By VIJAY JOSHI / AP WRITER | SINGAPORE — Southeast Asian nations issued their strongest rebuke ever to military-ruled Burma before opening an annual security meeting Monday amid a bubbling border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
The foreign ministers of the 10 countries that form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will also discuss North Korea's nuclear program, inflation and cooperation in disaster relief at their five-day enclave.
 Youth members of National League for Democracy, Burma's opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, stand outside the party headquarters in Rangoon during the Martyr's day ceremonies on July19. (Photo: AP) |
"Asean is no longer just a talk shop, but a maturing community of nations," he said.
At the end of a working dinner Sunday, the ministers issued a statement expressing "deep disappointment" that Burma's junta had extended the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by another year, the sixth straight year that she has remained under house arrest in her dilapidated villa.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win, however, held out a glimmer of hope that Suu Kyi would be freed within six months at the end of the maximum six-year period that a political detainee can be held by law, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
Still, the joint statement was an unprecedented criticism of Burma by Asean, the region's main bloc, whose members usually stick to the policy of not interfering in each other's domestic affairs.
The ministers also urged the junta to engage in a "meaningful dialogue with all political groups and work toward a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future."
The statement is a reflection of its deep frustrations with Burma's junta, which has kept Suu Kyi in detention for 12 of the last 18 years at varying times. Asean is also fed up of the criticism it faces from the international community for not putting enough pressure on Burma.
The ministers also urged Cambodia and Thailand to "exercise utmost restraint" in their border dispute over an area near an ancient temple in Cambodia that was recently designated a World Heritage Site. Both countries have sent troops to the area, but are scheduled to hold talks Monday aimed at easing tensions.
"The situation has escalated dangerously," said Prime Minister Lee, adding that Asean "could not stand idly by without damaging its credibility."
The ministerial conference of Asean will be followed by a series of meetings with counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
It will culminate Thursday with the Asean Regional Forum, the premier security dialogue of Asia-Pacific between Asean and 16 other countries plus the European Union. It includes the United States and Russia.
Conference spokesman Andrew Tan indicated there was a desire among some participants to give the 15-year-old gathering greater substance.
"There is a need to move beyond just confidence building," Tan said.
On the sidelines of the forum will be the most keenly watched event: a meeting of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia—the participants in six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.
It will be the highest-level contacts in the six-country negotiations, which began in 2003 with the aim of convincing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program.
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