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PHUKET, Thailand: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Myanmar to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying such a move could pave the way for investments from the United States.
"If she were released that would open up opportunities at least for my country to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma," she said, referring to Myanmar by its former name.
Speaking after meetings in Phuket on the eve of Asia's biggest annual security forum, she said such opportunities were "up to the Burmese leadership".
Military-ruled Myanmar recently sparked outrage by putting Aung San Suu Kyi on trial in prison over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house.
US President Barack Obama has described the court proceedings as a "show trial" and Myanmar has already been slapped with US sanctions for its detention of thousands of political prisoners.
Clinton said that while countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were moving "in a very positive direction", Myanmar was "moving in the opposite direction".
"We have been very clear in stating that the United States would like to see changes in the behaviour of the regime in Burma," she said, adding that the release of Aung San Suu Kyi was "critical".
Earlier Wednesday she said ASEAN should consider expelling Myanmar -- the bloc's problem child since it joined in 1997 -- if it does not release the imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate.
Referring to US man John Yettaw's uninvited visit to Aung San Suu Kyi, Clinton said: "I regret deeply this unfortunate incident, which she had nothing to do with, and which served as an excuse for them to put her on trial."
The pro-democracy leader has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in elections in 1990.
Critics of Myanmar believe the trial is a ploy to keep her locked up for elections scheduled for next year.
Clinton said the country would have a "better future" if it moved away from isolation and gave its citizens "a chance to have a true election next year that will help to chart a new course for the people of Burma".
Clinton reiterated concerns about possible cooperation over nuclear weaponry between Myanmar and fellow pariah state North Korea, one of the issues that is dominating the talks in Phuket.
On Tuesday Clinton also said she was "deeply concerned" by reports of human rights abuses in Myanmar, "particularly by actions that are attributed to the Burmese military concerning the mistreatment and abuse of young girls."
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that his country, an ASEAN member, disagreed with the idea of expelling Myanmar from the bloc.
"We are still in favour of discussing with Myanmar so that they will be serious in implementing the roadmap towards democratisation," Najib told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win met his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone in Phuket on Wednesday, and the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi came up, a spokesman for the Japanese minister said.
Nakasone urged Myanmar to release all political prisoners, resume dialogue with the opposition and prepare a "positive environment" for elections promised by the ruling generals in 2010, the spokesman said.
Nyan Win "listened very carefully" and explained that Myanmar "did its best to assist" United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when he visited the country earlier this month, added the spokesman.
The ruling military snubbed Ban by refusing to let him visit Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon's notorious Insein prison, deepening the international community's concerns.
Nyan Win said Myanmar's government "responded as they believed appropriate" to Ban's request to visit her, the Japanese spokesman said.
- AFP/ir
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