Myanmar junta blames 'foreign intervention' for ASEAN summit exclusion

FILE PHOTO: Flags are seen outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat building, ahead of the ASEAN leaders' meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

(Reuters) - 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.