Obama shifts US policy on Myanmar

US president pushes new policy of engagement with ruling generals.

Obama at APEC

Barack Obama has called on Myanmar’s military rulers to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

In Singapore on Saturday, Obama became the first US president ever to attend a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

 

That meeting was also attended by Myanmar’s prime minister, General Thein Sein.

 

Although the two men did not speak directly, as Al Jazeera’s Veronica Pedrosa reports, the fact they were in the same room signals a major shift in US engagement with Myanmar.

Source: Al Jazeera