Myanmar can start new chapter after releasing Reuters journalists - UK's Hunt says

Britain welcomed Myanmar's release of two Reuters journalists on Tuesday after more than 500 days in jail, a step that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said could open a new chapter in relations.

The journalists had been jailed and sentenced to seven years in prison after working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in western Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Hunt said the release of Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, was "fantastic news".

"I hope it can be the start of a new chapter in our relations with Myanmar, if, following this, we can also have the same kind of openness about the issues in Rakhine province for the Rohingyas," Hunt told Reuters.

"If we're going to solve this problem, then there needs to be accountability," he said.

The journalists had been convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act in jail in a case that raised questions about Myanmar's progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.

Hunt said that the end of their "unjust" imprisonment was a sign that global action to stand up for media freedom could get results.

"All of us who support a free press are heaving a huge sigh of relief," Hunt said. "It's a glimmer of hope."

In a trip to Myanmar last year, Hunt raised the case with Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and pressed her on the importance of holding the armed forces accountable for any atrocities.

"Today I think we have to give her credit for the fact that she did listen," Hunt said of Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate.

"This is a person who has fought for freedom and democracy for all her life. She knows what its like to be on the wrong side of due process."