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Southeast Asian leaders to discuss Myanmar with coup leader

Published 04/24/2021, 06:00 AM
Updated 04/24/2021, 06:00 AM

* Junta leader to address ASEAN summit
* Opposition unity government seeks end to violence
* In-person summit shows level of regional concern

By Tom Allard
JAKARTA, April 24 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders will
try to forge a path to end violence and instability in Myanmar
at a summit on Saturday expected to include Min Aung Hlaing, the
general in charge of the military takeover in February that
sparked bloodshed and economic chaos.
The gathering of leaders of the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first
coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar,
an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and
Thailand, and was ruled by the military from 1962-2011.
With participants attending in person despite the pandemic,
Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that
the summit reflected the "deep concern about the situation in
Myanmar and ASEAN's determination to help Myanmar get out of
this delicate situation".
"We hope that tomorrow's (summit) will reach an agreement
regarding steps that are good for the people of Myanmar," she
said.
Marsudi's Singaporen counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, who is
also in Jakarta, said ASEAN's leaders "will discuss the pressing
need to address the grave and deeply concerning situation in
Myanmar".
Diplomats and government officials who asked not to be named
said many ASEAN leaders want a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing
to restrain his security forces, who monitors say have killed
745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement emerged to
challenge his Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's government.
Min Aung Hlaing, on his first foreign trip since the coup,
will address the summit along with each of the participants
before more informal discussions begin, said three sources
familiar with procedures.
Only a few officials will be present at the "intimate"
meeting, one source said.

PUSH FOR DIALOGUE
ASEAN officials and diplomats have also worked on an
initiative to send a humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar and
appoint an envoy to encourage dialogue between the junta and the
ousted lawmakers and ethnic groups who have formed an opposition
National Unity Government (NUG).
The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia,
Cambodia and Brunei, the chair, have confirmed their attendance,
along with the foreign ministers of Thailand and the
Philippines.
Myanmar's nightly news bulletin on state television on
Friday made no mention of the ASEAN meeting.
ASEAN has a policy of consensus decision-making and
non-interference in the affairs of its members, which include
Myanmar.
While that makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues,
the body is seen by the United Nations, China and the United
States as best placed to deal with the junta directly.
The summit, called for by Indonesia's president Joko Widodo
last month, is a departure from the tightly choreographed
leaders' meetings that are typical of ASEAN, said Evan Laksmana,
a Jakarta-based security analyst.
"There is no precedent, especially given the expressed
intent to discuss the problems of one member state."
A spokesman for the NUG, which is not attending the summit,
told Reuters the group had "been in contact with ASEAN leaders".
Dr. Sasa, an international envoy for the NUG, who goes by
one name, said ASEAN should insist the military stops killing
civilians, halts the bombing of villages in ethnic minority
areas, releases political prisoners and hands power to the NUG.

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