By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms. Thein Sein became the first head of Myanmar to visit the White House in 47 years, and he and Obama sat down for talks in the Oval Office.

Myanmar President Thein Sein on Monday becomes the first leader of his country to visit the White House in nearly half a century, in one of the most symbolic US gestures yet to support his reforms. In a scene that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, the former general will meet with President Barack Obama and later seek to woo US businesses that see a lucrative market in the former Western pariah nation.

President Thein Sein's historic invitation to the White House is an endorsement of "Myanmar's Spring" and a further sign that the former pariah's reforms are irreversible, a senior Myanmar official said. Washington will welcome the former general on Monday in a hugely symbolic reward for sweeping changes since he took power two years ago. He will be the first leader of the former military-ruled nation to visit since 1966.

Myanmar President Thein Sein will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, it said Wednesday. Thein Sein, who will be the first head of the Southeast Asian country to make an official trip to the United States since 1966, is expected to discuss with Obama challenges to efforts to "develop democracy, address communal and ethnic tensions and bring economic opportunity to the people of his country," the White House said in a statement. Obama paid the first visit as a U.S. president to Myanmar in November.