Hor Nam Hong: Don't bully our friend, the Myanmar Junta

(L-R) Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, Laos Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen talk before starting an informal working dinner at the 13th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit at the Shangri-La hotel in Singapore November 19, 2007. The United States criticised the ASEAN group of Southeast Asian nations on Monday over its handling of military-ruled Myanmar as the group prepared to sign a charter that calls for respect of democracy and human rights. (Rolex Dela Pena/Pool/Reuters)

Cambodia to Push for Positive Burma Outcome, as Asean Meetings Begin

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Singapore
19 November 2007

As Cambodia prepared to join the 13th Asean summit and the 40th birthday of the regional body, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Monday the situation in Burma would be foremost on the minds of leaders.

"I think that Cambodia's position is to push the good situation forward, as [pro-democracy leader] Aung Sann Sukyi has met with Burmese government representatives twice, and with UN representative [Ibrahim] Gambari twice," he said. "It is not customary for Asean to expel one of its members."

Burma is one of the 10 Asean countries, and a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations there last month has been a pressing issue for the its nine neighbors.

Speaking to VOA Khmer ahead of meetings, Hor Namhong also said Cambodia was seeking $10 million in extra funds for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, and he hoped the US would contribute.

He called poverty the "No. 1" enemy of Cambodia, and said next year's national elections will be better than elections past, "because the people are more mature, the politics are more mature and many parties have joined in."

Communist Laos and former-communist Cambodia condemned western economic sanctions imposed on dictatorial Myanmar, their common friend

Laos and Cambodia slam Myanmar sanctions

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Laos and Cambodia condemned the Western economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar after its brutal crackdown on democracy protests, calling on fellow members of the ASEAN regional bloc to stay out of each other's affairs.

Laos, a poor and landlocked communist state of 6.5 million people, has close political and economic ties with Myanmar. It was the first country Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein visited after his appointment last month.

"We denounce the imposition of sanctions or economic embargoes against Myanmar," Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh told Reuters in an interview on Sunday ahead of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also rejected sanctions.

"Economy sanctions are no good. They will not make the leaders of Myanmar die, but will lead to disaster for the civilian population. They are counter-productive," Hun Sen said in reply to questions at a business forum.

Myanmar's junta in September crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, killing at least 15 people. The crackdown brought international condemnation and tougher sanctions from the United States.

The 10-nation Association of ASEAN -- which Myanmar and neighboring Laos joined in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999 -- has come under intense international pressure to get tougher on Myanmar.

"All measures taken to address the situation in Myanmar should be in strict conformity with ASEAN's fundamental principles," Bouphavanh said through a Lao government translator.

"ASEAN should adhere strictly to its fundamental principles of respecting each other's independence and sovereignty."

Asked if his government, like Myanmar, would order the shooting of unarmed protesters if there were pro-democracy riots, Bouphavanh declined to give a direct answer.

"The best way for us is to do everything not to let something like that happen," he said.

When pressed, he added: "I do not think that there is any leader of a given nation who does not love his nation or his people."

On Friday, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to urge ASEAN to suspend Myanmar until the regime shows respect for human rights. ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong told Reuters on Saturday that this was unlikely to happen.

ASEAN leaders are set to sign a new charter on Tuesday, as well as a blueprint for an ASEAN Economic Community and a declaration on the environment, but diplomats expect that the ASEAN summit will be dominated by the Myanmar issue.

(Reporting by Daryl Loo and Geert De Clercq; Editing by John Chalmers)