Thailand seeks to end ASEAN chair deadlock

Thailand seeks to end ASEAN chair deadlock

Agencies, Bangkok/Singapore/Yangon

Thailand is working towards ending a regional deadlock over military-ruled Myanmar that could see Yangon forego its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006, senior Thai officials and sources said on Tuesday.

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said the kingdom was seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis, as 78 of 200 Thai senators signed a petition on Monday pressuring their government to oppose Myanmar taking up the rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The government is working on it and as a matter of fact we have the same goal (as the senators)," Kantathi told reporters.

"I can't disclose any details because it's a sensitive issue.

"What I can say about my work is that it's the best thing for ASEAN and Myanmar's internal problems," he said, sidestepping questions of whether Yangon was prepared to assume the chairmanship or step down.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thailand had already formulated its position about Myanmar's chairmanship, which has dominated virtually every recent ASEAN meeting, but it would not be diplomatically prudent to reveal it.

"Thailand has decided (its position) but we will not publicly speak out," Thaksin told reporters. "Sometimes it is not positive to speak out."

The European Union and United States have warned they may boycott ASEAN meetings if Myanmar heads the grouping as scheduled next year and does not act on repeated pledges to introduce reforms, including releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick reiterated on Tuesday Washington's opposition to military-ruled Myanmar gaining the chairmanship of ASEAN, saying such a move could stall relations between Southeast Asia and Washington.

"Given that Burma is an ASEAN member, I emphasized if Burma is the chair next year it would obviously tie our hands but this was an issue for ASEAN to decide," Zoellick said at a news conference in Singapore, his final stop on a tour of Southeast Asia.

A Thai government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Yangon would likely abandon plans to lead ASEAN.

"Myanmar is looking for a suitable time to announce its withdrawal from the chairmanship," the official told AFP.

A Thai intelligence official also said Myanmar could forego its chance to head the Southeast Asian bloc due to intense regional and other international pressure over Yangon's rights record, in particular its detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"They will have to withdraw at the request of other ASEAN members, because Myanmar would not be able to organize successful meetings" should dialogue partners such as the U.S. and Europe boycott, the intelligence official said.

Analysts and diplomats have speculated that Myanmar would use its internal security problems as an excuse to give up the chairmanship, particularly after bombs in Yangon on Saturday that killed at least 11 people and injured 162.

"Now they could have an excuse ... to relinquish the chairmanship of ASEAN," a Western diplomat in Yangon said. "This could push the military to say 'Look, we have internal problems that we have to solve, therefore it is better if we don't take the presidency'."

Kantathi said he held talks with Myanmar, ASEAN, U.S. and European officials at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Japan last week, and all agreed Thailand should proceed with its efforts.

A senior European official at ASEM on Saturday told AFP that European efforts to get Myanmar to reform were being undermined by a lack of political pressure from Asian nations.

The 38-nation ASEM grouping released a joint statement calling for democracy in Myanmar without making more concrete demands, amid ASEAN member nations' reluctance to interfere in the domestic affairs of their neighbors.

In Yangon, Myanmar nationals who fear their relatives were caught up in Yangon's deadly bombings said on Tuesday they were in the dark over the fate of family members, as the junta restricted some information about victims.

Officials in the military-run state reported 11 people killed and 162 wounded in a series of bomb blasts which rocked Yangon Saturday.

Following the initial reports in state media there has been a virtual news blackout on the bombings, even as witnesses, Myanmar hospital doctors and Thai authorities said the death toll was far higher.