BANGKOK: Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN chair Anwar Ibrahim said Friday (Apr 18) that he had urged Myanmar’s junta leader to respect a post-earthquake ceasefire in backroom talks in Bangkok.
Junta officials have been barred from summits of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over a lack of progress on a peace deal since Myanmar’s military snatched power in a 2021 coup and sparked a civil war.
But junta chief Min Aung Hlaing travelled to Bangkok on Thursday to meet Anwar, who holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, on the sidelines of his talks with Thai officials.
Myanmar’s military declared a ceasefire until Apr 22 after last month’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake killed at least 3,700 people. Conflict monitors say fighting has continued, including regular junta airstrikes.
“I told him it’s important to cease fire,” Anwar told reporters in Bangkok. “It’s important to allow for humanitarian efforts to cover all of Myanmar, irrespective of where they are or what political position they take.”
“That assurance was given,” he said.
A Myanmar junta statement on Thursday night made no mention of Anwar’s overtures for peace. It said the talks had focused on “cooperation for rehabilitation after the Myanmar earthquake disaster”.
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