American John Yettaw, the man who swam across a lake to visit Myanmar’s opposition leader, will be released on Sunday. It follows a visit to Rangoon by US Senator Jim Webb, the first and most senior US official to meet Myanmar’s military leader Than Shwe.

He also held talks with Aung San Suu Kyi who was last week given a further 18 month house arrest term for breaking a security law – a move that means she will miss next year’s planned elections. The case was ignited by John Yettaw’s unexpected visit in May to Suu Kyi’s lakeside home. In a parallel trial, Yettaw was jailed on three charges, including immigration offenses, and sentenced to seven years hard labour by Myanmar’s military rulers. Yettaw will be officially deported from Myanmar on Sunday, according to the Senator’s office and taken out of the country on a military aircraft flying to Thailand.More about: Human Rights, Myanmar, USA

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