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Reuters
Reuters
Politics
Prak Chan Thul

ASEAN envoy seeks Myanmar junta blessing to meet its opponents

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Laos's Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi porst for group photo as they attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu

A special Southeast Asian envoy to the crisis in Myanmar on Thursday said he was seeking to visit the country next month and appealed to its military junta to give its blessing for him to talk with a shadow government it has labelled "terrorists".

Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia's foreign minister and new envoy for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said engaging the National Unity Government (NUG), a group of members of the ousted administration and other military opponents, was complicated because of the junta's objections.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn attends the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu

"You cannot on one hand try to engage with someone and on the other hand, engage with the one who is considered by the former as terrorists," he told a news conference after a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers.

"We are trying to find a way, of course ... If Naypyitaw is not speaking with the NUG so let the special envoy as the bridge, as the facilitator, speak," he said, referring to Myanmar's capital.

ASEAN last year unexpectedly blocked Myanmar's military government from joining key meetings over a failure to honour a peace plan agreed with the 10-member bloc, which included an immediate end to hostilities and letting a special envoy facilitate dialogue.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah attends the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu

Prak Sokhonn said his predecessor as ASEAN envoy was unable to visit Myanmar because of preconditions by some ASEAN members that the ruling generals found unacceptable.

Those included access to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the elected government ousted in last year's coup. Suu Kyi is on trial accused of multiple crimes.

As 2022 chair of ASEAN, Cambodia has caused some concern among fellow members over Prime Minister Hun Sen's preference to directly engage with the generals, including visiting junta leader Min Aung Hlaing last month.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi attends the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu

Hun Sen on Wednesday said that without a breakthrough, peace in Myanmar may not be achieved in years.

Prak Sokhonn defended that approach and said this time, ASEAN states had no preconditions for him to visit.

"The reason why the prime minister has taken the approach is because the work of the special envoy was stuck last year," he said.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. attends the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Cindy Liu

"Some our colleagues demand a bit too much. I say that they have demanded some hard preconditions that was not acceptable by Naypyitaw."

He said Cambodia would keep engaging the junta to "keep trust and confidence alive for the time being".

Malaysia's foreign minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, on Thursday urged Prak Sokhonn to meet with NUG.

On Facebook, he said he should meet with a wide range of groups in Myanmar, as did Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

"It's important for Myanmar to listen to concerns and views of those stakeholders," she told a virtual briefing.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, Stanley Widianto in Jakarta and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Writing by Ed Davies and Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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