Obama To Send Clinton To Myanmar Next Month

Children await the release from Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, during a prisoner release in May.

U.S. President Barack Obama says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Myanmar as the U.S. looks to seize what could be an historic opportunity for progress in the repressed country.

Obama said that after years of darkness there have been "flickers of progress" in Myanmar in the last several weeks.

Clinton's trip next month would be the first such visit by a U.S. secretary of State in more than 50 years.

The move is the most dramatic sign of a changing relationship between the United States and Myanmar, also known Burma.

Obama announced Clinton's visit in Bali, where he is attending a summit of East Asian nations.

compiled from agency reports