Malaysian foreign minister says still no date for Burma Trip

March 8, 2006 - Malaysiakini via BBC

Text of unattributed report entitled: "Still seeking a date with Burmese junta" in English by Malaysian website Malaysiakini on 8 March.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said his plans to visit military-ruled Burma to check on the progress of democratic reforms have been stalled. "My trip is still stalled," said Syed Hamid, who is acting as the envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A trip planned for January was cancelled by Burma's ruling generals and Malaysian officials said last month that it had been rescheduled for March, but Syed Hamid said there was now no date for the mission.

"They have not given us a date. We recognise there is a communication problem since they relocated their capital," he told AFP, referring to the ruling junta's surprise decision last year to shift its administration from Rangoon.

Syed Hamid said ASEAN leaders were expecting his trip to take place before April when the 10-nation bloc's foreign ministers gather in the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

"We must receive some report on the progress of democracy in Myanmar [ Burma] before the April meeting. I do hope seriously, the trip could be made before April," he said, using the military junta's new name of the country.

The minister declined to speculate on why Burma was delaying his mission.

"I hope they will cooperate and do whatever necessary to allow me to make this trip. Malaysia has been supportive of a constructive role," he said. "When we are given a task, we would like to perform the task."

Syed Hamid said that resolving the vexed issue of Burma, which is under intense international pressure to end four decades of military rule and shift to democracy, would benefit the entire region.

"If we succeed, then it will boost ASEAN's image and credibility internationally," he said.

Insisting to see Suu Kyi

Under pressure from the international community, ASEAN at its annual meeting in December reached agreement with Rangoon to allow Syed Hamid to visit as an envoy to check on its claims that it is steadily introducing reforms.

However, the regime soon said it was "too busy" moving its administrative capital to a logging town 320km north of Rangoon.

The main sticking point in negotiations over Syed Hamid's trip is believed to be his insistence on seeing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is currently under house arrest.

Burma's junta brutally crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years later rejected the result of national elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy.

In November, it extended her house arrest by another six months, irritating regional leaders who held their annual summit shortly afterwards. The Nobel peace laureate has spent more than 10 of the last 16 years under house arrest.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia , Indonesia, Laos , Malaysia, Burma , the Philippines, Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: Malaysiakini website, Petaling Jaya, in English 8 Mar 06