http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2009-11-20T23:01:01+00:00
Great blog entry!

I think the President is right on target about the need for good governance to promote stabiity in the region. Of course the success stories don't get quite as much press as the stories about corruption, abject poverty and civil strife. I'm glad to see that the President chose Ghana, and am looking forward to the signs of hope and promise that his visit will bring to struggling democracies in Africa and across the world.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/moment_promise/ Tue Jul 14, 2009
News Item:

"Burma is preparing to release political prisoners to allow them to take part in national elections next year.

The move comes at the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the country last week.

It was announced at the Security Council by Burma's UN envoy Than Swe. He did not say how many of the estimated 2,100 inmates would go free.

Mr Ban described the move as encouraging, but said he would have to follow up on this and other issues.

Using careful bureaucratic language, Mr Than Swe said the Burmese government was processing the granting of an amnesty to political prisoners so they could take part in the 2010 elections.

The ambassador did not say whether the most famous of the prisoners, the jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, would be included."

-BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8148850.stm

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"Speaking from Ghana, the U.S. President held the attention of other countries across the continent."

You just never know who got the message...

Till they do.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/moment_promise/ Mon Jul 13, 2009