also cautiously optimistic, telling
AFP in an interview Thursday that she is prepared to one day lead her country.
The Nobel peace laureate stressed that with Myanmar facing
elections in 2015, which her party is set to contest, hard work cannot be
postponed.
"It is now that is most important, and this is the
message that I'm trying to get out to the world: that the next three years will
decide what shape 2015 will take," Suu Kyi said.
The US decision to ease sanctions could usher in the
first major trade and investment between the United States and Myanmar for
years, and help pry open a backward economy left behind by speeding Southeast
Asian development.
US law currently requires the president to restrict
imports from Myanmar, where civilians backed by the military now rule, and bans
US investment and export of financial services to the country.
At Mitchell's confirmation hearing Wednesday, senators
pressed the Obama administration to allow investment by US energy companies as
part of its loosening of sanctions on Myanmar, voicing fear that US companies
would lose out to foreign competitors.
Human rights groups charge that the oil and gas industry
fuels abuses inside Myanmar, with villagers allegedly forced into labour and
the powerful military seizing the revenue to support its operations.
During his hearing, Mitchell said the administration had
not made a decision on oil and gas investment in Myanmar but reiterated concerns
about state-owned firms in the industry.
He testified that reform in Myanmar "is not
irreversible" and raised concerns that "hundreds of political
prisoners" remained locked up.
- AFP/de
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