Cambodian PM: Myanmar junta has right to attend ASEAN meeting

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that Myanmar junta officials should be invited to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings.

Hun Sen said he planned to visit Myanmar for talks with the country's military rulers.

Myanmar's position as a member of the 10 ASEAN countries has been in the spotlight due to the coup carried out by the country's military on February 1.

Myanmar's military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was not invited to the annual ASEAN leaders' summit in October hosted by Brunei after ASEAN members failed to reach a consensus.

However, Hun Sen suggested that when Cambodia hosts the ASEAN meeting in 2022, all 10 member states of the regional bloc will have representatives present at the meeting.

"Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN family and should have the right to attend the meeting," Hun Sen said in comments during the inauguration ceremony of a Chinese-funded construction project.

Myanmar's military-appointed foreign minister will visit Cambodia on Tuesday (7/12), and Hun Sen said in his remarks he was likely to visit Myanmar soon.

"Most likely I will visit Naypyitaw to meet with General Min Aung Hlaing to work with him. If I don't cooperate with the leadership, who can I work with?" Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen referred to a point in the ASEAN Charter regarding non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and said: "Under the ASEAN charter, no one has the right to expel another member state."

Myanmar has been in crisis since Min Aung Hlaing toppled the civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1.

Myanmar security forces attack protests in Yangon

Myanmar security forces rammed a car into anti-coup protesters in Yangon on Sunday, causing several protesters to be arrested and dozens more injured, according to two witnesses at the scene.

The flash mob protest in Myanmar's biggest city was run over by security forces minutes after the action began. Witnesses told Reuters that police arrested several people.

“I was hit and fell in front of the truck. A soldier beat me with his rifle but I held on and pushed him back. Then he shot me straight away because I was running in a zigzag pattern. Good thing I escaped," a protester who asked not to be named for security reasons told Reuters by telephone.

A civilian car carrying soldiers hit the crowd from behind, said two witnesses.

Soldiers then chased the scattered protesters, arresting, and beat them. Several protesters were seriously injured with head wounds and unconscious, according to witnesses.

Anti-military protests continue in Myanmar, although more than 1,300 people have been killed since the February 1, 2021 coup.

The scattered protests are often small groups voicing their opposition to the overthrow of the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule.

A spokesman for the ruling junta did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military said the slain protesters incited the violence.

Myanmar's junta argued that the coup was motivated by fraud in last November's election, which was won by Suu Kyi's party. The local election commission rejected the statement.

The war with ethnic minority rebels in remote border areas in Myanmar's north and east has escalated significantly since the coup and displaced tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates.

Suu Kyi, 76, has faced dozens of cases including sedition and violation of COVID-19 protocols. He has denied all charges to date.