LEAD: ASEAN set to agree on Myanmar 2014 chairmanship

Nov 15, 2011, 12:42 GMT

Nusa Dua, Indonesia - Foreign ministers from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tuesday supported Myanmar's bid to chair the regional bloc in 2014, Indonesia's foreign minister said.

The ministers kicked off four days of meetings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali with a discussion on whether Myanmar would be allowed to chair the 10-member bloc in 2014 despite concerns about its poor human rights record.

'ASEAN countries support Myanmar's chairmanship but please don't construe this as a reaffirmation that the situation in Myanmar is 100-per-cent perfect,' said Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

He said a decision on Myanmar would be made by ASEAN leaders when they meet on Thursday.

Natalegawa of Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, earlier called Myanmar's recent moves to release political prisoners 'a very, very encouraging development.'

'As you are aware, we have been expecting more of these types of steps,' said Natalegawa. 'We wish to see more of such steps so that we create even more irreversible momentum.'

Laos has offered to allow Myanmar to take its scheduled place as ASEAN chair in 2014, since the country missed the opportunity in 2006, because of the widespread condemnation of the regime's poor human rights record and refusal to implement political reforms.

Human rights activists have urged ASEAN leaders to reject Myanmar's proposal.

Myanmar on October 12 released 7,500 prisoners, including at least 240 political prisoners. The regime is expected to announce another amnesty soon.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from seven years of house arrest in 2010, said Monday that 591 'prisoners of conscience' remained in jail.

The ASEAN summit is to be followed by an East Asia Summit, a political and economic forum of 18 countries, including the United States and Russia.

A dispute over the South China Sea and a strengthened US role in Asia are expected to take centre stage at the summit.

China, Taiwan and four ASEAN members - the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam - are the claimants to the potentially oil-rich South China Sea.

ASEAN leaders were also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with leaders participating in the East Asian summit and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.