YANGON (AFP) - Military-ruled Myanmar on Tuesday launches a new round of constitutional talks, vowing to "crush" opponents of the dragging process in defiance of mounting UN pressure to make democratic reforms.

The junta's National Convention is supposed to be the first of seven steps on a "road map" to democracy, but the talks have been boycotted by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party and derided by Western countries as a farce.In the run-up to the latest talks, the junta arrested six prominent pro-democracy activists, and the information minister vowed to "crush" any opponents of the process.

The arrests in late September came as the UN Security Council held discussions on Myanmar, with the United States pressing to introduce a resolution to force the junta to reform and to release Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon.

"Those who are attempting to undermine the National Convention will be crushed with the people's strength," the information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsann, told reporters on Monday.

He refused to say if the junta planned to target Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but has never been allowed to take office.

But he accused them of planning to "jeopardize the National Convention and to grab power through a shortcut" by asking to have talks with the military and to open a parliament based on the results of the elections.

He also dismissed any possible UN action, saying: "We will not let the national constitution process be harmed by the US-sponsored action at the UN Security Council."

"We will continue as before. There is no rush or delay to the National Convention because of it," he added.

Analysts say the threats and the latest arrests show the generals have little concern for international pressure. "The arrest (of the activists) is clearly an indication that the military cares more about internal security than international punishment," said Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst based in neighboring Thailand.

But he said the junta sticks with the convention process to try to prove to its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that it is making steps toward democratic reform. "They want to at least show to ASEAN and China that they are serious about the road map and the convention process," he said.

China has tried to support Myanmar on the UN Security Council, but even Beijing has quietly urged some gesture to the international community, Myanmar military analyst Win Min said.

"They have had some pressure from China... that they have to cooperate," he said. "They will be trying to improve something for the Security Council, not through the National Convention, but through some other process," he said.

The junta did allow UN deputy secretary general Ibrahim Gambari to visit in May, with another visit planned for November. And pressure from the UN's International Labor Organization did prompt the junta to free two labor activists in June and July.

Win Min said the generals would not abandon their plan for a constitution that enshrines their power behind the facade of a civilian government. Sources close to the military say that is already happening, after junta supremo Than Shwe decided last month to hand control of the military to one of his deputies. But Than Shwe kept political power over the government for himself, apparently as a precursor to becoming some sort of president, the sources said. Kyaw Hsann denied Monday that the handover had taken place.

The National Convention has been meeting on-and-off for 13 years, but has yet to make any tangible progress. The upcoming talks will cloister more than 1,000 handpicked delegates at a resort-like military compound north of Yangon for about three months.

Analysts doubt this will be the last round, saying only the top generals know when that could be.

"They can finish it in no time, or they can finish it two or three years from now," Aung Naing Oo said. "Thirteen years already... and it's still going on."