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

July 3, 2000

Issue # 1568


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


NOTED IN PASSING:

``I attended the (Best Western) meeting there in the U.S. They say 
they are not happy with the political situation in Myanmar. In fact, 
they made the decision under pressure from Myanmar dissidents."

Robert Thein, managing director of the group that which owns 
Rangoon's Kandawgyi Palace Hotel on why Best Western pulled out of 
Burma (See REUTERS: U.S. BEST WESTERN HOTEL CHAIN PULLS OUT OF 
MYANMAR)

	
*Inside Burma

AFP : UN ENVOY MEETS MYANMAR JUNTA, OPPOSITION LEADER AUNG SAN SUU KYI

AFP: INDIAN ARMY CHIEF MEETS MYANMAR MILITARY LEADERS IN YANGON

REUTERS: NORTHEAST MYANMAR JOLTED BY MODERATE EARTHQUAKE

AFP: FOREIGN DIPLOMATS PREPARING FOR TALKS WITH MYANMAR DRUG LORDS: 
REPORT

BANGKOK POST: ETHNIC REBELS LAUNCH ARMS SPREE


*Regional

AFP: BANGLADESH SEEKS TO REPATRIATE 400 CONVICTED MYANMAR NATIONALS 

*International

AFP: MYANMAR FOREIGN MINISTER IN FIRST MOSCOW VISIT IN 21 YEARS 
		




*Economy/Business

REUTERS: INTERVIEW-THAILAND EXPECTS EARLY RESOLUTION OF PTT SPAT

BURMA COURIER: RICH GODPARENTS SOUGHT BY IVANHOE MINING COUPLE

TORONTO NOW: WAL-MART RECEIVES TOP SWEATSHOP AWARD

REUTERS: U.S. BEST WESTERN HOTEL CHAIN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR
			
*Opinion/Editorials

INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH: OPINION: MYANMAR'S CHANGING STYLE OF RULE





__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________




AFP : UN ENVOY MEETS MYANMAR JUNTA, OPPOSITION LEADER AUNG SAN SUU KYI


   YANGON, July 3 (AFP) - UN special envoy Razali Ismail met with 
military and opposition leaders on his first visit to Myanmar, 
officials said Monday, but appeared to have made little headway in 
mediating between the two sides.    Razali, a Malaysian who served as 
an ambassador to the UN, was appointed in April with the aim of 
reinvigorating the UN's dialogue with Myanmar.    One of his tasks is 
to try to overcome the stalemate between Aung San Suu Kyi's National 
League for Democracy, which won an overwhelming victory in 1990 
elections, and the junta which has refused to recognise the 
result.    Aung San Suu Kyi told Razali that the NLD would never 
accept the military's plan to eventually hold fresh elections under a 
new constitution, party sources told AFP.

   The opposition would keep in place its parliamentary 
representative committee until the junta acknowledged the results of 
the poll and convened parliament, they said.

   Razali's delegation, which left Yangon Monday, did not release 
details of its two meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD 
members, nor of its discussions with the military government.

   But junta sources told AFP that the military government restated 
its position that the NLD must not be allowed to govern because it 
was deliberately trying to destroy national solidarity in Myanmar.    
Razali met with powerful head of military intelligence Lieutenant 
General Khin Nyunt as well as Foreign Minister Win Aung during the 
four-day visit.    Razali also spoke with leaders of the Shan 
Nationalities League for Democracy, the ethnic party which was runner 
up to the NLD in the 1990 poll.    

Chairman Khun Tun Oo said that the party hoped the United Nations 
would succeed in bringing about an end to the current political 
impasse. 


____________________________________________________



AFP: INDIAN ARMY CHIEF MEETS MYANMAR MILITARY LEADERS IN YANGON
 
BANGKOK, July 3 (AFP) - Indian army chief General Ved Prakash Malik 
arrived in Yangon Monday for talks with Myanmar military leaders, 
state television reported. 
 Myanmar's ruling junta put on a red-carpet welcome for Malik, who 
inspected an honour guard at Yangon's airport before meeting with 
deputy commander-in-chief of Myanmar defence services, General Maung 
Aye. 

 Malik and his high-level military delegation were in Myanmar for a 
goodwill visit at Maung Aye's invitation, TV Myanmar said in a 
dispatch monitored here. 
 Maung Aye is also the vice chairman of the State Peace and 
Development Council -- the official name of Myanmar's military 
government. 

 The meeting with Malik was also attended by army chief-of-staff 
Lieutenant General Tin Oo and the commanders of Myanmar's navy and 
air force, the report said.
 
 TV Myanmar did not give details of their discussions, nor say how 
long the Indian delegation was to stay in Myanmar. 

 Malik is also expected to call on junta leader, Senior General Than 
Shwe, during his visit, the report said. 
 India and Myanmar, who share a 1,643 kilometre (1,018 mile) border, 
last year pledged to cooperate more closely to curb cross-border 
terrorism.
 
 They signed a document agreeing to "control and contain cross-border 
militancy in their respective territory, drug trafficking and 
smuggling, and (the) opening of more border trade centres." 


____________________________________________________



REUTERS: NORTHEAST MYANMAR JOLTED BY MODERATE EARTHQUAKE


YANGON, July 3 (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake measuring 4.9 on the 
Richter scale hit a sparsely populated part of northeast Myanmar on 
Sunday without causing casualties, Myanmar's Meteorology and 
Hydrology Department said. 


 A department official told Reuters on Monday: ``We don't think there 
will be damage and fatality because the epicentre was at a very 
sparsely populated area about 268 miles (430 km) northeast of 
Yangon.'' 

 Northern Myanmar is an earthquake-prone region. 


____________________________________________________


AFP: FOREIGN DIPLOMATS PREPARING FOR TALKS WITH MYANMAR DRUG LORDS: 
REPORT 


BANGKOK, July 3 (AFP) - Foreign diplomats are preparing to open up a 
dialogue with ethnic Wa rebels who are accused of masterminding the 
drugs trade inside Myanmar's border, a report said Monday. 

 The Bangkok Post said the officials, who believe the United Wa State 
Army may be close to seeking contacts with the diplomatic corps, plan 
to establish a working group to pave the way for talks. 

 "We want to be ready to deal with them, in case they want to make a 
deal," one official told the Post. 

 The Wa Army has never before attempted to make contact with foreign 
diplomats, although they have frequently sent unofficial envoys to 
local Thai officials, the report said. 

 But the foreign officials believe the Wa, widely accused of churning 
out heroin and amphetamines from jungle drug factories close to the 
Thai border, may be beginning to feel besieged, it said. 

 For several weeks rumours have swirled around Bangkok's diplomatic 
community that Thailand is planning air strikes to wipe out the Wa 
drug factories. The Thai military has refused to comment on the 
rumours. 

 The UWSA, cobbled together from the remnants of the Communist Party 
of Burma, has become the most powerful of several ethnic rebel 
groups, allegedly thanks to profits from the drugs trade. 

 Many Western nations have accused the country's military rulers of 
condoning drug trafficking by armed ethnic groups such as the Wa Army 
in return for ceasefires. 

	
____________________________________________________


BANGKOK POST: ETHNIC REBELS LAUNCH ARMS SPREE

July 1, 2000. 

Wa move to upgrade their potent arsenal


Nusara Thaitawat and Anucha Charoenpo


Demand for war weapons is increasing among drug-trafficking ethnic 
minorities in Burma, especially the United Wa State Army, and 
insurgent groups in Laos, according to Thai and foreign security 
authorities. 

The UWSA had announced through its extensive network of agents along 
the northern border that it was ready to pay 10,000 baht for an 
assault rifle in good condition, either an AK-47 or M-16, said a 
source at the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. 

The Wa army, believed to be the biggest drug trafficking organisation 
in Southeast Asia, is well-armed. When it was formed in 1989 after 
the collapse of the Burma Communist Party, it took with it an 
impressive arsenal donated to the BCP by China. 

Sources believed there were still plenty of Chinese weapons available 
from the BCP era, and that the Wa had obtained arms from the Burmese-
Lao border and Cambodia. However, the Wa army was trying to upgrade 
its weaponry in the face of increased pressure from both inside and 
outside Burma. 

One analyst said the UWSA was bracing for any possible impact from a 
peace agreement it signed with the Burmese military junta a decade 
ago, as top generals in the junta, including Burmese army commander 
Maung Aye and intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, were engaged in 
what could be a final battle for leadership. 

The Burmese army chief is reportedly not in favour of granting too 
much autonomy to the UWSA, while Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt is said to have 
very close ties with it. 
Another analyst said the Wa army's rising demand for weapons could 
result from an internal power struggle between ethnic Wa and ethnic 
Chinese members of the UWSA. 

"Weapons from Thailand are of much better quality, and the network of 
traffickers has been well established since the Indochina war," he 
said. 

Most AK-47s coming from Laos were not well maintained and retained 
only 60-70% capacity. 

The quality of assault rifles from Thailand was as high as 90%, he 
said. Rifles from Laos could  fetch only 3,000 baht. 

Thailand was also a source of all types of weapons money could buy, 
he said. 
Another source said it was an open secret that this illicit arms 
trade would not be possible without the co-operation of authorities 
along the border and in weapons storage areas. 

The most recent example came earlier this week with the arrest of two 
members of the police ordnance division in connection with the 
attempted theft of 20,000 rounds of M-16 rifle ammunition. 

Two other arrested suspects, a former soldier and a former police 
officer living in Chainat, were also believed to have links with the 
UWSA, according to Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkhaviboon, the new national 
police chief. 

One western observer said there were other groups in Burma that were 
also looking for weapons, including smaller and less publicised 
groups that were making a living by clearing paths for drug shipments 
from Burma and across the border. 

He said a close watch should be kept on the situation in Laos 
following the spate of bombings there. 

"We may see more weapons flowing in that direction," he added. 
















___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________


AFP: BANGLADESH SEEKS TO REPATRIATE 400 CONVICTED MYANMAR NATIONALS 

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, July 3 (AFP) - Bangladeshi authorities are 
seeking to repatriate nearly 400 Myanmar nationals who have completed 
their prison terms in Bangladesh for illegal trespass, fishing and 
proching, officials here said Monday. 

 At least 369 nationals who were detained in southeatern regions 
bordering Myanmar in recent years and were convicted by Bangladeshi 
courts are now awaiting their release from jail repatriation, 
security officials said. 

 Bangladeshi authorities are in touch with Myanmar for their early 
repatriation, they said, adding once clearance was received, they 
would be brought to nearby border posts along the frontier districts 
of Cox's Bazar and Bandarban for handing over to Myanmar side. 

 On May 12, a group of 108 such nationals who earlier completed their 
jail terms were sent back to Myanmar. 

 An additional 500 to 600 Myanmar nationals are under detention in 
Bangladeshi jails facing trials on similar charges. 		
		

 Both Bangladesh and Myanmar have several hundred kilometers of land 
and maritime border and fishermen and smugglers from both sides often 
get caught. 

 Myanmar's supreme leader Senior General Than Shwe was to visit 
Bangladesh late May, but the trip was postponed due to his sudden 
illness. The visit is expected to be rescheduled but no date had yet 
been announced. 

 If the trip goes ahead, Than Shwe would be the first top Myanmar 
leader to visit Bangladesh since it won independence from Pakistan in 
1971. 

 Relations between the two neighbours became strained in the early 
1990s when some 250,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar for Bangladesh 
with tales of atrocities committed against them by the junta. 

 Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most of the 
refugees under a United Nations agreement. But more than 20,000 still 
live in Bangladeshi camps

Myanmar general to visit Pakistan 
ISLAMABAD, July 3 (AFP) - Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief and 
junta First Secretary Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt was due to arrive 
in Pakistan later Monday at the start of a five-day trip, officials 
said. 
 It was to be the first high-level visit here by a Myanmar delegation 
since 1974 when former military dictator Ne Win came to Pakistan, a 
government statement said. 
 Khin Nyunt was to meet military ruler General Pervez Musharraf and 
the chiefs of Pakistan's armed forces, as well as visiting 
unspecified industrial centres during his July 3-7 stay, it said. 

 Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told AFP he welcomed the 
general but said he would have no comment until after his visit was 
over. 

 "The current high-level visit from Myanmar is taking place after a 
long-gap," an official statement said.
 
 "Pakistan and Myanmar have long-standing cordial and friendly 
relations, which are marked by a close similarity of views on a 
number of regional and international issues." 

 "Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt's visit to Pakistan will strengthen 
the existing bilateral relations and open new avenues for economic 
and trade cooperation between the two countries." 

 Sources in Yangon said the trip had not been mentioned in the state-
run media there, although Khin Nyunt was not a frequent traveller 
overseas. 

 Islamabad and Yangon are close allies of China, which sees them as 
strategic buttresses against India's military and economic might in 
South Asia.
 
 Myanmar has reportedly allowed China access to intelligence posts 
and naval bases in its southern islands, while Beijing has been 
instrumental in developing Pakistan's nuclear energy capabilities.
 
 Historically, both countries are former British colonies which have 
been under military rule for most of their independence. 

 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory 
in elections there in 1990 but the junta has refused to relinquish 
power and has kept her under virtual house arrest in Yangon. 

 Musharraf seized power in a coup here almost nine months ago and 
ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is now serving a life 
sentence for hijacking and terrorism and is on trial for corruption. 

 Both regimes vow to return their countries to democracy. 

 Islamabad and Yangon also share major drug problems, with Myanmar 
believed to be the world's second biggest opium producer after 
Pakistan's western neighbour Afghanistan. 

 The United Nations recently said that with four million drug addicts 
out of a population of some 140 million people, Pakistan was probably 
the the world's most drug-addicted nation on a per capita basis. 

					
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
		

AFP: MYANMAR FOREIGN MINISTER IN FIRST MOSCOW VISIT IN 21 YEARS 
		


MOSCOW, July 3 (AFP) - Russia called for increased cooperation with 
Myanmar on Monday as Win Aung began the first visit to Moscow by a 
Myanmar foreign minister since 1979.
 
 He was accompanied by Myanmar's ministers of defence, energy, 
industry and railways. 

 Russia considers Myanmar a "promising partner in Asia and the 
Pacific region" Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Igor 
Ivanov as saying. 

 "We hope that your visit will open a new page in bilateral 
relations," added Ivanov. 

 Myanmar has been severely criticized by the European Union over its 
human rights record. 









_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

REUTERS: INTERVIEW-THAILAND EXPECTS EARLY RESOLUTION OF PTT SPAT

By David Brunnstrom 

 HANOI, July 3 (Reuters) - A Thai minister said on Monday he expects 
a dispute over a take-or-pay gas agreement between state-owned 
Petroleum Authority of Thailand and consortium of military-ruled 
Myanmar, Unocal Corp and TotalFinaElf to be resolved soon. 

 Savit Bhotiwihok, a minister in Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's 
office, told Reuters at an energy meeting in Hanoi the Thai 
government had made a commitment to ensure PTT had the funds to pay 
for the gas from Myanmar's Yadana gas field. 

 ``This is already a Cabinet decision, therefore PTT has the funds 
available,'' Savit said before a meeting with Myanmar's Minister of 
Energy Brigadier-General Lun Thi. 

 However, Savit said the take or pay clause was ``being interpreted 
right now by PTT as well as by the developers as to exactly what it 
means, as it was not actually envisoned that this clause would come 
into effect.''
 
 ``The issues are now being examined by PTT,'' he said, adding that 
an initial payment of about $50 million had been paid previously to 
consortium. 

 ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED 

 After that initial payment there arose the issues of the ``quality 
of the gas, the possible restructuring of the deliveray dates in 
terms of amounts, as well as obligations of PTT under the contract,'' 
he said. 

 He said PTT had been raising the issue with the Electricity 
Generating Authority of Thailand, which were to have been the buyers 
for the Ratchaburi power plant which was not completed on time. 

 ``Some people had raised the issue of force majeure or not,'' he 
said. ``So all these issues were issues that had to be thrashed out. 
At this particular stage, I think, most of the major issues have 
already been worked out by the PTT people.'' 


 He said PTT officials had met Lun Thi on his Bangkok stopover en 
route to Hanoi for the meeting of energy ministers from ASEAN. They 
would meet him again in Bangkok on his way back, Savit said.
 
 ``I'm sure PTT would probably want to discuss the tranche, delivery 
dates, as well as the issue of the Yatakun pipeline coming onshore as 
well,'' he said. 

 ``The immediate issue is take-or-pay, but the much more fundamental 
issue is how to cooperate in the future over further deliveries.'' 

 Savit said the Thai government took the view that the issue was one 
of a business contract between PTT and the developers. 

 ``It is not a governmental issue at this stage at all. 

 ``However, to give support to PTT to be able to pay if they have to 
pay under the take-or-pay clause, the Thai government has already 
agreed for PTT to take out a new amount of loans they require, with 
the Ministry of Finance of Thailand guaranteeing those loans,'' he 
said. 



____________________________________________________


BURMA COURIER: RICH GODPARENTS SOUGHT BY IVANHOE MINING COUPLE

Courier News Services:  June 28, 2000

VANCOUVER -- Ivanhoe Mines and its joint venture partner, No. 1 
Mining Enterprise of Burma's military government, are looking for 
Asian companies with deep pockets to help finance the second stage of 
a major copper mining project across the Chindwin river from Monywa 
in Upper Burma. 

The partners expect to fund the development of a copper deposit at 
Letpadaung, close to their operating S & K mine, through debt 
financing and are currently in discussions with several companies in 
Japan, Korea and China, shareholders were told at Ivanhoe's AGM on 
Tuesday.   Total cost of preparing the site for copper production was 
recently estimated by Minproc, an Australian engineering firm, at $US 
389 million dollars.    The estimate is up considerably from one of 
$US 315 million which Minproc made in 1997.   

The feasibility study conducted by Minproc calculated total ore 
reserves in the Letpadaung deposit at 1.478 billion tonnes at an 
average grade of 0.38% copper.  Annual copper production is projected 
to be 125,000 tonnes of copper cathode by the time the mine is fully 
operational.  This would be almost four times the optimum level of 
the S & K mine which is expected to reach 35,000 tonnes this year. 

The mine plan prepared by Minproc for Letpadaung calls for an open 
pit development, truck-and-shovel mining, followed by crushing, heap 
leaching, and SX/EW copper recovery using a model closely patterned 
after that already in use at the S & K facility.  


Construction of the S & K mine, which entered into full production in 
1999, was financed by a syndicate of the Japanese trading houses 
Marubeni and Nissho Iwai. The construction was carried out by a 
consortium of Marubeni and Chiyoda Engineering, also of Japan.   
Total development costs for the S & K mine were approximately $US 138 
million.  Capital costs are being retired annually through copper 
sales which are contracted to Marubeni. 

Financing of the new project is by no means certain and will depend 
on rising demand for copper in south Asia and Japan, where the joint 
venture's current copper production is being sold.  The Ivanhoe AGM 
was exposed to glowing estimates of where world copper prices are 
heading over the next few years and to one leading analyst's 
prediction that it would rise to $US 1.40 - 1.50 a pound in the years 
following 2005 when the Letpadaung project would reach maximum 
production. 

Last year's sales of 26,700 tonnes of copper at an average price of $ 
0.80 a pound did not make either of the joint venture partners rich 
overnight.   Ivanhoe reported that the S & K mine operation brought 
its shareholders approximately $ US 2.5 million dollars in profits 
after production, selling, marketing and debt retirement costs were 
deducted. 

Some surprise was evidenced at the Ivanhoe AGM when company vice-
president Daniel Kunz told a shareholder that the average employee at 
S & K would be likely to receive the equivalent in local currency of 
$US 300-400 a month for their work.  "At that rate," someone was 
heard to say, "even the generals would come running to sign on for 
jobs." 

The S & K mine is currently providing employment to about 600 persons 
in Salingyi township where it is located.  The Letpadaung mine is 
expected to employ a similar number.  Over 1,200 will be engaged in 
the construction phase of the Letpadaung project which will get 
underway next year, if financing can be found.  It would be at least 
2003 before the mine could start to produce copper. 

Shareholders at the AGM were shown a picture of mining families 
lining up to get bottles of "purified water" which the joint venture 
company makes available to them.  No explanation was provided, but it 
seemed a likely indication that contamination of surface water 
resulting from a previous mine operated on the site by the state 
mining company may have reached the groundwater supply as well in the 
area where the mine is located. 

The joint venture company, known as Myanmar-Ivanhoe Copper (MICCL), 
has adopted an environmental management program to monitor and 
control operations on the minesite and shareholders were assured that 
the plan would be in place right from the beginning of the Letpadaung 
project.  Kunz sought to allay shareholder fears that the potential 
for contamination of surface and groundwater supplies would be 
enormously increased when both the Letpadaung and S & K mines are in 
operation.  The combined operations will annually expose as much as 
55 times the amount of waste rock to the effects of acid rock 
drainage.  MICCL has yet to secure ISO certification for its EMS 
program. 


TORONTO NOW: WAL-MART RECEIVES TOP SWEATSHOP AWARD

Now
Toronto, June 22-28, 2000
Issue 962 Vol 19 No 43

Labour

They may have chosen those happy greeters, but activists say Wal-Mart 
doesn't have many happy overseas workers.

The Maquila Solidarity Network has bestowed its Sweatshop Retailer Of 
The Year Award on the company at the same time that Wal-Mart Canada 
prez Dave Ferguson was named Distinguished Retailer Of The Year by 
the Retail Council of Canada.

"We think it's ironic that they saw fit to nominate a company that 
sources from Burma and is an American multinational to boot," says 
MSN's Bob Jeffcott.

The MSN says that, among other things, Wal-Mart has sold products 
made under Burma's repressive military regime.

"We don't accept the award," replies Wal-Mart Canada director of 
public affairs Andrew Pelletier.

"Anybody who does business with us knows what they're saying isn't 
true."

Pelletier says Wal-Mart no longer buys from Burma and has a strict 
vendor code of conduct. But the MSN says phooey on their code, which 
excludes freedom of association and workers' right to organize 
unions. 


____________________________________________________

REUTERS: U.S. BEST WESTERN HOTEL CHAIN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR

  
YANGON, July 2 (Reuters) - Best Western International Inc has 
withdrawn its corporate brand from a luxury hotel in Yangon due to 
Myanmar's human rights record and hardline treatment of opposition 
parties, its local partner said on Sunday. 

Robert Thein, managing director of Bangkok-based Baiyoke Hotel Group 
which owns Yangon's Kawdawgyi Palace Hotel, told Reuters the Phoenix, 
Arizona-based hotel chain followed other U.S. companies by pulling 
business out of Myanmar last week. 

``I attended the (Best Western) meeting there in the U.S. They say 
they are not happy with the political situation in Myanmar. In fact, 
they made the decision under pressure from Myanmar dissidents,'' 
Thein said.  

But Thein said he believed Best Western's decision would not hurt the 
hotel which, he said, enjoyed one of the highest occupancy rates in 
Yangon. 

Best Western is the world's largest lodging brand. 

_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________


INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH: OPINION: MYANMAR'S CHANGING STYLE OF RULE


1st July 2000

by Zakir Hossain 

On April 24th 1992 two years after the election, Myanmar's ruling 
clique SLORC issued an order entitled "Convening of a National 
Convention". It indicated that a National Convention would be 
convened in order to lay down basis principles to draft a firm 
constitution. In January 1993, the Convention finally assembled with 
702 delegates, of whom only 106 were elected representatives. The 
remaining delegates were hand-picked by the SLORC to represent 
workers, peasants, intellectuals, ethnic groups and service personnel 
were especially invited persons. The SLORC stated that the Convention 
would only be drawing up the principles of a new constitution, and 
the final draft would still be written, as promised by the elected 
representatives. Moreover, SLORC stated the principles discussed by 
the delegates had to conform with the objectives of the Convention, 
as defined by the SLORC, which included the participation of the 
Tatmadaw (armed forces) in the national political leadership role of 
the state in the future. Despite repeated calls in UN resolutions for 
the SLORC to give a timetable for the Convention, there is no sign 
that the Convention is near conclusion. On July 10, 1995, Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi was released from her almost six years under house 
arrest. Although her release initially raised hopes for an 
improvement in the human rights situation in Burma, nothing has 
changed. Indeed, the pace of political arrests and persecutions 
accelerated dramatically since November 1995 when the NLD withdrew 
from the SLORC-controlled National Convention due to the undemocratic 
process. SLORC responded to the NLD withdrawal by expelling the NLD 
permanently from the Convention. A call from the NLD to begin a 
dialogue with the SLORC in order to start a process of national 
reconciliation has been refused by the SLORC. 

Political turmoil in Myanmar (Burma) has increased significantly 
since the NLD announced that it would hold a meeting in late May 1996 
to commemorate the sixth anniversary of their 1990 election victory. 
Violence against the civilians appears to have a fundamental 
component of military strategy of Burma. The SLORC reacted by 
arresting hundreds of NLD MPs and its supporters in an effort to 
prevent the meeting. In addition, on June 7, 1996, SLORC issued Law 
No. 5/96, the sweeping provisions of which allow for up to 20 years 
imprisonment for anyone who expresses his or her political views 
publicly. On November 9,1996, a group of about 200 young men attacked 
Suu Kyi's motorcade with iron bars and sticks. The men were thought 
to be members of "Union Solidarity Development Association" (USDA), a 
SLORC-sponsored group. In December 1996, more than 2,000 people, 
including hundreds of students, involved in peaceful student 
demonstrations, were arrested for calling human rights reforms. 
Public gatherings on weekends in front of Suu Kyi's home have been 
banned since the end of 1996. Suu Kyi was repeatedly refused 
permission to leave her compound, and has been effectively confined 
to her house for long periods.

Since 1989, the SLORC has sought a military ceasefire with some of 
the ethnic forces, bringing a kind of peace to the area under their 
control. In December 1994, a renewed offensive against the Karen 
National Union (KNU) was launched following split within the KNU and 
formation of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which was 
supported by the SLORC. In February 1995, the KNU retreated from its 
headquarters in Mannerplaw. Since the offensive has taken new turn as 
DKBA and SLORC troops launched the first of several raids on the 
refugee camps in Thailand. The raids which were intended to terrify 
refugees into returning to Burma, while SLORC undertook massive 
relocation operations throughout the country causing a mass influx of 
refugees into neighbouring countries. 

>From 1988 to late 1997, the military junta ruling Burma was known as 
the State Law and Order restoration Council or SLORC. However, in a 
surprise move, on 15 November 1997, the SLORC announced that it had 
reformed and reorganised, changing its name to the State Peace and 
Development Council or SPDC. Since initial reformation, subsequent 
changes in personnel (referred to by some as purges) have also taken 
place. As the SLORC has been harshly criticised internationally by 
political and human rights as well as other organisations for its 
failure to democratise and observe international standards of human 
rights, the move has been widely interpreted as an attempt to calm 
further international condemnation by engaging in nominal and 
superficial changes. With this fourth name-change of the military 
ruling body since 1962, many critics have described the new SPDC as 
merely "old wine in a new bottle" [From 1962-1974 it was 
Revolutionary Council (RC), from 1974-1988 Burma Socialist Programme 
Party (BSPP), 1988-1997 the state Law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC) and from 1997 - as the State Peace and Development Council 
(SPDC)]

The four generals who occupied the upper-most positions in the 21 
member SLORC retain the same positions in the 19-member SPDC. 15 new 
younger generals, including heads of navy and air force, and regional 
commands, whose power was previously localised, have joined them. 
Additionally, there is a 39-member cabinet. Some observers believe 
that the shift to SPDC was made to bring the military regime into a 
position closer to that of the Indonesian military government model, 
in order to consolidate its long-term power. Others believe that the 
structural changes were effected by strongman and previous ruler Ne 
Win, to neutralise alliances in the SLORC. In case, now regional 
commanders, many of whom controlled their areas much like warlords, 
often with strong business interests in these areas, have a greater 
share in state power.





____________________________________________________

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