Myanmar PM to visit Vietnam, Cambodia

Myanmar PM to visit Vietnam, Cambodia

VIETNAM: Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt will travel to
Vietnam and Cambodia next week, their foreign ministries said,
for talks expected to focus on the deadlock over October's Asia-
Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Khin Nyunt will arrive in Hanoi on Monday for a one-day
official visit at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister
Phan Van Khai. He will also meet with other senior leaders of the
communist nation, a foreign ministry official said.

He will then travel to Cambodia for an official visit on
Tuesday at the invitation of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the foreign
ministry in Phnom Penh said.

Vietnam and Myanmar, both authoritarian regimes and targets of
Western criticism over their human rights records, retain close
political links.

The Vietnamese Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper, which
announced Khin Nyunt's visit, gave no details on the reasons
behind it or the topics up for discussion.

Diplomats, however, said the wrangling over the Oct. 8-9 ASEM
would be high on the agenda. --AFP