ASEAN discounts E. Timor membership

ASEAN discounts E. Timor membership

Dow Jones, Bandar Seri Begawan

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has ruled out
immediate membership for East Timor, the world's newest country,
officials said on Tuesday.

ASEAN foreign ministers, meeting at an informal dinner Monday,
discussed bringing in East Timor as the 11th member of the
regional grouping but could not reach a consensus.

Officials who were present, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said that there was a prevailing view that East Timor
was in ASEAN's "geographical footprint" and would eventually
become a member.

The country would be an observer to ASEAN "for a certain
period of time," one official said.

East Timor formally became a nation in May after two years of
UN administration following a quarter-century of often brutal
rule by the largest member of ASEAN, Indonesia.

Rodolfo Severino, who steps down as ASEAN secretary-general
later this year, said that the organization's foreign ministers
could discuss the issue again at their annual gathering in
Cambodia next year.

As an observer at this year's meeting in Brunei, East Timor
has forged bilateral diplomatic relations with Vietnam, Cambodia
and Laos.

A communique issued Tuesday included a statement saying that
ASEAN was "prepared to engage East Timor in the long-term."
East Timor has said it currently lacks the money to attend
ASEAN's large number of meetings.

The organization's wealthier members - Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - already
provide funds to help the poorer ones - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam - cope with the heavy diplomatic schedule.

East Timor has been ambivalent about ASEAN, which stood by
when Indonesia invaded in 1976 as the half-island was obtaining
independence from Portugal.

ASEAN was also slow to respond to a rampage by Indonesian
troops that devastated East Timor in 1999, when it voted for
independence in a UN-sponsored ballot.

The arrival of thousands of Australian-led peacekeepers to
restore order was seen as an embarrassment to ASEAN, though
Thailand eventually committed substantial numbers of troops.