Diplomats: Myanmar to attend ASEAN emergency meeting to discuss cyclone disaster

The Associated Press ,  Manila   |  Wed, 05/14/2008 7:40 PM  |  World

Myanmar has agreed to attend an emergency meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers next week to discuss problems in getting foreign aid into the reclusive, cyclone-devastated nation, Asian diplomats said Wednesday.

Diplomats from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar, were crafting the agenda for the meeting to be held Monday in Singapore, said two Manila-based Southeast Asian diplomats knowledgeable about preparations for the gathering.

Singapore, which currently heads the ASEAN bloc, organized the meeting after getting a nod from Myanmar, which has committed to sending its foreign minister, according to one of the diplomats. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

Senior ASEAN diplomats will discuss issues and proposals related to the Myanmar crisis before the foreign ministers tackle them. Myanmar diplomats were expected to give a briefing on the devastation caused by the May 3 cyclone, the diplomats said. More than 60,000 people were killed o are missing, officials say.

Bottlenecks, poor logistics, limited infrastructure and restrictions imposed by Myanmar's military government have prevented much of the aid from reaching desperate survivors.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of neighboring Thailand was to fly into Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, to try to persuade the regime to grant visas to international disaster experts.

ASEAN has come under fire for failing to do prod Myanmar to better respond to the disaster.

Philippine opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a critic of Myanmar's junta, called it "barbaric" for refusing to rapidly receive water, food and medicine from the outside world while thousands of people faced hunger, disease and death.

ASEAN should have immediately intervened to receive foreign aid for shipment to Myanmar, known for its deep mistrust of the U.S. and other Western governments critical of the junta's dismal human rights record, he said.

"The actuation of the ruling junta manifests its barbaric state of mind relative to forbidding humanitarian assistance," Pimentel said. "This scenario should not have been allowed by a civilized organization like the ASEAN."

Myanmar, also called Burma, has long been a source of embarrassment to ASEAN, largely because of the junta's failure to fulfill promises to restore democracy and free political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Even fellow ASEAN members have condemned the junta's recent bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It admitted Myanmar in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western nations.(**)

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