NEWS - Southeast Asian Meeting wit

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Subject: NEWS - Southeast Asian  Meeting with Europe Canceled Over Myanmar

Southeast Asian  Meeting with Europe Canceled Over Myanmar

               AP
               14-MAR-99

               MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A meeting between the
               European Union and Southeast Asian nations this
               month has been canceled over a dispute about
               Myanmar, a Philippine official said Sunday. 

               European nations have said they do not want
               Myanmar, also known as Burma, to attend the
               meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian
               Nations because of the military government's poor
               human rights record. 

               Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan was
               negotiating with the EU in hopes of reaching a
               compromise that would allow the foreign ministers'
               meeting to proceed as planned in Berlin, Philippine
               Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said. 

               Asked if the meeting will be held, Siazon said, "As of
               today, no, but still talks are going on about the
               format." 

               "What is being requested is to discriminate against
               an ASEAN member, which is unthinkable," Siazon
               said after meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister
               Win Aung, who began a three-day visit to Manila
               Sunday. 

               Myanmar's slow progress in human rights has been
               an embarrassment for ASEAN, which admitted the
               country in 1997. Myanmar's membership has
               tarnished the reputation of the nine-member group
               and interfered in ASEAN's relations with other
               regions. 

               Win Aung told reporters Sunday that ASEAN
               members should remain tightly united. 

               "If ASEAN is united, nobody could come and then
               make a wedge between us. That is very important,
               we should stick together come what may," he said. 

               Philippine officials said they plan to "express
               disappointment" to Win Aung about human rights
               conditions in Myanmar. 

               ASEAN also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos,
               Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.