As if to head off the Human Rights protesters outside Number 10, Myanmar’s General turned President Thein Sein announced that all political prisoners would be released “by the end of the year”.

Sein is in London for trade and military talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.  He aims help to boost Burma's economy and Western nations are keen to invest in the resource-rich nation.

The human rights protesters insist that rewards for Myanmar’s burgeoning democracy should come ‘after’ concrete reforms are enacted.  And earlier, the British PM said he was “particularly concerned” about the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Burma. 

Sein has enacted major reforms to end Myanmar’s military dictatorship, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has rejoined the political process, after boycotting the November 2010 polls.