Alatas special envoy for Myanmar

JAKARTA: Former foreign minister Ali Alatas said here on Wednesday he would soon leave for Myanmar as a special envoy of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to urge for the release of pro- democracy leader Aun San Suu Kyi.

"I am now just waiting for confirmation from Myanmar regarding when I could be there," senior diplomat Alatas said after meeting with the President at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar in Central Jakarta.

Alatas said he would convey the wish of Indonesia and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed during the Asia-Europe Ministerial (ASEM) conference in Bali last July.

During the meeting the ASEAN member countries urged Myanmar to immediately release the opposition leader Suu Kyi.

Alatas said he hoped he could visit Myanmar before the ASEAN summit, which will be held in Bali on Oct. 7-8. -- JP