Myanmar PM holds talks in Hanoi over ASEM row

Myanmar PM holds talks in Hanoi over ASEM row

Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi

Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt met with Vietnam's leaders
in Hanoi on Monday for talks on resolving a deadlock with the
European Union (EU) over his nation's participation in October's
Asia-Europe summit.

The Myanmar premier flew into the capital's Noi Bai
international airport and was whisked in a motorcade to the
Presidential Palace where he was accorded a formal red carpet
welcome by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Hanoi-based ambassadors and diplomats from other members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also attended
the ceremony in a show of solidarity for the military regime's
number three leader.

His one-day visit came amid last ditch efforts to find a
solution to the stand-off between the 10-member ASEAN bloc and
the European Union (EU) over Myanmar's presence at the Oct. 8-9
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.

"As hosts of ASEM, Vietnam is very much at the forefront of
trying to get some movement out of Myanmar," said one diplomat.

The two countries, both authoritarian regimes and targets of
Western criticism over their human rights records, retain close
political links.

The Vietnamese foreign ministry declined to say if the dispute
was on the agenda of the talks but a member of the Myanmar
delegation, which included Foreign Minister Win Aung, said it
would definitely be discussed.

Khin Nyunt refused to answer questions from foreign reporters,
but in introductory remarks ahead of a closed door meeting he
said the two delegations would "exchange views on matters of
mutual interest".

The talks were hosted by Vietnam's Khai and also involved
Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, Public Security Minister Le Hong
Anh and a number of other top government officials from the
communist nation.

The biennial ASEM summit of heads of state or government has
been put at risk as a result of the EU's insistence that Myanmar
cannot take part because of its poor human rights record.

The EU, which has put in place tough political sanctions
against the military-run state, is demanding the release of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and the
start of democratic reforms.

ASEAN, however, insists that Myanmar and its other new
members, Cambodia and Laos, take part unconditionally in the
summit in return for the participation of the 10 states that
joined the EU in May.

It says that if Myanmar cannot attend, neither can the new EU
members.

An ASEM finance ministers' meeting scheduled for last month
and a September gathering of the group's economy ministers have
already been canceled.

Western diplomats say the release of Suu Kyi, the 58-year-old
democracy icon whose party won a landslide 1990 election victory
but was never allowed to rule, is the key factor in ensuring ASEM
proceeds as planned.

But they also say a possible compromise could involve
distinguishing between Myanmar's participation and its admission
to the ASEM grouping.

After his meetings in Hanoi, Khin Nyunt flew to Vientiane for
talks with the Lao government. On Tuesday he will meet in Phnom
Penh with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who last month
threatened to boycott the summit unless Myanmar takes part.

Myanmar's junta enjoys a large measure of understanding and
tolerance from its fellow ASEAN governments, who strictly observe
a much-criticized ban against interference in other member
nations' affairs.