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BurmaNet News: September 6, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: September 6, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 08:29:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
September 6, 2001 Issue # 1879
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*BBC: Burma general flies home
*Mizzima: ILO mission to have full access in Burma
*Kansai Time Out (Japan): Both sides now--Richard Humphries visits
Burma's Karen State
MONEY _______
*The Nation: Burma Pipeline 'Atrocities': Unocal Closer to Trial
*Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in First Four Months
GUNS______
*AFP: Thailand steps up border security after labour deadline passes
DRUGS______
*AP: Thai general: Suspected money launderer traded with Myanmar drug
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*BBC: Thai-Burmese relations 'improve' after visit
*AP: Myanmar No. 3 general: Thailand and Myanmar are like family
*AFP: Myanmar's Than Shwe to hold talks with Malaysia's Mahathir
*Bangkok Post: Princess, Supreme Patriarch will both visit Rangoon soon
EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Bangkok Post: Putting our faith in Khin Nyunt
*The Nation: Junta-NLD Talks: 'Good News' Soon
*Free Burma Coalition: Tell Pottery Barn No to Sourcing from Burma!
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
BBC: Burma general flies home
Sept. 5, 2001
One of the leading figures in the Burmese military junta, Khin Nyunt,
has ended his visit to Thailand and flown home, saying his talks had
been very satisfactory.
In a reference to the brief border clash between Thai and Burmese troops
in mid-February, General Nyunt said they had patched up their relations
and were again neighbours, as he put it, like one family.
The Thai Defence Minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, told reporters they
had reached agreement on how to settle the border problems of narcotics
and refugees.
General Chavalit also said General Nyunt had told him he saw the Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi every two weeks, as part of the
reconciliation process, and that - as he put it - they understand each
other very well.
___________________________________________________
Mizzima: ILO mission to have full access in Burma
September 3, 2001; Durban (South Africa)
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
The authorities in Burma have assured the International Labor
Organisation (ILO) that it will have the freedom of access to the
places and people it want to meet during the visit of its high level
delegation to the military run-country, according to ILO Director
General Mr. Juan Somavia.
Without mentioning the exact date, the ILO Director General today once
again confirmed that a high level delegation of ILO is visiting Burma
soon as "a mission of objective assessment" on the forced labor
situation in the country.
"Through a series of the decisions taken by the Conference and in
dialogue with the government of Burma/Myanmar, the government changed
its legislation in relation to forced labour. But the governing body
of ILO made the point that unless there was possibility of an
objective assessment of the impact and the implications of the
legislation, it was really difficult for the issue to be taken up
in positive way. After some conversation with the government of
Myanmar, it was decided that a mission of objective assessment would go
there," said Mr. Somavia.
Mr. Juan Somavia was responding to a question of a journalist in the
press briefing this afternoon in Durban.
He is leading the ILO delegation to the World Conference Against
Racism in Durban, South Africa.
"I think that the high level quality of the mission will ensure that
they will observe, they will know what to ask, they will know what to
look, and we will have a good report back. And the authorities have
given us the assurance that they will have freedom of access to
whatever they want to talk to, and wherever they want to go."
The military government in Burma is currently under pressure from
the International Labour Organisation to end the use of forced labour
in the country. The international labour rights groups and
opposition Burmese groups have accused the military government of using
the forced labor widely in Burma. Meanwhile, an informed source in
Rangoon said that the government has been taking actions against some
military officers who committed the forced labor but it is not willing
to make any public announcement on that effect.
The ILO mission is composed of Sir Ninian Stephen, former
Governor-General of Australia; Nieves Roldan-Confessor, former
Philippines Secretary of Labour and Employment; Mr. Kulatilaka
Arthanayake Parinda Ranashinghe, former Chief Justice of Sri Lanka;
and Mr. Jerzy Makarczyk of Poland, a judge with the European Court of
Human Rights.
___________________________________________________
Kansai Time Out (Japan): Both sides now--Richard Humphries visits
Burma's Karen State
September 2001
A large red billboard stands along the main highway that runs through
Pa-an, Karen State's capital. Its message is blunt, even menacing.
"Tatmadaw and the People in Eternal Unity: Anyone attempting to Divide
Them is Our Enemy."
The Tatmadaw is the Burmese Army and the "eternal unity" possesses
all the affection of a forced marriage in which one spouse needlessly
brutalized the other. For anyone coming to Karen State from Burma's
capital, those signs, often in English, are nothing new. They dot
Rangoon (and elsewhere) and are often placed in front of major hotels
and embassies. This suggests a talismanic role in warding off the
supposed malign intentions of outsiders. At first appearance, though,
they seemed oddly out of place in Pa-an.
This lowland settlement is more like an oversized town than urban
center and sits astride the Salween River. Somewhat bucolic and very
friendly in nature, it benefits from the appearance in the near
distance of jagged karst peaks, which break up the flat topography.
Daylight allows one, particularly coming from japan where this quality
is sorely lacking, to appreciate the use of color in dwellings and on
the other buildings, such as with the large green mosque in the town
center. In the evenings, the flickering of candlelight and oil lamps in
houses, though indicative of poverty, lend an ethereal quality to the
place.
Occasional hushed conversations hint at more serious matters. "Things
are quiet now in Pa-an," according to one shopkeeper, "but they are not
always quiet." And for many locals "quiet" is an operative survival
technique. "We can talk here inside. If we were in public, Military
Intelligence would be watching and listening. They are everywhere," said
one man who cannot be named.
The Burmese Army controls Pa-an and much of Karen State. Bits and
pieces are parceled out to the regime's ethnic allies, the Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). This group, for whom the word "democratic"
is stretching matters, splintered off in 1995 from Karen National
Liberation Army, an ethnic force that has been fighting Rangoon since
1949.
One sees full-armed Tatmadaw and DKBA infantry in and outside Pa-an.
The latter can be distinguished by their wearing of yellow headbands.
They often speed by in pick-ups while brandishing grenades and assault
rifles.
The government has opened very few places in Karen State to visitors.
One such town is Hlaing-bwe, some 30 kilometers to the north. Smaller
than Pa-an, Hlaing-bwe may be open but openness has its limits. I was
permitted only an hour's stay by the clearly surprised and annoyed
officials ("You are the first foreigner to come here like this"). And
there was also the unwanted but assigned escort of three suspicious
military intelligence officers who were never more than a few feet
away. Thinking that "tourists" should take tourist photos, they would
sometimes order clearly frightened locals to stand and pose. Despite
faking snaps, it was not hard to feel guilty - an accessory to their
fear.
Upon return to Pa-an, I met two young German tourists, who,
unknowingly, had their own minder. This man, claiming to be a student
who liked meeting foreigners to practice his English, knew exactly
where I had just been and was "in contact" as he put it, with "friends"
in military intelligence. For visitors who know the score and avoid
trouble, there is little problems. There is also the passport to fall
back upon. Locals do not have this option, it must always be
remembered, but there is one place in Karen State that offers hope of a
way out of the darkness.
The monastery town of Thamanya is some 40 kilometers east of Pa-an.
When Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her first period (for five
years) of house arrest in 1995, she went to Thamanya. The sayadaw
(abbot) is U Vinaya, now about 90 years old. Some Burmese believe he
possesses supernatural powers that are all for the good. After a group
of us had received his personal blessing, I was asked to approach and
shown a framed photo of him with Suu Kyi. U Vinaya is well known for
his distinct lack of sympathy towards the military junta.
His monastery comprises a hill with a residence at the base and a
large complex of structures at the summit. One building is the immense
dining hall, where hundreds of monks eat together with the steady
stream of visiting pilgrims. The food is vegetarian, tasty and
wholesome; the general atmosphere both pious and exhilarating.
The Thamanya Sayadaw has declared the small region around his
monastery a "zone of peace." There is to be no violence and no guns.
The DKBA has not entered into the spirit of the latter, but the former
has held quite well; perhaps because U Vinaya's renown extends
throughout Burma and into Thailand. In contrast to the junta's method
of road building, which involves forced labor, the Sayadaw requested
that people help him pave a road to benefit all. The response was
large, enthusiastic and immediate. Local people are angered now,
though, because the military collects payments from locals who use the
road.
Karen State can also be approached from another direction, but this
is by invitation only. It is definitely not recommended for casual
travelers to attempt. Journalisits, aid workers and missionaries
sometimes make difficult, and occasionally dangerous, forays across the
border from Thailand into territory controlled by the Karen national
Liberation Army (KNLA) and its political wing, the Karen National Union
(KNU).
The KNLA is organized along Britishlines into brigades subdivided
into battalions. Wallaykee, just across the border from Thailand, is
located in the KNLA's 6th Brigade region and guarded by its 201st
Battalions. It is very much a jungle setting, set amongst the lush
green hills of the Dawna Range that offer visual attractions and, most
certainly, vantage points into contested territory.
Since losing many of its fixed bases in 1995 after DKBA split and
joined Rangoon, the KNLA has reverted to a more guerrilla-type
strategy. Most units are now mobile and bases are usually temporary in
nature. All sides in the conflict use landmines to guard supply routes
and protect outposts. This has added a profound element of terror and
suffering to villagers who risk their lives and limbs daily in the
mundane but necessary tasks of farming.
On January 31, 2001, the KNU celebrated its 52nd annual Karen
Revolution Day. At Wallaykee there were some surreal elements. The
night before, as a band played in front of a small stage facing a
field, KNLA soldiers showed off their dancing skills, all the white
with M-16s or RPGs (rocket-propelled grenade launchers)slung over their
backs. During one break, a visiting Christian missionary gave a speech,
that included the improbable statement that, "England has not forgotten
you."
The ceremony itself was serious, but not without some poignancy, for
this is very much a forgotten conflict despite the missionary's
assertion. The KNLA has been gradually losing ground since 1949. Over
100,000 Karen languish in dead-end Thai refugee camps, but even more
lack that tentative security. These have fled the fighting, the
extortions, the Tatmadaw's forced labor requirements, and far worse,
but stayed inside Burma's jungles as internally displaced persons
always on the run.
When the world's press does take notice, it is often in form of smug
bemusement, as with the debacle surrounding another Karen force, the
so-called "God's Army," led by two twelve-year-old boys. In Blue
Highways, William Least-Heat Moon, saw a very similar tragedy, the
Ghost Dance War in America that led to the massacre of Native-Americans
at Wounded Kee, much more clearly and sympathetically. These were,
"desperate resurrection rituals, the dying rattles of a people whose
last defense was delusion, about all that remained to them..."
After a line up of battalion members at Wallaykww, the base commander
read out a speech by the KNU was not ready to give up. "In the 52
years, numerous Karen patriots have sacrificed their lives for
stability of life, freedom, equality and democracy. The responsibility
to realize aspirations of those, who have sacrificed their lives for
the cause, rest squarely upon our shoulders. We must faithfully carry
on the struggle."
The Karen Hills, such as Wallaykee, are certainly beautiful but no
longer pristine. The war against and among people is accompanied by one
against nature. Huge areas of natural forest are being logged. Although
the KNU is involved in this, by far the lion's share of the logging
benefits the junta. Much of the products goes to Thailand. One
environmental activist with close contacts in the region observed that
as soon as "God's Army" was crushed, Thai provincial and military
officials sought to upgrade a logging road into the captured are and to
get permission from the junta to remove logs and extract reputed gold
deposits.
The day at Wllaykee ended with well-executed traditional dances by
young Karen men and women. Somehow, one could only hope for a future
that would see more emphasis placed on, the organized patterns of
traditional dance than on advancing soldiers or the incessant buzzing
of chainsaws that destroy forests.
______________________MONEY________________________
The Nation: Burma Pipeline 'Atrocities': Unocal Closer to Trial
Thu, September 06, 2001
California Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney yesterday rejected
Unocal Corp's bid to dismiss claims that it facilitated and abetted
human rights abuses on its Yadana Pipeline project in Burma.
"This is a minor victory," said Pipob Udomittipong, a member of the
board of directors of EarthRights International, a non-governmental
organisation based in Washington that is suing Unocal over alleged human
rights abuses.
Pipob said the move was just the beginning, as the trial itself has yet
to begin.
In a companion case, a federal court in Los Angeles found last summer
that "Plaintiffs present[ed] evidence demonstrating that before joining
the Project, Unocal knew that the [Burmese] military had a record of
committing human rights abuses; that the Project hired the military to
provide security for the Project; that the military, while forcing
villagers to work and relocate, committed numerous acts of violence; and
that Unocal knew or should have known that the military did commit, was
committing and would continue to commit these tortious acts."
Unocal argued that the case should be dismissed on a number of grounds,
including an assertion that the US Constitution prohibits such claims as
they could impede US foreign policy. Judge Chaney rejected all of
Unocal's arguments.
Co-counsel for the plaintiffs Anne Richardson said: "This puts the
plaintiffs one step closer to having their day in court. We are
confident a jury reviewing the facts of this case will be horrified. We
expect a huge verdict on their behalf."
Pipob said many ethnic Mon and Karen affected by the construction
project had fled to the Thai side of the border. The Petroleum Authority
of Thailand is the local partner in the joint Thai-Burmese pipeline
project.
The plaintiffs in John I et al V. Unocal Corp et al are Burmese
villagers who lived near the pipeline. EarthRights claims some were
forced to work on the project by Unocal's pipeline partner - the
notoriously repressive Burmese military.
The remainder suffered egregious abuses during the military's provision
of "security" for the project. The alleged atrocities range from sexual
assault to a reported case of an infant who died after being kicked into
a cooking fire.
Pravit Rojanaphruk
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in First Four Months
YANGON, September 5 (Xinhua) -- Electric power generated by the
state-run Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity
supplier of the country, totaled 1.649 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in
the first four months of this year, 2.9 percent more than the same
period of 2000, said the latest issue of the government Economic
Indicators. However, the installed generating capacity of the MEPE
remained at 1,172 mega watts (mw) at the end of April this year, the
same as previous year ago. Official statistics show that in 2000,
electric power generated by the MEPE went to 5.028 billion kwh, 17
percent more than 1999.
According to the MEPE, since 1988, Myanmar's electric power installed
generating capacity has increased by 509 mw, of which that of natural
gas power plants rose by 255 mw, while that of steam power ones by 143
mw and that of hydropower ones by 111 mw. Myanmar is implementing five
more hydropower plants -- Paunglaung, Zaungtu, Mone, Thaphanseik and
Maipan. Three of them are being built by China. Upon their completion,
the five power plants will add 407 mw more to Myanmar's installed
generating capacity and is expected to greatly ease the serious
electricity shortage problem of the country.
_______________________GUNS________________________
AFP: Thailand steps up border security after labour deadline passes
MAE SOT, Thailand, Sept 5 (AFP) - Thai authorities said Wednesday they
had stepped up security at Myanmar border checkpoints to prevent an
influx of illegal labourers who missed an August 31 registration
deadline.
Military sources at this major crossing point said about 300 soldiers
had been deployed in the western province of Tak, which shares a 580
kilometre (360 mile) stretch of border with Myanmar.
"This measure is to prevent illegal labourers who are flooding into
Thailand," the military official said.
Thailand's government is struggling to devise a system to grant
one-year work permits to workers who registered by the August 31
deadline, which was set down by a previous administration.
The government of former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, who lost to
Thaksin in January elections, vowed to deport unregistered workers
before September of this year.
Some 300 people, mostly from ethnic minority groups within Myanmar,
have been crossing into Thailand daily over the past month, with only
about a third returning at night.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned that those entering
Thailand since the beginning of this month will not be given the
sought-after legal permits.
Some 160,000 workers from neighboring countries currently work here
under one-year permits, in labour-intensive jobs avoided by Thais in 18
industries, such as fisheries, rice mills, mining and farming.
Some 500,000 others are believed to be working in Thailand illegally.
Under the proposed scheme, the government would allow foreign illegals
to register for jobs as domestic servants in addition to jobs in the
industries where foreign illegals can currently register to work.
________________________DRUGS______________________
AP: Thai general: Suspected money launderer traded with Myanmar drug
Sept 6, 2001
BANGKOK, Thailand, (AP) _ A prime suspect in a recently-uncovered money
laundering scam is deeply involved in black market trade with Myanmar's
leading drug army, a Thai army commander on the Thai-Myanmar border said
Wednesday.
The Thai Economic Crime Investigation Division issued arrest warrants
Wednesday for the suspect, Rosarin Chorpradit, and her husband Pichet on
charges of illegally transferring dlrs 222 million overseas, police
said. Their whereabouts are not known.
``This woman, Rosarin, has used the name of influential figures to
smuggle fuel and other strategic supplies to the Wa,'' Gen. Wattanachai
Chaimuenwong, the Third Army commander, told reporters.
He was referring to the United Wa State Army which Thai authorities say
produce most of the illegal drugs sold on the streets of Thailand. The
Wa army has virtual autonomy in areas of eastern Myanmar bordering
Thailand.
Wattanachai said that on several occasions, Rosarin managed to evade
Thai restrictions on sending supplies to that region of Myanmar, by
shipping oil and other goods via Laos. Supplies had gone to the Wa base
of Mong Yawn, he said.
The army had stopped her from exporting directly to the Wa controlled
areas, but could do nothing when she started exportings via Laos,
Wattanachai said.
On Friday, Rosarin's younger sister, Sirinra Mahamad, an executive of
UOB Radanasin Bank, was arrested in Bangkok and charged with violating
foreign exchange laws, in connection with the transfer of the dlrs 222
million.
Police say the money was sent from three Thai companies where Rosarin
and her husband were major shareholders -- Eastern Petropower,
Ratanakosin International and Thanasap Tavee -- to unnamed overseas
creditors in the United States, Hong Kong, China and Singapore between
1997 and 2000.
Wattanachai said Rosarin claimed to have close links to the previous
government of former prime minister Chuan Leekpai whose party lost
elections in January.
Photos of her posing with Chuan and a minister in his Cabinet have been
printed in the Thai press in recent days. Chuan has denied any links
with Rosarin or knowledge of her financial dealings.
Thai banks have long been suspected to be a conduit for illegal
proceeds from the drug trade. Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a major
producer of opium, heroin and synthetic drugs like methamphetamines,
widely sold in Thailand.
Last week Thai authorities arrested five suspects for laundering 72
million baht (dlrs 1.6 million) via the Stock Exchange of Thailand and
froze another 50 million baht (dlrs 1.1 million) hours before it was to
be invested on the bourse.
In a separate case, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau confiscated about
150 million baht (dlrs 3.4 million) Monday in cash and money in bank
accounts of suspected drugs trafficker allegedly linked to the Wa army.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
BBC: Thai-Burmese relations 'improve' after visit
BBC, Wednesday, 5 September, 2001, 20:12 GMT 21:12 UK
By regional analyst Larry Jagan in Bangkok
One of Burma's most senior military leaders has completed what he called
a very satisfactory trip to Thailand.
General Khin Nyunt, head of Burmese military intelligence, said
relations had been restored following fierce fighting between Burmese
and Thai troops earlier this year and they were now good neighbours
again.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who took office in January, has
been keen to improve relations with Burma despite clashes along the
border.
However, the smuggling of drugs produced in Burma's so-called Golden
Triangle remains a major issue of contention between the two countries.
Symbolic
General Nyunt's trip was his first major visit to Thailand for several
years and was high on symbolism.
Treated like a visiting head of state, Khin Nyunt was even granted a
rare hour-long audience with the Thai king.
Both sides are anxious to see their relations enter a new era.
As he was leaving, the general said the trip had achieved its goal.
"We have come to Thailand with only one objective in mind, that is to
strengthen the tradition of friendship and mutually beneficial
co-operation between our two countries and our two peoples.
"Both sides are completely satisfied with the results of the talks and
we were able to reach amicable solutions on the topics we discussed," he
said.
Golden Triangle
There are still major differences between the two countries that need to
be overcome.
The trafficking of drugs from Burma's Golden Triangle remains the
biggest problem.
Khin Nyunt told his Thai hosts that the Wa - the ethnic rebel group
which is responsible for most of the drugs trade - had agreed to make
the area drug free by 2005.
Most anti-drug experts, however, remain sceptical.
But this has not deterred the Thai Government, which has promised to
support the project financially with some half a million dollars and has
offered preferential treatment for the imports from the crop
substitution programme.
This was not the only financial incentive the Thais offered for improved
relations with Rangoon.
Road building programmes and joint ventures in fishing were also sealed
during the trip.
For Burma, Thai financial aid is crucial if they are to halt the
economic collapse the country is experiencing.
The Defence Minister, Choiut Lung Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who hosted the
Burmese general during the trip, was certainly pleased that the policy
of doing business with Burma was working.
He said Khin Nyunt had told him that the talks between the opposition
leader and the Burmese military government were going very well.
"He already told me he did have a talk with [opposition leader] Aung San
Suu Kyi every two weeks and they get together, they understand each
other very well. He also told me that everything has made good progress,
maybe you have a good year soon."
__________________________________________________
AP: Myanmar No. 3 general: Thailand and Myanmar are like family
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar's No. 3 general, Khin Nyunt, hailed his
fence-mending visit to Thailand as a success Wednesday, saying the two
countries _ whose armies clashed briefly earlier this year _ have
improved their ties.
``I regard the visit as a great success in (patching) up the relations
of the two nations. We are neighbors like one family,'' Lt. Gen. Khin
Nyunt said in rare comments to the media before his departure on a
flight for Yangon, Myanmar's capital.
In a joint statement, both sides expressed ``their determination to
consolidate friendly ties ... to turn their common border into a border
of friendship, harmony and prosperity.''
In February, Thai and Myanmar forces skirmished at the frontier but
relations _ hurt by the huge trade in illegal drugs from Myanmar border
regions into Thailand _ have improved since a visit by Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra to Myanmar in June.
Myanmar is the world's biggest source of opium, the raw material of
heroin. In recent years, producers have diversified into
methamphetamines, which have become a huge social problem in Thailand.
Khin Nyunt, who is secretary No. 1 in Myanmar's ruling military
council, said he had a one-hour audience with Thai King Bhumibol
Adulyadej on Tuesday and discussed with him how Thailand has managed to
cut opium production.
''(I) appreciate his wisdom in resolving the opium problem and will
take the model of crop substitution to apply in Myanmar,'' Khin Nyunt
said.
The opium poppy is mostly grown as a cash crop by poor hill tribe
farmers in remote areas, who see little of the vast profits accrued from
the illegal drug trade.
The joint statement said Thailand would grant trade privileges for a
range of products of Myanmar, particularly those from crop substitution
programs. Thailand offered Myanmar 20 million baht (dlrs 450,000) in
technical cooperation for drugs suppression, it said.
The statement said the two countries also agreed to normalize trade
relations, which have suffered from the border tensions, and would
introduce an account trade scheme. In addition, Myanmar welcomed Thai
investment fisheries.
A joint Thai-Myanmar task force would be set up on the problem of the
estimated 1 million Myanmar illegal migrant workers in Thailand,
officials said.
Col. Jongsak Panitkul, the Thai military spokesman, said a Regional
Border Committee would meet for two days in the Thai resort of Pattaya
beginning Thursday to follow up on Khin Nyunt's visit. ``Myanmar is
committed to the effort to resolve the problems and will push for quick
implementation of the results of the talks,'' Khin Nyunt said.
It was his first full official trip to Thailand since the State Peace
and Development Council took power in Myanmar, also known as Burma,
after a bloody crackdown in 1988 against a nationwide democracy
uprising.
It was partly intended to pave the way for a visit by the regime's
leader, Gen. Than Shwe, in the future, Thai officials said.
2001-09-05
___________________________________________________
AFP: Myanmar's Than Shwe to hold talks with Malaysia's Mahathir
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (AFP) - Myanmar's powerful leader, Senior General
Than Shwe, will visit Malaysia for three days from September 25 to
discuss domestic political development and reinforce bilateral ties.
A senior Malaysian government official told AFP that Than Shwe's visit
is on the invitation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who visited
Yangon in January.
"Top of the agenda will probably be issues related to trade and
investment," the official said on condition of anonymity.
He said Malaysian investors had expressed concern about investing in
Myanmar over red tape, land lease and ownership, and taxation.
Than Shwe is keen to learn Malaysia's strategy in wooing foreign
investments and related laws, he said.
Malaysia is ranked fourth among foreign investors in Myanmar. Total
investment stands at 587 million dollars -- mostly in timber, hotel
construction, tourism and trading.
This is Than Shwe's third visit to Malaysia.
The official said the paramount leader would also discuss Myanmar's
political developments with Mahathir.
Describing ties between the countries as "warm and cordial", he said
Myanmar had always considered Malaysia "a close friend in ASEAN."
"They have always looked to PM Mahathir," he said.
Military ties between Kuala Lumpur and Yangon entered a new phase after
Myanmar last month agreed to send a technical team to Malaysia to study
the country's defence technology.
Defence Minister Najib Razak said Myanmar's military was keen to
acquire local defence technology and in turn Malaysia would tap the
investment opportunities there.
The official said Malaysia hoped for political reconciliation in
Myanmar but opposed any form of pressure for change on the country.
"We want Myanmar to emerge out from its shell. We want to see the
negative stigma on Yangon removed. Our policy of engagement has shown
some results," the official said.
"We want to see a stable and developed Myanmar. That is good for
Southeast Asian countries," he added.
UN envoy Razali Ismail in August made a four-day visit to Yangon.
During the trip the Malaysian envoy met twice with democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss the progress of the talks -- her first with
the junta since 1994 -- which began in October.
Razali remained characteristically tight-lipped during the visit, but
business people and diplomats whom he briefed said he remained quietly
optimistic that the dialogue would pave the way for democratic reforms.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Princess, Supreme Patriarch will both visit Rangoon soon
Thursday 06 September 2001
THAI-BURMESE RELATIONS
Wassana Nanuam
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and the Supreme
Patriarch will visit Rangoon at the invitation of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt,
first secretary of Burma's ruling junta.
Gen Sanan Khachornklam, secretary to the defence minister's advisory
team, yesterday said Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt extended the invitation to His
Majesty the King during their meeting at Klaikangwon Palace in Hua Hin
on Tuesday.
The King agreed to let the Princess visit Burma on his behalf. The date
has yet to be fixed.
During his meeting with the Burmese delegation, the King stressed the
importance of bilateral relations and suggested the Burmese government
launch occupational training programmes for hilltribes and other ethnic
minorities similar to royal-sponsored projects in Thailand, defence
spokesman Col Jongsak Panichkul said
Burmese authorities would visit some of the royal projects later.
Also in Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt's company in the audience with the King were
Maj-Gen Thein Sein, Burma's Triangle Region commander, and Burmese
ambassador Myo Myint.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the Supreme Patriarch also
planned to visit Burma soon.
___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________
Bangkok Post: Putting our faith in Khin Nyunt
Thursday 06 September 2001
ANALYSIS / REACHING OUT ACROSS THE BORDER
The government is bending over backward to improve relations with
Rangoon. It has turned a blind eye to abuses inside our neighbour's
borders so that there is least resistance to policies which may benefit
us.
ANURAJ MANIBHANDU and SARITDET MARUKATAT
The government has invested a great deal in Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, first
secretary of Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council, and,
like any investor, it must expect a worthwhile return.
What Burma chooses to deliver, or not, in the next few months will prove
the success or failure of the government's strategy.
Among the more dramatic announcements made by Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra during the visit were the approval of 20 million baht for the
Office of Narcotics Control Board for technical help in Burma's
anti-drug effort, and an offer of preferential trade terms for cash
crops which the Wa promise to grow in place of drug derivatives.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt did not seem to have much in his pocket in return
apart from confirmation that Burma would take part in the four-nation
drug summit proposed by Thailand (Laos and China are the other two
participants), and an offer for the release of about 60 Thai prisoners,
which has become something of a ritual.
But Pornpimol Trichot, a Burma scholar with Chulalongkorn University's
Institute of Asian Studies, was largely upbeat about the visit and
believes it has opened a ``new era'' in Thai-Burmese relations. ``I
can't say I am impressed with the visit, but I am pleased with the
outcome and approach,'' she said.
For starters, Ms Pornpimol pointed out, the visit marked the first time
the two countries had put on the table all contentious issues, like
illegal labour, refugees, border disputes and border demarcation, and
agreed that they were shared problems.
In the past, she said, Burmese leaders had never accepted the existence
of these problems. ``This time both sides went directly to these
points.''
How these problems will be solved now depends on follow-up negotiations
and the bargaining skills of Thai authorities.
The prime minister proposed the creation of a joint task force to manage
Burmese workers here, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding
to this effect. He also spoke of plans to repatriate displaced persons,
but on a voluntary basis, with international agencies to help build
settlements in safe areas inside Burma that would offer vocational
training to returnees.
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the defence minister, called for transparent
means for solving border disputes, and the setting up of a general
border committee headed by defence ministers along the lines of similar
co-operation Thailand has with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The forum expected to pursue talks on most of these, and other, issues
is the Thai-Burmese Joint Commission, which is scheduled tentatively to
meet in Phuket in December, although a meeting opening in Chon Buri
today of a committee co-chaired by regional army commanders from the two
countries may touch on some of them.
The joint commission meeting was initially scheduled to take place this
month, but was postponed in order to wait for the outcome of Lt-Gen Khin
Nyunt's visit this week.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was in Thailand as a guest of Gen Chavalit, who spared
little effort to impress him. While others might question the minister's
hospitality style, Ms Pornpimol said Thailand had to accept that the
armed forces know Burmese leaders best. She commended the top brass for
staying behind the scenes even though they had been instrumental in
bringing the visitor to the country.
She also made it crystal clear as to why the government had put its
money on Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.rather than on other members of the ruling
junta. Not least important is his image as a moderate, when compared
with his political rival, Gen Maung Aye, the hard-line Burmese army
commander who is concurrently vice-president of the SPDC.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt is also directly responsible for ethnic minorities
based along the border, drugs, refugees and border issues, all of which
pose problems to Thailand. In addition, he is in charge of the junta's
talks with the opposition National League for Democracy headed by Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi that began in October last year.
In keeping with the government's policy of non-interference in the
affairs of neighbours, no one except non-government protestors raised
the issue of human rights violations in Burma while Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt
was in town.
The government simply reaffirmed support for the process of national
reconciliation in Burma and reiterated that it would not interfere.
Critics impatient with the perceived snail's pace of the process, and
horrified by continuing violations of human rights and democracy in
Burma, can only be furious with the government's failure to raise these
issues.
For most observers, this marked a 360 degree turn from the stand taken
by the Chuan government, a stand which did not have the time needed to
bear fruit. And many analysts think the Burma problem will need plenty
of time to solve.
The visit also occasioned talk of several well-worn plans to build new
road links or refurbish existing ones. While there was some recognition
that a lack of funding was the main stumbling block for most projects,
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai thought that Thailand could build
a planned second bridge between Mae Sai and Tachilek without any
problem.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt may now be counting the marks he scored during his
visit to Thailand, or worrying about ways of delivering Burma's part of
the bargain. The power-sharing between moderates and hawks in the SPDC
will require him to strike a deal with all sides on how to respond to
Thailand's offers.
For its part, the Thaksin government might do better to prepare for the
worst, in case Burma does not deliver, rather than the best return on
its investment in the junta's first secretary.
___________________________________________________
The Nation: Junta-NLD Talks: 'Good News' Soon
Thu, September 06, 2001
Published on Sep 6, 2001
Burmese Intelligence Chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt yesterday said he expected
"good news" soon from the dialogue between the military junta and the
opposition in that country, Defence Minister General Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh said.
The Burmese general briefed him about the progress of the junta's
dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), Chavalit said.
"He told me that everything is good and maybe we will have good news
soon. I believe that the talks will succeed as the Burmese leaders are
sincere and serious in bringing peace to the country," Chavalit said.
Chavalit added that Khin Nyunt had assured him Rangoon was determined to
set up a political system that gave people freedoms and liberties.
"This is to confirm that Burmese leaders now are determined to do what
we all would like to see, [to set up] a political system that works for
the people and the country with a peaceful reconciliation approach," he
said.
Thailand is more than ready to support the process and hopes that public
participation would be part of that process, Chavalit said.
Burma's State Peace and Development Council is having talks with Suu
Kyi, whose NLD won a national election in 1990 but was prevented by the
junta from taking power.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been under de facto house
arrest since September last year following a renewed military crackdown.
However the tension eased with the visit of UN special envoy Razali
Ismail, who acted as a mediator.
Chavalit was speaking at a military airport after seeing Khin Nyunt
depart for Rangoon after a three-day official visit. During the visit,
Khin Nyunt pledged strong support and coordination with Thailand on the
suppression of narcotics as well as promising to attempt to prevent any
misunderstandings on border issues with Thailand.
The visit is expected to help heal the volatile relationship caused by
the trespassing of Burma's troops onto Thai soil, as well as silence the
war of verbal attacks following a series of incidents in Thailand by
Burmese dissidents.
Before leaving for Rangoon, Khin Nyunt said that the visit was
successful.
"Our discussions were totally in an atmosphere of sincerity and
understanding with promises to help each other. Both sides are totally
satisfied with this visit and we were able to reach amicable solutions
on the topics we discussed.
"We were able to promote friendship and understanding while finding new
areas for cooperation," he said.
"I regard the visit as a great success in [patching] up the relations of
the two nations. We are neighbours like one family," he said.
___________________________________________________
Free Burma Coalition: Tell Pottery Barn No to Sourcing from Burma!
Please call 1-800-922-9934 and tell the Pottery Barn to stop selling
merchandise made in Burma. Email Pottery Barn on their website to tell
them
you will be boycotting them until they stop sourcing from Burma at
<http://www.potterybarn.com/cs/index.cfm?sect=emailus&src=hme/> Return
any
catalogs that you receive from Pottery Barn by marking them ?Return to
Sender? and writing, ?Don?t Import from Burma? on the catalog. And you
can
fax the Pottery Barn at 1-702-363-2541. And there is a store locator
linked
to the front page of their website at www.potterybarn.com if people want
to
call their local store, or picket and leaflet outside it.
ALSO!
The Free Burma Coalition is planning a day of action against Pottery
Barn?s
Burma connection on September 15, 2001. There will be nationwide
protests
in cities across the US including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, DC,
Portland, and San Francisco. Please email dbeeton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
if
you would like to organize a demonstration at your local Pottery Barn on
that day.
WHY?: Despite FBC requests for Pottery Barn to cut its ties with the
brutal
regime of Burma, Pottery Barn continues to do business with Burma's
military thugs. The Free Burma Coalition has written two letters to the
CEO and Chairman of Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma, W. Howard Lester,
requesting that the companies stop supporting this system of forced
labor
and stop importing from Burma. So far, we have received no response. In
the
meantime, Pottery Barn continues to sell the ?Martaban Collection? of
baskets, so named for the Gulf of Martaban just south of Rangoon in
Burma,
in its catalogs and stores.
This is unacceptable!
The people of Burma have requested that the international community keep
its business out of Burma until democracy is restored. It is a known
fact
that the ruling regime profits from international business deals and
foreign investment, which further perpetuates a system of forced labor
in
the country.
Pottery Barn deserves a badge of shame for doing business with the
Burmese
regime. Shoppers who buy Pottery Barn?s home furnishings have a right to
know who the company does business with and under what types of
conditions
their ?chic? home furnishings are being made.
Watch the Free Burma Coalition website at www.freeburmacoalition.org for
continuing developments in our efforts to get Pottery Barn to become a
good
global citizen and stop doing business with Burma?s junta?
________________
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