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BurmaNet News: December 28, 2000



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
        December 28, 2000   Issue # 1697
_______________www.burmanet.org_________________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB : Junta ban on contact between army, politicians 
*AP: Suu Kyi Property Court Date Set
*AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi's legal team challenges brother's property suit
*AP: Myanmar newspaper reports train attack by Karen rebels
*New Light of Myanmar: Two Killed, 3 Wounded as Karen Rebels Mine, 
Attack Train in Southern Burma
*Xinhua: First Drugs Elimination Museum Opens in Myanmar
*Bangkok Post: Imprisoned Writer 'Needs Medical Help'

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Xinhua: Chinese Police Seize over 200 Kilograms of Heroin at 
Yunnan-Burma Border
*Le Canard Enchaine (France): [Summary/translation of article on 
Mitterand/Falcone/Burma]

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*New York Times: A Pact Against Oil Company Abuses

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Statesman (New Delhi): Letter--No Lessons Learnt From Afghanistan 

OTHER______
*Shan Herald Agency for News: News on Burma In Thai Launched


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


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


DVB : Junta ban on contact between army, politicians 

25 December

The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] War Office has issued a 
special internal announcement dated 23 December for its military 
officers. The announcement prohibits currently serving military officers 
from having any contact with veteran politicians who once fought for 
Burma's independence, former military officers who belong to the 
National League for Democracy [NLD] party, and any retired military 
officer who was once connected with politics one way or another. It 
stated any officer who violates the prohibition will be dismissed from 
his position and will also face severe consequences. The order also 
cited that contacts with veteran politicians and retired senior military 
officers could cause undesirable internal problems in the army. The 
order was signed by SPDC Chairman Sen Gen Than Shwe himself. The 
announcement also affirmed that no officer for any reason must contact 
the veteran politicians who participated in the struggle for Burma's 
independence in various capacities.

According to reports received by DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma], the 
special announcement was issued because some military officers came back 
with different views and opinions after knowing the true historical 
facts following meetings with the veteran politicians.

Regarding the military officers' meeting with veteran politicians, DVB 
contacted one veteran politician in Burma by telephone and this is what 
he said:

[Unidentified politician] Yes. They came to us to inquire and since we 
actually participated in the fight [for Burma's independence] we told 
them. The majority that came were lieutenant colonels and there were 
some captains too. They remarked what you said is so true. Our minds are 
getting confused and we dare not listen anymore. So they did not come 
again. [End of recording]

According to an unidentified police officer, this announcement was sent 
not only to the armed forces but also to the police, township Peace and 
Development Councils, and Customs and General Administration 
Departments. DVB has learned that current in-service civil officers are 
also directed not to have any contact with persons who are directly or 
indirectly involved with politics.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 25 Dec 00 


___________________________________________________


AP: Suu Kyi Property Court Date Set

The Associated Press, Thu 28 Dec 2000 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Arguments will be heard next week in a lawsuit 
filed against Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by her 
estranged brother claiming half her lakeside property, court officials 
said Thursday. 

Suu Kyi's elder brother, Aung San Oo, a U.S. citizen and resident, is 
demanding half-ownership of the residential compound in Yangon inherited 
from their mother, who died in December 1988. Suu Kyi has lived there 
for the past 12 years. Arguments are scheduled to begin Jan. 5. 

Suu Kyi was held under house arrest without trial there on national 
security charges from 1989-95. In 1990 she won the Nobel Peace prize for 
her nonviolent efforts to promote democracy. 

Suu Kyi's elder brother applied to a Yangon court in November for 
partition of the property. 

The law prohibits foreigners from purchasing or transferring property, 
but the government granted Aung San Oo an exemption. Suu Kyi's lawyers, 
in a written statement to the court, questioned the legality of the 
exemption. 

The government continues to restrict visitors to Suu Kyi's house, and 
greatly limits her freedom of movement. Her National League for 
Democracy party won a 1990 general election but was never allowed to 
take power, and its members face harassment and jail. 

Earlier this month in Washington, President Clinton awarded in absentia 
the highest U.S. civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 
Suu Kyi for her peaceful struggle for democracy and human rights in 
Myanmar, also known as Burma. 


___________________________________________________


AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi's legal team challenges brother's property suit 


YANGON, Dec 28 (AFP) - Lawyers for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi 
Thursday challenged the government's decision to allow her brother to 
launch a claim over half her Yangon home. 

 In a brief court hearing, defence lawyer Kyi Win said the Home Ministry 
should never have given Aung San Oo leave to file suit over the home 
that once belonged to their mother. 

 Kyi Win did not give a reason for his challenge, but it is believed to 
be based on the fact that, as a United States citizen, Aung San Oo is 
not entitled to inherit any immovable property. 

 Judge U Soe Thein said a proper hearing of the argument would begin on 
January 5. It is expected to discuss an exemption clause to the 
inheritance law, which can be invoked in special circumstances. 

 Critics of the Yangon regime have said the case clears the way for the 
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to evict Aung San Suu 
Kyi from the house and cripple her National League for Democracy. 

 As a US citizen, Aung San Oo would be forced to hand his half of the 
property over to Myanmar's military government if he won the suit. 

 While not overtly political, Aung San Oo is much less critical of the 
regime than his sister, and the two are not close. 

 Suu Kyi has now been under house arrest for more than three months, 
after attempting to travel north to Mandalay with a group of senior NLD 
members. 

 Her youngest son Kim Aris, his wife Rachel and their young son, left 
Myanmar Thursday after spending 21 days in the country, according to 
official sources. 

 During their stay they travelled to the towns of Bagan and Mandalay, as 
well as Shan state. 

 They also stayed with their mother at her residence for several days, 
the official source said. 


___________________________________________________
 

AP: Myanmar newspaper reports train attack by Karen rebels 

Dec. 28, 2000

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Two persons were killed and three others injured 
after a passenger train in southeastern Myanmar hit a land mine 
allegedly planted by ethnic Karen rebels, the state-owned newspaper 
Myanma Ahlin reported Thursday. 

 The train was traveling from the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine _ also 
known as Moulmein _ to Ye, 130 kilometers (81 miles) to the south 
Wednesday morning, when it hit the mine planted by 10 members of the 
Karen National Union, the report said. It did not explain how the 
attackers were identified. 

 A spokesman for the Karen National Union said the insurgent group 
wasn't involved. 

 ``We deny any responsibility for the train bomb incident; the 
government is trying to frame us,'' said Ner Dah, contacted from Bangkok 
by telephone. ``We are not terrorists, our policy is quite clear that we 
will fight the Myanmar government and its armed forces, not its 
people.'' 

 The newspaper report said the attackers looted property from the 
passengers when the train engine overturned and two coaches derailed. 

 It said a gun fight broke out when the train's security guards opened 
fire at the ``KNU terrorists'' who made off with the looted property. 
One policeman and a passenger were killed and three other passengers 
were wounded, the report said. 

 Since 1989, 17 ethnic rebel groups, many of which had been fighting 
several decades for autonomy, have reached cease-fire agreements with 
the ruling military junta. The Karen National Union is the sole 
remaining major ethnic rebel group holding out. 

 Although the government and the KNU often battle for control of the 
rebel group's enclaves along the border with Thailand, offensive action 
by the Karen is rare. 

 Myanma Ahlin also reported Thursday that 27 members of several rebel 
groups surrendered with assorted weapons and ammunition in various 
regions from Nov. 1 to 30. It said they were from the KNU, the All 
Burmese Students Democratic Front, and Shan and Karenni ethnic rebel 
groups. 


___________________________________________________


New Light of Myanmar: Two Killed, 3 Wounded as Karen Rebels Mine, Attack 
Train in Southern Burma

[FBIS Transcribed Text] Yangon, 27 Dec--The No-171 Mawlamyine-Yay Up 
train leaving Mawlamyine for Yay at 5 am met its fate when it stepped a 
mine planted by about 10 members of the KNU armed terrorists group 
between Mile Post 231 and 232, three miles to Anin Station, at 9.15 am 
today. The engine overturned and two coaches jumped tracks. Once the 
train stopped, the 10 KNU terrorists looted property from the 
passengers. The security personnel travelling along to guard the train 
opened fire on the KNU terrorists who fled to the east together with the 
looted property. The terrorists' gunfire killed one of the Myanmar 
Police Force security personnel and one passenger, and wounded three 
other passengers. The Tatmadaw columns are in hot pursuit of the 
terrorists. [Description of Source: Description of Source: Rangoon The 
New Light of Myanmar in English -- 


___________________________________________________


Xinhua: First Drugs Elimination Museum Opens in Myanmar

YANGON, December 28 (Xinhua) -- A newly-built first drug elimination 
museum in Laukkai, Kokang region of Myanmar's northern Shan state, was 
inaugurated on Wednesday to mark the regional endeavors in getting rid 
of poppy cultivation and production as well as to educate people against 
the danger of narcotics, official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar 
reported Thursday. The opening ceremony of the museum was attended by 
First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council 
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Chairman of the Central Committee for 
Drug Abuse Control and Home Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing and Kokang 
region ethnic leader U Phon Kya Shin as well as foreign diplomats in 
Myanmar. The drugs elimination museum, which was built in March 1999 at 
a cost of nearly 600,000 U.S. dollars, will exhibit the arrival of poppy 
cultivation in Myanmar, evil consequences of the narcotic drugs and drug 
eradication efforts of the region. Meanwhile, another drugs elimination 
museum in the capital of Yangon has also been under construction since 
July 1999. According to official statistics, in the first 10 months of 
this year, the Myanmar authorities exposed 2,775 drug-related cases and 
punished 4,157 drug offenders, seizing a total of over 1. 9 tons of 
narcotic drugs, of which opium accounted for 1,247.3 kilograms (kg), 
heroin 147.14 kg and marijuana 506.54 kg. Following the declaration of 
its Mongla region in eastern Shan state as an opium-free zone in April 
1997, Myanmar began in 1999 implementing a 15-year drug-eradication plan 
at a cost of 255 million dollars. The plan covers 51 opium cultivating 
and producing townships in the country. Enditem
2000-12-28 Thu 00:15 


___________________________________________________


Bangkok Post: Imprisoned Writer 'Needs Medical Help'

Thursday, December 28, 2000



An arm of Amnesty International has appealed for the release of Burmese 
writer serving a 10-year sentence in Rangoon so that she can be treated 
for very worrying health problems. 

Daw San San Nwe is suffering form high blood pressure, heart disease and 
hemilegia on the right side, Group 387 of Amnesty France said. 
"We know that she does not receive the treatment which is necessary", 
the Group added.  

San San Nwe was sentenced on October 6, 1994 to 10 Years in jail and is 
now at Insein prison in Rangoon, dissident source said. She allegedly 
had met two visiting French reporters in April 1993 and appeared in 
video they produced.  

Her daughter, Ma Myat Mo Mo Tun, was arrested in the same year after 
allegedly contributing articles to a journal published by expatriate 
Burmese. 

About 20 other Burmese writers and journalists are currently held in 
Burma, the source said. 






___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				

Xinhua: Chinese Police Seize over 200 Kilograms of Heroin at 
Yunnan-Burma Border 

Dec 27, 2000 -- (BBC Monitoring) Text of report in English by official 
Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China news agency). 

Kunming, 27 December: Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province, which 
borders Myanmar [Burma], recently seized 244 kilograms of heroin hidden 
in a truck that was apparently transporting tea from Ruili County, in 
the Dehong Tai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, to the provincial 
capital of Kunming. 

The driver's expression aroused suspicion of border police at Mukang 
[checkpoint] in the prefecture, which led to the seizure of the drug. 
The drug was found mixed in a tea box at the bottom of the truck. Three 
suspects were arrested on the spot. Border police at Mukang have 
confiscated 604 kg of heroin this year



___________________________________________________


Le Canard Enchaine (France): [Summary/translation of article on 
Mitterand/Falcone/Burma]

Dec. 27, 2000

[Source--Le Canard Enchaine, French language, 400.000 circulation, 
influential in French political  & media circles]

[Summary: Article develops the scandal of former President Mitterand's 
son, now in jail . Pivotal role of Pierre Falcone is underlined, 
detailing that his  group, Brenco, was not only active in Angola, but 
also in Burma. It is  underlined that Pierre Falcone has always worked 
in close association with his father, Pierre Falcone (sic), the owner of 
a ranch also considered as a  1001 nights palace, (near Scottsdale, 
arizona) where  prominent  personalities are invited. One of the most 
frequent guests is George W. Bush...  (Mitterrand's son was also a 
common guest). End summary]




_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

New York Times: A Pact Against Oil Company Abuses

December 28, 2000



Oil and mining companies do not have the luxury of relocation. They 
often  find themselves working in poor and violent places where 
protecting a mine  or pipeline is a challenge. Occasionally the security 
forces hired by  American or European corporations have gone too far. In 
the Indonesian  province of Irian Jaya in the mid-1990's, military men 
hired as guards at  Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg gold and copper mine 
were accused of killing  civilians. The security forces contracted by 
British Petroleum in Colombia  and Shell and Chevron in Nigeria, among 
other companies, have been accused  of similar abuses.

This week these corporations, along with Texaco, Conoco and the Rio 
Tinto  mining company, signed an agreement with the British and American 
 governments and human rights groups on standards for security. The pact 
is  a modest step toward reducing a major source of abuses committed by  
corporations in the third world. For now, compliance is voluntary, and 
the  only penalty for violation is public exposure by human rights 
groups and  journalists. But at least the companies have endorsed rules 
that can be  used to measure their behavior.

In general, the companies agreed to use their influence to see that 
their  security forces respect human rights. For example, they will 
attempt to  ensure that people implicated in abuses are not hired as 
guards and that  security forces respect local residents' rights to free 
assembly and  collective bargaining. Perhaps the most controversial 
provision of the  agreement says that companies should report human 
rights abuses to the host  government and urge investigations and 
measures to prevent a recurrence.  Most corporations have long resisted 
speaking up on human rights, fearing  it would hurt their business.

It is no coincidence that countries with oilfields or gold mines 
frequently  suffer from repressive regimes, political instability or 
guerrilla forces.  Sudden wealth from natural resources can become a 
curse, distorting the  economy, fostering corruption or financing wars 
that are little more than a  grab for the minerals. Too often the 
drilling has spoiled the local  environment and given little back to the 
people who live nearby, thus  breeding unrest. Oil drilling in Nigeria's 
delta region is an example. 

While the agreement has been signed by some of the businesses most 
burned  by bad publicity about their behavior in the past, it does not 
include some  major American companies, among them Unocal and Exxon 
Mobil. Unocal has  been accused of benefiting from the repression by 
government forces at a  gas pipeline in Myanmar. Exxon Mobil is 
beginning work on a pipeline  through Chad and Cameroon where the 
possibilities of abuse are rife. Nor  does the pact address the larger 
question of whether oil and mining  companies should be working with 
some governments at all. While companies  cannot control where oil is 
found, they should refrain from exploiting  those resources when to do 
so produces misery as well as energy. 



______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________


The Statesman (New Delhi): Letter--No Lessons Learnt From Afghanistan 

December 28, 2000 

Sir û The Indian government?s decision to befriend the generals in 
Myanmar (Burma) is distressing on all counts. It is sought to be 
justified by an appeal to pragmatism. If we have at all learnt any 
lessons from history, it will be clear that the new policy is anything 
but pragmatic. No nation has ever derived long-term pragmatic dividends 
from a policy of befriending military juntas in other countries, 
particularly neighbouring countries, where a strong public sentiment for 
democracy exists.
  
What our government, in effect, is doing is making the people of Myanmar 
permanently suspicious of Indian intentions. This is what we did in 
Afghanistan when the Russians invaded that country. We sided with the 
Russians and their puppet Najibulla. As a result, we have no friends 
amongst the Afghan people, not even amongst the small group which is 
still trying to fight the Taliban.  

We must remember that the military juntas are not permanent; this one 
seems to be on its way out. Only the people are permanent, and the 
people in Myanmar are not with the generals. If any short-term gains are 
achieved now by the rulers in Delhi, these will turn out to be illusory 
within a decade, if not sooner.  

I have no doubt, that when we were actively supporting the luckless 
Najibulla of Afghanistan, there was no dearth of knowledgeable 
commentators like J K Dutt (Ties with Myanmar, 30 November), who were 
applauding the government?s policy. In the event, it did not help the 
Russians and it did not help us.  

We are constantly at pains to remind the world, at least those parts, 
which may be listening, that we are the ôlargestö democracy in the 
world. If numbers are a merit in themselves, we should certainly 
congratulate ourselves. However, population explosion is not a great 
achievement. The quality of our ôdemocracyö is certainly not something 
we can be happy about: look at the number of criminals among our 
legislators. Let us not compound whatever merit may have survived in our 
democracy by supping with the generals who, not long ago, brutally 
suppressed the verdict of elections. 

Yours, etc., T S Gill.  Shillong, 3 December.

______________________OTHER______________________


Shan Herald Agency for News: News on Burma In Thai Launched

28 December 2000


S.H.A.N., in association with five other news groups, namely: Compatriot 
 Network Group (CNG), Lahu Information Network (LIN), Muslim Information 
 Committee (MIC), Mon Information Agency (MIA) and Palaung Youth Network 
 Group (PYNG), collectively taking up a provisional name, Information  
Network Group, has launched a weekly-internet paper in Thai. 

Kham Sasoy, 27, and Sompong Saenli, 43, two of S.H.A.N. members who have 
 taken up this critical mission, are Shans fluent in Thai, but 
admittedly  still green to the whole undertaking.

S.H.A.N. on behalf of I.N.G. members, humbly request that our Thai 
readers  render all the help that you can to us. We need luck but more 
than that we  need assistance.

Those who would wish to subscribe to ING news, please call on  
<in_groups@xxxxxxxxxxx>.



________________


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