KL won't block anti-Myanmar caucus

KL won't block anti-Myanmar caucus

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's government will not block a motion
seeking to deny Myanmar the ASEAN chairmanship when parliament
reconvenes next month, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on
Tuesday.

"There's no problem," Syed Hamid told reporters of the motion,
which seeks to punish military-run Myanmar for failing to
introduce democratic reforms. "If they want to, they can discuss
it."

The motion filed by the cross-party Pro-Democracy Myanmar
Caucus in the March meeting of parliament was originally supposed
to be debated at the end of the April parliament sitting.

Lawmakers from the Caucus have said they believe Myanmar has
put pressure on Malaysia to halt the motion, which seeks to deny
Yangon the rotating chairmanship of the regional body that it is
due to assume in 2006.

Parliamentarians in several countries in the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations have urged their
governments to block Myanmar because of Yangon's lack of
democratic reforms.

ASEAN is due to discuss the issue with Myanmar, also known as
Burma, during the bloc's ministerial meeting in Vientiane, Laos
in July. -- AFP