Army chief excluded from regional summit

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to downgrade Myanmar’s participation in an upcoming summit in their sharpest rebuke yet following a Feb. 1 military takeover.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will invite a nonpolitical representative instead of Myanmar’s military leader, the group’s chair Brunei said.

The 10-member bloc has been under intense international pressure to do more to force member state Myanmar to free scores of political figures, including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as halt the violence that has left more than 1,100 civilians dead.