ASEAN grapples with Thai-Cambodia dispute after issuing rebuke to Myanmar

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian nations grappled Tuesday with the vexing issue of democracy in Myanmar and a simmering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia ahead of a key security meeting of regional superpowers.

Thailand and Cambodia are locked in a dangerous military standoff over a piece of land near an ancient temple. Bilateral talks on Monday failed to resolve the dispute.

"What we need is for Cambodia and Thailand to really exercise their utmost restraint ... to prevent any outbreak of open conflict," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters.

There must be a "cooling off" by the two sides, said Wirajuda, who is here to attend the annual foreign ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations through Thursday.

ASEAN's efforts on Myanmar also received a setback when the country's junta said pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi may be detained until late May 2009, rather than through the end of 2008, as had been reported earlier.

The clarification came as foreign ministers of ASEAN's remaining nine member countries on Monday "urged Myanmar to take bolder steps toward a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future."

ASEAN members usually avoid interfering in each other's domestic affairs, although that appears to be changing in a bid to give the group greater relevance.

A glimmer of hope for Suu Kyi's early release was raised on Sunday when the ministers thought they heard their Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, say at a dinner that the Nobel Peace laureate can be freed by December 2008.

But Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, who passed on the remarks to the media, clarified the next day that Nyan Win had been misheard, and that the detention will last until at least November 2009.

Despite ASEAN's frustrations with the junta, the regional grouping has taken the lead in calling for international aid to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar's coastal regions in May.

On Monday, it released a joint report of a disaster assessment conducted with the United Nations and the Myanmar government, which says the survivors of the cyclone need at least US$1 billion in aid over the next three years.

Wirajuda said ASEAN expects to be contacted soon by the United Nations with a request to help resolve the Thai-Cambodia dispute over an area near a temple that was recently designated a World Heritage Site.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it had requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council for help in resolving the border issue. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong also asked ASEAN host Singapore to form a regional inter-ministerial group to help end the crisis.

ASEAN "could not stand idly by without damaging its credibility," said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. "The situation has escalated dangerously," he said.

Also Tuesday, ASEAN ministers will meet with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea for wider discussions on regional security. On top of the agenda is likely to be North Korea's nuclear program.

The topic will take center-stage at another meeting on the sidelines on Wednesday between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia — the participants in six-party nuclear talks.

It will be the highest-level meeting in the six-country negotiations, which began in 2003 with the aim of convincing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program.

The meetings will culminate Thursday with the ASEAN Regional Forum, the premier security dialogue of Asia-Pacific between ASEAN and 16 other countries plus the European Union. It includes the United States and Russia.