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

July 5, 2000

Issue # 1570


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


*Inside Burma

REUTERS: MYANMAR PAPERS SAY OPPOSITION NLD SHOULD BE BANNED

ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION NEWSLETTER MONTHLY: MARRIAGE 
RESTRICTION


*Regional

REUTERS: CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT GOING TO YANGON

AP: 40000 MYANMAR MIGRANT WORKERS ROUNDED UP IN THAILAND

BBC: INDIAN ARMY CHIEF IN BURMA

THE NATION: MAN CONFESSES TO INSURANCE MURDER SCAM 


*International

AP: RUSSIA SEES MYANMAR AS `PROMISING PARTNER' - TASS


*Economy/Business

IRRAWADDY: MODELS WANTED

			











__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	


REUTERS: MYANMAR PAPERS SAY OPPOSITION NLD SHOULD BE BANNED

YANGON, July 5 (Reuters) - State-run Myanmar newspapers called on 
Wednesday for the banning of the main opposition National League for 
Democracy (NLD), saying the party was colluding with terrorists to 
undermine the country.
 
 The newspapers, mouthpiece of Yangon's ruling generals, accused the 
NLD, led by Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, of ``inciting unrest 
to cause disintegration of the Union.'' 

 The commentary, entitled ``It is time NLD was dissolved,'' was 
carried in two of Myanmar's official newspapers, the sole English 
language daily, ``The New Light of Myanmar,'' and the Myanmar 
language ``Myanma Alin.'' 

 ``The NLD party is found to be constantly committing acts causing a 
great disservice to the Union of Myanmar,'' it said. 

 ``There is ample evidence it is colluding with the terrorists active 
at the border in violation of the existing laws.'' 

 ``An objective study will show that the NLD party is not in a 
position to carry out political activities in the Union,'' the 
commentary said. ``Hence, the NLD should be outlawed in the interest 
of the people.'' 

 The media attack on the NLD follows a visit to Myanmar by United 
Nations special envoy Razali Ismail earlier this week to try to 
encourage a dialogue between the military and the NLD and restore 
democracy and human rights. 

 Razali met Myanmar's power military intelligence Khin Nyunt as well 
as Suu Kyi. 
 NLD officials were unavailable for comment. 

 The NLD swept to an overwhelming victory in Myanmar's last 
democratic elections in 1990 but was never allowed to govern. 

 Instead, dozens of NLD members of parliament elected in the 1990 
polls have been arrested along with many thousands of ordinary party 
members and NLD branches have been closed down by the Myanmar 
authorities. 

 Official Myanmar media have reported that around 50,000 NLD members 
have resigned from the party in recent years. But NLD members say 
they have been forced to quit the party. 

 The newspaper commentary said the NLD was a defunct party with 
dwindling members and the entire Myanmar people wanted the government 
to dissolve it. 

 It was also accepting more outside assistance than in the past and 
colluding with armed groups outside Myanmar, it said. 



____________________________________________________



ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION NEWSLETTER MONTHLY: MARRIAGE 
RESTRICTION

Arakan (Burma) 
Volume: 2, Issue-6 

June, 2000


>From early June 2000, the marriageable poor Rohingya boys and girls 
living in the township of Maungdaw have been deprived of their right 
to marriage under a torturous tax collection introduced by the local 
administration. For the permission of a marriage the guardians of the 
bride and bridegroom have to pay a sum of kyats 200,000 and 150 
gallons of kerosene to the NaSaKa authorities. This causes extreme 
difficulties and problems to the Rohingyas. 






















___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
					

REUTERS: CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT GOING TO YANGON

YANGON, July 5 (Reuters) - Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao will pay 
a ``goodwill'' visit to Myanmar from July 16 to 18, diplomatic 
sources said on Wednesday. 

 It will be the second visit of a senior Chinese figure to the 
military-ruled country in two months. Chinese State Councillor Ismail 
Amat led a delegation to Yangon in early June.   Myanmar and China 
have had diplomatic relations since 1950. 

 Beijing has ignored efforts by Western countries in recent years to 
isolate Yangon over what they see as its poor human rights record and 
for its treatment of Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition, led by Nobel 
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. 

 A Myanmar diplomatic source told Reuters Hu Jintao was returning a 
visit made by General Maung Aye, vice chairman of Myanmar's ruling 
State Peace and Development Council, who spent a week in China in 
June. 



____________________________________________________


AP: 40000 MYANMAR MIGRANT WORKERS ROUNDED UP IN THAILAND 

July 5, 2000

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP)  Thai authorities rounded up 4,000 Myanmar 
migrant workers from seven factories in a dawn raid Wednesday and 
would soon deport them, officials said. 
 Immigration officials were in the process of taking photographs and 
fingerprints of all the migrants, who were illegally employed in 
garment and textile factories in Mae Sod district, Tak province, 370 
kilometers (230 miles) northeast of Bangkok. 

 ``After recording their details, all the arrested migrant workers 
will be repatriated to Myanmar though a safe channel,'' said an 
immigration officer in Mae Sot on customary condition of anonymity. 

 Since late last year, Thailand has deported tens of thousands of the 
estimated one million migrants, most of them from Myanmar, who have 
come to find work in Thailand from poorer neighboring countries. Many 
have sneaked back to Thailand. 


____________________________________________________


BBC: INDIAN ARMY CHIEF IN BURMA

Tuesday, 4 July, 2000, 12:09 GMT 13:09 UK 

By South Asia analyst Larry Jagan 
India's army chief General Ved Prakash Malik is in Burma on an 
official four-day visit. 

General Malik is expected to meet Burma's head of state, General Than 
Shwe on Tuesday. 

He is also expected to discuss closer co-operation on cross-border 
military operation with his Burmese counter-part General Maung Aye. 

The Indian military delegation's visit coincides with a trip by 
Burma's military intelligence chief Lt General Khin Nyunt, to 
Pakistan. 

Malik's second trip 

This is General Malik's second visit to Burma within six months. 

During his first visit in January, he had discussed concrete plans on 
how to curb cross-border insurgency. 

Indian defence officials say the current visit is aimed at clarifying 
the finer points in these plans. 

Delhi has long been concerned that several of the insurgent groups 
active in India's north east have bases inside Burma. 

Last year, India and Burma signed an agreement to control cross-
border militancy, drug trafficking and smuggling. 

Now the army chiefs of the two countries are finalising plans to make 
this agreement operational. 

Chinese influence 

In the past five years, India has tried to improve relations with 
Burma's military rulers. 

Although Delhi wants to see Burma become a multi-party democracy as 
soon as possible, it has been concerned for some time now about 
Beijing's increasing influence in Burma. 

To try to counter that, Delhi felt it had no alternative but to 
develop closer ties with Rangoon. 

During General Maung Aye's visit to India in January military co-
operation between the countries - to combat cross-border insurgents 
and drug traffickers - was discussed at length. 


Indian officials say Delhi has been supplying Burma with non-lethal 
military equipment in return, including boots and combat gear. 

Burma is particularly keen to find other sources of military 
equipment. 

Diplomats in Rangoon believe that General Maung Aye and others in the 
army are concerned that they are too dependent on China for their 
arms supplies. 

Burma and Pakistan 

This also appears to be the main reason behind the intelligence 
chief, Lt General Khin Nyunt's trip to Islamabad. 

Pakistan is already training Burmese military personnel, particularly 
pilots, and is supplying machine guns and ammunition. 

China used to train the Burmese airforce and is still the country's 
major supplier of ammunition. 

By switching some of their sources of military aid from China to 
Pakistan, diplomats in Rangoon say Burma's military leaders hope to 
reduce its dependence on China. 

This may have the approval of Beijing, since China has a close 
relationship with Pakistan. 

The fact that General Maung Aye is hosting his Indian counterpart at 
the same time as Lt General Khin Nyunt is in Pakistan suggests that 
Rangoon is sensitive to India's likely concerns. 

But it may also reflect a growing tension within the Burmese military 
leadership about the country's international ties, particularly 
towards its two big neighbours China and India.


____________________________________________________


THE NATION: MAN CONFESSES TO INSURANCE MURDER SCAM 

Wednesday, July 5, 2000


PONGSAK BAI-NGERN
The Nation


A MAN accused of murdering a Burmese woman in a scam aimed at 
cheating a Japanese insurance firm of Bt60 million turned himself in 
yesterday and confessed to the killing, police said.

Vinit Chuwaree, aka Bao, allegedly told interrogators after his 
surrender that he was hired by Pikul Chaiya, a fruit vendor in Surat 
Thani, to burn a car with the unconscious Burmese woman inside to 
make it look like an accident. 
Late on the night of June 27, Surat Thani police were called to the 
scene of the "accident" on the Surat-Takuapa road, where a car was 
burning. After extinguishing the fire, police found a body burned 
beyond recognition. The day?Eafter the incident, Pikul allegedly 
told police the body inside the car was her elder sister Penporn 
Chaiya, who had returned from Japan. 

Police inquiries revealed Penporn had insured her life for?EY160 
million (about Bt30 million). This amount was to be doubled if her 
death was caused by an accident.

Vinit claimed yesterday Pikul contacted him several months ago and 
allegedly asked him to find an unclaimed body for funeral rites. The 
body had to have a physique similar to Penporn. He said he and his 
fatherin-law, Samran Rakpanpong, had tried unsuccessfully to get a 
corpse.

But the woman later contacted him again and allegedly asked him to 
find a Burmese woman with the same build as Penporn to work for her. 
Pikul hired him for Bt30,000 and told him about her plans, Vinit 
claimed. 

He?Efound a Brmese immisrant in Ranong named Marasha who allegedly 
agreed to work as a live-in maid in Surat Thani. Vinit said on June 
26 he accompanied Marasha to Surat Thani and Pikul took the maid to 
her own house in Tha Sala district. 
On Pikul's instructions, Vinit drove the Toyota sedan, which was to 
be burned in the "accident", and parked it at a petrol station in 
Poonpin district.

On the evening of June 27, he bought 10 litres of oil and, 
accompanied by his father-in-law, drove the car to Pikul's house. 
There, he said, Pikul allegedly spiked Marasha's milk after which the 
unconscious maid was taken to the car. Pikul allegedly told him 
to "make it look like an accident".

He then drove away and chose the sharp curve as the best site because 
there were few vehicles passing by. 

He said he hurriedly did the job for fear Marasha might regain 
consciousness. After he drove the car to the bend, he activated the 
handbrake and poured oil on Marasha and the car. He then locked the 
doors and lit the fire. Vinit claimed Pikul's husband drove another 
car and picked him up after the job was done.

Pol Col Sophon Maneephan, deputy Surat Thani police chief, said 
yesterday Vinit's parents contacted police late on Monday about his 
surrender. 
Sophon said Vinit had provided much information to interrogators, 
including the names of people involved in the scam. The officer said 
Vinit was charged with premeditated murder and his father-in-law 
Samran, still at large, has been charged with being an accomplice in 
a murder.

Police were hunting for others involved in the crime, he said, but 
expected they would be arrested soon. 

Pikul and Penporn were arrested at the weekend after the latter came 
out of hiding to see her sister at her fruit shop in Surat Thani. The 
sisters were charged with masterminding a murder. Pikul was also 
charged with filing false information with officials for claiming?E
the body was Penporn's.

After her arrest, Penporn claimed she had learned from her doctor she 
did not have long to live and resolved to leave as much money as 
possible for her 17-year-old daughter by a Japanese husband. The girl 
is studying at an international school in Thailand. 
Sophon said the major problem for police now was to get access to 
Penporn's insurance policies, which they believed were being kept in 
the house of a?Ehigh-ranking policeman.

Penporn had claimed close connections with the?Epoliceman, a source 
said, adding it was unlikely that the officer was involved in the 
scam.


__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
		

AP: RUSSIA SEES MYANMAR AS `PROMISING PARTNER' - TASS

July 4, 2000

MOSCOW (AP)--Russia considers Myanmar a promising partner in Asia, 
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told his visiting Myanmar counterpart in 
Moscow on Monday. 
Win Aung's visit to Moscow, which began Monday and ends Wednesday, 
was the first since 1979 by a foreign minister from Myanmar, also 
known as Burma. 

Win Aung and Ivanov signed documents on improving relations between 
the countries and discussed fighting international terrorism and 
increasing economic ties, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. 

"Russia regards Myanmar as a promising partner in Southeast Asia and 
the Asia-Pacific region in general," Ivanov said, Interfax reported. 

Win Aung was accompanied by officials from Myanmar's defense, energy, 
industry and railway sectors. 

The military generals who have ruled Myanmar since 1962 have been 
internationally isolated for suppressing dissent, violating human 
rights and ignoring the election victory of the pro-democrat party of 
Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.





____________________________________________________



_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

IRRAWADDY: MODELS WANTED

June 2000

www.irrawaddy.org

Burma''s ruling generals and educators of the country''s future 
economic elite appear to have different ideas about the most 
appropriate model for Burma''s economic development. 

During a visit to Beijing in early June to mark the fiftieth 
anniversary of Sino-Burmese diplomatic relations, Gen Maung Aye, a 
leading member of Burma''s ruling State Peace and Development 
Council, said that he hoped to learn from China''s experience of 
opening up to the global economy, apparently without undermining the 
country''s one-party political system.

Meanwhile, Maw Than, rector of the Institute of Economics in Rangoon, 
said in a recent interview with the Myanmar Times that a new Masters 
program for prospective public administrators would be based on the 
Masters in 
Public Policy course at the National University of Singapore. He 
added that emphasis would be given to the state''s role in guiding 
the course of economic development. 
Both China and Singapore have largely state-driven economies and 
political systems that leave little room for dissent. China also 
relies heavily on military force to counter threats to state control.


_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________




_____________________ OTHER  ______________________





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