East Timor won`t be ASEAN `basket case`: Ramos-Horta

East Timor hopes to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2012 but not as a "basket case" which might embarrass the bloc like Myanmar, President Jose Ramos-Horta said.

Addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association here late Saturday, Ramos-Horta said his six-year-old country was improving its economy and other institutions in order to be ready to join the Southeast Asian grouping.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, joined ASEAN in 1997 but has been a controversial member because of alleged human rights violations, including the continued detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, and torture claims.

Myanmar's ruling generals have also come under fire for blocking urgent humanitarian relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Irrawaddy delta region.

No ASEAN country is opposing East Timor's membership and it largest member, Indonesia, has assigned a senior diplomat to help the young nation in its membership preparations, Ramos-Horta said.

"I hope that by 2012 we can (join ASEAN)," he told his audience of journalists and diplomats.

"We set this target as pressure on ...