United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to visit Myanmar this week - the first to do so since the military seized power there in 1962.
President Barack Obama said earlier this month that he saw flickers of progress in a country until recently seen as a reclusive dictatorship.
Mrs Clinton's visit includes two meetings with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and could herald a broader rehabilitation of Myanmar.
However, she says that its new military-backed civilian government needs to deliver carries on promises of political reform.
Mrs Clinton is due to arrive on Wednesday.
