Myanmar problems an internal affair, PM tells ASEAN

SINGAPORE, The situation in Myanmar is an internal matter which the government is able to handle itself, the country's prime minister Thein Sein told Southeast Asian leaders Monday.

He made the comment during an informal working dinner with his Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told reporters.

"Prime Minister Thein Sein of Myanmar made clear that the situation in Myanmar was a domestic Myanmar thing and that Myanmar was fully capable of handling the situation by itself," said Lee, who is hosting the summit.

Thein Sein insisted that UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari should report only to the Security Council, and not to Asian leaders, Lee said, flanked by all of his ASEAN counterparts - except the Myanmar prime minister.

UN's Asia briefing on Myanmar cancelled

Meanwhile Southeast Asian leaders have called off a briefing by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on the situation in Myanmar after the junta objected, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told AFP Monday.

"The briefing is off," Syed Hamid told AFP in an interview as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held informal talks ahead of their annual summit on Tuesday.

"Myanmar feels that they deal with the UN and it is their own domestic matter. This evening, Myanmar objected and we base our decisions on consensus."

ASEAN has come under mounting international pressure to rein in member state Myanmar in the wake of September's suppression of mass pro-democracy protests that left at least 15 dead.

Gambari had been invited by ASEAN summit host Singapore to brief Southeast Asian leaders plus their counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea on his two recent missions to Myanmar on Wednesday.

But the Malaysian minister said while the bloc supported Gambari's efforts in the military-run state, he would not be asked to collectively brief the region's leaders on his work.

"If they want any briefing, Myanmar will do the briefing," Syed Hamid said.

"It is an ASEAN matter. We will continue to support the UN but we cannot take the matter out of the ASEAN forum and take it into some other forum."

The minister however insisted the move should not be "considered a slap to the UN," noting: "As far as ASEAN is concerned, we support the efforts of the UN."

Tuesday, AFP