Obama to press reform progress on Myanmar visit

NAYPYIDAW (AFP) – Fears that Myanmar's reforms are stagnating are in the spotlight as it hosts US President Barack Obama Thursday during major regional summits showcasing the country's giddying transition from army-led isolation to international player.

Obama will meet his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein -- a former general turned reformer -- on the sidelines of the East Asia summit and hold meetings with regional leaders.

The US president echoed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday when he told Myanmar news website The Irrawaddy that while there has been progress on political and economic reforms, other areas such as press freedom and human rights for minorities have seen a ''slowdown and backsliding''.

Suu Kyi, who will also meet Obama Friday, has warned against '' overoptimism'' in the country, as it heads for crucial general elections next year.

Obama is in Naypyidaw for the first time after snubbing the sprawling purpose-built capital -- which the junta named the ''Abode of Kings'' after constructing the vast new city in the central Myanmar tropical scrubland -- during his previous brief visit in 2012.

He arrived fresh from hammering out a major deal with China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that was lauded by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday as an important step in securing a global climate pact.

The US leader has framed Myanmar's reform process, which began in 2011 when Thein Sein took the helm of a quasi-civilian government, as an example of the positive effects of Washington's engagement.

But the country, which was stifled under military rule for almost half a century, has faced accusations that its ambitious transition has stuttered.

Suu Kyi is campaigning to change the junta-era constitution which currently bars her from the presidency, even if her party is successful in the polls, and earmarks a quarter of the legislature for unelected soldiers.