By DPA
Washington : The US is looking at enacting more economic sanctions against Myanmar in response to the ruling military junta’s brutal crackdown against demonstrators last week, the US State Department said.
“This is something that’s actively under consideration,” deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Monday, without providing a timeframe for imposing additional measures.
The US government Thursday froze the assets of and barred American firms from doing any business with 14 of Myanmar’s top officials, including the chief of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, who also serves as defence minister and effectively runs the junta.
“Certainly, we’ll also look at whether there might be new measures that we might be able to take to try and increase the pressure on the regime for positive change,” Casey said.
Casey also urged China, India and Thailand to use their strong economic ties with Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, to pressure the regime to introduce democracy and release political prisoners.
The unrest throughout Myanmar followed more than a week of demonstrations.
The US government has had sanctions on Myanmar to limit textile exports since 2003 following a crackdown against democratic activists and the jailing of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who remains in detention.