Prominent Burma dissident welcomes Obama approach

Win Tin, formerly Burma's longest-serving political prisoner and an executive member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said he expected Obama to maintain support of Burma's democracy movement as was demonstrated by his fellow Democrat former president Bill Clinton.

Bush and his wife, Laura, have likewise been staunch supporters of Burma's democracy movement and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been under house arrest since May 2003, but the Obama approach to military-ruled Burma was expected to be more multilateral under Obama, Win Tin said.

"Obama could show a greater ability to cooperate with others like the European Union, the Association of South-East Asian Nations and UN than the current Bush administration, and this would be more effective for Burma's democracy transition," Win Tin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Win Tin, 79, also urged Obama to think "more deeply" on Burma's political challenges than his predecessor.

Win Tin was released from prison on September 23 after serving almost 20 years.

A former journalist, Win Tin was one of 9,002 prisoners released in a general amnesty in September. He continues to be an outspoken critic of the ruling junta.

On Tuesday, a Burma court sentenced 14 prominent student activists to 65 years each in prison for participating in last year's anti-government protests in Rangoon.

The defendants' two lawyers were sentenced last week to four-month prison terms for "contempt of court."

Win Tin described the sentences as "unacceptable, unfair and ridiculous."

"Where are the laws? Do they still exist?" he asked.