Rice urges ASEAN to push Myanmar for democratic reform

Rice urges ASEAN to push Myanmar for democratic reform

P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Phuket, Thailand

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Southeast Asian
nations on Monday to press Myanmar's military rulers to reform,
as she toured the reconstruction in tsunami-hit southern
Thailand.

After meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on
the resort island of Phuket, Rice said Myanmar's release of Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest could "be a
possible case for reconciliation".

"We talked about the need for the Burmese government to make
progress," she told a press conference, referring to Myanmar by
its former name, Burma.

"We hope there will be progress. We are encouraging all our
partners who have contacts with Burma to press the case for human
rights, for openness," she said.

"I asked our Thai friends, who have dialogue with Burma, to
press the case for those who are being held, including Aung San
Suu Kyi," Rice added.

Yangon said it released some 400 prisoners last Wednesday. The
opposition National League for Democracy said most of those freed
were prisoners of conscience, but party leader Suu Kyi remains
confined to her home.

Rice's Thai counterpart Kantathi Suphamongkhon, who attended
the meeting, said Bangkok also wanted to see reforms take hold in
neighboring Myanmar.

"We do want to see democracy and the national reconciliation
process completed in Burma as soon as possible," he said.

Concerns about Myanmar have become a sticking point in U.S.
relations with the region, as the junta in Yangon is set to take
the helm of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) next year.

Rice said she would not attend the group's annual meeting and
the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Lao capital of Vientiane
later this month, saying she had a scheduling conflict.

"I am very sorry I am not able to go to the ASEAN meeting this
year and to the ARF. This is a vital organization and I have
external travel at that time," she said.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will represent the
United States at the meeting, she said.

A State Department official traveling with Rice said the
secretary was expected to be traveling to Africa during the ASEAN
meeting, although plans have yet to be finalized.

The meeting, starting from July 28 to July 29, includes a
post-ministerial dialogue between ASEAN and its key trading
partners, notably the United States, the European Union, China,
Japan and Russia, as well as the ARF, the only official security
meeting in the Asia-Pacific region.

Rice's decision not to attend the meeting has drawn
expressions of concern within Southeast Asia, with Malaysian
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar calling the move "regrettable".

"I hope it is not an indication that the US is giving less
importance or showing less interest in ASEAN, while focusing on
the Middle East," he said.

The United States, citing Yangon's dismal human rights record,
including its refusal to free Aung San Suu Kyi, has warned that
if Myanmar chaired ASEAN, the grouping's image would be smeared.

The chairmanship is determined by alphabetical rotation among
member states, which also include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Officials and parliamentarians from some ASEAN member states
also fear that Myanmar's chairmanship will damage the group's
image and international links, although Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam are backing Yangon.

After meeting with Thaksin, Rice left on a helicopter tour of
areas still recovering from the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed some
5,400 people, roughly half of them believed to be foreign
holidaymakers. More than 2,800 others are still listed as
missing.

From Phuket, Rice flew to neighboring Phang Nga province,
which suffered the vast majority of the deaths and the
destruction. She then left Thailand for Japan, the third stop on
her Asian tour, having already visited China. Her final stop is
South Korea.