Southeast Asian ministers rap Myanmar on reforms
 

KUALA LUMPUR, Friday (AFP)

Southeast Asian ministers on Thursday admonished Myanmar for its lack of democratic reforms, saying that if the military-run nation wanted the region's support it would have to show more progress.

"We discussed the question of Myanmar, of the need for Myanmar to be more responsive to the wishes of the international community, and I think this has been clearly stated," Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

"We have registered our desire to see the political process and the roadmap, and there must be some tangible movement - even if it is an internal affair of Myanmar," he told reporters.

Syed Hamid said that at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting here, Myanmar gave no indication of when opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed from detention.

"In order for us to defend Myanmar together, Myanmar itself must be able to show us movement in respect of the roadmap (to democracy) as well as the position of Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

"We have informed Myanmar that we are together with Myanmar in seeing that they come to democracy. But Myanmar has also got to take steps that will ensure confidence and create credibility, and there must be some tangible things that happen," he said.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said the ministers had taken a "critical" approach on the issue. "We have discussed Myanmar in a very frank manner," he told reporters. The outspoken ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), which is made up of regional lawmakers, reiterated demands for Myanmar, also known as Burma, to be ejected from the grouping if it failed to deliver.

"ASEAN leaders must demand a minimum requirement, at least a report (on progress towards democracy), and it should be made public," said AIPMC member Zaid Ibrahim, a Malaysian member of parliament.

"I just hope ASEAN will take Myanmar seriously. They have to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately. There is no reason to detain her," said the Malaysian lawmaker.

Myanmar's military leaders have extended by six months the house arrest restrictions against the Nobel peace laureate, who has been confined for 10 of the last 16 years.

Her National League for Democracy won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to govern.

Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated nations, has been ruled by the military since 1962.