Burma general faces bloc's leaders

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Southeast Asian leaders demanded an immediate end to killings and the release of political detainees in Burma in an emergency summit with its top general and coup leader Saturday in the Indonesian capital, Indonesia's president said.

The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also told Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during the two-hour talks in Jakarta that a dialogue between contending parties in Burma should immediately start with the help of association envoys, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said.

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"The situation in Myanmar is unacceptable and should not continue. Violence must be stopped, democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be returned immediately," Widodo said during the meeting. "The interests of the people of Myanmar must always be the priority."

Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that ruling military authorities adopted in 1989. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other regime opponents have refused to adopt the name change, as have the U.S. and Britain.

Daily shootings by police and soldiers since the Feb. 1 coup have killed more than 700 mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders, according to several independent tallies.

The messages conveyed to Min Aung Hlaing were unusually blunt and could be seen as a breach of the conservative 10-nation bloc's bedrock principle forbidding member states from interfering in others' domestic affairs. But Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that policy should not lead to inaction if a domestic situation "jeopardizes the peace, security, and stability of [the bloc] and the wider region" and there is international clamor for resolute action.

"There is a tremendous expectation on the part of the international community on how [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is addressing the Myanmar issue. The pressure is increasing," Muhyiddin said, and added that the current chairman, Brunei Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, and the regional bloc's secretary-general should be allowed access to Burma to meet contending parties, encourage dialogue and come up with "an honest and unbiased observation."

Such a political dialogue "can only take place with the prompt and unconditional release of political detainees," the Malaysian premier said.

A formal statement issued through Brunei after the summit outlined the demands made by the heads of state in more subtle terms. It asked for the "immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar" and urged all parties to "exercise utmost restraint," but omitted the demand voiced by Widodo and other leaders for the immediate release of political detainees. It said the bloc would provide humanitarian aid to Burma.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed hopes on the eve of the summit that "we can reach an agreement on the next steps that can help the people of Myanmar get out of this delicate situation."

Aside from Burma and Indonesia, the bloc is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Critics have said the bloc's decision to meet the coup leader was unacceptable and amounted to legitimizing the overthrow and the deadly crackdown that followed. States agreed to meet Min Aung Hlaing but did not treat or address him as Burma's head of state at the summit, a Southeast Asian diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.

The London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Indonesia and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations states ahead of the summit to investigate Min Aung Hlaing over "credible allegations of responsibility for crimes against humanity in Myanmar." As a state party to a U.N. convention against torture, Indonesia has a legal obligation to prosecute or extradite a suspected perpetrator on its territory, it said.

Information for this article was contributed by Jim Gomez, Eileen Ng, Kiko Rosario and Grant Peck of The Associated Press.