WASHINGTON: As Barack Obama prepares to travel to Indonesia, his administration is seeking to reverse a 12-year-old ban on training an elite unit of the Indonesian military whose members have been convicted of beatings, kidnappings and other abuses.

And in further evidence of a new US approach in South-East Asia, the administration has begun an aggressive campaign to try to persuade the Burmese junta to stop buying North Korean military technology.

The administration is floating a plan to test a training program for younger members of the Indonesian Komando Pasukan Khusus, or Kopassus. Four members of the force, including its commanding general, Major-General Lodewijk Paulus, are in Washington to discuss the proposal, several sources said.

''The details are still being worked out,'' a spokesman for the Indonesian embassy said.

The Obama administration's move reflects a desire to improve ties with Indonesia and South-East Asian countries as part of its efforts to counter China's rise.