+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Myanmar says Suu Kyi may be freed soon
Asian security talks to tackle NKorea, Myanmar
Border dispute, Myanmar, top ASEAN ministers' talks
Recent Burma News (20-07-08)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Myanmar says Suu Kyi may be freed soon
AP
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 56 minutes ago

Myanmar's military junta has indicated to its Southeast Asian neighbors that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed from house arrest in about six months, Singapore's foreign minister said Sunday.

The hint came as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed "deep disappointment" at the decision by the junta in May to extend Suu Kyi's detention by another year. It was an unusually frank criticism of Myanmar by the region's main bloc, whose members usually stick to a policy of not interfering in each other's affairs.

The comment by Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win to ASEAN is the most optimistic assessment of Suu Kyi's future by the junta, and the closest to a definite timetable for her release, which has been demanded by the international community.

Nyan Win made the hint during a dinner hosted by Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo for the foreign ministers of the ten member countries of ASEAN.

Yeo said Nyan Win explained that under Myanmar law a political detainee can be held for a maximum of six years. "And he told us that the six-year limit will come up in about half a year's time," Yeo said.

Asked if this meant Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, could be released in six months, Yeo said: "That is not an inaccurate inference."

The military regime extended Suu Kyi's house arrest May 27 for the sixth straight year. She has now been detained for more than 12 of the last 18 years at her home in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party has denounced the extension as illegal, saying its interpretation of the law is that she could be held only up to five years and not six.

After the dinner meeting, the ASEAN members issued a statement critical of Myanmar.

"The foreign ministers expressed their deep disappointment that ... Suu Kyi's detention has been extended by the Myanmar government," it said, adding that the ministers repeated a call by their governments for her to be released.

The ministers 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."

ASEAN also urged the junta to give U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari access to senior leaders and to allow meetings with "the widest possible range of contacts including Suu Kyi."

ASEAN has never made so many demands on Myanmar, and its willingness to do so now is a reflection of its frustration.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Asian security talks to tackle NKorea, Myanmar
AFP
by Sarah StewartSat Jul 19, 9:57 PM ET

Regional rogues North Korea and Myanmar will top the billing at Asia's main security forum this week, but the inflation crisis and disaster response have emerged as critical new concerns.

The 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which includes nations from Asia as well as the European Union and the United States, meets here Thursday after talks by ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

With civil war in Sri Lanka, insurgencies in Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines, and a dangerous new standoff at an ancient temple on the Thai-Cambodian border, Asia's list of security issues is long.

But the North Korean nuclear issue tops the agenda and the highlight of the conference will be a meeting of foreign ministers from the six nations negotiating a denuclearisation plan -- the first since 2003.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to meet her North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun for the first time at the informal talks tipped for Wednesday, which will also include South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the meeting was not aimed at generating "some specific negotiated outcome" but would "review where the six-party process is at the moment."

Military-run Myanmar, which has infuriated the international community by refusing to introduce democratic reforms or free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, is likely to face a fresh challenge.

ASEAN, which operates on a principle of consensus that critics say renders it ineffective, has often been criticised for failing to act firmly against its renegade member.

But Myanmar could face a demand from its neighbours to release all political prisoners, a proposal made by the bloc's senior officials which their foreign ministers must decide whether to endorse.

If approved at the ministerial talks that start late Sunday and continue the following day, the measure would signal a toughening of ASEAN's stance that would be welcomed by Western governments.

The move comes after the ruling junta earned widespread contempt by refusing to open its doors to foreign relief workers in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May, a disaster that left 138,000 people dead or missing.

ASEAN won plaudits for winning approval to coordinate the international effort to bring help to two million people who the bloc's secretary general, Surin Pitsuwan, has said remain in a "very precarious situation."

"For the first time in its history, ASEAN was actually effective at something," said Dave Mathieson, a consultant on Burma for the US-based Human Rights Watch. "But there's still a lot of work to be done."

Working under an agreement with the United Nations and the Myanmar government, nearly 300 ASEAN volunteers operating in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta have prepared an assessment that is to be released on Monday.

Myanmar's cyclone disaster, a recent earthquake in China and a ferry sinking in the Philippines have made disaster preparedness a burning issue this week, two years after the ARF vowed to develop guidelines for joint disaster relief.

Since then, precious little has been done but the 27 members are now expected to discuss a joint civilian-military disaster relief exercise, among other measures.

Amid warnings that spiralling prices of food and fuel in the largely impoverished region could threaten political stability, the ASEAN ministers will attempt to hammer out some solutions.

The problem, if left unchecked, could pose a challenge to the region's long-term aim of evolving into a European Union-style community where goods and services are freely traded across the region by 2015, officials said.

Ministers will discuss "the growing challenge posed by rising oil and food prices, which pose a serious challenge to our people's welfare as well as our countries' continued economic development," according to a draft joint communique obtained by AFP.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Border dispute, Myanmar, top ASEAN ministers' talks
AFP
by Jason Gutierrez1 hour, 24 minutes ago

Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged Thailand and Cambodia to show restraint in a border dispute, and urged Myanmar to free all political prisoners, as annual talks began Sunday night.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began their talks over dinner while two of its members, Thailand and Cambodia, were locked in an armed standoff over a border temple, and after rogue member Myanmar extended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest.

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to "exert utmost efforts" to find a peaceful solution to their standoff, Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said after the dinner at a restaurant in the city-state's botanical gardens.

"Both sides affirmed that they would abide by their ASEAN and international obligations and exert their utmost efforts to find a peaceful solution to the issue," Yeo said in a statement.

More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda leading to the ruins of an 11th-century temple, where nearby land is claimed by both sides.

"We urged both sides to exercise utmost restraint and resolve this issue amicably in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity and good neighbourliness," Yeo said.

The foreign ministers also expressed "deep disappointment" over the extension of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention and called for all political prisoners in the country to be freed, Yeo said.

"They repeated the call by ASEAN leaders for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees as part of Myanmar's national reconciliation process," he said.

Myanmar's ruling generals extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by one year on May 27. She has spent most of the past 18 years confined to her lakeside home in Myanmar's main city Yangon.

ASEAN has often been criticised for failing to act firmly against member Myanmar over human rights abuses and a lack of democratic progress.

Myanmar's junta should engage in "a meaningful dialogue with all political groups", Yeo said.

While the border dispute and Myanmar dominated the first night of the ministers' meeting, high on the official agenda is a new ASEAN charter which would create an EU-style economic block committed to democracy and human rights by 2015.

Efforts to get aid to about two million survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar are also expected to feature prominently when talks continue on Monday.

Myanmar earned international contempt by refusing to allow a foreign-led relief effort when the May cyclone left 138,000 dead or missing.

ASEAN won praise for eventually bridging the gap between the junta and the outside world over cyclone relief efforts by taking the lead on a joint aid mission with the military authorities and the United Nations.

The mission is expected to release its full report on the humanitarian situation in Myanmar's devastated southern delta region here on Monday.

The temple standoff began after three Thai protesters were arrested on Tuesday for crossing a fence to reach the ancient ruins, which have been a source of tension between the neighbours for decades.

Defence officials from both countries plan to meet on the border on Monday to try to defuse the crisis.

Thai government representatives here said they could not discuss whether the countries' ministers would hold bilateral talks in Singapore.

"Any tension, any misunderstanding between and among member states is always an issue of concern for ASEAN," the bloc's secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said earlier Sunday.

He said the ministers were keen to see the matter resolved "as soon as possible."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Recent Burma News (20-07-08)

ASEAN to continue soft treatment of Myanmar - Feature
Today, July 20, 2008, 6 hours ago
Singapore - The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is not planning to use the leverage of ongoing humanitarian operations for cyclone victims in Myanmar to pressure the country’s military...

ASEAN urged to heap pressure on Myanmar
Today, July 20, 2008, 6 hours ago
SINGAPORE--Myanmar must face more pressure over its handling of cyclone relief -- and its rights record -- when foreign ministers from neighboring nations, Washington and Europe meet this week, activi...

ASEAN not shedding kid gloves in treatment of Myanmar - Feature
Today, July 20, 2008, 6 hours ago
Singapore - For the last 11 years, the Association of South- East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been very lenient with Myanmar, despite scathing criticisms over its failure to push for democratic reforms ...

Myanmar security tight on anniversary
Today, July 20, 2008, 9 hours ago
Myanmar officials and soldiers gather for Martyr’s Day ceremonies, Saturday, July 19, 2008, at the Martyr’s Mausoleum in Yangon, Myanmar. Martyr’s Day in Myanmar is held annually in memory of the assa...

Aung San Suu Kyi Banned from Burma
Today, July 20, 2008, 10 hours ago
Burma’s pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was not invited this year to pay tribute to her late father on Martyrs’ Day.Supporters of the Nobel peace laureate say she was kept under house...

Groups worried about end to Myanmar relief flights
Today, July 20, 2008, 16 hours ago
Myanmar next month could slow a relief effort that already has come under fire for leaving many of the 2.4 million survivors without adequate food and water.The U.N. plans to end an air link between

Burmese refugees find safety in Austin
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 11:43:46 PM
Area grouping shrinks funds for The City A Thang Yawm Nan and his family are part of a new and fast-growing community of Burmese refugees - the largest refugee group in Austin last year, according to ...

Myanmar ratifies Asean charter
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:34:51 PM
MILITARY-RULED Myanmar has ratified a charter by Southeast Asian nations that aims to create an economic bloc of half a billion people, Singapore’s foreign minister said yesterday. "Myanmar has r...

Japan Monitoring Aid Distribution to Burma
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:29:53 PM
Japanese aid to Burma for the reconstruction phase in the cyclone affected areas of the Irrawaddy Delta will be determined based on an assessment of how effectively emergency aid has been delivered, a...

Charges of Forced Labor Emerge in Cyclone-hit Areas
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:29:51 PM
Thousands of people in hundreds of villages are being forced to labor for free under a military-led reconstruction effort in the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta, according to sources in the area. V...

Malaysian Opposition Leader Freed on Bail
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:29:40 PM
Police freed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on bail Thursday after holding him overnight in connection with a sodomy accusation that abruptly snagged his campaign to unseat the government.

Junta sells seeds which do not sprout to farmers in Irrawaddy
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:29:19 PM
Bangkok - Made to buy seeds that do not sprout, farmers in Burma’s cyclone hit zone of Bogale township in Irrawaddy division are in trouble planting rice. A farmer in Bogale Township’s Aye Chan T...

Foreigners need permits from War Office to visit cyclone-hit areas
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 8:29:18 PM
New Dehli - Foreigners wanting to visit cyclone-hit areas in Irrwaddy Division would have to acquire prior permission from the Ministry of Defence. A directive to this effect has been issued by the ...

Families hang on to hope for Burma
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 7:55:36 PM
Khin Nyo San dashes from her tent to the nearby shack serving as a school, splashing down a muddy path in the desperate hope that a visitor from Rangoon might have news of her missing child.

UN chief presses case in Burma for more aid
Yesterday, July 19, 2008, 7:55:29 PM
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon flew to Burma on Thursday to press the ruling generals to allow a full-blown international aid effort for 2,4-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++