Webb frees U.S. prisoner in Myanmar

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By Desikan Thirunarayanapuram

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb on Saturday became the first U.S. official to meet with the reclusive military ruler of Myanmar and won the release of an American man sentenced to seven years of hard labor in the country.

In a rare gesture that could signal a softening stance by the ruling junta, Mr. Webb also was allowed to meet with opposition democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I am grateful to the Myanmar government for honoring these requests," Mr. Webb said in a statement released by his office in Washington. "It is my hope that we can take advantage of these gestures as a way to begin laying a foundation of good will and confidence-building in the future."

Myanmar's military government has faced strong international condemnation over the trial of Mrs. Suu Kyi for violating the terms of her detention when the American, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside house in May.

Mr. Webb, a Democrat, is the first foreign official to meet with Mrs. Suu Kyi since she was sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest Tuesday. Mrs. Suu Kyi, 64, has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.

Mr. Yettaw, 53, of Missouri was held in the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon. At Mrs. Suu Kyi's trial, Mr. Yettaw testified that he swam to her home to warn her after he had a vision that she would be assassinated.

Mr. Webb said Mr. Yettaw will be officially deported Sunday and he will leave the country on Mr. Webb's military aircraft, flying to Bangkok.

"If it's true, of course I'm extremely happy and we're ecstatic," Betty Yettaw told the Associated Press, referring to reports that her husband would be freed.

Mr. Webb arrived in Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw, on Friday.

The concession apparently came out of Mr. Webb's meeting Saturday with the junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. The reclusive military council chief had not met a senior U.S. official before.