ASEAN may send envoy to urge Suu Kyi's release<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Indonesia has proposed that the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) send a delegation to Myanmar in an attempt to win
\nthe release of prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
The Philippine foreign minister Blas Ople told a press
\nconference that Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri had
\nnamed special envoy Ali Alatas to lead the delegation.<\/p>\n
\"Pressure on Myanmar will be stepped up and Indonesian
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri plans to send a message directly
\nto the junta in Yangoon,\" Ople said, adding that the message
\nwould be delivered by Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister in
\nthree cabinets under the autocratic New Order regime.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that the message will be a blunt statement,\" he
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
Ople held bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart
\nHassan Wirayuda on terrorism earlier in the day, in which the
\nhosts revealed their intention of dispatching Alatas to Yangoon
\non behalf of ASEAN.<\/p>\n
Indonesia chairs the regional organization until June next
\nyear. It is hosting the fifth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Nusa
\nDua, which will be officially opened by Megawati on Thursday.<\/p>\n
ASEAN member countries have expressed great concern over
\npolitical developments in Myanmar and in the Chairman's Statement
\nissued at the conclusion of the organization's ministerial
\nmeeting in Phnom Penh last month, Yangoon was urged to release
\nSuu Kyi.<\/p>\n
The detention of Suu Kyi earlier this year has put the
\nmilitary regime in Myanmar under international scrutiny, with
\nsome countries, such as the United States and Japan, considering
\nimposing economic sanctions against the Southeast Asian country.<\/p>\n
In an apparent change from its usual non-interventionist
\nstance, Malaysia has asked for Myanmar's expulsion from ASEAN.<\/p>\n
Hassan was cautious, however, when asked about Alatas' mission
\nto Myanmar.<\/p>\n
He said the proposal was still on the table as Indonesia was
\nexpecting a Myanmar special envoy who would meet President
\nMegawati in Jakarta on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"We will decide on the next step after we hear what the
\nspecial envoy wants to convey to us,\" the minister told a
\nseparate conference.<\/p>\n
He said that ASEAN's other members were waiting impatiently
\nfor some major development in Myanmar, and Indonesia as the chair
\nof ASEAN was moving ahead with various approaches to persuade
\nMyanmar to release Suu Kyi from detention.<\/p>\n
However, Hassan reiterated that isolating Myanmar would not
\nresolve the stand-off. Instead, dialog would be the best way to
\ndeal with the situation.<\/p>\n
\"I do not see that we have to depart too much from the
\nexisting statement of ASEAN ministers made last month in Phnom
\nPenh,\" the minister stressed.<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the ASEM senior officials meeting on
\nWednesday, Asian and European countries spoke with one voice in
\nurging Myanmar to release Suu Kyi immediately and move ahead with
\nthe democratization process.<\/p>\n
Underlining the need for Myanmar to listen to the rest of the
\nworld regarding the detention of the opposition leader, ASEM
\nmember countries said that they were waiting impatiently for some
\nchanges to take place in the country.<\/p>\n
\"It is about time that they listen to rest of the world,
\nespecially to their neighbors, regarding the ongoing situation in
\nMyanmar,\" European Union Commissioner of External Relations Chris
\nPatten told a press conference.<\/p>\n
He said that both Asian and European countries shared the same
\nconcerns over Myanmar as the military junta had done a great deal
\nof economic and social damage to its own country by ignoring the
\ncalls from the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
The fifth ASEM meeting is set to address the Myanmar issue in
\nthe Chairman's Statement to be issued on Thursday, which is
\nexpected to contain a reiteration of the strong concerns around
\nthe world for Suu Kyi's release.<\/p>\n
Patten underlined that the world strongly deplored the arrest
\nof Suu Kyi and the stalling of the reconciliation process in
\nMyanmar, and that this stance should be reflected in the upcoming
\nChairman's Statement.<\/p>\n
\"I very much hope that in this meeting we can agree on such
\ncondemnation, which we hope will come from the Asian ministers,\"
\nhe underlined.<\/p>",
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