Obama seeks 'tremendous boost' to Myanmar reform
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House said on Thursday that it hoped President Barack Obama's landmark visit would offer a "tremendous boost" to reforms underway but insisted he was clear-eyed about the country's challenges.
Freshly re-elected Obama on Monday will become the first sitting United States (US) president to visit the country formerly known as Burma, on a trip that would have been unthinkable at the start of his presidency.
"This is really a moment that we didn't want to miss," national security adviser Tom Donilon said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, calling the changes in Myanmar "really remarkable."
"We think this is a moment where the president really can attempt to lock in the progress that's been made and really give a tremendous boost... to the reform movement and the democratisation movement in Burma," he said.
