Reuters :
Seven Southeast Asian leaders are expected to attend a summit with head of Myanmar’s junta to discuss the crisis caused by the military coup, according to diplomats and officials in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital where Saturday’s meeting will be held.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup that deposed Myanmar’s democratically-elected government in February, is expected to participate in the summit of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the sources said.
Thailand’s prime minister and the president of the
Philippines have said they would send their foreign ministers. ASEAN’s other members include Myanmar itself, Brunei, Cambodia, the host Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
The meeting is the first concerted international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar where security forces have killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters since the Feb.1 coup. It is also a test for ASEAN, which traditionally does not interfere in the internal affairs of a member state and operates by consensus.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged ASEAN leaders to help prevent an escalation of the crisis and “possible grave humanitarian implications beyond Myanmar’s borders,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday.
