EU lifts Myanmar sanctions amid ethnic cleansing charge

The sanctions, which were suspended in practice a year ago, include timber imports and travel bans to the EU on members of the former military junta. An embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for repression remained in place.
"We know that much needs to be done on human rights and democracy, fighting poverty and achieving lasting peace," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
"We don't underestimate the challenges, but we believe that now it is time to engage more and to help the transition move ahead," she added.
The EU was also organizing a task force on Myanmar in November to help the country build "economically and politically," Ashton added.
The decision came as Human Rights Watch charged that authorities in Myanmar had been complicit in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslim minority group last year.//DPA