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Myanmar PM arrives in Cambodia in midst of ASEM deadlock

 

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24-Aug-2005
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PHNOM PENH : Myanmar Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt arrived in the Cambodian capital to a rousing welcome in the midst of a spat over his military-ruled nation attending the Asia-Europe summit in Vietnam.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen along with other top leaders gave the Myanmar premier a red-carpet welcome at Pochentong International Airport, where hundreds of school children waved Cambodian and Myanmar flags.

His arrival in Phnom Penh, whose streets were festooned with welcome banners and flags, followed visits Monday to Hanoi, where he held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai, and the Laotian capital Vientiane.

The whirlwind tour comes amid efforts to resolve a stand-off between Southeast Asian nations and the European Union over Myanmar's presence at the October Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.

EU ministers have demanded a signal that the junta is prepared to allow a degree of democratic progress, including the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, before sitting down with a Myanmar delegation.

But the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has refused to leave Myanmar out of the talks.

Cambodia, which is due to join the summit this year along with Laos, has already lent its unwavering support to Myanmar by insisting it will boycott the summit if the military state is not permitted to participate.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters that he could not confirm whether the issue was on the agenda but said Cambodia's stance was unchanged.

"They will talk about the general situation" of their relations, he said.

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the junta since May 2003 following a bloody clash between her supporters and a pro-junta mob.

Asked whether Cambodia would urge the Nobel peace laureate's release, he said: "Cambodia will not do that but we hope that the Myanmar government will find a good solution to this issue."

Myanmar's junta enjoys a large measure of understanding and tolerance from its fellow ASEAN governments, who strictly observe a much-criticised ban against interference in other member nations' affairs.

An ASEM finance ministers' meeting scheduled for last month and a September gathering of the group's economy ministers have already been cancelled.

Western diplomats say the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a landslide 1990 election victory but was never allowed to rule, is the key factor in ensuring ASEM proceeds as planned.

But they also say a possible compromise could involve distinguishing between Myanmar's participation and its admission to the ASEM grouping.

The last ASEM summit was held in Copenhagen in 2002 involving the then 15 members of the EU along with China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN members Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei.

- AFP