Members of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy have met with staff members of a key U.S. congressional committee.
The
American officials arrived in Rangoon on Friday. They work for the
Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The
meeting comes nearly two weeks after U.S. Senator Jim Webb arranged the
release of an American man detained for illegally visiting Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. John Yettaw had been sentenced to
seven years in prison after swimming uninvited to the Nobel laureate's
lakeside home back in May.
Burmese authorities say Yettaw's
visit violated Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest. The same court that
convicted Yettaw also extended her detention by 18 months.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in some form of detention.
The
U.S. embassy in Rangoon says the committee staffers are visiting Burma
as part of a regional tour to assess U.S. public diplomacy and
assistance programs.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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