ASEAN told to go slow on Myanmar

ASEAN told to go slow on Myanmar

BANGKOK (Reuter): Exiled Myanmarese dissidents urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) yesterday not to rush to admit Myanmar to the group, accusing its military government of violating human rights.

"It is too early to bring Burma (Myanmar) into ASEAN," Zaw Min of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) said. "We would like to urge the ASEAN members not to rush to bring Burma into the organization because the dictatorship is still violating human rights."

ASEAN, which now groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will be expanded eventually to include Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, ASEAN officials say.

Myanmarese Prime Minister, Gen. Than Shwe, who is also chairman of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, is due to arrive in Bangkok tomorrow to attend a summit of the seven member grouping on Friday.

In an interview with The Bangkok Post which was published yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa had said that ASEAN would become a bigger force in the next century when it expanded to include Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.