Key US senators hail Clinton Burma trip

Key US senators have hailed Hillary Clinton's planned visit to Burma next month, expressing hopes it would spur greater democratic reforms.

'Burma is moving in the right direction, but actions still speak louder than words,' said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Clinton as the top US diplomat.

Kerry praised Burma's new political reforms but said its government must 'unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience' and halt 'atrocities' in battling ethnic minority rebels along its border with Thailand.

'To help keep the Burmese government on the right track, President Obama and Secretary Clinton are implementing a forward-leaning approach that combines principled engagement and energetic pressure,' he said.

News of Clinton's trip - the first by a US secretary of state in 50 years - came as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party said it would return to Burma's official political arena after years of marginalisation under military rule.

Clinton's trip would be the most significant US policy move on the country in many years, after decades of using sanctions to isolate the country over human rights abuses by generals who refused to shift to democracy.

However, since elections a year ago, the new nominally civilian government has surprised observers by holding direct talks with Suu Kyi, freeing 200 dissidents and freezing work on an unpopular mega-dam.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy announced Friday it would re-register as a political party and take part in upcoming by-elections, after years of being sidelined and repressed.

The party, which won 1990 polls in a landslide but was never allowed to take power, refused to participate in the country's first vote in 20 years because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members.

Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, hailed Suu Kyi's return, saying 'B! urma has reached an important milestone today on its path to a more democratic system.'

'This is an important step toward greater political reconciliation in Burma, and I think Secretary Clinton's decision to visit the country sends the right signal of America's support for the ongoing process of change,' he said.

Like Kerry, McCain called on Burma to release 'prisoners of conscience', cease attacks against ethnic minorities and move forward with 'dialogue and reconciliation'.

'A lot remains to be done in order for the Burmese people to enjoy the greater freedom and democracy that they both desire and deserve,' he said.

Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee, said Clinton's trip will help determine how serious Burma is about democratic reforms.

'I am hopeful that Secretary Clinton's visit will provide an opportunity to closely examine any substantive improvements in our relations during this transitional period,' said Webb, who has long called for greater US engagement with Burma.

Webb also called for Washington 'to take advantage of all of the tools at our disposal to facilitate Burmese economic development, political reconciliation, and ultimately greater progress toward democratic governance.'

In 2009, Webb became the first US lawmaker to visit Burma in more than a decade and the only US official to meet with its former junta leader, Than Shwe.

'Burma is now in the midst of a key transitional period that has yielded greater opportunities for interaction with government leaders and civil society, and restructuring of government and military institutions,' said Webb.