Malaysian leader wants tougher ASEAN pressure on Myanmar

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has issued a strong call for fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take new measures to pressure the government of military-ruled Myanmar to end what he called “atrocities” against its own people. Anwar, on a two-day official visit to Thailand, said in a speech that ASEAN members “have to be courageous enough to try and resolve” the crisis in Myanmar, which some U.N. experts describe as a civil war triggered by the army’s seizure of power from an elected government in 2021. ASEAN has refused to allow Myanmar’s military leaders to attend its main meetings since they blocked implementation of a proposed peace plan, but that has failed to win their cooperation.