South-East Asian leaders have agreed to allow military-dominated Burma to lead their regional bloc in 2014.
The chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is supposed to rotate annually among its 10 member countries.
But Burma, which has more than 2000 political prisoners, was forced to skip its turn last time around because of intense international criticism of its human rights record.
It has since held its first elections in 20 years, released democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and eased some restrictions on the media.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters that leaders agreed on Thursday that Burma could chair ASEAN in 2014.
