Bush signs law extending sanctions against Myanmar

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) US sanctions on Myanmar were extended for up to three years under a law signed by US President George W Bush today, an attempt to increase pressure on the government to follow through with democratic reforms.

The law bars the import of goods from the country which the United States calls by its traditional name, Burma. The Bush administration has been critical of its poor human rights record, particularly the house of arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

''The country slides deeper into self-imposed isolation and misrule, the democratic opposition and ethnic minority groups continue to be shut out of the political process, and Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.

The US House of Representatives and Senate last month approved the three-year extension of the 2003 Burmese Freedom Freedom and Democracy Act.

Myanmar's army has refused to turn over power to a government that was elected in 1990. The government offered in 2003 a ''road map to democracy'' but Western nations have dismissed it as a sham.

REUTERS SBA KN2118