HUFF NEWS: YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, ethnic minority leaders, journalists and relatives of the former dictator Ne Win were among those released. State media described the presidential pardon freeing 651 detainees as allowing them to take part in “nation-building.”
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including starting a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Thursday’s signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents… (more)
