An Asean envoy was to press Burma over democratic reforms during a visit today that analysts dismissed as little more than "window dressing" without a meeting with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The envoy, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, will hold talks with Prime Minister Soe Win later in the day during his long-delayed mission to check on the country's reform efforts amid global criticism of the junta's rights abuses.

But Syed Hamid was not likely to meet Aung San Suu Kyi during his three-day trip, according to diplomats in Yangon. The envoy is scheduled to leave for Malaysia early tomorrow.

One analyst said without meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, Syed Hamid's visit could end up being nothing more than "window-dressing".

"Myanmar did not invite him. Asean forced Myanmar to make the invitation because Myanmar was giving a bad name to Asean," said Asda Juyanama, Thailand's former ambassador to the United Nations.

"Myanmar does not realize that what's going on inside the country is negatively affecting the image of Asean. If the envoy just talks to the government, the visit may end up being sort of window-dressing. It may look good in terms of the publicity for Myanmar," he said.

The state-run daily New Light of Myanmar said today Syed Hamid had arrived in Rangoon "to pay a goodwill visit" but reported nothing about his mission for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

International pressure

Burma, which joined the grouping in 1997, agreed at last year's Asean summit to invite Syed Hamid in January.

But the visit apparently stalled over the envoy's insistence on meeting the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been the focus of international pressure for reform.

The military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has spelled out a "road map" for democracy, including talks on a new constitution, but Aung San Suu Kyi's party has boycotted the process, which critics have called a sham.

The junta again suspended constitutional talks in January after just two months of deliberation, dashing any hopes of ending the process this year and deepening international frustration over the lack of reforms.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has repeatedly said that the international community would not regard the constitutional process as credible if Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) does not take part.

16 years in jail

The junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years later rejected the result of national elections won by the NLD.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 16 years in jail or under house arrest. In December, the junta again extended her house arrest by six months.

Earlier this month, US President George W Bush, travelling in India, called on all nations to seek the release of the 60-year-old pro-democracy leader.

While Asean has a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, the bloc has become more vocal in line with censure from the United States, European Union and United Nations.

The United States has a total ban on Burma's exports while the European Union has more targeted measures such as a travel ban on the junta, an arms embargo and a ban on investment in state companies.

Along with Aung San Suu Kyi, the United Nations estimates that more than 1,100 political prisoners are detained in Burma - one of the poorest and most isolated nations in the world.

Syed Hamid will report on his mission at Asean's meeting of foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali in April, Malaysia's foreign ministry said.