Myanmar looms over Foreign Ministers’ meeting

MYANMAR: The global financial crisis is high on the agenda for Asian and European foreign ministers meeting in Vietnam on Monday but diplomats said the issue of Myanmar could flare on the sidelines.

The military-ruled state is not on the official program at the two-day ASEM (Asia-Europe) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting but the trial of opposition democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has again thrust the country centre-stage.

One diplomat said the Myanmar issue might spark “a lot of discussions on the sidelines” of the ASEM meeting.

An Asian diplomat said both Europe and Asia want better interaction but ASEM meetings were “always hijacked by one issue, which is Myanmar.”

Western nations have criticised the military regime for putting Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for breaching the conditions of her long-time house arrest and in a rare move, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), last week issued an expression of “grave concern.”

Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbours traditionally prefer not to be seen as intervening in the affairs of their members.

Myanmar “strongly rejected” the ASEAN statement condemning the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, state media said Monday, saying it was “interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar. But as international pressure on Myanmar grows, France’s human rights minister said Sunday that Asian powers hold the key to persuading the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

Hanoi, Monday, AFP