US President George Bush met with exiled Burmese dissidents in Bangkok on August 7 on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising in which an estimated 3,000 Burmese were killed.

Bush reiterated his support for Burmese independence from the military regime.

"We seek an end to tyranny in Burma," the US president had said in his speech in a speech on US policy in Asia at the Queen Sirkit Centre.

"America reiterates our call on Burma's military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners," he added.

Among these prisoners are scores of journalists, including U Win Tin, who had been in detention for the past 19 years and whose release had been denied by the junta despite his deteriorating health.

Arrests and harassment of journalists continue in Burma as authorities seek to impose total control on the flow of information in the country.