Washington barks at ASEAN over Myanmar

Washington barks at ASEAN over Myanmar

Agence France-Presse, Washington

The United States on Wednesday pointedly disagreed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s assessment of recent "positive developments" in Myanmar and flatly rejected ASEAN's call for a road map to national reconciliation.

The State Department said it saw no "positive developments" to speak of in Myanmar, which used to be called Burma, noting the continued detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and many members of her National League for Democracy (NLD).

And, spokesman Richard Boucher maintained that unless and until the military rulers in Yangon opened a dialog with the opposition -- the NLD and Myanmar's many ethnic minorities -- a road map for reconciliation was pointless.

"We know what they (ASEAN) said," he told reporters when asked about a statement released by the 10-nation grouping after a summit in Indonesia on Tuesday.

"We know they called for a road map, we know they noted quote- unquote positive developments," Boucher said. "We don't see those and we don't see any need for a road map unless it has the full participation of the opposition."

"No proposal for a road map is meaningful without the full participation of the democratic opposition," he said. "That for us is the way forward, that for us is the only way forward."

At the summit in Indonesia, Myanmar won praise rather than censure for "recent positive developments" despite calls from some of its ASEAN colleagues to free Suu Kyi before the meeting.

In addition, the ASEAN leaders said in the statement that sweeping trade sanctions slapped on Myanmar by the United States and others "are not helpful in promoting peace and stability essential for democracy to take root."

The United States in August imposed a blanket trade ban on Myanmar after Suu Kyi was detained at an undisclosed location following a bloody clash between her supporters and pro-junta demonstrators on May 30.

The Nobel peace laureate was admitted to hospital on Sept. 17 for surgery and was transferred from there to house arrest on Sept. 26. It is her third period of house arrest since the late 1980s but the junta is portraying her current status as a positive and planned development.

Boucher said the United States was not about to change its policy on Myanmar because of the ASEAN statement or Yangon's "road map" outline for national reconciliation.

"Our stance toward the Burmese military junta has not changed," he said.

"Aung San Suu Kyi and all others detained for peaceful expression of political views should be released immediately and unconditionally," Boucher said, calling for the reopening of NLD offices and the start of real dialogue.