Burma's military government has put off an expected visit by Asean envoy and Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar saying it is too busy relocating its capital.

Under fire over its slow progress on democracy and human rights, Burma agreed at last month's Asean summit to receive Syed Hamid.

While no date has been set for the visit, Syed Hamid, who is tasked with assessing the progress of democratic reform, had been expected to visit this month.

But Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win said late yesterday that the government would not receive the envoy in January.

"I don't think it is January because we are too busy shifting the capital," he said.

Asked whether the Asean envoy would visit in February, Nyan Win said: "We have not fixed any date for the visit."

Evidence of democratic reform

In November, the junta announced it was moving the government to Pyinmanar, a logging town 320km north of Rangoon.

Speculation about the reason for the relocation ranges from the government's fear of a US invasion to astrological predictions and worries over possible urban unrest in Rangoon.

Syed Hamid said earlier he hoped to see evidence of democratic reform during the visit to Burma, which has been been ruled by the military since 1988.

The junta brutally crushed pro-democracy demonstrations and two years later rejected the result of national elections won by democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

In November it extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by another six months. The pro-democracy leader has already spent more than 10 of the last 16 years in detention.