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BurmaNet News: September 6, 2001



______________ 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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