In the wake of the military regime's deadly suppression of pro-democracy protests in September, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is under intense global pressure to bring its most troublesome member into line.

Recent missions to the isolated, impoverished country by two United Nations envoys have bolstered hopes that the generals, in power since 1962, are willing to make concessions - and that the 10-member bloc can convince them to adopt reforms.

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ASEAN leaders, celebrating the group's 40th birthday in Singapore, are planning to sign a landmark charter promoting human rights and tackle climate change at the talks, but the world is waiting to see how they handle Burma.

"The international community will be watching the summit," Hiro Katsumata, an analyst at the SRajaratnam School of International Studies, said. "Right now, ASEAN does not look good in the eyes of the international community."

In January, regional leaders said they should take primary responsibility for handling Burma, agreeing on "the need to preserve the group's credibility ... by demonstrating a capacity to manage important issues within the region."

But, only eight months later, security forces used batons and tear gas against mass protests led by the country's revered Buddhist monks, in scenes that sparked international outrage and triggered tougher US sanctions.

The recent mission of UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, which led to detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's first meeting with members of her own party in more than three years, has raised expectations of a breakthrough.

Gambari on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that Burma had taken positive steps that show it "can be responsive to the concerns of the international community."

UN rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro is meanwhile making his first visit to Burma in four years to investigate rights abuses and determine the actual death toll from September's violence - put at 10 by the junta but suspected by the international community to be higher.

ASEAN has repeatedly insisted that its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states is the right one, and that engaging the junta, rather than punishing it, is the only viable way to bring about change.

Following the crackdown, the grouping changed tack, when Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo delivered a stern warning to Burma, saying his regional colleagues were "appalled" by the junta's use of deadly force.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burma analyst based in Thailand, predicted that regional leaders would be tough in their talks with Burma Prime Minister Thein Sein.

"Their calls for restraint, their calls for reform, have become more open," he said. "They have become very vocal in their own right."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE