The BurmaNet News: January 19, 1999

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: January 19, 1999
Issue #1188

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: KARENNI AND SHAN GROUPS AGREE TO ALLIANCE 
LA WEEKLY: UNOCAL IMPLICATED IN BURMA STRIFE 
XINHUA: MYANMAR LAUNCHES MODIFIED REGISTRATION SYSTEM 
BKK POST: MORE SALES TO BURMA A POSSIBILITY 
THE NATION: NAVY DENIES TENSION HIGH AFTER CRASH 
FEER: BRIEF ENCOUNTER 
THE TIMES OF INDIA: PASSAGE OF ARMS 
ANNOUNCEMENT: PROSPECT BURMA APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 
ANNOUNCEMENT: PEACE AGREEMENTS WEB SITE 
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THE BANGKOK POST: KARENNI AND SHAN GROUPS AGREE TO ALLIANCE 
18 January, 1999 by Don Pathan and the Bangkok Post 

Two ethnic rebel groups have forged a coalition to wage guerrilla warfare
against Burma's military regime, which has launched a dry season offensive
targeting rebels near the border with Thailand, an insurgent leader said
yesterday. 

The agreement was forged a week ago between the Karenni National Progressive
Party (KNPP) and the Shan State Army (SSA), which say they can together field
about 6,000 fighters. 

"We will continue to fight and employ guerrilla tactics. The number of troops
is not important. They can't defeat us because they can't find us," said
Karenni military leader Bee Htoo at his remote jungle training camp. 

He said government forces were lodged only 10 kilometres from the camp and
were
expected to strike against the rebels as part of a general border offensive. 

The Karenni group is also allied with the largest insurgent force fighting the
central government, the Karen National Union. 

The SSA, which was formed in 1964, has been reshaping itself after its former
commander Khun Sa abandoned his forces three years and surrendered to the
Burmese junta. 

The Shan have traditionally been associated with the drug trade, but the SSA's
new leadership has offered to work with groups against the drug trade provided
they acknowledge the realities of the lives of poppy growers. 

Successive central government regimes in Burma have sought to suppress
rebellious ethnic minorities since the country gained independence from
Britain
in 1949. 

Most of the groups are seeking greater autonomy, but Bee Htoo said the KNPP
was
struggling for independence, although it would consider a federation as long
such an arrangement was not dominated by the country's Burman majority. 

"I think of independence but I can't predict the future," said Major Soe Myint
Aung, the camp commander who has been fighting for 45 years. "I am 68 years
old
now and I'll continue to be an instructor until I die." 

Bee Htoo said Saw Haw, 11 kilometres from the Thai frontier province of Mae
Hong Son, was one of five Karenni military training camps. Each took in
between
45 and 60 recruits for three-month courses. 

Some of the recruits are as young as 14 and almost all are poorly equipped and
armed. 

The men are mostly from villages in Burma's Kayah State, where the military
has
waged what human rights organisations have branded a ruthless campaign which
includes forced relocations of villagers to "holding centres". 

Fleeing a relocation order, some 300 Karenni fled into Mae Hong Son on
Saturday
after an eight-day trek, according to refugee workers. 

An estimated 100,000 refugees from Burma are seeking temporary asylum in camps
along the Thai border.

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LOS ANGELES WEEKLY: UNOCAL IMPLICATED IN BURMA STRIFE
15 January, 1999 by Alex Katz 

Although Unocal has been in business with Burma's military junta since 1992,
the oil company's busy PR officials have always carefully guarded the details
of the partnership. However, the Bangkok Post, an English-language
newspaper in
Thailand, cited government sources to report recently that soldiers hired by
Unocal and Total, its French partner, have been engaged in violent campaigns
against ethnic minority groups in the region. The soldiers were deployed to
protect Unocal and Total's billion-dollar investment in the Yadana natural-gas
pipeline, which in the past has been the target of bombings and other guerilla
action. 

Unocal's involvement in Burma has prompted landmark civil litigation, censure
from the White House and, last month, and L.A. City Council vote barring the
city from contracting with firms doing business in Burma. The reports that the
foreign oil companies helped underwrite the military action were corroborated
for the Weekly by contacts in Burma and by the Southeast Asian Information
Network (SAIN). 

The Bangkok Post on January 6 quoted a source from the Thai military who
claimed that troops from the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
are being "backed financially by UNOCAL and Total." The forces include "an
artillery battalion and five rapid-response, two of them armored," the Post
reported. Unocal and Total also control access to the region by determining
which roads may be traversed, the paper said. Both Unocal and Total have
denied
any direct payment to the military for security services. 

Attacks against civilian villages and opposition base camps in minority areas
are standard practice for the Burmese military, which ascribes to a
well-publicized doctrine of ethnic cleansing. But activists here in Los
Angeles
are especially outraged by evidence that the latest attacks have been funded,
whether intentionally or not, by the pipeline partners: Unocal, Total and the
Petroleum Authority of Thailand. 

"Unocal has hundreds of employees in the region," says Kevin Rudiger of the
Burma Forum. "It's hard to believe them when they say they don't know what's
going on. It certainly serves their interests to keep the pipeline region
'secure.'" According to Unocal spokesman Barry Lane, the latest allegations
are
"blatantly false." Says Lane, "There has been no support whatsoever, no
funding
in any shape or form, of the military on behalf of the project." He adds, "The
situation in the pipeline area is normal." Unocal and Total are currently
battling a lawsuit in a Los Angeles federal district court filed on behalf of
villagers in the pipeline area over claims that SLORC troops, acting as
security for the two companies, conscripted workers, displaced or leveled
villages, and murdered those who refused to cooperate. 

Based on evidence presented to the court, Judge Richard Paez ruled that "The
defendants have paid and continue to pay SLORC to provide labor and security
for the pipeline." If the villagers' claims are true, ruled Paez, Unocal and
Total were "essentially treating SLORC as an overseer, accepting the
benefit of
and approving the use of forced labor" during the pipeline construction. Still
in question is the exact relationship between Unocal and the military security
forces. Anne Richardson, the plaintiff's attorney in the suit against Unocal,
says that most of the documents relating to the company's relations with SLORC
were submitted by Unocal under seal. 

According to sources in Burma and the Bangkok Post, five new battalions of
SLORC troops recently joined the usual 30 battalions guarding the pipeline,
and
have commenced a vicious campaign in the area against members of the Karen
ethnic group, which has traditionally opposed Burmese rule. "The battalions
were created with orders to 'protect' the pipeline," says Faith Doherty of the
Thailand-based SAIN. "All of the battalions that have been created in the last
five years are a direct result of the Western investment in that area, and
those battalions would definitely be used in any military offensive." 

The Karen National Liberation Army, Burma's largest pro-democracy guerilla
force, has tried repeatedly to sabotage the pipeline. According to a report by
EarthRights International and SAIN, a December 1996 Karen rocket attack
against
the Total base camp wounded six employees. SLORC retaliated by executing at
least 11 local civilian farmers, the report said. 

According to Doherty, the pipeline security detail has massed for a "final
assault" on the outgunned Karen Army. "The Karen have been battered for a long
time, and an enormous amount of their territory has been lost. "This latest
offensive is really about putting the nail in the coffin - they want to
completely destroy any opposition in the country," says Doherty. "SLORC has
enlarged its army as a result of the oil investment. Because of the
relationship between the oil companies and the regime, the army has been able
to launch a new offensive in a region where it was previously impossible to do
so."
 
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XINHUA: MYANMAR LAUNCHES MODIFIED REGISTRATION SYSTEM 
17 January, 1999 

YANGON (Jan. 17) XINHUA - Myanmar has begun field-testing a modified vital
registration system in four pilot townships in the country to improve the
system in both urban and rural areas.

The testing of the new registration system, which began Friday and will last
for six months, covers Tiddim, Pwintphyu, Kyaukse and Kyauktan townships in
Chin, Magway, Mandalay and Yangon divisions respectively. The activities are
jointly carried out by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic
Development, the Health Department and the Central Statistical Organization
with the assistance of the U.N. Children's Fund.

The vital registration system covers all the birth and death statistics and is
said to become a most comprehensive source of vital information up to the
community level. The system is also said to help realize the Convention on the
Rights of the Child which stipulates that the child shall be registered
immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name and the
right to acquire a nationality.

At present, the vital registration and statistics system covers 261 townships
with 91 percent of the urban population, but only 167 townships with 63
percent
of the rural population are included. The system was first introduced in
Myanmar in 1904 and covered a sizable portion of the population by 1931. The
system was reorganized in 1962 with the Health Department registering all
vital
events such as birth and death and late fetal death and the Central
Statistical
Organization processing and compiling vital returns and producing official
statistics. 
 
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THE BANGKOK POST: MORE SALES TO BURMA A POSSIBILITY 
18 January, 1999 

Burma wants to purchase power from Thailand through a counter-trade deal,
possibly starting from the end of 2001. 

The issue of Rangoon buying at least 100 megawatts of Thai electricity was
discussed last Wednesday in Rangoon by Thai and Burmese energy authorities. 

Viravat Chlayon, governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(Egat), said both Egat and the Myanmar Electricity Power Enterprise agreed to
pursue studies on the purchase. 

One of the most critical issues which Egat has to investigate is whether it is
economical to invest so heavily in building transmission lines to the Burmese
border and what sort of goods Rangoon can offer as payment for the power
sale. 

Egat welcomed the proposed power sale to Burma as it would help Egat reduce
its
excess generating capacity. 

The Thai state power utility expects its surplus capacity to soar to more than
50% in 2001. 

For Burma, purchasing power from Thailand is an easier than finding finance to
build new power plants in the country. 

Burma has a generating capacity of merely 1,000 MW, 13 times less than
Thailand. 

Results of the studies would be presented in March when both parties are
scheduled to meet again, said Mr Viravat.


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

THE NATION: NAVY DENIES TENSION HIGH AFTER MARITIME CRASH 
16 January, 1999 

THE Royal Thai Navy denied yesterday that it had dispatched more frigates to a
disputed Andaman Sea area following the violent clash on Tuesday in which four
Burmese Navy officers were killed. 

Navy spokesman Rear Adm Sathiraphan Geyanond also denied that tension had
risen
since the incident, the second in less than a month. Two Thai Navy officers
were killed in the first clash following Burmese naval firing. 

Responding to the latest skirmish, both countries promptly protested to each
other, claiming that the shooting had taken place in their respective
territorial waters. 

As Thai-Burmese tension has evidently increased with the mobilisation of more
patrol and naval boats, Thai authorities have warned fishing vessels in Ranong
province to be extremely careful what they do. 

Meanwhile Sawanit Khongsiri, the Foreign Ministry's deputy permanent
secretary,
is scheduled to meet Burmese Ambassador to Thailand U Hla Maung on Monday.
Sawanit will reiterate Thailand's call for a joint patrol operation. 

A senior Ministry official said Sawanit would also propose that Burma
station a
representative at the Thai-Burmese Border Coordination Centre in Ranong to
coordinate with Thai officials so that future conflicts could be prevented. He
will suggest that the two countries establish telephone hot lines for prompt
contact. 

Thai Foreign Ministry officials and military officers stuck to their position
yesterday that the shooting on Tuesday had occurred in Thai waters. They said
the Thai Navy boat had fired on a "modified armed vessel" which bore no
flag to
identify its country of origin. 

But a report in the official Burmese newspaper The New Light of Myanmar said
the Burmese "Tatmadaw [military] patrol vessel Yan Naing 510" had been on a
routine patrol when it was attacked. 

"At the time of the incident, the Thai vessel was located well within Myanmar
waters at North Latitude 9 degrees 55 minutes and East Longitude 98 degrees 25
minutes," said the daily. 

It also claimed that during the incident "the Myanmar patrol vessel did not
retaliate despite the unprovoked attack, in the spirit of goodwill and
friendship of the two nations and also to avoid further aggravation of the
situation". 

According to Thai intelligence sources, Burma has since Wednesday deployed
about ten more armed boats in waters close to Thailand. A local Thai Navy unit
has also been placed on alert in case the situation worsens, said the
sources. 

The Thai Foreign Ministry and military officers agreed that the situation
following the two clashes had become very sensitive as they involved
casualties
on both sides 

They warned that the two countries had to remain calm and be patient, have
mutual trust and confidence as well as negotiate to resolve the crisis and
settle the problem regarding three disputed islets, Khan, Khi Nok-and Lham. 

"Both countries should be patient [after Tuesday's incident]. 

They now need to find measures which are acceptable to both sides to resolve
the problems," said Saroj Chavanaviraj, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary.

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

FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW: BRIEF ENCOUNTER
21 January, 1999 

The often postponed meeting of senior European Union and Asean officials is
finally slated to be held in Bangkok on January 24-25, following an agreement
that Burmese representatives will maintain a "passive presence" at the talks. 

EU officials have convinced Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands to drop their
opposition to Burma's participation, arguing that policy differences over
Rangoon shouldn't be allowed to jeopardize EU-Asean relations. But the truce
could be short-lived. 

EU governments are adamant that the decision to allow Burma into the Bangkok
meeting does not mean it can attend future Asean conferences.

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THE TIMES OF INDIA: PASSAGE OF ARMS
18 January, 1999 

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: For background information on "Operation Leech," the
arms deal referred to in this editorial, please see The Hindustan Times:
Myanmar Offered Arms (The BurmaNet News: Issue #1096, September 15, 1998);
Sunday Magazine (New Delhi): An Officer in Bangkok (The BurmaNet News: Issue
#1101, September 22, 1998); and The Asian Age: Fernandes Orders Probe of
Operation Leech (The BurmaNet News: Issue #1106, September 29, 1999).]

EDITORIAL 

According to very disturbing reports in a section of the press, former Union
defence secretary Ajit Kumar issued instructions to the Services' Headquarters
on July 27, 1998 that no action be taken on specific intelligence received
from
the Indian Ambassador in Myanmar regarding vessels carrying illegal arms to
Cox's Bazaar via the Andaman seas. 

It is also alleged that Defence Minister George Fernandes was aware of the
instructions; indeed, it is rational to infer that no bureaucrat would have
issued such an order without the approval of the minister concerned. It is
also
stated that at least three consignments of illegal arms and ammunition --
including two shiploads meant for the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(Isak-Muivah) and other insurgent groups operating in the Indian north-east --
crossed the Andaman seas after the above inexplicable order. 

In view of the specific date cited and the text quoted, these press reports
appear credible and need to be clarified by the government of India. Such a
clarification has become absolutely essential in view of the allegations which
have come to the fore in the Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat case about the
connections,
operations and influence of arms dealers. 

The defence minister is already on a weak wicket because of the challenge to
his claim that Adm Bhagwat had not told him about the connection between the
arms lobby and certain naval officers. It has since emerged that Mr Fernandes
had expunged references to an arms dealer's connection from the file of Vice
Admiral Harinder Singh without any reference to the then Navy chief. The
present allegations, which relate to the same Andamans command, thus assume
particularly grave implications. 

Unfortunately, India has had a long history of politician- arms dealer
connections. There were rumours about the Tiger Cat missile and Jaguar
transactions. The HDW submarine deal involved kickbacks and is currently under
investigation. The Bofors scandal still hangs over our politics like a dark
cloud which could burst at any time. The air is thick with other allegations.
On our western front, arms and drugs started flowing across the border in the
early `80s, resulting in insurgencies in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. 

Both CIA reports and Pakistani press accounts have elaborated on the linkages
between Pakistani arms and narcotics smugglers and their Indian counterparts.
The links between Dawood Ibrahim, the Memon brothers and politicians in this
country are very well known. Money -- by way of kickbacks in arms deals -- has
a basic attraction since the arms deals are largely secret. Politicians in
various parts of the world, including the former prime minister of Japan,
Kakui
Tanaka, and the former secretary general of NATO, Willy Claes, found them
irresistible and an easy way of raising `party funds'. 

Against this background, it would appear that the people of this country --
and
the men of our armed forces in particular -- are entitled to a clear and
unambiguous clarification on the latest revelation. The instructions cited
above may have nothing at all to do with the dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat.
However, the arms flow through the Andamans sea, the allegations against Vice
Admiral Harinder Singh, the proximity of the date of the instructions to the
growing rift between the Navy chief and the ministry on account of the Vice
Admiral (who remains unscathed) are bound to raise doubts unless the defence
ministry is able to furnish a credible clarification.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: PROSPECT BURMA APPLICATIONS 
19 January, 1999 from <skirkw@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 

Prospect Burma Scholarship 1999

ANNOUNCEMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP AWARD FOR 1999-2000

Prospect Burma is again offering a scholarship open to people of Burmese
origin
who meet the following conditions:

They MUST be in one of the following three categories:

Category A: Students who are already in the second or later year of a first
degree course at a college or university.

Category B: Postgraduate students who have already started or have a confirmed
offer of a place on a Master's degree course at a university in the academic
year.

Category C: Postgraduate students who have already started on a Doctorate or
have a confirmed offer of a place to read for a Doctorate in the academic
year.
 
Note : 

1. A student will rarely be funded for two consecutive years. 

2. A Prospect Burma scholarship does not include international travel costs.
 
Preference will be given to candidates - 
 
1. who are resident in South East Asia or the Indian Sub-continent. 

2. whose subject of study is one of the following: Agriculture/Agricultural
Engineering; Public Health; Ecology/Conservation; Public Administration;
Teacher Training/Education; Horticulture, Development Studies; Nursing.

Those who fulfil the above conditions may obtain application forms and further
information by writing as follows:
 
For residents of South-East Asia: Education Project Coordinator 
PO Box 1102, Ramkamhaeng Post Office 
Hua Mark, Bang Kapi, 
Bangkok 10241 
Thailand
 
For those resident elsewhere: Prospect Burma, 
143 Rivermead Court, 
London SW6 3SE 
England 
Fax (44) 171 371 0547 
E-Mail: burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

The closing date (which will be strictly adhered to) for receipt of completed
application forms is 15 March 1999.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: PEACE AGREEMENTS WEB SITE
18 January, 1999 from <cgormley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Dear All, 

The Conflict Data Service (CDS) at INCORE has recently produced a new section
to its site on 'Peace Agreements 1989-99'. This is available on line at
<http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/cds/agreements/index.html>http://www.incore.u
lst.ac.uk/cds/agreements/index.html 

The 1990s have been a decade of peace processes. Although they vary enormously
in complexity, number of actors, timescale and outcome, peace processes have
become the orthodox way in which low intensity, seemingly intractable, ethnic
conflicts reach an accommodation in the 1990s. A clear trend towards
internally
agreed initiatives, rather than externally imposed settlements, is noticeable.
Yet, the majority of peace accords fail. Often, peace accords fail to
anticipate post-conflict problems, or are regarded as a staging post in the
conflict. The accords are worth examining in detail though. This is
particularly the case from a comparative perspective. It has become
increasingly common for actors in one peace process to borrow from the
experiences of others. To this end, the publication and widespread
dissemination of recent peace accords has enormous merit. 

The CDS hopes that you find this material useful. Any comments or suggestions,
as usual, are most welcome. 

Yours, Cathy

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