ASEAN to focus on 'integration' effort

ASEAN to focus on 'integration' effort

MALAYSIA: Southeast Asian leaders will focus on boosting
integration during their annual summit this December, instead of
sensitive issues such as the violence in southern Thailand and
the slow pace of democratization in Myanmar, Malaysia's foreign
minister said on Monday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will
probably not have topics linked to any "conflict situation" on
its formal agenda for the Dec. 12 to Dec. 14 summit in Kuala
Lumpur, which will concentrate on economic cooperation and other
regional matters, said Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"We recognize there are a lot of sensitivities among ASEAN
countries," he told reporters. "ASEAN is not in the habit of
discussing a particular country in an agenda. ... If it is not
part of the agenda, it is up to the leaders to discuss" the issue
if they want to, he said.

An escalating insurgency that has killed at least 1,113 people
in Thailand's Muslim south since January 2004 -- causing tension
with neighboring Malaysia -- and international criticism of the
Myanmar military government's lack of democratic reforms have
been among the biggest concerns for Southeast Asia's bloc.

However, both countries consider them to be domestic issues,
and ASEAN has traditionally maintained a doctrine of
noninterference in member nations' internal affairs. --AP