UN chief delayed Asean meeting to avoid Myanmar military envoy
UN chief Antonio Guterres asked to postpone a virtual meeting with Southeast Asian ministers at the last minute to avoid signalling any recognition of Myanmar's military government by being in the same online room as the military's envoy, United Nations diplomats have said.
The meeting between the UN secretary-general and foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – including Wunna Maung Lwin, the foreign minister appointed by the military – had been due to take place last Friday.
But the day before, Guterres asked Asean to postpone the meeting "until a time when it can be held in a mutually agreeable format, in view of the ongoing urgent international and regional issues", according to an October 8 note from Asean chair Brunei – seen by the Reuters news agency – notifying members of the delay.
UN diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Guterres did not want to get ahead of a decision by UN member states on who will sit in Myanmar's seat at the world body after rival claims were made by the military and Kyaw Moe Tun, the current UN ambassador who was appointed by the elected government.
News of Guterres's reluctance to be seen at the same meeting as a military envoy comes as Asean foreign ministers were due to hold a special meeting yesterday to discuss excluding coup leader and military chief Min Aung Hlaing from an upcoming summit, amid mounting frustration over the ruling military's failure to comply with a road map for peace that was drawn up six months ago, reports Al Jazeera.
Myanmar insisted Thursday it would not allow a regional special envoy to meet Suu Kyi.
Meanwhile, the chief lawyer for Suu Kyi said yesterday he had been banned by the junta from speaking to journalists, diplomats or international organisations.
The gag order came after he relayed vivid testimony from the country's deposed president Win Myint -- describing how he rejected a military offer to resign to save himself during the February 1 coup, reports AFP.