Obama to press Myanmar leaders on ethnic violence
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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama will press Myanmar leaders during an upcoming trip to restore calm to the western part of their country and bring instigators of ethnic violence there to justice, White House officials said on Thursday.
Mr Obama leaves on Saturday for a trip to Asia that will include a historic stop in Myanmar, a former pariah state.
Some human rights workers object to the trip, saying the president is rewarding the country too soon for its still fragile democratic reforms.
Mr Obama aides said the trip to the country, also known as Burma, was meant to lock in reforms and encourage more, while serving as an example to countries such as North Korea that the United States would engage with former foes if they reform.
