FATE OF ASEAN SUMMIT DEPENDS ON NEXT THAI GOVT, SAYS M'SIAN FM

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- The fate of the 14th Asean summit to be
hosted by Thailand depends on the next Thai government following the sacking of
the present government by the court Tuesday, Foreign Minister Dr
Rais Yatim said Wednesday.

Asean's other nine member countries would have to wait for new developments
on the summit, originally scheduled to be held for three days beginning Dec 16
in Bangkok, he told reporters after the Speaker of the Saudi Arabian Ash-Shura
Council, Sheikh Dr Saleh Abdullah Humaid, called on him at his office, here.

Following the unrest in Thailand, where demonstrators blocked two airports
and the prime minister's office, all in Bangkok, for the past two weeks, the
Thai government had shifted the venue of the Asean summit to Chiang Mai, and
later postponed it to March next year.

On Tuesday, a Thai court stripped Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of his
post and outlawed the ruling party.

Asked whether Asean could help to solve the Thai problem, Dr Rais said
Asean could not interfere as the problem was an internal matter.

On discussions with Dr Saleh, the foreign minister said they touched on
economy, trade, culture, tax agreements and the plan to build the King Abdul
Aziz library in Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA