ASEAN may send envoy to urge Suu Kyi's release

ASEAN may send envoy to urge Suu Kyi's release

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

Indonesia has proposed that the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) send a delegation to Myanmar in an attempt to win
the release of prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Philippine foreign minister Blas Ople told a press
conference that Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri had
named special envoy Ali Alatas to lead the delegation.

"Pressure on Myanmar will be stepped up and Indonesian
President Megawati Soekarnoputri plans to send a message directly
to the junta in Yangoon," Ople said, adding that the message
would be delivered by Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister in
three cabinets under the autocratic New Order regime.

"I believe that the message will be a blunt statement," he
remarked.

Ople held bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart
Hassan Wirayuda on terrorism earlier in the day, in which the
hosts revealed their intention of dispatching Alatas to Yangoon
on behalf of ASEAN.

Indonesia chairs the regional organization until June next
year. It is hosting the fifth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Nusa
Dua, which will be officially opened by Megawati on Thursday.

ASEAN member countries have expressed great concern over
political developments in Myanmar and in the Chairman's Statement
issued at the conclusion of the organization's ministerial
meeting in Phnom Penh last month, Yangoon was urged to release
Suu Kyi.

The detention of Suu Kyi earlier this year has put the
military regime in Myanmar under international scrutiny, with
some countries, such as the United States and Japan, considering
imposing economic sanctions against the Southeast Asian country.

In an apparent change from its usual non-interventionist
stance, Malaysia has asked for Myanmar's expulsion from ASEAN.

Hassan was cautious, however, when asked about Alatas' mission
to Myanmar.

He said the proposal was still on the table as Indonesia was
expecting a Myanmar special envoy who would meet President
Megawati in Jakarta on Monday.

"We will decide on the next step after we hear what the
special envoy wants to convey to us," the minister told a
separate conference.

He said that ASEAN's other members were waiting impatiently
for some major development in Myanmar, and Indonesia as the chair
of ASEAN was moving ahead with various approaches to persuade
Myanmar to release Suu Kyi from detention.

However, Hassan reiterated that isolating Myanmar would not
resolve the stand-off. Instead, dialog would be the best way to
deal with the situation.

"I do not see that we have to depart too much from the
existing statement of ASEAN ministers made last month in Phnom
Penh," the minister stressed.

At the conclusion of the ASEM senior officials meeting on
Wednesday, Asian and European countries spoke with one voice in
urging Myanmar to release Suu Kyi immediately and move ahead with
the democratization process.

Underlining the need for Myanmar to listen to the rest of the
world regarding the detention of the opposition leader, ASEM
member countries said that they were waiting impatiently for some
changes to take place in the country.

"It is about time that they listen to rest of the world,
especially to their neighbors, regarding the ongoing situation in
Myanmar," European Union Commissioner of External Relations Chris
Patten told a press conference.

He said that both Asian and European countries shared the same
concerns over Myanmar as the military junta had done a great deal
of economic and social damage to its own country by ignoring the
calls from the rest of the world.

The fifth ASEM meeting is set to address the Myanmar issue in
the Chairman's Statement to be issued on Thursday, which is
expected to contain a reiteration of the strong concerns around
the world for Suu Kyi's release.

Patten underlined that the world strongly deplored the arrest
of Suu Kyi and the stalling of the reconciliation process in
Myanmar, and that this stance should be reflected in the upcoming
Chairman's Statement.

"I very much hope that in this meeting we can agree on such
condemnation, which we hope will come from the Asian ministers,"
he underlined.