ASEAN split over Myanmar issue

ASEAN split over Myanmar issue

Vijay Joshi, Associated Press/Vientiane

Southeast Asian nations were split over whether military-ruled
Myanmar should heed U.S. pressure to forgo their bloc's
chairmanship, marring their annual security dialogue with Western
and Asian partners, diplomats said on Monday.

The conference through Friday among the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations and 14 Asia-Pacific partners had anti-
terrorism efforts on the agenda, and ASEAN nations also prepared
an accord on boosting cooperation during disasters such as
December's tsunami.

Australia was set to sign a document on its intent to join a
regional nonaggression pact to warm ties with neighbors that
often have viewed it with mistrust.

The meeting received a blow on Monday when host Laos announced
that Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura would not
attend. No reason was given.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had announced earlier
that she would not attend. ASEAN diplomats read that as a snub
over the group's failure to get Myanmar's junta to hand power to
a civilian government and free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

The U.S. and European Union have threatened to boycott ASEAN
meetings if Myanmar takes up the chairmanship of the bloc late
next year as scheduled, and many Southeast Asian nations fear
that could endanger trade ties with the West.

The bloc's members -- who insist on deciding all issues by
consensus -- are divided over Myanmar, with about two-thirds of
the members against the military-ruled country taking up the
chairmanship, ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad said.

Another ASEAN diplomat said Cambodia and communist countries
Laos and Vietnam are Myanmar's main backers, urging it not to
buckle under pressure. He spoke on condition of anonymity to
avoid a diplomatic row.

The diplomat said Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win would
indicate the junta's stand during an informal dinner with his
ASEAN counterparts later on Monday. But Malaysia's Foreign
Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the issue would not be discussed
by ministers until Tuesday.

"There will be a decision," Syed Hamid said. "Any
interpretation that ASEAN is going to be divided, and therefore
lead to an impasse, I don't think will arise."

ASEAN's mixed signals to Myanmar have complicated efforts to
get the country to reform, said UN envoy to Myanmar Razali
Ismail, who was in Vientiane to meet with Nyan Win.

"It is not as if ASEAN countries have been collectively strong
in putting out a clear signal to Myanmar," Razali told The
Associated Press. Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and
Singapore have been "quite forthright, but we have not heard from
the others," Razali said.

Criticism from the West tends to have little effect on
Myanmar's leaders, who decide matters "in their own time," he
said.

Still, there were indications that Myanmar could voluntarily
give up the chairmanship, Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi
Suphamongkhon said in Bangkok on Monday.

"Myanmar has sent a good signal that it will take into account
the importance of ASEAN's interests and will not do anything that
will obstruct the development of ASEAN and its relation with
other countries," he said.

Meanwhile, Laotian Deputy Foreign Minister Bounkeut Sangsomsak
said Japan's absence "will not effect most of the meeting," and
should not be seen as a Myanmar-related pressure tactic.

Machimura went to London on Sunday for talks with European
leaders on Japan's proposal to expand the UN Security Council and
to give Japan and some other countries permanent seats. He was
due back in Japan this week, and it wasn't clear why he couldn't
attend any of the Laos meetings.

One of the highlights in Vientiane will be Australia's signing
of a declaration of intent to join a nonaggression pact with
ASEAN. Canberra would then be expected to sign the pact by
December, helping its campaign to boost trade ties with Asian
neighbors.

The meetings also will discuss terrorism and agreements on
sharing intelligence, officials said.