'It's a practical solution for Burma. A constitutional dialogue will discuss how the military can be part of the democratic process peacefully,' he said.

He called on the international community to pressure the military regime to accept the proposal.

Myanmar's government-in-exile was set up in 1990 by Sein Win and other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after the military junta refused to recognize the party's election victory that year.

Bo Hla Tint said the exiled government would consider taking part in an election, scheduled by the junta for next year, if Suu Kyi and some other 2,000 political prisoners were released.

Khin Ohmar, member of the Forum for Democracy in Burma, said the Myanmar situation had taken the Association of the South-East Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, hostage.

'It's time for action. As long as the people of Burma are still suffering, the region will not move forward,' she said.