Obama warns Myanmar’s celebrated reforms going backwards

NAYPYIDAW: US President Barack Obama told Myanmar´s rulers its celebrated democratic reforms are backsliding, ahead of a regional summit Thursday designed to showcase the country´s transition from army-led isolation.

Obama will meet his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein -- a former general turned reformer -- on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw, as well as other Southeast Asian leaders.

Obama set the tone for his meeting with hard-hitting comments on the pace of reforms in an interview with Myanmar news website The Irrawaddy published just before he arrived on Wednesday night.

"Progress has not come as fast as many had hoped when the transition began four years ago. In some areas there has been a slowdown in reforms, and even some steps backward," he said.

"In addition to restrictions on freedom of the press, we continue to see violations of basic human rights and abuses in the country´s ethnic areas, including reports of extrajudicial killings, rape and forced labour."

Obama will on Friday offer a show of support to Myanmar´s famed democracy heroine and fellow Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, travelling to meet her in the commercial hub of Yangon.

Suu Kyi had preceded Obama´s trip with her own warning against "over-optimism" about democracy in Myanmar, as the nation heads for crucial general elections next year.

Obama has framed Myanmar´s reform process, which began in 2011 when Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian government, as an example of the positive effects of Washington´s engagement.

His administration has in recent years made a major foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia and -- until now -- Myanmar´s baby-steps towards democracy have been trumpeted as a success for that strategy.

Myanmar saw the removal of most Western sanctions as it released the majority of political prisoners and loosened draconian press censorship, allowing a flurry of investor interest in the country seen as an exciting virgin market.

In an effort to encourage the reforms, Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Myanmar in 2012, when he also met Suu Kyi in Yangon.