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BurmaNet News: September 21, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
          September 21, 2001   Issue # 1887
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*AFP: ILO team meets with Aung San Suu Kyi, top junta officials 
*Xinhua: One More Political Prisoner Released in Myanmar
*AFP: Myanmar dictator Ne Win sends condolences over US terror attacks 
*AP: Interfaith service held in Myanmar for U.S. terror attack victims 
*Irrawaddy: Political Prisoners Deny Wrongdoing

MONEY _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar's Cotton Yarn Production Up in First Half of 2001
*Xinhua: Myanmar Earns More From Customs Duties in First Half of 2001
*Irrawaddy: Cars Become Hot Commodity in Rangoon

GUNS______
*Reuters: India cracks down on northeast after U.S. attacks
*AFP: The Taliban-- Pakistan's foreign policy failure 
*Xinhua: Chinese Defense Minister Meets Myanmese Guests
*Xinhua: Senior PLA Officer Meets Myanmese Guests

DRUGS______
*Reuters: Opium cuts may hit Afghan capability UN official

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Xinhua: NPC Vice-Chairman Meets Myanmar Guests



					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________




AFP: ILO team meets with Aung San Suu Kyi, top junta officials 


YANGON, Sept 20 (AFP) - An International Labour Organisation (ILO) team 
investigating the Myanmar junta's efforts to eradicate forced labour has 
met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and been given access to 
every minister concerned, sources said Thursday. 
 The four-member ILO team, and seven experts accompanying it on the 
three-week mission, had a working lunch with Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday, 
an official source said. No details of the meeting were released to the 
media. 
 Afterwards the ILO representatives held a meeting with ethnic minority 
parties including the Shan NLD (National League for Democracy), as part 
of a thorough briefing on labour conditions in Myanmar. 

 Talks with the Attorney General and the Chief Justice were also on the 
official itinerary which the Geneva-based United Nations body is keeping 
tightly under wraps. 

 Francis Maupain, who is accompanying the mission as a representative of 
ILO director-general Juan Somavia, said the itinerary since the trip 
started Monday had been "very packed". 

 "We are seeing everyone, including all the ministers concerned," he 
told AFP. 

 Maupain declined to confirm reports that the team would depart Yangon 
Sunday to travel to Karen and Shan states where reports of forced labour 
are rife. 
 "We do not yet know exactly where we are going," he said. "That depends 
on the information that we collect during the course of our talks here." 


 Shan NLD representative Khun Tun Oo said the meeting with the ILO team 
focused on whether forced labor had persisted since November last year 
when the junta handed down an order banning the practice for the first 
time. 

 They were also interested in the military regime's efforts to enforce 
the ban, he told AFP. 

 "We generally conceded that except for the nation's periphery where 
conflicts with anti-government armed groups still went on, conditions in 
the rest of the country had improved," he said. 

 "We found the team to be very serious and open minded and our meeting 
was quite satisfying." 

 Over the next few days the ILO mission is expected to see 
non-governmental organisations and visit development projects around 
Yangon. 

 The ILO last year made an unprecedented censure of Myanmar, and 
threatened to heap more sanctions on the military-run nation if it 
failed to curb forced labour. 

 Rights groups say nearly a million Myanmar people have been forced into 
building roads, ports and tourist resorts as well as assisting in 
military manoeuvres on the unstable borders.
 
 But commentators in Yangon say that amid threats of further sanctions 
the regime is highly motivated to convince the ILO that it is sincere in 
its efforts to wipe out the practice. 

 "This is the first time that the ILO has had an opportunity to travel 
around the country to make its own direct assessment of the forced labor 
situation," the UN organisation said in a statement from Bangkok. 





___________________________________________________




Xinhua: One More Political Prisoner Released in Myanmar


YANGON, September 19 (Xinhua) -- One more political prisoner, who is 
serving his prison terms, was released from jail by the Myanmar 
government Wednesday, according to an official Information Sheet. The 
official statement said the one set freed is a member of the opposition 
National League for Democracy (NLD). The release of U Kyaw Win has 
brought the total number of political prisoners freed in the country to 
65 since June 15. The move came after U.N. Special Envoy Razali Ismail 
ended his fifth visit to Myanmar in late August in his renewed efforts 
to bring about speedy comprise between the government and the opposition 
to settle the country's decade-long domestic political crisis. 

Meanwhile, secret talks between government leaders and NLD General 
Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest, have been 
underway since October last year. The NLD, which won the 1990 general 
election with 396 parliamentary seats out of 485, complained that 
although the election has ended for 11 years, the government has not 
transferred back the state power to the representatives in accordance 
with the election results and the government's then promise when it took 
over the state power on September 18, 1988. Meanwhile, the government 
still regards itself as a care-taker or transitional government without 
mentioning the transition period but repeatedly says it has no intention 
to hold on to power for long. 





___________________________________________________




AFP: Myanmar dictator Ne Win sends condolences over US terror attacks 

YANGON, Sept 19 (AFP) - Myanmar's reclusive former dictator General Ne 
Win sent his condolences to a prayer service for the victims of the US 
terrorist attacks, but the junta remained silent on the incident, 
sources said Wednesday. 

 Some 300 guests including resident diplomats and United Nations staff 
attended Tuesday night's candle-light service at the Inya Lake Hotel 
where a Buddhist monk, a Christian leader and a Muslim cleric gave 
sermons, said the sources who attended the service. 

 The Buddhist monk, Sayadaw Ashin Janekabhivamsa, is linked closely with 
the family of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

 At the memorial service, which called for healing, peace and unity, US 
charge d'affaires Priscilla Clapp, British ambassador John Jenkins and 
UNICEF representative Bertrand Mendis also gave short speeches. 

 A surprise presence at the prayer meeting was Aye Ne Win, grandson of 
the 
90-year-old Ne Win and eldest son of his daughter Sandar Win, who was 
surrounded by a retinue of body guards. 

 He carried with him a condolence note from his grandfather signed "Ne 
Win and Family" which was prominently displayed at the service. 

 Ne Win, who ruled Myanmar in neo-socialist isolation between 1962 and 
1988, has rarely been seen in public in recent years but it still 
considered a power behind the throne in the military-ruled nation. 

 Myanmar's democratic opposition has condemned the terrorist attacks on 
New York and Washington as "inhuman and cowardly", but the military 
regime has so far failed to make any comment. 




___________________________________________________





AP: Interfaith service held in Myanmar for U.S. terror attack victims 

Sept. 19, 2001

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Buddhist, Muslim and Christian clergy presided 
together as hundreds of people gathered at a hotel in the Myanmar 
capital late Tuesday to attend a memorial service organized by the U.S. 
Embassy for the victims of last week's terrorist attacks in the United 
States. 

 The event, billed as ``A prayer for healing peace and unity'' was held 
at the Inya Lake Hotel, which also hosted a condolence book set up by 
the embassy Monday and Tuesday. 

 A Buddhist monk prayed in both the Pali and English languages for the 
dead, and was followed by a prayer by Muslim clergy and singing of peace 
prayers by children from the International School of Yangon, said a 
Myanmar teacher who attended the service. 

 Those who turned out included many Myanmar nationals as well as members 
of the city's foreign community. Among the local notables was a grandson 
of Gen. Ne Win, the strongman who ruled the country from 1962-88. 

 The prayer service concluded with U.S. Charge d'Affaires Priscilla 
Clapp thanking those who attended, and the guests slowly walked out of 
the hotel holding lighted candles. 

 The United States does not post an ambassador in Myanmar, also known as 
Burma, to show its disapproval of the ruling military government's 
failure to hand over power to a democratically-elected government. It 
also disapproves of the junta's poor human rights record 

 Myanmar was the target of a major terrorist attack in October 1983 when 
North Korean agents seeking to assassinate South Korea's then-President 
Chun Doo-hwan set off a bomb at a state ceremony in Yangon, killing 21 
people, including four South Korean Cabinet ministers. Chun was unharmed 
because he arrived late. 

 Myanmar's state-controlled press has presented minimal news about 
Tuesday's attacks, which are a leading topic of conversation in the 
markets and tea shops of the capital. 

 Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy 
party on Friday condemned the terrorist attacks in the United States and 
expressed sympathy for the victims. 

 Afterwards the government, which had privately sent letters of 
condolence to Washington, made public its own statement expressing 
sorrow. 





___________________________________________________





Irrawaddy: Political Prisoners Deny Wrongdoing

By Kyaw Zwa Moe


September 19, 2001?A group of political prisoners asked about their 
views on military rule in Burma insisted they had done nothing wrong by 
opposing the country?s ruling junta, according to prison sources. 
Military Intelligence (MI) officials questioned the prisoners at 
Tharawaddy Prison, near Rangoon, on August 10. 

Sources reported that two MI officials, Major Kyaw Nyein and Captain Ye 
Yint Tun, met eight political prisoners, including one elected Member of 
Parliament, separately to ascertain their views on the country?s 
political situation. All of the prisoners, except for National League 
for Democracy (NLD) MP-elect Dr Myo Nyunt, are being held under Article 
10 (a) of the State Protection Act. All have completed their original 
sentences, but remain under detention due to unspecified security 
concerns. 
At least 52 of Burma?s nearly 2,000 political prisoners continue to be 
held long after their sentences have been fully served, according to 
prisoner-rights groups. Former political prisoners close to the 
Tharawaddy Prison detainees say that those still being held under 
Article 10 (a) have already completed ten-year sentences.  

The recently interrogated detainees include: Zaw Aung, a member of the 
National League for Democracy; Zaya, leader of the Democratic Party for 
a New Society; All Burma Students? Democratic Front members Soe Moe 
Hlaing, Thaung Htike and Yin Htwe; and activists U Aung May Thu and Htay 
Kywe. 

According to sources inside Tharawaddy Prison, when asked to assess 
their past political activities, each of the eight prisoners replied 
without hesitation that they had done what was best for their country. 
After being given several hours to reconsider their answers, all eight 
repeated their original response. The sources added that it was now 
"extremely uncertain" when the prisoners would be released. 

Meanwhile, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has 
informed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a recent 
letter that a political prisoner being held in Mon State?s Moulmein 
Prison is in urgent need of treatment for an eye condition. Dr Min So 
Lin, an NLD MP-elect, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 1998 
for his political activities.  

In a recent interview with Radio Free Asia, an AAPP spokesperson added 
that Nay Lin Soe, a prisoner being held in Kale Prison, in Sagaing 
Division, is also suffering from a severe eye ailment, and could soon 
lose his sight. Nay Lin Soe is serving his second prison term for his 
political activities.  

According to AAPP, at least 68 political prisoners have died of various 
diseases in Burma?s prisons since the military crushed a pro-democracy 
uprising in 1988.




______________________MONEY________________________



Xinhua: Myanmar's Cotton Yarn Production Up in First Half of 2001


YANGON, September 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar produced 3,027.78 tons of 
cotton yarn in the first half of this year, 26.8 percent more than the 
same period of 2000 when it registered 2,387.75 tons, according to the 
latest data released by the country's Central Statistical Organization. 
During the six-month period, Myanmar also yielded 11,291,556 meters of 
cotton fabrics, up 10 percent from the corresponding period of 2000 
which saw a production of 10,255,994 meters. Cotton is one of the four 
major crops of Myanmar with the other three known as paddy, beans and 
pulses, and sugar cane. Official statistics show that in 2000, Myanmar 
produced 5,700 tons of cotton yarn and 22 million meters of cotton 
fabrics, up 19 percent and 23.37 percent respectively from 1999. Other 
statistics show that altogether 325,215 hectares of cotton were 
cultivated in Myanmar in the fiscal year 2000-01 which ended in March 
and the country targets to grow 348,300 hectares of the crop in 2001-02. 
Meanwhile, to maintain the enthusiasm of cotton growers and to solve 
their difficulties of shortage of capital used in cultivation, the 
government provides annually more than 1 billion Kyats (about 2 million 
U.S. dollars) of loans to the growers in the country in addition to 
granting advance payment to them for the purchase of cotton. 




___________________________________________________





Xinhua: Myanmar Earns More From Customs Duties in First Half of 2001

YANGON, September 18 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar received 507.8 million U.S. 
dollars from customs duties in the first half of this year, 11 percent 
more than the same period of 2000 when it registered at 457.31 million 
dollars with the income, according to the latest figures released by the 
country's Central Statistical Organization. The main source of Myanmar's 
customs duties income comes from import through normal trade and border 
trade, of which the import customs duties income earned through normal 
trade accounted for 99. 5 percent of the total during the six-month 
period. 

To promote agricultural development, the Myanmar government has exempted 
import customs duties levied on agricultural implements including 
fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety and machinery. According to 
official statistics, in 2000, Myanmar earned 891 million dollars from 
customs duties and its foreign trade totaled 4.086 billion dollars in 
the year, of which imports amounted to 2. 567 billion dollars, while 
exports were valued at 1.519 billion dollars. 



___________________________________________________



Irrawaddy: Cars Become Hot Commodity in Rangoon

By Ko Thet
 
September 19, 2001 ?The Burmese government?s attempt to collect a tax on 
used car sales coupled with high inflation has caused car prices to 
skyrocket at Rangoon?s largest used car automall, the Hanta Wady market, 
according to a business source in Rangoon. 

"Two week ago, I bought a used car for 11 million kyat (1 USD=680 kyat) 
and today someone offered me 14 million kyat. I am afraid to sell it 
because I can no longer find a car in this good of shape for that 
price," said a car dealer from the Hanta Wady market. He continued, " 
One of my friends sold a Toyota Mark II yesterday for 15 million kyat 
and two hours later the dealer was selling it for 17 million kyat and it 
will probably sell for that."  

A Rangoon gold dealer said, "Cars have become a popular investment 
alternative with inflation being so high here right now. Businessmen are 
investing their money in cars instead of keeping hard cash around." Due 
to Burma?s unstable economy people often invest their hard currency into 
real estate, gold or luxury items. The sudden increase in price has also 
made it very difficult for the ordinary consumer to purchase a vehicle, 
according to a sailor who recently returned to Burma who was hoping to 
buy a car. 
 
The dealers have been parking their cars inside the market but doing 
their transactions outside of the market in response to the Military 
Intelligence Officers who have been conducting surprise checks inside 
the markets, according to Myint Than, who is also a car broker in car 
market. The government initiated the crackdown in order to collect tax 
revenue that was not being charged by the car dealers.





_______________________GUNS________________________




Reuters: India cracks down on northeast after U.S. attacks

By Biswajyoti Das 

 GUWAHATI, India, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Indian police and paramilitary 
forces have increased border patrols in the troubled northeast after the 
attacks on the United States and are combing rural areas for militants, 
police said on Thursday. 
 They said that long-standing suspected links between militants in the 
northeast and Pakistan and Afghanistan, home to Osama bin Laden, prime 
suspect in the attacks, made the region vulnerable to any backlash. 
 ``Osama bin Laden could easily trigger large-scale violence in the 
region, if he really wants to, given the ground realities,'' a federal 
intelligence officer told Reuters. 

 India's northeast -- almost encircled by China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and 
Myanmar -- has been plagued by a host of separatist conflicts for more 
than half a century. 

 New Delhi accuses Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence of training 
rebels fighting in the northeast as well as in the predominantly Muslim 
state of Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. 

 Police said that they were combing rural areas across the northeast in 
search of militant hideouts, though with the region under heavy rain 
there had been no increase in rebel activity. 

 Patrols had also been increased along the border with Bangladesh, where 
some 19 soldiers died in April in an outbreak of fighting between the 
usually friendly neighbours, though no reinforcements had been brought 
in. 

 There are more than 50 armed groups active in the region, and Indian 
police say the majority get training and safe shelters across the 
borders in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. 

 Indian police say among those with links to Pakistan is the powerful 
Assam separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), 
which accuses New Delhi of exploiting Assam's mineral resources and 
neglecting the local economy. 

 Guerrillas frequently bomb oil pipelines, bridges, railway tracks and 
packed passenger trains, attack government officials and forces, and 
kidnap tea industry executives for ransom. 

 Police said that they had found no evidence of links between rebel 
groups and bin Laden, but were looking into ``each and every aspect'' in 
increased counter-insurgency operations. 

 Alongside indigenous rebel groups, there has also been an increase in 
Islamic militant groups over the last few years, fuelled by the arrival 
of millions of Bangladeshi Muslims who have illegally crossed the border 
and settled in the northeast. 


___________________________________________________





AFP: The Taliban-- Pakistan's foreign policy failure 

[Abridged]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 20 (AFP) - Alexander the Great, the Persians, 
the British and the Soviet Union have all had their fingers burned in 
Afghanistan -- and now historians can add Pakistan to that list. 

 The dramatic rise of the Taliban began in 1994, after Pakistan had seen 
its efforts to install a friendly regime in Kabul and enjoy the fruits 
of trade with Central Asia blocked by an unruly mish-mash of warring 
factions who inherited post-Soviet Afghanistan. 

 Initially hired to guard a convoy of goods destined for Turkmenistan, 
the self-styled 'religious students' quickly seized control of the 
southern city of Kandahar, boosted by their mysterious acquisition of a 
heavy arsenal, cash and first-rate military intelligence. 
 It was soon clear that something more was behind the movement than just 
Koranic students from across the border, regardless of the stream of 
fierce denials from Islamabad. 

 The prime suspect was Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), a 
shadowy 'state within a state' with years of experience of funnelling 
CIA cash and weapons to the anti-Soviet war effort from 1979-1989. 

 When US oil giant UNOCAL stepped in, proposing to build a 
three-billion-dollar pipeline to carry Turkmen gas to South Asia -- via 
Afghanistan -- the CIA were added to the list of alleged Taliban 
backers. 

 Across Afghanistan in the mid-1990s there were frequent reports of 
sightings of Pakistani agents before major Taliban advances. 

 At one frontline, sophisticated GPS and satellite communications 
equipment -- bearing the markings of a certain US institution -- were 
recovered after a Taliban set-back. 

 Rapidly extending their grip over the country by buying up commanders 
and blitzing their divided opponents, Taliban ranks were swelled by 
increasing numbers of foreign volunteers from countries as diverse as 
Pakistan, Algeria and Myanmar. 

 But this injection of radical volunteers set the Taliban on a course 
going far-beyond the Saudi-style and subservient regime that analysts 
say Pakistan was seeking to create. 
 Declaring Afghanistan the world's "purest Islamic state", the Taliban 
imposed on the Afghan people the most extraordinary list of 
restrictions, and began to hint that its puritanical mix of 
ethnic-Pashtun traditions and Islamic law were up for export. 
 Women were barred from work and education, men had to grow beards, 
music, photography and television were banned and carnival-style weekly 
executions took place in Kabul's football stadium. 


 ... Analysts say things started to go wrong for Pakistan in 1998: with 
Taliban "guest" and Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden indicted for 
the US embassy bombings in Africa, Afghanistan was hit by US cruise 
missile strikes. 

 Then came the Taliban's brazen destruction of the ancient Buddhas of 
central Bamiyan province in May. Pakistan's best efforts to intercede 
fell on deaf ears, the statues were demolished to shouts of "Allah 
Akbar" (God is Great), and Islamabad realised its former students were 
out of control. 





___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Chinese Defense Minister Meets Myanmese Guests

BEIJING, September 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Defense Minister met here 
Wednesday with Myint Swe, commander-in-chief of the Air Force of 
Myanmar, and his party. Chi, also a vice-chairman of the Central 
Military Commission and a state councilor, said China and Myanmar have 
worked together to safeguard the interest of developing countries since 
the two countries forged diplomatic ties 51 years ago. The Five 
Principles of Peaceful Co-existence jointly advocated by leaders of the 
two countries have become the principles guiding the international 
relations, he said. The Chinese government appreciates the Myanmese 
government's adherence to the one-China policy, said Chi, adding that 
China is willing to develop friendly relations between Chinese and 
Myanmese militaries in all fields in the 21st century. Myint Swe said 
that Myanmar and China are good neighbors, and Myanmar attaches 
importance to developing cooperative ties with China and its armed 
forces. He expressed the hope that the two sides continue to increase 
cooperation and exchanges. 





___________________________________________________



Xinhua: Senior PLA Officer Meets Myanmese Guests

BEIJING, September 18 (Xinhua) -- Fu Quanyou, chief of General Staff of 
the Chinese People's Liberation Army, met here Tuesday with Myint Swe, 
commander-in-chief of Air Force of Myanmar, and his party. Fu, also a 
member of the Central Military Commission, said that China and Myanmar 
are good-neighborly countries, and the friendship between the two 
countries remains unchanged despite changing international situation. He 
noted that the military relations between the two countries have kept 
developing, and the cooperation between the air forces of the two 
countries, in particular, is satisfactory. China will maintain and 
further the existing relations with Myanmar. Myint Swe said that 
Myanmese armed forces attach importance to its relations with their 
Chinese counterpart, and is ready to promote bilateral cooperation in 
all fields. 






________________________DRUGS______________________





Reuters: Opium cuts may hit Afghan capability UN official

By Sitaraman Shankar 
 BOMBAY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's military capability could be 
limited by the ruling Taliban's decision to stop cultivating opium, a 
senior official of the United Nations International Drug Control 
Programme told Reuters on Wednesday. 

 ``We expect Afghan opium production to be down to less than 200 tonnes 
this year from 3,276 tonnes in 2000,'' Sandeep Chawla, the UNDCP's chief 
of research told Reuters in an interview from his headquarters in 
Vienna. 

 Until last year, Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of 
heroin, which is made from opium. 

 ``We can't be sure of cultivation now in the rebel-controlled north, 
but it's traditionally been less than a tenth of total Afghan output,'' 
said Chawla. 

 Smuggling the drug to western markets was seen as a major source of 
funding for the Taliban, currently under pressure to hand over 
Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, suspected in last week's attacks 
on New York and Washington. 

 Chawla said Afghanistan began cutting back opium production in the 
summer of 2000, following a Taliban view that it was unIslamic. But it 
also cut off a crucial source of funding that has undermined its 
military capabilities. 

 Islam bans the use of liquor and all intoxicants. 

 ``Opium cultivation played a pivotal role in the Afghan economy in the 
nineties, and funded resistance to Soviet occupation,'' Chawla said. 

 ``Now Afghanistan's capability (to resist attack) is limited, unless 
other sources of financing like smuggling arms and other contraband, or 
the legitimate economy were to pick up,'' he said. 

 The UNDCP, which monitors the illicit drug trade across the world and 
carries out surveys in Afghanistan, believes opium production has also 
been hit by a severe drought. 

 In 2001, land used for growing opium in Afghanistan fell by 90 percent 
to around 8,000 hectares (19,768 acres), Chawla said. 

 The country's main opium cultivating areas are Helmand in the south and 
Nangarhar in the east, he said. 

 The bulk of the heroin produced from opium is smuggled along the Balkan 
route -- through Iran, Turkey and southern Europe to markets in the 
West. The central Asian route is growing rapidly, while smuggling across 
the border into Pakistan and India has been reduced, he said. 

 STOCKPILE? 

 Afghanistan's decline leaves Myanmar as the largest producer. 

 The UNDCP estimates that last year Myanmar made 1,087 tonnes of illicit 
opium, roughly a third of Afghanistan's production, but valued at prices 
of $232 a kg against $28 a kg for Afghan opium. 

 Chawla said Afghan farmers were paid $91 million for their production 
in 2000 and less than $60 million in 2001, helped only by a ten-fold 
increase in prices. 

 But these numbers may not tell the whole story, he cautioned. 

 ``It's difficult to estimate exactly how much Afghanistan made from 
opium and its derivatives. For example, heroin sells for as much as $500 
a kg in some markets,'' he said. 

 ``There are certainly possibilities that Afghanistan can start growing 
opium again if the situation demands it, but that's not a decision that 
yields results immediately,'' Chawla said. 

 ``Planting takes place in autumn and harvesting in spring, so there's a 
long wait,'' he said. 

 ``Now the questions centre on how much of a stockpile of opium the 
Afghans are sitting on,'' he said. 










___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				




Xinhua: NPC Vice-Chairman Meets Myanmar Guests

BEIJING, September 20 (Xinhua) -- Buhe, vice-chairman of the Standing 
Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), Thursday met with 
a delegation of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) 
of the Union of Myanmar. The delegation, headed by U Than Shwe, central 
executive committee member of USDA and minister at the Prime Minister's 
Office of Myanmar, are here as guests of the Chinese Association for 
International Understanding. 










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