Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders clap after a group photo at the opening ceremony of the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta May 7, 2011. REUTERS/Supri
Saturday May 7 2011
By NINIEK KARMINI
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to meet with Indonesia's president at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders to try to find a way to end repeated deadly clashes along their disputed border, officials said.
The border issue dominated the mood at the annual meeting that also had Myanmar's bid to become chair of the regional grouping high on the agenda.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which is supposed to focus on steps needed to create an integrated regional economic zone by 2015.
But little can be accomplished, he said, without peace and stability between the 10 member countries.
To that end, Yudhoyono will host a meeting between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers Sunday to try to hammer out a lasting cease-fire to end repeated outbreaks of fighting that have killed more than a dozen people over two weeks and forced nearly 100,000 villagers to flee.
Though agreement by both sides to accept mediation was a good sign — Thailand has previously said the matter must be resolved directly between it and Cambodia — it's unclear how much can be accomplished given the acrimony.
The two sides came up with preconditions Friday for sending Indonesian observers to the border, but Cambodia quickly lambasted a request by Thailand to first remove troops from its own side of the frontier.
"Can you imagine that Cambodia withdraw from their own territory? It's nonsense!" Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters at the summit Saturday.
Other security concerns on the table were terrorism following the death of Osama bin Laden and tensions over the potentially oil-rich Spratly islands claimed by China and four ASEAN nations — a dispute that worries the U.S. as well.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters that during the ministerial meeting, he raised the need for ASEAN to end a nine-year disagreement with China that has prevented both sides from completing the guidelines of a 2002 accord aimed at preventing armed conflicts over the Spratlys.
The guidelines would allow China and other claimant countries — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — to pursue joint development projects to ease tensions in the South China Sea region.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, who heads the military-backed party that overwhelmingly won general elections late last year, was expected to ask for the right to chair ASEAN in 2014.
Some countries say Myanmar is ready, but others argue that, despite the recent release of pro-democracy leader Ang Sang Suu Kyi, the government has not yet done enough to improve human rights.
Myanmar still has more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The regional grouping is supposed to rotate its chair every year between member countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, Myanmar was forced to skip its turn in 2005 after coming under heavy pressure from the international community over slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights.
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Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
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