UPDATE 1-No breakthrough on Myanmar crisis at Southeast Asian summit

(Adds quotes, detail)
By Tom Allard
JAKARTA, March 2 (Reuters) - A summit of Southeast Asian
states held on Tuesday to discuss the coup in Myanmar failed to
find a breakthrough to get the nation back on the path to
democracy after last month's military takeover, sources with
knowledge of the meeting said.
Speaking after foreign ministers from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended their virtual meeting,
Indonesia's chief envoy Retno Marsudi urged the junta to allow
the bloc to resolve escalating tensions.
"It takes two to tango," she said after the meeting.
"ASEAN's good intentions and readiness will be meaningless if
Myanmar does not open its door."
ASEAN - which is made up of democracies, communist states,
authoritarian regimes and an absolute monarchy - did not forge a
common position during the meeting, two ASEAN diplomatic sources
said.
A statement from the meeting's chair, Brunei, on the outcome
of the meeting, said ASEAN expressed concern about the situation
in Myanmar and called on "all parties to refrain from
instigating further violence".
"We expressed ASEAN's readiness to assist Myanmar in a
positive, peaceful and constructive manner," it said.
In a statement of remarks made during the summit,
Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan warned an
inability to find a common ASEAN position "would starkly
underscore our lack of unity, and undermine our credibility and
relevance as an organisation".
The use of lethal force against unarmed civilians was
"inexcusable", he said.
Retno, Balakrishnan and the foreign ministers of Malaysia
and the Philippines called for the release of political
detainees including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a position
that was not endorsed by all at the summit.
The "informal" meeting was the first involving the 10-nation
group since the coup and included Myanmar's military appointed
foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin.
Retno, the foreign minister of the region's most populous
country and the world's third-biggest democracy, has been
leading ASEAN diplomacy efforts and hardened her language
against the coup.
"Restoring democracy back on track must be pursued," she
said. "Indonesia underlines that the will, the interest and the
voices of the people of Myanmar must be respected."
The United Nations, the United States, China and the
European Union have all urged ASEAN to play a role in mediating
the crisis in Myanmar, where at least 21 people have been killed
as security forces tried to quash mass protests.
The chair's statement said the grouping looked forward to a
special ASEAN-United States meeting of foreign ministers "in the
near future".
Among recommendations made at the meeting, Retno said an
ASEAN taskforce could provide humanitarian assistance in
Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's chief diplomat Hishammuddin Hussein
proposed that an ASEAN expert group could look into alleged
discrepancies found in the November's election won in a
landslide by Suu Kyi.
The military seized power after claiming the election was
riddled with fraud, despite independent monitors saying it
reflected the will of the people.
Both the Singaporean and Malaysian foreign ministers noted
that ASEAN had stood by Myanmar in the past when it was
previously globally isolated under military rule.