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BurmaNet News: November 16, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
          November 16, 2001   Issue # 1921
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*Reuters: Myanmar shake-up probably largely cosmetic
*Arakan News Agency  News Release: Military Junta planning to Establish 
more Settlers? Villages in North Arakan 
*Shan Human Rights Foundation: ILO met relatives of murdered forced 
labor complainants, claims Shan human rights activist
*AP: Myanmar to keep lucky white elephant near Buddhist shrine in Yangon

MONEY _______
*Info Birmanie: Burma : TotalFinaElf comes out of wood under the fire of 
ONGs to the European Parliament
*Irrawaddy Online: Military Shakeup Hits Business Community 
*Xinhua: Thai Trade Exhibition to Be Held in Myanmar 

GUNS______
*BBC: Burma moves against Indian separatists
*Network Media Group: More than one thousand China made weapons 
confiscated on Indo-Burma border 

DRUGS______
*Far Eastern Economic Review: Heroin Traffickers Take To The Sea
*DVB: Burmese authorities raid opium refinery in Kokang, Shan States 
Burmese authorities raid opium refinery in Kokang, Shan States 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Myanmar's military leader congratulates new Bangladesh President 
Chowdhury 



					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________





Reuters: Myanmar shake-up probably largely cosmetic

By Dan Eaton 

 BANGKOK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military is undergoing its 
biggest shake-up since the ruling council was formed four years ago, but 
the changes are unlikely to mean a shift in policy towards the 
pro-democracy opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. 
 The upheavals resemble changes in 1997, when the ruling State Law and 
Order Restoration Council reconstituted itself and became the State 
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in a bid to present itself in a new 
light to the world. 

 Within the last week, Myanmar has reassigned 10 out of 12 of its 
powerful regional commanders to the capital and ousted seven other 
generals -- including the junta's fourth ranking officer, sources in the 
military told Reuters. 

 But the SPDC's three most powerful men -- Chairman Than Shwe, Vice 
Chairman and army chief Maung Aye, and Secretary One and intelligence 
chief Khin Nyunt -- remain firmly in place. 

 The two most senior generals fired last Friday -- Win Myint, number 
four in the SPDC and head of the Myanmar Economic Holdings Company, and 
Lieutenant General Tin Hla, head of the Myanmar Economic Corporation -- 
had close ties to the private sector. 

 Diplomats noted the pair's political demise coincided with Than Shwe's 
return from the most recent Association of South East Asian Nations 
meeting in Brunei where he met regional allies, including Malaysia's 
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. 

 The government has been silent on its reasons for the shake-up, but 
political insiders proclaim they are part of a major house-cleaning 
operation. 

 ``The recent changes were merely a beginning,'' a retired government 
official who asked not to be identified told Reuters. 

 ``Taking action against those who are guilty. Allowing those who are 
old to retire and promoting those who deserve promotion. And modernising 
the armed forces.'' 
 However, many observers remain deeply sceptical. 

 ``Everyone is corrupt. Every time someone is sacked corruption is used 
as an excuse,'' said Bertil Lintner, an author and veteran 
Myanmar-watcher who lives in neighbouring Thailand. 

 Another Myanmar analyst based overseas who makes regular visits to the 
country said the changes may be part of a bid by the cash-starved SPDC 
to revamp its image to please its regional allies and attract 
much-needed aid and investment. 
 ``They have been expecting changes since Than Shwe came back from the 
ASEAN meeting in Brunei last week,'' he said. ``They want to improve 
their image to get some foreign aid.'' 
 A number of Western countries -- including the United States and Europe 
-- have sanctions on Myanmar, saying they want a transition to democracy 
and accusing the military of widespread human rights abuses. 

 Whatever the reasons for the changes, analysts and the opposition agree 
that they will mean little for talks between the military and Nobel 
prize winner Suu Kyi's opposition, which are in their 13th month and 
appear to be going nowhere. 

 Asked if he thought the changes would have any impact on domestic 
politics, the secretary general of Suu Kyi's National League for 
Democracy, U Lwin, told Reuters: ``No, I don't think so...So I don't 
expect much from it.'' 

 Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections by a landslide but was never 
allowed to govern, has been under virtual house arrest for more than a 
year. 
 U.N. special envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail will return to Myanmar this 
month for a fifth time since April last year in a fresh bid to end the 
political stalemate. 

 But observers say little progress has been made and many accuse the 
military of negotiating in bad faith, simply to gain concessions from 
the international community. 

 A former military officer put it bluntly: ``No matter what it is called 
and who belongs to (the SPDC), it will be just like the same jockey on a 
new horse or the same wine in a new bottle until the three top ones 
change their policy,'' he told Reuters. 

 (With additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in Yangon)  




__________________________________________________




Arakan News Agency  News Release: Military Junta planning to Establish 
more Settlers? Villages in North Arakan  
 
By our special Correspondent
 
Maungdaw, Nov. 16: The Burmese military junta is preparing to establish 
more settlers? villages in the Muslim majority border areas of north 
Arakan in this dry season. Instructions have already been sent to local 
authorities to make necessary arrangements in this regard.  

So far 33 settlers? colonies, dubbed as model villages, have been 
established under Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on the lands 
confiscated from the Muslims. The settlers constitute ethnic Burman, 
Rakhine and some hill tribes from Arakan Hill Tracts and eastern Burma 
who have been provided with readymade houses, farm lands, bullocks and 
carts, free ration for more than one year and free labour of Muslim 
forced labourers.  

Although the above settlements are established in the border areas they 
are not under the control of Na Sa Ka (border security force) like 
Muslim villages. They are under the control of the Headquarters of 
Military Intelligence under Western military command and Township Peace 
and Development Council, Buthidaung. These new settlers have been 
indulging in various crimes against Muslim villagers like picking up 
quarrels, beating Muslims, lifting cows and encouraging social evils 
with Na Sa Ka having no power to take any action against their excesses. 
 

Meanwhile, the Na Sa Ka has imposed another strange formality on Muslim 
women who become pregnant. They have not only to report about their 
pregnancy but their bellies are made bare and photos taken at different 
stages of pregnancy. This latest action by the Na Sa Ka is regarded by 
Muslim inhabitants as intentional humiliation of Muslim women.  

Executive Editor
Arakan News Agency
 

 


___________________________________________________




Shan Human Rights Foundation: ILO met relatives of murdered forced labor 
complainants, claims Shan human rights activist





ILO met relatives of murdered forced labor complainants, claims Shan 
human  rights activist


In response to recent exchange of communications between the high level  
team from the International Labor Organization that was in Burma lately 
and  Burma's powerful intelligence chief concerning the July killings of 
7  villagers who had complained to the authorities on the still 
widespread  forced labor despite official banning of the practice, a 
spokesperson for  the Shan Human Rights Foundation maintained that the 
fact-finders had met  the victims' relatives and interviewed them 
themselves.

"We were not even allowed to say anything that we thought might be 
useful  for their investigations during their interviews," said the 
member of the  SHRF that has for 4 years been producing monthly reports 
on human rights  situation in the Shan State. "The guys bluntly told us 
they knew how to do  their job."

Sir Ninian Stephen, Chairman of the ILO High-level Team that was in 
Burma  from 17 September-6 October, had communicated to senior General 
Than Shwe  on 13 October on the killings of 7 villagers in Mongnai, 
southern Shan  State, on 14 July, three days after they had lodged 
complaints to the  Eastern Region Command about the continued use of 
forced labor in the area.  The reply by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, while 
assuring the ILO that he would make  "a thorough investigation of the 
matter" added that the SHRF "is nothing  more than a front for 
anti-government insurgents that are operating from  the US," led by Khun 
Kya Oo, "who is now residing in the US." Khun Kya Oo  died in Thailand 
on 29 November 1997.

The SHRF member, who had requested anonymity citing security reasons,  
laughingly said, "I have only this to say concerning his 
counter-allegations: Dear General Khin Nyunt, please check your facts." 
"Rangoon authorities," he continued, "should now have known better that 
the  ILO team would not have written that letter unless they had made 
their own  inquiries."

Sir Stephen reported on 7 November that forced labor still prevailed in  
Burma, especially in the non-Burman areas, despite legislation. 



___________________________________________________



AP: Myanmar to keep lucky white elephant near Buddhist shrine in Yangon


Nov. 15, 2001

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ A rare white elephant found in the jungles of 
western Myanmar will be kept near a government-sponsored Buddhist shrine 
in Yangon, official press reported Thursday. 

 It will be housed, at least temporarily, in a big open shed at 
Mindhanmma Hill, where the ruling military regime has erected a huge 
marble Buddha image to boost its religious credentials. 

 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, the country's third-ranking general, has inspected 
the construction of the temporary ``White Elephant Hall'' at the hill, 
the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. 

 The ``emergence'' of the eight-year old bull elephant bodes well for 
the government's efforts to build a peaceful, modern and developed 
nation, the report said. 

 A state forestry enterprise official, speaking on condition of 
anonymity, told The Associated Press that the elephant was due to arrive 
by a forestry department truck in Yangon Thursday. It was not clear how 
long the elephant would be kept at the hill. 
 The elephant was captured in deep forest in western Rakhine State, 550 
kilometers (340 miles) northwest of the capital, in late October. The 
find was reported in the state-run media with great fanfare last week. 

 White elephants have been revered for centuries in Southeast Asia and 
seen as a symbol of kingship in Myanmar _ also known as Burma _ Thailand 
and Laos. They are not actually white and look much the same as other 
elephants except for certain features such as fair eyelashes and 
toenails, light colored hair or reddish hue of the skin. 

 A war between the kings in Myanmar and Thailand was fought in the 16th 
century over disputed ownership of four white elephants. 
 







______________________MONEY________________________



Info Birmanie: Burma : TotalFinaElf comes out of wood under the fire of 
ONGs to the European Parliament

GHEHIOUECHE Farid

WORLD SOCIAL


For the second consecutive year, the Development and Co-operation 
Commission of the European Parliament organized a public audition on the 
codes of conduct within companies. With the agenda, investments of 
TotalFinalElf and Premier Oil in Burma - construction and maintenance of 
gas pipelines on the burmese territory. The oil companies, a 
representative of ILO (International Labour Organization) as well as a 
representative of the civil society, the ONG Earth Rights International, 
were invited to express itself on the question. " We maintain the 
allegations of violations of the Human rights and of labour forced in 
Burma, declares Marco Simons, spokeperson of Earth Rights and author of 
a recent report (August 2001), collection of testimonys birmans, and 
this, within the framework of activities of security, maintenance of 
roads and monitoring of the installations related to the investments of 
the oil companies ". " I refuted all these allegations, explains 
Jean-Pierre Cordier, president of the ethical Committee of TotalFinaElf, 
joint by telephone the shortly after hearing, I return from Burma. 
During three days, I walked in the accused zone. I saw there hospitals, 
doctors, farms, schools. We make the point that our investments in Burma 
bring a very positive role for the wellbeing of the local populations in 
a zone where there was nothing front. "

Concerning legitimated and the indirect support granted to the burmese 
dictatorship, Jean-Pierre Cordier declares: "TotalFinaElf is an 
industrialist and, as such, does not have to replace for the 
international organizations type UNO, or the State (France, to which it 
is amenable) to consider an eligible character of a country for its 
investment. 

We have neither legitimacy, nor competence to give an opinion on the 
action of the States in which we work. Ethically, we wil never intervene 
in a country put at the bank of the international Community and if we do 
not have any latitude to act in an ethical way with our personnel. In 
Burma, we maintain a dialogue with the political authorities and, within 
the framework of a project, in collaboration with Premier Oil, we 
organized, under the control the international Red Cross, some workshops 
on the Humans Rights to Yangon, even the head of the Police took part of 
it. Ethically, our presence is rather good. One would need 200 companies 
like us in Burma. We preach the reverse of the boycott in which I do not 
believe besides, because it is a barrier to the evolutions and night 
primarily with the populations concerned. " For recall, the consortium 
of exploitation carried out by TotalFinaElf A invests around a billion 
dollar since 1995 in Burma. In a common press release, the international 
Federation of the leagues of the humans right and Actions Burma recall 
that elected officials of the League National for democracy (NLD), 
winners with the elections of 1990 with more than 80% of the seats ask 
for the stop of any investment in Burma and the introduction of economic 
sanctions with respect to the military mode birman. 

A call ever heard to date by the international Community, even if ILO in 
an adopted on November 30 2000, but nonconstraining resolution, " 
enjoint the whole of the governments, international organizations and 
companies deprived to re-examine their relationships to the mode birman 
because of the systematic recourse to the forced labour ". " the 
situation birmane is almost identical to that which prevailed of the 
time of apartheid in South Africa, explains an active member of Burma 
Actions, who more is for companies as TotalFinaElf which say to fall 
under a constructive liberalism. Unfortunately in Burma, liberalism is 
limited to the monopoly of the military junta in place and very 
undertaken wishing to invest must fall under its logic ". 



___________________________________________________



Irrawaddy Online: Military Shakeup Hits Business Community 


By Ko Thet

November 15, 2001?Just days after the Burmese government sacked two 
leading generals, one of the country's largest construction companies 
has filed bankruptcy, according to a business source located in Rangoon. 
The Ping Long Htake Htar Construction Company (PLHHCC) declared 
bankruptcy on Tuesday in Rangoon.  
PLHHCC gave no reason as to why it declared bankruptcy but analysts 
believe it is the company's direct link to recently fired Lt-Gen Win 
Myint, one of the company's largest shareholders. The company is also 
connected to other businesses with ties to Win Myint, according to the 
source. 

The sudden bankruptcy has shocked the entire Burmese business community 
due to the PLHHCC's dominating reputation in Burma. Business analysts 
could not identify any evidence of financial problems within the 
company.  

Sunny Thwin, Managing Director of PLHHCC, told the Myanmar Times Journal 
in August that the company had not been affected by the 1998 downturn in 
Burma's real estate market and had not halted any of its current 
operations. He went on to say that business has been strong despite the 
gradual rise in real estate prices.  

In 1997, shortly after General Tun Kyi and Kyaw Ba were sacked, the 
government confiscated their properties and took action against all 
businesses with ties to the generals.  

Mr Sermchai praised the government for strengthening Thailand's 
relationship with neighbours Burma, Laos and China. 

China's consulate-general to Chiang Mai met Mr Sermchai and chamber of 
commerce members yesterday to discuss cross-border trade. 

Meanwhile, Khon Kaen's chamber of commerce head Prayoon Angsanan said 
Khon Kaen should be turned into a gateway to Indochina as well as a 
``warehouse province'' for sending goods to neighbouring countries. 

To ease environmental problems, he said, construction of factories on 
main roads should be barred. 

To attract investment to the provinces, local employment should be 
promoted and basic infrastructure developed.  

To shore up the real estate sector, taxes should be cut and incentives 
offered. 

Superstores with branches in the provinces should be asked to pay local 
taxes so that local communities would benefit, Mr Prayoon said. 

Excessive borrowing from the People's Bank and a lack of knowledge among 
villagers about accounting under the One Tambon One Product project 
would also be raised. 





___________________________________________________





Xinhua: Thai Trade Exhibition to Be Held in Myanmar  


YANGON, Nov 15, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A Thai trade exhibition will 
be held here from November 29 to December 2, aimed at promoting Thai 
products in Myanmar and enhancing the trade and investment between the 
two countries. 
The Thailand Exhibition 2001, organized by the Department of Export 
Promotion of the Thai Commerce Ministry (DEPTCM) in cooperation with its 
Myanmar counterpart, will be the fourth of its kind held in Myanmar, 
Thai Ambassador to Myanmar Oum Maolanon said at a press conference 
Thursday.

The exhibition will feature export products from 127 prominent Thai 
manufacturing and exporting companies covering auto parts and 
accessories, vehicles, chemical products, construction material and 
hardware, cosmetic, electrical products, food, garment and textile 
products and machinery. 

>From next year, the DEPTCM is planning to hold the Thailand Trade 
Exhibition twice a year in Myanmar, he disclosed.

The first, second and third trade exhibitions were respectively held 
here in December 1998, 1999 and 2000.

According to official statistics, Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade, 
including the border trade, in the first eight months of this year 
amounted to 648.89 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 17.69 percent of 
Myanmar's total foreign trade in the same period, with Thailand standing 
as Myanmar's largest trading partner.



_______________________GUNS________________________




BBC: Burma moves against Indian separatists

BBC,Thursday, 15 November, 2001, 17:46 GMT

By Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta

More than 200 separatist rebels from India¿s north-eastern state of 
Manipur have been arrested in counter-insurgency operations by the 
Burmese army. 
The Burmese army started operations in a wide stretch of territory 
bordering India's Manipur state last month.

Last week, they overran three Manipuri separatist camps.

Three more have fallen to Burmese troops so far this week. 
Leaders captured

The Inspector-General of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) Manipur, 
Mr P.K.Mishra, told journalists that the Burmese have now informed them 
of the progress of the operations.

Mr Mishra said more than 200 guerrillas of three separatist groups in 
Manipur, including seven of their leaders, have so far been arrested. 
They includes the chairman of Manipur's largest separatist group, the 
United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Rajkumar Meghen.

The UNLF's General Secretary, Khaidem Hamedou, its women wing chief, 
Nganbi Devi, and the chairman of a smaller Manipuri separatist group, 
the Kangleipak Communist Party, Th.Sanachou, have also been arrested. 
Mr Mishra said more than 1,600 weapons, including Chinese-made assault 
rifles, mortars, machine guns and rocket launchers, have been recovered 
from these six rebel camps.

Large quantities of gold and gems worth millions of rupees and several 
printing machines producing fake Indian and foreign currencies have also 
been recovered, he said.

Military officials say never before have so many weapons been seized 
during one single operation from any rebel group anywhere in the 
country. 
Burma and India agreed this year to coordinate military operations 
against separatist armies operating on the nearly 1,500 kilometres of 
border they share.



___________________________________________________







Network Media Group: More than one thousand China made weapons 
confiscated on Indo-Burma border 

More than 30 people arrested 

Chiang Mai, November 14, 2001 
Burma Army confiscated more than 1,400 China made assorted rifles, 
rocket launchers and other weapons between November 2 and 6 at the 
Indo-Burma border town of Tamu, according to the leaked report of Tamu 
Township Peace and Development Council.  

On early morning of November 3, soldiers from Infantry Battalion (87) 
together with police and anti-drug personnel surrounded two houses at 
Myoma Quarters in Tamu and searched. The security personnel found more 
than 380 different kinds of guns in the cave under the house of a 
Manipuri man with Burmese name Khin Maung Aye, the report stated.  

Similarly, the security personnel found six guns, two rocket launchers, 
Indian Rupee 3 million and two boxes of gold plates on the ceiling of 
the house of another Manipuri man with Burmese name Min Theik.  

On November 4, the search continued to the house of another Manipuri man 
with Burmese name Htun Naung and the security personnel found another 
more than five hundred weapons, mentioned in the report of Tamu Township 
Peace and Development Council.  

On November 5, Burma Army seized hundreds of weapons from a house of two 
Manipuri women in Sandaku quarter at Tamu, mentioned in the report.  

The total number of the weapons seized is more than 1,400, Tamu TPDC 
report stated.  
The arrests were started after the security guards found two Manipuri 
people with guns on motorbikes on the way between Kalay and Tamu on 
November 2, a source from Moreh said to NMG.  

The border between Tamu and Moreh was temporarily closed for one week 
started from the evening of November 3, said a man from Moreh who does 
not want to mention his name on telephone interview with NMG.  

The commander of North-Eastern Command, Brigadier General Soe Win and 
Regional Military Command (Kalay) commander Brigadier Khin Maung Aye 
arrived Tamu and inspected the seized weapons on November 4, said a 
source from Indo-Burma border.  
"We also got the information on the weapon seizure in Tamu and we learnt 
that these weapons were own by four different Indian insurgence groups 
based in Manipur State. 

The names of the groups are United National Liberation Front (UNLF), 
Manipur People's Army (MPA), Revolutionary People Front (RPF) and People 
Liberation Army (PLA)," said a Burmese opposition leader from Indo-Burma 
border on an interview with NMG.  

"Burmese Intelligence allowed the underground troops of India before and 
Burmese made an arrest on them after several meetings with Indian Army," 
he continued.  
In another message received by NMG, Colonel Sann Pwint, General Staff 
Officer 1 from the office of the Directorate of Defense Services 
Intelligence (DDSI), arrived Tamu and met with the officers from 
Military Intelligence number 17 and gave instruction concerning with the 
events.  

According to another source in Moreh, NMG learnt that the military 
intelligence were not among the security personnel who made the arrests. 
 

One residence from Moreh said that these Manipuri were allowed to live 
with the permission of Burmese military intelligence at Tamu and the 
seizure of the weapons occurred during the duty change of the head of 
the intelligence number 17, duty change between captain Moe Sein and 
Captain Soe Win Aung.  

The border between Tamu and Moreh was reopened on November 10. 





________________________DRUGS______________________




Far Eastern Economic Review: Heroin Traffickers Take To The Sea


FEER, Issue cover-dated November 22, 2001

    An apparent increase in heroin shipments using Thai waters has local 
intelligence officials worried. As one senior official points out, 
heroin from Burma is normally smuggled overland through Thailand and 
other neighbouring countries on its way to mainly Western markets. But 
drug traffickers have recently been using sea routes as well.

    The official says a vessel leaving Burmese shores and passing 
through Thai waters in early November was thought to have carried 100 
kilograms of heroin on its way south to Malaysia or Singapore.

    But the traffickers evaded interception by handing the cargo over 
first to a Thai fishing vessel and then to a speedboat which disappeared 
south. "This is one of the routes that worries us, because they use our 
waters and it's difficult to stop them," says the official.


__________________________________________________




DVB: Burmese authorities raid opium refinery in Kokang, Shan States 
Burmese authorities raid opium refinery in Kokang, Shan States 

Text of report by Democratic Voice of Burma on 13 November 

A combined team consisting members of the SPDC authority raided an opium 
refinery in Laukkai, a town in Kokang Special Region-1, Northern Shan 
States on 6 November. The refinery was in the centre of Laukkai, near 
SPDC field teams which were working on development tasks in the region.  


The raid was launched under the order of SPDC Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin 
Nyunt. The Chinese authorities had pressures for this during the October 
session of China-Burma joint narcotic drugs eradication programme. The 
Chinese representative gave the exact location of the refinery to the 
Burmese representative and stated that the drugs produced at the 
refinery were smuggled into China.  

Four Chinese-Kokang nationals, processed heroin, stimulant tablets, 
chemicals used in processing drugs, and machinery were seized during the 
raid. The refinery was owned by the Kokang cease-fire group and was run 
openly in the centre of the town with the permission of the security 
officer of the regional control command, Brig-Gen Zaw Win.  

The two deputy chairmen of the Kokang cease-fire group U Pai Sup Sin and 
U Lu Jon Sin denied they were owners of the refinery and said the real 
owner was U Kyo Sun Tint who lived outside Laukkai.  

The refinery raid was taped on video by the departmental head of Drug 
Abuse Control Board of Kunming, Yunnan Province. The SPDC news 
department reported on the raid on Friday but not in detail.  

Laukkai is one of the towns under the control of Wa military unit. The 
AP news agency reported on Friday [9 November] that the Thai Drug Abuse 
Control Board delegation toured the Wa region, especially the Mong Yawn 
region which was well known for drug production. The delegation met Wa 
national leader Pauk Yu Ri and discussed the eradication of narcotics 
and development and prosperity programme for Wa nationals. The 
delegation also inspected cultivation and domestic breeding farms of the 
Wa people in Mong Yawn region. The Thai delegation arrived in Rangoon on 
Monday and discussions drug eradication and implementation of 
development tasks at Mong Yawn in Wa region with the SPDC.  

AP news revealed Thai Drug Abuse Control Board consisted of seven 
representatives headed by Kitti Limchaikit.  

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 13 Nov 01 



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



AFP: Myanmar's military leader congratulates new Bangladesh President 
Chowdhury 


BANGKOK, Nov 15 (AFP) - Myanmar's military leader on Thursday 
congratulated Badruddoza Chowdhury on becoming the new Bangladesh's 
president, state-run Myanmar media reported. 

 Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC) -- the official name of the ruling military junta -- sent 
a message of congratulation to the new president, Radio Yangon said in a 
dispatch monitored here. 

 The report gave no further details of the message. 

 Chowdhury was sworn-in on Wednesday by Chief Justice Mahmudul Amin 
Chowdhury in the presence of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. 

 He succeeded president Shahabuddin Ahmed who had completed his 
five-year term. 





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