By DPA
Bangkok : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to cancel her scheduled attendance at this month's meeting of South-East Asia foreign ministers in Manila, Thai media reports said Thursday.
The cancellation has disappointed the member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the ministerial meeting was intended to strengthen ties between the US and the regional grouping, a Bangkok-based diplomat told the Nation newspaper.
The source blamed Rice's no-show on rising criticisms in the US of the Iraqi quagmire, which has forced all US cabinet ministers to remain close to home.
President George W. Bush cancelled his scheduled attendance at the ASEAN-US friendship meeting in Singapore last week. Singapore will host the annual ASEAN summit in November, which the US president may attend.
ASEAN, a four-decades old regional grouping, includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.