Charter stops short on Myanmar

SINGAPORE - Southeast Asian leaders adopted a landmark charter yesterday, but their vision to create an EU-style bloc faced hurdles because of concerns over Myanmar, whose military rulers have defied international calls to restore democracy.

The pact will collapse if even one country fails to ratify it. The Philippines has warned that its Congress would be hard-pressed to do so unless Myanmar upholds the charter's principles of democracy and human rights and releases pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Monday, the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations abruptly withdrew an invitation to U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari to address Asian leaders after Myanmar objected.

They also rejected calls to suspend Myanmar from the bloc to punish the junta's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that left 15 people dead in September, and its refusal to free Suu Kyi.

"ASEAN leaders will strive to prevent the Myanmar issue from obstructing our efforts to deepen integration and build an ASEAN community," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his opening remarks at the annual summit.

Still, ASEAN leaders urged Myanmar's junta to open a "meaningful dialogue" with Suu Kyi, release her from house arrest, free all political detainees, and work toward a "peaceful transition to democracy."

The key event of the gathering was the adoption of the ASEAN charter after nearly three years of haggling.

The ASEAN charter sets out a common set of rules for negotiations in trade, investment, environment and other fields. It aims to turn Southeast Asia into a single market and production base with a free flow of goods, services, investment and capital.

One of the most significant pledges in the charter is to set up a regional human-rights body. Critics note, however, that it will have limited impact given that it will not be able to punish governments that violate the human rights of their citizens.