EU suspends Burma sanctions

The European Union suspended its sanctions against Burma on Monday for a year in response to widely praised political reforms in the country, but it will retain an embargo on arms sales.The EU wants to support the progress made in the southeastern Asian nation so it becomes irreversible, said foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. She will travel to Burma, also known as Myanmar, this week. The measure were adopted by the blocs foreign ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, said spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic. Sanctions currently target more than 800 companies and nearly 500 people, and include the withholding of some development aid.European and U.S. officials have pointed to significant reforms in Burma over the past year. These include more freedom for the media and political opposition parties, and the election to Parliament of former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, whose arrest originally drove the imposition of the penalties.British Foreign Secretary William Hague highlighted the fact that sanctions were being suspended rather than lifted completely. We remain very concerned about conflict and human rights abuses in some ethnic areas of Burma, Hague said.The effectiveness of U.S. and EU sanctions has been undermined by China, India and Southeast Asian nations that maintain flourishing business ties with Burma. EU nations are concerned that they are lagging behind in both the political and economic fields as Burma increasingly opens up.