LEAD: US to send ambassador to Myanmar

Jan 13, 2012, 17:11 GMT

Washington - The United States will reestablish diplomatic relations with Myanmar, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

The US would send an ambassador to the country after Myanmar made a series of reforms, including the release Friday of hundreds of political prisoners.

'As I said last December, the United States will meet action with action. Based on the steps taken so far, we will now begin,' Clinton said.

'In consultation with members of Congress and at the direction of President Obama, we will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma,' she said.

Clinton travelled to Myanmar late last year to meet with President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, becoming the first secretary of state to do so in 56 years.

The South-East Asian country has been subject to US sanctions for more than two decades because of its poor human rights record and failure to implement democratic reforms.

Obama welcomed earlier the decision by the government of Myanmar to release more than 400 political prisoners.

'I applaud President Thein Sein's decision to release hundreds of prisoners of conscience, which is a crucial step in Burma's democratic transformation and national reconciliation process,' Obama said in a statement.

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