Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is headed to Myanmar for his first face-to-face meeting with pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a report Friday in the
Louisville Courier-Journal.
The newspaper reported that the Kentucky Republican would be the first congressional leader to visit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where the repressive military regime has recently begun to initiate reforms.
McConnell, according to the Courier-Journal, has been a strong supporter of Suu Kyi for years. He told the paper he’s looking forward to the meeting as Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for years, gets ready to participate in elections for parliament scheduled in April.
The meeting is to take place Sunday night at her home in Yangon, the Courier-Journal reported.
“It’s exciting,” McConnell told the newspaper. “Candidly, I never really thought there was much chance that things were going to change” in Myanmar.
McConnell said he also plans to meet with various Myanmar government officials while in the country, and hopes to see President Thein Sein as well.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.