BurmaNet News: October 24, 2001

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
          October 24, 2001   Issue # 1905
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*Irrawaddy: More NLD Offices Allowed To Re-Open
*Irrawaddy: Anti-Muslim Riot in Hinthada Township
*Reuters: Muslim-Buddhist violence flares in Myanmar

MONEY _______
*Kyodo: Myanmar minister tells Tanaka Japan's aid important

GUNS______
*AP: Dead drug suspects toll wins police the prime minister's award 

DRUGS______
*Xinhua: Drug Smuggler Seized in Yunnan

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AP: Myanmar military praises United Nations, congratulates Annan

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Irrawaddy: Covering Burma and Asia--Journalists Beware
*Xinhua: Myanmar Calls On U.N. To Support Developing Countries

					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________





Irrawaddy: More NLD Offices Allowed To Re-Open


By Zarny Win

October 23, 2001?Another branch office of the opposition National League 
for Democracy (NLD) was allowed to re-open today in Rangoon. The 
Thinggangyun Township branch is the twenty-third office to unlock its 
doors after talks between NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military 
government began at the end of last year. Like all NLD offices around 
the country, it was forcibly shut down in 1991. 

"To reopen [the Thinggangyun office], we had to deal with the local 
authorities for months, even though the military government had already 
agreed to reopen the branches in Rangoon," said a local NLD member who 
did not want to give his name. He added that hundreds of branches in 
other parts of the country are still closed down. 

The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 general election but was not 
allowed to take power. Afterwards, the military regime shut almost all 
branch offices around the country, and put hundreds of members behind 
bars. But recent talks and international pressure are creating some 
change in the situation. In the words of government publicity, one 
"result of the understanding achieved between the military government 
and the NLD" in recent talks has been the release of over one hundred 
NLD activists and the re-opening of some NLD branches.

The NLD members themselves, however, are not seeing any real change. "I 
cannot see that the current political condition of our country is 
improving, just because a few NLD branches are allowed to reopen," said 
Zin Linn, a high ranking member of the Thinggangyun Township NLD branch, 
now in exile. "The branches are not allowed to have political 
activities, such as gatherings and meetings." He added that the military 
government is playing a skillful political game in order to stay in 
power as long as possible. [Top]






___________________________________________________







Irrawaddy: Anti-Muslim Riot in Hinthada Township


By Ko Thet

October 23, 2001--Buddhist monks and Muslims rioted last Saturday night 
in Hinthada Township, in the Irrawaddy division, according to a Hinthada 
resident. The riot began in a Muslim-owned tea-shop over a quarrel 
between the proprietor and monks. Authorities had declared an urgent 
curfew earlier that night, the source added. 

"Hinthada is half-Muslim, so the riot spread quickly through the entire 
town," a truck driver said. "The riot was not only fighting between 
Muslims and Buddhist monks, but rioters were also setting fire to 
houses,"

When the Irrawaddy contacted regional police from Hinthada, an officer 
denied any report of the riot. Media groups inside the country are also 
silent on the subject. A spokesman for a weekly journal said that they 
had heard news of the riot but had not been given permission to cover it 
in their publication.

Heavy security has been deployed near mosques and Muslim areas in 
Rangoon. A tutor from the Hlaingtharyar Technological University (HTU) 
said that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was afraid to 
interfere, worried that the direction of the violence might shift from 
Muslims to the military government.

This incident marks the fourth anti-Muslim riot in a Burmese city this 
month




   

 




___________________________________________________







Reuters: Muslim-Buddhist violence flares in Myanmar


YANGON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government has imposed a 
curfew in three cities to deter clashes between Muslims and Buddhists, 
government officials said on Wednesday. 

 ``It is true that dusk to dawn curfew was imposed in Pyi, Bago, and 
Hinthada recently to prevent religious riots after brawls between some 
Buddhist monks and Muslims,'' a Myanmar government spokesman told 
Reuters. 

 ``Local authorities and religious leaders have now straightened out the 
problem and the situation has returned to normal, but the curfew is 
still on,'' the spokesman said. 

 Myanmar citizens living along the Thai-Myanmar border told Reuters on 
Wednesday clashes between Muslims and Buddhists started in Pyi, some 290 
km (180 miles) north of Yangon, on October 8 and spread to the nearby 
cities of Bago and Hinthada. 

 They said more than 100 people were wounded and one killed in the clash 
in Pyi, but officials declined to comment on figures. 

 They said authorities in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar had banned all 
vehicles from entering Yangon after the riot in Hinthada on Sunday. 

 Sources in the towns said the riots were caused by a brawl between the 
families of a Buddhist teenager and a Muslim man she eloped with. 

 Rivalry between Buddhists and Muslims, who make up almost four percent 
of the country's 51 million people, is not uncommon in Myanmar. 

 The first clash this year was in February in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine 
State, 490 km (300 miles) northwest of Yangon. Another one took place in 
May in Taungoo, a city in Bago Division, 265 km (166 miles) north of 
Yangon. 

 Curfews were imposed for some time in both cities. Government and 
private sources said the riots were sparked by religious differences. 

 Political analysts say Myanmar authorities have been taking special 
care to prevent riots between Buddhists and Muslims since the suicide 
attacks on the United States on September 11. 

 (Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok) 









______________________MONEY________________________




Kyodo: Myanmar minister tells Tanaka Japan's aid important


TOKYO, Oct. 24 Kyodo - Myanmar National Planning and Economic 
Development Minister Soe Tha told Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on 
Wednesday that Japan's anticipated aid for rehabilitating an aging 
hydroelectric power station is crucial, a ministry official said. 



_______________________GUNS________________________




AP: Dead drug suspects toll wins police the prime minister's award 

October 24 2001

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Police in a northern Thai province who this 
year had at least 66 drug trafficking suspects die during the arrest 
process have won an award from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's 
office, a provincial police officer said Wednesday. 

 Eleven other drug suspects went missing and more than 100 others fled 
the area from January through September this year, said police Maj. Gen. 
Prachuab Wankhaikhaew, commander of the provincial police in Loei, 430 
kilometers (267 miles) north of Bangkok. 

 The criminals were all on a blacklist of 500 drug suspects, he said. 

 Prachuab denied a report in the Thai newspaper The Nation on Monday 
that his men have killed 66 suspected drug traders for resisting arrest, 
telling The Associated Press they were killed in fighting against rival 
dealers. 

 ``The figure of drug traders killed is accurate but we used the tactic 
of instigating the suspects to double-cross and kill each other,'' 
Prachuab said, implicitly denying that the suspects were victims of 
extrajudicial executions. 

 He claimed his tactics had succeeded in reducing by 80 percent the 
influx of drugs smuggled into the province from Myanmar via neighboring 
Laos. 

 Tens or hundreds of millions of methamphetamine tablets are produced in 
Myanmar and smuggled into Thailand each year. With the Thai army trying 
to seal the border with Myanmar, smugglers have tried to send the 
illegal stimulant into Thailand through Laos. 

 Prachuab said hundreds of thousands of tablets used to be smuggled into 
Loei monthly, but now the number is less than 10,000 a month. 

 Thailand considers methamphetamine trafficking and consumption to be 
such a serious problem that it considers it a threat to national 
security. 

 ``This successful tactic of drug suppression made us win the prime 
minister's award for this year,'' said Prachuab, who added that he had 
his men brief his superiors on the tactics. 

 The government denies having a shoot-on-sight policy toward drug 
traffickers, but killings at arrest scenes are not rare. 

 There is no official record of suspects shot during arrest but media 
reports indicate that more than 40 suspected drug traders were killed in 
alleged shootouts with police during the past six months, not including 
those killed in Loei. 





________________________DRUGS______________________




Xinhua: Drug Smuggler Seized in Yunnan


KUNMING, October 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police in southwest China's 
Yunnan Province have taken into custody a suspected drug smuggler from 
Myanmar believed to have trafficked narcotics in China for years. Shang 
Chaomei, 37, is a native of Tengchong County in Yunnan Province. He 
later obtained Myanmar citizenship, police said. Police reports show 
Shang smuggled 500 kg of heroin to China in the period between 1998 and 
April 2001. As Shang is now a Myanmar citizen, he will be extradited to 
Myanmar and be punished in accordance with that country's laws. Enditem
2001-10-23 Tue 10:11 










___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				




AP: Myanmar military praises United Nations, congratulates Annan

October 24, 2001

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's military leaders on Wednesday night 
congratulated U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for winning this year's 
Nobel Peace prize and reaffirmed support for the world body's efforts 
for a developed and peaceful world. 

 The ruling junta has been the frequent target of criticism from the 
United Nations and its associated agencies, which have condemned it for 
human rights abuses. 

 But the government recently has attempted to woo the international 
body, allowing two U.N. investigative missions to visit the country in 
the past month. A special U.N. representative late last year helped 
initiate a dialogue between the military and pro-democracy leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi. 

 The occasion for praising the U.N. was a ceremony at the capital's 
Parliament building marking United Nations Day. 

 ``The United Nations organization, which has traversed more than half a 
century, has managed to preserve the sacrosanct principles of the 
(U.N..'s founding) Charter, and it is most fitting that it also has been 
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with the Secretary General,'' 
said a message from junta chief Senior General Than Shwe, read by 
Foreign Minister Win Aung. 

 The government has never lavished such praise on the country's own 
Nobel peace laureate, Suu Kyi, who heads the opposition National League 
for Democracy. 

 Suu Kyi won the 1991 prize for her nonviolent work for democracy. 
Myanmar's military, which kept Suu Kyi under formal house arrest from 
1989 to 1995, refused to hand over power to the NLD after it 
overwhelmingly won a general election in 1990. After the polls, it 
harassed and arrested hundreds of NLD members. 

 Suu Kyi has again been confined to her house since September last year 
after she was blocked from traveling outside the capital to meet members 
of her party. 

 Also speaking Wednesday evening, third-ranking junta member Lt. Gen. 
Khin Nyunt reiterated Myanmar's commitment to the work of the United 
Nations and urged the world body and its agencies to support Myanmar's 
efforts to promote development. 

 Heads of U.N. relief and development agencies in Yangon appealed in 
June for increased foreign aid for Myanmar to tackle problems of 
HIV/AIDS, illicit drugs and food security. Most Western countries block 
aid to show their disapproval of the junta's poor human rights record 
and failure to hand over power to a legally-elected government.






___________________________________________________






Body of drowned German ship captain found in Malaysian waters 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ A search team found the body of a German 
ship captain believed to have fallen off his vessel and drowned off 
Malaysia's west coast, the national news agency reported Tuesday. 
 Kuttig Manfred Herbert Paul, 59, was reported lost Saturday while the 
cargo ship MV NTK was on its way from Singapore to Myanmar with a load 
of cigarettes and alcohol, Bernama news agency reported. 
 Details about his hometown in Germany were not immediately available. 
 The vessel, which had a crew of seven Myanmar citizens and one 
Indonesian, suffered engine failure Oct. 13 and had taken anchor at sea. 

 Marine authority spokesman Abdul Rahman Munap said the German's body 
was found floating about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from shore Monday and 
had been sent for a post-mortem. His widow in Singapore had been 
contacted. 







   



___________________________________________________



Bangkok Post: Senate panel to hold talks 

October 24, 2001.

Supamart Kasem 

The Senate foreign affairs panel will today hold talks with 
representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
about Burmese refugees in northern border provinces. 

Expected to be raised during the talks is a group of Burmese refugees 
who came to Thailand to flee poverty rather than unrest, said senator 
Udon Tantisunthorn. 

The planned talks have been agreed by the National Security Council's 
secretary-general Kachadpai Burusapatana, said the senator, who once 
chaired a Senate panel studying minority groups along the Thai-Burmese 
border. 

``Some refugees didn't flee from unrest. They fled from poverty. When 
they were arrested they sought shelter in the refugee camps,'' Mr Udon 
said. 

The refugees in border camps have posed problems for Thailand by 
allegedly felling trees, polluting water resources and posing health 
risks to locals, Mr Udon said. As ties with Rangoon had improved, it was 
time to talk of repatriation, he said. 




___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________




 Irrawaddy: Covering Burma and Asia--Journalists Beware

  
Vol 9. No. 7, August -September 2001


Reporting from Burma can be hazardous to your reputation, as a growing 
roster of foreign journalists is discovering.

 

by Aung Zaw

Burma is not a journalist-friendly country. 

For foreign journalists, writing about Burma is no easy task, as they 
are not welcome in this military-ruled country. Many foreign journalists 
who have been to Burma felt nervous as they learned their activities 
have been monitored by intelligence officers or informers?and in 
addition to that, some of them have been harassed.



Even after leaving the country, journalists are not safe yet. In 
Bangkok, Burma?s intelligence officials and their network are believed 
to follow the activities of journalists and, of course, check what they 
write in their respective papers, magazines or electronic media. If 
their report is not satisfactory for the intelligence officials, the 
journalists could be banned from entering Burma again for years. 

Rule number one is: Don?t be too sympathetic with the democratic 
opposition or with Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Dominic Faulder, who was the first foreign journalist to interview 
Sr-Gen Saw Maung, former chief of the State Law and Order Restoration 
Council (Slorc), now renamed the State Peace and Development Council 
(SPDC), also experienced difficulties from 1990 onwards, after he 
started reporting that the results of the elections were unlikely to be 
honored. "Up until the end of 1988, I visited anonymously and did not 
use my own byline. I had relatively good access in 1989, when I 
interviewed Saw Maung, up until Suu Kyi?s detention when I was perceived 
by some as being too sympathetic to her," he recalled.

He is now allowed to go back to Burma.

There are a few journalists who have not been allowed to enter Burma for 
more than a decade. Bertil Lintner is one of them. Lintner has written 
numerous articles and books on Burma, and is considered to be one of the 
most knowledgeable foreign journalists on Burmese affairs. The junta 
slammed him, saying his reports on Burma are groundless and based on 
wishful thinking. He is now on the blacklist, and has been barred from 
entering Burma since 1989. Does he care? Not really. "Blacklisting 
people never works," said the Swedish journalist based in Thailand.

His argument is that journalists who get blacklisted are usually very 
interested in Burma and knowledgeable about the country. Besides, they 
have a better network of sources than other journalists who parachute in 
with new contacts and almost no background. That?s the chief reason they 
are not allowed in. Blacklisted people tend to be better respected, too. 


"If anything happens inside Burma, I am usually the first foreign 
correspondent to learn about it. For instance, I was the first foreign 
journalist to learn about Aung San Suu Kyi?s release from house arrest 
in 1995, and I had the news even before the diplomats in Rangoon knew 
what had happened," Lintner said.

However, some journalists working for news services or international or 
regional magazines do not want to rock the boat. They would rather 
compromise and be quiet or at least careful in order to get a visa.

Some less well-known freelance journalists apply for tourist visas to 
enter Burma, while others want to keep steady relations with some 
high-ranking officials in the intelligence service. Of course, it is 
helpful to have friends there, as incentives are also involved. Some 
officers at the intelligence service can be very cooperative. 

Col Kyaw Thein, Maj-Gen Kyaw Win, Col Thein Swe and Lt-Col Hla Min are 
favorites among foreign journalists. "They are interesting people. They 
speak English very well, and are well-educated," said a Western 
journalist based in Bangkok. What else? "They are hard-line, too," the 
foreign journalist told this correspondent at a coffee shop in Silom 
Road, looking around as if someone was monitoring the conversation. 

Megumi Niwano, a Japanese journalist working for a TV station in Tokyo, 
recalled that she applied for a visa several years ago but was denied. 
Yet she did not give up, and went to see Col Thein Swe, who was then a 
military attach? in Bangkok.

"I was surprised that I was denied the visa, because I had done nothing 
wrong," the Japanese journalist said. But Col Thein Swe thought 
differently. Upon meeting her in his office, Col Thein Swe told her that 
she had met some Burmese dissidents in Bangkok. The military attach?, 
now in charge of the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS), told her 
bluntly: "I know you have met Aung Zaw [this correspondent] and a few 
other activists. They are no good for our country." 

It is still a mystery how he found out about Niwano?s appointments and 
meetings. It is, in fact, normal for reporters to meet with fellow 
journalists to find new sources of information. 

In any case, in recent years, some journalists in Bangkok have found 
that it is getting a bit easier to obtain a visa.

According to Denis Gray, who is now the Associated Press bureau chief in 
Bangkok, "Visas to Burma are still not that easy to get, but certainly 
easier than they were a few years ago."

The AP bureau chief was not able to gain entry into the country for 
several years, then at the beginning of this year he was given a visa, 
but not without a problem. 

"My only frustration and problem on that trip was the short length of 
the visa?seven days," said Gray. "Otherwise we?a photographer and 
myself?had no problems."

He added that he did not believe his movements had been monitored either 
in Rangoon or upcountry. "We moved about independently, without any 
government guide or escort. We rented a car through a private tour 
company. We were asked about our itinerary prior to arrival but we 
decided where we would go and this was accepted. We spent several days 
in the area about half way between Rangoon and Mandalay and the rest of 
the time in Rangoon itself." 



Upon returning from his trip, he produced both "tough stories" like one 
on education, and softer features, like a story on elephant logging. "We 
were not told what to write or not write on that trip. The decision on 
what we write about Burma is dictated by our own thinking and planning, 
and certainly not on whether we will be granted a visa in the future," 
the AP bureau chief said. 

For some journalists, applying for a visa is even less of a challenge. 

According to Lintner, "It?s also worth noting that if a certain writer 
gets a visa to Burma more than once, almost everyone thinks there?s 
something fishy going on, or that that writer is being used. That, in 
turn, affects that writer?s reputation." 

Some writers who were allowed into Burma several times lost the trust of 
journalist friends. This is a high price to pay for stories that are 
often very superficial or just plain bad.

Dominic Faulder, a well-known photographer and journalist who works for 
the Hong Kong-based Asiaweek magazine, noted that visa restrictions are 
much less stringent when the regime is looking for publicity: "Visas are 
given out freely when there is a propaganda trip for, say, a narcotics 
eradication program."

Faulder said that he recently turned down an invitation from the junta. 
"I was invited not so long ago by military intelligence, but declined 
because I could not get advance confirmation about whom I would get to 
see on the government side. This is very important to me. I do not want 
to be used as a propaganda tool??Well, we let Dominic in only last 
month??if the visit isn?t likely to yield anything worthwhile." 

He added that, "All known journalists are under surveillance, and their 
writings are carefully scrutinized."

"All known journalists" includes a handful of journalists who have been 
writing accommodating stories in the international press.

According to a high-ranking Burmese official, who is now based in a 
Western country, the military regime is impressed with some foreign 
journalists and their stories on Burma. The Burmese official reportedly 
confided to a guest, "We like Roger Mitton, Stephen Brookes and Martin 
Smith. Their writings are fair and well-balanced." 

Roger Mitton, who now writes for Asiaweek magazine, is frequently 
criticized for writing stories that are seen to be pro-junta, and has 
lately been predicting a historic political agreement between the 
military junta and NLD leaders. His recent know-it-all stories have 
raised eyebrows among Burmese and Burma watchers, and stirred strong 
feelings.


 

Many serious Burmese watchers question Mitton?s understanding of Burma 
and his analysis of the current situation. Donald M. Seekins, a 
professor of Burmese history at Meio University in Japan, said recently, 
"Mitton has been advertising for the junta." 

Inside Burma, respected journalists and writers who have seen Mitton?s 
pieces joke about his stories. "Mitton seems to have a spy network 
everywhere in Burma," quipped U Sein Win. "He is a laughing stock among 
us?if you are bored with politics in Burma, you will be amused (reading 
Mitton?s stories). His inside stories are very entertaining," the 
respected journalist in Rangoon said. 

But junta officials appear to be pleased with his "entertaining 
stories." Mitton has been allowed in and out of Burma many times, and 
some high-ranking officials, including the junta?s powerful Secretary 
One Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, have given him exclusive interviews. 

Martin Smith, who has written several reports and books on Burma, was 
also allowed into the country recently. However, his reputation is still 
largely intact, as he has long been highly regarded as an authority on 
Burma. Stephen Brookes, who used to work for the defunct Asia Times 
newspaper and was the only foreign journalist with regular access to 
Rangoon for several years, has less impressive Burma credentials. His 
stance is clear: The evils are not so bad. Brookes? articles sometimes 
appear in The Myanmar Times, edited by Ross Dunkley, an Australian now 
based in Rangoon. Dunkley is also dependent on the junta?s favour, 
without which it would be totally impossible to run a newspaper in 
Rangoon.

Lintner thinks the military intelligence must have discovered that 
Mitton knows nothing about Burma, and therefore decided that he would be 
easy to manipulate. "Neither Mitton?s nor Smith?s reports are objective 
and fair. Mitton?s reports reflect his ignorance and are simply bad 
journalism," said Lintner. The Swedish journalist thinks that Mitton?s 
failure to do his homework has backfired badly, leaving his reputation 
in tatters. He adds that Mitton?s credibility among diplomats and 
serious journalists is zero. 

Lintner believes that Smith has also been manipulated by the government 
to drive a wedge between him, as a well-known writer on Burmese affairs, 
and others. "So, in a way, that?s ?divide and rule? or rather, 
?manipulate and divide?," he said.

Both Mitton and Smith were contacted for this article, but failed to 
reply to email queries.

Though divided, many foreign journalists covering Burma can agree on one 
thing?Burma is tightly controlled and the military government makes a 
poor presentation of its case. In 1996, high-ranking intelligence 
officials led by Kyaw Thein and Kyaw Win launched a "meet-the-press" 
campaign, holding official press conferences every month. That did not 
last long, as many activists, writers and students in Rangoon tried to 
establish contacts with foreign journalists who have no hesitation to 
flock into the capital. 

Subsequently, students from Rangoon University staged a daring street 
protest under the eyes of the international press. Indeed, more critical 
stories appeared in regional papers, and the "meet-the-press" campaign 
was abruptly cancelled.

"It is the government that has things to say at the moment, but they are 
very poor at presenting their case. This is one of the reasons why Suu 
Kyi shines above them with such ease. On the NLD side, there is not a 
lot new to be said, and on that basis visits from people like me can 
cause more problems than are justified by the results they produce," 
Faulder said.

At the moment, the junta may be winning the game, keeping journalists at 
bay. "Once we are in Burma, we are careful about meeting with activists, 
opposition members and ordinary people," said a Western radio journalist 
in Bangkok. Indeed, simply contacting ordinary Burmese would put them at 
high risk. In the past and until now, some Burmese have been thrown into 
jail after being accused of meeting and giving "distorted" information 
to foreign journalists. 

Lintner has had some unpleasant experiences. Ronald Chan Htun, also 
known as Ye Htoon, was picked up, had his teeth kicked out and was given 
a lengthy jail sentence in 1990. The crime, according to the junta, was 
that he had met Bertil and provided him with information. He is also 
accused of being a ghostwriter for Outrage, a book authored by Lintner. 

But Lintner has a different version of the story: "Although I met Ye 
Htoon in Rangoon in April 1989, he was never one of my sources." He 
continued: "It?s safer for everybody if I meet the people who can leave 
the country here in Thailand, and that I communicate with others in a 
safer way than meeting face to face under MI surveillance in a Rangoon 
teashop." [Top]





___________________________________________________





Xinhua: Myanmar Calls On U.N. To Support Developing Countries

YANGON, October 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar leader Lieutenant- General Khin 
Nyunt Wednesday evening called on the United Nations to support 
developing countries to achieve their development objectives in the 
rapidly globalizing world. Khin Nyunt, First Secretary of the Myanmar 
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), made the call at a ceremony 
here marking the 56th anniversary of the U.N. Day. Warning that the 
financing for development is a critical issue, he said, "Without the 
needed financial resources, these countries will continue to face 
hurdles in the elimination of poverty and the promotion of economic and 
social equity". He called for reform of the Security Council, saying 
that these efforts will not be effective without the meaningful reform 
of the council. 

Accessing the achievements made by the U.N. throughout its history, he 
said the organization registered more success stories than setbacks, and 
it "has withstood the test of times and proven beyond doubt its 
significance as an instrument of global cooperation for the common 
good". He said his country has consistently upheld the purposes and 
principles of the U.N. Charter and cooperated with the organization. 

Meanwhile, a message of Myanmar SPDC Chairman Senior-General Than Shwe 
on the occasion emphasized that the problems of this time are so complex 
that no one country is capable of resolving them on its own, saying that 
the problems can be solved effectively only through cooperation, 
partnership and burden sharing.









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