Myanmar gives up Asean chairmanship

Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win (1st R) smiles as he walks next to his counterparts Syed Hamid Albar (2nd R) from Malaysia, Ho Nam Hong (2nd L) from Cambodia and Hassan Wirayuda from Indonesia during the opening ceremony of the 36th annual ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) held yesterday in Vientiane. PHOTO: AFP

"We have agreed that once Myanmar is ready to assume the chairmanship, it can do so," he said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) had been under pressure to deny Myanmar the alphabetically rotated position to spare it criticism from the West, which is highly critical of the ruling junta.

"Our colleague from Myanmar has explained to us that 2006 will be a critical year and that the government of Myanmar wants to give its full attention to the (national reconciliation and democratisation) process," a statement from the ministers said.

Malaysia, the incoming Asean chairman, welcomed Myanmar's decision, which ended a row that had divided Asean members and overshadowed a meeting of its foreign ministers in the Lao capital Vientiane.

"I think it's a very good decision that Myanmar has made on its own," said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"I think it shows that Myanmar places the greatest interest on Asean unity," he said.

According to the alphabetical rotation of the position, the Philippines will take Myanmar's place as chairman in 2006.

Prime minister of Laos said during the opening of a regional meeting of foreign ministers yesterday "terrorism is a scourge that must be fought without regard to religion or race".

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian nations yesterday signed a pact to improve their united response to disasters and put in place early warning systems to cope with devastation similar to that caused by last year's tsunami.

The agreement provides for the setting up of mechanisms "to mitigate the impacts of natural and human-induced disaster and serve as a joint response to disaster emergencies," the 10 Asean ministers said in a statement.

The agreement will also pave the way for "developing a world-wide early warning system", said the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).