'Tensions won't faze Myanmar's bid to join ASEAN'

'Tensions won't faze Myanmar's bid to join ASEAN'

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Myanmar Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw has brushed aside fears that political tensions in his country will affect its bid to join the regional grouping ASEAN, saying Myanmar is stable and "safer than any country".

He said it was for the Association of South East Asian Nations to judge whether Myanmar could be accepted into the regional group, the Bernama news agency reported yesterday.

"If it is one year, then of course it will be one year (to join ASEAN) and if two years, it will be two years," he told reporters on arrival here on Saturday night for an Asian ministers' meeting to discuss developing the Mekong basin.

"I don't think that the happenings in Myanmar (Burma) will affect our chance to become a member of ASEAN," Bernama quoted him as saying.

The Myanmar government has been cracking down on the pro- democracy opposition led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Last month, the government arrested 250 democracy politicians ahead of a controversial congress of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia and Laos have official observer status, which Myanmar is expected to be admitted to in July during the Asean Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta.

"The happenings or whatever it is (in Burma) is your own perception," Ohn Gyaw said. "Myanmar (Burma) is as stable as any country in this region. And I can even assure that we are safer than any country around."

Ohn Gyaw's comments came as U.S. special envoys visiting the region to coordinate a response to Myanmar's actions warned that events in that country could destabilize Southeast Asia.

Asked if Myanmar should exercise transparency and allow ASEAN to play a greater peacemaking role between the military and Suu Kyi's democracy movement, Ohn Gyaw said: "We are transparent and ASEAN is very active and has taken a leading role (in Burma) through the constructive engagement policy."

ASEAN has preferred so-called constructive engagement with Myanmar to help it settle domestic problems rather than embark on confrontational measures.

Meanwhile, in Yangon, about 10,000 Myanmarese businessmen yesterday joined a mass rally to support official moves to open up the economy and to denounce the opposition, which they accused of threatening stability.

The rally was chaired by Thein Tun, vice-chairman of the Myanmarese (Burmese) Chamber of Commerce, who told the gathering about the government's accomplishments since it liberalized the economy after taking power in 1988, state-run media said.

He said businessmen needed to make continued efforts to hold on to the progress made by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).

"All see the attempts of internal and external destructionists working in collusion to hamper the all-round national development," he said.

"The people will never accept the obstruction of stability, peace and progress of the state and will never desire the incitement to riot and attempts to create disturbances in the country," he said.

Thein Tun, one of Myanmar's top businessmen who is chairman and chief executive of Pepsi Myanmar, also urged the businessmen to unite to crush destructionists.

His speech was similar to those made at other mass rallies over the past few weeks.

Myanmarese people say they are ordered to attend the rallies, with officials requiring at least one person per household. The opposition says the military forces people to attend.