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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: May 16, 2000





______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

May 16, 2000

Issue # 1531


This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:


NOTED IN PASSING:

(1)  "Inexcusable"

Charles Jamieson, chief executive of Premier Oil describing Burma's 
human rights record  (See FINANCIAL TIMES (LONDON): PREMIER DEFENDS 
STANCE OVER BURMA)

(2)    "Burma alone is one of the single largest users of child 
soldiers anywhere in the world."

Rory Mungoven, coordinator of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child 
Soldiers (See NATION: GROUP SEEKS GLOBAL BAN ON CHILD SOLDIERS)

	

*Inside Burma


AP: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT DENIES ORDERING ``ANNIHILATION'' OF DEMOCRATS

NLM: 8 PYINBONGYI VILLAGE NLD MEMBERS RESIGN OF OWN ACCORD

DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR  : U.S. EMBASSY SLAMS MYANMAR JUNTA FOR 
CRACKDOWN ON OPPOSITION  

KYODO:  KAREN REBELS SAY MYANMAR GOV'T SOLDIERS POISED TO ATTACK  

ARNO: ATTACKS ON MOSQUE, MADRASSA AND RELIGIOUS PERSONS

ARNO: MOSQUE LOCKED UP AND ULEMA HUMILIATED

NATION:   GROUP SEEKS GLOBAL BAN ON CHILD SOLDIERS 

SSA NEWS:  PA-O REFUGEES FLEE TO BORDER

BERG: ABOUT CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT IN KARENNI, BURMA


*International

MYANMAR'S GENERAL AND PM THAN SHWE TO VISIT BANGLADESH 

BANGKOK POST:  BORDER PATROLS INCREASED TO HALT DRUG FLOW FROM BURMA

BANGKOK POST  SECURITY WATCH ON MONKS

BANGKOK POST:  THREAT TO EMBASSY KEPT UNDER WRAPS


*Economics/Business

XINHUA: MYANMAR'S FOREIGN TRADE UP 9.62 PERCENT

SHAN: NEW REFINERIES BURGEONING AWAY FROM THE BORDER	

FINANCIAL TIMES (LONDON): PREMIER DEFENDS STANCE OVER BURMA 
                         
 FINANCIAL TIMES: OILY SHOW 

PRESS ASSOCIATION NEWSFILE (UK): BRITISH FIRMS URGED TO QUIT BURMA 
	
LIBERATION (FRANCE): TOTAL, THE BURMESE JUNTA'S FLAG BEARER

	
*Opinion/Editorials

ARNO: ARNO APPEALS TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE REFUGEES


 


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

AP: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT DENIES ORDERING ``ANNIHILATION'' OF DEMOCRATS 

May 15, 2000

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) Myanmar's military government rejected claims 
Monday from exiled students that police and officials nationwide had 
been ordered to ``annihilate'' the opposition party led by Nobel 
Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi by year-end.  The All Burma 
Students' Democratic Front, the main political group of Myanmar 
student activists living in exile, said that the Home Affairs 
minister, Col. Tin Hlaing, issued the instruction April 20 at a 
ministry meeting in Yangon, the capital.  The Thailand-based ABSDF 
said it was latest step by the ruling generals to undermine Suu Kyi's 
National League for Democracy, which on May 27 will commemorate the 
10th anniversary of a general election victory that the military 
refused to honor.  

``It is no secret that the anti-government quarters have been 
cranking up their media campaign against the government, and this 
latest rumor is apparently part of their campaign,'' said a Myanmar 
government spokesman in a fax from Yangon.  The alleged order has 
also been reported by an Oslo, Norway-based dissident radio station, 
the Democratic Voice of Burma. Myanmar is also known as Burma.  
However, the spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, 
conceded that on several occasions bogus instructions had been issued 
in the name of senior officials ``to create confusion in the 
country.'' 

 ``This is also not the first time where fake instructions were being 
issued by an unauthorized person or some organization or even a 
prankster illegally using the police radio communication channel for 
a vested interest,'' the spokesman said.  The NLD is a legally 
registered political party in Myanmar, but hundreds of its members 
have been jailed since its election victory. The anniversary has been 
the occasion of mass arrests in previous years. 

In 1998, the NLD set up a 10-member committee of its leaders as a 
surrogate parliament. The authorities responded by forcing many party 
members to resign and detained others who refused.  Pressure has 
increased in recent weeks. The government is accusing NLD members of 
links with outlawed rebel groups based along the border with 
Thailand. Commentaries in state-run media have suggested Suu Kyi and 
associates should face the death penalty for alleged treason.  Since 
April, the NLD has reported the arrest of one of its victors in the 
1990 elections, along with three party members in the northern city 
of Mandalay, more than 40 youth members in Yangon and one member of 
the parliamentary committee.  


____________________________________________________


NLM: 8 PYINBONGYI VILLAGE NLD MEMBERS RESIGN OF OWN ACCORD


NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR

YANGON, 15 May-Eight members resigned from the National League for 
Democracy of Pyinbongyi Village in Bago Township, Bago Division. 
Eight members of Pyinbongyi Village, Bago Township NLD, Bago 
Division, of their own accord, resigned by sending letters of 
resignation to Bago Township Multiparty Democracy General Election 
Sub-commission and the party concerned on 3 January 2000 as they no 
longer wished to participate in party politics of NLD.

***

BurmaNet adds?the preceding article is representative of articles 
that run virtually every day in The New Light of Myanmar and which 
invariably announcing that on that day,  X number of NLD 
members "resign of own accord" ostensibly because "they no longer 
wished to participate in party politics."  


***



___________________________________________________


DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR  : U.S. EMBASSY SLAMS MYANMAR JUNTA FOR 
CRACKDOWN ON OPPOSITION  

Yangon 


 
 The U.S. Embassy to Myanmar (Burma) on Monday strongly condemned the 
ruling junta for its latest crackdown on the opposition National 
League for Democracy (NLP) party that won the country's general 
election exactly ten years ago.   In an show of frustration with the 
ruling regime, the embassy issued a statement expressing its regrets 
that the ruling regime had failed to "follow through" on the results 
of the 1990 polls, and had recently launched a new crackdown on NLD 
members.  

 The NLD, led by Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won the 
May 1990 polls by a landslide, but the party has been denied 
political power since Myanmar's military junta, a pariah among 
Western democracies.   "We further regret that the regime has chosen 
to commemorate the anniversary with yet another wave of mass arrests 
of democractic party members," said the U.S. embassy statement. 

 Myanmar's military junta reportedly arrested scores of NLD 
supporters last month on allegations that they had taken part in an 
attempt to launch terrorists attacks from the Thai-Myanmar border 
areas. 

 "We reject the regime's latest gambit of associating the NLD with 
terorist plots and view these arrests as a further act of repression 
aganist the Burmese people engaged in the peaceful expression of 
their political beliefs," said the statement. 

 It added, "This political party has demonstrated for more than a 
decade that it seeks non-violent political change in Burma." 

 The U.S. refuses to use the name Myanmar, the junta's official name 
for the country since 1989. 






___________________________________________________
              

KYODO:  KAREN REBELS SAY MYANMAR GOV'T SOLDIERS POISED TO ATTACK  

MAE HONG SON, Thailand, May 13 Kyodo 


 
Myanmar's ruling junta is preparing a fresh attack on an ethnic Karen 
guerrilla group's last stronghold as well as on a refugee camp inside 
Thai territory, the group said Saturday. 
Aung Myat, deputy commander of the Karenni National Progressive Party 
(KNPP), said government troops plan to attack the KNPP base in Ya 
Hmoo, about 8 kilometers from the Thai border.  

The government troops will be supported by members of the Karenni 
National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF), an ethnic Karen group 
that made peace with Yangon in 1994, Aung Myat told reporters. 

The operation will begin within the next two weeks, he said.  Another 
government unit and KNPLF fighters are preparing to attack a refugee 
camp of some 10,000 Karens inside Thai territory, he said.  A Thai 
military officer in Mae Hong Son Province on the Thai-Myanmar border 
said intelligence reports indicate an unusual deployment of 300 
troops near the border area moving toward the refugee camp. 

The Thai military is on alert and ready to prevent any intrusions, he 
said.  The KNPP was set up in July 1957 to fight for a Karen state. 
The 2,000-strong rebel group gets support from Karens in Myanmar's 
Kayah State.  The refugee camp in Thailand mostly houses members of 
the KNPP and families of KNPP fighters. 

The group reached a cease-fire agreement with Yangon in 1995 but the 
peace was broken after only three months. 

Based near Loikaw in Kayah State, northeast of Myanmar, the KNPLF was 
set up in 1978 to fight against Yangon but surrendered to the junta 
in September 1994.  There are reportedly 400-500 fighters under the 
KNPLF deployed near Mae Hong Son to help the Myanmar army fight 
ethnic guerrillas.  


___________________________________________________


ARNO: ATTACKS ON MOSQUE, MADRASSA AND RELIGIOUS PERSONS


News and Analysis of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, 
Arakan (Burma) 
Volume: 2, Issue-4 April, 2000

In the dead of night of 5 April 2000, 25 soldiers under the command 
of Major Kyaw Naing of NaSaKa Area No.5 went to the village of Dudan, 
about 13 miles north of Maungdaw town, and intruded into the village 
madrassa (religious school). The NaSaKa forces dragged the teachers 
and students out and lined them up in queue in front of the school. 
The inmates were severely kicked and beaten by boots and gun buds, 
beards of some teachers were plucked out, vandalised the nearby 
mosque without any reasons. Then they ordered the teachers to close 
the school with a threatening that they would be shot dead if the 
school is reopen. Now the Chairman of the Village PDC Noor Alam, 
Secretary Sultan and Member Nagu are being hunted by the soldiers. 
Again on 10 April 2000, Major Kyaw Naing arrested a group of 
preachers (religious persons) from the same village of Dudan and 
extracted forced labour from them to construct army camp and build 
road for 4 days. The names of the victims are: (1) Jafar Islam (2) 
Abdul Rahman (3) Abdul Karim (4) Jamal Ahmed (5) Abdu Salam (6) Noor 
Hashim (7) Syed Ahmed (8) Abul Hussain. This persistent SPDC 
sponsored terrorism and religious persecution are part of the ill 
design of the military regime to rid Arakan of the Muslim population. 


____________________________________________________



ARNO: MOSQUE LOCKED UP AND ULEMA HUMILIATED

News and Analysis of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, 
Arakan (Burma) 
Volume: 2, Issue-4 April, 2000

On 10 April 2000 a mosque and a madrassa (religious school) attached 
to it, in the Sonkala Para of Ziban Chaung village tract, about 15 
miles north of Maungdaw, were closed down by the commander of the 
NaSaKa Area No.4 for alleged repairs of the mosque. In this 
connection, the Head of the Mosque Trust Maulvi Hussain Ahmed and 
three other teachers of the madarassa have fled away to escape the 
arrest of the NaSaKa. In fact, the Ulema (religious leaders) with the 
villagers have already obtained prior permission from the concerned 
authorities such as, District PDC, Commander of the NaSaKa Area No.4 
(stationed in Laikra village), U Sein Tha Zan, Head of the Department 
of Religious Affairs, Maungdaw Township. In spite of that the NaSaKa 
closed these sacred places reasoning that the repairs are done in the 
form of permanent structure. There are many other mosques and 
religious institutes which have been either locked up or are standing 
in ruin without repairs in the whole of Arakan.  The military is bent 
to obliterate the vestiges of Islam from the soil of Arakan and 
Burma. 




____________________________________________________


SSA NEWS:  PA-O REFUGEES FLEE TO BORDER

May 16, 2000

On 21st March 2000, 30 ethnic Pa-Os arrived to take refuge with SSA 
troops near the Thai border opposite Mae Hong Son province. These 
people are former villagers of Na Mak Tee, Loi Weing tract, not so 
far from Homong (former MTA's headquarters), eastern Salween area. 
They could no longer withstand the violations of SPDC troops and that 
was their reason for deserting their homes. 



____________________________________________________



NATION:   GROUP SEEKS GLOBAL BAN ON CHILD SOLDIERS 

May 16, 2000

  A COALITION of international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) 
yesterday   urged Thailand to sign an optional protocol banning the 
use of child soldiers and   children as weapons of war. 

  Rory Mungoven, coordinator of the Coalition to Stop the Use of 
Child Soldiers,   said Thailand supports the 18 yearold ban on the 
use of children in war and is   well positioned to take a leadership 
role on this issue among Asean members.    "We want the governments 
to adopt the global ban, to sign the new optional   protocol to the 
convention on the rights of the child and to back this up with the   
right laws and the right programme," Mungoven said. 

  Speaking at a press conference, Mungoven said Asia ranks second 
behind Africa   in "the appalling use of tens of thousands of 
children as cannon fodder in   conflicts across the region". 

  He estimates that 300,000 children younger than 18 are serving as 
soldiers   worldwide. Of those, about 120,000 are in Africa while 
more than 75,000 are in   Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, 
Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Burma, he says.    Children have also been 
used in every conflict in the region, including East Timor   and Aceh 
in Indonesia and Nagaland, Manipur and Assam in northeast India, he   
said. 

  "In some cases, such as Manipur, we believe a majority of the 
fighters are children under eighteen," he said. 

  Despite the high profile coverage of the Karen rebel child soldiers 
Luther and   Johnny Htoo, the problem has received little media 
attention, he said.    "Burma alone is one of the single largest 
users of child soldiers anywhere in the  world," he said. "This is 
not just a problem in the ethnic groups pitted against the   Burmese 
regime." 

  Mungoven said many children in their early teens are serving in the 
Burmese   army voluntarily because they are attracted by the power 
and prestige. But some   are enlisted forcibly, he said. 

  He quoted an ILO Commission of Inquiry which found evidence of 
children as   young as 10 being used by the Burmese army as porters 
and mine sweepers.    The Burmese government denies the use of child 
soldiers and it will be difficult to   deal with it regarding this 
issue. However, since the government has been willing   to discuss 
other children's rights issues with the international community, it 
may   be possible to engage them in a dialogue on this issue as well, 
Mungoven said.   

 Abu Sayyaf, the Muslim group currently holding Western hostages in 
the   southern Philippines, is also known to recruit young boys, 
Mungoven said. And in   Pakistan, religious schools churn out young 
fighters for jihads   holy wars   in   neighbouring Afghanistan and 
Kashmir. 

  Also, Cambodia is facing a tough problem in coping with the large 
numbers of   former Khmer Rouge child soldiers who are being expelled 
now as the regime   disintegrates. 

  Mungoven said the typical image of young boys posing with rifles 
misrepresents   the situation, because many young girls are involved 
as well, performing menial   tasks or being held as sex slaves. 

  The coalition, which includes such groups as Amnesty International, 
Human   Rights Watch and Save the Children, wants to work with armed 
groups in a   practical manner. It seeks to promote alternatives to 
using children as soldiers   and to illustrate that the longterm 
interests of the groups involved are best served   by protecting 
rather than exploiting their children. 

  "This is issue of the child soldier is also important because while 
child soldiers   are victims, they are also the perpetrators of 
atrocities," he said.    The coalition also intends to raise 
awareness of the problems among   governments as an issue of child 
labour, and to make the use of child soldiers as   unacceptable as 
biological or chemical weapons. 

  A conference next week in Kathmandu, Nepal, will bring together 
more than 15   governments and nearly 100 NGOs from around the region 
to address this issue.   One topic will be how to influence rebel 
groups which often use children,   Mungoven said. 
 
 BY Rita Patiyasevi 

  The Nation (May 16, 2000)



____________________________________________________


BERG: ABOUT CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT IN KARENNI, BURMA

Contact:            burmaresearch@xxxxxxxxxxx
Full Report available at      http://www.burmaresearch.org 
                                

Chiang Mai, Thailand, 15 May 2000

The Burma Ethnic Research Group (BERG) has published a new 
report; 'Conflict And Displacement In Karenni: The Need For 
Considered Responses' by Vicky Bamforth, Steven Lanjouw and Graham 
Mortimer 

Looking at Karenni, one of the least known and poorest areas of 
Burma, the report documents how  decades old armed conflict has laid 
waste to  the environment and uprooted its peoples.  Focusing  on how 
the combination of chronic conflict, resource scarcity and 
development projects have displaced populations throughout the 
state's history, the authors provide new information on the status of 
over 10 percent of the population who have been internally displaced 
since 1996.   

Since numerous armed groups are established in the area, the report 
examines the different elements of the conflict and questions the 
widely held perception that it is an ethnic war.  The report also 
examines the current ceasefire like arrangements with a number of 
armed groups, and concludes that these arrangements have exacerbated 
the social and humanitarian crisis.  This has made it particularly 
difficult for those wishing to address humanitarian concerns from 
both inside and outside the country. 

Wishing to provide more data, the authors raise serious questions 
about the socio-economic environment and examine how this has 
impacted on health and education.  Drawing attention to the 
nutritional status of displaced populations as well as their ability 
to access basic social             services, the report concludes by 
questioning how humanitarian interventions can be appropriately 
designed to deal with this complex political situation and to find 
ways of reaching all those with needs.

Using hitherto unpublished data and maps from both government and 
opposition sources, as well as refugee testimonies, academic papers, 
NGO reports, and information from service providers,  BERG has 
written  a comprehensive and non-partisan analysis of the environment 
in Karenni with detailed statistics, comprehensive maps and 
triangulated population figures at village level throughout much of 
the state.  This approach differs from that of previous reports in 
that it has enabled the authors to work with a range of different 
actors and provide detail about all sides in an environment that is 
highly polarised. 

The Burma Ethnic Research Group was formed in 1997 to undertake 
research on, amongst others, displacement amidst different ethnic 
communities and peoples in Burma.  Working within an applied research 
environment, BERG focuses on defining the needs of displaced and 
resettled communities and advocates culturally appropriate, gender 
sensitive solutions that are implemented in collaboration with local 
institutions.  This report follows on from BERG's 1998 report on 
displacement in Karen state 'Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: 
Internally Displaced Karen in Burma' and its 1999 short 
paper 'Internal Displacement in Myanmar [Burma]'.   



__________________ INTERNATIONAL ___________________
		

                         

THE NATION: THAI ARMY DENIES AIDING KNU IN RAID 
                         
 May 16, 2000, Tuesday 
                         


A SENIOR army officer has dismissed allegations by a Burmese military 
commander that Thai troops helped the Karen National Union with a 
recent offensive against a juntaheld position.  
Col Chainarong Thanarun, commander of the 4th Infantry Special Task 
Force in Mae Sot, said it was not in line with Army policy to 
interfere in Burmas internal affairs or help foreign troops in any 
way.  

Burmese Army Lt Col Thin Ngwe was earlier reported as saying Thai 
troops had allowed the Karen National Union (KNU) to cross over into 
Thailand to use a route along the Moei River to launch an attack 
against a governmentheld position in Myawaddy district in Burma, 
adjacent to Mae Sot.  

Chainarong said the area in question was a long stretch and had yet 
to be secured. If the Burmese had any questions they could raise them 
with the ThaiBurmese Joint Border Committee, which addresses security 
issues along the border.  

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Banyat Bantadtan yesterday dismissed 
allegations that Thailand is not doing enough to ensure security 
along the ThaiBurmese border. He said many of the problems stemmed 
from Burmas internal conflicts.   The Burmese junta attacked the Thai 
government recently in a shortwave radio broadcast in the Mae Hong 
Son area for detaining six Burmese soldiers since February. The 
soldiers were caught by border security after crossing over into 
Thailand, allegedly to carry out attacks against Burmese refugees.   
The incident placed relations between the Thai and Burmese officials 
in the Mae Hong Son area at one of their lowest ebbs when Thailand 
refused to release the men.  

Banyat, on the other hand, insisted ThaiBurmese bilateral relations 
were solid and improving steadily. He said this was not the first 
time Thai security officials had detained Burmese nationals for 
questioning. Any request for the release of the six men would have to 
comply with international law.   Nevertheless, the minister has 
ordered security to be stepped up in the Mae Hong Son area where the 
six men were captured.  

The problems along the [ThaiBurmese] border stem from the conflict 
inside Burma, Banyat said.  
ThaiBurmese relations had improved over the year, said Banyat, 
pointing to a series of meetings. Nevertheless, he said, officials 
had to be extremely careful, as international relations were a 
sensitive issue.   







                                




                         



AFP: TENSIONS RISE ALONG THAI-MYANMAR BORDER 

DATELINE: BANGKOK, May 15 


Tensions rose along the Thailand-Myanmar frontier as ethnic Karen 
rebels based in Thailand launched attacks on Myanmar border towns, 
reports said Monday.  Thai media reported that a group of heavily-
armed Karen National Union (KNU) fighters killed one person on 
Saturday near Myawaddy in eastern Myanmar.  A Myanmar government 
spokesman confirmed to AFP that rebels carrying grenade launchers and 
small arms launched an attack on a plantation south of Myawaddy.   
The spokesman for the Yangon junta said one person was wounded.  
According to the Bangkok Post, Myanmar Lieutenant Colonel Tin Ngwe, 
chairman of the Thai-Myanmar Border Committee, a bilateral border 
organization aimed at improving relations, slammed Thailand for 
allowing the KNU fighters to be based on Thai soil. 

Myawaddy is directly across from the Thai town of Mae Sot, where the 
head of the KNU reportedly lives. 

Relations between Thailand and Myanmar have been deteriorating for 
weeks.  Thailand has begun arming northern villagers and training 
them to fight drug traffickers based in Myanmar and even the Myanmar 
army. 

Thailand blames Myanmar for producing most of the some 600 million 
methamphetamine pills that flow into Thailand each year, and charges 
that the Yangon junta does little to halt the influx. 

Myanmar has introduced a program which it says will wipe out domestic 
drug production within 15 years, and officials say the country is 
determined to shed its pariah status as a drug producer. 

In the meantime, security has been stepped up around the Myanmar 
embassy in Bangkok following a bomb scare on Sunday evening. 

A police bomb squad sealed off the embassy and combed the premises 
for two hours, but found no sign of any explosive device, they said.  
The KNU is an ethnic insurgent group that has fought the central 
government ever since Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence 
from Britain more than half a century ago.
 
KNU fighters control only small pockets of territory after a series 
of military setbacks in the late 1990s. 


___________________________________________________






MYANMAR'S GENERAL AND PM THAN HAWE TO VISIT BANGLADESH 

DHAKA, May 14 (AFP)  Myanmar's Senior General and Prime Minister Than 
Shawe will pay a tree-day state visit to Bangladesh this month, the 
first by a top military junta leader, it was announced here Sunday. 

Th evisit, beginning May 29, follows an invitation from Prime 
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the official BSS news agency, said. 

Relations between the two neighbours were strained in the early 1990s 
with an influx of some 250,000 Myanmar nationasl into Bangladesh who 
alleged atrocities commited by the military. 
Most of the refugees, were repatriated home under a UNa greement, but 
some 20,000 are still living in Bangladeshi camps. 




___________________________________________________

BANGKOK POST:  THREAT TO EMBASSY KEPT UNDER WRAPS

May 16, 2000

  High-level officer denies it was a hoax
  Wassayos Ngarmkham

  Police bomb disposal experts were kept busy on Sunday and yesterday 
following a   series of bomb threats in Bangkok.

  Yan Nawa police and a bomb disposal unit rushed to the Burmese 
embassy on North   Sathorn road on Sunday night after being informed 
at 8.45pm of a bomb threat there.   According to the embassy 
secretary, a Burmese-speaking man phoned the embassy and   warned 
that an explosive device had been planted inside the embassy and 
would go off   between Sunday night and Monday morning.

  However, police found nothing suspicious in a two-hour search 
except an empty black   can. Special Branch Bureau commissioner Pol 
Lt-Gen Yothin Mathayomnant said he   believed the bomb hoax was the 
work of some Burmese wanting to attract public   attention to the 
problems in Burma.

  According to him, the Burmese embassy has not put in any special 
request for the   deployment of more police guards to beef up the 
embassy security. However, a high-   level police source said the 
bomb threat at the embassy was not a hoax since an M-26   detonator 
was found there but authorities wanted the discovery to be kept 
secret for fear   of hurting Thai-Burmese relations and police probes.

  Yesterday, an object believed to be an explosive device was found 
in a garbage bin in   Phaya Thai district while a detonator was also 
found in the backyard of a house in Din   Daeng.

  At 11.05am yesterday, Phaya Thai police were informed by Prakit 
Sangwal, 60, about the   discovery of an item suspected to be a bomb 
in a trash bin behind Wat Makok in Phaya   Thai.

  After a 20-minute check by a police bomb clearance team, the object 
turned out to be two   pens and a concrete block tied together with a 
rod and covered with a plastic bag. At   1.30pm yesterday, police 
rushed to a house in Ratchadaphisek Soi 13 in Din Daeng to   clear a 
US-made M-61 explosive device found in a can and wrapped with brown 
paper.   The defused detonator was later sent to the police Ordnance 
Division for further   examination.

  Bangkok Post (May 16, 2000)  

____________________________________________________


BANGKOK POST  SECURITY WATCH ON MONKS

May 16, 2000

  Wassayos Ngarmkham

  Police are closely watching Burmese monks at several temples in the 
North for fear they   may stage political activities on Thai soil.

  Last week some 20 Burmese monks joined non-governmental 
organisations in protest   demonstrations against the Asian 
Development Bank during its annual conference in   Chiang Mai.

  Pol Maj-Gen Charnwut Watcharapuk, deputy chief of the Immigration 
Bureau, said   measures were being worked out to limit Burmese monks' 
period of stay at temples in the   North.

  A recent survey showed up to 70 Burmese monks had entered Thailand 
illegally and   taken refuge at temples in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, 
Mae Hong Son and some other   northern provinces, the officer said.

  Their number was rising and many Burmese were believed to have 
disguised themselves   as monks to enter Thailand illegally, he added.

  Immigration police were co-ordinating with other authorities to 
prevent Burmese monks   from entering Bangkok, he said.

  Bangkok Post (May 16, 2000)

____________________________________________________
    
BANGKOK POST:  BORDER PATROLS INCREASED TO HALT DRUG FLOW FROM BURMA

May 16, 2000

  Border patrols have been increased to prevent the smuggling of 
illicit drugs from Burma.   An immediate increase in the frequency of 
border patrols was ordered by Third Army  chief Lt-Gen Wattanachai 
Chaimuenwong, in his capacity as director of the drug   suppression 
centre in the North.

  Joint patrol units made up of soldiers, local and border patrol 
police were despatched to   border areas in Mae Ramat and Mae Sot 
districts of Tak regularly used as drug transit  routes.

  Ten people were arrested in separate raids last month in which some 
100,000 speed pills   were seized, army officers in the North said.

  Meanwhile, a fact-finding inquiry has been launched into Burma's 
accusation that   Thailand had allowed Karen rebels to launch a 
rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on   a border village in 
Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot district.

  Sources said Fourth Infantry Regiment task force commander Col 
Chainarong Thanaroon   yesterday ordered border officials to 
investigate the Burmese claim.   The move came after Myawaddy 
authorities demanded Thai officials explain why they   allowed Karen 
National Union guerrillas to launch four RPGs from Thai soil on a 
border   village in Myawaddy. One Wa villager was killed and another 
seriously injured in the 20-   minute attack on Saturday.

  Bangkok Post (May 16, 2000)



____________ ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS _________________


XINHUA: MYANMAR'S FOREIGN TRADE UP 9.62 PERCENT


Xinhua, Rangoon, 16 May 2000. Myanmar's foreign trade, including the 
border trade, totaled 585.93 million U.S. dollars in the first two 
months of this year, up 9.62 percent from the same period of 1 999, 
according to the country's Central Statistical Organization (CSO).
 
Of the total trade volume, imports were valued at 402.4 million 
dollars, while exports amounted to183.53 million dollars, producing a 
trade deficit of 218.87 million dollars, the CSO said in its latest 
data.
 
The figures also indicate that Myanmar's private sector is playing a 
leading role in the country's foreign trade. During the first two 
months of this year, the import value of the private sector made up 
76.93 percent of the total imports, while its export value 
represented 70.97 percent of the total exports.

The import and export value of the government sector during the 
period accounted for only 23.06 percent and 29 percent respectively. 

____________________________________________________


SHAN: NEW REFINERIES BURGEONING AWAY FROM THE BORDER

Shan Herald Agency for News
 
15 May 2000

No: 5 - 5

Gen Khin Nyunt's Involvement Implied By Sources

Refineries have begun to move away from the Thai border through 
private  instructions from Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State 
Peace and  Development Council, sources told S.H.A.N..

One such refinery is in Hueykhai, between Mongnai and Wanzid, 
operated by  Col. Mahaja from the ex-Mong Tai Army of Khun Sa with 
approval from the  powerful Secretary 1, who had already made two 
trips during the past few  months into the areas opposite Maehongson, 
Chiangmai and Chiangrai  provinces of Thailand.

The reason was two-fold, said a source: Refineries set up along the 
border  had been subject to attacks by Yawdserk's Shan State Army and 
also subject  to complaints by Thailand as well as the international 
media. 

Another refinery was recently established between Hoparng and Hoyawd 
of  Mongton Tonwship. It is at the deserted village of Namakzawk, 2 
miles  northeast of Hoyawd and 3 miles northwest of Hopang. "Entry to 
the vicinity  is strictly restricted," said another source. "Even Wa 
soldiers who are not  involved with the operations are not allowed to 
go near."

According to him, the "factory" produces 25-30 blocks of heroin and  
3,000,000 pills of methamphetamine per month.

Gen Khin Nyunt had already visited the area twice, he said, first in  
February and the second time in March, when he presided over the 
ceremony  of opening the Hsaikhao Bridge in Monghsat.


____________________________________________________


FINANCIAL TIMES (LONDON): PREMIER DEFENDS STANCE OVER BURMA 

OIL & GAS PROTESTORS DISRUPT ANNUAL MEETING AS COMPANY ADMITS THERE 
IS 'NO EXCUSE' FOR GOVERNMENT'S BEHAVIOUR: 

May 16, 2000, Tuesday London Edition 3 

By ANDREW WARD 


Premier Oil yesterday repeated its rejection of government calls for 
it to pull out of Burma, but conceded that human rights abuses in the 
country by its ruling military regime were "inexcusable".
 
The admission came at the company's annual meeting in London, which 
was dominated by debate about the Pounds 406m oil-drilling operation 
in Burma, which was criticised last month by John Battle, foreign 
office minister.  Charles Jamieson, chief executive, said there 
was "no excuse" for the Burmese government's behaviour but insisted 
that Premier Oil's presence in the country was helping stimulate 
change. 
 
"We believe that constructive engagement in the economy will, however 
slowly, have a positive effect on the country in the long term," he 
said.  Mr Jamieson announced the launch of an independent audit into 
Premier's activities in Burma to determine how well the company was 
fulfilling its "social responsibilities" there. He said the company 
was working with Save the Children USA to build schools and improve 
health in Burma.
 
But protestors accused the company of using roads and helipads built 
by slave labour and said its pipelines in the country had displaced 
25,000 people. They claimed the pipelines were protected by security 
forces guilty of rape, torture and murder. 

A man tortured by Burmese security forces and a father whose son is 
serving a 17-year jail sentence for protesting in the country were 
among the human rights campaigners attending the meeting. 

Despite the speeches of the chairman and chief executive being 
disrupted, the protestors remained peaceful.
 
David Mawdsley, from Lancashire, whose 27-year-old son, James, was 
imprisoned in Burma last August for handing out anti-government 
leaflets, accused the board of "arrogance" and shareholders 
of "ignorance". "Charles Jamieson conceals the full extent of the 
atrocities in Burma," he said. 

Ko Aung, Co-ordinator of the Free Burma Coalition, was tortured while 
serving a six-year jail sentence from 1988 to 1994 for protesting 
against his government. He said the aid work carried out by Premier 
and Save the Children USA helped prop up the military regime. 

An 85-year-old man who owns shares in 170 companies said he "had 
never witnessed such bad feeling towards a board of directors" at an 
annual meeting.  But most shareholders present applauded when Sir 
David John, chairman, defended Premier's stance. Observer.

____________________________________________________

                         
 FINANCIAL TIMES: OILY SHOW 
                         
May 16, 2000, Tuesday London Edition 1 
                         

OBSERVER COLUMN 

It was a case of pass the barrel at Premier Oil's annual meeting in 
Drapers Hall, London yesterday. The career protestors turned up en 
masse to agitate over the company's Pounds 400m operation in Burma.  
Inside, a dozen-or-so infiltrators bombarded the management with an 
hour of questions.  Everyone knows that delegation is the art of good 
management - but the board felt strangely unable to answer the 
questions and fobbed them off onto Dr Richard Jones, 
Premier's "manager of global social responsibility". But he soon 
became tired of doing the directors' dirty-work. 

Responding to one question referred to him by chief executive Charles 
Jamieson, Jones pointedly suggested that future questions should 
be "directed at the board". 

Other shareholders were more concerned about the falling share price 
and lack of dividend than human rights abuses in some far flung 
land.  One entertaining "ex-army" type bravely bellowed his contempt 
for the protestors and added that he hated the Burmese regime "as 
much as the Chinese government and the IRA", but that "constructive 
engagement" was a good thing.  All the fun was caught by a company 
cameraman filming the trouble-makers. Observer can't wait for the 
video.  

____________________________________________________



                         
PRESS ASSOCIATION NEWSFILE (UK): BRITISH FIRMS URGED TO QUIT BURMA 
                         
May 15, 2000, Monday 
                         

Andrew Evans, Lords Staff, PA News 


A new call to UK company Premier Oil to pull out of Burma, to help 
put pressure on the military regime to improve its human rights 
record, was made by the Government today.
But junior Foreign Office minister Baroness Scotland of Asthal told 
peers: "We have no legal powers to force them to do so, nor do we 
seek any."  Lady Scotland said: "The presence of reputable companies 
in Burma is not helping the democratic cause there. We therefore told 
Premier Oil, the largest UK investor, that we would welcome their 
moving out of Burma." She added: "We also tell British companies 
inquiring about Burma that we do not encourage trade with nor 
investment there."

Tory former Foreign Office minister Lord Blaker contrasted the 
Government's attitude to Burma with its policy towards China. "Is 
that an ethical foreign policy?" he demanded.
Lady Scotland explained that, unlike isolationist Burma, China was 
engaging in "critical dialogue" with the West on human rights. "Burma 
will not bend her knee in any way to the lures that we put out for 
reasonableness," she said.   

____________________________________________________


LIBERATION (FRANCE): TOTAL, THE BURMESE JUNTA'S FLAG BEARER

12 - 05 - 2000 


At the National assembly, Mister Hubert Vedrine (Minister of Foreign 
affairs) gave a rare example of contempt. Contempt of the realities 
of the french presence in Burma, contempt in considering everybody 
who access to this information.  No, Minister of Foreign Affairs, our 
market share in this country is not miniscule as you claimed on the 
25th of April. With the presence of Total, France is the leader of 
all investors. The petroleum compagny, leader of the Yadana 
consortium, pilots the most important project ever to be taken in 
this country.  As she never ceases to repeat Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 
Nobel prize laureate and speaker of the winning democrats of the 1990 
elections, the compagny Total is the flag wich is being waved by the 
Narco burmese Junta to try to hide multiples crimes.  

Already last summer, French diplomacy took a ridiculous turn at the 
time of the nommination in Rangoon of Mister Amaudric Du Chaffaut. 
This ambassador effectively broke an internal record in the french 
administration : he stayed for fourteen consecutive years in the 
direction of ELF's (Note in passing : French Oil giant which merged 
with TotalFina last March, now TotalFinaElf) International affairs. 
He left the petroleum group at the same time as Alfred Sirven with 
whom he rubbed shoulders with during three years. The Petrol-
Diplomacy has always designed the framework for relations between 
France and Burma. Your reply to the Assembly, supporting the presence 
of Total in Burma confirms this tendency : From now on how to 
distinguish between our diplomacy in Burma and an appendix of 
TotalFinaElf's communication department ? This Firm is no more than a 
purely private company with a majority of foreign capital.



 
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________


MIC:  FACING THE TRUTH 11

[BurmaNet adds?The Myanmar Information Committee is the regime's 
Ministry of Information.  This article was disseminated via the 
regime's myanmar listserv.]


MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON

Information  Sheet
No.B-1370 (I)                16th May 2000


SPECIAL FEATURE

    This office is presenting the article  entitled ''FACING THE 
TRUTH 11''  which appeared in the Internet Web-site of Deja.com on 15 
May 2000 for your  reading pleasure.

>> Forum :  soc.culture.burma
>> Thread :     FACING THE TRUTH 11

Subject :   FACING THE TRUTH 11
Date    :   05/15/2000
Author  :   SA < sam 7007 @ wongfaye.com>

FACING THE TRUTH 11
by SA

I was recently hospitalised and my stay of a couple of weeks brought 
to my  mind the matter of health care in Myanmar. I have noticed that 
many  criticised Myanmar for having inadequate health care for the 
poor. It is  true. Myanmar is still a developing country, not a rich 
one, still without a  proper, well-established Health Care Program 
that will benefit people who  cannot afford it. Now, there is the 
next question that needs to be asked: in  this situation, isn't it 
more important to help than to sit aside and sneer ?  Unfortunately 
the people who take pleasure in sneering had done nothing to  help 
ease the situation; and when others help, out of pure goodwill, they 
get  attacked. It is a very strange way of showing that they are 
doing it  'for  the good of the people.' It is more than strange, it 
is a cruel hypocrisy.  Health care is expensive, anywhere in the 
world. Private Health care is  expensive, and beyond the means of the 
ordinary low-income people. So is that  not reason enough to want 
them to have better job opportunities ? Also, when  health NGOs come 
in help these very people, they are attacked for ' working  with the 
government.'

On the other hand fortunately we have well-trained doctors, a lot of 
them  with degrees obtained from prestigious Universities of UK, 
Scotland and  America. What we lack is the money for the medication 
etc. During the days  before market economy, even the hospitals in 
the cities had no proper  facilities such as modern machines and 
equipments. Now, they have them, as do  private hospitals. The use 
and maintainance of these facilities do not come  cheap; and unless 
the country as a whole prospers, so that a stable Health  Care 
Program can be set up, how will it benefit the poorer class of 
citizens,  for politicians to demand that the country stay poor ?

What really brought this to my mind is an old newspaper clipping that 
a  friend showed me: it was from the February 17 , 2000 issue of the  
International Herald Tribune. On page two there was a reprint of a 
Q&A  session with Daw Aung San Su Kyi and one Bernard Krisher of 
Cambodian Daily. 
One question asked was, "How can people who wish to give humanitarian 
aid  really help the needy Burmese people without going through the 
military  regime?

Her answer was, " The first question to ask is how effective is this  
humanitarian aid ? What kind of aid is that ? And how many people is 
it  supposed to help ? In general, whatever humanitarian aid that 
nongovernmental  organizations may be able to give is a drop in the 
ocean compared to what is  needed in Burma. What we really need in 
Burma is substantive change, the kind  of change that will enable 
people to help themselves. "

There are many kinds of NGO aid, such as in AIDS prevention, basic 
health  care, etc. There is no need for questions. No NGO in the 
world is going to  set themselves up in the country to give help the 
generals' families.  

Now, if this 'drop in the ocean' saves some babies' lives, is it not  
worthwhile ? Because what is the alternative? If NGOs are not here, 
because  the help is not enough for everyone, what is the alternative 
offer? What good  do we get when ALL NGOs leave ?

There are UN organizations and NGOs concentrating to set up projects 
that  will enable the people to help themselves, and DASSK had 
condemned each of  them because it ' legitimises the government.' 
Legitimate or not, any project  going on in the country would need to 
be connected to any level of government  that is necessary. That is 
just part of the administrative set-up, in any  country in the world. 
Ignoring the real issues at stake is hurting the  people. But for 
anyone to see the reality of the issues involved he would  need to 
face the truth. And if he does not want to see the reality, he will  
refuse to face the truth.

____________________________________________________


ARNO: ARNO APPEALS TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE REFUGEES


News and Analysis of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, 
Arakan (Burma) 
Volume: 2, Issue-4 April, 2000

In a press release dated 27 March 2000 the Arakan Rohingya National 
Organisation (ARNO) expresses it serious concern over the heinous 
killing of one Gul Mohammed (70), a Rohingya refugee housed in Shed 
No.72, Room No.6, Block C, of the Nayapara Refugee Camp1 of 
Bangladesh, by a magistrate of the camp on 7 March 2000 for no 
reasonable ground.  The press release says, according to the refugees 
of the camp, Gul Mohammed, who consented to be repatriated to Arakan, 
was beaten to death when he approached the camp authorities for the 
quota he deserves as a returnee. This incident was said to have 
occurred before the very eyes of the UNHCR staff. The press release 
continues, there have been reports of many irregularities and 
untoward incidents in the past too, in the Rohingya refugee camps in 
Bangladesh. And it appeals that the authorities should exercise 
maximum self-restraint and treat the helpless and hapless poor 
refugees with sympathy, love and affection. Also it urges upon the 
Government of Bangladesh to look into the matter for proper redress 
and punish those found guilty.  Meanwhile, the ARNO expresses its 
hope that the UNHCR will not continue to fail to give adequate 
protection to these refugees. 



_____________________ OTHER  ______________________


_______________


Acronyms and abbreviations regularly used by BurmaNet.


AVA: Ava Newsgroup.  A small, independent newsgroup covering Kachin 
State and northern Burma.

KHRG: Karen Human Rights Group.  A non-governmental organization 
that  conducts interviews and collects information primarily in 
Burma's  Karen State but also covering other border areas.

KNU: Karen National Union.  Ethnic Karen organization that has been 
fighting Burma's central government since 1948.

NLM: New Light of Myanmar, Burma's state newspaper.  The New Light of 
Myanmar is also published in Burmese as Myanmar Alin.

SCMP: South China Morning Post.  A Hong Kong newspaper.

SHAN: Shan Herald Agency for News.  An independent news service  
covering Burma's Shan State.

SHRF: Shan Human Rights Foundation

SPDC: State Peace and Development Council.  The current name the  
military junta has given itself.  Previously, it called itself the  
State Law and Order Restoration Council.


________________


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