"Suu Kyi has said that she's willing to work with (Prime Minister General) Khin Nyunt," said a Western diplomat who attended a briefing given by Razali before he left Yangon after a three-day meeting.

Khin Nyunt last month unveiled a seven-point "roadmap" to democracy in the military-run state, which includes free and fair elections to be held under a new constitution.

Razali, who was in Myanmar to try to advance the roadmap as well as secure Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest, failed to secure her freedom during his talks with the ruling generals, the source said.

Before being confined to her home last week, the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader was held at a secret location for nearly four months in a crackdown on her party which saw its entire leadership put under detention.

"Aung San Suu Kyi told him that she wanted to be released with the others. She doesn't want to be the focus of attention on a one-off release," the diplomat said.

Myanmar's junta is under intense pressure to free the 58-year-old democracy campaigner before a Southeast Asian summit next week which risks being overshadowed by the issue.

But Razali's prospects of securing her freedom were always remote, and his mission was predominantly focused on promoting a reform initiative to end four decades of military rule in Myanmar.

"The bigger thing is the implementation of the roadmap and whether the two sides can work towards it," the diplomat said, adding that Razali had said the junta gave no firm indication of when the process would begin.

"There's nothing definite out of it, no timeframe, nothing definitive," he said.

"But the good thing was that he had quite good discussions with both Khin Nyunt and (leader Senior General) Than Shwe and he seems reasonably optimistic that reconciliation talks will start again and that things can be progressed."

However, there was unlikely to be any movement on either the roadmap or Aung San Suu Kyi's release before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bali.

"There's even disagreement within the Burmese government as to what her status is," he said, adding that the generals were quibbling over whether the Nobel peace laureate was under house arrest or simply resting at home.