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BurmaNet News: February 21, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         February 21, 2001   Issue # 1741
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*Freedom News (Shan State Army): A Junta's Military Camp Overrun
*The Australian: Chopper crash tips power balance
*Bangkok Post: Dispute 'Not Connected'
*(SPDC): Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council 

*Star News TV: Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar
*Karen Human Rights Group: Villagers Fleeing Forced Labour Establishing 
SPDC Army Camps, Building Access Roads and Clearing Landmines 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Forays Could Lead to War, Junta Warned
*The Nation: Army on alert as Burmese troops battle Shan guerrillas 

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Financial Times: Energy groups under pressure from all sides

OTHER______
*"Return To Paradise" 2000 Burma Documentary released		


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


Freedom News (Shan State Army): A Junta's Military Camp Overrun

21 February 2001



The battle goes on

The battle of Loi Kaw Wan started on 5th Feb 2001 when the Burmese 
troops tried to capture this camp. 

A chain of battle broke out with SSA on the winning side. After Burmese 
(i.e.SPDC) troops tried to encircle the camp by encroaching on Thai 
soil, the Pang Noon incidence occurred. Since then, Burmese junta troops 
have beefed up their strength in this area as well as along the Thai 
border for new offensives, reinforced with more troops, arms and heavy 
artillery pieces. 

Early this morning, the 21st February, at 04:30 hr, SSA troops from the 
Keng Tung front made an assault on  the Burma army camp of Loi Sarng 
Muop, near Loi Kaw Wan. After 06:00 hr the Burmese camp was overran and 
captured by SSA troops. The details are still to be reported.  





___________________________________________________



The Nation: Burma Not Aggressive, Leader Says 

Wednesday, February 21, 2001



RANGOON - Burma's military regime was not "aggressive" in its foreign 
relations and wanted to resolve its border dispute with Thailand 
peacefully, a top Burmese general was quoted as saying yesterday.  

"The current [Burmese]-Thai border problem should be solved with [an] 
optimistic approach based on mutual understanding, respect and 
magnanimity as true good neighbours," Lt-General Khin Nyunt, fourth 
highest official in the state hierarchy, was quoted as saying by all 
three official Burmese newspapers yesterday. 

Earlier this month Burmese and Thai troops clashed when fighting between 
Burmese and rebel Shan State Army (SSA) forces spilt over into 
Thailand's Chiang Rai province. At least five civilians were killed on 
both sides of the border, driving relations to their lowest point in 
several years. Border checkpoints in the region have been closed for 
more than a week.  

Thailand launched a heavy artillery attack to drive out Burmese forces 
that the army said intruded onto Chiang Rai's Ban Pang Noon hill to 
attack the SSA. Burma, meanwhile, accused Thailand of aiding the Shan 
rebels.  

Khin Nyunt said the SSA and "a misunderstanding by some Thai authorities 
who had relied on false information from lower-level Thai officials" had 
been to blame for the dispute. 

"Although our government is a military government, we have no aggressive 
attitude. We promote friendly relations with every country and abide by 
international rules and regulations," Khin Nyunt said at a ceremony to 
mark the end of a teacher-training course on Monday at Phaunggyi, 60 
kilometres north of Rangoon. 

But in an apparent jab at Thailand for allegedly supporting the Shan 
rebels, Khin Nyunt said Burma had never allowed another group to 
endanger other countries from its territory or used such groups for its 
own ends.  

That claim would be contested by Thailand, which has expressed growing 
frustration at the activities of another Burmese ethnic army, the United 
Wa State Army, that produces illegal drugs in the border area adjoining 
Thailand. 

The drug trade is regarded as socially divisive and a major cause of 
violent crime in Thailand. But the Wa army has reached a cease-fire 
agreement with Burma and enjoys virtual autonomy in areas of Shan State 
in eastern Burma. 


Thai Third Army commander Lt-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong said 
yesterday tension on the northern border would be reduced if Thai and 
Burmese officials could hold a high-level meeting, but Burma would have 
to initiate this. 

"We would lose face if we went up to them and asked for one. We didn't 
do anything wrong. Besides, it's their turn to call a meeting," the 
commander said. 

There was no indication, Wattanachai said, that the Burmese government 
would reconvene the Regional Border Committee (RBC) set up to settle 
border disputes between the two countries. But Thailand believed Burma 
should be the one to call the meeting as it was Burma which "violated 
our sovereignty and territorial integrity". 

The RBC has not met for two years. 

Wattanachai said Thai troops would stand firm on the border, at least 
until there was an indication that the Burmese would pull back.  

According to the Shan Herald Agency for News (Shan) yesterday, ethnic 
Shan living in Thailand have been supplying the SSA. 

"Thanks to the media's kind coverage of our Army's struggle against 
drugs and the Burmese military, Shan exiles in Thailand have been 
visiting us every day with food, clothing, medicine and even cash 
donations," Lt-Colonel Kawnzuen, 39, commander of the SSA's Keng Tung 
front, was quoted by the agency as saying. 

The Keng Tung front is facing 11 battalions, two of which are from the 
United Wa State Army, a pro-Burma rebel army, according to the agency. 



___________________________________________________



The Australian: Chopper crash tips power balance

 21 feb 01

By Peter Alford, South-East Asia Correspondent

A HELICOPTER crash has dramatically changed power balances inside 
Burma's State Peace and Development Council regime, with large 
implications for the future leadership, the democracy struggle and 
neighbourhood relations. 

Monday's crash deprived SPDC vice-chairman and aspiring strongman 
General Maung Aye of two key backers û the regime's No 4 and army 
chief-of-staff Tin Oo and South-East District military commander Sit 
Maung.  Lieutenant-General Tin Oo and Major-General Sit Maung, who also 
sat on the 19-man SPDC, belonged to General Maung Aye's "hardliners" 
faction.  

Tin Oo, 60, who survived two assassination bids in 1996 and 1997, was 
General Maung Aye's right-hand man in the struggle against the regime's 
third-ranked Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt and his "pragmatists" to 
succeed ailing SPDC chairman Senior General Than Shwe.  

Burma expert Chaichok Julsiriwong, of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn 
University, said yesterday the deaths were unlikely to provoke an 
immediate power play by either faction.  

"But this event appears to have serious long-term significance . . . it 
looks even more as if Khin Nyunt is getting the upper hand."  

Sit Maung was shifted by Senior General Than Shwe last October from the 
Coastal District command to South-East to crush Shan and Karen ethnic 
separatists in the border region.  
Among their many other disagreements, General Maung Aye is said to 
believe that Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, who has responsibility for 
"progress of border areas and national races", has been too soft on 
ethnic troublemakers.  

For most of the past year, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, whose power 
base is the Military Intelligence Service, was seen as losing ground to 
General Maung Aye, who holds sway in the regular army.  

Senior General Than Shwe, 67 and ill, is believed to have tried to 
resign last May, but was persuaded to stay by SPDC colleagues.  

But dissident sources have since claimed General Maung Aye wanted the 
top job this year and planned to promote Tin Oo over Lieutenant-General 
Khin Nyunt to vice-chairman. However, last month's revelation that 
Lieutenant-General Khin Khin Nyunt had ended a six-year freeze-out of 
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by secretly opening talks raised 
speculation that he was back in the leadership hunt. This view gained 
strength when Senior General Than Shwe endorsed the initiative in his 
February 13 Union Day address.  

Tin Oo and Sit Maung are reported to have died along with cabinet 
ministers Brigadier Lun Maung and Colonel Thein Nyunt when the 
helicopter plunged into a river near Pa-An, 150km east of Rangoon.  

Thein Nyunt was a Khin Nyunt ally, but cabinet ministers are of inferior 
status to SPDC members.  

The SPDC's fifth-ranked Win Myint, another pragmatist, is understood to 
have survived the crash.  

Government radio blamed the crash on poor weather conditions, but some 
Thai reports yesterday claimed the helicopter was hit by ground fire 
from separatist fighters. 

___________________________________________________



Bangkok Post: Dispute 'Not Connected'

Wednesday, February 21, 2001



Wassana Nanuam

The border dispute between Thailand and Burma has nothing to do with 
Monday's helicopter crash that killed a powerful member of the Burmese 
junta, says the army.

Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont yesterday expressed his condolences to 
Rangoon and its army for the loss of army chief-of-staff Lt Gen Tin Oo. 

Gen Surayud said the border conflict had nothing to do with the crash, 
which took place more than 100km inside Burma.

Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri and newly-appointed Defence Minister 
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday sent letters to express their 
condolences to the Burmese army.

Sources said rumours had spread along the border that Gen Maung Aye, the 
Burmese supreme commander, was also killed in the crash as he was among 
generals on board. There was no word from Burma.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would call a meeting with 
senior officers and security officials to discuss drug problems along 
the border.

Gen Sampao said Mr Thaksin would soon pay an official visit to Burma and 
its neighbours to seek their co-operation in drug suppression. 
Sources said the country's most successful movie, Bang Rachan, a story 
of border residents in a fight against Burmese troops, would be shown in 
the army's conference hall today to encourage patriotism amid border 
tensions.

___________________________________________________




(SPDC): Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council 


[Posted to Internet newsgroups February 21, 2001]

Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council, Chief 
of Bureau of Special Operations and Chief of Staff (Army) Lt-Gen Tin Oo 

State Peace and Development Council Secretary-2 Lt-Gen Tin Oo was born 
of U Thu Nge Lay and Daw Khin on 13 May 1933 in Letpadan, Thayawady 
District. He joined the Tatmadaw in 1950. He successfully completed the 
Officers Training Course No 22 in 1958 and was commissioned in 1959. 

He served as the platoon commander, intelligence officer and mortar 
platoon commander in No 5 Brigade, No 10 Brigade, No 10 Light Infantry 
Regiment, No 20 LIR and No 21 LIR till 1963. He had participated in Naga 
Naing and Bayintnaung military operations to drive out the foreign 
intruders. Lt-Gen Tin Oo also served as General Staff Officer (Grade 
III) at North-West Command Headquarters and the Office of the 
Commander-in-Chief (Army), Company Commander (Major) at No 34 LIR, 
General Staff Officer (Grade II) at North-East Command HQ and Military 
Operations Department of Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army). 
He became Commanding Officer of No 106 LIR in 1977, Staff Officer 
(Grade-I) at Military Operations Department of the Office of the 
Commander-in-Chief (Army) in 1979. He served as Tactical Operations 
Commander at No 55 Light Infantry Division and No 33 LID as well as 
Deputy Division Commander from 1980 to 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he 
became the Colonel General Staff at the Office of the Commander-in-Chief 
(Army) -cum- the Defence Services Inspector-General. From 1988 till his 
demise, he had made selfless and strenuous efforts in serving the 
interests of the State and the people day and night as Secretary-2 of 
the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Secretary-2 of the State 
Peace and Development Council, Chief of Bureau of Special Operations and 
Chief of Staff (Army). He had also tirelessly discharged duties as 
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the many committees formed by the State 
Peace and Development Council in the interests of the race and religion. 
He got married to Daw Khin Than Nwe in 1963 and is survived by Daw Khin 
Than Nwe, daughters Ma Phyu Phyu Oo and Ma Yin Mar Oo and sons Ko Zaw 
Tun Oo and Ko Nay Tun Oo. 



___________________________________________________




Star News TV: Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar

Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar
>From NDTV, Star News TV, monitored in New Delhi 
Monday, February 19, 2001 (Bangkok)

Democracy has been locked up along with Myanmar's most famous dissident. 
The state is under martial law and its highest profile prisoner Aung San 
Suu Kyi is hidden from the visitor's eye.The firm grip of the military 
junta has ensured the stamping out in public of the country's movement 
for democracy. The reluctance of people to voice their thoughts is 
palpable. An ex MP from the NLD and a Suu Kyi supporter refused an 
interview for fear of being sent back to prison. "The very presence of a 
journalist is intimidating to people here. These people have grown up in 
a country which now for many decades had been one in which everyone knew 
that free speech was not allowed, which you could be directly and 
possibly punished for engaging in free speech," said, Jayne Dullard.  

For a city that is the seat of a military government, Yangon appears a 
calm and peaceful city. Its hard to imagine that in one corner of the 
city is the heavily guarded house of Suu Kyi where she has been held 
under house arrest for the last five months. While negotiations are on, 
no one knows whether they are just a front to relieve international 
pressure or whether this time, the military really means business.  

Artist Ma Thanegi, was one of Suu Kyi's closest aides who was released 
from prison on a suspended sentence in 1992, today argues against Suu 
Kyi's stand that sanctions against Myanmar must stay in place. "Its 
totally untrue to say that investment only benefits the generals. They 
are not people who need to worry about food on the table or rent for the 
next month. Its people who really need jobs or who have to worry about 
paying the rent, or food for this week," she said.However, whether 
sanctions remain or not, Myanmar is still paying a heavy price for 
dismantling democracy. And Suu Kyi must still hope that somewhere down 
the line, the military will realise its own limitations.    




___________________________________________________



Karen Human Rights Group: Villagers Fleeing Forced Labour Establishing 
SPDC Army Camps, Building Access Roads and Clearing Landmines 

[Abridged]

February 2001

Escalating abuses by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 
northeastern PaÆan district, Karen State have forced a stream of 
families over the border into Thailand. In mid-January of this year, at 
least 13 families from Hlaing Bwe township fled their village and walked 
a day and a half across the mountains to cross into Thailand. Currently 
over 70 Karen villagers are gathered near a Thai Karen village and they 
have told KHRG that many more may soon arrive.  

The new refugees come from the village of Meh Kreh located among the 
Dawna Mountains in eastern Hlaing Bwe township of central Karen State, 
about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the town of Myawaddy and the 
Thai town of Mae Sot. Those interviewed by KHRG say they fled their 
village on January 15th and arrived in Thailand on the 16th. The 
villagers cited many motives for fleeing villages in the area, the most 
salient being the increasing use of forced labour by the SPDC. All 
villages in the area are compelled to send people for forced labour, the 
only variation being the degrees of severity and frequency. The 
conscripted workers are part of an SPDC effort to establish control over 
this contested area by constructing army camps and roads in the area. 
SPDC troops have frequently been demanding unpaid porters from villages, 
forcing them to carry rations, ammunition or other supplies up and down 
mountains. The porters are used to set up and supply the new and 
existing army camps and support troop movement. They are forced to carry 
loads weighing as much as 50 kilograms (110 pounds) and are often denied 
adequate food and drinking water.


The painful burden of carrying immense loads is exacerbated by the 
villagers? fears of landmines. Some porters are forced to walk in front 
of the military columns in order to clear mines, which are laid heavily 
in the area by all sides in the conflict: the SPDC, DKBA, and KNLA 
(Karen National Liberation Army). At the end of November 2000, a Tee Ler 
Doh villager had his leg blown off while carrying supplies for the SPDC. 
In the high mountains between Shan Ywathit and Kha Leh Dee the SPDC and 
Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have both planted many mines in an 
attempt to control each other?s movements. In December 2000 two soldiers 
from SPDC Light Infantry Battalion 201 were injured by mines. 
Consequently, at the beginning of January 2001, Major Win Naing, Column 
2 commander of SPDC Light Infantry Battalion 201, summoned the village 
heads from Kwih Law Ploh, Dta Kreh Kee, Deik Kya, Meh Tha Po Kee, Kha 
Leh Dee, Day Law Ploh, Tha Wih Hta, Kleh Ka, Haw Tee Po, Tee Ler Doh, 
Meh Pu Hta, and Meh Kreh villages and ordered them to clear parts of the 
mountain of landmines. The village heads were threatened with forced 
relocation to Ywa Po Hta, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) to their 
southwest, if they failed to carry out these orders. Villagers were 
understandably distressed over the ultimatum and many decided to flee to 
Thailand. Back in Hlaing Bwe township, the village heads have been 
attempting to exempt their villages from the order by offering large 
sums of money to LIB 201. 

Unable to bear the danger and hardship of working as porters, some 
villagers have fled into the jungle. If caught, the porter can face 
harsh punishment or even death. A villager from the neighbouring 
township of T?Nay Hsah told KHRG that an older porter who tried to flee 
from the SPDC was recaptured and tortured. SPDC soldiers bound his hands 
behind his back, force-fed him massive amounts of salt and rice and 
forced water down his throat. Then they beat him with a gun, released 
him and fined him chicken and rice. The fact that people risk recapture, 
retribution and a flight through a jungle rife with land mines attests 
to the desperation of the situation for porters.  

Since December 2000, LIB 201 has forced villagers to work around their 
army camp at Kha Leh Dee. Villagers have to clear the ground, build 
fences, dig bunkers and cut down and haul trees and bamboo and then use 
the materials to construct buildings. By mid-January two buildings were 
complete and a third had been started. The buildings will likely be used 
as storage warehouses and are very large in scale, measuring about 70 by 
25 metres. At least 80 villagers are there constructing the buildings 
every day. Each village sends 5 to 10 villagers for three day rotating 
shifts. Female villagers are also involved, with every family sending 
someone three times a month for three day shifts to make thatch shingles 
to roof the buildings.  

To facilitate the delivery of supplies to the army camps being 
established in the area, the SPDC is pushing the construction of a road 
from Shan Ywathit to Kha Leh Dee. Since October 2000, construction has 
involved the use of 10 to 20 villagers from each village near the road 
site. Workers included children as young as 13 or 14 years old. As is 
the usual case, villagers have to bring their own tools, materials and 
food. Work days last for about 9 hours and, of course, are unpaid. The 
work is made more treacherous for villagers who are sent ahead of the 
bulldozer in order to clear the route of landmines. The SPDC brought in 
the bulldozer to help with the road work but apparently values the 
safety of the machine more than the lives of the villagers. The 
villagersÆ fears over the prospect of working as minesweepers also means 
more money for the SPDC officers, as they collect fees in lieu of work 
from those who don?t dare to go. Another notable forced labour project 
in the township is bridge construction at Meh Kheh Kloh and Tee Hsaw 
Meh. 

For the villagers, forced labour bears the risks of being beaten or 
killed by soldiers as well as enduring severe health problems from 
overexertion and exposure to disease. But on an even greater scale, it 
takes them away from their farm work. Overtaxed villagers face severe 
difficulties feeding themselves due the increasing demands placed on 
them by the military. This problem is compounded by the actions of SPDC 
and DKBA troops when they arrive in villages. Soldiers relentlessly loot 
food and belongings from villagers who can no longer afford to resupply 
themselves. They have taxed, fined and robbed the villagers into severe 
poverty. Making things worse, the villagers from Meh Kreh say they had 
heard that a well-known DKBA commander named Moe Kyo (meaning 
æLightningÆ in Burmese) is to come to their area. Moe Kyo is infamous 
for ordering the burning of houses and the execution of villagers in 
other areas on the slightest suspicion of any contact between any 
village and the KNLA. 

The SPDC have made it very clear that they will stop at nothing short of 
complete control of the villages. Their continued attempts to strengthen 
their hold on the area means an increase in the use of forced labour, 
looting, extortion, landmines and brutality. As the situation in the 
Dawna mountains of eastern Hlaing Bwe township stands, villagers face a 
choice between starvation, violence and utter desperation or an 
unpredictable and dangerous flight to the Thai border. And at present, 
it still remains unclear whether Thai authorities will grant asylum to 
these refugees or not. 

This Information Update is also available on the KHRG web site 
(www.khrg.org).  



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				




Bangkok Post: Forays Could Lead to War, Junta Warned	

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2001



Troops ignore order to get out of Mae Sai
Wassana Nanuam

The military has warned Rangoon it will retaliate if Burmese troops 
encroach on Thai territory again.

Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri said Burmese military leaders were 
asked to make sure its border patrols do not trespass on Thai soil again 
since Thai retaliation could lead to war.

Lt-Gen Winai Phattiyakul, chief of the Directorate of the Joint 
Intelligence, submitted the warning to Burma's ambassador and military 
attache to Thailand.

"We will not allow Burma to use Thai soil as a base for any military 
operations, even if they ask for permission," the supreme commander 
said. 
Both sides need to enter into talks so Thailand can convince Rangoon it 
does not support the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army, he said. 
Thailand has always denied backing the SSA and made it clear to Gen 
Maung Aye, a Burmese military leader, no Burmese minority groups would 
be allowed to operate in Thailand.

Gen Sampao said the Supreme Command was ordered by Prime Minister 
Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to 
arrange talks with Rangoon.

If local-level talks between Township Border Committees fail, meetings 
between Regional Border Committees and Joint Committees will be held, he 
said. 
The township talks will be chaired by Maj-Gen Thawat Charuklad, Chiang 
Rai's chief army officer, and Maj-Gen Kes Seng, his Burmese counterpart 
from Tachilek. Regional-level talks will be chaired by Third Army 
commander Lt-Gen Watthanachai Chaimuenwong and Lt-Gen Than Sein, Burma's 
southwest army chief.


The Joint Committee talks will be chaired by the defence ministers of 
both nations.

Meanwhile, Gen Sampao said Burmese troops yesterday rejected the army's 
4pm deadline for complete withdrawal from the Phuteng Nayong area in Mae 
Sai district, Chiang Rai.

Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont said the army would be willing to enter 
into regional-level talks with Burma if Rangoon agrees.

He told the prime minister the army was ready to defend Thai soil 
against another invasion and said the problem would not intensify if 
negotiations are held. Gen Surayud said regional talks had been 
postponed twice at Rangoon's request. 


___________________________________________________




The Nation: Army on alert as Burmese troops battle Shan guerrillas 

February 21, 2001  
    


Filed at 01 : 25 pm (THLD time) 

MAE SAI, Feb 21 (The Nation) -- The Third Army Region reinforced its 
positions along the Thai-Burmese border as Burmese troops and Shan 
ethnic rebels clashed on Wednesday in Burma's border town of Thachilek 
opposite this northern province of Chiang Rai.  

A Thai army intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, 
said Shan guerrillas had apparently recaptured its camp in Thachilek 
after repelling Burmese troops from the area.  
No spillover of the clash was reported in Mae Sai district because the 
fighting took place several kilometres inside Burmese territory, the 
officer said.  

Thai army forces have been put on full alert on the border with Burma 
from Mae Sai to Mae Fahluang district following intelligence reports 
indicating that the Burmese army has been massing 7-8 battalions of 
troops in the border area.  

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaking to reporters in Bangkok 
Wednesday morning, said he believed the Third Army would be able to 
defend the border against possible intrusion by armed foreign forces.  

He said he expected Thailand and Burma to eventually resolve their 
border problems at the negotiation table. 



___________________________________________________








_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 


Financial Times: Energy groups under pressure from all sides

By David Buchan, Energy Correspondent
Published: February 19 2001 20:53GMT
Last Updated: February 20 2001 03:59GMT

Last week Premier Oil of the UK held a seminar outside Rangoon for 
Burmese  security and legal officials on, of all things, human rights. 

This was Premier's riposte to critics, ranging from the UK government to 
 human rights groups, which have urged it to abandon its gas drilling  
project in Burma because of political repression in that country. 

Broadly similar arguments are being made to BP, under pressure to divest 
 its stake in Petrochina due to the latter's activities in 
Chinese-occupied  Tibet.

On the other side of the world, BP and other companies active in Alaska 
may  soon face opposition from indigenous peoples if the new Bush 
administration  succeeds in opening up part of the Alaskan National 
Wildlife Refuge to  drilling.

These are just some examples of the growing dilemmas oil companies are  
facing - and compromises they are making - as they take their quest for 
oil  to the ends of the earth. The forces driving the quest are obvious. 


Global consumption of oil, still the world's dominant fuel, is expected 
to  rise from 77m barrels a day to 115m b/d by 2020. Industrialised 
countries  want to avoid further reliance on the Middle East members of 
Opec, source  of 66 per cent of known global oil reserves. Discoveries 
such as the North  Sea and Alaska are now levelling or tailing off. So 
the hunt is on for new  sources, especially in central Asia, West Africa 
and Latin America.  Worldwide annual spending on exploration and 
production is predicted by  Schroder Salomon Smith Barney to rise 20 per 
cent this year to $113bn. 

Geology dictates that the oil industry cannot easily pick and choose 
where  it operates. While many countries had human rights long before 
they knew  they had oil, there is also ample evidence that oil can fuel 
corruption,  foment political instability, and introduce a damaging 
boom-and-bust cycle. 

Increasingly, oil companies are being called upon to help mitigate some 
of  these ills.

Moreover, public expectations of oil companies have also changed. 

In the 1970s, when companies such as ITT were accused of toppling  
governments in Latin America, "the worry was of multinationals getting 
too  involved in government. Now people say they should get more 
involved",  notes Robin Aram, a Shell vice-president.

In 1976 his company produced its first set of business principles, 
telling  its subsidiaries to stay out of politics. Now it tells them 
they have "the  right to make known their views on matters affecting 
their local community". 

But the revolution in general expectations of the oil industry still 
leaves  individual companies uncertain as to where and how to operate. 

"We look for clear guidance from the international community, but we 
rarely  get it," says Mr Aram. United Nations sanctions on Iraq have the 
merit of  clarity. But the US forbids investment in Iran; European 
governments permit  it. The US disapproves of investment in Sudan, 
European governments condone  it. Nor do international NGOs agree. Some 
want BP out of China, others don't. 

Arvind Ganesan, oil industry expert with the New York-based Human Rights 
 Watch (HRW), says he thinks only Burma and Turkmenistan deserve 
ostracism  for their repressive and corrupt regimes.

In this confused situation, the big oil groups' attitudes tend to 
reflect  experience and nationality. In recent years, Shell found itself 
pilloried  over Nigerian army brutality in protecting its facilities, 
while BP had to  face the controversy over the way para-military thugs 
were used to defend  its Colombian operations.

But despite its base in the US, home to many human rights groups,  
Exxon-Mobil, the largest oil company, has consistently refused to join  
Shell and BP in signing up to any broad principles of political or 
social  responsibility. Unlike Premier Oil, TotalFinaElf, the French oil 
group, has  not faced any pressure from its home government to pull out 
of Burma. A  senior executive, however, admits Total has "become more 
strict" in  ensuring no forced labour is used in its operations there. 

One area of natural paranoia for oil companies is risks to their 
employees  and installations in conflict zones. In the past, they have 
not really  cared how security was provided; now they have to.

After discussions with Amnesty and HRW in 1996-7, Shell took over  
recruitment and training of the Nigerian police on its payroll, and 
changed  their rules of engagement. Shell joined Chevron, Texaco and BP 
in signing  up last December to a set of "security and human rights" 
guidelines for oil  and mining companies, drawn up by the US and UK 
governments. 

Premier says it would have signed up too, had not Washington expressed a 
 "level of discomfort" at having such a controversial investor on the 
list  of signatories.

Premier is meanwhile spending $700,000 a year in Burma on social 
projects.  This is intelligent self-interest in two ways, suggests 
Charles Jamieson,  Premier's chief executive. First, it helps win 
contracts. "Unless companies  actively articulate programmes, they will 
not be as successful in getting  [oil] concessions." Second, "having the 
local community on your side makes  it easier to do business".

Shell is doing the same in Nigeria, on the bigger scale of $50m a year, 
as  befits a company that makes over $500,000 a day profit on the 
800,000 b/d  it pumps out of Nigeria.

"The formal licence to operate comes from the government, but the 
informal  licence to operate comes from the local community and NGOs - 
and you have  to balance the two," according to Titus Moser, Shell's 
resident anthropologist. 

"We're in the business of pragmatic trade-offs", says Sir John Browne, 
BP's  chief executive. He acknowledges that over opening Alaska's ANWR 
to  drilling, "we will be in conflict with certain non-governmental  
organisations. . . but that is their role".

"If I had to choose between being in a place where no one disagreed with 
us  or couldn't say so, and the situation today", the BP chief claims, 
"I'd  choose today's situation like a shot."


______________________OTHER______________________



"Return To Paradise" 2000 Burma Documentary released

[Abridged]
February 2001


A short documentary film about the human rights abuses in Burma. 
Written, edited and produced by Julien Moe, a Burmese student who went 
back to Burma, his native land after 10 years' residence in the United 
States.  A Burmese student goes back to Burma, his motherland to find 
out his country's past and present. What he has discovered is a nation 
ruled by a fascist government. The film includes clips on subjects 
including: 


Burma under the Japanese and British rule, Ne Win and U Nu, Burma under 
the rule of the SPDC/SLORC, Burma through the eyes of the CIA, the 1988 
Uprising, Human rights abuses by the Burmese army during the 1988 
uprising Burma in ethnic conflicts,  Cultural events and traditional 
festivals, Forced labour and child labour, Opposition Leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi and NLD, her party, All Burma Students' Democratic Front 
[ABSDF], the Democratic Alliance of Burma [DAB], Khun Sa, Burmese army 
brass-hats: General Than Shwe and General Maung Aye

To buy a copy, please contact jhtinzaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx






________________


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Burma News Summaries available by email or the web

There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or 
the web.

Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at http://www.soros.org/burma/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project

The Burma Courier 
Frequency: Weekly 
Availability: E-mail, fax or post.  To subscribe or unsubscribe by email 
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article. 
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.

Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders 
Promoting Democracy in Burma)




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