Delay Yangon's entry into ASEAN.

[082903@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

		Delay Yangon's entry into Asean 
		********************************


     KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) yesterday
     urged the government to defer Myanmar's entry into Asean for 
"harassing Muslim
     communities". 

     Abim, one of the most influential Islamic groups in Malaysia, 
delivered a protest letter
     yesterday to the Myanmar embassy with copies to Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Ahmad
     Badawi and Acting Prime Minister and former Abim chief Anwar 
Ibrahim. 

     It called on the government to review its policy on Myanmar "and, if 
possible, to delay
     its entry into Asean until the existence of a legitimate government 
of Burma." 

     Its Secretary-General Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman said that 30 mosques 
had been
     destroyed in Myanmar in unrest between Buddhist monks and Muslims 
since March,
     most of them in the central city of Mandalay. 

     Its letter accused the Slorc of instigating riots "to divert popular 
attention from the
     national political and economic hardships". 

     Malaysia is this year's chairman of Asean, whose foreign ministers 
will meet here on
     Saturday to decide when to admit Myanmar. 

     Diplomats and political analysts said Myanmar would most likely 
become a full
     member at the annual Asean ministerial meeting scheduled for July 24 
- 25. 

[The Straits Times, 28 May 1997].

******************************************************************************