UN chief Kofi Annan has voiced regret over the resignation of Malaysia's Razali Ismail as UN special envoy for Burma and lauded his bid to foster national reconciliation and democracy in the southeast Asian country.

"The secretary general expresses his warm appreciation and gratitude for Mr Razali's more than five years of service as his special envoy, during which he helped the secretary-general's good offices aimed at facilitating national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar," Annan's spokesman said in a statement.

Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat who has been trying to break Burma's political impasse since 2000, said he would not renew his contract which ran until the end of last year.

"I have not been allowed to visit the Myanmar leadership in Yangon in the past 22 months."

Hopes dashed

Razali was the catalyst for landmark contacts between Burma's military rulers and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, which created excitement when they began in October 2000.

Fresh hopes for change in Burma, which has been ruled by the military for four decades, came when Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was released from house arrest in May 2002.

But those hopes were dashed a year later when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was taken into "protective custody" after clashes between her supporters and those of the government. She remains confined to her home in Yangon.