 to invite a non-political representative instead of Myanmar’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the grouping’s chair Brunei said Saturday.
The 10-member bloc has been under intense international pressure to do more to force member state Myanmar to halt the violence that has left more than 1,100 civilians dead and to free scores of political figures, including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
ASEAN foreign ministers held an emergency meeting late Friday after Myanmar refused to cooperate with the bloc’s crisis envoy, Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof. He was appointed in August to mediate in the crisis but abruptly canceled a trip to Myanmar Erywan could not meet with people facing legal proceedings such as Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint or with entities that have been declared illegal, Brunei said in a statement.
Suu Kyi and other top civilian leaders were detained in the army takeover. She faces various charges that her supporters and independent analysts say are designed.
“This was a difficult but necessary decision to uphold ASEAN’s credibility given the unsatisfactory and highly limited progress” to resolve the crisis, Singapore’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Officials did not say who would be invited instead.
In handling Myanmar, ASEAN has been hamstrung by its bedrock policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of member nations and its consensus approach. Some members.
_____
Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.