|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New York Times - Burmese Democracy Leader Forced Home; Standoff
Ends
AFP - International community condemns crackdown on Myanmar
opposition
AFP - Opposition slams junta as military cracks down on
NLD
Channel NewsAsia - US expresses outrage
over treatment of Myanmar's opposition leader
AP - Myanmar Suu Kyi Stings Junta
Again
Kyodo - Myanmar junta investigating NLD over
foreigners' activities
Telegraph - Cook warns Burma of
retaliation
The Age - Burma condemned for
latest crackdown
The Nation - Foreign editor walks careful line in
Burma
Bkk - Foreign editor walks careful line in
Burma
BBC - Burma blocks access to Suu Kyi
BBC - UK condemns Burmese
'scandal'
BBC - US joins EU in condemning
Burma
The Straits Times
- Low - minded Khin Nyunt says
we will strike our own path.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS [ September - 3, 2000] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New York Times.
September 3, 2000 Burmese Democracy Leader Forced Home; Standoff Ends By SETH MYDANS BANGKOK, Thailand, Sept. 2 -- In a sudden midnight raid, nearly 200 riot
police surrounded the car where Myanmar's pro-democracy leader had been stranded
by the roadside for a week and forced her and her companions to return home, one
of her aides said today.
A Western diplomat said security forces then sealed off the political headquarters of the leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and apparently searched it and removed documents. The forceful action brought to an abrupt end an attempt by Mrs. Aung San
Suu Kyi, 55, to publicize the restrictions on her political movement by
attempting to drive from the capital of the former Burma to meet with her
supporters in another town.
Her two-car convoy, in which she was accompanied by 14 supporters, was
halted -- as similar forays have been in the past -- creating a standoff in the
small town of Dala, just south of the capital, Yangon.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi refused to leave her car and set up camp by the side
of the road. Her party, the National League for Democracy, issued a statement
saying she would hold out "until she reaches her destination and accomplishes
her party organizational duties."
Her aide, U Tin Oo, told reporters that he assumed she had been returned to
her home. But his interview with local reporters was cut short before he could
say much more.
"Around midnight, nearly 200 riot police raided the place where we were
staying and forcibly took Aung San Suu Kyi and all of us," said Mr. Tin Oo, who
is her chief deputy as party leader.
Party officials could not be reached by telephone today.
Though Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi failed, as expected, to meet with her
supporters, her attempt succeeded in reviving international attention to the
suppression of her political rights. It drew statements of concern from several
nations as well as from the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan.
Myanmar's military leaders accused her of a political stunt in advance of a
session this month of the United Nations General Assembly and a meeting in
December at which the main European and Southeast Asian political groupings are
expected to discuss their relations with Myanmar.
Both the European Union and the most liberal member of the Asian grouping,
Thailand, issued statements criticizing the government's actions.
In a statement today, the Myanmar government maintained its somewhat
mocking tone toward the standoff, which it has portrayed as a pleasant outing in
the countryside.
Under the headline, "Dala Incident Ends Happily," it said: "Daw Suu Kyi,
her travel companions and all their attendants arrived home safe and sound this
morning after their eight days of stay in Dala town."
Noting that her party had complained of the conditions in the swampy and
mosquito-ridden area, the statement said: "The government acknowledged their
complaints and on Sept. 2 at 1:30 a.m., Daw Suu Kyi and her travel companions
were escorted back to their respective residences in Yangon in a motorcade
facilitated by the government for their safe and convenient return."
The standoff was the latest confrontation between Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and
the military junta that took power in 1988 after suppressing a nationwide
pro-democracy uprising.
She was placed under house arrest the next year, but her party
overwhelmingly won a parliamentary election in 1990, only to see the government
set aside the results and remain in power. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in
1991.
She was released from house arrest in 1995, but her activities since then
have remained severely curtailed, and she has not been permitted to travel
outside the capital, formerly known as Rangoon.
On Wednesday, Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, called on
the government to try to resolve the long-running political stalemate through
negotiations.
"The secretary general believes that the latest situation underlines the
necessity for national reconciliation and urges the two sides to engage, as soon
as possible, in a substantive political dialogue," said Mr. Annan's spokesman,
Fred Eckhard.
But in a series of statements, Myanmar's leaders maintained their hard line
against her.
On Friday, Foreign Minister U Win Aun portrayed Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's
action in sinister terms, saying she hoped to draw an aggressive response from
her foreign supporters.
"What she would like to see is the government to arrest her, thinking her
arrest could create anarchy in the country, and eventually expecting foreign
intervention," he said.
Sunday, September 3 5:55 PM SGT
International community condemns crackdown on Myanmar opposition BANGKOK, Sept 3 (AFP) - The
international community has slammed the treatment of Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters by the military authorities, amid the
ongoing crackdown on the opposition in Yangon.
As a roadside stand-off between the government and National League for
Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi ended Saturday, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright said she was "outraged" at Myanmar's treatment of the
opposition leader and accused the junta of forcibly ending the stand-off.
"The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members," Albright said
in a statement.
A raid on the party headquarters early Saturday came just before an
announcement that the showdown had ended.
Amid reports that all 10 members of the NLD committee, including Aung San
Suu Kyi, had been placed under house arrest, Albright noted that telephone lines
to the homes of NLD leaders had been cut.
Diplomats had been prevented from seeing Suu Kyi, who on August 24
instigated the showdown by testing a ban on her travelling outside the
city.
Albright called on the junta to "immediately cease all activities aimed at
preventing the free exercise of internationally recognised human rights."
Britain reacted by hinting at diplomatic retaliation over the military
regime's treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We are examining with EU colleagues and other international partners what
measures we should take in response once the facts have been clarified," Foreign
Secretary Robin Cook said in a statement.
Cook added: "Initial indications are that the Burmese regime has once again
grossly infringed the rights of a legal political party to operate freely. Aung
San Suu Kyi was elected with the overwhelming support of the Burmese
people."
The European Union also condemned Saturday what it termed the
"intimidation" of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party.
"The European Union condemns this violation of the freedom of movement,
_expression_ and assembly of the Secretary General of the National League for
Democracy," a statement issued by the EU presidency, currently held by France,
said.
The statement deplored "the measures of intimidation against her and the
threats to the National League for Democracy's activities," and called on the
Myanmar authorities to engage in dialogue with the NLD.
Exiled opposition leaders and media based in Thailand Sunday issued their
reactions to the crisis.
The resolution to the stand-off showed "the hypocrisy that underlines the
military's rule," said Khin Maung Win, an executive member of the exiled Burma
Lawyers' Council, in the Bangkok local press.
"The (Yangon) regime will never give up or introduce political or human
rights reforms."
Due to the way the confrontation was resolved, "optimism that something for
the better will occur in Burma is evaporating fast," said an editorial in
influential Bangkok daily The Nation.
However, there was no reactions from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) -- of which Myanmar is a member.
The NLD won a huge general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
refused to recognise the result.
Sunday, September 3 11:37 AM SGT
Opposition slams junta as military cracks down on NLD YANGON, Sept 3 (AFP) - Pundits
and exiled opposition leaders Sunday slammed the Myanmar junta as the crackdown
on the opposition continued in Yangon, one day after the end of a roadside
stand-off between the government and National League for Democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
Saturday's resolution of the the stand-off showed "the hypocrisy that
underlines the military's rule," Khin Maung Win, an executive member of the
exiled Burma Lawyers' Council, said in the Bangkok local press.
"The (Yangon) regime will never give up or introduce political or
human-rights reforms."
Due to the way the confrontation was resolved, "optimism that something for
the better will occur in Burma is evaporating fast," said an editorial in
influential Bangkok daily The Nation.
Meanwhile, in Yangon authorities had placed a ring of high security around
the NLD headquarters and were prohibiting civilians or diplomats from entering
the area or making contact with NLD members.
A large number of riot police and military intelligence officers remained
at NLD headquarters, apparently in a continuing effort to search and confiscate
the opposition materials.
Myanmar's military authorities had raided the headquarters of Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political party on Saturday while simultaneously
announcing the opposition leader had been "escorted" home following a lengthy
roadside stand-off with the junta.
A large number of riot police and military intelligence officers had raided
the NLD's headquarters and seized "incriminatory material and documents," a
security official had told AFP.
At least three senior members of the NLD's central executive committee were
also placed under "house arrest" and had their telephone lines cut.
The raid, in the early hours of Saturday morning, came just before an
announcement that the showdown between the Nobel laureate and the junta, which
began on August 24, was over.
Aung San Suu Kyi and a dozen NLD supporters had been camped out in their
cars near Dallah, on the outskirts of Yangon, for nine days after they were
prevented from going to a party meeting in defiance of a ban on travel outside
the capital.
The opposition leader had shown no apparent signs of wanting to end the
confrontation and neither she nor any of her supporters could be contacted to
confirm how the stand off ended.
A government statement on Saturday had said Aung San Suu Kyi and her
supporters were "escorted" to the Myanmar capital at 1:30 a.m.Friday) and had
"arrived home safe and sound this morning after their stay in Dallah
town."
The statement said that given "adverse weather" and complaints by the NLD
about conditions in Dallah, a motorcade had been "facilitated by the government
for their safe and convenient return."
A similar deadlock in 1998 lasted 13 days, only ending when poor health
forced Aung San Suu Kyi to return home.
The way in which the regime had handled the latest confrontation with its
best-known opponent had attracted vehement international criticism.
After initially referring to Aung San Suu Kyi's "rest" outside "charming"
Dallah township, the regime on Friday accused the opposition leader of trying to
create anarchy in Myanmar by provoking it into forcibly ending the
confrontation.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Saturday slammed the Yangon junta
for its resolution of the standoff, and Britain has hinted at diplomatic
retaliation against Myanmar over the military regime's treatment of Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The NLD won a huge general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Channel NewsAsia
Sunday, September 3 11:00 AM SGT US expresses outrage over treatment of Myanmar's opposition leader The United States has expressed outrage and condemnation at Myanmar's
treatment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accused the country's military rulers of forcibly ending her roadside stand-off. The US is one of the most vocal critics of the junta and has been a firm
supporter of Ms Suu Kyi since the National league for democracy won a sweeping
election victory in 1990 which the military ignored.
Mrs Albright's remarks came after Myanmar's junta said in a statement that
Ms Suu Kyi has been escorted home, ending her nine-day stand off with the
authorities.
However her aides say military authorities took her home by force.
The opposition leader was reportedly on a trip out of Yangon to meet her
party members.
Reports also say that riot police and military intelligence officers raided
NLD's headquarters and seized several documents.
The moves have also prompted the European Union to express concern.
The EU has called for guarantees of free access to Ms Suu Kyi while Britain
has hinted at diplomatic retaliation over the military regime's treatment of
her.
"We are examining with EU colleagues and other international partners what
measures we should take in response once the facts have been clarified," British
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said in a statement.
Sunday, September 3 12:37 AM SGT
Myanmar Suu Kyi Stings Junta Again By GRANT PECK, Associated Press Writer BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Sleeping in a car in the middle of a muddy,
mosquito-infested field may not seem like a compelling political tactic, but for
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, it might just have worked.
Like the mythic mouse that strikes terror in the mighty elephant, the
diminutive opposition leader has shown again that she can face down Myanmar's
military regime.
Suu Kyi, two other senior members of her National League for Democracy and
12 members of the party's youth wing were stopped by security forces in Dala, a
suburb of the capital, Yangon, on Aug. 24 while en route to do party
organizational work in the countryside. Refusing government requests to return
to Yangon and blocked from proceeding, they set up a makeshift camp around their
two vehicles and stayed put for nine days.
Suu Kyi's party had announced they would not voluntarily return home until
they were allowed to go to their original destination 30 miles south of the
capital. The standoff finally ended Friday night when she and her party were
forcibly returned to the capital by riot police, said her deputy, Tin Oo.
In a statement titled ``Dala incident ends happily,'' the government said
Suu Kyi and her party ``arrived home safe and sound'' Saturday morning after
being driven back to Yangon in a government motorcade. Senior NLD members' home
telephones were not operating Saturday, and at least one party leader, Tin Oo,
was being held under house arrest.
Despite the final outcome, analysts have suggested that Suu Kyi's tactic
bested her longtime military nemeses.
``If they had let her go and do party work, it would have proven that she
and the party have beaten the military, and given her party a second wind,''
says Josef Silverstein, a Myanmar expert at Rutgers University in New Brunswick,
N.J. ``On the other hand, by stopping and holding her a prisoner, they made a
non-event a world event.''
Suu Kyi, 55, has shown her mettle time and again since taking up the
democracy struggle in this southeast Asian nation in 1988.
Having spent much of her life abroad, she returned to her homeland to take
care of her ailing mother just as mass demonstrations were breaking out against
25 years of military rule. She was quickly thrust into a leadership role, mainly
because she is the daughter of martyred independence leader Gen. Aung Sun.
Taking the reigns, she rode out the military's bloody suppression of street
demonstrations to help found the National League for Democracy.
Charismatic, tireless and outspoken, her popularity threatened the
country's new set of military rulers. In 1989, detained on trumped-up national
security charges, she was put under house arrest. She was not released until
1995.
Even in isolation, her principled defiance gained her fame and honor - most
notably the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
The fortunes of her democracy movement were less agreeable. The military
refused to allow parliament to convene after her party won a landslide victory
in a 1990 general election, and afterward party members were subjected to a
nearly constant campaign of harassment and arrests.
In a cruel test of her commitment, the government in early 1999 refused to
grant her husband, British academic Michael Aris, a visa to visit her, even
though he was dying of cancer.
The government suggested instead that she go to her spouse's side in
Britain, an offer Suu Kyi regarded as a one-way ticket to exile. She stayed, and
her husband died in March of that year.
Myanmar's junta has long been widely condemned for its poor human rights
record and failure to restore democracy, but this is a particularly inopportune
time for a new run-in with Suu Kyi, Silverstein said.
Earlier this year, Myanmar - also known as Burma - received an
unprecedented condemnation from the International Labor Organization for its use
of forced labor. It was given until November to clean up its act or face serious
sanctions.
Also, the U.N. General Assembly opens its high profile Millennium session
this month, and reports from the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy to
Myanmar and the U.N. Human Rights Commission are unlikely to paint the junta in
a favorable light.
Vice President Al Gore spelled it out Thursday: ``Every day that the
Burmese authorities restrain Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's isolation from the
international community deepens.''
The junta itself has indirectly conceded the point, accusing Suu Kyi of
staging the incident to gain attention abroad.
``This is a careful, insincere, premeditated move by Aung San Suu Kyi to
attract international attention and to coincide with the upcoming (U.N.)
Millennium Summit and to tarnish the image of the government,'' Foreign Minister
Win Aung said Friday.
``What she would like to see is for us to arrest her and put her into
prison,'' he told reporters in Yangon. ``She is provoking the government to take
severe action against her so that she can have political upper hand.''
YANGON, Sept. 3
Kyodo
Myanmar junta investigating NLD over foreigners' activities Myanmar's military rulers on Sunday announced they are investigating the head office of the pro-democracy opposition party led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi based on reports of activities by foreigners. ''There is an investigation going on...in connection with the information concerning some activities made by a group of 14 foreigners and a team from the U.S. Congress,'' junta officials said. Telegraph(U.K)
ISSUE 1927 Sunday 3 September 2000 Cook warns Burma of retaliation By James Allan, Foreign Staff BRITAIN threatened diplomatic retaliation against Burma yesterday after the
country's military regime ordered 200 riot police to raid a roadside convoy and
force the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end a nine-day stand-off.
The Nobel Peace laureate and about a dozen of her supporters were forcibly taken back to the capital, Rangoon, where police and security officials raided the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD). "A huge amount of incriminatory material and documents has been seized during the raid," a security official claimed. Suu Kyi, 55, along with party members had camped out in their cars near Dallah, on the outskirts of Rangoon, since August 24 when they were prevented from going to a party meeting in defiance of a ban on travel outside the capital. Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, said in a statement: "I am deeply
concerned by reports that Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were forcibly
returned to Rangoon by the Burmese regime and are being held in their homes
against their will. Initial indications are that the Burmese regime has once
again grossly infringed the rights of a legal political party to operate freely.
Aung San Suu Kyi was elected with the overwhelming support of the Burmese
people."
He added: "We are examining with EU colleagues and other international
partners what measures we should take in response once the facts have been
clarified. I call on the Burmese regime to allow immediate access to Aung San
Suu Kyi and her NLD colleagues, and to lift all restrictions forthwith." The
opposition leader had shown no signs of wanting to end the confrontation. A
similar deadlock in 1998 lasted 13 days, ending only when poor health and
dehydration forced her to return home.
A Burmese government statement said that she and her supporters had
"arrived home safe and sound this morning after their stay in Dallah town". But
Suu Kyi's deputy in the NLD, Tin Oo, said: "Around midnight, nearly 200 riot
police raided the place where we were staying and forcibly took Aung San Suu Kyi
and all of us." He said the group was brought back to Rangoon in police cars. He
thought that Suu Kyi was taken to her house but he could provide few details as
security staff ordered reporters away from his house where he was speaking. Suu
Kyi could not be contacted by telephone. Diplomatic sources said that at least
three senior NLD members had been placed under "house arrest".
The NLD has effectively used the blockade to highlight the restrictions
placed on Suu Kyi and other opposition supporters and to remind the world of
their campaign for democracy. The NLD won Burma's last election in 1990 by a
landslide but has never been allowed to govern. Suu Kyi and her entourage had
refused all official requests to return home. By Friday it was becoming obvious
that the encounter had become embarrassing for the regime and that its patience
was wearing thin. Suu Kyi was accused of trying to create anarchy in Burma by
provoking it into forcibly ending the confrontation.
The Foreign Minister, Win Aung, also accused unnamed diplomats of "trying
to interfere in our internal affairs". He accused them of "blatantly violating
diplomatic norms" and abusing Burma's hospitality. The stand-off was widely
criticised by Britain, America, the EU, the UN and Canada, all calling for
democracy to be restored and for travel restrictions on the opposition leader to
be lifted.
The country's military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was quoted by
state-run newspapers yesterday as saying that Rangoon would not bow to foreign
pressure. "Today, some countries are exerting all kinds of pressure on Myanmar
[Burma] in their efforts to cast it in their own mould," he said.
The Age
Burma condemned for latest crackdown By CRAIG SKEHAN SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT, BANGKOK Monday 4 September 2000 The crushing of a protest vigil by Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has provoked strong international condemnation. On Saturday the Burmese junta forced Ms Suu Kyi to return to the capital
Yangon, ending a nine-day roadside confrontation with her just outside the city.
She had left Rangoon on August 24 to try to visit supporters.
The United States has expressed outrage at the treatment of Ms Suu Kyi and
her colleagues in the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). The US
said it had reports that the party's executive committee members were under
house arrest.
"The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violations of their fundamental human rights," said US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright.
She said reports were that military intelligence agents had taken away
files after spending hours yesterday at NLD headquarters.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook condemned the crackdown, saying it
showed the weakness of the Rangoon regime.
"We are very concerned ... We need to know she's safe, is well. What's
happened to her is a scandal," Mr Cook said yesterday.
The 15-member European Union also issued a statement expressing concern at
the forced return to the capital of Ms Suu Kyi.
British, American and Australian diplomats reported yesterday that they
were denied access to Ms Suu Kyi and that several pro-democracy leaders appeared
to be under house arrest.
"I have been informed that police are around the houses of Suu Kyi and the
other nine members of the NLD's executive committee," said the party's labor
minister in exile Sann Aung.
"No one is being allowed to come in or go out. Party members have had their
telephone lines cut and many people are going into hiding."
The latest crackdown prompted the NLD to lash out at Australia's engagement
with the military regime, including continuing the holding of human rights
seminars for Burmese officials.
The NLD said the regime was using the seminars to help present an image of
flexibility and cooperation while pressing ahead with the suppression of all
dissent.
"What Australia is doing is encouraging the military regime to do the same
as before," said a senior NLD official based in Bangkok, U Tin Oo.
"Australia should give a clear message to the military regime that it has
to show good behavior and be willing to return to democracy."
An editorial in Thailand's The Nation newspaper yesterday called for the
international community, including Australia, to "bring pressure to bear on the
regime in an organised manner".
But a spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last night that
Australia had no plans to review policy with respect to Burma.
"Our policy on Burma remains focused on the key goals of advancing
democracy and promoting greater respect for human rights," the spokesman
said.
"Burma has announced it will set up a national human rights commission and
we will monitor the degree of its independence closely," he said.
"Our approach to Burma arose from the repeated failure of other approaches
to improve the political and human rights situation there.
"We are aware that it will not be an easy process and results will take
time."
The Nation - Sep 3, 2000.
Foreign editor walks careful line in Burma BY JEERAPORN CHAISRI PUBLISHING a newspaper in military-controlled Burma is not exactly an easy
task, unless, of course, one scratches the generals' backs.
And in Burma, there are indeed a lot of backs to scratch.
In a country where a free and independent press does not exist, reporting
on political events can be a risky business.
That leaves journalists and editors with the difficult task of finding
something worth writing about.
However, Ross Dunkley thinks he has what it takes to succeed, although he
refuses to say whose back he has had to scratch - if any.
The first six months of publication of his Myanmar Times have been smooth
sailing for the Australian editor in chief and his crew.
"My policy is to stay away from politics," said Dunkley.
Speaking at a seminar on "The Role of Media for Promoting a Civil Society",
organised recently in Bangkok by the BBC to commemorate its 60th year of
covering Burma, Dunkley said his aim was to show the "other face" of the
country.
But he insisted that he is not a lackey of the much-condemned regime.
"I'm a crusader for my newspaper, not a crusader for the government,"
Dunkley said.
The English-language weekly tabloid Myanmar Times is the first publication
in Burma to be run by a foreigner.
So what allows Burma's edgy generals to trust this man? Simple. It's his
strong credentials from another authoritarian regime, Vietnam, where the
offerings of the state-run press are practically crammed down the throats of the
population.
Dunkley made a name for himself in Hanoi by injecting life into the dull
media industry dominated by state agencies and the ruling Communist Party.
He believes that if and when Burma becomes a democracy, the Myanmar Times
will be in the perfect position to shift gears, elevate its content and reach
another level of journalism.
"The government understands too well that they need to be more transparent
and they don't deny that. They realise that there is no need to censor the
newspapers at the airport anymore," said Dunkley, pointing to a recent decision
to lift the ban on foreign newspapers and magazines coming into the country.
He stated that 98 per cent of his newspaper's contents have been untouched
by the censors. But judging from the material, that is understandable. A recent
story about a minister calling for a clampdown on pirated videos, along with an
article about an American travel agent rebuffing the sanctions on visiting
Burma, give the readers a feeling, albeit false, that the country is doing
something about its problems.
Myanmar Times was launched in March with a circulation of 10,000 a week.
Dunkley concedes that he has been bearing losses so far but says he hopes
to break even in two or three years.
The Nation - Sep 3, 2000.
New Burma weekly takes less rabid
approach to party line
BY KEN YWIN
BURMA'S "first international weekly journal", The Myanmar Times, is a more
subtle mouthpiece for the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) than
the official New Light of Myanmar.
The weekly, published in Rangoon, balances vilification of the SPDC's
enemies with features emphasising positive trends in the military junta-ruled
country.
Managing director and editor-in-chief Ross Dunkley, who purportedly worked
as a consultant to the Vietnamese government, attempts to balance the contents
of the 24-page English-language periodical with domestic and foreign features,
as well as two sports pages. The well laid-out weekly projects an objective to
make money through advertising, which at present constitutes about three pages.
Dunkley places a daily boxed offering of the SPDC's political, economic and
social objectives next to the paper's masthead, which lists Sonny Shwe as
executive director and head of the marketing team under a division of Myanmar
Consolidated Media Co Ltd.
Leafing through two recent issues dated August 21-27 and August
28-September 3, one sees a call for a clampdown on piracy in the video industry
by a deputy minister of information, as well as an interview with a US tourist
agent who criticises the sanctions placed on travel to Burma. A Myanmar Times
reporter shoots down the anti-Burma travel campaign organised by UK Tourist
Concern and the Burma Campaign and cites what it says is the overwhelming
support for increased tourism to Burma among Daily Telegraph readers.
Another correspondent extols the "brighter picture of the country's living
standards" from the United Nations' human development assessment for 2000.
Then on a global platform, the editor-in-chief prostrates himself before
the foreign minister to proclaim how the latter's "calm advance wins
international acclaim".
A "Street Talk" column that airs the man-on-the-street's opinions touches
mainly on non-sensitive issues such as books and how business is treating
traders.
The Myanmar Times ran an article on a Reuters report on Wal-Mart chain
stores selling clothes made by "forced labour" in Burma. It attempts to clarify
through a Reuters correspondent in Burma who says, "It is very good to see that
even half-educated workers are getting fair salaries in the [garment] industry."
The "Time Out" section is admittedly interesting, claiming a "complete
guide to life in Myanmar" in which a spotlight on Rangoon takes readers on a
tour of the "grand old facades from a bygone era", an 18-year-old university
student is crowned "Miss Style 2000", and a pictorial of Singapore's National
Day celebrations features the most honoured guest -- who else but secretary
number one Lt Gen Khin Nyunt.
Unlike the official New Light of Myanmar, which publishes the happenings of
the country's top brass along with full texts of their speeches, The Myanmar
Times attempts to balance scurrilous attacks on the pro-democracy movement with
"non-political issues such as the government's attempt to suppress drugs, the
opening of many small businesses and attempts to improve the educational
system".
One has to wait and see if the publishers of The Myanmar Times will put the
newspaper before the military government or vice versa. the military government
before the newspaper, following the route of other Burmese newspapers modelled
on Soviet-style propaganda.
BBC - Sunday, 3 September, 2000, 09:46
GMT 10:46 UK
Burma blocks access to Suu Kyi The Burmese military authorities are continuing to block access to the
opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
They have also maintained a cordon around the headquarters of her National League for Democracy, despite international condemnation of her treatment. Miss Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since soldiers forced her and a
group of supporters to return to the capital, Rangoon early on Saturday, after a
nine-day roadside standoff.
The confrontation had started when Miss Suu Kyi, making her first attempt
to travel outside Rangoon for two years, was stopped in her car on the outskirts
of the capital.
Burmese military officials have denied that other NLD leaders are under
house arrest, but they say they have been asked to stay in their homes and their
movements are being temporarily restricted.
International condemnation
Earlier, the United States joined the European Union in condemning the
military authorities' action against Miss Suu Kyi.
American Secretary of Sate, Madeleine Albright, said she was outraged by
the Burmese authorities' use of force.
"The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violations of their fundamental human rights," Ms Albright said in a statement.
European foreign ministers meeting in Evian, France, also condemned the
military government.
UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the Burmese regime had once again
grossly infringed the rights of a legal political party to operate freely.
He called on the Burmese authorities to lift all the restrictions imposed
on the National League for Democray .
Police guard
The Burmese government says it acted for the opposition leader's own
safety, by escorting her home in the early hours of Saturday.
It described her roadside protest as a deliberate confrontation designed to
attract world attention.
Hours later, the military raided the NLD headquarters and seized a large
number of documents.
The BBC's Gina Wilkinson in Rangoon says that four senior members of the
NLD have been placed under house arrest.
The NLD won elections in May 1990, but Burma's military rulers refused to
hand over power, jailing some party members and placing others under house
arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late Burmese nationalist leader,
General Aung San, was held under house arrest for six years after the NLD's
election victory.
Although this was lifted in 1995, the military government has maintained
restrictions on her movements.
BBC -Sunday, 3 September, 2000, 03:13
GMT 04:13 UK
UK condemns Burmese 'scandal' The UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, has condemned as "a scandal" the
treatment of Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Nobel Peace prize winner, and 14 of her supporters from the National League of Democracy (NLD), were seized on a dirt road outside Burma's capital of Rangoon. She was bundled into a car. They had been staging a nine-day protest after security services prevented
her and members of her party from travelling to a political meeting in the
countryside.
The military authorities said she had been escorted back to the capital
because of concerns about her health and safety and because of monsoon rains.
Since her forced return to the capital her party headquarters have been
raided and occupied by military officers who have seized numerous documents.
Speaking at a meeting with other EU foreign ministers in Evian,
Switzerland, Mr Cook said the use of force by the Burmese government against the
pro-democracy leader was a "scandal".
"Our ambassador has been trying to get access to her. He has been denied.
"We need to know she is safe and well. What has happened here is a scandal.
"Aung San Suu Kyi received the vote by an overwhelming majority of the
people of Burma 10 years ago.
"She is now being prevented from communicating with her supporters. It is a
clear sign of the weakness of the regime that they are so afraid to let her
travel."
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late Burmese nationalist leader,
General Aung San, was held under house arrest for six years after the NLD's
election victory in 1990.
Although this was lifted in 1995, the military government has maintained
restrictions on her movements ever since.
BBC -Sunday, 3 September, 2000, 07:18
GMT 08:18 UK
US joins EU in condemning Burma The United States has joined the European Union in condemning Burma's
latest action against the pro-democracy opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The American Secretary of Sate, Madeleine Albright, said she was outraged.
She was referring to the action of the Burmese authorities in using force
to end a nine-day roadside stand-off which Miss Suu Kyi had staged after being
prevented from seeing some of her supporters outside the capital, Rangoon.
Earlier, European foreign ministers condemned what had happened. The
British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, said the Burmese regime had once again
grossly infringed the rights of a legal political party to operate freely. The
Burmese government said that it had acted for the opposition leader's own
safety.
Reports from Rangoon say she is now back in her home, with the immediate
area around it heavily guarded by troops and police.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
The Straits Times - Sep 3,
2000.
We'll strike our own path, says Yangon YANGON -- Myanmar will continue to follow the path best suited to its own
conditions, relying on its own resources, said Myanmar leader Lt-General Khin
Nyunt.
During Friday's opening of the country's first ever training course in
diplomatic skills for senior officials conducted by the Foreign Ministry, Lt-Gen
Khin Nyunt, First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council,
said Myanmar wishes to have friendly relations with all countries in keeping
with its independent and active foreign policy.
""We have developed increasingly good cooperative relations with
like-minded countries,'' he noted. ""However, today some countries are exerting
all kinds of pressure on Myanmar in their efforts to cast it in their own
mould.''
Without naming specific countries, he charged these countries with using
every pretext from forced labour and narcotic drugs, to health and education
conditions to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs.
Myanmar will never bow to such pressure, he warned. --Xinhua
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