US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend a key regional security meeting here in July, that she skipped last year.

Rice shunned the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) last year, instead sending her deputy, in what was seen as an attempt to pressure the Southeast Asian grouping to tackle democratic reform in recalcitrant Burma.

But in a sign of thawing relations, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said her attendance this year was confirmed by US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Christopher Hill whom he met here today.

Malaysia, the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chair, is hosting the ARF meeting of ministers in the capital in July.

It will bring together the 10-nation grouping that includes Burma and its key partners, including the United States, China, Russia and Japan in the only official security meeting in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under pressure from the international community, Asean last month signalled at its annual meeting its impatience with Burma and brokered an agreement with Rangoon to allow Syed Hamid to visit the country.

The visit, initially expected in January, was an attempt to check the progress of democracy in Burma, but Rangoon has raised concerns and delayed the trip.

Asean still trying

Syed Hamid said he discussed the trip with Hill and the fact that Asean was still trying to engage with the military junta.

"Of course I think everybody that sees us will always express their concern about democracy in Myanmar, the human rights issue," said Syed Hamid, using the military junta's new name for the country.

"But I think most important is that we in Asean, we want to do it in a way that is acceptable to Myanmar," he said, adding he was working with Rangoon to fix a date for the visit.

Malaysia is the current chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, which groups more than 100 mainly developing nations, as well as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

Syed Hamid said Rice had briefed him in a telephone call on Sunday about US moves to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council over the resumption of its nuclear activities.

"We hope that Iran will continue to be engaged with all parties in order to resolve the thing peacefully and through dialogue," he said.