Myanmar's Suu Kyi praises U.S. engagement

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed on Friday renewed U.S. engagement with Myanmar, saying she hoped it would set her long-isolated country on the road to democracy.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talk after a meeting at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a final meeting with Suu Kyi as she wrapped up a landmark visit to Myanmar which saw the new civilian government pledge to forge ahead with political reforms and re-engage with the world community.
Clinton and Suu Kyi - the Nobel laureate who has come to symbolise the pro-democracy aspirations of Myanmar's people - held a private dinner on Thursday and met again on Friday at Suu Kyi's lakeside home, effectively her prison until she was released in November last year after years in detention.
"If we go forward together I'm confident there will be no turning back from the road to democracy. We are not on that road yet but we hope to get there as soon as possible with our friends," Suu Kyi said.
The two, arguably the world's most well-known women politicians, met for about an hour and a half then stood on a verandah, holding hands as they spoke to a crowd of reporters.
They both appeared visibly moved as they embraced after their meeting, and a senior U.S. official said it was clear they had established a strong personal rapport during their first face-to-face talks.
Neither mentioned U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, imposed because of rights abuses and the suppression of democracy. But Clinton said at a later news conference that the restrictions might end if reforms continue.
"If there is enough progress, obviously we will be considering lifting sanctions. But as I said before we're still at the very early stages of this dialogue," she said after being asked about sanctions by a Myanmar reporter.
She acknowledged that removing the sanctions would help Myanmar's struggling economy, but said the United States needed to be sure that real changes were under way.
"There need to be some economic reforms along with political reforms so that the benefits would actually flow to a broad base of people and not just to a very few," she said.