Myanmar frees dozens of political prisoners: official

YANGON: Myanmar has agreed to release some 70 political prisoners, an official said Tuesday, after President Thein Sein vowed to free all dissidents by the end of the year.

"The president has signed an amnesty for about 70 political prisoners around the country," presidential advisor Hla Maung Shwe, a senior official at the Myanmar Peace Center, told.

Last week Thein Sein said there would be "no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar" by the end of the year during a speech in London.

The move is the latest gesture of reform by the former general, who has ushered in a period of sweeping change since the end of junta rule in 2011.

Rights groups and officials estimate there were between around 100 and 150 political prisoners in Myanmar ahead of Tuesday's announcement.

Hla Maung Shwe said some of those being released were ethnic minority rebels from northern Kachin state, where the government is working on brokering a crucial ceasefire deal.

He said some prisoners had already been freed.

The military junta, which ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for decades, had long denied the existence of political prisoners.

But hundreds of dissidents have been freed since Thein Sein took power two years ago. Last November he announced a review of all "politically concerned" cases.

Activists welcomed Tuesday's release, but urged the government to go further.