Amid division, Asean leaders plan Myanmar visit this week

The chair and secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) plan to travel to Myanmar this week even as the 10-nation bloc remains divided on how to respond to the military coup there, four diplomatic sources said.

Asean, a grouping that includes Myanmar and has a policy of non-interference in the affairs of members, has led the main diplomatic effort to resolve the violent turmoil gripping the country following the overthrow of a democratically-elected government four months ago.

The military has detained Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and imprisoned political opponents amid a deadly crackdown on protesters, resulting in a growing refugee crisis and the collapse of the economy.

Erywan Yusof, the second minister for foreign affairs for Brunei, Asean's chair this year, and the bloc's secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi, also from Brunei, are scheduled to meet this week with leaders of the junta, among other stakeholders, the sources, who asked not to be identified, said.

The sources warned that a trip could be delayed or derailed by last-minute logistical and diplomatic impediments.

It is unclear if the pair plan to meet with opponents of the junta, many of whom are imprisoned or in hiding. The planned trip comes more than five weeks after Asean leaders announced a "five-point consensus" to end violence; promote dialogue; deliver aid; appoint a special envoy; and send a delegation headed by the envoy to Myanmar to meet "with all parties concerned".

However, the special envoy has yet to be appointed amid divisions within Asean.

All diplomatic sources said Indonesia and Thailand, two of Asean's most important members, were at loggerheads over the envoy.

Indonesia initially favoured a single envoy to lead a task force while Thailand, whose military has close ties to neighbouring Myanmar, pushed for a "friends of the chair" body of multiple representatives, the sources said.

The compromise supported by most Asean states is for three envoys, likely made up of representatives from Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, two sources said.