The United States on Thursday urged Myanmar to address what it called worsening ethnic violence and to accept international monitors to ensure the fairness of closely watched upcoming by-elections.
A US official reiterated that President Barack Obama's administration wanted better ties with the country formerly known as Burma and praised recent moves by the government including the release of hundreds of political prisoners.
"Yet at the same time violence in the Kachin state has worsened with reports of serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law," said Michael Posner, the assistant secretary of state for human rights.
"Ultimately the ethnic violence is rooted in political causes and it will require negotiated political solutions on both sides to address the underlying grievances," he said at the National Endowment for Democracy.
Myanmar's nominally civilian government, which took over last year, has reached ceasefires with Shan and Karen rebels in an effort to end ethnic bloodshed that has gripped parts of the country since independence in 1948.
But bloody battles have taken place since June in Kachin state in the far north. Human Rights Watch in a recent report said that Myanmar's army raped, tortured and killed civilians in ethnic minority conflict zones last year.
President Thein Sein has surprised even many critics by undertaking reforms including talks with minorities and the opposition. Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is optimistic enough that she is seeking a seat in parliament in April 1 by-elections.
Posner said that the United States has spoken to Myanmar about letting in monitors to ensure an "open and fair election."
"We have had those discussions and very much hope that the process will be open both to local monitors and to those coming from outside," Posner said.
US senators who recently visited Myanmar including John McCain also said that they asked Thein Sein to accept monitors but had not received a commitment.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept elections in 1990 but a military regime ignored the results and the Nobel Peace Prize winner spent most of the ensuing two decades under house arrest.
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