Egypt's new authorities freed him in 2011 as part of an amnesty for political prisoners.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has said all political prisoners in the country are to be released.
Others, such as an exchange of political prisoners for kidnapped soldiers, are thorny but negotiable.
Obama also called on Myanmar to make more definitive moves toward democracy, including releasing all political prisoners.
To mollify Lebanon, the Syrian authorities released some Lebanese political prisoners and let local elections proceed without interference.
Political prisoners from other countries were held at Berga separate from the Americans.
CNN: WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence: 'Let it be known'
But the deal quickly collapsed, with the rebels saying their demands, including the release of political prisoners, had not been met.
Quoted by AFP news agency, Ye Htut said that first "it is important to decide who will be designated as political prisoners".
Although Tunisia under Mr Ben Ali introduced some press freedoms and freed a number of political prisoners, the authorities tolerated no dissent.
Earlier in the week, Bozize had offered to release some political prisoners, but the rebels said the gestures were too little, too late.
"We didn't mingle with them at all, " he says, adding that the U.S. soldiers worked in the same tunnels as the other political prisoners.
CNN: WW II vet held in Nazi slave camp breaks silence: 'Let it be known'
Much of Mr Annan's plan reiterates Arab League demands: Mr Assad must pull out troops from cities, release political prisoners and talk to the opposition.
Activists and former political prisoners in Paraguay have staged a demonstration against a proposal to repatriate the remains of former military ruler Gen Alfredo Stroessner.
BBC: Row over Paraguay dictator Alfredo Stroessner's remains
Mr. Obama urged Mr. Thein Sein to continue the release of political prisoners, institutionalize political reforms and stop communal violence directed at Muslim communities in Myanmar.
It wants the United States, before lifting the embargo, to secure a commitment from Europe and Latin America to press for the release of political prisoners.
ECONOMIST: The difficulty of pressing for change in a police state
One of the first Nazi concentration camps, it was initially meant mainly for political prisoners, but inmates later included captives from Poland, Soviet and other POWs as well as Jews.
Outraged, the summiteers suspended Nigeria and threatened that if, by Edinburgh, it had not released named political prisoners and bowed to the Harare principles, it would be expelled.
ECONOMIST: The Commonwealth has principles. It should defend them
Since the military handed power to a parliamentary government last year, Myanmar has released hundreds of political prisoners, legalized its main opposition party and loosened restrictions on the media.
Mr Netanyahu pulled back from a tiny, innocuous portion of the land, released a handful of political prisoners (plus rather more who had been jailed for petty crime) and then stopped.
Similarly, in Cape Town's Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years during apartheid in South Africa, tours of the maximum security prison are led by former political prisoners.
Mr. Obama, who last year became the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar, lauded the release of political prisoners, the completion of credible elections and Mr. Thein Sein's efforts to resolve ethnic conflicts.
These organizations do not directly demand the release of political prisoners nor do they call for special meetings of their member states to condemn in unison what is now taking place in Venezuela.
Broadly, it seems that Mr Thein Sein promised to push ahead with the release of political prisoners, and give the nod to political reforms that might one day allow the NLD to take power.
Whereas Mr Suharto was sternly authoritarian, Mr Habibie has been ready to reform: he has given freedom to the press, emptied the jails of political prisoners and offered self-determination to the people of East Timor.
She had written Charles Vogel on July 12, 1946, telling him that her beloved boy died a horrible death at Berga, a subcamp of Buchenwald where thousands of Jews and other political prisoners were killed.
CNN: After 63 years, vet learns of brother's death in Nazi slave camp
Accusing Mr Bozize of running a parallel administration and failing to release political prisoners, Seleka withdrew Mr Djotodia, along with three of his colleagues, from the government about a week before launching an assault on Bangui.
An EU embargo on arms sales remains in place and the bloc has said that it still expects the unconditional release of remaining political prisoners and the removal of all restrictions placed on those already released.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who earlier this month visited Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- has asked the ruling junta to release all political prisoners, including the National League for Democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
CNN: Myanmar opposition skeptical of government's amnesty claim
Last year, Egypt's interim government released him along with scores of other political prisoners after a general pardon was issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which ruled the country after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
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