Reuters: December 20, 2003)

United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has urged Burma's military rulers to quickly invite his special envoy to visit so he can help the reclusive south-east Asian nation get to work on a promised shift toward democracy.

Mr Annan said he was encouraged by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung's pledge at a meeting in Bangkok to embark on a seven-step "road map to democracy" next year by reconvening a constitution-drafting national convention that has been suspended since 1996.

In a statement read by his spokesman, Fred Eckhard, the UN chief said he was also encouraged by Win Aung's commitment to implement the transition plan "in an all-inclusive manner".

Win Aung this month pledged that all ethnic groups and political parties would be able to participate, including democracy champion and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Ms Suu Kyi's party won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the military government ignored the result.

Mr Annan wants his envoy, Malaysian Razali Ismail, "to be allowed to visit Burma as soon as possible to help facilitate the participation of all the parties concerned" in the transition process and the convention, Mr Eckhard said.

Burma's government opened a convention in 1993 aimed at drawing up a constitution ensuring a leading role for the military in the country's politics.

But Ms Suu Kyi's party walked out of it in 1995, and it has not met again since 1996.

Ms Suu Kyi and scores of her supporters were locked up at the end of May following a bloody attack on her convoy by pro-government youths as she traveled outside the capital. She was allowed to go home after an operation in September but remains
under house arrest, refusing liberty until others arrested with her are freed.

Mr Razali has spearheaded a strong UN push for national reconciliation and democracy in Burma, but its rulers accuse international governments of meddling in its internal affairs and have warned of instability if Western-style democracy is imposed.

Mr Annan last month criticised the authorities for preparing their August 30 road map without setting out a timeline or consulting any opposition figures including Ms Suu Kyi.