Myanmar junta blames 'foreign intervention' for ASEAN summit exclusion

A spokesman for Myanmar's military government blamed "foreign intervention" for the rare exclusion of its junta leader from a regional leaders' summit later this month.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the BBC Burmese news service that the United States and representatives of the European Union had pressured other leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to exclude the military leader from the summit later this month.

"The foreign interventions can also be seen here," he said. "Before, we learned that some envoys from some countries met with US foreign affairs and received pressure from EU."