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