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SYDNEY: US President George W. Bush on Friday invited
Southeast Asian leaders, including an official from Myanmar, to
Texas despite his increasingly sharp attacks on the isolated
nation’s military regime.
In recent days, Bush has branded
Myanmar’s leaders as “tyrannical” and their crackdown on
prodemocracy activists and protests over fuel prices as
“inexcusable” as US officials talked about “next steps” to
pressure Yangon.
Bush made the announcement as he
met with leaders of countries that are members of both the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in Sydney.
“I invited the Asean leaders to
Texas at their convenience. I’m looking forward to hosting you
down there,” said Bush, who reserves invitations to Texas as a
diplomatic plum for close allies.
He said democracy promotion, the
war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian flu, and climate change
would be on the agenda for the talks, which could take place at his
ranch or “another location” in Texas, an aide said.
“I also am pleased to announce
that we’ll be naming an ambassador to Asean, so that we can make
sure that the ties we’ve established over the past years remain
firmly entrenched,” said the US president.
White House national security
spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all Asean heads of state had been
invited, except Myanmar, whose “level of participation is to be
determined.”
The US president unveiled the
meeting as he held talks here with leaders of Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asean’s other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
“Asean represents our fourth
largest trading partner. In other words, this is a group of friends
that represent more than just social acquaintances, you represent
commerce and trade and prosperity,” he said.
Bush’s announcement came hours
after he called on APEC leaders to pile pressure on the military
rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to free prodemocracy
activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.
--AFP
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