'Myanmar must not take ASEAN chair'

'Myanmar must not take ASEAN chair'

PHILIPPINES: The Philippine Senate unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday calling for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to strip Myanmar of the group's chairmanship next year.

Myanmar "should not assume the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006 unless there has been compliance with the principles of human rights law, particularly those which necessitate the freedom from house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi," the resolution said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy fighter Suu Kyi has been in various stages of house arrest, and Myanmar's ruling junta has ignored international calls to free her.

Myanmar is to assume the rotating chairmanship of the 10- nation ASEAN next year. The European Union and the United States have warned they would boycott ASEAN meetings if Myanmar was allowed to steer the grouping. -- AFP