Rev. Danny Fisher

“In this photo released by the office of U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., Webb, right, meets with Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. Sen. Webb’s office says he has won the release of an American prisoner in Myanmar. A statement Saturday said John Yettaw will be officially deported on Sunday afternoon when he will travel with Webb to Bangkok. Yettaw was convicted Tuesday of helping Suu Kyi violate the terms of her house arrest.” Photo by the Associated Press.

Here’s the latest Burma news:

• Of course, the big news, as the Washington Post reports, is that Sen. James Webb (D-VA), during his trip to Burma, visited junta leader Than Shwe and detained Prime Minister-elect/Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. He also secured the release of John Yettaw, the American whose swim to Suu Kyi’s home resulted in the trial that extender her house arrest by 18 months. The Associated Press has footage, which is embedded below:

• The AP reports that the junta’s freeing of Yettaw, “whom it had sentenced to seven years of hard labor… could help persuade Washington to soften its hardline policy against the military regime.”
• The Guardian further reports that Sen. Webb’s visit to Burma has “triggered speculation that the Obama administration will attempt to steer the regime towards a new era of engagement.”
• The AP also reports on Yettaw’s family, eagerly awaiting his return home.
• The BBC reports that “two days after Burma sent opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into further house arrest, regional governments are fine-tuning their responses.”
• The Agence France-Presse reports that “the UN Security Council agreed on a watered-down statement expressing ‘serious concern’ at the extended detention of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar after a tougher draft met opposition from China, Libya, Russia and Vietnam.”
• Reuters reports that “exiled Myanmar pro-democracy groups said Thursday they were seeking to break the political deadlock in the country by proposing an amended version of a widely condemned constitution drafted by the ruling junta.”
• The Telegraph reports on the word that Suu Kyi has allegedly dropped her opposition to tourism in Burma.
• The Telegraph also features a comment from Mark Farmaner, director of the Burma Campaign UK, who believes “tourism will do nothing to prevent human-rights abuses.”
• The Wall Street Journal offers a “review and outlook” piece on sanctions post-Suu Kyi’s sentencing.
• Reuters offers a “factbox” on Burma and sanctions.
• CBC reports that a former child soldier has avoided deportation back to Burma and may remain in his adopted Saskatoon.