Malaysia today signalled the region was close to washing its hands of Burma, saying the junta had snubbed efforts to push for democracy and urging the UN to take over the case.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was being sidelined by the ruling generals, who are under mounting international criticism from within and outside the region.

"There is lack of confidence in Myanmar on Asean. I think the best thing is for Myanmar to be put under the purview of the UN Secretary General (Kofi Annan)," Syed Hamid told AFP.

"Myanmar does not want Asean to play a role. They see Asean as not being fit to play a role," he said.

The military regime thumbed its nose at Syed Hamid in March when he travelled to Yangon as an Asean envoy to check on its claims it is shifting towards democracy.

Syed Hamid was denied access to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, prompting him to say that regional leaders were "frustrated and disullusioned" with their intransigent neighbour.

Shortly afterwards the junta allowed UN Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, and hold talks with the junta's reclusive leader Senior General Than Shwe outside the new capital of Pyinmana.

Syed Hamid said the action demonstrated that Burma - which has become an international pariah for its reluctance to abandon military rule and improve its human rights record - does not want Asean to play a bridging role.

"The don't see fit for Asean to meet Aung San Suu Kyi. I have gone to Myanmar but they did not allow me to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders," he said. "That is the way they deal with us."

Asean has put aside its policy of non-interference in members' affairs in recent months to demand that Burma's ruling generals introduce democratic reforms or risk bringing the entire region into disrepute.

Slow progress

Regional governments have begun openly expressing irritation with the Burmese generals, and there have been rumblings that it should be ejected from the Asean bloc, which it joined in 1997.

Syed Hamid lamented the fact that no Asean leader or foreign minister had been invited to visit Burma's new capital and that the honour was accorded instead to the UN official.

He said Burma was refusing to let the group speak on its behalf because there was "not enough (ammunition)" to make their case - referring to the slow progress of reform in the secretive nation.

The junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years later rejected the results of national elections won by the National League for Democracy, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent 10 of the past 17 years in detention at her lakeside home in Yangon.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.