Impasse over Myanmar at ASEAN FMs retreat in Philippines

MACTAN (PHILIPPINES), Apr 11: Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers were deadlocked here today over whether Myanmar’s internationally condemned military Junta should be allowed to head the ASEAN group in two years.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers grappling with the issue at an annual retreat in the Central Philippines island of Cebu were expected to reach a common stand by the end of the day, an official said.

The question has exposed divisions in the 10-nation ASEAN, with older members such as the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia demanding real democratic change in the country.

Newer members such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos have taken a more supportive stand, some invoking ASEAN’s long-held tradition of consensus building and non-interference in the affairs of its members.

Myanmar, internationally condemned for political and rights abuses including the detention of Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is due to take the alphabetically rotating chairmanship of ASAEN in 2006.

The United States and the European Union, which have imposed economic sanctions on the country, have been pressuring the regional grouping to block its chairmanship.

A senior Philippine diplomat at the Cebu retreat said Myanmar could either bend to the calls or make reforms to underscore their commitment to their "roadmap to democracy".

"It’s either they stay by making compromises or voluntarily give up the chairmanship," the diplomat said.

The Junta could opt to save face by relinquishing the chairmanship citing they were busy on the "road map", which includes talks on drawing up a new Constitution that have been condemned internationally as a Sham. (AFP)

Trees to provide Tsunami breaker along Andaman coast

PHUKET, Apr 11: Thailand is preparing to survey the Andaman coastline with a view to plant trees to act as a barrier against future Tsunamis Minister Yongyut Tiyapirat has said.

Speaking on Thailand’s southern resort island of Phuket yesterday, which sustained damage in the Tsunami, Yongyut spoke of the urgent need to create Tsunami defences, noting that it was impossible to tell what would occur in the future.

However, what was noticeable, he said, was that buildings located behind lines of trees, particularly pine trees, had sustained far less damage on 26 December than buildings that were exposed.

Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the environment the department and of marine and coastal resources are now surveying the country’s Andaman coastline and procuring trees which can be planted as a natural Tsunami defence although Yongyut also stressed the need to ensure that the trees did not unduly interfere with the existing natural surroundings.

Survey work to date indicates that the Tsunami caused around BT70 million worth of damage to sea grasses, BT10 million damage to mangrove forests and BT900 million to coral reefs.

It is expected that coral could take 5-7 years to fully revive. (TNA) (AGENCIES)

Swiss Actelion wins Japan okay for Tracleer

ZURICH, Apr 11: Swiss biotech company Actelion has won approval from Japanese authorities for its tracleer drug to be used in patients with all forms of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), the firm said on Monday.

The long-awaited Japanese approval for the drug, which counts for virtually all of Actelion’s revenues, marks the last major market to okay the product.

"Actelion is currently in discussions... To finalise pricing," the firm said. "Actelion expects to make tracleer commercially available in Japan by early June 2005."

Tracleer is an oral endothelin receptor antagonist. (AGENCIES)

Polls send mixed message to British PM Blair

LONDON, Apr 11: British Prime Minister Tony Blair received mixed messages from two polls today, with one putting his ruling labour party well ahead of the opposition conservatives and another showing them tied.

An icm poll for the daily mirror newspaper put Blair’s Labour on 38 percent, five points clear of the conservatives on 33 and the Liberal Democrats on 22.

The paper said this would see Blair win a third term in the May 5 election, but with his 161 majority in the lower House of Commons reduced to 100.

The icm poll was at odds with a Yougov survey for the daily telegraph newspaper which had labour unchanged from last month on 36 percent, tied with the conservatives, up one point. The Liberal Democrats fell one to 20 percent.

Britain’s electoral map, which concentrates constituencies in labour’s urban strongholds, means the conservatives must win a larger share of the vote than labour to take power.

Most polls have put Blair ahead of opposition leader Michael Howard since the campaign started in earnest last Monday.

Blair’s personal trust ratings slumped over the Iraq war and the subsequent failure to find any weapons of mass destruction — the reason he gave for joining the conflict.

The Yougov poll found 54 percent thought Britain was wrong to support the US-led invasion of Iraq, 31 percent thought it was right and 15 percent were undecided.

Blair has sought to focus attention on domestic issues, especially the economy.

But a third poll for the Financial Times newspaper found nine out of 10 British Finance Directors believe labour will raise taxes if it wins.

More than half of the 200 polled by Mori said labour’s policies would not improve the economy in the longer term. (AGENCIES)