Despite hailing Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as "an icon of democracy," U.S. President Barack Obama is quietly acquiescing to the government's decision to bar her from running for the presidency in next year's election, U.S. officials say.
Obama, who will visit Myanmar next week, appears to be balancing his push for democratic reforms with a desire to maintain influence with a government that remains deeply suspicious of Suu Kyi and is led by some of the same former generals who kept her under house arrest for 15 years.
U.S. reluctance to press for assurances that the Nobel Peace Prize winner can contest next year's general election is sure to disappoint her supporters, some of whom spent years in prison until the country ended 49 years of military rule in 2011 and launched reforms.