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 YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The pending handover of the leadership of Southeast Asia's top trade and diplomatic bloc to Myanmar has brought unprecedented pressure on the military-ruled regime to speed up promised democratic reforms in the country the United States has labeled an "outpost of tyranny."
But the generals are unlikely to either give in to outside demands to free the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and veer from their authoritarian path or relinquish their leading role in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, experts and diplomats told The Associated Press.
Diplomats in the capital, Yangon, and foreign experts say the military will at best make minimal concessions to its critics while perpetuating a 43-year grip on power.
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