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Plea to postpone entry to Asean
Bangkok Post July 10th
Plea to postpone entry to Asean
Malaysia refuses to back Thai position
Anuraj Manibhandu, Saritdet Marukatat, Somchai Meesane and Bhanravee
Tansubhapol
Thailand will urge Asean foreign ministers today to postpone the entry
of Cambodia, a source said yesterday.
The ministers, meeting in Kuala Lumpur, will be told conditions in
Cambodia are such that it should not be admitted with Burma and Laos on
July 23, as planned.
Thailand will suggest Cambodia's case be reconsidered in December, when
Asean leaders hold their second informal summit. The first such talks,
in Jakarta in December 1996, called for the three to be admitted at the
same time.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore have indicated support for the
Thai position but Malaysia is eager to make Asean a community of 10 in
its 30th year in line with the vision of the five founding fathers who
signed the Bangkok Declaration on August 8, 1967.
Brunei and Vietnam are other current members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
The United Nations is also said to favour postponing the entry of
Cambodia.
The source said Thailand wanted Cambodia's rival prime ministers to
negotiate a settlement. It did not want Asean to be seen as supporting
the arrangement that prevails in Cambodia.
Asean members are emphasising the importance of the rival parties, and
other co-signatories, abiding by the October 1991 Paris Peace Agreement
on Cambodia.
The pact, signed by 19 countries, including all Asean states, as well as
China, France and the United States, calls for national unity among
Cambodians up to the next elections.
In Vientiane, Laotian Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad told Asean
envoys his government stood by simultaneous entry under the 1996 Jakarta
Declaration.
Burmese ambassador to Thailand Hla Maung has stressed the conflict
between Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh was Cambodia's internal
problem.
Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasarn said he and his colleagues had two
choices: Postpone the admittance of Cambodia, Burma and Laos or abandon
the principle of simultaneous induction.
Under the second option, Asean would admit candidates deemed ready and
leave the door open to others still facing problems to enter later,
possibly at the informal summit of Asean leaders scheduled for December.
The minister did not say which option Thailand preferred or identify the
member he believed not ready yet.
But he indicated a leaning towards later but simultaneous admittance.
Notably, he reaffirmed Bangkok's position before the May 31 meeting of
Asean foreign ministers, which was in favour of admitting the three at
the December summit.
Mr Prachuab also said postponement would give Asean more time to prepare
for unexpected eventualities. In addition, if the ministers decided to
admit the three separately, they would have to consult Asean leaders who
chose the simultaneous principle, he said.
Under this scenario, he went on, the ministers could consult their
leaders after today's meeting, and confer again during the annual
ministerial meeting set for the last week of July.
The source said Mr Prachuab told Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh on
Tuesday he had reservations about Cambodia's early entry.
Mr Prachuab said yesterday Thailand would allow First Prime Minister
Ranariddh passage to Cambodia but not allow the prince's Funcinpec party
or other Cambodian groups to use Thai soil.
UN Special Representative for Cambodia Lakhan Mehrotra, who met Mr
Prachuab on Tuesday, said he would ask UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to convene a Security Council meeting on Cambodia, Mr Prachuab said.
The representative shared Thailand's view that the Paris accords should
be the framework for discussing the future of Cambodia, Mr Prachuab
said.
"It is premature to decide on the status of Cambodia now," Mr Prachuab
said. Thailand would follow any decision that emerged from the Security
Council.
Conditions in Cambodia had now returned to normal, Mr Prachuab said.
According to the Foreign Ministry, 656 Thais and 94 foreigners were
moved out by air force planes on Tuesday.
The European Union, one of Asean's 10 dialogue partners, has called on
Asean countries to "use all their influence to persuade Cambodian
authorities to re-establish calm in their country".
The EU also called on the country's authorities to "re-establish the
operation of constitutional institutions in Cambodia as soon as
possible, " said a statement released in Brussels by the EU Presidency
on Monday.
"The European Union reminds the Cambodian government that it gave a
public undertaking to the international community when it announced that
legislative elections would be held in May 1998," it added.
The US State Department in a statement on Monday, urged Cambodian
leaders to "resolve their political differences peacefully and to abide
by the principles of the Paris Peace Accords".
>From New York, news agencies reported that Prince Ranariddh was due to
meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last night before proceeding
to Washington to seek support from US leaders.
"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE. ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION." "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."
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