'Reform in Myanmar must be slow'

'Reform in Myanmar must be slow'

MYANMAR: Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad left Myanmar on Monday after an official visit where he failed to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and insisted democratic reforms should be taken slowly.

"While we uphold democracy and would like to see democracy practiced in a country, we are also aware the process of change must be gradual," he told reporters after opening a technology conference here.

Mahathir, a trusted friend and adviser to the ruling junta, said before arriving in Yangon that he would not see Suu Kyi during the two-day trip, despite the Nobel peace laureate's request for a meeting.

A Malaysian diplomatic source said on Sunday that a meeting had instead been arranged between Suu Kyi and Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who is traveling in the large Malaysian delegation.

But Mahathir said on Monday that no such meeting had taken place. "There was never any such appointment as far as I know," he said. -- AFP