U.S. to keep Myanmar out of ASEAN

U.S. to keep Myanmar out of ASEAN

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The United States came out on Friday in
open opposition to Myanmar joining the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and said it was lobbying the group to drop
a proposal to admit Rangoon this year.

"We don't believe that ASEAN should take this step," State
Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said. His comments appeared
to step up long-standing Western unhappiness about the plan to
admit Myanmar, where Washington banned new U.S. investments on
Tuesday in fresh sanctions over the human rights record of the
military rulers in Rangoon.

The U.S. charge d'affaires in Myanmar, Kent Wiedemann, had said
in an interview on Thursday that while Washington would find it
"awkward" to deal with an ASEAN that included Myanmar its admission
was "something ASEAN has to decide for itself."

"The United States has very strong concerns about the proposal
by ASEAN to bring in Myanmar," Burns said. "We have no objection
as to Laos and Cambodia. We have an objection to Myanmar.

But U.S. attempts to rally Asian countries against Myanmar
have had little success. ASEAN opposes interference in the
domestic politics of neighboring states and members say
"constructive engagement" will work better than sanctions.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, the current
chairman of ASEAN, said on Wednesday the latest U.S. sanctions
would not delay Myanmar's entry into the grouping. ASEAN plans to
decide by July whether to admit Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. The
issue is expected to be discussed at an ASEAN foreign ministers'
meeting on May 31 in Kuala Lumpur.