MikeLigalig.com

By Clarence Fernandez

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) voiced concern over unrest in Myanmar on Tuesday, its first comments after soaring fuel prices prompted rare public protests in the military-ruled nation.

But ASEAN, several of whose 10 members consider the excesses of Myanmar's military regime to have cast all of Southeast Asia in a bad light, will stop short of sending an envoy to Yangon to express its concern, Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said.

"What we have done is to make our views known in a certain way, maybe it is not the high-profile way where we send a special envoy to go to Yangon, or to the new capital, to make a case," he told reporters in the Malaysian capital.

"But we have learnt through the last 10 years the way to work with Myanmar is to present a logical and good ASEAN position and they will find a way to answer our queries."

Myanmar's military government said on Monday it was forced to increase fuel prices this month because it could not afford the growing cost of subsidies. Diesel prices were doubled overnight and the cost of compressed natural gas surged five-fold.

Last week, Myanmar authorities arrested around 30 members of the country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, during protests over the price hikes, as well as 13 leading dissidents.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has criticised the arrests, urging Myanmar authorities to immediately release the detainees and hold talks with demonstrators.

Ong warned against overreacting to the wave of arrests, however. "Immediately after the protests, the presumption is there is no wrong done by protesters, but there is all the evil-doing by the Myanmar government. Is that a fair assumption?" he said

Debbie Stothard, spokeswoman of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a group campaigning against Myanmar's membership, said the arrests were not legal, with detainees being denied trial, legal assistance and access to their families.

"In any ASEAN capital, increasing the price of fuel by 500 percent would invite sustained riots, whether it's Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta or Bangkok," Stothard told Reuters.

"ASEAN at the very least should publicly express concern over the recent developments and call for political dialogue to resolve this latest crisis," she added.

Protests spread to the oil-producing northwest on Tuesday, where 300 people, including Buddhist monks, staged a protest march in Sittwe, a local source said.

ASEAN admitted Myanmar to its fold 10 years ago and maintains that keeping the nation engaged will lead to some change, but is getting restive to see the country move towards democracy.

The grouping's ministers last month urged Myanmar to restore democracy and release political detainees, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

An estimated 1,100 political prisoners are believed to be behind bars in the former Burma. Suu Kyi, 62, has now been confined for more than 11 of the past 17 years. Her latest detention began in 2003.


Burmese military patrol the streets.


Civilian pro-democracy protesters.


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