ASEAN, EU end landmark conference<\/p>\n
VIENTIANE (AP): A European Union minister praised Myanmar's
\nmilitary junta on Tuesday for agreeing to free opposition leader
\nAung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and to allow an EU delegation
\nto meet with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate next month.<\/p>\n
\"There is much to be done, but I am encouraged by their
\nresponse,\" said John Battle, the British minister of state for
\nCommonwealth, calling the agreement a major breakthrough in the
\npolitical standoff in Myanmar, also known formerly as Burma.<\/p>\n
His statement came as European and Southeast Asian countries
\nended landmark talks Tuesday, meeting each other halfway on the
\ncontentious issue of human rights in Myanmar and agreeing to
\nstrengthen their flagging trade ties.<\/p>\n
The two-day talks in Laos' capital between the European Union
\nand the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were
\ndominated by Myanmar, which faces widespread criticism for
\nimposing severe restrictions on political activity.<\/p>\n
But Charles Josselin, France's minister responsible for
\ncooperation and Francophonie, sounded a note of caution.
\nHe intimated the next EU-ASEAN conference, due to be held in
\nEurope, would only take place if improvements in human rights
\nallowed the EU to lift a visa ban against Myanmar leaders.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that between now and the next conference the
\nsituation in Myanmar with regards to democracy and human rights
\nwould significantly improve which would enable Europe to host the
\nconference,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
The past few months, Myanmar's junta has faced renewed
\ninternational pressure for putting Suu Kyi and other leaders of
\nher opposition National League for Democracy under virtual house
\narrest for trying to travel outside Yangon.<\/p>\n
Myanmar also faced unprecedented sanctions from the
\nInternational Labor Organization, which ruled in November that
\nthe government had failed to take effective action to end the use
\nof forced labor.<\/p>\n
Its image as a pariah state was reinforced by a report issued
\nTuesday by the London-based human rights organization Amnesty
\nInternational which charged that torture and ill-treatment have
\nbecome institutionalized in Myanmar.<\/p>\n
This week's foreign ministers' meeting had been held up for
\nthe last three years because of differences over Myanmar. In
\nVientiane, European countries got their way by forcing a
\ndiscussion on Myanmar.<\/p>\n
But ASEAN, which says human rights in Myanmar is an internal
\nissue, ensured that the joint statement issued at the end of the
\nmeeting on Tuesday carried a weaker reference to the situation in
\nMyanmar than envisaged by Europe.<\/p>\n
The statement noted the efforts by Razali Ismail, the UN
\nsecretary-general's special envoy to Myanmar, to forge a
\nreconciliation between Myanmar's junta and Suu Kyi. It also
\nexpressed the hope that Razali's efforts would lead to an \"early
\ndialogue\" between the junta and the NLD.<\/p>\n
\"What we came importantly to state was that we do all believe
\nthat there is a crisis in Burma. ... We want to really put
\npressure on Burma to suggest that they may want to open up and
\nnot continue in the way they have done in the past,\" said Battle,
\nthe British minister.<\/p>\n
During the talks, Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung gave
\nassurances that his government would lift house arrest
\nrestrictions on Suu Kyi and welcome a European team to Myanmar in
\nJanuary, which would be allowed to meet her.<\/p>\n
ASEAN ministers said they were happy with the way the meeting
\nwent.<\/p>\n
\"What we want is that people must also understand our
\nperspective. There is no such thing as a meeting of one regional
\norganization trying to impose on the other. It is a partnership
\nof equals,\" said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.<\/p>\n
On other subjects, the joint declaration expressed the hope
\nthat the meeting would facilitate ASEAN-EU trade and lead to
\nreduction in non-tariff trade barriers. It also supported
\nlaunching a new round of World Trade Organization talks.<\/p>\n
The two sides also expressed support for East Timor's
\ntransition to independence, and the efforts of the global
\ncommunity and Indonesia to resolve the problem of East Timorese
\nrefugees.<\/p>",
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