The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United Nations (UN) are both 'impotent' in facing up to the Burmese military junta, lamented Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

Lim said that Asean governments and parliamentarian must pull their act together to demand the immediate release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 1,000 other political prisoners held by the junta.

"The continue incarceration of Suu Kyi is not only an indictment of the military junta as one of the world's most repressive regimes for its brutal suppression of democracy and violation of human rights but also for the UN and Asean for their impotence and irrelevance," he said.

Lim added that both regional and international community should no longer stomach the Burmese junta's defiant act and come up with a concerted plan of action to put renewed pressure for the release of Burma's political prisoners.

The opposition leader called on all Asean parliamentarians to mobilise an unprecedented show of consensus, not only for the release of the prisoners but also for the suspension of Burma from Asean if the demands for their release is not entertained.

"At the regional level, the Asean governments must demand accountability of the Burma military junta for its long list of broken promises about the release of Suu Kyi and political prisoners, democratisation and national reconciliation.

"At the international level, the UN Security Council must place the Burma issue on its official agenda to reflect and pursue the annual concerns of the UN General Assembly on the prolonged humanitarian and democratic disasters in Burma."

10 years under house arrest

The Burmese junta has decided to continue Suu Kyi's detention for another year despite discussion for reforms in the military government between UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari with junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.

Suu Kyi has spent more than 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest at her lakeside residence in the Burmese capital of Rangoon.

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

Malaysia's Razali Ismail, the UN's special envoy for Burma, stepped down in January after being denied entry for two years.

In March, Asean's envoy Syed Hamid Albar cut short his trip to Burma after failing to win permission to meet with Suu Kyi. The Malaysian minister said the extension of detention as "disappointing".