Burmese newspapers drop anti-BBC banners

Burma's state-run newspapers dropped back-page banners attacking western media for the first time in four years yesterday, the latest indication its new government could be softening its stance towards opposition voices.

Three official newspapers dropped half-page slogans that ran daily, accusing the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation of "sowing hatred among the Burmese people", and other Western media of "generating public outrage". The slogans also told readers not to be swayed by "killer broadcasts designed to cause troubles". They had been a fixture in state newspapers since an army crackdown on monk-led protests in August 2007.

The BBC, VOA and two other foreign news organisations provide local-language news on shortwave radio and satellite television. Removing the slogans is seen as the latest gesture of openness since elections last year ended five decades of formal army rule.