Myanmar dissident magazine opens office in Yangon
Irrawaddy Magazine, published for the past two decades in Thailand by anti-government Myanmar dissidents, has opened an office in Yangon, its editor said Tuesday, in the latest sign that political reforms are taking hold in the former pariah state.
Irrawaddy, one of the fiercest critics of the military junta that ruled Myanmar from 1988 to 2010, last week opened the office, which is manned by 15 journalists, although it had not yet received official approval from the Information Ministry, editor Aung Zawsaid.
"We felt the time was right," he said at a Bangkok seminar on the recent reforms in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
Two other dissident media operations, the Mizzima e-news letter and Democratic Voice of Burma broadcaster, have already opened branches in Yangon, the former capital and the country's largest city, although they have kept their main headquarters abroad.
Irrawaddy is headquartered in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, about 600 kilometres north of Bangkok, a well-known hub for political activists who fled Myanmar after a deadly army crackdown ona pro-democracy movement in 1988.//DPA
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