ASEAN ministers mull censuring Myanmar for hindering envoy

By EILEEN NG
Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats will discuss in an emergency meeting Friday whether to allow Myanmar’s military leader to attend an annual summit after a crisis envoy was barred from meeting ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations appointed Brunei’s Erywan Yusof to mediate an end to the Myanmar crisis, but he abruptly canceled his trip this week after learning he couldn’t meet Suu Kyi and others. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah says there is now plan for Erywan to visit Myanmar next Monday. He said ASEAN foreign ministers will discuss details of the visit later Friday and reiterated Malaysia’s stand that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing should be excluded from the summit if there is no real progress.