The European Union has decided to cancel upcoming meetings with Asian economic partners because of disagreements over how to treat Burma.
E.U. foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg Monday canceled preparatory meetings for an October summit. The summit, known simply as the Asia-Europe meeting, is meant to strengthen economic ties between nations on the two continents.
Asian countries have been pushing for Burma to be allowed to attend the summit, but E.U. officials object because of Burma's poor human rights record.
European leaders insist that Burma's military government release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for more than a year.
Information for this report is provided by AP and AFP.