Asian nations deal blow to U.N. efforts on Burma - Benny Avni. Shame on worthless ASEAN

November 20, New York Sun
Asian nations deal blow to U.N. efforts on Burma - Benny Avni

United Nations -A regional group of southeastern Asian countries, which
includes Burma as a member, abruptly canceled a briefing by a U.N. envoy
yesterday, dealing the latest blow to U.N. efforts at mediation between
the junta and pro-democracy forces. The cancellation of the appearance of
Ibrahim Gambari at the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations was announced in Singapore just as international pressure on the
military rulers of Burma gained steam. The European Union announced
yesterday it would impose new sanctions against the junta, and the role
ASEAN plays in the Burma crisis was criticized by the Bush administration.

The announcement at a meeting of leaders of ASEAN members who gathered in
Singapore yesterday was greeted with surprise at the United Nations, where
Mr. Gambari's modest success in bringing the sides together has been
highlighted recently. Last week, Mr. Gambari briefed the Security Council
about his recent visits to Burma, after which he was able to relay a
message from the jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Secretary-General Ban said yesterday that Mr. Gambari had been officially
invited to report to the ASEAN foreign ministers about his latest efforts,
which included several trips to Burma, Singapore, and other neighboring
countries. "I have not been officially informed by the Singaporean prime
minister" that the briefing had been cancelled, Mr. Ban told reporters.

He added that Mr. Gambari was in mid-flight last night, on his way to
Singapore to address the group, and that once he arrives, he would try to
sort things out. Mr. Ban said that just a day earlier, he had spoken on
the phone with the Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. "He spoke
to me and invited Mr. Gambari, and I agreed to his invitation," Mr. Ban
said.

In Singapore, at the same time, Mr. Lee said the cancellation of the
scheduled briefing was made on behalf of Burma's prime minister, who
represented the junta at the ASEAN summit. The Singapore gathering
yesterday marked the first ASEAN meeting since the latest crisis began in
Burma - named Myanmar by the junta - in October.

"Prime Minister Thein Sein made clear that the situation in Myanmar was a
domestic affair and Myanmar was fully capable of handling the issue
itself," Mr. Lee said, according to Singapore's Channel News Asia. "He
explained that Gambari had visited the country four times and Myanmar had
implemented many of his proposals."

Mr. Gambari's "briefing is off," added a foreign minister of another ASEAN
member, Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar. "Myanmar feels that they deal with the
U.N., and it is their own domestic matter. This evening, Myanmar objected,
and we base our decisions on consensus." He blamed the confusion on
Singapore, saying, "The host country invited Gambari - it was not
something that was done by ASEAN."

The 10-member ASEAN accepted Burma as a member in 1997, and the group's
role in influencing an ease of the tight grip the junta keeps over the
country has not been universally praised.

"Canceling Gambari's briefing due to the objection made by the Burmese
military junta is ASEAN's longstanding weakness and ineffectiveness in
handling the bad behavior of its own troublemaker," the founder of the
Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma, Aung Din, said. Past rhetoric by
ASEAN leaders about Burma was "never transformed to action," he added,
predicting that "we will see the same in this summit as well."

ASEAN's reputation "has been called into question because of the situation
in Burma," the Bush administration's trade representative, Susan Schwab,
said yesterday, after she arrived in Singapore for the summit. "There's no
way that I could come here without expressing our concern," she added. "It
just can't be business as usual."

Members of ASEAN, some of which conduct extensive commercial ties with
Burma, have been officially opposed to any sanctions against the junta.
America recently announced a round of unilateral sanctions, and yesterday,
the European Union announced it would impose sanctions against top Burmese
generals and would ban the import of timber, gems, and metals from Burma
until its leaders enter a "meaningful dialogue" aimed at ushering
democracy in the country.


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