ASEAN and Japan show concern over Myanmar

ASEAN and Japan show concern over Myanmar

WASHINGTON (Agencies): U.S. envoys sent to Asia to warn that
Myanmar is a destabilizing force in the region have reported that
Southeast Asian nations and Japan share fundamental U.S. concerns
about Burma, the White House said on Thursday.

U.S. special envoys Stanley Roth and William Brown had visited
Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand June 10-17 seeking a coordinated response to political
developments in Myanmar.

They returned to report that ASEAN, the region's foremost
economic and political grouping, and Japan "shared fundamental
U.S. concerns on Myanmar, as well as our view that peace and
stability can only come about through a process of dialogue
between the authorities and Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic
opposition," said White House spokesman Mike McCurry.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi had said on
Tuesday after the U.S. envoys had visited Malaysia that the West
had no business in telling Southeast Asian nations that Myanmar
should not be allowed to join ASEAN.

ASEAN, formed in 1967, groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia and Laos
are observers in the grouping and Myanmar is expected to be
accorded the same status in July.

The U.S. officials had warned that Myanmar could destabilize
the region if allowed to join the grouping before its ruling
junta and pro-democracy forces achieved reconciliation.

McCurry said the envoys "believe that their mission has
enhanced the basis for productive discussion on the link between
political dialogue, stability in Myanmar and Myanmar's successful
integration into the region."

In Oslo, Norway said yesterday it had sent a senior diplomat
to Myanmar from Singapore to offer protection and support to pro-
democracy opposition leader Suu Kyi.

Junior Foreign Minister Jan Egeland said in a statement Norway
was reacting to speculation that the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) might rearrest the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate.

"Norway is afraid the military regime in Burma may further
restrict Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic rights and her freedom of
movement and may even arrest her," Egeland told Reuters.

"We have sent our charge-d'affaires Anne Thalmann from
Singapore to Rangoon today to offer all possible Norwegian
assistance to the democratic movement and to Suu Kyi, and as such
give her some protection."

Meanwhile, Myanmarese dissident students staged an 11-man
protest against the ruling junta outside the Myanmarese embassy
in Bangkok yesterday, attributing the low turnout to fear of
arrest on immigration offenses by Thai authorities.

Aung Myo Min of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front
(ABSDF) said that 22 Myanmarese exiles had been arrested on
immigration charges after a similar demonstration May 27 attended
by some 200 people and were still in detention in Bangkok.

"We did not want to bring people from the safe areas this
time, as we can't guarantee their safety," he added, referring to
a Myanmarese exiles' open camp in Ratchaburi province in western
Thailand.

A source at the Thai police special branch office said that 20
of the arrested exiles were still in detention and two had been
released.