NLM/SLORC: Foreign Press Sends Fals

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: NLM/SLORC: Foreign Press Sends False Reports


THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Wednesday, 28 August, 1996 (page 12; cont'd page 
7)

Headline:   FOREIGN NEWS AGENCIES MAKING WRONG ASSESSMENTS ON MYANMAR 
BASED ON FALSE NEWS REPORTS 
	 

	YANGON, 27 Aug-Chairman of the Information Policy Committee Secretary-1 
of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt 
addressed the coordination meeting between the Information Policy 
Committee and the Information Committee at the Office of the 
Commander-in-Chief (Army) at 1 pm today.  
	The meeting was attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs U Ohn Gyaw, 
Minister at the Office of the Deputy Prime Ministers Brig-Gen Maung 
Maung, Minister for Cooperatives U Than Aung, Chairman of the Information 
Committee Minister for Information Maj-Gen Aye Kyaw, Joint Secretary of 
the National Convention Convening Work Committee U Thaung Nyunt, Deputy 
Minister for Health Col Than Zin, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U 
Nyunt Swe, Deputy Minister for Energy U Tin Tun, Deputy Minister for Home 
Affairs Col Tin Hlaing, Deputy Minister for Education Dr Than Nyunt, 
Director of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare Brig-Gen Aung 
Thein, Director-General of the State Law and Order Restoration Council 
Off ice Lt-Col Pe Nyein and members of the Information Policy Committee 
and the Information Committee.  
	In his address, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt said the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council formed the Information Policy Committee and the 
Information Committee to release authentic news about Myanmar and 
beginning this month, he said, the nation's political, economic and 
social affairs and international relations were clarified to the local 
and foreign mediamen.  
	He spoke of the need to disseminate to the news agencies of the world 
objective political, economic and social conditions of Myanmar and 
authentic news about the Government's endeavours. International news 
agencies of the world, he said, have been making wrong assessments on 
Myanmar in their writings and broadcasts based on false reports. He 
pointed out that those agencies are under the Western influence and are 
trying to apply pressure on Myanmar on the pretext of democracy and human 
rights.  
	In spite of totally different positive developments in Myanmar at 
present compared with that in 1988, he said, certain news agencies 
influenced by the West are disseminating false news as if the conditions 
of 1988 still exist.  
	The Secretary-1 said that internal groups opposing the Government and 
expatriate groups who fled the country are concocting false news about 
Myanmar and sending them to foreign news agencies. The West-influenced 
news agencies are disseminating such news reports with negative outlook. 
he added.  
	The Information Committee, he said, is to release facts on objective 
conditions and authentic news about Myanmar at its monthly meetings with 
local and foreign newsmen.  
	He said the first news briefing had already been held. He called for 
preparations to hold the second news briefing on 2 September and try to 
release facts on objective conditions 
and authentic news about Myanmar continuously to the world. 
	Later, the Secretary-1 replied to points raised by those present. - MNA

**************************************************************************
****

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Wednesday, 28 August, 1996 (page 12; cont'd page 
7)

Headline:  ACTION TAKEN AGAINST WIN HTAIN AND ACCOMPLICES FOR SUBVERSIVE 
ACTS TO DESTABILISE NATION


	YANGON 27 Aug-The authorities concerned have exposed and taken action 
against Win Htain and accomplices who committed destructive acts to 
destabilise the nation.  
	Win Htain, son of U Hla Tun, of 437/A on Mingyi Street, Insein Township, 
organized members and ex-members of the National  League for Democracy 
who came to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house at 54, University Avenue in 
Bahan Township, to gather news and data detrimental to the State 
Agricultural Plan and bring them there.  
	Accordingly, ex-member of NLD Po Aye and Htain Lin of 67, Bo Bahtoo 3rd 
Street, Hlinethaya Township, collected agricultural news, rumours and 
concoctious of townships in Yangon and Ayeyawady Divisions and sent them 
to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 's house through Win Htein who prepared them for 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to tell the people who gathered outside her house on 
Saturdays and Sundays.  
	Similarly, as instigated by Win Htain, NLD member Kan Shein, son of U 
Soe Hlaing, of Pazundaung Village in Hinthada Township and NLD member Hla 
Tun Aung of 766/Kha/20 Ingapu Street videotaped a few failed paddy fields 
excluding successful ones under summer paddy cultivation project in 
Hinthada Township with intent to jeopardize the State's Agricultural 
Project. They sent the tape to Win Htain to show Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and 
NLD Central Executive Committee members and then forward it to the United 
Nations Human Rights Committee. 
	On Win Htain's instructions, Evark (a) Tin Hlaing who was residing in 
the compound of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a guest met three correspondents 
including Evans William of the ABC News of Australia in the compound on 9 
April 1996. In his videotaped interview with the correspondents, he 
masked his face with a handkerchief and a hat frontside back and was said 
to have told them concocted news that political prisoners were being 
tortured. 
	Hlaing Myint (a) Billy Mackenzie, son of U Harry Mackenzie, organized 
Maung Maung Wan and some youths of Yenangyoung to form illegal youth 
organizations to oppose the government. He provided money, documents, 
cassette and video tapes. He contacted U Kyaw Khin of NLD in Taunggyi and 
obtained TV programmes of some foreign nations and illegal video and 
cassette tapes from U Kyaw Khin. He committed subversive acts by 
distributing them through Maung Maung Wan. 
	The Insein Township Court sentenced Win Htain, Po Aye, Htain Lin, Hla 
Tun Aung, Kan Shein and Evark to seven years as they were found guilty of 
committing subversive acts to destabilise the nation under Section 5 (j) 
of the Emergency Provisions Act, and Hlaing Myint, Kyaw Khin and Maung 
Maung Wan to seven years as they were found guilty under Section 5 (j) of 
the Emergency Provisions Act and also three years in addition under 
Section 40 of the 1985 TV and Video Law. - MNA



**************************************************************************
**


THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Wednesday, 28 August, 1996 (page 3)

Headline:  OPEN LETTER TO THE BANGKOK POST

	
	Thank you for publishing the frank letter of Ithiphon Khemmarat in your 
esteemed paper of the 8th August. We also owe much to the respected 
writer of the letter for conveying to our friends in Thailand through 
your paper news about the true situation of present-day Myanmar based on 
his own personal experiences and contact with Myanma nationals.  
	Casual observers of Myanmar and wishful thinkers with self interest 
always go off the track in making judgments over political, social and 
economic developments in Myanmar. They come out with prejudged views, 
manifestly orchestrated before hand, that Myanmar are anti-democratic, 
that the Myanmar Army is authoritarian, bent on keeping the Myanmar 
people and country, under its nailed boots for ever. These biased views 
amply reflect their total ignorance in matters concerning present day 
Myanmar, leave alone the basic factors that have shaped the present 
events.  
	Myanmars are freedom loving people; they value freedom so much so that 
they err by becoming too individualistic. Their love of freedom stems 
from the Buddha Gotama's teaching to rid themselves from the shackles of 
the suffering of rebirths: That's why they sacrificed themselves in so 
many ways to set themselves free from serfdom under the British and the 
Japanese.  
	Just before regaining their independence they found themselves 
leaderless, like a rudderless boat tossed about by merciless waves of the 
wide open sea; all their trusted leaders with wide experience and 
carefully thought-out plans for guiding Myanmar through perilous time of 
the twentieth century had been mowed down by machine guns provided by the 
departing English to the faithless traitors.  
	Undaunted, they braced themselves to face the multifarious duties and 
difficulties of steering the ship of the state into the modern world. 
Without hesitation they launched the system of multiparty democracy which 
they soon found could not function properly because of insurgency which 
had followed in the wake of independence. And not soon afterwards the 
democratic system they had nevertheless put into practice began to show 
unmistaken signs of vices attributed to all governments in all countries 
practising various forms of democracy.  There were accusations of 
favouritism, nepotism; there were interminable bickerings between 
parties; there were internecine feuds amongst leaders of individual 
parties, and finally there appeared demands for secession from the Union, 
which would irreparably endanger the unity of the Union, by splitting it 
into tiny units and weakening it.  
	It was then that the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar Army, the main source of the 
Myanmar spirit and the founder and architect of Myanmar Independence had 
to step in willy nilly to save the country from utter destructions.  
	The years from 19621988 could be regarded as a period of trials and 
errors, first with the government of the Revolutionary Council and then 
with the single party democracy. Both systems had not met with success, 
chiefly due to lack of experience and training in the field of 
governance, shortage of qualified personnel; and naivety in political and 
economic matters.  
	The present regime under the guidance of the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council have studied well the political events that had taken 
place in Myanmar since Independence; they have drawn good lessons from 
the mistakes of the past and are treading cautiously, keeping a wary eye 
on the possible dangers that lie ahead on the path to democracy. They 
have set off with carefully thought-out plans, laying down four political 
objectives, four economic objectives, and four social objectives, which 
no political party of any hue could well protest against. They are 
steadily bringing out a new State Constitution, for building a new modern 
developed nation, a constitution which will ensure avoidance of pitfalls 
and defects of multiparty democratic system, we had previously 
experimented with.  
	At such a time, it is very gratifying to find the esteemed Bangkok Post 
which had taken little interest in Myanmar affairs previous to 1988, and 
which since then has been writing slanted news about Myanmar, viewing it 
with jaundiced eyes, is fair enough to publish the frank letter of 
Ithiphon Khemmarat who recounted his own personal experiences in the 
rapidly changing Myanmar, after making two trips to it.  
	Such demonstration of fairness and gesture of valueing eyewitness 
accounts of the real situation in Myanmar rather than relying exclusively 
on news of the western media, are all that we hope to receive as 
cooperation and friendly understanding from those responsible for 
informing the public of Thailand. By giving them the true information of 
their neighbour Myanmar, instead of devoting full time to the false news 
which portray Myanmar as a land of woes, under the demoniac hold of a 
Military Junta, the Bangkok Post will be not only helping the Myanmar 
people, but also serving the real interest of the Thai people themselves. 
 
	Congratulations Bangkok Post! Thank you again Ithiphon Khemmarat, for 
your sincere good wishes; you prove to be a true friend indeed of 
Myanmars in their time of need by exposing, on their behalf, falsehood so 
rampant in prejudiced media.  -   Myo Chit