RANGOON - Democratic reform in Burma will be a slow and gradual process, Prime Minister Dr Mohamad Mahathir said Monday, warning during an official visit that rapid change could lead to anarchy.

"While we uphold democracy and would like to see democracy practised in a country, we are also aware the process of change must be gradual," he told reporters after opening a technology conference here.

"We know from experience it is not easy to handle democracy. If we do not know how to handle it we will end up with anarchy."

Mahathir's visit comes as Burma's ruling junta is expected to embark shortly on an historic political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The two sides began talking in October 2000, in contacts brokered by veteran Malaysian diplomat and UN special envoy Razali Ismail, but Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly complained that the process is moving too slowly.

Mahathir, a trusted friend and adviser to the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), distanced himself from the fledgling national reconciliation process.

Slow technology tranfer

Burma's influential military intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, also said in a speech to the Burma-Malaysia technology conference that any progress towards democracy would be slow.

"Such a transition cannot be done in haste and in a haphazard manner. The world is full of examples where a hasty transition from one system to another have led to instability and even failed states," he said.

"As such, our government... is laying the necessary political, economic, social and human resource foundations to ensure a stable and smooth transition to democracy."

Mahathir said Sunday that he would not see Aung San Suu Kyi during his two-day visit to Burma, which ends late Monday, despite a request from the Nobel peace laureate for a meeting.

A Malaysian diplomatic source told AFP Sunday that a meeting had instead been arranged between Aung San Suu Kyi and Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who is travelling in the large Malaysian delegation.

But Mahathir said no such meeting had taken place. "There was never any such appointment as far as I know," he said.

U Lwin, the spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), confirmed the two had not met.

"We really don't know what is going on with this Mahathir trip... We are expecting to meet, of course," he said. "They are not interested in seeing us."

Not upset

However, he insisted the party's leader was not angry about failing to meet with the Malaysian delegation.

"Why should she be upset? It is our struggle, it is our fight. We have been doing this on our own for years," he said.

Mahathir has been given the warmest of welcomes by Burma's junta, who see him as a valued advocate within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, (Asean) which it joined in 1997 under Kuala Lumpur's sponsorship.

"To us in Burma, Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is more than a leader of the dynamic nation of Malaysia: he is a visionary statesman of the region and a staunch defender of the developing world," Khin Nyunt said.

Syed Hamid said on the eve of the visit that Malaysia's policy of constructive engagement with Burma - seen as a pariah by many Western governments - had been successful.

"Some considered the development slow but there has definitely been positive changes. Isolation is not the answer," he said.

Malaysia is the fourth largest investor in Burma after Singapore, Britain and Thailand, with total investments of RM2.23 billion (US$587 million). AFP