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 (AP) - President Bush announced new sanctions
Tuesday against the military dictatorship in Myanmar, accusing it
of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms
of speech, assembly and worship.

      "Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma," the
president said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. The
military junta renamed the Asian country Myanmar, but the United
States does not recognize the change.

      Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a bitter foe of the
United States, sat in the chamber and checked his watch during
Bush's remarks. First lady Laura Bush, also present for the
president's speech, walked right by the seated Iranian president.
The two had no contact.

      Bush urged other nations to support countries that are
struggling for democracy.

      "The people of Lebanon and Afghanistan and Iraq have asked for
our help, and every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand
with them," Bush said.

      "Every civilized nation also has a responsibility to stand up
for the people suffering under dictatorship," the president said.
"In Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Iran, brutal regimes deny
their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal
Declaration" of the United Nations.

      While the war in Iraq continues, Bush made scant mention of it.

      After his speech, however, he reassured Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki that U.S. support is not wavering. "We're with ya,
prime minister," Bush told him.

      Addressing reporters after a roughly hour-long meeting, Bush and
al-Maliki did not say whether they had discussed the killing of 11
Iraqi civilians by security guards with Blackwater USA, a private
contractor. The incident has strained U.S.-Iraqi ties.

      But Al-Maliki did say "Iraq's security is very important and we
talked about the importance of mutual respect between our two
sides."

      Bush prodded political parties in Iraq to reconcile their
differences and pass a series of pivotal laws. "Some political
parties may be trying to block the laws to gain special
advantage," Bush said.

      In his address to the U.N., Bush barely mentioned Iran, a nation
the United States accuses of terrorism, pursuit of a nuclear weapon
and aid for deadly insurgents in Iraq.

      Instead, Bush focused his remarks elsewhere, challenging the
U.N. to uphold its pledge to fight for freedom in lands of poverty
and terror.

      "The nations in this chamber have our differences, yet there
are some areas where we can all agree," Bush said. "When innocent
people are trapped in a life of murder and fear, the declaration is
not being upheld. When millions of children starve to death or
perish from a mosquito bite, we're not doing our duty in the world.
When whole societies are cut off from the prosperity of the global
economy, we're all worse off."

      "Changing these underlying conditions is what the declaration
calls the work of larger freedom and it must be the work of every
nation in this assembly," he said. "This great institution must
work for great purposes: to free people from tyranny and violence,
hunger and diseases, illiteracy and ignorance and poverty and
despair."

      Bush looked ahead to a Cuba no longer ruled by Fidel Castro, the
ailing 81-year-old leader of the communist-run government.

      "In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its
end," Bush said. "The Cuban people are ready for their freedom.
And as that nation enters a period of transition, the United
Nations must insist on free speech, free assembly and, ultimately,
free and competitive elections."

      Cuba's foreign minister walked out of the gathering in protest
of Bush's speech. The Cuban delegation later said Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque's move was a "sign of profound rejection of the
arrogant and mediocre statement" by Bush.

      Bush urged the U.N. to reform its Human Rights Council, created
to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. But Bush
criticized the new body for ignoring abuses in places like Iran
"while focusing its criticism excessively on Israel."

      "The American people are disappointed by the failures of the
Human Rights Council," Bush said. "The United Nations must reform
its own Human Rights Council."

      But the president's call for change came with the suggestion of
a deal: the United States' support for the highly contentious issue
of expanding the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body.

Bush suggested that Japan is "well-qualified" to be an additional
member and said "other nations should be considered as well."

      The council has 10 rotating members elected for two-year terms
and five permanent members with veto power - the United States,
Russia, China, Britain and France. Bush said the United States
would listen to all "good ideas."

      Bush singled out Myanmar for particular attention.

      "Basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship are severely
restricted," he said. "Ethnic minorities are persecuted. Forced
child labor, human trafficking and rape are common. The regime is
holding more than a thousand political prisoners, including Aung
San Suu Kyi, whose party was elected overwhelmingly by the Burmese
people in 1990.

      "The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire
for freedom is unmistakable," he said.

      Bush said the United States would tighten economic sanctions on
the leaders of the regime and their financial backers and impose an
expanded visa ban on people responsible for human rights
violations, as well as their family members.

      The policies came as Myanmar's military government issued a
threat Monday to the barefoot Buddhist monks who led 100,000 people
marching through a major city. It was the strongest protest against
the repressive regime in two decades.

      About a dozen anti-war protesters were arrested during a
peaceful demonstration of President Bush's speech before the U.N.
General Assembly. 

They were among about 400 people opposing the
Bush administration's war in Iraq, and its incarceration in
Guantanamo Bay of more than 300 men on suspicion of terrorism or
links to al-Qaida or the Taliban. Many in the crowd wore orange
jumpsuits in solidarity with the Guantanamo detainees.

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President Bush announced new sanctions
Tuesday against the military dictatorship in Myanmar, accusing it
of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms
of speech, assembly and worship. He spoke at the United Nations.


President Bush announced new sanctions
Tuesday against the military dictatorship in Myanmar, accusing it
of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms
of speech, assembly and worship. He spoke at the United Nations.

Bush challenges U.N. to revisit its roots and advance freedom

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