Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that Burma's decision to forgo its turn as Asean chair was a positive sign, but that persuading the ruling generals to shift to democracy was hard.

"I think the fact that Myanmar (Burma) chose voluntarily to give up the chairmanship is a sign that Myanmar is sensitive to thinkings of other people," said Mahathir, a staunch ally of the junta when he was in power.

"I am hopeful for Myanmar," he said at an Asian economic conference.

Mahathir, who engineered Burma's entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), said however that democratic reforms would not come quickly.

"We need to persuade Myanmar, maybe to adopt gradually a greater degree of democracy. You find it difficult to persuade them, because you know what happens to dictators who accepted democracy - they were thrown into jail," he said.

Mahathir said the military regime needed to be assured that if they made reforms they would not face prosecution, and that he had personally tried to persuade the generals not to fear democracy.

Release Suu Kyi

In recent years, Mahathir has grown increasingly vocal about the junta and called for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is under her third stint of house arrest.

"It is unfortunate for Aung San Suu Kyi, she will have to put up with this for a long time but change has to be slow if it is not going to be too disruptive," he said.

Burma on Tuesday announced that it would pass up the chairmanship of the 10-member Asean grouping it was due to assume in 2006 after pressure from member countries as well as the United States and Europe.

The junta has launched a reform road map but critics have dismissed the process as a sham because it does not include the main opposition National League for Democracy, which won 1990 elections but was never allowed to rule.