Aung San Suu Kyi
..The Obama administration, (click here) which has made a signature policy of engaging US adversaries, last year initiated a dialogue with the junta, judging that a previous approach of isolating the regime had not borne fruit.
The junta plans to hold elections later this year which most foreign observers believe are aimed at legitimizing the rule of the regime, which never allows the opposition to take over after it won the last vote in 1990.
The main opposition National League for Democracy has decided to boycott the election rather than give in to pressure to oust its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who is under house arrest.
Besides McConnell, the letter was also signed by 2008 presidential candidate John McCain along with fellow Republicans Sam Brownback, Susan Collins and Judd Gregg.
It was also signed by Democrats Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold and Dianne Feinstein and independent Joe Lieberman.
Iran used China connection for nuke gear: report (click here)
ReutersSaturday, April 3, 2010; 5:13 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Western authorities are investigating whether an Iranian firm acquired valves and vacuum gauges used to enrich uranium through the representative of a Chinese firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The report appeared as the United States sought China's support for a new round of sanctions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful and legitimate.
Purchase of the equipment could violate export sanctions. The newspaper cited a diplomat in Vienna as saying the International Atomic Energy Administration and western intelligence agencies were investigating.
The probe was sparked by a Jan. 14 email to IAEA. It alleged an Iranian firm, Javedan Mehr Toos (JMT), acquired the French-made valves through an intermediary who represented Zheijiang Ouhai Trade Corp, a subsidiary of Jinzhou Group, based in China, said the report...
Obama urges China to back Iran nuclear sanctions (click here)
White House keen to exploit signals from Beijing that it might support fresh punitive measures
Chris McGreal in Washington and Julian Borger
Barack Obama has urged Beijing to "ratchet up the pressure" on Iran over its nuclear programme after a breakthrough for the US administration in persuading China to agree to talks on fresh sanctions against Tehran.
Obama told CBS news that Iran was increasingly diplomatically isolated and that international unity was essential to ensuring it did not develop nuclear weapons.
"The idea is to keep turning up the pressure," Obama said. "We're going to ratchet up the pressure and examine how they respond but we're going to do so with a unified international community."
The interview was broadcast within hours of the president's hour-long phone call from Air Force One with Hu Jintao ahead of the Chinese president's visit to the US for a nuclear non-proliferation summit later this month....
