BANGKOK POST e AFP - More pressure is being piled on Burma as Asian and European foreign ministers renew their calls for the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.                     

A joint press statement, issued at the end of the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) in Hanoi yesterday, called for the early release of all political detainees in Burma, including Mrs Suu Kyi, and the lifting of all restrictions placed on political parties.                    

The call came as the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader yesterday testified in a Rangoon court for the first time in answer to charges she violated the terms of her house arrest.                   

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday defended the statement, saying it was endorsed by senior Asean officials and Asean foreign ministers.                   
The position was supported by former Thai ambassador to Burma Poksak Nilubol.                   

“We are justified in expressing concern because as an immediate neighbour we are affected by the spillover of Burmese domestic political turbulence, as well as other side effects,” he said.           

The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Burma Caucus yesterday called on Asean to suspend Burma’s membership if its military regime continued to detain Mrs Suu Kyi. It also urged Asean members to consider imposing targeted sanctions against Burma.              

But Mr Kasit said suspending Burma’s membership would be a setback.             

“What Asean has done is not to protect Burma but to encourage Burma to become a responsible member of Asean and the international community,” the foreign minister said.             

Previous sanctions only affected the impoverished Burmese people, he said.                  
Mrs Suu Kyi said at her trial at Insein Prison yesterday she did not violate the terms of her house arrest by offering “temporary shelter” to John Yettaw, the US man who swam to her lakeside home.        

The statement also urged the Burmese government to hold multi-party elections next year in a free and fair manner.        

Burma dominated the two-day Asem meeting with its Foreign Minister Nyan Win being criticised by his counterparts from the European Union, a source at the meeting said.       

The source quoted the EU ministers as saying statements from the international community did not constitute interference in Burma’s internal affairs.

The Burmese minister countered that Mrs Suu Kyi’s trial was, indeed, an internal matter. “Burma is at the turning point of democracy and doesn’t want this process interrupted,” the source quoted Nyan Win as telling the meeting.              
The Burma issue will be tabled for discussion today by Asean foreign ministers in Phnom Penh ahead of the AseanEU meeting there, according to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.           

Burma was upset by Thailand’s call as Asean chair for it to release the NLD leader immediately, and also by the warnings to the junta that its credibility would be shattered if it continued to hold Mrs Suu Kyi in detention.
              
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday defended the statement, saying it was endorsed by senior Asean officials and Asean foreign ministers.          

The position was supported by former Thai ambassador to Burma Poksak Nilubol.                

"We are justified in expressing concern because as an immediate neighbour we are affected by the spillover of Burmese domestic political turbulence, as well as other side effects," he said.             

The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Burma Caucus yesterday called on Asean to suspend Burma's membership if its military regime continued to detain Mrs Suu Kyi. It also urged Asean members to consider imposing targeted sanctions against Burma.             

But Mr Kasit said suspending Burma's membership would be a setback.            
"What Asean has done is not to protect Burma but to encourage Burma to become a responsible member of Asean and the international community," the foreign minister said.           

Previous sanctions only affected the impoverished Burmese people, he said.            
Mrs Suu Kyi said at her trial at Insein Prison yesterday she did not violate the terms of her house arrest by offering "temporary shelter" to John Yettaw, the US man who swam to her lakeside home.