Malaysia warned Burma today to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi or risk intervention from the United Nations or other countries.

"It is wiser for Burma to listen now," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.

"This is in the context of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), it is within our grasp, we can manage it and handle it.

"But if nothing happens, then we are concerned by the possibility that other countries, other regional organisations including the United Nations, may come in to decide their fate, then it will be more difficult."

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi has been in detention since political violence on May 30, despite international demands that she be released.

Asean's bottom line

"Burma need not be isolated, they can be mainstream but it depends on them. They have to pay heed to the wishes of the international community, including Asean," Syed Hamid said on the sidelines of a Malaysia-Thai business forum in Langkawi.

Thailand's proposed "roadmap" for democratic reform was a step forward in trying to resolve the deadlock, he said.

"It depends very much on Burma's acceptance of it, how they perceive it, but Asean's bottom line is that Aung San Suu Kyi should be released and the reconcilition process should commence," he said.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the roadmap was merely a "friendly suggestion" for Burma to work towards national reconcialiation and not an interference in its affairs.

"This is not considered as intervention in the domestic affairs of Burma," he said.

"It's not like we, an outsider, working on something and asking them to accept it. It's basically producing a draft, a dummy of a roadmap rather, for them to comment on."

He said Thailand had so far only exchanged views on the roadmap with Burma and had not submitted any formal document.

"Right now, we are putting on paper a comprehensive framework," he said. "The release of Aung San Suu Kyi is the first step."

Receptive to roadmap

He said his Burmese counterpart Win Aung was "receptive" to the fact that Thailand was working on the roadmap during talks last week in Bali but "he would have to consult his leadership."

If Burma is interested, Thailand will submit the document, he said, adding that he would raise the matter with Win Aung during an economic meeting in Bangkok on Thursday.

In Yangon on Saturday, however, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win reacted coolly to Thailand's roadmap.

"We haven't received any of the details, we only know what we read in the newspapers," he told reporters. "But Burma's policy continues to be that it would rather solve its own problems from within."

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his Thai counterpart Thanksin Shinawatra were due to hold talks in Langkawi later today in which Myanmar was expected to by high on the agenda. - AFP