Shake-up may hurt Myanmar's reforms

Developments after senior junta figure Soe Win replaced Khin Nyunt were being watched particularly closely by fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Indonesia said the leadership change, which Myanmar attributed to health reasons, further reduced the chance of detained opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi being released.

"We were hoping that under Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, Aung San Suu Kyi would be released but that did not happen," Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda told reporters.

"Now, hopes that she would be released under the current administration are even slimmer."

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the ousting could adversely affect the junta's "road map" to democracy, which was launched with a national convention earlier this year.

"I'm worried in case that happens. I hope the road map to democracy will not be affected with the change of the prime ministership," he told reporters in Jakarta after attending the inauguration of Indonesia's new president.