Myanmar’s defense minister, under sanctions from the United States, Britain and other countries for abuses committed by his country’s military, was welcomed Wednesday to an annual meeting with his counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Gen. Mya Tun Oo wore his military uniform as he attended the ASEAN defense ministers’ meeting in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.
More than 600 civic groups inside and outside Myanmar had issued an appeal to the ministers not to invite him. They accuse him of complicity in violence committed by Myanmar’s military as it seeks to crush opposition to its seizure of power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.