US President Joseph Biden and Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on Monday on the Myanmar military junta to release political prisoners, the White House said.

Meeting on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Biden and Widodo also highlighted "freedom of the seas" in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said, using language that typically refers to criticism of China's increasingly muscular presence.

According to the White House, they "expressed concern about the coup in Burma and agreed the Burmese military must cease violence, release all political prisoners, and provide for a swift return to democracy".

Biden "expressed support" for ASEAN's position on Myanmar, which last month boycotted a summit of the southeast Asian regional grouping after its chief was banned from the virtual event.

Indonesia is next in line as president of the G20 group and Biden "expressed support for its leadership in the Indo-Pacific as the world's third-largest democracy and a strong proponent of the international rules-based order", the White House said.

Former US diplomat and hostage negotiator on visit to Myanmar
Yangon (AFP) Nov 2, 2021 - Former United States diplomat and hostage negotiator Bill Richardson has arrived in Myanmar on a "private humanitarian mission", his organisation said, as the country enters nine months under a junta that has detained a US journalist.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Unable to quell dissent, security forces have launched a bloody crackdown that has killed more than 1,200 people, according to a local monitoring group.

Former UN ambassador Richardson will "discuss... humanitarian delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, medical supplies, and other public health needs," his organisation, the Richardson Center, said in a statement announcing his departure on Sunday.

The statement did not mention whether Richardson would raise the case of American journalist Danny Fenster, who was detained in May and has since been charged with encouraging dissent against the military and unlawful association.

The managing editor of local news outlet Frontier Myanmar, Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport as he attempted to leave the country.

He is currently on trial and faces six years in jail if convicted on both charges.

Local media Myanmar Now reported that Richardson was due to meet the junta leader and other senior officials.

AFP has contacted the military's spokesman for comment.

Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico, has negotiated "the release of hostages and American servicemen in North Korea, Cuba, Iraq and the Sudan," according to his centre's website.

His last visit to Myanmar was in 2018, as part of a panel created to advise on violence in Rakhine State -- the site of a 2017 army crackdown that triggered an exodus of more than 700,000 stateless Muslim Rohingya.

But he abruptly resigned after the trip, accusing Suu Kyi of lacking "moral leadership" over the crisis.

Richardson also said he stepped down due to fears the committee would "whitewash" the causes of the Rohingya crisis, over which Myanmar is now being investigated on genocide charges.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing -- now the junta chief -- was head of the armed forces during the 2017 crackdown.

Myanmar officers who detained Suu Kyi cross-examined: source
Yangon (AFP) Nov 1, 2021 - Lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday cross-examined security forces who detained the Nobel laureate during February's coup and who allegedly found her in possession of illicit walkie talkies, a source said.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the generals launched their coup exactly nine months ago, with more than 1,200 people killed by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.

Deposed civilian leader Suu Kyi went on trial in June, and testified for the first time last week as she mounted her defence against a raft of charges that could put her behind bars for decades.

Media have been barred from attending her trial at the special court in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, and the junta recently banned her legal team from speaking to reporters.

Four soldiers and a policeman were cross-examined during the latest hearing in Suu Kyi's trial for illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, said a source with knowledge of the matter.

"All of them were in the force that raided Aung San Suu Kyi's residence on the morning of the 1st February," the source added, without giving details on their testimony.

Suu Kyi also testified on a separate charge that she broke coronavirus restrictions during 2020 elections that her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide, the source said.

The ousted leader is also on trial for incitement, corruption and breaking the official secrets act, and must appear most weekdays at the junta courtroom.

Her legal team said last month the hectic schedule was taking a toll on the 76-year-old's health.

The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD and continues to wage a bloody campaign against opponents to its rule.

On Friday Win Htein, a former NLD parliamentarian and close aide of Suu Kyi, was handed 20 years in jail for treason, the first high-ranking member of the party to be jailed by a junta court.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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Myanmar's junta accuses anti-coup fighters of Chin state razing; Suu Kyi aide jailed for treason
Bangkok (AFP) Oct 30, 2021
Myanmar's junta on Saturday accused anti-coup fighters of razing a restive western town where a Save the Children office was located, as the region sees increasing conflict between the military and dissidents. The Southeast Asian country has been in chaos since a February coup, with more than 1,200 people killed as the military cracks down on nationwide dissent, according to a local monitoring group. So-called "people's defence forces" (PDF) have sprung up across the country to take on the junt ... read more