The American man jailed in Burma for visiting detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been released and deported.
John Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years in jail after swimming across a lake to meet Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
After US senator Jim Webb entered talks with military leader Than Shwe on Saturday, Mr Yettaw has been released and left Burma on a military plane with Mr Webb.
Mr Yettaw's wife, Betty, told the Associated Press news agency she had not received any official confirmation that her husband would be returning home.
'If it's true, of course I'm extremely happy, and we're ecstatic,' she said by telephone from their home in Camdenton, central Missouri.
Having arrived in Burma on Thursday, Senator Webb became the highest-ranking US official to meet Than Shwe in a meeting that could signal a shift in US relations with the military junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further 18 months house arrest this week after Mr Yettaw swam to her home, violating the terms of her arrest.
The trial was labelled a 'sham' by British prime minister Gordon Brown while the United Nations expressed 'serious concern' over the extension of Ms Suu Kyi's detainment.
However, Burma's neighbour China has said other nations should respect its laws while Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), recommended a balanced approach in improving Western relations with the Burmese regime.
John Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years in jail after swimming across a lake to meet Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
After US senator Jim Webb entered talks with military leader Than Shwe on Saturday, Mr Yettaw has been released and left Burma on a military plane with Mr Webb.
Mr Yettaw's wife, Betty, told the Associated Press news agency she had not received any official confirmation that her husband would be returning home.
'If it's true, of course I'm extremely happy, and we're ecstatic,' she said by telephone from their home in Camdenton, central Missouri.
Having arrived in Burma on Thursday, Senator Webb became the highest-ranking US official to meet Than Shwe in a meeting that could signal a shift in US relations with the military junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further 18 months house arrest this week after Mr Yettaw swam to her home, violating the terms of her arrest.
The trial was labelled a 'sham' by British prime minister Gordon Brown while the United Nations expressed 'serious concern' over the extension of Ms Suu Kyi's detainment.
However, Burma's neighbour China has said other nations should respect its laws while Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), recommended a balanced approach in improving Western relations with the Burmese regime.
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