Senior US envoys to visit Myanmar

WASHINGTON - Three senior US envoys are scheduled to visit Myanmar next week, the State Department said on Wednesday, stressing lifting of sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation is not on the agenda.

During his visit on March 11-17, special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar Derek Mitchell plans to meet with senior government officials in Nay Pyi Taw to discuss developments in the country, including the upcoming parliamentary by-elections on April 1 and US policy initiatives to recognize recent reforms and encourage further progress, the State Department said in a statement.

He will also travel to Rangoon and Mandalay to meet with "a broad spectrum" of society, including civil society and private sector stakeholders, the agency said, noting the envoy visits Myanmar frequently to "build on our ongoing principled engagement."

Daniel Baer, deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human Rights and labor, will be in Myanmar next week as well, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

In addition to joining some of the meetings in Nay Pyi Taw and Rangoon, Baer will meet with former political prisoners and talk " more generally" with the government about human rights, Nuland told reporters at a regular news briefing.

She noted that Barbara Shailor, the special representative for international labor affairs, will make a visit at the same time to work on the effort to have Myanmar "meet its commitment to internationally recognized labor standards."

However, the lifting of sanctions will not come up during their visits, Nuland said.

She said when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar early December last year, she said such a move would be a step-by-step process.

"And we've made some moves in response to some of those that they have made. But we are not at the stage that you are discussing," Nuland said.

During her visit, Clinton told the country's leaders that a roadmap would be drawn to relax and lift economic sanctions, restrictions on tourism sector as well as export and import embargoes against Myanmar to mark a new phase of bilateral relationship.