U Ye Htut was delivering an opening address at a three-day international media conference organised by the US-based East-West Center. The conference, on the theme ‘Challenges to a free press in emerging democracies’, is being held at the Union of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry in downtown Yangon and has attracted more than 400 participants.

The Deputy Information Minister said that for the first time in 50 years, the government was committed to developing a free and independent press.

"This is a responsibility that we take seriously because it is the media that helps citizens to make informed decisions," U Ye Htut said.

He said challenges remained in building relationships between government ministries and the media. This was because some ministries were reluctant to share information or were distrustful of the media.

U Ye Htut said a new media law could help to establish higher standards of conduct in journalism, adding that training courses being established by international groups such as UNESCO and the Norwegian-based International Media Support would help to develop skills in the media sector.

He also said there was a need for greater diversity in the media, saying that the concentration of the industry in Yangon had resulted in some ethnic minority groups and those in outlying areas not being able to participate in the debate on media reform.

In a question and answer session after his address, U Ye Htut defended some controversial decisions, including the jailing of reporters, reporting on communal unrest in Rakhine State and visa restrictions being imposed on foreign journalists.

Asked why the chief executive officer and five journalists from Unity Journal were arrested after it reported the existence of an alleged chemical weapons factory, U Ye Htut said it was a defence matter and not an issue involving media freedom.

"I think the case of the Unity Journal is a matter of national security," U Ye Htut said. "I think the United States government would even react with the same action if it was concerning national security,” he said.

The Unity Journal report could be in breach of the Official Secrets Act, which was it led to the arrests of the CEO and the journalists, he said, adding that their legal rights would be protected and they would receive a fair trial.

U Ye Htut was also pressed about his criticism of a report carried by the Associated Press that dozens of Muslims were killed in Du CheeYar Tan village in Rakhine State in January and the government’s decision last month to limit the duration of journalist visas for foreign reporters.

The government was concerned by what it regarded was a lack of ethical reporting by the Associated Press and other news organisations over their coverage of the incident, he said.

“The issue concerning Associated Press is that they were … reporting without verifying with the government,” he said.

"So even if you look at the AP code of conduct, there is very strict criteria about using these kinds of unverified processes; so they are breaking their own principles about using the news sources," the Deputy Information Minister said.

"That is our point; we didn't criticise– we are asking them to correct their report, that's all,” said U Ye Htut.

Questioned further by reporters about the difficulty of gaining access to some areas of Rakhine, he said it was at thediscretion of the state government to determine whether is was safe for foreign reporters to enter areas such as Du CheeYar Tan village.

"I think there are now journalists and local people and foreigners going there [to Du CheeYee Tan]," U Ye Htut said.

"Even the Irrawaddy [magazine] made a cover story on that," he said.

"But for some of the foreign reporters, we are asking them to be conscious about going there because most of the local people are very suspicious about some of the local news agencies, because they are creating tensions between the two communities."