Myanmar to defer ASEAN leadership
Military-ruled Myanmar agreed Tuesday to relinquish its scheduled chairmanship of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year to avoid a damaging Western boycott of the group’s meetings, diplomats said. The U.S. and European Union had demanded that Myanmar either move toward democracy and release pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi or forfeit its turn at the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in late 2006. Full Story