ASEAN to discuss Myanmar issue

ASEAN to discuss Myanmar issue

PHILIPPINES: ASEAN foreign ministers hope to reach a consensus
during a meeting in the Philippines next week on whether Myanmar
(Burma) should assume the group's chairmanship in 2006, an
official said on Tuesday.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said he was
"almost certain" that Myanmar's turn to chair the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006 would come up in the
foreign ministers' retreat in Cebu starting April 9.

"There is no set agenda, but all of the important issues I'm
sure will crop up," he told reporters on the sidelines of the
112th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) summit in Manila.

ASEAN has come under pressure to defer Myanmar's assumption of
the rotating chairmanship until Yangon comes up with a timetable
for its road map to democracy and frees detained pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some of ASEAN's dialog partners have even reportedly
threatened not to attend meetings if Myanmar is allowed to chair
the regional grouping, which also includes Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia.

While some member countries have expressed concern over the
controversy, there are also those who back Myanmar's assumption
of the chairmanship. --DPA