Myanmar's Junta Leader To Again Skip ASEAN Summit In Philippines
| Myanmar activity Link will updated news and things whatever concern to myanmar so that everyone from myanmar know what happen & changes there.. This include such as phone card myanmar,myanmar vacation,sightseeing myanmar,myanmar cruises,money exchange rate,sedona hotel,Myanmar News |
Myanmar's junta leader Senior General Than Shwe will again skip the annual leaders' summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Philippines this month, officials said Friday.
Than Shwe informed Philippine officials that he could not attend the 12th ASEAN Summit on December 11-13 on Mactan Island, 600 kilometres south of Manila, because he was preoccupied with Myanmar's national convention for the drafting of a new constitution.
Myanmar would instead be represented by Prime Minister Soe Win in the meetings.
"He sent his regrets and said he cannot attend the meeting because he has to attend to pressing matters in Myanmar," an official, who requested anonymity, said. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier personally invited Than Shwe to attend the summit. The invitation was relayed by Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo when he visited Myanmar in August.
Than Shwe has also skipped previous ASEAN leaders' summit and is usually represented by Soe Win or Foreign Minister U Nyan Win.
Myanmar was supposed to take over the rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN this year, but it backed out amid pressure from ASEAN dialogue partners. The chairmanship was then passed on the Philippines based on ASEAN's alphabetical rotation.
Dialogue partners, such as the United States and the European Union, had threatened to boycott meetings with ASEAN if Myanmar were to host the meetings, citing the military junta's failure to implement genuine democratic reforms.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. They will be joined by representatives from Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India during the summit.
from http://www.playfuls.com/news
