BRUNEI FRUSTRATED WITH BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000200 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS:COPE AND EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2018 TAGS: PGOV EAID BX SUBJECT: BRUNEI FRUSTRATED WITH BURMA REF: A. SECSTATE 68527 ¶B. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 178 Classified By: CDA Justin Friedman, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Charge delivered ref A points on June 30 to Datin Hajah Maimunah Elias, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MoFAT) emphasizing that a united front by the international community had be key to the small, and apparently short-lived behavioral changes observed from the regime in response to the cyclone. Maimunah responded that Brunei had delivered additional financial assistance to the Burmese Government as it had previously pledged (ref B). She continued that Brunei was frustrated by the regime's response to Cyclone Nargis. Reporting from the Brunei Embassy in Burma verified and echoed ref A concerns about the distribution of aid and access to remote regions hit by the cyclone. ¶2. (C) Maimunah said that other ASEAN members, naming Singapore specifically, were similarly at a loss as to how impel behavioral change by the Burma regime. She said that Brunei would review closely the ASEAN needs assessment before considering any further humanitarian assistance. Visit Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan's classified web site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/bandarseribeg awan/ FRIEDMAN