Myanmar wins diplomatic coup with nod to chair ASEAN

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Southeast Asian leaders agreed on Thursday to allow Myanmar to chair their bloc in 2014, in a victory for the new government seeking international legitimacy after a series of reform moves.

Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said that Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) leaders had given the green light at their summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

"All leaders are in agreement that significant changes, significant developments, have taken place in Myanmar and those changes have made it more conducive for Myanmar to carry out this responsibility," he said.

The decision to give Myanmar's nominally civilian government the diplomatic prize comes after tentative reform steps that have surprised observers, but in the face of warnings from the United States that the move is premature.

Since being sworn in eight months ago, the government has held direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, freed 200 dissidents, frozen work on an unpopular mega-dam and passed a law giving workers the right to strike.

But rights campaigners say those measures could easily be reversed and that handing Myanmar the diplomatic prize could remove the incentive for more fundamental change in a nation still accused of serious rights abuses.

"With this decision there is more chance to give more encouragement to Myanmar to keep up the momentum for change," Natalegawa said.

Along with the ASEAN chairmanship, the decision means Myanmar will host the East Asia Summit in 2014, which brings ASEAN members together with the United States, China and Russia, among others.

US President Barack Obama, speaking in Australia before travelling to Bali for Saturday's East Asia Summit, was cautious on the signs of reform.

He said that 'violations of human rights persist' in Myanmar and that his administration would continue to push for change with a mix of sanctions and engagement.

"So we will continue to speak clearly about the steps that must be taken for the government of Burma (Myanmar) to have a better relationship with the United States," he said.

However, a senior Myanmar official at the Bali conference said his government was confident the United States would attend the 2014 meeting.

Asked whether he was concerned that Washington could decide to boycott the event, Sit Aye, senior legal adviser to Myanmar President Thein Sein, said: "I don't think so.

"We will take this responsibility of chairmanship seriously," he said shortly before the decision was announced.

"Human rights problems happen all over the world including the United States," he said. "Countries should solve these according to their own situation."

Natalegawa said that while ASEAN leaders recognised the positive changes that had taken place in Myanmar, more measures including prisoner releases would be welcome.

"There is inherent in this sentiment to closely monitor the developments in Myanmar because ASEAN wants to ensure that in 2014 Myanmar will be more than where they are now, towards more democratisation."