Myanmar polls to 'lack int'l legitimacy'

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WASHINGTON, June 23 (AFP): The United States said Tuesday that elections planned in military-run Myanmar this year will "lack international legitimacy."
"US believes elections planned for this year in Burma will not be free or fair and will lack international legitimacy," the State Department said on the micro-blogging site Twitter, using Myanmar's former name of Burma.
US Senator Jim Webb said earlier this month he expected Myanmar to hold elections on October 10 and urged support for the vote despite the military regime's exclusion of the democratic opposition.
Webb is a leading US advocate for engagement with the junta, although he called off a trip to Myanmar this month due to allegations the country was developing nuclear weapons with support from North Korea.
Myanmar plans to hold its first elections in two decades later this year, although the regime has not set an exact date.
The Obama administration last year initiated dialogue with North Korea but has voiced concern about the elections, ahead of which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was forcibly dissolved.
Webb acknowledged that the election was designed to preserve the military regime, but said it was a step forward that the country would allow at least some opposition figures to stand for seats.