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Indonesia leads Asean Burma fears Burma-N Korea ties 'of concern'
(about 3 hours later)
Indonesia's foreign minister has said Burma's elections cannot be free and fair unless detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is free. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Washington is "very seriously" concerned about military co-operation between North Korea and Burma.
Hasan Wirayuda was speaking as regional foreign ministers gathered in Thailand for an Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum. Arriving in Thailand ahead of a forum on regional security, she said the relationship was a threat to stability.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also due to attend the forum. She also condemned Burma's treatment of jailed pro-democracy leader leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
She is currently in Bangkok, where she is due to meet Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Foreign ministers from the Asean grouping, as well as EU and US envoys, are meeting on Wednesday in Thailand.
Asean has a policy of non-interference in members' affairs, but Burma has provoked widespread censure. "We know there are also growing concerns about military co-operation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," Mrs Clinton said after meeting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Indonesia has led Asean concerns about Burma, telling correspondents that the group has become frustrated at the lack of progress on democratic reforms. "It would be destabilising for the region, it would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbours," she said.
Mr Wirayuda said the recent trial of Ms Suu Kyi had dashed hopes of a meaningful election scheduled for next year. 'Unacceptable treatment'
Asean leaders have expressed satisfaction that a figure as senior as Mrs Clinton is attending the regional forum. In recent years more junior US officers have been sent, leaving the delegate from China - a growing influence in the region - as the key figure at the talks.
This year's forum, being held on the resort island of Phuket, is expected to focus on North Korea and Burma.
Burma, a member of Asean, is likely to face some awkward questions
Mrs Clinton is expected to put pressure on North Korea to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament.
US officials have said she is to meet with her counterparts from the other parties to the six-nation talks: South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
It is not clear if Mrs Clinton will meet any North Korean delegates. Pyongyang has refused to send its foreign minister to Phuket but will send a "roving ambassador".
Speaking on the issue of Burma, Mrs Clinton the US expected "fair treatment" of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We have condemned the way that she has been treated by the regime in Burma, which we consider to be baseless and totally unacceptable."
Ms Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for about 14 of the last 20 years. She is currently in a Rangoon prison on trial for allegedly breaking the conditions of her house arrest.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has a policy of non-interference in members' affairs, but Burma has provoked widespread censure.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said elections that Burma's military rulers have promised for next year could not be free and fair unless Ms Suu Kyi was freed.
A new human rights body created by Asean, lambasted by regional activists as lacking any enforcement power, was almost scuttled over the weekend when an increasingly assertive Indonesia sought to strengthen its provisions.A new human rights body created by Asean, lambasted by regional activists as lacking any enforcement power, was almost scuttled over the weekend when an increasingly assertive Indonesia sought to strengthen its provisions.
Inclusive
"We have been saying to them [Burma] directly that the process must be inclusive for all groups in society... including Aung San Suu Kyi," Mr Wirayuda told the Associated Press in a reference to Burma's planned poll.
"We should see whether from now until 2010 they develop a credible process leading to truly democratic elections acceptable to the international community," he said.
Hillary Clinton is arriving in Thailand from India.
He said the "big test" will be whether the regime's promised elections next year are truly "multiparty, meaning inclusive in nature, but also whether the process is a democratic one".
He said Asean has been "able to develop a more open, frank discussion" with Burma, while admitting it was hard to see if all the talk made any difference inside the country.
He was speaking after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made a fruitless trip to Burma, during which he was not allowed to visit Ms Suu Kyi.
Clinton in Thailand
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said six months ago that the US was reviewing its policy towards Burma as sanctions did not appear to be successful in forcing change.
However, on this, her first trip to an Asean meeting, analysts have noted that there has been no hint of a new policy.
Instead, the talks are expected to focus on finding ways to push North Korea back to the negotiating table.
Six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear programmes stalled last year, and since then the North has set off nuclear and missile tests amid questions over the leadership as Kim Jong-il's health has worsened.
Asean leaders have expressed satisfaction that a figure as senior as Mrs Clinton is attending the regional forum. In recent years more junior US officers have been sent, leaving the delegate from China - a growing influence in the region - to be the key figure at the talks.
Mrs Clinton is meeting Thai Prime Minister Abhisist Vejjajiva and the Thai foreign minister in Bangkok before joining the forum in Phuket.