Rice urges Southeast Asia to press Burma on reforms

July 11 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Southeast Asian nations Monday to press Burma's military rulers to follow through on promised reforms and to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

After meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on the resort island of Phuket, Rice said the release of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest could "be a possible case for reconciliation."

"We talked about the need for the Burmese government to make progress," she told a press conference, referring to  Burma.

"We hope there will be progress. We are encouraging all our partners who have contacts with Burma to press the case for human rights, for openness," and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 1,100 other political prisoners.

Her Thai counterpart Kantathi Suphamongkhon, who also attended the morning meeting, said Bangkok also wanted to see reforms take hold in neighboring Myanmar.

"We do want to see democracy and the national reconciliation process completed in Burma as soon as possible," he said.

Rice said she would not attend the group's annual meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Laos capital of Vientiane later this month, saying she had a scheduling conflict.

"I am very sorry I am not able to go to the ASEAN meeting this year and to the ARF. This is a vital organization and I have external travel at that time," she said.