US imposes visa ban on Myanmar leaders

WASHINGTON: The US administration slapped visa bans on more than 30 members of the Myanmar junta and their families, the State Department has said.

"In response to the Burmese regime's continued crackdown, the State Department has designated more than three dozen additional government and military officials and their families as ineligible to receive visas to travel to the United States," department spokesman Tom Casey said on Friday in a statement.

Casey warned the department would add to the list "others who bear responsibility for the ongoing attacks on innocent civilians and other human rights abuses."

A department official said US laws protecting personal visa information, including for those blacklisted, prevented the department from revealing the names on the list.

But the bans come in addition to Myanmar officials earlier slapped with visa restrictions under the 2003 Burma Freedom and Democracy Act, which banned all imports from Myanmar and hit the country with other sanctions.

Yesterday's move came one day after the US Treasury ordered a freeze on the assets of Myanmar's military leader and 13 other senior officials in response to the regime's violent crackdown on anti-government protestors, which has left at least 13 dead.

Among those designated for asset sanctions were junta leader Than Shwe, who is minister of defense and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); Vice Senior General Maung Aye, commander of the army and vice chairman of the SPDC; Lieutenant General Thein Sein, acting prime minister and first secretary of the SPDC; and General Thura Shwe Mann, joint chief of staff and member of the SPDC.