Obama calls for Suu Kyi's release at ASEAN summit

By Bill Tarrant

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama called for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he met the country's prime minister at a meeting with other Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore on Sunday.

Obama did not speak or shake hands with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein at the meeting in Singapore's Shangri-la hotel with the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the first with a U.S. president.

He joined the ASEAN tradition of linking arms at the start of the meeting, looking a bit bemused, before the leaders sat down around a circular table for the talks.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama reiterated his call for Suu Kyi to be freed, although a statement to be issued after the meeting does not demand her release or that of other political prisoners ahead of elections in the military-ruled country next year.

The meeting in Singapore marked the first time in history a U.S. leader had met with his counterparts in the 42-year-old grouping, founded at the height of the Vietnam War. It took place after an Asia-Pacific summit.

For the first time in decades, the United States and ASEAN are singing from the same hymn book when it comes to Myanmar.

Washington has recently taken a two-prong approach to the former Burma, engaging the junta while keeping sanctions on the resource-rich nation that shares borders with India and China.