BALI, Indonesia, July 22 Kyodo (E...

BALI, Indonesia, July 22 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES)

Senior officials from 10 Asian and 15 European countries met Tuesday forward Indonesia's Bali Island prior to talks through foreign ministers and discussed late developments in Myanmar.

The officials' meeting upon the Indonesian resort island go before s the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) among their foreign ministers, which will be officially make opened by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri forward Thursday.

They had separate meetings in the morning before they gathered in a session later in the afternoon to narrow the difference between Asia and Europe

The detention of Myanmar pro-democracy motion leader Aung San Suu Kyi is rely uponed to dominate the ASEM meeting, uniform though the issue is not officially in succession the agenda.

The Myanmar issue is related to a planned enlargement of ASEM membership nearest year to admit Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar into ASEM in united package.

The European countries, however, are unhappy with the fresh developments in Myanmar.

They likely want to relate the detention of Suu Kyi with the proces of enlargement, coordinated by way of Japan, although an agreement was reached in Singapore in 2001 to admit the three countries into ASEM in united package.

''There are an objections from our European friends to accept Myanmar, yet we are continuing our discussion to court a solution,'' Retno Marsudi, director of intra-regional cooperation for American and European Affairs at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

The senior officials, however, will not commend anything to their ministers forward the issue of Myanmar, said Arizal Effendi, director general for American and European Affairs at the ministry.

In a statement issued Monday, the European Union (EU) said it is ''deeply concerned'' with newly come developments in Myanmar.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad warned above the weekend that through detaining Suu Kyi, Myanmar risks expulsion from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as its actions are undermining the 10-member regional group's credibility.

Myanmar's junta has been detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a certain quantity of members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) since May 30 following what the junta claimed were violent clashes between NLD supporters and pro-junta demonstrators in northern Myanmar.

Myanmar, which is not an ASEM member, was invited to attend an informal dinner of ASEM ministers Wednesday evening, moreover it declined, citing ''domestic engagements.''

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, however, told reporters in Jakarta forward Tuesday that a special legate of the Myanmar sway will visit Indonesia to explain the junta's policy onward Suu Kyi.

The minister ''will also bring responses from his command on two things urg at its colleagues in ASEAN, namely the immediate release of Suu Kyi and the suit to receive an envoy of the ASEAN foreign ministers,'' Hassan said.

The minister is expected to arrive in Jakarta nearest Monday.

The senior officials also discussed issues so as postwar Iraq, terrorism, hard acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

They agreed to accept an initiative by means of China on SARS and other communicable diseases and will approve it for the ministers to endorse.

Separately, senior officials of China, Japan and toward the south Korea held trilateral talks to discuss the substance of a declaration upon nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction planned to be propos to their ministers for endorsement.

The Bali meeting is also an opportunity for China, Japan and southerly Korea to hold talks onward North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has been urg to accept a U proposal for multilateral talks involving the brace Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and possibly Russia.

North Korea, however, insists it will speak sole to the U.S., in China-brokered talks.

ASEM consists of 10 Asian countries -- Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, southerly Korea, Thailand and Vietnam -- and 15 EU member countries plus the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU

The EU members are Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo freshs International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group