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BurmaNet News: January 5-6



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************************** BurmaNet ************************** 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
************************************************************** 
BurmaNet News: Thursday-Friday, January 5-6, 1995
Issue #93

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Contents:

1  NATION [PHOTO]: TIME FOR A PRAYER
2  NATION: MILITARY LEADER NOTES BIG INTERNATIONAL GAINS FOR BURMA
3  BKK POST: OPPOSITION DEMANDS SUU KYI'S UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE
4  NATION: BURMA OPPOSITION GROUPING RENEWS ?LIBERATION? CALL
5  BKK POST: INDEPENDENCE?
6  BKK POST: KAREN RIVALS FIGHT AGAIN ON BORDER BATTLEFIELD
7  NATION: KAREN KILLING KAREN AS RELIGIOUS RIVALRY LEADS TO SHOWDOWN
8  NATION: CHINESE-THAI MILITARY LINKS SET FOR BOOST
9  NATION: LOXLEY LAUNCH BURMA NETWORK

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************************************************************** 
1  NATION [PHOTO]: TIME FOR A PRAYER
Thursday, January 5, 1995

[Photo caption: TIME FOR A PRAYER: A Burmese woman sits in prayer at 
Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's largest Buddhist shrine on a hilltop north of 
Rangoon where the first pagoda was believed to have been built 2,500 
years ago.]

************************************************************** 
2  NATION: MILITARY LEADER NOTES BIG INTERNATIONAL GAINS FOR BURMA
Thursday, January 5, 1995
AFP, Rangoon

Burma has recorded substantial gains in international relations but must 
remain alert to possible internal and external threats, according to the 
country?s military leader, Senior General Than Shwe.

In a special message published in state-owned newspapers to mark the 
47th anniversary of independence, Than Shwe said national unity was a 
key to future progress.

He stressed the need to strive harder for ?all-round development? while 
remaining vigilant against ?internal and external threats.? He did not go 
into specifics.

The ruling junta, officially known as the State Law and Order Restoration 
Council (SLORC), had laid solid political, social and economic 
foundations since taking power six years ago, Than Shwe said.

?By our combined efforts, we can make Burma stand proud among the 
world?s community of nations as a peaceful, stable, prosperous and 
modern state,? he said.

Rangoon had a festive look Wednesday. Not only government buildings 
and offices but also commuter buses and other public vehicles were 
festooned with flags.

Newspapers carried full-page lists of honours for Buddhist monks, state 
employees and military personnel.

Meanwhile, activists used the 47th anniversary of Burmese independence 
to urge the international community to pressure Rangoon for democratic 
reforms.

?Our country is free, but our people are not free yet,? said Aung Mying 
of the Burma Human Rights Committee. ?We want democracy.?

The Burmese activists, representing a variety of groups, said other nations 
should institute a worldwide arms embargo and economic sanctions 
against Rangoon while ending diplomatic relations and recognition by 
international bodies like the United Nations.

?People today live in fear and mistrust,? the National Coalition 
Government of the Union of Burma said in a statement from Washington. 
?Harassment, torture and imprisonment are deployed to impose an 
unnatural and sinister calm in the nation.?

The Burmese in Thailand called for Rangoon to unconditionally free all 
political prisoners, including 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San 
Suu Kyi, end repression and transfer power to the democratic opposition 
elected in 1990.

The activists fled Rangoon when the military junta crushed a pro-
democracy uprising in 1988 and later put Suu Kyi under house arrest.

************************************************************** 
3  BKK POST: OPPOSITION DEMANDS SUU KYI'S UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE
Thursday, January 5, 1995
Reuters

BURMA'S exile pro-democracy opposition yesterday called for the 
Rangoon junta to cease dialogue with dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi 
while she is still in detention and to release her unconditionally.

In a statement broadcast on an opposition radio station the National 
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said Suu Kyi, 
now in her six year of house arrest, should be given free access to the 
mass medial and political colleagues.

 "If the SLORC genuinely wants national reconciliation, it should end 
takes with Aung San Suu Kyi in her status as captive and release her 
unconditionally and give her direct access to news agencies and her 
political allies," the NCGUB said in a statement broadcast on the Norway-
based Democratic Voice
of Burma.

The broadcast, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 
denounced claims by the Rangoon junta, the SLORC, that it was 
facilitating reconciliation in Burma.

"The SLORC is claiming it is holding consultations and has obtained 
considerable achievements towards preventing national disintegration 
and obtaining national reconciliation," the statement said.

"Contrary to this claim, the country's situation is marked by 
unprecedented social and economic discrimination."

Attacks on guerrilla bases in southeast Burma last month proved the 
SLORC was still seeking a military solution to Burma's political problems, 
the NCGUB said.

Junta leaders have had two high-profile meeting with Suu Kyi since last 
September prompting speculation she might soon be released.

The 49-year-old daughter of Burma's independence hero Aung San has 
been detained in her Rangoon home since July 1989.

She rose to prominence during pro-democracy demonstrations which 
swept Burma is 1988 and were finally crushed by the military with 
substantial loss of life.

The party she co-founded, the National League for Democracy, who a 
landslide victory in the May 1990 elections but the SLORC ignored the 
result and instead launched a sweeping crackdown against the 
opposition.

The NCGUB was formed by elected NLD members who fled to a 
guerrilla-controlled zone in southeast Burma in late 1990.

************************************************************** 
4  NATION: BURMA OPPOSITION GROUPING RENEWS ?LIBERATION? CALL
Thursday, January 5, 1995
AFP

AN OPPOSITION umbrella group marked the 47th anniversary of Burma's 
independence yesterday with a call for renewed efforts to ?liberate? the 
country from the ruling junta.

In a statement from Washington, the National Coalition Government of 
the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said Burma was at a crossroads, facing 
paths either ?towards national reconciliation or towards despotic rule?.

It called on the international community to step up pressure on the junta 
in Rangoon and urged ?the entire nation to redouble their efforts to 
liberate Burma again by marching in unity and through discipline and 
perseverance?.

Domestic opposition and international pressure had, the NCGUB said, 
finally brought about meetings between Burma's military rulers and 
leading opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi, now in her sixth year of 
house arrest in Rangoon.

But the two meetings were ?held in a captor-captive atmosphere,? the 
group said and it renewed its call for her unconditional release and the 
granting of direct access to news media and political allies.

While the country had never been more divided, ?the only way to 
overcome the politico-economic crisis in Burma is to find a political 
solution through national reconciliation,? the NCGUB said.

It assailed a ?recent sneak attack? by junta troops on Dawngwin, 
headquarters of the All Burma Students? Democratic Front and 
Manerplaw, where the Karen National Union and others have their 
headquarters. 

Opposition unity suffered a blow, meanwhile, when the Karens 
announced a split between Buddhist and Christian-led factions.

************************************************************** 
5  BKK POST: INDEPENDENCE?
Thursday, January 5, 1995

JANUARY 4 was independence day in Burma -- the 47th anniversary of 
self-rule after over 100 years of British rule.

Since 1962 and to this day, however, the Burmese people have had to 
suffer the brutal hand of a military dictatorship. Due to this, and the fact 
that a civil war broke out shortly after independence, the people have 
been deprived of their freedom, safety and peace.

The current situation in Burma is still disappointing . Slorc ignored the 
result of the general election in 1990, thereby ignoring the win of the 
people. They are abusing their power and violation human rights. At the 
moment, Slorc is holding a national convention in order to draw up a 
new constitution. By doing so, Slorc is guaranteeing a future of military 
rule in Burma. The Burmese people and the international community 
have denounced the convention as junta and a sham. 

Professor Yozo Yokota, a special UN envoy on human rights, recently 
submitted a report to the 49th UN General Assembly highlighting Slorc's 
continued abuse of power, human rights violations and limitations of the 
people's basic freedom. Despite the fact that independence day is  
celebrated this week, Slorc still have the never to ignore the will of the 
people.

It is a sad irony that Slorc has destroyed the dignity and denied freedom 
to the very people who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for Burma's 
independence. We, the All Burma Students League (ABSL), strongly 
condemn the leaders of the Slorc.

We demand that Slorc:

(1) Open the way for democracy in Burma and respect human rights.

(2) Unconditionally release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political 
prisoners.

(3) Hand over people's power unconditionally to the people, which was 
forcibly taken by the military.


                              Central Committee
                         All Burma Students League

************************************************************** 
6  BKK POST: KAREN RIVALS FIGHT AGAIN ON BORDER BATTLEFIELD
Thursday, January 5, 1995
Mae Hong Son

BUDDHIST-LED Karen soldiers were looked in battle with the Christian-
led rebel group for the first time this year on Tuesday near the border of 
this province, late reports said yesterdays.

There were no reported casualties from either side. Fighting broke out 
after a mid-day deadline on January 1 by the Karen National Union 
(KNU) headquarters calling for rebel Buddhists within the movement to 
rejoin its ranks.

The Buddhist faction earlier agree to rejoin the KNU, but later defied the 
order, the report said.

According to a Thai intelligence report, the first battle broke out on 
Tuesday at 10 a.m. when Buddhist Karens seized Mae Samlaeb near the 
Thai border to gain food supplies, while Karen soldiers from the 
Manerplaw headquarters bombarded the Buddhist Karen base Sob Moei 
temple with mortars and light machineguns.

Fighting lasted more than an hour, causing damage to the arms cache of 
the Buddhist Karens, the report said. The battle continued until that 
evening.

Earlier Monday, one after the deadline was set, more than 100 Christian 
Karens moved to confront Buddhist Karens who tried to seize Mae Salog 
and Sobmoei villages near the Thai border.

The report also said  a new battle could take place any time.

Communications along the Salween River has been suspended, the report 
said.

************************************************************** 
7  NATION: KAREN KILLING KAREN AS RELIGIOUS RIVALRY LEADS TO SHOWDOWN
Friday, January 6, 1995

?Somchit Rungchamratrasmess and Yindee Lercharoenchok analyse the 
current religious conflicts facing Burma's oldest and strongest ethnic 
armed group, the Karen National Union.?

[Photo caption: RELIGIOUS RIFT: KNU and Buddhist mediators holding 
talks last month with Buddhist Karen mutineers in an attempt to resolve 
the religious dispute that has led to fighting within the Burmese ethnic 
group.]

RELIGIOUS conflicts inside Burma's largest armed ethnic group, the 
Karen guerrillas, have evolved into a split that is beyond peaceful 
reconciliation and the Buddhist-Christian antagonists are heading 
towards a final military showdown.

The latest outbreak of armed hostility, involving perhaps the most tragic 
incidents in the 45-year-old history of the Karen revolutionary 
movement, occurred at the most crucial time when the Karen National 
Union (KNU) is trying to strengthen itself for the imminent start of peace 
talks with the Burmese junta.

The formation on Dec 2? Of a rival Karen party, the Democratic Kayin 
(Karen) Buddhist Association, was the last straw which exhausted the 
Christian-dominated KNU leaders? tolerance and concessionary 
approach, and prompted them to resort to arms to dislodge and quell the 
group of several hundred armed Buddhist Karen mutineers and villagers.

The association, which has established a stronghold at the Sob Moei 
Temple on the confluence of the Moei and Salween rivers, has also cut off 
the KNU?s most strategic waterway lifeline and supply route by blocking 
passing boat transport along the two rivers and to the KNU headquarters 
of Manerplaw. Manerplaw, on the Moei River bank about 40 kilometres 
south of the Buddhist temple, is currently encircled by the Burma Army?s 
advancing troops from the western and southern fronts.

The Karen offensive against its former rank and file, launched after the 
expiry of a Dec 31 deadline for the Buddhists to surrender, has caused 
widespread concern not only among KNU?s widespread concern but also 
Burma watchers who fear the crisis will lead to eventual disintegration of 
the Karen and weaken the whole ethnic and pro-democracy Burmese 
opposition movement.

KNU leaders have accused the Burmese State Law and Order Restoration 
Council (SLORC) -- the ruling military power which has been known to 
frequently exploit religions to create disunity among the country?s rich 
ethnic diversity -- of sowing the seed of internal religious strife.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Karen leadership charged that the 
rival group and its military wing have formed ?an alliance with SLORC? 
and repudiated a five-point agreement both Karen factions had reached 
on Dec 15 to respect religious freedom and activities and to settle any 
future religious disputes through peaceful means.

The KNU said it had exhausted its ?intensive effort? to strike a 
compromise with the defectors and gave the Dec 31 ultimatum for the 
group ?to return to the fold by 12 p.m. of that day or, failing that, they 
would be regarded as [KNU?s] enemies.?

?The KNU is determined to take effective action against those who foster 
factionalism and collaboration with the enemy [SLORC] by using false 
excuses relating to religion,? said the statement.

In an interview on Tuesday, a senior Karen officer said the KNU has 
garnered sufficient evidence to substantiate its allegations against leading 
members of the rival Buddhist Karen association of being SLORC spies 
and of collaborating with a receiving military support from the Burmese 
army.

The association has its headquarters in Myaing Gyi Ngu on the east bank 
of the Salween River, where a leading Buddhist monk, U Thuzana, who 
has been accused of being a SLORC spy, has a temple. The Burma Army 
has the headquarters for its tactical command in Kamamaung, which is 
located on the west bank, just opposite Myaing Gyi Ngu.

The dissident group, believed to command between 250-300 well-armed 
Buddhist troops who defected from the main KNU forces, is governed by 
two bodies -- a patron structure of six Buddhist monks led by U Thuzana 
and a nine-member central committee headed by U Tha Htoo Kya, a 
civilian unknown to the KNU, and Sgt Maj Kyaw Than, a KNU deserter.

The Karen officer, who requested anonymity, said the KNU had not 
expelled U Thuzana from the Sob Moei Temple as claimed by the monk 
himself and other Buddhist troops or villagers. He said the KNU had 
obtained a document written by U Thuzana, a widely respected monk 
among local Buddhist communities and troops that he himself wanted to 
leave the temple.

The Karen defectors also cited perpetual discrimination against religious 
practices and activities, and against promotions of Buddhist forces to 
high positions in the KNU hierarchy. About 70 per cent of the KNU 
membership is Buddhist of low-ranking authority or common troops.

The long-subdued religious resentment came to the forefront and reached 
the point of internal breakup the KNU in early December when the 
dissident Buddhist troops and local villagers used the expulsion of U 
Thuzana as a main reason for rebelling.

After some clashes and the detention of several KNU and Buddhist monks, 
who acted as peace mediators, the mutineers eventually signed the five-
point peace agreement with the KNU in which a general amnesty was 
guaranteed to all the defectors.

One of the mediators, Buddhist monk U Weesana, who has been taking 
refuge in Manerplaw, said in an interview last week that the current 
situation ?is still very confusing? and said he believed the SLORC had 
manipulated religious differences and resentment to weaken the KNU and 
to strike ?political advantage? over its ethnic Karen rivals.

?Everything is too late now for a compromise [between the KNU and the 
defectors], and a resolution for the religious conflict is extreme delicate 
and difficult. I believe that the SLORC is behind the whole affair,? said U 
Weesana, who had himself been handcuffed and put in custody by the 
rebellious Karen troops after his intervention.

U Weesana said he had sought the assistance of a respectable Buddhist 
monk in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State, to help resolve the strife and 
talk with U Thuzana on the basis that ?as clergymen, one should not be 
involved in politics.?

For the KNU, one of the most unfortunate defeats in this current religious 
dispute was the fall of several KNU strategic outposts to the Burma Army 
who exploited the chaotic situation to make military advances over the 
KNU frontline defence.

According to informed border sources, who have been monitoring the 
Burmese ethnic movements, the KNU leaders ?have been placed in an 
extreme dilemma over the whole affair? and they ?fully realize the 
complexity of the problems and difficulties confronting them?.

?They [Karen leaders] know that they need to resolve the religious 
conflicts at the earliest as they could not open two fronts of wars with the 
SLORC on one side and the their own troops on the other. Still, they stand 
to lose in both wars,? said one of the sources.

The use of force against the defectors was a precarious decision which 
could create a lasting disunity and resentment among the whole Karen 
movement.

The KNU has already left itself open to criticism for killing its own Karen 
compatriots and no matter which side wins the war, the religious wounds 
are already beyond remedy. The ongoing fighting already threatens to 
extract a high and bloody toll on the Karen populace and subsequently 
benefits the SLORC, who might exploit the situation to make further 
military gains.

************************************************************** 
8  NATION: CHINESE-THAI MILITARY LINKS SET FOR BOOST
Thursday, January 5, 1995
Kyodo, Beijing

CHINESE and Thai military leaders have shared the view that relations 
between their armed forces will develop further, according to Beijing?s 
official Chinese-language news agency for overseas Chinese.

Gen Zhang Wannian, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People?s 
Liberation Army, and Watanachai Wootisiri, supreme commander of the 
Thai armed forces, disclosed the shared understanding at a joint news 
conference on Tuesday night following their meeting earlier in the day, 
the Chinese News Agency said.

Watanachai arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on a three-day official visit at 
the invitation of Zhang.

Meanwhile, another agency report showed that the Chinese military has 
replaced the commander of its air force, Gen Cao Shuangning, with Maj 
Gen Jing Xuequin.

The disclosure came in the form of an agency dispatch on Tuesday which 
said that Jing accompanied Zhang to the meeting with Watanachai in 
lieu of Cao.

Although the agency did not mention the reason for the sudden 
replacement, military observers speculate that Cao retired due to his 
advanced age, 65. Cao had been serving as the air force commander 
since 1992.

************************************************************** 
9  NATION: LOXLEY LAUNCH BURMA NETWORK
Thursday, January 5, 1995

LOXLEY Plc and Northern Telecom Co have officially announced their 
agreement with Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications to install a 
digital cellular network for 1,000 numbers in Mandalay, the second 
largest city.

The contract was signed on Dec 22. Loxley will be responsible for 
procurement and installation of equipment supplied by NT, according to 
Dr Wichien Watanakun, Loxley director and president of Loxley 
Myanmar, in a press release.

He said Loxley started surveying the business conditions in the country 
two years ago. The installation will begin in March and be ready for 
delivery in October.

Loxley did not disclose the contract value.

************************************************************** 
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.=US$1 (APPROX), 
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND 
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 150 KYAT=US$1 BLACK MARKET
                   100 KYAT=US$1 SEMI-OFFICIAL
                   6 KYAT=US$1 OFFICIAL
 MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
 S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP 
 S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY 
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