Burma Related News - Sep 22, 2000.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 22, 2000.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEADLINE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reuters - Myanmar Foils Suu Kyi Rail Trip, Detains Colleagues
Reuters - Myanmar Foils Suu Kyi Rail Trip, Cracks Down

AP - Military Junta Stops Suu Kyi Leave

AP - Myanmar's Suu Kyi Thrown Out Of Railway Station

Ananova - Suu Kyi aide detained after train station confrontation

The Dallas Morning News - Democracy leader again kept in Myanmar capital

Chicago Sun-Times - Myanmar puts travel ban on Nobel winner
Kyodo - Myanmar rejects Annan's call for ASEAN intervention: daily

CNN - Albright calls Myanmar democracy leader's treatment 'unacceptable'

IPS - POLITICS-ASEAN: REGIONAL BLOC FUMBLES ON BURMA, AGAIN

Xinhua - Myanmar to Cooperate with Thai Company in Oil Palm Production

Xinhua - Malaysian Company to Extend Bag Production in Myanmar

Bkk Post - Fishing ban may become permanent

The Nation - Asia politicians in milestone meet

BBC - Albright condemns Burma crackdown

SCMP - Top Suu Kyi aide missing

Friday September 22 2:45 AM ET
Myanmar Foils Suu Kyi Rail Trip, Detains Colleagues
By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government detained eight members of the opposition Friday after they accompanied pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a failed bid to leave Yangon by rail in defiance of travel restrictions.

The government said the 55-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner had abused cleaning staff before being removed from Yangon's main railway station in the early hours of Friday.

``Apparently upset that there were no seats available on a train from Yangon to Mandalay...Ms Suu Kyi lashed out at a station cleaning crew before being asked to leave by station authorities,'' the government said in a statement.

NLD sources said party vice chairman U Tin Oo and seven NLD youth members had been detained after being forced to leave the station. A spokesman for the regime confirmed they were at a ''government guesthouse,'' a euphemism for detention.

Suu Kyi had arrived at the station Thursday afternoon to travel to Myanmar's second city Mandalay, some 560 km (350 miles) north of the capital, but was told that all trains were full.

The government said it had tried to arrange tickets for her group, and escorted them to a VIP waiting room.

``These tickets are in high demand, and normally require a three-day advance purchase,'' it said.

``When told that all seats on the train had already been sold, Ms Suu Kyi and her party remained in the station, refusing to leave at closing time. They became abusive toward the station cleaning staff, and had to be escorted from the building at approximately 1 a.m. (1830 GMT Thursday).''

Scores of plainclothes officers and police in riot gear were sent to the station Thursday, and journalists were ordered to leave the area before Suu Kyi and her colleagues were removed.

The NLD won general elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.

International Anger

The blocking of Suu Kyi's rail journey sparked fresh international criticism of the military government.

``This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities. It is unacceptable,'' Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a statement.

``The United States holds the Burmese Government responsible for their safety and welfare and calls for the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign diplomats.''

The government said Suu Kyi was at home after being removed from the station. She spent six years under house arrest until 1995, and her movements remain severely restricted.

Her last attempt to visit Mandalay by rail, in 1996, was foiled when the authorities disconnected her carriage from the train just before departure, citing technical problems.

Attempts to leave Yangon by car have also been blocked, and Suu Kyi has been involved in three lengthy roadside stand-offs since 1998 after being stopped in her car by police.

The most recent stand-off ended on September 2 when Suu Kyi was brought back to Yangon and locked in her house for nearly two weeks with her telephone cut and diplomatic access barred.

Her detention sparked international condemnation and threw into doubt a planned meeting in Laos in December between the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and foreign ministers of the European Union.

Albright demanded Myanmar lift all restrictions on Suu Kyi.

``Aung San Suu Kyi is a beacon of hope to the long-suffering people of Burma whose dream of a just, democratic society has been denied for too long by a repressive regime,'' she said.

Friday September 22 12:04 AM ET
Myanmar Foils Suu Kyi Rail Trip, Cracks Down

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government barred access to the homes of senior opposition leaders on Friday after thwarting the latest bid by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to leave Yangon in defiance of travel restrictions.

The 55-year-old Nobel laureate and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy (NLD) were escorted home by police from Yangon's main railway station in the early hours of Friday after being blocked from boarding trains to Mandalay.

Journalists who tried to visit the home of NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo Friday were turned away by police, and telephone calls to other senior party members did not connect.

``They are all fine and at their respective residences,'' a government spokesman said when asked what had happened to Suu Kyi and her colleagues, adding that the restrictions on visiting or contacting NLD leaders were temporary.

``These are only temporary measures as required by the situation. Things will return to normal soon,'' he said.

International Condemnation

Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo had arrived at the station Thursday afternoon to travel to Mandalay, Myanmar's second city 560 km (350 miles) north of the capital, but were told that all trains were full. They stayed at the station for several hours after the last train departed before being escorted home.

Scores of riot police and plainclothes officers had been sent to the station, rounding up NLD supporters outside.

Suu Kyi said she wanted to go to Mandalay to check reports of a government crackdown there against the NLD, which won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.

Her last attempt to visit Mandalay by rail, in 1996, was foiled when the authorities disconnected her carriage from the train just before departure, citing technical problems.

Attempts to leave Yangon by car have also been blocked, and Suu Kyi has been involved in three lengthy roadside stand-offs since 1998 after being stopped in her car by police.

The most recent stand-off ended on September 2 when Suu Kyi was forcibly brought back to Yangon and then locked in her house for nearly two weeks with her telephone cut and diplomatic access barred.

The EU has boycotted ministerial meetings with ASEAN since Myanmar's controversial admission to the Asian grouping in 1997.

Albright demanded Myanmar lift all restrictions on Suu Kyi.

``Aung San Suu Kyi is a beacon of hope to the long-suffering people of Burma whose dream of a just, democratic society has been denied for too long by a repressive regime,'' she said.

Thursday September 21 10:21 PM ET
Military Junta Stops Suu Kyi Leave

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was forced to turn back from a renewed attempt to assert her freedom of movement Thursday, when she tried to board a train out of the capital but authorities refused to issue her a ticket.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner was later ``forcibly removed'' from the train station, calling the actions by the military government an ``outrage.''

The standoff at the train station followed an attempt by Suu Kui and some of her supporters in August to travel by car out of the capital of Yangon for political work only to be stopped on the road and put under virtual house arrest until early this month.

On Thursday, Suu Kyi and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy were allowed to go to the railway station but were kept from boarding four consecutive trains for the 12-hour, 350-mile journey to Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city. Suu Kyi and her party's leaders were told that all tickets to Mandalay had been sold out, a party official said.

Earlier, before Suu Kyi's arrival, security forces hauled scores of Suu Kyi's supporters from the station.

Suu Kyi, deputy party leader Tin Oo and about 10 members of the party's youth wing, sat in a waiting lounge after the last train to Mandalay departed at 9:30 p.m. Plainclothes and uniformed police were also in the waiting area, which was barred to ordinary passengers.

Suu Kyi and the others waited for about four more hours inside the station, then left in a convoy of cars. No marked police or military or uniformed officers were seen in the convoy. Suu Kyi's car was seen later at her residence.

It was not clear if Suu Kyi and her backers were forced out of the station, which was closed to journalists during the standoff.

In Washington, Madeleine Albright said that Suu Kyi's whereabouts were unknown after being ``forcibly removed.''

``This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities,'' she said in a statement. ``It is unacceptible.''

Albright said in a statement that was ``appalled'' at the government's treatment of Suu Kyi and the NLD, and called the restraints on the party ``an affront to free peoples everywhere.''

Suu Kyi won the Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been ruled by its military since 1962. She was kept under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and her movements have remained heavily restricted.

Although Suu Kyi's party won national elections in 1990 in a landslide, the military government refused to honor the results.

The junta disapproves of Suu Kyi's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside and has physically prevented her from doing so on several occasions - the last time Aug. 24 when she tried to drive to a southern town.

As soon as security restrictions on Suu Kyi and her party were lifted Sept. 14, she announced her intention to travel again and dared the government to stop her.

Suu Kyi last tried to travel by train, also to Mandalay, in March 1996, when authorities blocked her by saying her carriage had developed mechanical problems and could not make the journey.

Tin Oo, the party's second in command, said the same situation could arise again, but said: ``If they stop the train we will go by another train. And even if this is stopped we will wait until another train is available.''

On Wednesday, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung told the United Nations (news - web sites) that his government has been under ``unfair scrutiny'' and political pressure from other nations while it is establishing its own kind of democracy.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. The current generals took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy, killing thousands of people.

Friday, September 22 3:42 PM SGT
Myanmar's Suu Kyi Thrown Out Of Railway Station

YANGON (AP)--Aung San Suu Kyi was evicted from a railway station when she became "abusive" on being prevented from leaving the capital by train, Myanmar's junta said Friday, giving its version of the latest confrontation with the pro-democracy leader.

Suu Kyi was "escorted" out of the station building at about 1830 GMT Thursday and is now at her home, a government statement said. This could not be independently confirmed.

The junta, which has little tolerance for opposition, disapproves of Suu Kyi's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside and has physically prevented her from doing so on several occasions. Her National League for Democracy party won the elections in 1990 but the military has refused to hand over power.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was "forcibly removed" from the station.

"This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities," she said in a statement.

Suu Kyi and some other NLD leaders went to the station Thursday afternoon to travel to Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, but were told that all seats were taken up.

Station authorities then asked them to leave because they were obstructing workers, the government statement said, adding they refused to leave even at closing time.

"Apparently upset that there were no seats available ... Ms. Suu Kyi lashed out at a station cleaning crew before being asked to leave by station authorities," the statement said.

"They became abusive toward station cleaning staff and had to be escorted from the building at approximately 1 a.m.," the statement said. "The government is investigating the incident," it added.

It said tickets to Mandalay, 540 kilometers north of Yangon, are in high demand and have to be booked three days in advance.

Suu Kyi's last confrontation with the government was Aug. 24 when she was barred from driving to a southern town and later put under virtual house arrest along with the entire top leadership of the NLD from Sept. 1 to Sept. 14.

Ananova - Sep 22, 2000.
Suu Kyi aide detained after train station confrontation

An aide to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was put under detention after they were barred from leaving Burma's capital by train in their latest confrontation with Myanmar's junta.

Suu Kyi and Tin Oo, the deputy leader of her National League for Democracy, were evicted from the capital Yangon's railway station when they became "abusive," a government statement claimed.

Suu Kyi was escorted back home, it added. But Tin Oo, 77, and eight other NLD workers who were planning to accompany Suu Kyi on her train journey to the north for party work were taken to a "government guest house as a temporary measure to prevent similar incidents," a military official added.

"This is for the time being," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Several opposition leaders have been taken to government guest houses in the past, only to be kept there against their will for as long as two years. The government denies such detention constitutes arrest without charges.

The junta, which has little tolerance for opposition, disapproves of Suu Kyi's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside and has physically prevented her from doing so on several occasions. The NLD won the elections in 1990 but the military has refused to hand over power.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace prize for her democracy work, was "forcibly removed" from the station.

"This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders," she said in a statement.

The military official said the railways will also take action against Tin Oo for disrupting work at the station on Thursday when he, Suu Kyi and the others arrived to travel to Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city.

They were prevented from boarding four consecutive trains after being told that all tickets had been sold out. The government statement said they refused to leave at closing time even after station authorities said they were obstructing workers.

The Dallas Morning News

Democracy leader again kept in Myanmar capital
09/22/2000 Associated Press

YANGON, Myanmar – Democracy leader Aung Sam Suu Kyi was forced to turn back Thursday from a renewed attempt to assert her freedom of movement.

She tried to board a train out of the capital, Yangon, but authorities refused to issue her a ticket.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who tried last month to travel by car out of Yangon for political work, only to be stopped on the road, renewed her confrontation with the ruling military junta at the train station.

Ms. Suu Kyi and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy were allowed to go to the railway station but were kept from boarding four consecutive trains for the 12-hour, 350-mile journey to Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city.

Ms. Suu Kyi and her party's leaders, whose virtual house arrest was lifted this month, were told that all tickets to Mandalay had been sold, a party official said.

After waiting at the station for four hours, they returned home in their cars.

Ms. Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Ms. Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and her movements have remained heavily restricted.

Although Ms. Suu Kyi's party won national elections in 1990 in a landslide, the military government refused to honor the results.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. The current generals took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy, killing thousands of people.

Chicago Sun-Times
Myanmar puts travel ban on Nobel winner
September 22, 2000

YANGON, Myanmar--In a renewed attempt to assert her freedom of movement, pro-democracy leader Aung Sam Suu Kyi tried to board a train Thursday, but authorities refused to issue her a ticket.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner tried last month to travel by car out of the capital of Yangon for political work only to be stopped on the road.

Suu Kyi and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy were allowed to go to the railway station but were kept from boarding four consecutive trains for the trip to Mandalay.

Suu Kyi and her party's leaders, whose virtual house arrest was lifted this month, were told that all tickets to Mandalay had been sold out, a party official said.

Suu Kyi won the peace prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been ruled by its military since 1962. She was kept under house arrest from 1989 through 1995.

Although Suu Kyi's party won national elections in 1990 in a landslide, the military government refused to honor the results.

Myanmar rejects Annan's call for ASEAN intervention: daily

BANGKOK, Sept. 21 (Kyodo) -- Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung has criticized U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal to have an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) troika help resolve the political deadlock in Myanmar, saying it lacks merit, a Thai newspaper reported Thursday.

The Nation, a leading daily, reported Win Aung told one of its correspondents Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's annual meeting in New York that the United Nations and ASEAN should seriously consider the merit of the proposal before advancing it.

''Before they come up with such a suggestion they need to think of the outcome they are going to get,'' he was quoted as saying.

The article quoted a diplomatic source in New York as saying that Annan suggested to Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong during a meeting last week that an ASEAN troika be set up to help bring about dialogue between the ruling junta and the National League for Democracy, headed by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A Thai Foreign Ministry source, meanwhile, was quoted as saying Bangkok was waiting to see Hanoi's course of action.

However, the article said Vietnam, the current chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee, is likely to shoot down the idea on the grounds that ASEAN has a policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of its members.

During his brief statement at the opening of a cocktail party hosted by ASEAN at the U.N. on Wednesday, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien praised links between the U.N. and the regional group, and made a quick reference to ASEAN's principle of noninterference.

The concept of an ASEAN troika was agreed upon by all ASEAN members at July's ASEAN ministerial meeting in Bangkok.

The aim of the troika is to help settle any dispute deemed to have a security impact on the region. A troika could be set up by the chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee and it would include the future and the previous chairmen of the committee.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Myanmar became a member in 1997.

Albright calls Myanmar democracy leader's treatment 'unacceptable'
September 22, 2000
Web posted at: 3:04 p.m. HKT (0704 GMT)

YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- U.S. officials are condemning Myanmar's government for violating pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's "fundamental human rights" after military officials prevented her from leaving the nation's capital.

A spokesman for Myanmar's military government on Friday confirmed that Suu Kyi and eight of her supporters were staying at a "government guesthouse," which is a common reference for detention.

Suu Kyi and her supporters on Thursday were prevented by military officials from boarding a train for Mandalay, the nation's second-largest city.

"This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said late Thursday in a statement.

Myanmar is also referred to as Burma.

'At government guesthouse'

Suu Kyi, 55, and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy -- including Tin Oo, her top aide and party vice chairman -- were prevented from boarding four successive trains. They were trying to make a 12-hour, 560-kilometer (350-mile) trip to Mandalay.

However, they were told that all the tickets had been sold. Military officials eventually took Suu Kyi and her supporters from the train station in police vehicles.

"The eight are at a government guesthouse because the authorities have received a complaint from the Railway Ministry that they obstructed responsible workers trying to do their jobs at the station," the government spokesman said.

The United States, Albright said, would hold Myanmar's government responsible for the safety of Suu Kyi and her entourage. Albright called for "the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign diplomats."

Albright called Suu Kyi -- winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy efforts -- a beacon of hope for Myanmar's people who have been denied a "just, democratic society."

Movements restricted

Myanmar has been ruled by its military since 1962. The current generals assumed power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy. Thousands of people died in the uprising.

The nation's military junta in the past has disapproved of Suu Kyi's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside, and has on several occasions physically prevented her from doing so.

In 1995, Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest, and her movements have since been severely restricted.

Suu Kyi's last confrontation with the government was on August 24, when military officials prevented her from driving to a southern town. She was later placed under virtual house arrest -- from September 1-14 -- along with her party's top leadership.

She last tried to travel by train, also to Mandalay, in March 1996. At that time, authorities disconnected her carriage, and said that it had developed mechanical problems.

The crackdown on Suu Kyi provoked international condemnation and threw into doubt a meeting scheduled for December in Laos involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and European Union foreign ministers.

Inter Press Service

POLITICS-ASEAN: REGIONAL BLOC FUMBLES ON BURMA, AGAIN

BANGKOK, (Sep. 21) IPS - Southeast Asian governments are in disaccord over how firmly to handle Burma, perceived as an errant neighbor for its alleged rights abuses and curtails on political freedom.
The latest standoff between Burma's military regime and pro- democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a sign that the "constructive engagement" policy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has failed to persuade Rangoon to change its ways, say critics.

On the contrary, the rulers of Burma have scoffed at the half- hearted bids of some ASEAN nations to apply collective diplomatic pressure on Rangoon.

Indeed, the Burmese regime has been encouraged in its defiance by the fact that some ASEAN members have used the "legitimization" of the regime to push lucrative business deals in that country, say the critics.

For the second time in less than a month, Suu Kyi was today prevented from travelling outside Rangoon by Burmese security forces, who blockaded the road in front of her house, news reports from Rangoon said.

The opposition leader, who was forcibly taken back to her house after a nine-day roadside stand-off with authorities late last month, had declared her intention to defy the regime and travel outside the capital for political work.

The military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has refused to hand power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, despite the latter's landslide win in a democratic election 10 years ago.

Suu Kyi was under house arrest for six years, until 1995, and her movements have been severely restricted since then. The SPDC accuses Suu Kyi of acting at the behest of foreign powers and claims it is restricting her movements for her own protection.

The generals ruling Burma insist that Suu Kyi's bids to bring international pressure will only slow the country's move toward democracy. Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung told the U.N. General Assembly this week that his government was under "unfair scrutiny."

"(Burma) has chosen a path that is most suitable to the country, its people and its historical peculiarities," he was quoted as saying.

News reports from the United Nations also spoke of Win Aung's rejection of a reported proposal by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that ASEAN act collectively to resolve the political deadlock in Burma.

"Before they come up with such a suggestion they need to think of the outcome they are going to get," the Burmese foreign minister told the Bangkok newspaper The Nation in New York.

The daily was told by unnamed diplomats at the U.N. General Assembly session that Annan had advised Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luang, who is the current ASEAN chair, to activate the new ASEAN crisis management mechanism.

He was referring to the ASEAN "troika" of past, present and future chairs of the grouping. Set up at the July meeting of the 10 ASEAN foreign ministers in the Thai capital, the troika is visualized as a regional crisis intervention mechanism.

Although the troika's mandate clearly says that it "shall refrain from addressing issues that constitute the internal affairs of ASEAN countries," analysts have noted that the political crisis in Burma is no longer purely an internal affair of the government.

Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan recently expressed concern that the Burmese regime's treatment of Suu Kyi could sully the "image of ASEAN as a whole."

However, ASEAN chair Vietnam has firmly rejected any suggestion that the grouping deviate from the "traditional principle" of non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

Statements from Hanoi and by senior Vietnamese political leaders have reiterated this stand.

Addressing a meeting of ASEAN lawmakers in Singapore earlier this month, Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nong Manh stressed the need to "safeguard the fundamental cooperation principles of respecting national independence and...non-interference in each other's internal affairs."

"History has shown that these principles have created the tradition of solidarity and unity in diversity within the regional body," he said.

Thailand is the only ASEAN nation so far to speak out boldly on the latest standoff between Suu Kyi and the generals. "We wish to see national reconciliation taking place in Burma as fast as possible," Foreign Minister Surin said.

However, Burma's Win Aung has blasted Surin, saying his statement "could harm relations among the member countries of ASEAN, whose cardinal principle is not to interfere in others' internal affairs."

ASEAN's inability to act again has been criticised by the Burmese opposition. "What happens in Burma is not exactly an internal problem of Burma," says Burmese opposition leader Teddy Buri, who was elected to parliament in 1990.

"ASEAN has a responsibility to see and to assist a return to democracy in Burma," he told IPS. Buri was among a group of members of the Burmese government-in-exile who were in the Philippine capital late August to persuade lawmakers to press Manila to act.

Some of the senators told the Burmese pro-democracy leaders that they favored Burma's expulsion from ASEAN.

However, the Burmese opposition is also aware of ASEAN's disaccord. While Indonesia is preoccupied with its own internal problems, the Malaysian government is not as sympathetic to Suu Kyi's cause as the opposition in that country, say Burmese opposition leaders.

According to ASEAN analyst Chayachoke Chulasiriwrongs of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, ASEAN nations are hesitant to act on Burma because many of their own records are scarcely better.

"If you are going to criticise others, you have to be clean yourself," he told IPS. Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, which are facing worldwide criticism for their handling of domestic political problems, would find it difficult to point a finger at Burma, he said.

Thailand's silence on Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed's alleged use of the legal system to persecute protege-turned-foe Anwar Ibrahim has also laid doubt on the sincerity of Bangkok's statements on the Suu Kyi affair, Chulasiriwrongs said.

Thailand has spoken out on Suu Kyi's stand-off with the military regime, but there was "not a peep" on the events in Malaysia, he pointed out.

"So the (Burmese regime) may be wondering, 'is Thailand doing this on its own or someone else's bidding?'" he said.

The analyst also faulted ASEAN nations for trying to "exploit" Burma. Countries like Singapore and Malaysia have actively pursued investments in Burma since its admission into ASEAN three years ago.

Malaysia played a key role in Rangoon's admission into the grouping in the face of stiff pressure from the West, which accuses Burma of serious human rights abuses in the form of forced labor.

ASEAN nations then argued that engaging Burma diplomatically was a far better way of persuading it to accept international norms than by isolating it with sanctions.

Critics say while such "constructive engagement" is not wrong, Burma was allowed to come in without any agreement on a "benchmark."

"Burma was allowed to enter ASEAN without any benchmark. When we invite people to come in, each one has to help ASEAN to grow," said Chayachoke.

While Burma's entry gave it a "chance to display itself to the world," ASEAN nations did not insist on reciprocity.

Myanmar to Cooperate with Thai Company in Oil Palm Production

YANGON (Sept. 22) XINHUA - Myanmar will cooperate with a Thai company in development of the country's oil palm seed production, said official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar Friday.

Quoting Myanmar Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Major- General Nyunt Tin, the report said though the Myanma Perennial Crops Enterprise (MPCE), a state-run organization under the ministry, is distributing hybrid oil palm seeds, as it cannot fulfill the domestic requirement and has to depend largely on import.

Myanmar will introduce oil palm cultivation technique from the Univanich Oil Palm Co Ltd of Thailand since the company has established many oil palm farms in that country and is producing quality seeds and rendering services, disclosed Nyunt Tin at a seminar here on Thursday, jointly sponsored by the MPCE and the Thai company.

According to the minister, Myanmar is planning to put 202,500 hectares under oil palm in the country's southern Tanintharyi division where climate and soil condition are suitable for the undertaking as part of its efforts to ensure domestic sufficiency in edible oil.

According to official statistics, Myanmar produces 200,000 tons of edible oil annually while importing 100,000 tons of such oil to help fulfill its domestic demand.

In addition to cultivation of major oil crops such as groundnut, sesame, sunflower and mustard, cultivation of soy bean and oil palm is also being extended for extracting edible oil.

Meanwhile, to gradually reduce the import of edible oil, Myanmar has leased out large plots of vacant and virgin lands to private entrepreneurs and provided the oil crop growers with agricultural loans and advance payment for the purchase of the crops.

Malaysian Company to Extend Bag Production in Myanmar

YANGON (Sept. 22) XINHUA - A Malaysian-based company, the TEFEL Packaging Industries Co Ltd, Thursday agreed with Myanmar to extend its polyethylene bag production in the country, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.
Under the contract signed between the Malaysian company and the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development of the Myanmar Ministry of Construction, the Malaysian company will lease another 1.62-hectare plot at the Dagon Myothit Industrial Zone in the capital's new town to set up a factory for the undertaking.

The TEFEL company, also a member of the multi-national Kuok Group, has been engaged in producing over 36 million of such bags annually in Myanmar, using machines imported from Germany, Switzerland and Australia.

The bulk of the products are exported, the report said. According to official statistics, Malaysia has so far injected over 587 million U.S. dollars in 25 projects in Myanmar, standing as the fourth largest foreign investor in the country after Singapore, Britain and Thailand.

Bangkok Post - Sep 22, 2000.
THAI-BURMESE TIES
Fishing ban may become permanent
Wassana Nanuam

Burma could decide to close its waters permanently to Thai fishermen, a navy source said yesterday.

The Burmese learned well after years of working with Thai trawling boats and are now well-equipped and ready to start operating on their own.

The temporary withdrawal of fishing concessions in October last year, after Thailand allowed the gunmen who seized the Burmese embassy to go free, could become permanent, the source said. It was possible Rangoon would decide to limit fishing in its waters to Burmese companies.

Burmese companies have already set up ventures with Chinese, Singaporean and French entrepreneurs. The Burmese fleet now totalled about 200 trawlers. Many were Thai vessels seized for fishing illegally in Burmese waters.

Denied access to Burmese waters, Thai fishermen have resorted to renting Burmese-registered trawlers and must pay up to 100,000 baht annually in fees.

The Nation - Sep 22, 2000.
Asia politicians in milestone meet

TWO Thai politicians earlier this week participated in the first International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Manila, which was held to begin a process of regional consultation and political cooperation for the 21st century.

The two Thai participants were Surakiart Sathirathai, deputy leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party, and Alongkorn Pollabutr, executive director of the Democrat Party. They were joined by politicians from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.

Other notable politicians present at the event were Fidel Ramos, former president of the Philippines; Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan and president of the Pakistan People's Party; Tan Kahlil Yaakoub, secretary-general of Malaysia's United Malay National Organisation; Kim Young Sam, former president of South Korea; Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of Cambodia's Funcinpec Party; Seishiro Etoh, former speaker of Japan's lower house of parliament; Humayan Rasheed Choudhury, speaker of Bangladesh's parliament; and Ma Wen Pu, a member of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee.

The gathering was billed as the first in the history of political parties on the Asian continent.

The meeting adopted a shared agenda of action, including an agreement to endeavour to make Asia a zone of peace, freedom and prosperity; to cooperate and find solutions to trouble spots, particularly in the South China Sea and Kashmir; and to encourage governments to harmonise laws on combating the trafficking of human beings and drugs, terrorism, piracy and other transnational crimes.

The group also declared support for the Asean Regional Forum and efforts to establish an Asian Monetary Fund that would work cooperatively with the International Monetary Fund, as well as a common currency for the region.

It pledged, among other things, to strengthen the political party system so that it can act as a catalyst for change and an instrument of development, and to promote self-discipline among members of political parties.

The group agreed to meet every two years and formed a standing committee to work out agendas for the meetings. The members of the meeting also agreed to consider the feasibility of setting up an Asian network of centres that would cooperate to help prevent and manage regional conflicts.

Surakiart, who was asked to chair a workshop on Asian development alternatives and was elected a member of the standing committee, described the event as a milestone, as it not only involved political parties from countries with democratic systems but also one-party states such as China and Burma.

Bhutto was also elected to the committee despite a military take-over in her country last year.The event was hosted by Jose de Venecia, former speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, and co-organised by Christian Democrats and Peoples' Parties International, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Asian Centre for the Study of Democracy.

BBC -Friday, 22 September, 2000, 10:47 GMT 11:47 UK
Albright condemns Burma crackdown

The US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, has condemned as "unacceptable" the forcible removal of the Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from a railway station in the capital, Rangoon.

The incident happened on Thursday after the opposition leader and several senior figures from her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were barred from travelling by train to the city of Mandalay.

The group had been planning to visit the northern city to investigate reports of a crackdown against party supporters there.

The authorities refused to allow her to board the final train of the day at 2100 local time, after railway officials said there were no tickets left.

Aung San Suu Kyi's latest challenge to restrictions on her travel ended with her being escorted home by police several hours later.

Reports from Rangoon say NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo and seven other party members have been detained at what the authorities call a "government guesthouse" - a euphemism for detention.

'Heavy-handed'

"This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities," Mrs Albright said in a statement.

"The United States holds the Burmese Government responsible for their safety and welfare and calls for the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign diplomats."

A statement from the Burmese authorities said the Nobel Peace Prize winner had "lashed out at a station cleaning crew before being asked to leave by station authorities".

The statement added that Aung San Suu Kyi and her officials were "at home, and the government is investigating the incident".

Security cordon

Earlier witnesses said about 100 NLD supporters who had gathered at the station were herded into trucks by military police at the station and taken to an undisclosed location.

Reports say a tight security cordon has now been placed around the opposition leader's home and around the headquarters of the NLD. Diplomats and journalists have been refused access.

The military authorities have maintained strict controls on Aung San Suu Kyi's travel outside the capital since freeing her from six years of house arrest in 1995.

Last month she was involved in a nine-day stand-off with police, after leaving her home and attempting to drive to a party meeting outside the capital.

She and her supporters remained camped by the roadside until the authorities ended the protest and placed her under virtual house arrest.

Tensions raised

Four years ago, when Aung San Suu Kyi tried to visit Mandalay to visit jailed supporters, her carriage was disconnected from the rest of the train just before it left. Officials blamed technical problems.

On Thursday the ruling State Peace and Development Council said the latest events were heightening tensions between the two sides.

"The latest 'stand-off' between the SPDC and the NLD and its predictable end, and the predictable media attention, does nothing for the country except to heighten tensions and generate more anger on both sides," it said in a statement.

The NLD won Burma's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but the military refused to hand over power.

Aung San Suu Kyi was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but was unable to receive it in person because she was being held under house arrest in Rangoon.

South China Morning Post
Friday, September 22, 2000

BURMA - Top Suu Kyi aide missing
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon

A top aide to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has not returned home after he and Ms Suu Kyi were prevented from leaving the capital by train in their latest confrontation with Burma's military junta, a source said on Friday.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was ''forcibly removed'' from the train station and that her whereabouts remain unknown. She called the actions by the military government an ''outrage''.

On Thursday, Ms Suu Kyi and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy, including the party's vice chairman Tin Oo, were allowed to go to the railway station but were kept from boarding four consecutive trains for the 12-hour, 560km journey to Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city.

Ms Suu Kyi and the others were told that all tickets to Mandalay had been sold out, a party official said. Dozens of Ms Suu Kyi's supporters were also hauled away in police trucks.

Four hours later, in the early hours of Friday, the vehicles in which Ms Suu Kyi and Tin Oo had arrived were seen leaving the station accompanied by unmarked police cars. The convoy went to Ms Suu Kyi's house but it was not immediately clear if the leaders were in the cars and whether they had been forcibly removed. The station was deserted.

However, Tin Oo's wife said her 77-year-old husband had not returned home and was worried, a source close to the NLD said. Reporters were not allowed to go to Tin Oo's house.

The source did not dismiss the possibility that Tin Oo was at Ms Suu Kyi's house.

The junta, which has little tolerance for opposition activity, disapproves of Ms Suu Kyi's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside and has physically prevented her from doing so on several occasions.

Her last confrontation with the government was August 24 when she was blocked from driving to a southern town and later put under virtual house arrest along with the entire top leadership of the NLD from September 1 to September 14.

In Washington, Madeleine Albright said: ''This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities.''

''It is unacceptable,'' she said, adding that she was ''appalled'' at the junta's treatment of Ms Suu Kyi and the NLD. She called the restraints on the party ''an affront to free peoples everywhere''.

Ms Suu Kyi won the Nobel Prize for her struggle for democracy in Burma, which has been ruled by its military continuously since 1962. The current generals took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy, killing thousands of people.

Ms Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and her movements have remained heavily restricted.

Although Ms Suu Kyi's party won national elections in 1990 in a landslide, the military government refused to honour the results.

Ms Suu Kyi last tried to travel by train, also to Mandalay, in March 1996, when authorities disconnected her carriage, saying it had developed mechanical problems and could not make the journey.

On Wednesday, Burma's Foreign Minister Win Aung told the United Nations that his government has been under ''unfair scrutiny'' and political pressure from other nations while it is establishing its own kind of democracy.