Mr Hague Calls On Burma To Release Detainees

Britain's Foreign Secretary, who is midway through an historic diplomatic visit to Burma, has called on its government to release all remaining political prisoners.
William Hague voiced the request as he met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was forced by the military junta to spend 15 years under house arrest.
Mr Hague's trip, the first by a foreign secretary in more than 50 years to secretive Burma, had dinner last night with the Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy campaigner ahead of formal talks today.
After talks earlier with the regime, Mr Hague said that the UK stood ready to "respond positively" to improvements in human rights and political freedoms.
But he signalled that further progress was required by the international community if the country, the subject of sanctions, was to be brought in from the cold.
President Thein Sein unexpectedly embarked on a series of liberalising measures after coming to office last year, including opening talks with Ms Suu Kyi.
His nominally civilian government also released more than 200 political prisoners and legalised trade unions after years of hard line military rule.
US diplomats, led by secretary of state Hillary Clinton, have recently made gestures towards Burma's increasing openness.
Critics caution however that significant numbers of political prisoners - variously estimated to number between 590 and 1,700 - remain behind bars, despite government promises to free them, while reports of abuses against ethnic minorities continue.
"I emphasised the importance the British Government attaches to the reforms that the Burmese government has undertaken in the last six months, and my sincere hope that there will be further progress in the weeks and months ahead," Mr Hague said following the talks with the government.
"I made clear that the British Government stands ready to respond positively to evidence of further progress towards that lasting improvement in human rights and political freedom that the people of Burma seek."
Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has now re-registered as a political party and will contest a series of 48 parliamentary by-elections due to take place on April 1, in what is being seen as an important test of the reform process.