Myanmar declined talks offer on violence: Asean chief

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Myanmar has rejected an offer by Asean to open talks aimed at quelling deadly communal violence there, the regional bloc's chief said on Tuesday.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said he proposed setting up tripartite talks between the association, the United Nations, and Myanmar's reformist government to prevent the violence having a broader regional impact.

But he said Myanmar turned down the offer to discuss the bloodshed in Rakhine state that has seen around 180 people killed since June in the restive west of the country.

"Myanmar believes it is their internal matter, but your internal matter could be ours the next day if you are not careful," he told reporters after delivering a speech at a forum in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.