Southeast Asian leaders: Lift Myanmar sanctions

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Southeast Asian leaders have called on Western countries, including the European Union, to lift punitive sanctions imposed on Myanmar.

The leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations made the call Wednesday at the end of a two-day summit in the Cambodian capital. The summit was attended by Myanmar President Thein Sein, who received a flurry of praise for recent democratic reforms in his country that have surprised even its harshest critics.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the leaders’ appeal for the lifting of sanctions would first be relayed to the EU, which punished formerly military-ruled Myanmar for massive human rights violations.