Daily US Times: The army general of Mynamar who seized power of the country in February has been excluded from an annual summit of regional leaders later this month.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) agreed to invite a non-political representative from the country instead of Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
It is an unprecedented move for the Asean, which traditionally avoids interfering in its members’ affairs.
The 10-nation bloc said the military had not done enough to end the turmoil in Myanmar.
General Min Aung Hlaing named himself prime minister in August and said Myanmar’s state of emergency would be extended as fighting between the army and militia forces opposed to the military coup continued.
In a statement, Asean said that an emergency meeting of its foreign ministers on Friday was not able to reach a consensus on whether the military should represent Myanmar at the summit held between 26-28 October.
Asean said Myanmar’s military leaders had refused to fulfil promises of de-escalation and dialogue and said its representative had been banned from meeting the deposed and imprisoned civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The statement was issued by Brunei, which is hosting the summit. It said the situation in Myanmar “was having an impact on regional security as well as the unity, credibility and centrality of Asean”.
Asean previously urged Gen Min Aung Hlaing to release political prisoners and to end the violent crackdown in the country.
There have been no indications yet, and the military is willing to reduce the use of violence against the opposition and to start negotiating with them.
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