McCain's Coordinator For Republican National Convention Resigns Amid Burma Ties

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign coordinator for the Republican National Convention suddenly resigned on Saturday after a Newsweek report said that the public relations firm he heads had once represented the military dictatorship of Burma.

"Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign," Doug Goodyear, CEO of public relations firm DCI Group, said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign."

Newsweek reported the same day that Goodyear's firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent the military junta in Burma, officially known as Myanmar. The firm made releases "praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing 'falsehoods' by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses," the report said.

McCain's campaign has kept mum about the controversy. Spokesman Brian Rogers is quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying, "We respect Mr. Goodyear's decision and look forward to the convention in September."

Burma's military dictatorship is considered as one of the most politically repressive in the world. It has earned the ire of the U.S and the United Nations for its human rights abuses and its refusal to release pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. It recently gained international condemnation for its response to victims of cyclone Nargi.