Foreign ministers from Asia and Europe were to condemn on Tuesday North Korea's nuclear test and call for the release of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to draft statements seen by AFP.
Delegates said the two issues vaulted to the top of the agenda at wide-ranging talks by the Asia-Europe (ASEM) foreign ministers, who were to end two days of discussions later Tuesday.
Ministers "condemn" the underground test, which Stalinist North Korea announced on Monday, said the draft.
The draft statement said the test constitutes "a clear violation" of agreements at six-party nuclear disarmament talks and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt confirmed ministers had agreed to condemn the test. "Yes," he said.
North Korea announced its test Monday morning as the ASEM ministers began their talks.
It said the test, its second, was for "self-defence," but the move angered Pyongyang's allies as well as its enemies and sparked unanimous condemnation from the UN Security Council.
ASEM groups the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the European Union (EU), China, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Pakistan and India.
Japan and China are also involved with Russia, the two Koreas, and the United States in the six-party effort to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programmes in exchange for economic aid.
"We had good discussions at the working dinner yesterday evening and it produced a clear and specific statement deploring the test," British junior foreign minister Bill Rammell told reporters before AFP saw the draft document.
A separate draft pronouncement called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was set to testify on Tuesday at her trial in Yangon.
"In light of the concern about the recent development to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, ministers… called for the early release of those under detention and the lifting of restriction placed on political parties," said the draft, seen late Monday.
She faces up to five years in jail on charges of violating her house arrest — which her lawyers said was to expire Wednesday — after an incident in which an American man swam to her house.
A top Myanmar police officer said Tuesday that the junta had the right to extend her house arrest by six months.
ASEM ministers have agreed to a text that "makes specific reference to the release of political prisoners and particularly Aung San Suu Kyi," Rammell said.
But Bildt cautioned that: "Things are moving forward but nothing is ready until it's ready."
France's human rights minister, Rama Yade, said delegations had spoken about Aung San Suu Kyi's plight in "sometimes not very diplomatic" tones.
She that while ministers had agreed to the statements about North Korea and Myanmar, "everything could change again, but for the moment they are along that line."
During a meeting Monday with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win on the sidelines of the ASEM talks, the EU called for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said.
In a rare move, ASEAN last week issued an expression of "grave concern" over the treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours traditionally prefer not to be seen as intervening in the affairs of their members.
Myanmar belongs to both the 10-member ASEAN and ASEM.
Rammell described Nyan Win's tone at the ASEM meeting as "very resistant" while Bildt said Myanmar — formerly called Burma — was "defensive".
"I think the Burmese regime has miscalculated and has been somewhat taken aback by the force of international reaction," Rammell said.
China, a close ally of both North Korea and Myanmar, has played a "very constructive" role in the ASEM talks, said Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign affairs minister.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
