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