Myanmar leader not invited to Asean summit

Myanmar's junta leader has not been invited to a regional summit next month, host Cambodia said in a fresh diplomatic snub for the isolated military regime. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has led diplomatic efforts to resolve the turmoil that has gripped Myanmar since the military seized power last year. But there has been little progress on a "five-point consensus" agreed with the junta, and its leader and ministers have been shut out of recent meetings of the 10-member regional bloc. Linking the invitation to "progress in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus", a Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman said the junta had been invited to "nominate a non-political representative for the upcoming Asean Summits".

This means junta chief Min Aung Hlaing would not be allowed to attend, just as his top diplomat was barred from foreign ministers' gatherings in Phnom Penh in February and August. - AFP