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