NEW YORK: Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and other ASEAN foreign ministers have met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the sidelines of the 62nd United Nations General Assembly.

The ASEAN ministers have also strongly urged Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint and to seek a political solution to its latest crisis.

This was contained in a statement by the ASEAN chair, Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, following an informal meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in New York.

The statement said they had a full and frank discussion on the situation in Myanmar.

The ASEAN foreign ministers were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used, and demanded that the Myanmar government immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators.

They also expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities.

The ministers called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts at national reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy.

They also called for the release of all political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

The statement added that the ASEAN ministers expressed their concern to Myanmar's foreign minister that the developments in Myanmar had a serious impact on the reputation and credibility of ASEAN.

They noted that Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has spoken to ASEAN leaders over the past day, and will be writing to Senior General Than Shwe.

The ASEAN foreign ministers gave their full support to the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar.

They asked the Myanmarese government to cooperate fully and work with Mr Gambari, whose role as a neutral interlocutor among all the parties can help defuse the dangerous situation.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who associated herself with the ASEAN statement on Myanmar, met the foreign ministers and exchanged views on international and regional developments.

In a statement, Singapore's Foreign Ministry noted that ASEAN ministers welcomed the meeting as a timely opportunity to review ASEAN-US ties.

The foreign ministers also welcomed US President George W Bush's invitation to the ASEAN leaders to go to Crawford, Texas, next year for the ASEAN-US Commemorative Summit.

On top of that, the ministers hailed the decision to appoint a US Ambassador to ASEAN, particularly as the United States will be the first ASEAN dialogue partner to do so.


- CNA/so