French minister to meet Suu Kyi on Myanmar visit

France's foreign minister is due to meet democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday during a historic visit to assess the Myanmar regime's commitment to change after a string of dramatic reforms. Alain Juppe, who arrived in Myanmar's main city Yangon on Saturday, is the highest level French diplomat to ever visit the military-dominated nation, long criticised by the West for its human rights record. He is scheduled to meet Suu Kyi at 11.30 am (0430 GMT) at the lakeside mansion where she was held as a prisoner in her own home for most of the past two decades before her release by the regime in November 2010. He will award the Nobel laureate with one of France's highest honours, Commander in the National Order of the Legion d'Honneur, in recognition of her long struggle for democracy. On Monday Juppe will hold talks in the capital Naypyidaw with President Thein Sein, whose government is eager to see the end of sanctions imposed on the regime by the United States and the European Union since the late 1990s. Juppe wants to encourage the government "to continue and amplify" the reform process with steps towards human rights, democracy and national reconciliation, his ministry said last week. He will also insist that parliamentary by-elections on April 1 are held "in a manner consistent with democratic practices" after a general election in November 2010 that was denounced by the West as a sham. After nearly five decades of outright military rule, the junta was replaced in March last year by a nominally-civilian government, still dominated by former generals. The regime has surprised observers with a series of reformist moves, including dialogue with Suu Kyi's opposition. On Friday Myanmar released about 300 political prisoners, including several prominent dissidents. Such an amnesty had been long demanded by the West and was hailed by the international community. France welcomed such an "important step" and the United States said it wanted to restore top-level diplomatic ties. The government has also held talks with ethnic rebel groups, and on Thursday signed a ceasefire with a major armed Karen group. Juppe is the first French foreign minister in history to visit the Southeast Asian country, which gained independence from Britain in 1948, and the first French minister to visit since a popular uprising was brutally crushed in 1988. His trip follows the landmark visits in early December of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary William Hague in early January.