Myanmar might have to be expelled from ASEAN: Mahathir<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Putrajaya, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Myanmar might have to be expelled from the ASEAN grouping if its
\nmilitary rulers continue defying world pressure to release
\ndemocracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Malaysian Prime Minister
\nMahathir Mohamad warned in an interview.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who played a major role in bringing Myanmar into the
\n10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1997, made it
\nclear, however, that this would only be considered as a last
\nresort.<\/p>\n
\"We will have to examine every avenue before we can take such
\ndrastic actions,\" he told AFP in an exclusive interview ahead of
\na visit on Tuesday by French President Jacques Chirac.<\/p>\n
\"In the end, it may have to be that way. I don't say that it
\ncannot be but certainly not at this moment.\"<\/p>\n
Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections by a
\nlandslide but has been denied power by the military, was detained
\non May 30 when her convoy was attacked by a junta-backed mob
\nwhile she was on a political tour of northern Myanmar.<\/p>\n
The incident triggered a wider crackdown on her National
\nLeague for Democracy which has left its entire leadership in jail
\nor under house arrest.<\/p>\n
Although the junta has insisted that Suu Kyi is being detained
\non a temporary basis for her own safety, it has not indicated
\nwhen she could be released, despite pressure from the United
\nNations and countries around the world.<\/p>\n
\"We have already informed them that we are very disappointed
\nwith the turn of events and we hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will be
\nreleased as soon as possible,\" Mahathir said.<\/p>\n
\"They sent an envoy to see me and I told them that is our
\nview. We are very disappointed over these things and of course,
\nwe have done our very best to try and get them to change their
\nminds but if they are willing to defy the world, then what can
\nMalaysia do?\"<\/p>\n
The Myanmar issue has already shaken up the Southeast Asian
\ngrouping, which has been criticized in the past for its policy of
\nnot interfering in the internal affairs of member states.<\/p>\n
ASEAN appeared to break with this tradition during its annual
\nministerial meeting in Cambodia last month, demanding the Nobel
\npeace laureate's release.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said, however: \"We don't criticize member states
\nunless what one state does embarrass us, causes a problem for us.<\/p>\n
\"We are thinking about ourselves as ASEAN, we are not
\ncriticizing Myanmar for doing what is not related to us, but what
\nthey have done has affected us, our credibility. Because of that,
\nwe have voiced our views.\"<\/p>\n
ASEAN, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>",
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