U.S. respects ASEAN's decision to admit Myanmar

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): The United State said yesterday that it respected ASEAN's decision to admit Myanmar but called on the organization to persuade Yangon to open political dialog.

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said Washington had "strong views" about the admission of Myanmar but "the issue is over" now that Myanmar is a full member of ASEAN.

Burns said Washington hoped ASEAN members would exert their influence on the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to hold talks with the opposition National League of Democracy, headed by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The SLORC government is responsible for what happened in Burma (Myanmar), not ASEAN, but since it is a member of ASEAN, we think that it's important that ASEAN leaders try to influence it in a positive direction," he said.

"We are hoping that ASEAN will pay attention to the human rights situation in Myanmar," he said, adding that the U.S. would like to cooperate with ASEAN to make a positive difference for the Myanmar people.

Burns is accompanying Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to attend today's fourth ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The ARF is a loose consultative political-security forum for ASEAN and its dialog partners.

Western states had been calling on ASEAN to delay Myanmar's membership because of its human rights record. ASEAN insisted on pursuing its "constructive engagement" with Myanmar.

The issue of Myanmar has taken a back seat in the current series of ASEAN meetings because much of the attention has turned to Cambodia's recent political turmoil.

Yesterday, Albright met with the recent ASEAN mission on Cambodia, headed by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas.

Albright refused to comment on the 45-minute talks, merely saying that "we had a very useful meeting".

The ASEAN mission, which included Thai foreign minister Prachuab Chaiyasarn and Philippine foreign minister Domingo Siazon, traveled to Beijing, Phnom Penh and Bangkok to meet individually with King Norodom Sihanouk and the two premiers -- Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen.

Alatas said of the meeting with Albright that "what's important is they support ASEAN's position and leading role in the matter."

Endorsement

Alatas said that Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer and Japanese foreign minister Yukihiko Ikeda also endorsed their support for ASEAN's role during separate bilateral meetings, respectively on Friday and yesterday.

Burns noted that ASEAN, like the U.S. and other parties, had played a role in the 1991 Paris Peace Accords which restored peace in Cambodia and, therefore, had a responsibility to help bring back stability to Cambodia.

"ASEAN is perfectly positioned to be the leader ... in the mediation effort and the U.S. firmly supports ASEAN," he said. "We just hope Hun Sen is open to effective mediation by ASEAN."

He added that like ASEAN, Washington wanted to see Ranariddh's FUNCINPEC faction return to the country.

Burns maintained that Hun Sen must hold fair and coercion-free elections at the National Assembly, due to open tomorrow, if they wanted foreign minister Ung Huot to be the first prime minister to replace Ranariddh, and to maintain the coalition government of FUNCINPEC and Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party.

Commenting on the U.S.'s 30-day sanction of Cambodia, Alatas said the matter was touched on briefly with Albright.

"But basically, ASEAN's stance is clear. We thing it is always very risky to use aid as a kind of weapon," he said.

The foreign ministers had a relaxed day yesterday before the start of today's ARF, with many using the opportunity to go to the golf course and hold bilateral meetings.

During the evening, the Malaysian foreign minister Abdullah Badawi, hosted an informal working dinner at the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel, the venue for today's meeting, which is located some 30km outside Kuala Lumpur.