US Envoy Plans Thailand Mission

[webfact]

US envoy plans Thailand mission

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A senior US envoy will head this week to Thailand for talks with the politically torn ally on a trip that will also take him to Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines, officials said Wednesday.

William Burns, the State Department's number three, will hold a "strategic dialogue" with officials in Bangkok on Friday and deliver a speech on US-Thai relations at Chulalongkorn University, the State Department said.

Thailand, the oldest US ally in Asia, is tense after street protests ended in a bloody army crackdown in May. The anti-government "Red Shirt" movement has supported US mediation, to which the government is opposed.

Burns will head Saturday to Phnom Penh for events marking the 60th anniversary of relations between Cambodia and the United States before heading to Indonesia, with which President Barack Obama has been seeking stronger ties.

He will round off his trip Monday and Tuesday in the Philippines, another close US ally, for talks with the new administration of President Benigno Aquino, the State Department said.

The Obama administration has sought to build relations with Southeast Asia, believing the previous George W. Bush administration neglected the comparatively calm region due to its preoccupation with Iraq and Afghanistan.

Burns's visit "to these Southeast Asian partners is an important element of the administration's commitment to increased and deepened engagement with this dynamic region," the State Department said in a statement.

Burns is the under secretary of state for political affairs, the top position for career US diplomats.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-07-15