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BurmaNet News: November 24, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
          November 24, 2001   Issue # 1926 
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: State council reorganization said to enhance talks with Suu Kyi 
State council reorganization said to enhance talks with Suu Kyi 
*AFP: Myanmar gets pumped up for Mr. Universe Contest in Yangon 
*Arakan News Agency  News Release: Military junta forcing Muslims to 
flee

MONEY _______
*Straits Times (Singapore) : Panic selling of big kyat notes in Myanmar 
*Xinhua: Myanmar To Hold Annual Gems Emporium

GUNS______
*The Indian Express: On Pak request, Burma lets in 2 nuke experts
*AP: Relief group: Myanmar army attacking resettled villagers 
*DVB: SPDC holding secret talks with armed groups

DRUGS______
*DVB: Wa cease-fire group suspends road construction near China border 
Wa cease-fire group suspends road construction near China border 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: God's Army twins afraid to resettle in US 
*Reuters: UN seeks more progress in Myanmar democracy talks
*Xinhua: U.N. Envoy to Visit Myanmar
*Xinhua: Japanese Company Donates Instruments to Myanmar

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Irrawaddy: Ms Ma Thanegi's Rules of Good Political Etiquette 

OTHER______
*Manly Daily (UK): (Book Review) Author's plea for democracy battle 


					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



DVB: State council reorganization said to enhance talks with Suu Kyi 
State council reorganization said to enhance talks with Suu Kyi 


Text of report by Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) on 17 November 

The Burmese Military Intelligence today disclosed that the positions 
left  vacant by the dismissal of [State Peace and Development Council, 
SPDC]  Secretary-3 Lt-Gen Win Myint, and [SPDC] Secretary-2 Lt-Gen Tin 
Oo, who  died in a helicopter crash, will not be filled and the SPDC 
will be managed  by a troika of top three generals. 

The disclosure was made by Maj-Gen Kyaw Win, deputy chief of Military  
Intelligence, at a press conference held in Rangoon this morning. The  
troika mentioned by Maj-Gen Kyaw Win is SPDC Chairman Sr Gen Than Shwe,  
SPDC Vice-Chairman Gen Maung Aye, and SPDC Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin 
Nyunt.  At the same time Maj-Gen Kyaw Win admitted that 10 regional 
commanders were  relieved from their positions and recalled to Rangoon. 
He told the  correspondents that it was simply a measure to inject young 
blood into the  Defence Ministry and the regional commanders' positions 
will be filled by  divisional commanders. 

When asked about the detention of Lt-Gen Win Myint and Lt-Gen Tin Hla  
[dismissed deputy prime minister] he replied that they are still under  
interrogation. When he was asked whether the changes in the SPDC would  
affect the ongoing talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he answered that the 
 changes would not affect the talks but would enhance it instead. That 
was  from the press conference held in Rangoon and reported by various 
news  agencies. 

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 17 Nov 01 





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AFP: Myanmar gets pumped up for Mr. Universe Contest in Yangon 


YANGON, Nov 23 (AFP) - Myanmar has pinned its hopes on eight 
muscle-bound bodybuilders to claim gold medals in the 55th Mr. Universe 
Contest to be held here from November 25 to 26, a sports official said 
Friday. 

 "We have made a final selection of eight body builders who will 
participate in four events," Myanmar coach Than Swe was quoted as saying 
in a report. "We are hoping to get a couple of golds in the 60 and 65 
kilo classes." 

 Some 150 bodybuilders from 63 countries are expected to take part in 
the prestigious international event, which military-ruled Myanmar is 
hosting for the first time, organisers told AFP. 

 Featuring finely-toned athletes, the Mr. Universe Contest was sponsored 
by the International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB) and organised by 
the Myanmar Body Building Federation, they added. 

 Competitors arriving for the event formally known as the 55th World 
Amateur Men's Bodybuilding Championships and International Congress were 
scheduled to tour Yangon Friday before registering and undergoing drug 
tests. 






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Arakan News Agency  News Release: Military junta forcing Muslims to flee

20. 10. 2001

 

By Our Special Correspondent 

Gundhum (Burma-Bangladesh border), Oct. 20: New stringent measures 
against Muslim inhabitants in Burmese occupied Arakan State compelled 
many of them to flee across the border into Bangladesh recently. 

One Abdul Hakim 42, son of Roshan Ali from Fakira Bazar, about 45 miles 
north of Maungdaw township in Arakan State, told this correspondent that 
his family of 6 members along with other two families fled their homes 
across the border on October 15 and are, at present, residing with their 
relatives in the village of Gundhum just on the Bangladesh side of the 
common border. Abdul Hakim claimed that many other Muslim families also 
fled recently from different villages in northern part of Maungdaw as a 
result of various stringent measures, lack of security and economic 
hardship. 

Abdul Hakim narrated that Na Sa Ka (border security force) have imposed 
new toll charges hitherto unknown upon the Muslims living in Na Sa Ka 
area 1 to 6. An amount of Kyat 3000 for a person who dies, Kyat 2500 for 
a newborn baby, Kyat 5000 for a buffalo which dies, Kyat 3000 for a 
newborn buffalo, Kyat 2000 for a cow which dies, Kyat 1500 for a newborn 
calf, Kyat 500 for a goat which dies, Kyat 1000 for a newborn goat and 
Kyat 100 for a newborn chick has to be paid respectively as toll charges 
to the Na Sa Ka. Serious restrictions have also been imposed on movement 
and on going to river for fishing and forest for cutting firewood or 
bamboo. If, by chance, a person is found in another man?s house at night 
without prior reporting he is liable to six months imprisonment and a 
fine of Kyat 10,000. Na Sa Ka forces often enter into houses late at 
night violating women or stealing valuables. 

Abdul Hakim expressed that Na Sa Ka would not disturb those who leave 
Arakan for good across the border. 
 

Abdur Rashid
Chief Reporter
Arakan News Agency


__________________________________________________





______________________MONEY________________________





Straits Times (Singapore) : Panic selling of big kyat notes in Myanmar 



Straits Times
Saturday, November 24, 2001

Panic selling of big kyat notes in Myanmar 

Despite govt moves to ease the situation, the value of the currency has  
plunged and inflation is serious 

By Larry Jagan 
IN YANGON 

THE latest indication that Myanmar has not escaped the economic fall-out 
from  the Sept 11 attacks on the United States and Washington's ongoing 
war on  terrorism is the panic selling of the country's 
large-denomination kyat  notes. 

'No one wants to hold 1,000- or 500-kyat notes for fear that the 
government  was planning to withdraw them from circulation,' said a 
Myanmar businessman. 

Decades ago, Myanmar had withdrawn large-denomination notes overnight,  
devaluing many people's savings instantly.

But the government has been quick to intervene. 

'As long as the military government is in charge, there will be no 
withdrawal  of the official currency notes, be it the 1,000-kyat note or 
the 500-kyat  note,' the country's deputy chief of military 
intelligence, Major-General  Kyaw Win, said recently.

While the government's intervention has stopped the panic selling of the 
 large kyat notes, it has not stemmed the fall of the value of the kyat 
on the  open market. 

'It's been sliding downwards for several months now,' said a 
Yangon-based  analyst. 'It's virtually in a free-fall against the 
dollar.' 
The exchange rate is now more than eight hundred kyat to US$1.  
Money changers in Yangon expect it to fall even further in the next few 
weeks. 
'Residents in the capital are continuously complaining about rising 
prices,'  said an Asian diplomat.

The prices of eggs, vegetables and peanut oil have more than doubled in 
the  past two months. 

'One egg now costs more than thirty kyat,' complained a resident. 
Although meat prices have increased only marginally, many families have 
given  up eating meat to be able to afford essential foodstuffs whose 
prices have  increased astronomically.

Rice has remained relatively stable because of government intervention 
to  control its price.

The military authorities have long feared that large increases in the 
price  of rice would provoke food riots.

Privately, UN officials fear a massive humanitarian crisis is looming. 
They estimate that one child in three is already malnourished.  If the 
economic crisis remains unchecked, they fear that this could double  
within the next 12 months.

The situation is particularly critical in the countryside, they say.  
Bus and taxi fares have also increased dramatically since May when the  
government stiffened petrol rationing. 

'The buses are less crowded now,' said a Western diplomat. 'And fewer 
people  are taking taxis, so there are lots of cabs and drivers sitting 
idle waiting  for customers.'

The prices of cars have also more than doubled in the past three months. 
 Moreover, the fall in the kyat is forcing the prices of imported goods 
like  medicines and cosmetics to rise.

With the economic slowdown, analysts also estimate that Myanmar's 
tourist  revenue will fall by more than 50 per cent in the next six 
months. Many  foreign businessmen have also chosen to leave the country. 
 The military government is increasingly worried about the country's  
spiralling inflation and the falling value of the kyat.

Analysts believe Myanmar is starting to realise that economic recovery 
will  come only when the country has solved its political problems, 
including  agreement on some form of power sharing with opposition 
leader Aung San Suu  Kyi.





___________________________________________________





Xinhua: Myanmar To Hold Annual Gems Emporium


YANGON, November 23 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold its 39th annual gems 
emporium in March 2002 to put on sale locally-produced quality gems, 
pearl and jewelry through competitive bidding, tender and at fixed 
price, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Mines Friday. However, the 
exact date of holding the emporium has not been fixed yet. In addition 
to annual events taking place every year in March since 1964, Myanmar 
also used to hold mid-year ones in October introduced since 1992 to 
boost the country's gems sale. At the 38th and 10th mid-year Myanmar 
gems emporiums held during this year, 10.12 million and 9.556 million 
U.S. dollars were respectively earned. 

Each emporium attracted hundreds of merchants from over a dozen 
countries and regions, mostly from China, China's Hong Kong, Japan, 
Singapore and Thailand. Myanmar, a well-known producer of jade, ruby and 
sapphire in the world, has fetched a total of 339.834 million dollars of 
foreign exchange from its 38 annual and 10 mid-year gems emporiums, 
according to official statistics. Myanmar enacted the New Gemstone Law 
in September 1995, allowing national entrepreneurs to mine, produce, 
transport and sell finished gemstone and manufactured jewelry at home 
and abroad. Since April 2000, the government has reportedly started 
mining of gems and jade in joint venture with 10 private companies under 
profit sharing basis. 








_______________________GUNS________________________




The Indian Express: On Pak request, Burma lets in 2 nuke experts



 Sat Nov 24 07:27:54 UTC+0900 2001


NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of US Intelligence officials questioning 
two Pakistani scientists on their alleged links with Osama bin Laden's 
Al Qaeda, Burma authorities have reportedly granted sanctuary to two 
other Pakistani nuclear scientists after a request from Islamabad, 
according to intelligence sources.

Dr Suleiman Asad and Dr Mohammad Alimukhtar have been flown to Sagaing 
division of Burma, after Rangoon acceded to Pakistan's request, sources 
said here.

The request made by Pakistan's Foreign Office was accepted after 
Islamabad gave an assurance the duo were not involved in terrorist 
activity, sources said. They said Asad and Mukh-tar were part of 
Islamabad's nuclear programme and the US was looking for them too. (PTI)





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AP: Relief group: Myanmar army attacking resettled villagers 


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar's army has been attacking settlements 
of the Karen ethnic minority, forcing many to flee toward the border 
with Thailand, a relief agency claimed Friday. 

 According to the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, nine 
Myanmar army battalions launched attacks on Nov. 11 in three areas of 
Papun district in Karen State in northeastern Myanmar 

 Armed Karen insurgents, seeking more autonomy for their people, have 
been fighting the government for more than five decades. The fighting 
has displaced many Karens from their villages, who now live in temporary 
settlements such as the ones reportedly being attacked by the army. 

 In a news release sent to the AP, the committee detailed attacks 
beginning shortly after midnight on Nov. 11 which have driven at least 
800 people north and east out of their homes. 

 ``Most fled with only the clothes on their backs. Those on the run 
include over 70 children from a primary and middle school that was 
located on the Bilin river,'' said the committee. 

 The Myanmar government did not immediately respond to a faxed request 
by The Associated Press for comments on the claim. 

 The committee said there were no casualty figures, adding that these 
are usually low because people generally can flee ahead of the 
government troops. But it added there was ``an immediate need for relief 
supplies such as food, cooking pots, and especially now for blankets and 
warm clothes.'' 

 The committee is a Karen organization that operates on the Myanmar-Thai 
border, gathering information on the plight of the internal refugees and 
provides limited assistance. 

 Earlier this month, the committee issued a report saying 37,007 Karen 
remained displaced in Papun district where over 50 villages were 
forcibly relocated. 

 It said that people from the nearby districts of Nyaunglebin, Taungoo 
and Thaton districts had also resettled also in Papun district since 
fleeing army attacks last year. 

 ``This has put a strain on the people of this district as they struggle 
to help feed these new arrivals from their own stocks,'' it said, adding 
that food shortages forced some people to refugee camps in Thailand. 

 The report claimed that Myanmar's army ``continues its attacks ... 
destroying rice supplies, torturing and executing villagers, looting 
villages, relocating people by force, conducting forced labor, and 
terrorizing the population by the systematic laying of land mines 
throughout each district.'' 

 The army has a history of harshness in dealing with ethnic insurgents 
in the country's border regions. 

 The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said in June 
that ethnic minorities continue to be repressed, mostly with forced 
labor. 
 Earlier this month, the U.N.'s International Labor Organization said 
after an inspection tour that legislation enacted in Myanmar last year 
had failed to wipe out forced labor. 


2001-11-22




___________________________________________________





DVB: SPDC holding secret talks with armed groups


Text of report by Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) on 18 November 

DVB has learned that prisoners from various prisons have been sent to a 
logistics battalion in Pa-an to be deployed in Karen State open season 
offensive. On 13 November, 125 prisoners from Akyab jail together with 
350 prisoners from Insein, Henzada, and Prome jails were sent to No.1 
Logistics Battalion in Pa-an, Karen State.  
Prisoners instead of ordinary civilians are being used since the 
International Labour Organization, ILO, issued a report condemning the 
practice of forced labour in Burma. The prisoner porters were sent en 
masse for the offensive at a time when there is speculation about the 
SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] holding secret talks with the 
KNU - Karen National Union, KNPP - Karenni National Progressive Party, 
and SSA - Southern Shan State Army.
  
In another news report, the Police Director-General's Office has issued 
an emergency directive to township police stations. The directive states 
that all burglars, robbers, thieves, fraudsters, gamblers, human 
traffickers, etc. detained at the police stations should be charged, 
sent to court, and sentenced immediately. Then they should be sent to 
the logistics battalion and attached to the forward areas as logistics 
support personnel [porters]
 .  
DVB has learned that local police stations are preparing to send all 
criminal cases to court for immediate sentencing and then to send the 
prisoners to the forward areas.  
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 18 Nov 01 



________________________DRUGS______________________



DVB: Wa cease-fire group suspends road construction near China border Wa 
cease-fire group suspends road construction near China border 


Text of report by Democratic Voice of Burma on 21 November 

The Wa Army, which signed the cease-fire agreement with the SPDC [State  
Peace and Development Council] military government, has suspended the 
road  construction project in the Wa region near China-Burma border on 
16  November. The project was carried out under the contract signed with 
the  SPDC. 

The Wa organization was permitted to freely engage in economic 
enterprises  under the agreement signed with Secretary-1 Lt Gen Khin 
Nyunt since the  signing of the cease-fire agreement with the SPDC 
military government. The  Wa were permitted to hire Chinese companies 
for logging and the Wa Army  built roads allegedly for regional 
development. 

On 13 of this month, Maj Thuta Swe, commander of SPDC military 
intelligence  unit No 24 banned the Wa Army from logging enterprise. 
Following the ban,  the Wa Army suspended the construction of 90-mile 
long road between  Panghsang and Mong Yang. 

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 21 Nov 01 







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
			



AFP: God's Army twins afraid to resettle in US 


BANGKOK, Nov 24 (AFP) - The young twin brothers who once led the Myanmar 
rebel militia God's Army say they are afraid of moving to the United 
States, which is considering a resettlement offer, a report said 
Saturday. 

 Johnny and Luther Htoo, who surrendered along with a group of their 
followers to Thai authorities in January, told the Thai News Agency they 
were worried for their safety in the wake of the September 11 terrorist 
attacks. 

 "I'm afraid of living in tall buildings," Luther reportedly said in an 
interview at a Thai border police camp where they have been living. "I 
don't want to go. An airplane will crash into the building." 

 Johnny added that he was troubled by images of Saudi terrorist suspect 
Osama bin Laden he saw on television, the report said. 

 The ethnic Karen brothers, who are believed to be aged 13, said they 
would rather live at the Karen refugee camp of Ban Tham Hin in western 
Ratchaburi province, where several of their friends were staying. 

 "We'll have friends to play with, we'll be able to play football, we'll 
be able to go to school," they were quoted as saying. 

 US immigration officials interviewed the internationally known pair in 
May and have been considering a resettlement offer, according to Thai 
authorities. 

 The boy leaders were once revered by their ethnic Karen followers who 
believed they had mystical powers that made them invincible in battles 
against Myanmar troops along the Thai border. 

 After their surrender to Thai troops in January, the Htoo brothers 
debunked the myths surrounding their militia band and said they dreamed 
only of returning to Myanmar and going to school like ordinary children. 





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Reuters: UN seeks more progress in Myanmar democracy talks


UNITED NATIONS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail will 
press for fresh progress in democracy talks between the government and 
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he visits Myanmar on Tuesday, 
the United Nations said on Friday. 

 The weeklong visit will be Razali's sixth to the military-ruled 
southeast Asian nation since he took up his mandate to promote human 
rights and democracy there, in April 2000. 

 During his stay, the veteran Malaysian diplomat is expected to meet 
Secretary One and intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, one of the most 
powerful officials of Myanmar's government, officially called the State 
Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 

 He also is due to confer with senior members of the opposition National 
League for Democracy (NLD), including Suu Kyi, the party's leader and a 
Nobel laureate. 

 The NLD won Myanmar's last election in 1990 by a landslide but was 
never allowed to govern. 

 Suu Kyi has been under virtual house arrest for more than a year, 
despite having entered into secretive talks -- brokered by Razali -- 
with the SPDC. 






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Xinhua: U.N. Envoy to Visit Myanmar


UNITED NATIONS, November 23 (Xinhua) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan's Special Envoy to Myanmar is scheduled to visit the country at 
the end of this month to help facilitate the talks between the 
government and opposition leaders, a U.N. spokesman announced Friday. 
"Razali Ismail is expected to meet with government leaders, including 
General Khin Nyunt, and senior members of the National League for 
Democracy... on democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar," 
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York. 

According to the spokesman, Ismail is slated to visit Yangon, the 
capital, from November 27 to December 4 for his sixth mission to Myanmar 
since he was appointed special envoy in April 2000. 









__________________________________________________





Xinhua: Japanese Company Donates Instruments to Myanmar



YANGON, November 23 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese company, the Mitutoyo 
Corporation, has donated a total 143 kinds of teaching and research 
instruments to two Myanmar science and technological institutions to 
develop the sector of science and technology of the country, according 
to the Myanmar Ministry of Science and Technology Friday. The 
instruments were handed over to the Yangon Technological University and 
the Myanmar Scientific and Technological Research Department Thursday. 

Speaking at the donation ceremony, First Secretary of the State Peace 
and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt praised the 
donation as further strengthening the existing good relations between 
Myanmar and Japan. Khin Nyunt, who is also chairman of the Myanmar 
Education Committee, said Myanmar and Japan have been able to forge and 
strengthen their relations and friendship over the years, noting that 
there has been cooperation between the two countries in the economic, 
education, health, social and cultural sectors. "There is such bilateral 
cooperation not only on a government- to-government basis but also 
between voluntary humanitarian organizations and between Myanmar and 
Japanese people as well," he emphasized. 

He expressed Myanmar's belief that there should be cooperation rather 
than contests of wealth and power among countries in the world for the 
emergence of a world order where peace, stability, justice and equal 
opportunity prevail. Based on this main reason, he added, Myanmar has 
always being guided by mutual respect and understanding in its relation 
with countries in the world irrespective of whether they are friends or 
neighbors, developed and powerful, or underdeveloped and weak. He also 
pledged Myanmar's firm commitment to the guiding principle of making 
every endeavors to promote cooperation and enhance good relations. Japan 
is Myanmar's largest donor country. In March this year, Japan resumed 
its Official Development Assistance to Myanmar which have been suspended 
for 13 years. In addition, Japan also provided a total debt relief of 
3.594 billion yens (29.22 million U.S. dollars) to Myanmar during this 
year.







___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________





Irrawaddy: Ms Ma Thanegi's Rules of Good Political Etiquette 



By Dr Kyi May Kaung

November 23, 2001?On October 29 Ms Ma Thanegi, former trusted companion 
of Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and now one of Suu 
Kyi's most vocal critics, came to Washington DC to participate in a 
panel discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She 
was scheduled to speak on what she said were her own views of Burma. 
Many dissidents inside and outside Burma consider Ma Thanegi to be a 
spokesman for the regime. At the presentation, however, she was 
introduced, by moderator Dr. G John Ikenberry, as a close associate of 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and that Ms Ma Thanegi had been imprisoned because 
of her closeness to Suu Kyi.  

Ma Thitsa, a former political prisoner who was detained in Insein prison 
and is now a student in Boston, said that when she was in prison during 
1990-91, she and Ma Thanegi were held in the same building. Ma Thanegi, 
she said, was actually incarcerated for having been Suu Kyi's personal 
assistant. However, according to Ma Thitsa, due to the strict rules of 
Insein prison and the fact that Ma Thanegi was given a cell all to 
herself, whereas the other political prisoners were forced to share 
cells, the two were never able to discuss politics.  

While introducing Ma Thanegi, John Ikenberry said that she had evolved 
her own ideas after being released; to the dissident community, this 
translates as "selling out" to the military regime in Burma. One 
dissident noted that it was ironic that even a critic of Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi sought to legitimate herself to the international community by 
establishing her former close association with the democracy leader.  

Jeremy Woodrum, Director of the Free Burma Coalition, was among those 
demonstrating outside the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 
while Ma Thanegi spoke inside. Woodrum told Radio Free Asia's (RFA) Sein 
Kyaw Hlaing in a broadcast interview that David Steinberg of Georgetown 
University helped arrange Ma Thanegi's visit through the Sasakawa Peace 
Foundation. He added that she is a contributing editor to the Myanmar 
Times, an English-language paper widely believed to have connections 
with the regime.  

During the small reception prior to the beginning of the panel, I had a 
chance to talk to Ma Thanegi briefly. She is a small woman with black 
hair stylishly cut short and flipped upwards away from her face. She has 
smooth brown skin and a pixie face with an outjutting jaw that seemingly 
never cracks a smile. It was easy to spot her among the milling guests. 
She was wearing a black blouse that looked hand-tailored in Rangoon, a 
red longyi and matching bright red lipstick. She told me that she had 
gone to Methodist English High School in Rangoon at the same time that I 
was there and mentioned the name of a relative of hers that I could not 
recall. She also said that she knew some of my extended family still 
living in Burma. 

I noticed that several important people in the Burmese democracy 
movement and the international donor community attended the event and 
Voice of America (VOA) and RFA reporters were in attendance. As Ma 
Thanegi was the featured speaker she spoke first on her topic, which had 
been announced ahead of time: The Culture Clash and Political Breakdown: 
Relations between the United States and Myanmar. The title is dense and 
almost incomprehensible and later on I found out I wasn't the only one 
who didn't understand this title. Brian Joseph, another speaker on the 
panel, also said he did not understand the meaning of her topic.  

The main points she made were as follows:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Bogyoke Aung San, the leader of 
Burma's pre-war Independence movement and the founding father of the 
nation, and because of this association she received an elitist 
education overseas. Ma Thanegi said Suu Kyi is naturally idealistic in 
her beliefs and that because the international press has continually 
reported on her and subsequently pushed her into a corner that she has 
become even more idealistic than before. Ma Thanegi also added that the 
international press has taken a liking to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because 
she is "so beautiful and charming".  

In regards to the timing of the reconciliation process and the 
transition to democracy in Burma, Ma Thanegi advocated patience. She 
said that there is no reason to get frustrated about the process "as it 
depends on the two sides and should be secret". 

On the issue of sanctions she mounted quite an emotional argument 
compared to the beginning of her presentation where she spent a great 
deal of time talking about her interpretation of Burmese culture. She 
accused United States foreign policy of "economic terrorism". She then 
referred to US Senate Bill 926 and speculated that it could cause 
"100,000 women and children" to lose their jobs. However in an interview 
with RFA?s U Sein Kyaw Hlaing that was broadcast the next day, the 
figure became "200,000 to 300,000". In response to questioning from RFA 
about this difference, she said that she got the numbers from "some 
garment industry association".  

During the evening?s question and answer session she returned to this 
"women and children" point, which seemed to be an attempt to appeal to 
the audience?s softside. By then it must have been obvious to her that 
her talk had not received a good reception from the forty to fifty 
people who attended, all of whom had been required to pre-register. 

After Ma Thanegi's talk there was complete silence in the room, with no 
one making a move towards even a semblance of polite applause. After a 
few seconds of obvious surprise, she seemed to regain her composure and 
the moderator introduced the next speaker. 
Ma Thanegi spent about 30 % of her panel time lecturing the audience on 
"Burmese culture," that is, on Ms. Ma Thanegi's view of Burmese culture, 
which incidentally coincides with the junta's view. According to Win 
Min, an activist in exile, this frustrated and annoyed the audience. 
Right at the beginning of her talk she announced her political 
affiliation and sympathies none too subtly by announcing that she used 
the term Myanmar and not Burma which she said was the term used by the 
English (colonialists). The Burmese dissident community who refuses to 
recognize the use of Myanmar sees this to be evidence of her support for 
the military regime. Ma Thanegi said Burmese politics is an internal 
affair and foreigners should not get involved in it.  

On the whole she spoke calmly but at times she stuttered a bit as she 
tried to formulate what she was trying to say and to buy time after some 
of the audience?s questions, which on the whole were very 
confrontational and aggressive. She came across, at least to me, as a 
careful and polished but rather opaque speaker, who goes back to the 
Burmese military line every time she is in a bind. At times she sounded 
like an old record running along in the old groove of the Burmese 
military's mindset. Some of her statements contradicted each other. For 
example in her emotional pitch using "the women and children will lose 
their jobs" rhetoric, at first she said that 100,000 will lose their 
jobs and "it's so unfair, it's so cruel." She then later said in 
response to a question that S926 would "make no difference to how the 
government acts." This seemed more like bluffing and saving face than 
anything else. !  

I had a chance to talk to some democracy advocates in private and some 
of them felt that the junta must be in quite a crisis to be sending 
advocates to America in a public relations campaign. In September of 
this year Dr.Win Naing, based in Japan, gave a speech at Human Rights 
Watch in Washington DC. A DC-based analyst told me that "as Win Naing 
had not done his homework, and was not well prepared, his presentation 
more or less flopped". Analysts feel that Ma Thanegi was sent on this 
tour because of that recent failure. Win Min, who heard Dr Win Naing?s 
speech, said that although Ma Thanegi was better prepared she still was 
not adequately prepared to handle the tough questions from democracy 
activists and former political prisoners. 
In a recent interview with the Myanmar Times Lt Gen Khin Nyunt pleaded 
for withdrawal of sanctions. Myanmar Times also ran interviews with 
local businessmen on the possible impact of S926. The Myanmar Chamber of 
Commerce also sent pleas to President George W. Bush. The junta seems 
desperate to prevent S926 from being passed and Ma Thanegi's trip looks 
like it is part of an orchestrated lobbying strategy by the junta. 

The other two speakers on the panel were Brian Joseph, of the National 
Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Burmese analyst David Steinberg of 
Georgetown University who helped organize the event.  

Brian Joseph's speech was a strong and clearly in favor of democratic 
change in Burma. He stressed the point made by Aung Din and Free Burma 
Coalition members that if the release of political prisoners were to 
continue at this rate, it would take a decade for all 2000 political 
prisoners to be released. 

David Steinberg, the evening?s third speaker, did not take a clear side 
in the debate, something he is known for, but he appeared more 
supportive of the democratic majority in the room than he has been in 
the past. One well- known academic said in private that Steinberg has 
"fire on one shoulder and water on the other" a famous Burmese saying. 
Others feel that Steinberg remains neutral in hopes of eventually 
becoming the US Ambassador in Myanmar. 

Steinberg did agree with one comment from Ma Thanegi's Far Eastern 
Economic Review article about sanctions. He said that it is quite naive 
to think that economic assistance alone would automatically lead to 
political changes. He cited examples of East Asian authoritarianism and 
suggested a well-rounded approach for Burma.  

Some young activists, however, expressed to me in private that "on the 
panel there were two people for the junta and only one (Mr. Joseph) 
speaking for a speedy transition to democracy". One senior Burma watcher 
observed that the seminar organizers had carefully calculated even the 
selection of Mr. Joseph as a panelist. He said, Mr. Joseph is a strong 
supporter of democracy in Burma but he has on occasion publicly 
criticized the democracy movement.  

I asked Ma Thanegi who she spoke for when she made sweeping comments 
such as "the Burmese people are conservative, Burmese parents hate MTV, 
and ahnarde is a problem in Burma." (Ahnarde is feeling bad or 
embarrassed to say or do something, something said to be a problem in 
Burmese culture). I also asked how Ma Thanegi could be absolutely sure 
that economic sanctions alone and not the years of mismanagement and 
misguided policies of the military government caused the unemployment 
numbers that she gave. She said simply that she knew because she was a 
writer and had been all over the country.  

During her talk Ma Thanegi had many prescriptions as to how people 
should talk and act in this normative "Burmese culture" that she was 
condoning. This portion of her presentation amounted almost to a 
harangue and judging by the title she gave to her talk and the amount of 
time she devoted to this, it seems this "culture clash" was her 
over-riding argument and theme. One of the elected Members of Parliament 
commented later that if culture and the ahrnade concept were of such 
importance as Ma Thanegi made them out to be, then democracy leader and 
Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have titled her book 
"Freedom From Ahnarde" rather than "Freedom From Fear." 

I also asked Ma Thanegi about the patience issue as she had said she was 
willing to wait for the outcome of the secret talks between the National 
League for Democracy and junta. I said for people like her and myself, 
living in the relative comfort of middle class neighborhoods in Burma 
and the United States, perhaps we could afford to wait; but what about 
student leader Min Ko Naing who had already served his sentence and was 
in poor emotional and physical health because of being incarcerated. 
When I got carried away and said, "I'm asking you a rhetorical question, 
you need not answer it." I heard a ripple of cynical laughter behind me 
in the room. A co-worker who is a close friend of Min Ko Naing told me 
later it was very difficult to keep a cool head and not be emotional 
when confronting Ma Thanegi. "As I was asking her a question, I began to 
feel as if I were talking to a Burmese general," the man said. 

Former political prisoner Ko Aung Din, of FBC and Association for 
Assistance for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB) asked two questions 
of Ma Thanegi and one of David Steinberg. The first question was if she 
was aware of the number of political prisoners in Burma. Also as she 
spoke of "economic terrorism" was she aware that the Burmese government 
in fact sponsored terrorism under which she and he had all lived. "Then 
why," he asked, "do you say that sanctions are the culprit in all this." 
As Steinberg in his talk spoke of the military government donating to 
the pagodas, which was a method used by the Burmese kings, Aung Din 
asked him if he knew how the junta was pressuring the monks including 
Kya-Khat Waing Sayadaw. He also asked Ma Thanegi if, as she had special 
contact and access to Gen. Khin Nyunt and had interviewed him once for 
Myanmar Times, she would go back and ask him to do what the dem! ocratic 
opposition and dissident groups are asking. Ko Aung Din asked her, "Why 
not ask Khin Nyunt to follow these directions if you are really sorry 
for the women and children of Burma." He then went on to talk about S926 
and its conditions that state the release of all political prisoners, 
un-reversible and positive results from dialog for reconciliation and 
more aggressive participation in anti-narcotic efforts.  

If these conditions are fulfilled the President of the United States can 
ask Congress to withdraw this Bill. Aung Din said these conditions come 
originally from the people of Burma and so if she, Ma Thanegi, "has such 
good connections then she does not need to come halfway around the world 
but can ask Khin Nyunt" directly. 

Then the "surprise attendee" Ma Thitsa, mentioned before, who had come 
to DC specifically for this occasion rose from her seat to ask 
questions. Ma Thitsa's two questions, asked in a soft voice, can be 
viewed as a coup for the Burmese democracy movement. 

Ma Thitsa is a quiet, soft-spoken and rather shy woman. She had been 
secretly brought to DC by Bakatha, the Burmese student union from Boston 
where is going to college. During the reception before the talk, Ma 
Thitsa sat quietly in a corner, obviously composing herself for the 
confrontation to come with a former friend, which was likely to be at 
the very least highly emotional. 

Ma Thitsa delivered each of her questions in Burmese and Ko Hlwan Moe of 
the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) 
translated each question into English. Ma Thanegi was visibly surprised 
when Ma Thitsa stood up. Ma Thitsa said she did not need to introduce 
herself to Ma Thanegi as they had been in jail together. The gist of the 
questions were, 

a. As far as I understand there is no freedom of expression in Burma. 
Won't it be difficult for you when you go back to Burma?  

b. I can accept Burmese culture in the sense of going to a monastery. 
But forced labor, is that Burmese culture? 

After the presentation Ma Thitsa told a close friend that it was good 
that she had not been noticed by Ma Thanegi prior to the talk. 
"Otherwise Ma Thanegi might have worked her charm, and then it might 
have made it difficult to ask tough questions," she said. 
Immediately after the talk, people said that Ma Thanegi came over to Ma 
Thitsa and warmly greeted her. To one person who knew her in Burma that 
is a sign of Ma Thanegi's "heart," but this same person also said that 
he found it difficult to talk to her as he saw her as a symbol of the 
regime. To me it seems a strange coincidence that Ma Thitsa's name in 
Burmese means Truth or Loyalty. 

Win Min asked about the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) 
statements about the lack of independence of the English language 
Myanmar Times where Ma Thanegi is a contributing editor. Win Min then 
read a quote from the CPJ about Myanmar Times. 

Min Zaw Oo of the University of Maryland asked what other methods of 
protest outside dissidents had besides asking for sanctions. He said 
that if the junta "will stop pressuring us, we will stop pressuring 
them". 

At this point the facilitators were starting to run out of time and had 
Ma Thanegi answer all the questions at the same time. This gave her time 
to demur on some of the answers some of which were - To Ma Thitsa's 
question about danger on going back, "well, I have to survive by talking 
carefully between the tigers and the crocodiles." In response to Min Zaw 
Oo's question, she repeated again, it's so unfair. 

Ma Thanegi is apparently what one would call a very cool customer. She 
has the ability to talk calmly even if she is not exactly answering the 
questions but is rather dodging and evading them and defending the 
junta. 

The questions were all posed aggressively but she kept emotional 
distance. Maybe she was able to do this because she is not deeply 
involved emotionally unlike the dissidents whose emotional engagement 
and political commitment came through in the questions. Ma Thanegi 
pretty much kept repeating the Burmese culture theme in her so-called 
arguments but as one of the democracy leaders in exile has stated, she 
herself seems very much ingrained in the junta culture of "father knows 
best". 

Still it was a good thing that dissidents overseas had a chance to talk 
to someone at the other end of the political spectrum. "Otherwise we 
would all be talking to each other all the time," said one dissident.  

He went on to say, however, that it was curious that such a person as Ma 
Thanegi or the junta wanted a fair hearing internationally and seemingly 
wanted the right to sit at table and talk as equals while themselves 
denying similar rights to the Burmese people, the ethnic groups and the 
democracy advocates within Burma. 

Eyewitnesses of the panel that was in Berkeley, CA reported that it was 
an even greater debacle for Ma Thanegi and her cohorts than the one in 
Washington DC had been. Prominent dissidents such as Dr. Zarni, founder 
of the Free Burma Coalition, and Min Zin, one of the leading 
intellectuals in the Burmese democracy movement attended. There were 
reports that dissidents got up and said they wished to comment, not ask 
questions. The pro-democracy faction in the audience were reported to 
have booed those who applauded Ma Thanegi's position, and that she had 
to be hustled away by the organizers before she could finish speaking. 

Although throughout her US trip, Ma Thanegi spoke on "Burmese culture," 
Brian Joseph of NED said at the DC session that in a totalitarian 
country it is impossible to know what national sentiments are. Even in 
an open society people do not necessarily answer questionnaires 
truthfully so with no scientific study of any sort, Ma Thanegi's 
opinions will remain only her opinions and those of the people around 
her. They cannot be presented in a more general light. 
Jeremy Woodrum of FBC said that, "It is ironic that Ma Thanegi claims 
that more money will help the Burmese. Actually the exact opposite is 
true. In the early 1990s, when millions of dollars of US investment 
money poured into Burma, there was a massive increase in forced labor, 
which many refer to as slave labor. In fact, more money meant more 
repression. Investment and trade doesn't happen in a vacuum. If you pump 
money into an abusive system you get more abuse not less." 

Since 1988 the NLD and democracy advocates have been calling for a 
system change. 
As I am writing this article the WTO Ministerial Meeting is winding up 
in Qatar, after having admitted both China and Taiwan as new members. 
Sales to China alone are estimated as being worth two billion dollars a 
year to the United States. On November 5th, the International 
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) put out a statement that the 
persistence of forced labor on a large scale in Burma, which has been 
confirmed by the International Labor Organization, should prompt all 
member states to impose binding trade sanctions on the Burmese regime. 

Kyi May Kaung holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of 
Pennsylvania and currently works for the Burma Fund in Washington, DC as 
a Senior Research Associate. The opinions expressed here belong to K.M. 
Kaung alone and not to any organization or other individual. 




______________________OTHER______________________






Manly Daily (UK): (Book Review) Author's plea for democracy battle 


November 23, 2001, Friday 

 
MOST people travelling to Burma can only obtain a one-month visa. 

James Mawdsley stayed for more than a year  but not by choice. 

Sentenced to 17 years in jail for protesting against the Burmese 
military regime, Mawdsley returned home to Britain after enduring 14 
months of solitary confinement and torture in a Burma prison. Unlike 
other protesters of the regime Mawdsley, 28, lived to tell the tale. 

Guest speaker at the Literary Feast Bookclub in Manly yesterday, 
Mawdsley also spoke to TIMEOUT of the experiences chronicled in his book 
The Heart Must Break. 

After a childhood friendship with a Burmese boy, Mawdsley developed a 
passion for the troubled country. He spent four years in and out of 
Burma teaching children English, witnessing "the genocidal persecution 
of Burma's border people". 

On his last visit in August 1999, just 10 hours after entering the 
country, Mawdsley was caught distributing pro-democracy letters and 
jailed. 

In October 2000 he was released after pressure from Australia, Britain 
and the US and a United Nations decree that he was being "held 
illegally" by Burmese officials. 

Despite being placed in solitary confinement, Mawdsley said he never 
felt alone in jail. 

"I felt a sense of solidarity with a lot of the prisoners because they 
were all working for the same cause," he said. 

Mawdsley, who recently set up a charitable trust to educate Burmese 
children, said education would be the key to bringing democracy back to 
Burma. 

While more international intervention was needed in Burma, he said 
individuals could make a real difference. 

"It's true that governments and international bodies should do more for 
countries like Burma, but I'm one for believing that individuals can 
often do more," he said. 

"Basically, the one thing that the people need most is love and these 
governments can't give that. "Supporting education schemes in Burma will 
encourage self-respect, which is exactly what the military regime is 
trying desperately to destroy." 

DONNA SAWYER 

*  The Heart Must Break, published by Random House, was reviewed in the 
The Manly Daily last Friday. It received four stars, or a "very good" 
rating, from Angus & Robertson Bookworld reviewer Mark Beresford. 










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