ASEAN ministers firm on keeping Cambodia out

By Santi WE Soekanto

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): ASEAN foreign ministers stuck to their guns yesterday and decided not to include Cambodia into the organization, despite the latter's last-minute demand for admission.

Minutes before the ceremony to admit Laos and Myanmar began, Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the press that the ASEAN ministers had met for three hours to discuss Cambodia's plea.

The ministers agreed to maintain their July 10 decision to defer indefinitely the membership of Cambodia following the political crisis in Phnom Penh.

"We think the best decision is to reaffirm the decision that we have taken earlier that Cambodia will not be admitted (now)," Badawi said.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas also defended the decision, given the current situation in Cambodia. "The postponement was the wisest course to take," he said separately.

Yesterday's meeting of the ministers was the second "emergency" meeting since Cambodian co-Premier Hun Sen ousted First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh earlier this month.

Here, Alatas briefed the ministers on the results of a delegation of ASEAN foreign ministers that he led to meet Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and co-premiers Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen. The other ministers were Domingo L. Siazon of the Philippines and Thailand's Prachuab Chaiyasarn.

Hun Sen sent Foreign Minister Ung Huot to the Malaysian capital to plead for Cambodia and to reverse his earlier stance of no mediating role for ASEAN in the Cambodian crisis. Ung Huot delivered the request for admission to the ministers in a formal letter.

"Cambodia remains firm and unchanged in its desire to join ASEAN as a full member," Ung Huot told the press on arriving at Subang Airport, Kuala Lumpur, in a special government flight yesterday morning.

At the admission ceremony of Laos and Myanmar, the foreign ministers again defended their decision to delay Cambodia's ASEAN entry.

"With the admission of Laos and Myanmar, we are but a single step away from the realization of the vision of ... an ASEAN 10," said Alatas in his speech.

"We would have realized that vision today but an unfortunate turn of events in Cambodia, a prospective ASEAN member, has prompted us to review the timing of its official admission," he said, adding he hoped the admission could take place very soon.

"We are doing our utmost in order to realize that."

Badawi said: "It's with disappointment and regret that we view the course of events in Cambodia in the last couple of weeks. However, certain things cannot be undone."

Reversal

Ung Huot also stated yesterday his country's changed stance to ASEAN playing a role in helping find a solution to the conflict in Phnom Penh.

"Cambodia also welcomes an ASEAN role in helping to restore political stability in Cambodia," he said.

His statement demonstrates a reversal of Hun Sen's position of a few days ago. Then he spurned the ASEAN foreign ministers' offer to mediate.

Alatas refuted the suggestion that by refusing Cambodia's entry while admitting Myanmar, ASEAN had broken the organization's principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs.

"We're not interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia. We did not move in (or) put blame on any one of the two sides. We did not judge who is right and who is wrong.

"What we did was assess objectively a situation that has arisen ... which was characterized by a rather drastic change in government setup as well as political situation in that country, unfortunately accompanied by force of arms."

Alatas, however, again stated ASEAN's readiness to help if requested by all sides.

"We must be careful in entering into the internal affairs of Cambodia. That does not mean that we're not concerned with something that is happening especially in a neighboring country, which was why we immediately offered our contribution to finding a solution.

"We have once interfered in Cambodia (at the request) of all concerned that resulted in the Paris (peace accord). We have a record of helping out, of intervening at the right moment, under the right conditions.

"We're again ready to do so but for that to happen, all parties need to concur," he said.

Recognition -- Page 6