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BurmaNet News: October 30, 2000



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________October 30, 2000   Issue # 1651_________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Burma Air Force F-7 fighter reportedly crashed, pilot killed 
*DVB: power struggle between Wa and Kachin people 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Republican VP candidate defends doing business in Myanmar 
*ABC-online: Burma donates cash for Cambodian flood victims 
*Reuters: India Says Burma to Probe Killing of Indian Troops 
*AFP: Economics to dominate ASEAN summit, Myanmar on backburner
*Bangkok Post: Troops to attack intruders after fatal border shooting in 
Tak

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar's Tax Revenue Up in 1st Half of 2000
		
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	


DVB: Burma Air Force F-7 fighter reportedly crashed, pilot killed 

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 29th October 

A Burma Air Force [BAF] pilot was killed when his fighter plane crashed 
on 19th October. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Ma Sandar 
filed this report. 

[Begin Ma Sandar recording] Fighter plane no. 1645 from the 5th Squadron 
of Meiktila Air Force Training School attached to the Mingaladon Air 
Base crashed over Tada-U [international] airport at 0905 [local time] 
while on a mission. The pilot of the fighter plane, Lt Thein Naing Soe, 
Burma Air Force Commission No. 2302, was also killed. The plane - an F-7 
which the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] government bought 
from China is said to be worth about 1m US dollar. It has been learned 
that the authorities concerned have not issued any official news report 
concerning the crash. [End of recording] 









____________________________________________________


DVB: power struggle between Wa and Kachin people 

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 29th October 

DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that there was an internal 
coup within the Mongkho Defence Army, MDA, from northern Shan State 
which has signed a cease-fire agreement with the SPDC [State Peace and 
Development Council], on 24th October, Tuesday. 

The situation is still tensed today and the regional SPDC battalion is 
said to have encircled the MDA headquarters. Wa Deputy Commander Li Ni 
Ming staged the coup because of the dissatisfaction over the Kachin 
nationals holding the power in the MDA where the majority are ethnic Wa 
people. It has been learned that Kachin leaders - MDA Chairman U Mong 
Sar La, Vice Chairman U Zaw La, Intelligence Commander U Mahaw Nawng 
Lat, and committee members U Maran Grawng and U La Saing were detained 
at the Mongkho headquarters. But Kachin tactical commander U Mar Mong 
and some Kachin commanders are regrouping its forces to stage an 
offensive to recapture the headquarters. 

Battalions under the SPDC Northeast Military Command stationed near the 
Monghko headquarters are said to have blockaded Monghko and are waiting 
for orders from Rangoon's War Office to continue their movements.  

Monghko region was the northern headquarters of the now defunct Burma 
Communist Party, BCP. After the disintegration of the Communist Party in 
1989, it became the headquarters of the Kokang when the Kokang group 
signed a cease-fire agreement with the SPDC. Later it became the 
headquarters of the MDA led by Mong Sar La and it has been administered 
jointly by Mong Sar La and the SPDC forces since then. It is located 
near the Burma-China border and is better know as the Monghko-Manghai 
border trade route.  

MDA is involved in drugs trafficking and MDA Chairman U Mong Sar la has 
been wanted by the Chinese Government for drug trafficking. An unknown 
armed group tried to assassinate him twice in 1998 over control of the 
drug trafficking territory. An attempted coup was staged in 1998 by some 
MDA members and Wa national Hong Lauk Si. The attempted coup failed and 
they had to flee to China. DVB correspondent Myo Win Than filed this 
report.  

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 29 Oct 00 


____________________________________________________





___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
					

AFP: Republican VP candidate defends doing business in Myanmar 

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (AFP) - Republican vice presidential nominee Richard 
Cheney has defended his former company's business dealings in Myanmar 
despite widespread human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian country. 

 "It was fully in compliance with US policy and our conduct around the 
world," Cheney told CNN's "Larry King Live" show late Friday. 

 Cheney had been chief executive at Halliburton, a major US oil service 
company, for five years prior to being chosen in late July by Republican 
presidential candidate George W. Bush as his running mate. 

 According to the Wall Street Journal, Halliburton landed a contract in 
Myanmar in 1996 to participate in building an undersea pipeline. 

 One year later, the United States banned new US investment in the 
country in a bid to isolate its military regime that was brutally 
suppressing opposition parties. 

 But Halliburton remained in Myanmar even though most US companies, 
including oil giants Texaco and Atlantic Richfield had pulled out, the 
Journal reported. 

 Since the sanctions did not cover investments made prior to 1997 or 
oil-service companies, Halliburton's continued presence in Myanmar did 
not appear to violate any laws but was "potentially embarrassing," the 
paper concluded. 

 "We did not support the regime," Cheney told CNN. "We were there 
because we had competed on a contract to lay some undersea pipeline 
offshore in Myanmar." 

 He said Halliburton operates in 120 countries of the world, some of 
which are not governed in accordance with principles accepted in the 
United States. 

 "The world is not made up only of democracies," he said.

  


____________________________________________________


ABC-online: Burma donates cash for Cambodian flood victims 

ABC- Online ,Oct 29 (13:48:22 AEST) , 2000.

Burma's military government has donated 100,000 US dollars to help 
Cambodians suffering from the worst flooding to hit the region in four 
decades.

Burma's state-run media says the donation was handed over by Burmese 
diplomats on Friday at the Red Cross Society headquaters in Phnom Penh.

More than 300 Cambodians have been killed by flood waters which have 
affected over three million people. 

Damage to crops and property is estimated to stand at 79 million US 
dollars.
 

____________________________________________________


Reuters: India Says Burma to Probe Killing of Indian Troops 

NEW DELHI, India, Oct 28, 2000 -- (Reuters) Burma will launch an inquiry 
into the incident this week in which its troops killed three Indian 
security personnel on the two countries' border, the Indian government 
said on Friday. 

"The Burmese government has indicated to us that it will conduct an 
inquiry (into the shootings) and inform us about its progress," Indian 
foreign ministry spokesman Raminder Singh Jassal told a news conference. 


An Indian defence ministry spokesman told Reuters the Burmese army had 
submitted an "unqualified apology" for the attack on a patrol party from 
the Assam Rifles on Wednesday night. 

Officials said it was the first time the Burmese army had attacked 
Indian security personnel in an area teeming with separatist guerrillas 
fighting the government forces of both countries. 

Two Indian troops were also injured in the incident in the remote 
northeast Indian State of Nagaland, which took place when Burmese troops 
opened fire near the two countries' border. 

The Indian interior ministry said in a statement on Friday that local 
Burma and Indian Army commanders met on Thursday to seek better 
coordination to eliminate future incidents. 


____________________________________________________


AFP: Economics to dominate ASEAN summit, Myanmar on backburner

[Abridged]

Sunday, October 29 9:43 AM SGT 



SINGAPORE, Oct 29 (AFP) - Economic integration will headline next 
month's ASEAN summit with the thorny issue of Myanmar kept out of the 
spotlight, and a Spratly's code of conduct again left unresolved, 
officials said. 

Summit hosts Singapore are already wired up to push their integration 
message at the informal summit, so called because it contains no formal 
agenda. 

The road will not be easy. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN), often described as an ineffective sunset organisation, was 
unable to produce a united response to the 1997 financial crisis. 

Members of the 10-nation grouping are now at various stages of recovery 
and not all see integration as a priority. 

But for trade-dependent Singapore, ASEAN economic integration is of 
prime national importance. 

"With enlargement, ASEAN must take steps to integrate the new members 
with the region and the world economy," the government said in a 
statement. 

"We must also take concrete and practical steps to enhance ASEAN's 
economic competitiveness."  
Easing the path to preparing the unwritten agenda has been ASEAN's 
success in having the European Union (EU) agree to talks in December, 
ending a freeze in relations since Myanmar was admitted to ASEAN ranks 
in 1987. 

Myanmar is under fire from the EU for its treatment of pro-democracy 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under effective house arrest, and from 
the International Labour Organisation for the use of forced labour. 

But ASEAN, with a policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of 
its members, has resisted all pressure to intervene. 


____________________________________________________


Bangkok Post: Troops to attack intruders after fatal border shooting in 
Tak


 Oct 29, 2000.


Border forces have been instructed to attack any armed group which 
intrudes into Thailand, following Wednesday's clash which left one 
soldier dead and two others injured. 
The order was issued yesterday by Naresuan Task Force commander Maj-Gen 
Tomorn Kittisophon, who said patrols would also be increased along the 
border. 
"If intruders carry firearms onto our soil and attack our forces, it 
means they violate our sovereignty. I have ordered our forces to take 
drastic measures against foreign intruders," he said. 
Maj-Gen Tomorn yesterday visited the injured soldiers at Mae Sot 
hospital. He delivered cash donated by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to 
the wounded and to the family of the dead soldier. 
Wednesday's clash occurred when a patrol unit ran into a group of armed 
intruders in Umphang district, Tak. 
After a brief exchange of fire, Warrant Officer Sawong Imlaem, of the 
43rd battalion, was found dead. Warrant Officer Noppadol Thana and 
Private Chatuphon Yaifa were seriously wounded. 


_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

Xinhua: Myanmar's Tax Revenue Up in 1st Half of 2000

Xinhua, Rangoon, 28 October 2000.  Myanmar's State Internal Revenue 
Department received a total of 28.426 billion kyats (81.2 million U.S. 
dollars) in revenue from various taxes in the first six months of this 
year, up 5.3 percent from a year ago, according to the latest official 
economic indicators. 

Of the revenue obtained during the period, 47.1 percent was from 
commodities and services taxes and commercial tax, 32.2 percent from 
income tax, 10.1 percent from state lottery, 8.8 percent from profit tax 
and 1.8 percent from stamp duties.  Of these taxes, commercial tax on 
commodities sold in foreign exchange was introduced in January 1999.

Myanmar has increased collection of taxes year by year and revenue 
obtained from the collection stood the highest in fiscal 1999-2000, 
which ended in March, with 51.988 billion kyats (148.5 million dollars) 
since 1995-96 when it was 16.687 billion kyats ( 47.6 million dollars).  
 Meanwhile, Myanmar received 465 million dollars from import customs 
duties in the first half of this year, 17.84 percent more than that 
obtained in the corresponding period of 1999.

*******

BurmaNet adds: While Burma?s tax collections may have increased 5.3% 
over a year ago, inflation has exceeded 5% several times over.  Once 
adjusted for inflation, tax collections seem to have fallen sharply, 
implying either a slow down in the economy or that the government has 
become less effective at collecting taxes owed.


________________


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