PHNOM PENH, Dec 7 Reuters -- Myanmar's military-appointed foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, held talks in Cambodia on Tuesday, a day after the junta drew global condemnation for sending Aung San Suu Kyi to jail for incitement and breaching COVID 19 rules.
Wunna Maung met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, with the men tapping elbows in a greeting before talks, government handout pictures showing.
Cambodia will be the chairperson of the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN next year, a bloc that includes Myanmar.
ASEAN has seen a lot of divisions between members over its diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar since Suu Kyi's government was overthrown in a Feb. 1 coup and she and others were arrested.
Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military leader, was not invited to the annual summit of group leaders in October, hosted by Brunei after members failed to reach a consensus, but Hun Sen said on Monday that junta officials should be invited to the bloc's meetings.
Since the coup, Myanmar has been in turmoil and has raised international concern about the end of tentative political reforms after decades of military rule.
A Myanmar court found Suu Kyi guilty of charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions on Monday, a move condemned by international condemnation of what critics called a sham trial. She is set to serve two years in jail after a partial pardon from Myanmar's military chief.
Suu Kyi's supporters say the cases against her are baseless and designed to end her political career and tie her up in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.
Her conviction was widely expected in Myanmar. The demonstrators in the largest city, Yangon, risked arrest to stage a flash protest after the verdict, though there were no immediate reports of new demonstrations on Tuesday.
Hun Sen, who has been criticised by rights groups and Western governments over what they see as his suppression of democracy, plans to visit Myanmar on Monday for talks with its military rulers.