The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) is lobbying hard to bring the issue of human rights abuses by the military regime in Burma before the UN Security Council.

"The United Nations, the European Union, the United States and other major stakeholders should urgently pull together to establish a dialogue with Burma's military regime," said Zaid Ibrahim, chairperson of Asean's year-old Inter-Parliamentary Burma Caucus (AIPMC).