Burma frees high-profile dissidents in amnesty
Burma frees high-profile dissidents in amnesty The BBC's Rachel Harvey says the move is a "hugely significant step" Several high-profile dissidents have been set free in Burma in the latest of a series of prisoner amnesties. Those freed include veterans of the 1988 student protest movement, monks involved in the 2007 demonstrations and ethnic-minority activists. The highest profile is Min Ko Naing, a leader of the failed 1988 uprising. State TV had announced that 651 prisoners would be freed under a new presidential pardon, but did not say how many would be political prisoners. Burma has faced calls from the international community to free more dissidents. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says the names of those released read like a who's who of Burma's most prominent political detainees. Eyewitness Soe Win Than BBC Burmese, Rangoon The atmosphere w