ASEAN officials to meet in C. Java

JAKARTA (JP): Senior officials from the seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gather in Yogyakarta tomorrow for a three-day meeting as a precursor to the ministerial meeting due to be held here in July.

The meeting in Yogyakarta is the third of four preparatory meetings which will set the stage for issues to be tackled by the ministers.

ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The meeting in Yogyakarta will be followed on Friday by a two- day gathering of senior officials of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

The ARF is a multinational consultative security forum established by ASEAN in 1993. It currently comprises the seven ASEAN members, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Among the major issues to be discussed at the ARF senior officials' meeting is the application of new members to join the ARF.

India and Myanmar are the front runners to be accorded new membership. Other states that have officially applied or expressed interest in joining are Britain and France.

The Indonesian delegation is likely to present its report on the criteria of new membership in the ARF. During the second ARF meeting in Brunei last year, it was agreed that the host of the next ARF would draw up a criteria for membership which would be presented at the meeting in July.

The Foreign Ministry's director general for political affairs, Izhar Ibrahim, is scheduled to lead the Indonesian delegation in Yogyakarta while Winston Lord, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, is scheduled to lead the U.S. delegation.(mds)