(15 Nov 2009) SHOTLIST
POOL
1. Wide of Singaporean Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) shaking hands with Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein, posing for photographs
2. Wide of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and US leaders in a group photo
3. Pan over leaders
4. Wide of leaders linking hands
5. US President Barack Obama and Lee sitting
6. Close up of Thein
7. Close of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
8. Wide of summit
9. Obama and Abhisit walking to press conference
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Barack Obama, US President:
"We discussed the importance of meeting common challenges like climate change, nuclear proliferation and working together in support of G-20 efforts to promote a sustained and balanced global economic recovery. I reaffirmed the policy that I put forward yesterday in Tokyo with regard to Burma."
11. Wide of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at news conference
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean Prime Minister: ++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
"US president considers it worthwhile to have a summit meeting with all 10 ASEAN members, notwithstanding difficulties which they have, particularly with Myanmar. I think that's very significant."
AP TELEVISION
13. Wide of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaking to journalists
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Najib Razak, Malaysian Prime Minister:
"We expected a bit more, (from Myanmar) but it was not forthcoming, but we hope that this problem of national reconciliation and the principles of democracy as a system to be adopted in Myanmar will become a reality sooner than later."
15. Wide of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein returning to hotel after attending ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting
STORYLINE
US President Barack Obama on Sunday told Myanmar's junta to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during an unusual face-to-face interaction with a top leader of the ruling military.
Obama delivered the message during his summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, which included Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama called on Myanmar to free his fellow Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and end oppression of minorities.
Gibbs said Obama "brought that up directly with that government," indicating that the president addressed Thein Sein.
For decades, Western governments have avoided direct contacts with the leaders of Myanmar because of the regime's poor human rights record and suppression of democracy.
A joint statement issued after the summit - the first ever between a US president and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) - devoted a paragraph to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.
But the statement did not call for the release of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years under detention by the military regime. It only urged Myanmar to ensure that the elections it intended to hold in 2010 were "conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner."
However, a direct appeal from Obama will carry more weight as he is the most powerful leader to have conveyed the message directly to a top Myanmar official.
Thein Sein did not address leaders' concerns about Suu Kyi, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"We expected a bit more but it was not forthcoming," he said.
"We hope that this problem of national reconciliation and the principles of democracy as a system to be adopted in Myanmar will become a reality sooner than later," he told reporters.
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