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.