Sunday 18 November 2012

AP PHOTOS: Myanmar ready for historic Obama visit

AAA??Nov. 18, 2012?3:08 AM ET
AP PHOTOS: Myanmar ready for historic Obama visit
AP

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012 file photo, Muslim refugees spend a day at Sin-Ta-Kaw relief camp in Pauk Taw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. The White House has cautioned that Obama's trip to the former pariah state should not be viewed as a "victory celebration" but as an opportunity to press for urgent action still needed in Myanmar. Notably, freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tension in remote areas. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012 file photo, Muslim refugees spend a day at Sin-Ta-Kaw relief camp in Pauk Taw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. The White House has cautioned that Obama's trip to the former pariah state should not be viewed as a "victory celebration" but as an opportunity to press for urgent action still needed in Myanmar. Notably, freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tension in remote areas. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)

FILE - In this June 16, 2012 file photo, a girl and a woman carry useable bricks from damaged buildings in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state in western Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. The White House has cautioned that Obama's trip to the former pariah state should not be viewed as a "victory celebration" but as an opportunity to press for urgent action still needed in Myanmar. Notably, freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tension in remote areas. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2007 file photo released by the National League for Democracy-Liberated Area, Buddhist monk walks past a motorcycle which was get burned in Yangon, Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. Obama's roughly six-hour visit will be confined to Yangon, the main city where the military brutally crushed pro-democracy uprisings in the past, including a 2007 rally led by Buddhist monks and protests in 1988 led by student activists.(AP Photo/ National League for Democracy-Liberated Area, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, ascends the stairs towards the stage to deliver her speech during an election campaign rally in Thongwa village some 50 kilometerss from Yangon, Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. Myanmar was under military rule for a half-century until last year when a nominally civilian government took office and stunned the world with a rapid rush toward reforms. One of its early moves was to release Suu Kyi from house arrest, and allow her to campaign for parliament. She now leads a small minority in a chamber filled with former military men. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, supporters greet Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, atop her vehicle, as she arrives to delivers her speech during an election campaign rally in Thongwa village some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Yangon, Myanmar. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. Myanmar was under military rule for a half-century until last year when a nominally civilian government took office and stunned the world with a rapid rush toward reforms. One of its early moves was to release Suu Kyi from house arrest, and allow her to campaign for parliament. She now leads a small minority in a chamber filled with former military men. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

(AP) ? President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy.

The White House has cautioned that Obama's trip to the former pariah state should not be viewed as a "victory celebration" but as an opportunity to press for urgent action still needed in Myanmar. Notably, freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tension in remote areas.

Myanmar was under military rule for a half-century until last year when a nominally civilian government took office and stunned the world with a rapid rush toward reforms.

One of its early moves was to release famed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and allow her to campaign for parliament. She now leads a small minority in a chamber filled with former military men.

Suu Kyi's enormous popularity stems in part from her father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, who was assassinated in 1948.

Obama's roughly six-hour visit will be confined to Yangon, the main city where the military brutally crushed pro-democracy uprisings in the past, including a 2007 rally led by Buddhist monks and protests in 1988 led by student activists.

During his trip, Obama will meet separately with reformist President Thein Sein and Suu Kyi.

Here, in images, are scenes from Myanmar:

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-18-Myanmar-Photo%20Gallery/id-2fe7197962a14797aa0e5dca57871085

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