"It is better for Myanmar to be inside the family than outside. ... So, ASEAN will continue to engage Myanmar, as we encourage and help it to move forward," Lee said in an email interview with the Straits Times, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We have to be mindful of the realities of the situation. First, sanctions against a regime that is ready to isolate itself are more likely to be counter-productive than effective. Second, the military, as a key institution in Myanmar, has to be a part of the process of national reconciliation, and of any lasting solution," he added.

Lee's comments come amid calls for ASEAN to suspend or expel Myanmar and for the foreign governments to slap tough sanctions on Myanmar in efforts for a regime change in the country following its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in recent weeks.

Singapore currently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, a 10-member grouping which admitted Myanmar in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western governments who criticized its lack of democracy and human rights.

Officials in Lee's office could not be immediately reached to confirm his comments.

Dissident groups say up to 200 protesters were slain and 6000 have been detained in the Myanmar junta's crackdown, while the regime has only admitted to 10 deaths. Foreign governments, including ASEAN member states, have urged the junta to free detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as other detainees, including Buddhist monks who led the recent protests.

Lee reiterated that he wrote to Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe with ASEAN's concerns last week. "I think that he appreciates our concerns. He had told me ... in March 2005, that Myanmar would always be a responsible member of ASEAN," the newspaper quoted Lee as saying.

But "there is a limit to what Singapore or ASEAN alone can do," he added, calling for the UN to lead the Myanmar peace efforts with the help of Myanmar's neighbors China, India and major aid donor Japan.

Singapore has been invited, as ASEAN Chair, to make a statement at a UN Security Council meeting on Myanmar to be held Friday in New York.

Meanwhile, the Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew - Lee Hsien Loong's father - said an unstable Myanmar was a "time bomb" that could destabilize Southeast Asia.

"It is in the best interest of every country in ASEAN to help stabilize Myanmar," he told a local university forum Thursday night. "ASEAN leaders know if the situation in Myanmar deteriorates ... there will come a breaking point where much more brutal force will be used to put their people down."

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