ASEAN foreign ministers in a strongly worded statement asked the military junta in their member country Myanmar to stop the crackdown on its protesters.

Meeting in New York, the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations “expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities,” said the statement released by the ASEAN headquarters.

Besides Myanmar, other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The statement said the foreign ministers “were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used and demanded that the Myanmar government immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators.”

The ministers told the Myanmar foreign minister they were concerned about the impact from the developments in his country on the reputation and credibility of ASEAN.

The ministers also expressed their support of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision to send special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar. The Myanmar foreign minister has promised the visa for Gambari’s visit would be issued in Singapore. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 28 September 2007   

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