US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered Myanmar the first rewards for reform on Thursday, saying the United States would back more aid for the reclusive country and consider returning an ambassador after an absence of some two decades. Clinton said she had “candid, productive” conversations with President Thein Sein and other Myanmar ministers, and told them Washington stood ready to support further reforms, and possibly lift sanctions, as the country seeks to emerge from decades of authoritarian military rule. But she also urged Myanmar to take further steps to release political prisoners and end ethnic conflicts, and said better US ties would be impossible unless Myanmar halts its illicit dealings with North Korea, which has repeatedly set alarm bells ringing across Asia with its renegade nuclear programme. “The president told me he hopes to build on these steps, and I assured him that these reforms have our support,” Clinton told a news conference after her talks in Myanmar's remote capital, Naypyitaw. “I also made clear that, while the measures already taken may be unprecedented and welcomed, they are just the beginning.” Clinton's landmark visit to the country also known as Burma marks a tentative rapprochement after more than 50 years of estrangement from the West.
