Holbrooke Speaks out against Myanmar's membership of ASEAN

BANGKOK (AFP) - ASEAN should not have invited the "dreadful group of people" running Mynamar to "prematurely" join, former US ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites) Richard Holbrooke said.


Holbrooke, who urged the United States not to attend next year's ASEAN summit which Myanmar is set to host, said the 10-nation grouping should have withheld membership until the military-ruled country made reforms.


"You had tremendous leverage over the Burmese to make them a part of the real of community of nations in Southeast Asia," Holbrooke said at a breakfast hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (news - web sites).


"Instead, a dreadful group of people whose behaviour violates all the norms of civilization, all the wonderful things Thailand for example stands for, were invited to join ASEAN with no real conditions."


Holbrooke pointed to the European Union (news - web sites)'s recent decision to block membership talks for Croatia until Zagreb finds a war crimes suspect, as an example of how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations could have dealt with Myanmar.


The former Burma joined ASEAN in 1997 and in 2006 is set to host the group's annual summit and two major meetings immediately afterward, featuring numerous foreign ministers in the capital Yangon, formerly Rangoon.


"By holding them in Rangoon next year, ASEAN runs a very serious risk of that finding some of the most important countries that have attended regularly for over a quarter century, including the United States, may not show," Holbrooke said.


"I would recommend that the United States not go to Rangoon, because it is a certification of this regime which has not earned the right to host such a meeting."


Speaking later to reporters, Holbrooke said he supported maintaining "essential" sanctions against the "odious regime" running Myanmar, despite the suffering of the general public.


"But to leave it alone just increases the flow of money and opportunities for the generals ... to get richer," Holbrooke said.


"This is an odious regime and I'm really disappointed in my friends in Southeast Asia for having let them into the regional community without extracting any quid pro quo on human rights, democracy and so on."


ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

from: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050321/pl_afp/thailandusasean_050321150001