MYANMAR REJECTS TALKS ON ETHNIC VIOLENCE?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Myanmar has rejected an offer by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations to open talks aimed at quelling deadly communal violence there,
according to the regional bloc's chief.
Surin Pitsuwan (photo above) said on Tuesday he proposed setting up tripartite
talks between ASEAN, the UN and Myanmar's government to prevent the
violence from having a broader regional impact.
But he said Myanmar turned down the offer to discuss the bloodshed in
the western Rakhine state that has led to about 180 deaths since June.
The bloodshed has pitted Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims.
"Myanmar believes it is their internal matter, but your internal
matter could be ours the next day if you are not
careful," Surin, ASEAN's secretary-general, said after delivering a
speech at a forum in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Fresh fighting in Rakhine this month resulted in another 88 people
being killed and added to the thousands of homes torched, with tens of
thousands of Rohingya Muslims now living in overcrowded camps.
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