KL sees no bars for Myanmar to join ASEAN

KL sees no bars for Myanmar to join ASEAN

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Myanmar's political troubles will not disqualify it from its bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), founding member Malaysia said yesterday.

"On the basis of what is happening, it will not disqualify them from being a member of ASEAN," Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters after a meeting with his Myanmarese counterpart Ohn Gyaw.

Abdullah said he expected the seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- to welcome Myanmmar, Laos and Cambodia into the group in the next few years.

"We certainly are looking forward for the ASEAN 10 to become a reality before the turn of the century," he said.

ASEAN has adhered to a policy of non-interference and "constructive engagement" with Myanmar, now ruled by a military junta that annulled the 1990 general elections won by the pro- democracy opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Although the political situation in Myanmar grew more tense in recent weeks with the arrest of more than 260 supporters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), most ASEAN members have described the situation as internal.

"It's not for us to dictate to them what they should do," Abdullah said, adding: "I am happy to see Myanmar becoming more involved with meetings initiated by ASEAN, it certainly has a good effect for all concerned. "

The Myanmarese foreign minister, who declined to speak to reporters, was in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting on the development of the Mekong basin, attended by ministers from 11 Asian countries.

Ohn Gyaw had earlier described Burma as stable and "safer than any country around."

U.S. special envoys last week warned Myanmar could destabilize Southeast Asia if it was allowed to join regional groupings before the ruling junta and pro-democracy forces achieve reconciliation.

Reports from Myanmar's capital of Yangon said yesterday that one Suu Kyi's bodyguards was arrested after he left Suu Kyi's residence last week.

An NLD official said Hlaing Eva was arrested after he left Suu Kyi's Yangon compound.

"He went out to the bazaar at around 8 p.m. (1400 GMT), and he was arrested," the NLD official said.

He said Hlaing Eva, one of Suu Kyi's many NLD bodyguards, has not been heard from and the party does not know if he has been charged or where he is being held.

The NLD official also said two of Suu Kyi's personal assistants, Win Htein and Aye Win, were still being held by the military government.

Win Htein and Aye Win were two of more than 250 NLD members who were arrested by the military government last month in a sweeping crackdown against democracy politicians ahead of a controversial congress of senior NLD members.

Many of those who were arrested have since been freed but several dozen remain in custody, NLD sources said.