Vicky Bowman

Myanmar's military said Thursday it will release almost 6,000 prisoners, including a former British ambassador, a Japanese journalist and an Australian economics adviser in a rare olive branch from the isolated junta.

Myanmar's junta jailed a former British ambassador to the country and her husband for a year on Friday for breaching immigration rules, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Myanmar's military said Thursday it will release almost 6,000 prisoners, including a former British ambassador, a Japanese journalist and an Australian economics adviser in a rare olive branch from the isolated junta.

Myanmar's junta jailed a former British ambassador to the country and her husband for a year on Friday for breaching immigration rules, a diplomatic source told AFP.