We will step up sanctions on Burma - British PM

The Prime Minister has promised to "step up" sanctions on Burma if the regime does not show signs of change.

Speaking during his monthly Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament, Gordon Brown said that blocks on trade in items such as timber would be bolstered by investment sanctions to persuade the military junta to begin a process of "reconciliation".

He said:

"The Burmese regime is a repressive, illegal and undemocratic regime. Unless they change we will step up sanctions...our strategy is not only to push the regime to change but to offer to a new government support for economic development. We are ready to invest in Burma if there is a move towards reconciliation and democracy."

Recent protests led by monks and nuns against the military rulers were violently supressed, with thousands of people believed to have been arrested and detained in government prison facilities.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient who won the country's last open election, remains under house arrest.

ENDS

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