Singapore: Myanmar was hit today with demands to release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and criticism over its bloody crackdown on dissent, at a regional summit that embraced its friends and foes.

The East Asia Summit, which groups Southeast Asia with heavyweights China and Japan as well as Australia, India, New Zealand and South Korea, wrapped up four days of regional talks dominated by the crisis in the military state.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo issued a stern call for the ruling generals to immediately release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.

Myanmar scored a victory at the ASEAN summit by forcing the cancellation of UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari s planned briefing on the crisis in the military state, which he had been due to give to the wider East Asia gathering.
But Prime Minister Thein Sein faced a tougher reception at the 16-nation talks which took place two months after the regime violently suppressed pro-democracy protests in September, leaving at least 15 dead. "I have a deep concern over the human rights situation in Myanmar," Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said after the one-day meeting.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was "disappointed" with the decision on the Gambari briefing and called on Asian nations to support the envoy s efforts, singling out Beijing.

The UN s independent human rights expert for Myanmar, special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, meanwhile, urged that the international community "demonstrate more competence, less talk and more action," on Myanmar.

Source : PTI