Myanmar junta chief blasts Asean for excluding him from summit

[NAYPYITAW] Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing blasted other South-east Asian countries for demanding that his military end worsening violence at home, when he learned about his exclusion from a big-ticket regional summit to take place later this month.

Allies of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi were driving the repeated calls, the coup leader said on state-broadcaster MRTV on Monday. He added that the regime had agreed to end violence in the conflict-torn country months ago, but had been prevented from doing so by "more acts of violence driven by the incitement of terrorist groups". "We haven't seen anyone caring about or trying to stop such destructive acts," he said. "They keep making demands to us and we ourselves have to deal with such acts. I'd like to say that Asean needs to work on this."

The junta leader also announced on Monday that more than 5,000 people jailed for protesting against the February coup would be granted their freedom, to mark the Thadingyut festival later this month.

Top regional diplomats earlier this month agreed to exclude Min Aung Hlaing from the meeting of Association of South-east Asian Nations leaders slated for Oct 26-28 in Brunei. It was a rare and decisive move to hold the regime accountable for the worsening domestic situation since it seized the government in a coup back in February. The military government had made insufficient progress on an agreement struck with Asean in April that included stopping violence, the bloc said on Saturday.

The National Unity Government, a shadow government set up by Suu Kyi's allies challenging the legitimacy of the regime, welcomed Asean's decision to instead invite a non-political representative. "Asean must ensure the Myanmar representative can objectively represent the interest of Myanmar and its people," it said in a statement. "We stand ready to provide recommendations for a non-political representative for Asean's evaluation and consideration."

Since overthrowing the civilian-led administration, the junta has killed more than 1,178 protesters throughout the country, and arrested nearly 9,000 others, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Suu Kyi remains in prison and has gone on trial for a string of charges including breaking Covid-19 restrictions during last year's elections, as well as incitement and corruption. Her supporters said these allegations are groundless and serve as a justification for the military to launch a coup.

BLOOMBERG