The White House says it is renewing a U.S. ban on trade with Burma because it says the actions and policies of Rangoon's military government are hostile to U.S. interests.
A White House statement Tuesday said the ban enacted in 1997 has been renewed for another year because Burma's military government is committing large-scale repression of the Burmese democratic opposition.
Also Tuesday, the State Department issued a warning to Americans traveling in Burma, telling them to use caution in public places because of the danger of more bombings like the three blasts that killed at least 20 people in Rangoon on May 7th. Burmese authorities Tuesday doubled the reward for anyone giving information leading to the bombers' arrests. The new reward equals nearly 11-thousand U.S. dollars.