CHA-AM, Thailand?Southeast Asian Nations are to endorse an early warning system to defuse conflicts that could derail their goal of becoming a European Union-like community by 2015, according to a confidential document obtained yesterday by The Associated Press.

The blueprint for peace in the highly diverse region where conflicts still erupt was to be adopted today at the climax of the 14th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The final draft of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint outlines a long ?wish list,? ranging from fighting piracy, terrorism and cyber crime to promoting democracy and good governance.

?More efforts are needed in strengthening the existing modes of pacific settlement of disputes to avoid or settle future disputes,? says the document.

?It is envisaged that the [blueprint] will bring ASEAN?s political and security cooperation to a higher plane,? it says.

The blueprint calls for an early warning system ?based on existing mechanisms to prevent occurrence/escalation of conflicts,? as well as intensified cooperation among the bloc?s military forces. But it does not spell out details.

The summit, hosted by current chair Thailand, is the first since ASEAN signed a landmark charter in December making it a legal entity and moving it a step closer to its goal of integration.

Stumbling blocks

But officials of the 10-member bloc stress that numerous stumbling blocks remain on the road to true economic, political and security integration.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said there remained ?a lot of challenges along the way; we won?t be able to complete the journey soon.?

?The European Union has been and remains our inspiration, not our model. Not yet, anyway,? Surin said.

He said that for the foreseeable future, economic integration was largely about dropping trade barriers, and that a common currency was probably ?a long, long way off.?

Asean, which encompasses a region of more than 500 million people, includes among its members two communist regimes, two constitutional monarchies, a military dictatorship and fledgling democracies.

While Southeast Asia has not seen major conflicts since the Vietnam War era, tensions and confrontations persist.

Thailand and Cambodia narrowly avoided a shootout last year in an ongoing dispute over an ancient temple along their common border, and territorial claims remain unresolved in the resource-rich South China Sea. Bloody Muslim insurgencies plague southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.

Human rights

In another effort to move the region forward, ASEAN is finalizing a new human rights body to promote fundamental freedoms, although it will lack the power to punish violators such as military-ruled Burma.

A confidential draft document, which outlines the proposed powers of the future rights body, says ASEAN will ?promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.?

But it falls short of key demands voiced by international human rights groups, which say the body will have limited effectiveness unless it can impose sanctions or expel countries that violate the rights of their own citizens.

The draft is the first to outline the body?s proposed powers; a final one is expected in July.

ASEAN traditionally shies away from criticizing its members, although some leaders said that issues of democratic reform in Burma and human rights abuses were being discussed on the sidelines of the meetings.

Plans for leaders to meet with delegates from civil society and nongovernmental organizations yesterday suffered a setback when Cambodia and Burma refused to recognize groups representing their countries.

Focus on economic meltdown

While human rights issues are getting some attention, leaders say the summit is focusing on the global economic meltdown and how the export-dependent region can best cope with the crisis.

Top officials have offered homilies against signs of creeping protectionism in world trade, even as they defend their own buy-local campaigns as not inconsistent with world trade rules. Asean signed a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand on Friday, a pact that could boost the combined gross domestic product of all 12 nations by more than $48 billion by 2020.

The free trade area covers 12 countries with a combined population of more than 600 million people and GDP of more than $2 trillion. Officials hope the agreement will come into play by yearend.

Despite frequent criticism of ASEAN's non-intervention policy and its lack of action on human rights, Secretary General Surin insisted that the grouping was committed to moving forward.

?A new ASEAN means an ASEAN living under the rules of law among ourselves,? Surin told reporters on Friday.

?We will be very much compliant to our commitments that we make along the way, in every form, document and every agreement.? Reports from AP, Reuters