|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCT - 13, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFP - ASEAN vows to boost image but stays quiet on
Myanmar
Reuters - Myanmar Says Pro-Democracy Opposition
Illegal
Reuters - Laos says ASEAN-EU meet on track, security in
hand
Reuters - Nations pledge to make S.E. Asia drug-free by
2015
AP - South Koreans Thrilled About Nobel Peace
Prize
AP - UN Envoy Meets With Suu Kyi For A Second Time In 2
Days
UPI - U.N. envoy leaves Burma, political deadlock
remains
The Telegraph - Suu Kyi may be held for years, diplomats
fear
ST - Pressure may mount on
Myanmar
UN newservice - Ending visit to
Myanmar, UN envoy urges government, opposition to begin dialogue
Bkk Post - Top refugee official to see border
camp
The Nation - Drug programme extended
Kyodo - U.S. urges Myanmar's Wa not to proceed with
relocation
BBC - Diplomats accused of helping Burmese
opposition
SCMP - Fighting factions remain in favour of
landmines
Asiaweek - Schools have reopened and Ne Win's wife, Ni Ni
Myint, is happy
The Straits Times -
UN envoy and Suu Kyi
hold further talks
Friday, October 13 4:44 PM SGT
ASEAN vows to boost image but stays quiet on Myanmar HANOI, Oct 13 (AFP) - Information ministers from the Association
of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed Friday to boost the group's image but
declined to address the biggest international criticism levelled against it --
its inaction over Myanmar.
In two days of talks here, the ASEAN ministers agreed
"an immediate programme of action" was essential to "address the current image
problem," a final statement said.
"Ministers strongly recommended that in view of current
perceptions about ASEAN and their effects on its image and work, ASEAN should
plan and formulate strategies ... to advance and reinforce a positive
international profile," it said.
ASEAN chief Rodolfo Severino complained that much of
the international criticism levelled against the group stemmed from a
misunderstanding about its nature and purpose.
"What was addressed at the meeting was certain
misconceptions around the world about the nature of ASEAN and what it is
supposed to be and not supposed to be," he said.
ASEAN has a policy of not interfering in the internal
affairs of member nations, which has consistently rankled the European Union and
Washington.
Despite mounting Western criticism of the military
junta in Myanmar and support from some of its members including Malaysia and
Thailand for outside mediation from the United Nations, ASEAN has so far
resisted pressure to intervene.
Current holder of the revolving ASEAN chairmanship
Vietnam, has along with other members steadfastly opposed proposals to send a
troika of foreign ministers to Yangon.
Severino insisted that the issue of intervention in
Myanmar was outside the information ministers' remit.
"The ASEAN troika, as you know, is an instrumentality
of the foreign ministers and and I think any question of the troika will have to
be addressed by them," he said.
The ASEAN chief insisted there were other areas where
the grouping had failed to get its message across and where more effective
public relations could improve its image.
He cited as an example the massive forest fires which
have raged across the region, most notably in 1997, and the effective measures
ASEAN had taken to counter them.
"The problem received a great deal of the attention but
the measures to resolve them did not receive any."
Severino said the same had been true of ASEAN's efforts
to forge greater regional economic integration.
"ASEAN has made excellent progress in integrating their
economies but, because of the failure to project this ... attention has been
focussed on the problems.
"All projects like this encounter problems," he
said.
The ASEAN chief acknowledged that ministers had been
able to take few concrete steps in their bid to boost the grouping's image but
blamed cash constraints stemming from the regional financial crisis of
1997-8.
Ministers agreed to defer a proposed ASEAN satellite TV
channel indefinitely after complaints from some members about the
costs.
"It's not been cancelled altogether," Severino said.
But "resources are by their nature limited."
Instead ASEAN will seek to strengthen the existing
exchange of programming between member states as well as boosting the airtime it
receives for its work.
Friday October 13 3:11 AM ET
Myanmar Says Pro-Democracy Opposition Illegal By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government said on Friday the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was not a legal party, fuelling concerns the
regime may be planning a decisive crackdown to silence its opponents.
Landlords have also served Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)
with an eviction notice to vacate its headquarters in Yangon, sparking fears for
the future of the party despite a visit this week by U.N. special envoy Razali
Ismail.
``The situation is really extremely bleak,'' one diplomat said. ``The NLD's
leaders have been silenced, a lot of key people have been arrested, and they may
lose their headquarters. There is really nothing to be positive about at the
moment.''
Diplomats said the government may have calculated that the long-term gains
are worth the short-term international outrage.
A commentary in the New Light of Myanmar and Myanma Alin newspapers,
regarded as official mouthpieces of the regime, derided Suu Kyi as a ``democracy
stunt actress'' and the NLD as a ''hut of democracy.''
``However much the democracy stunt actress and the international
colonialist group are shouting at the top of their voice that theirs is a legal
party, the hut of democracy can no longer stand as a legal political party,''
the newspapers said.
In a commentary, the newspapers said the NLD, which won elections by a
landslide in 1990 but has never been allowed to govern, was being controlled by
U.S. and British ''colonialists.''
``Diplomats of the international colonialist group are giving instructions
on the affairs of the party and this is against the political parties
registration law,'' the newspapers said.
``The persons called diplomats from the U.S. embassy and British embassy
are attentively and earnestly arranging things for and giving instructions on
political and organizational activities of the political party which is opposing
and attacking the incumbent government of the state.''
Western diplomats in Yangon said they were concerned the government may try
to destroy the NLD once and for all.
Confined, No Contact
The 55-year-old Suu Kyi has been confined to her house since September 22
with her telephone cut and diplomatic access barred.
The only person allowed to see her has been U.N. special envoy Razali, who
met her twice during a four-day visit to Myanmar earlier this week aimed at
easing political tensions.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a
member, has said it will not mediate.
Seven other top NLD leaders are also under de facto house arrest, and the
party's vice chairman U Tin Oo is in detention.
The elderly landladies who own the NLD's Yangon headquarters have also
served an eviction notice on the party. Diplomats say the landladies resisted
government pressure for years to evict the NLD, despite being periodically
imprisoned. But finally they seem to have given up.
``It would be a real blow for the NLD to lose their headquarters,'' one
diplomat said. ``It will be very difficult for them to find somewhere else. Who
wants to take the risk of jail and losing your property by renting a building to
the NLD?''
Myanmar has shrugged off a torrent of international criticism over its
treatment of the opposition.
WIRE:10/13/2000 03:16:00 ET
Laos says ASEAN-EU meet on track, security in hand HANOI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Laos said on Friday the political
crisis in military-ruled Myanmar would not affect an ASEAN-EU meeting scheduled
for December in Vientiane and that it had taken necessary security steps after a
series of bomb blasts this year. "There is no problem, everything is going
smoothly," Laotian Information Minister Sileua Bounkham told reporters on the
sidelines of a ministerial conference in Hanoi.
"We have heard from all EU member countries that they
are ready to come to attend this meeting," he said. Concerns have been raised
that Myanmar"s treatment of its opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
could derail the long-delayed meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and European Union in Vientiane, the Laotian capital.
It is the first such meeting since February 1997 when
the EU protested against Myanmar joining ASEAN. NLD leader Aung Suu Kyi has been
under de facto house arrest for much of the past five weeks since the government
blocked a bid she made to travel from Yangon to Mandalay by rail last month.
Other senior NLD officials are confined to their homes.
Sileua said he had not heard any indication that the
meeting could be affected. "I have no news about this matter," he said. "We just
received news from EU members that they will give some assistance, technical
assistance, for Laos for the opening of the meeting." He said there was also no
problem with security in Vientiane, despite a spate of bomb blasts earlier this
year, which he blamed on "economic reasons."
"Laos is still a peaceful country," the minister said.
"There are no problems, all the things have been prepared. All the necessary
arrangements for the security measures have been done."
WIRE:10/13/2000 08:26:00 ET
Nations pledge to make S.E. Asia drug-free by 2015 BANGKOK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Representatives from 34 countries
pledged on Friday to help make Southeast Asia a a drug-free zone by 2015,
wrapping up a three-day narcotics conference in the Thai capital.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and
China endorsed a plan to tackle illicit drugs in the region, especially the
growing problem of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), with the support of other
governments and international organisations.
"We...are deeply concerned about the growing threat of
the drug problem, in particularly the new and dangerous phenomenon of ATS and
its related menace," said a declaration issued at the end of the conference. The
nine-point declaration stressed the "urgent need" for collective and shared
responsibility among the international community to employ all means to overcome
drug problems by attacking both supply and demand.
The action plan rests on four pillars -- promoting
civil awareness of the danger of drugs, building the best practices for demand
reduction, improving law enforcement cooperation, and programmes promoting
cultivation of alternative crops to illegal drugs.
SYNTHETIC DRUG PROBLEM WORSENING
The United Nations says strong progress has been made
in reducing cocaine and heroin production, but the situation on synthetic drugs
was worsening and widespread in Asia. Consumption of amphetamines is in its
first growth phase in Asia and is expected to stabilise, following the pattern
seen in Europe, said Pino Arlacchi, executive director of the United Nations
Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.
Global seizures of ATS rose fourfold to more than
12,000 kg (26,400 lb) in 1998 from 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) in 1990. Seizures in East
and Southeast Asia rose to 41 percent of the total from 22 percent, according to
the United Nations. Thailand and the United States say an ethnic militia group
in Myanmar, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), is a major producer of
methamphetamines trafficked into Thailand and other parts of Asia. The U.S. said
the UWSA remained a major source of heroin production and a principal producer
of methamphetamines.
"We see no indications that the UWSA is attempting to
leave the drug trade," Tom Wersto, a U.S. government drugs analyst, told the
seminar. "Indeed, it may be attempting to position itself for the future by
broadening its base of products." James Callahan, a senior U.S. State Department
official, told reporters he had met senior officials of the UWSA last week at
the United Nations" Wa Alternative Development project in the Mong Pawk District
of Myanmar. He said Wa officials had requested development funds but were told
the United States would not give them any money until they stopped producing
drug.
Friday, October 13 8:45 PM SGT
South Koreans Thrilled About Nobel Peace Prize By JAE-SUK YOO, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Fireworks illuminated Seoul's sky after
President Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Villagers
danced and drank in the island town where he was born.
Staff at a giant Seoul bookstore placed his photograph
in a frame that had been kept empty for years in case a Korean won the Nobel.
Kim's image joined those of other prize-winners on the wall.
Kim, a lifetime crusader for human rights and
democracy, fulfilled a national dream: the first Nobel prize for a Korean. Many
hoped the prize would accelerate his quest for peace on the divided Korean
peninsula.
``It's an honor that will not come again. I am only
thankful,'' Kim was quoted as saying by his spokesman, Park Joon-young.
``Today's honor is due to public support for democracy,
human rights, peace, reconciliation and cooperation between South and North
Korea during the past 40 years.''
People cheered and clapped around large television
screens at bus terminals and railway stations when Kim's name was announced.
All television networks broke from regular programming
to report the news live from Oslo, Norway. Early Saturday editions of all
newspapers splashed front-page banner headlines with the award.
``I felt my body electrified with sheer joy when I
heard the announcement. I had prayed for him to get the award. I am so happy,''
said Lim Ki-soo, 45, a construction worker.
The villagers at Ha Eui Do, a far-flung island off the
southwest coast where Kim was born into a fisherman's family 76 years ago, beat
gongs and drums late into the night.
Television footage showed the weather-beaten fishermen
raising their arms as they chanted: ``Hurrah!''
North Korea's state-controlled media did not
immediately report the news of Kim's prize.
Kim won for his efforts to reconcile with North Korea,
which registered dramatic success in June when he held a summit with the North's
communist leader, Kim Jong Il.
The opposition Grand National Party, which has accused
Kim of being too soft on North Korea by giving grain and other aid to the
communist government, grudgingly congratulated Kim.
Kim has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
annually since 1987, and he was considered a front-runner this year.
Hopes and speculation ran so rampantly in Seoul that
the Korean Federation of Industries, a lobbying group for big business, issued a
congratulatory statement for Kim hours before the Oslo announcement.
Kim has pushed the so-called ``sunshine'' policy of
seeking greater contact with North Korea.
South and North Korea, foes on the battlefield a
half-century ago, have warmed to each other more in the last few months than in
more than a generation. Their armies remain locked in a standoff across a sealed
border, but the threat of war has diminished.
Some South Koreans said the Nobel committee should also
have recognized North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who has embarked on a vigorous
campaign of international diplomacy this year after years of isolation.
``It would have been better for Kim Jong Il to share
the prize,'' said Oh Si-young, a 24-year-old student. ``It would have been
better for peace on the Korean Peninsula.''
Many remain bitter toward Kim Jong Il, citing his role
as leader of a totalitarian regime and alleged perpetrator of terrorist acts
during the 1980s.
Friday, October 13 6:46 AM SGT
UN Envoy Meets With Suu Kyi For A Second Time In 2 Days YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--A special U.N. envoy met Thursday with
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the second time in two days in his
latest mission to break Myanmar's political deadlock.
Razali Ismail, a veteran Malaysian diplomat, met Suu
Kyi in her lakeside house, and was inside for more than two hours. Reporters
weren't allowed in and details of the meeting weren't disclosed.
Razali was the first foreign diplomat to meet with Suu
Kyi since she was put under virtual house arrest on Sept. 22 when she tried to
travel outside the Myanmar capital on party business. Similar restrictions also
were imposed on other leaders of her National League for Democracy party.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, deputy spokesman
Manoel de Almeida e Silva said Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health.
Razali "underlined the necessity for national
reconciliation in Myanmar and, toward this end, has urged both the government
and Aung San Suu Kyi to initiate a process of political dialogue as soon as
possible," Almeida e Silva said.
Razali saw Suu Kyi on Wednesday also, soon after
meeting with Gen. Than Shwe, head of the junta, known as the State Peace and
Development Council.
Tuesday, he met with Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, chief of
military intelligence and the third-ranking general in the regime.
It was the first time Than Shwe had met with a U.N.
diplomat, raising hopes that Razali might be more successful in his mission than
previous U.N. envoys. Razali's predecessor came to Myanmar six times but made no
headway.
The U.N. envoys, during their rare visits, have usually
met twice with Suu Kyi to convey information between government and the
opposition. Myanmar's government refuses to hold talks with the National League
for Democracy if they include Suu Kyi.
Razali, who came to Yangon on Monday, left Myanmar
later Thursday without speaking to reporters. He will report to
Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he visits New York next week, Almeida e Silva
said.
The military government of Myanmar, or Burma, has come
under intense international criticism for shackling the NLD and its leaders. The
party was never allowed by the junta to take power after a sweeping general
election victory in 1990.
Razali's mandate is to discuss issues related to a U.N.
General Assembly resolution adopted in December that urges Myanmar's government
to stop widespread human rights violations.
It also calls for Myanmar to "take all necessary steps"
to restore democracy, open a dialogue with Suu Kyi and other political leaders,
and to immediately release political prisoners.
United Press International.
U.N. envoy leaves Burma, political deadlock remains Thursday, 12 October 2000 8:56 (ET) RANGOON, Burma, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail
left Burma Thursday after meetings with the ruling junta and the opposition but
apparently without making progress toward breaking the country's 10-year
political deadlock.
Razali, a veteran Malaysian diplomat appointed by U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan to mediate between the feuding Burmese, held a
second meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her Rangoon residence
Thursday morning before his departure for Singapore.
Details of the meeting, along with another meeting on
Wednesday with Suu Kyi, were not available, but analysts said there was no
indication that his efforts would lead to a softening of the junta's hard line
against the opposition.
Wednesday's meeting followed talks between Razali and
the two top figures in the junta, Generals Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt, in which
the U.N. official was believed to have asked that Suu Kyi and other leaders of
the National League for Democracy (NLD) be freed from house arrest.
But although Razali was allowed to visit Suu Kyi at her
lake-side Rangoon home, there was no indication that restrictions on her had
been eased.
She and other party leaders have been confined to their
homes since Sept. 22, when they were blocked from travelling to the northern
city of Mandalay by train.
On Aug. 24, Suu Kyi attempted to leave Rangoon by car,
and her party was stopped at a roadblock on the city's outskirts and camped
there for nine days before being bundled back to Rangoon by military
police.
The standoff at the roadblock attracted international
attention and prompted the U.S. State Department and the United Nations to issue
appeals to the junta to allow Suu Kyi to carry on her political work without
harassment.
After Razali's second visit to Suu Kyi's home on
Thursday, Burmese military intelligence agents continued to guard the house.
Razali made no comment to reporters there.
He was expected to make a full report on his mission to
Burma to Kofi Annan when he returns to New York.
Razali's visit, which began on Monday, was aimed at
promoting a dialog between the NLD and the junta.
The two sides have been at loggerheads since 1990, when
the NLD won the country's first free election by a landslide and then was
prevented from taking office by the junta, which argued that Burma was not yet
ready for democracy.
The Telegraph (UK)
Oct 12, 2000.
Suu Kyi may be held for years, diplomats fear By Alex Spillius in Bangkok AUNG SAN SUU KYI, the Burmese democracy leader, may be
kept under house arrest for months or even years, British diplomats
fear.
The gloomy forecast follows an apparent victory by
hardliners in the country's military junta. Ms Suu Kyi, 55, has been detained in
her Rangoon home since Sept 21, when she was prevented from boarding a train to
Mandalay. Her telephone line has been cut and diplomats have been prevented from
visiting her by police roadblocks.
The State Peace and Development Council, Burma's ruling
body, yesterday allowed her first visitor in three weeks, the United Nations
special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail. She is on a mission to "break the
deadlock" between the generals and the opposition.
Two previous missions have failed, and diplomats from
Britain and other countries are concerned that Miss Suu Kyi's detention could be
extended, perhaps for as long as the six years she spent incarcerated in her
home from 1989 to her release in 1995.
Ms Suu Kyi, who was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
for her resistance to the military regime, has two sons from her marriage to
Michael Aris, the late Oxford academic. The regime denied Mr Aris a visa to
Burma last year, despite knowing he was suffering from terminal
cancer.
Since 1995 she has been allowed to move around the
greater Rangoon area. But in late August, along with other members of her
National League for Democracy, she was detained as she left the city to visit a
local party office. The group was padlocked in her home for 12 days, and Ms Suu
Kyi had only been freed a few days earlier when she attempted the train
ride.
Since then her deputy, Tin Oo, has been taken to a
government "guest house" and several other executive members are under de facto
detention in their homes. It is understood that the regime settled on a harsher
approach to the opposition after Gen Maung Aye, army commander in chief and
number two in the regime, won an argument over Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, the head of
military intelligence.
The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections. But
this was never recognised by the military.
The Straits Times - Oct 13, 2000.
Pressure may mount on Myanmar Some members of the EU, who seem to be softening their stance on Yangon, may backtrack if the military junta's crackdown on the opposition goes on By FELIX SOH SOME European countries, which have long been bitter
critics of Myanmar's military government, have softened their hardline position
on Yangon.
But they may be forced to abandon this new, flexible
approach if the Myanmar military junta does not ease up on its current crackdown
on the opposition.
The pressure was stepped up after opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi tried to travel from Yangon to Mandalay by rail. She was
blocked from doing so.
Since then, she has been restricted to her home with
her telephone cut and diplomatic access barred.
The vice-chairman of her National League for Democracy
(NLD) was arrested and other senior party officials confined to their homes.
These events prompted European Union Trade Commissioner
Pascal Lamy to issue a threat in Bangkok last week that European governments
were considering whether to go ahead with Asean-EU talks in Vientiane in
December.
The ministerial talks were suspended after Myanmar
joined Asean in 1997.
But Asean secretary-general Rodolfo Severino said
yesterday that he has received no indication from the EU that the meeting would
be cancelled.
Asean's position is that engagement with Myanmar
instead of isolating it would bear the fruit of democratic reforms.
The EU is directly opposed to this. Its policy: Isolate
the military government, impose sanctions and cut off its links to the world
community until it stops rights abuses and implements democratic reforms.
However, there is a rethink of this policy by some EU
members of parliament.
In a recent discussion with Asian newspaper editors, Mr
Hartmut Nassauer, head of the EU Parliament delegation on Asean, said: ""Human
rights and democracy are important. But it can't be the foundation of our
relationship with Asia.''
""My position is to start a dialogue with Myanmar,'' he
added.
In the same vein, he commented: ""We should not project
the Western concept of rule of law on Asia. We're willing to accept that there
are different values.''
Mr Nassauer, touching on his visit to Singapore last
month, said: ""I found Singapore to be a country that's stable and affluent,
with rule of law.
""It has a democracy that does not entirely reflect
European attitudes towards democracy, but I will be careful to judge it with our
vision of democracy.''
He criticised the EU's hardline position on Myanmar.
""I must admit that the EU Parliament does not always
play a very glorious role on this subject,'' he said.
""The phenomenon in the EU Parliament is an addiction
to the passing of resolutions, which are non-binding and vague anyway, on
thousands of issues.''
The Europeans are more flexible towards Yangon because
they want to improve ties with Asean as the region recovers and the outlook for
trade improves. Ties have been rocky due solely to the Myanmar issue.
Mr Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of
the European Union who is the de facto ""foreign minister'' of the organisation,
told Asian editors: ""EU-Asean relations have gone through ups and downs.
""But we note that Asean has taken a new momentum. My
impression is that Asean is more enthusiastic about itself. There is also more
vitality in the Asean Regional Forum.''
He commented: ""We want to be more involved with this
momentum.''
On Myanmar, Mr Solana said: ""We would like to see the
country in a position where the majority of the countries in the region has
evolved.''
UN newservice
Ending visit to Myanmar, UN envoy urges government, opposition to begin dialogue 12 October -- The Secretary-General's Special Envoy to
Myanmar, Razali Ismail, today concluded his second visit to the country after
urging government and opposition leaders to begin a political
dialogue.
During his four-day mission, Mr. Razali held a series
of discussions in Yangon with Myanmar authorities, including Senior General Than
Shwe of the State Peace and Development Council, according to a UN
spokesman.
The Special Envoy also held two meetings with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, who
"appeared to be in good health," the spokesman told reporters in New
York.
The Special Envoy "underlined the necessity for
national reconciliation in Myanmar and towards this end has urged both the
Government and Aung San Suu Kyi to initiate a process of political dialogue as
soon as possible."
Mr. Razali is expected to return to New York next week
to report the results of his mission to the Secretary-General.
Mr. Razali first visited the country from 29 June to 1
July of this year. He was appointed as Special Envoy by the Secretary-General in
early April. Over the course of his diplomatic career, he served as Malaysia's
Permanent Representative to the UN in New York from 1988 to 1998.
Bangkok Post - Oct 13, 2000.
UNITED NATIONS - Top refugee official to see border camp Post Reporters The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will
hold high-level talks and inspect a refugee camp near the Thai-Burmese border
during a two-day visit to Thailand next week.
The UNHCR said Sadako Ogata, who is due to arrive on
Tuesday after a visit to Burma, will have an audience with His Majesty the King
and meetings with Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and Deputy Foreign Minister
Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
As Mrs Ogata is due to leave office at the end of this
year, the visit would "also be an opportunity to express her appreciation to His
Majesty the King, the Royal Thai Government and the people of Thailand for their
good will towards refugees during her 10-year tenure", said the UNHCR
spokesperson.
On Tuesday, Mrs Ogata received praise from the United
States House of Representatives for a "superb job of bringing both
professionalism and compassion" to her leadership of the UNHCR, the Kyodo news
agency reported.
The resolution also commended the office of the UNHCR
for its work over the past 50 years.
The Nation - Oct 13, 2000.
Drug programme extended BY PIYANART SRIVALO THE United Nations will extend by two years its
alternative development project in one of Burma's prime opium growing areas
under the control of the ethnic Wa army, PM's Office Minister Jurin Laksanavisit
told reporters yesterday.
Pino Arlacchi, executive director of the UN Drug
Control and Crime Prevention, informed Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of the
decision during a meeting yesterday, Jurin said.
The five year plan, which was fully implemented last
year at a cost of US$15.5 million (Bt668 million), is targeting an opium
producing area covering about 200,000 hectares and involving about 260 villages,
or 6,250 households. The territory is controlled by the United Wa State Army
(UWSA), described by the US government as the world's largest drug-trafficking
organisation.
The UN-sponsored project, situated in lower Burma's
Shan State, covers only a small portion of the Wa-controlled area.
Nevertheless, said Col Kyaw Thein, a senior member of
Burma's powerful Office of Strategic Studies, the UWSA has committed itself to
making the area under its control opium free by 2005.
The Wa-controlled area stretches along Burma's northern
border with China down towards territory adjacent to Chiang Mai.
The UNDCP also provides support to opium eradication
programmes initiated by local communities in the northern Wa and Kokang regions,
as well as providing irrigation systems, high-yielding rice seed and improving
access to roads.
Thai drug officials, on the other hand, said more
attention needs to be given to the drastic increase in the production of
methamphetamine pills, millions of which are being produced cheaply in
Wa-controlled areas and flooded into Thailand on a weekly basis.
BANGKOK, Oct. 13 Kyodo
U.S. urges Myanmar's Wa not to proceed with relocation The United States has directly urged the
drug-trafficking Wa rebel leadership in Myanmar against relocating some 100,000
highlanders dependent on opium cultivation to lowland areas amid reports as many
as 1,000 have died since June, a U.S. Statement Department official said
Friday.
James Callahan, in charge of Asia at the department's
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, told reporters in Bangkok
the United Wa State Army's (UWSA) stated intention of getting highland
tribespeople out of opium cultivation by moving them out of the highlands into
lowland areas was ''obviously self-serving.''
BBC -Friday, 13 October, 2000, 12:48
GMT
Diplomats accused of helping Burmese opposition The state-controlled media in Burma have accused diplomats from Britain and
the United States of supporting the opposition rather than performing their
diplomatic duties.
Commentaries in two newspapers say embassy staff have been advising and
making arrangements for the National League for Democracy, the NLD The party won
a general election in 1990 but was prevented from forming a government by
Burma's military rulers.
The NLD leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under virtual house arrest for
the past three weeks after attempting to leave Rangoon.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
South China Morning Post
Friday, October 13, 2000 Fighting factions remain in favour of landmines AGENCIES in Bangkok The armed forces and at least 10 armed ethnic groups fighting the ruling
junta are still producing and using landmines - bucking the global trend,
researchers say.
Since 1998 the Rangoon military has increased its production of mines, Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, of the non-governmental organisation Landmine Monitor, said on Wednesday. In the past two years most other mine-producing countries have either kept
production constant or slashed output, he said.
"Myanmar is one of the countries which has actually acquired more
mine-making technology," he said, adding most of the technology was bought from
China.
The state Myanmar Defence Product Industries produces at least two types of
anti-personnel mines - the MM1 and the lethal MM2 - but is suspected of making
three other types, Mr Moser-Puangsuwan said.
Some 1,500 civilians and combatants were either killed or injured as a
result of mine blasts in Myanmar last year.
Ten out of Myanmar's 14 states are mined, including virtually the whole of
the 2,000km long border with Thailand.
Government soldiers have used villagers as "human minesweepers", forcing
them to walk in front of soldiers in areas suspected of "mine pollution", the
landmine expert added.
The military has also planted mines in rural areas "as part of its
counter-insurgency operations to relocate villagers forcibly out of their
villages," he said. He added that at least 10 ethnic armed groups, such as the
Karen National Liberation Army, are also producing mines, "mainly crude glass
bottle fragmentation mines".
The groups mostly use the mines for perimeter defences, but they have also
been used in territorial disputes with rival militia.
Myanmar is not among the 139 states that have signed the 1997 Ottawa
Convention committing states to ban the production, use and transfer of
landmines. India, Pakistan, the United States, China and Russia - three of the
five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - have also not
signed the treaty.
Special UN envoy Razali Ismail yesterday met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the second time in his latest mission to break Myanmar's political deadlock. Details of the meeting were not disclosed. Mr Razali also met General Than Shwe, head of the State Peace and Development Council. It was the first time the General had met a UN diplomat, raising hopes that Mr Razali might be more successful in his mission than previous UN envoys. His predecessor came to Myanmar six times but made no headway. Asiaweek
OCTOBER 20, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 41 Schools have reopened and Ne Win's wife, Ni Ni Myint, is happy By ROGER MITTON Yangon Something wonderful happened in Myanmar recently: The nation's universities
reopened. They have been functioning normally since June after being shut down
by the ruling military junta in late 1996 following student protests. Young
Burmese are now thronging the campuses, chattering, flirting, riding their
bicycles, taking photographs — and, yes, even studying. At the University of
Yangon, Ni Ni Myint, director of the Historical Research Center, gazes across
the sun-dappled lawns and tree-lined lanes of the busy campus. "I am so happy
that the students are back at last," she says. "Since 1988, the universities
have been open on and off and I was very sad about it. I hope they stay open
now."
The decision to reopen the schools may be an acknowledgment of the
importance of educating the younger generation, but it is also an indication of
the junta's confidence that it is in control. The campuses have long been a
hotbed for antigovernment agitations. Students were at the center of a massive
popular uprising against then-strongman Ne Win in 1988 and thousands of them
joined dissident Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The NLD swept
the national elections in 1990, but the current regime refused to honor the
results and put Suu Kyi under house arrest.
The standoff between the junta on one side and Suu Kyi and the students on
the other has continued ever since. But now, with the NLD weakened by defections
and detentions, and the students themselves willing to compromise, the junta may
have decided that the time was right to open the university doors again.
Not that the grip has been totally relaxed. To ensure the students are kept
in check, the rulers have taken elaborate precautions. They noted how other
capitals — such as Seoul, with its long history of violent student protests —
located their new universities far from the city center. And they observed how
their ASEAN colleagues in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore depoliticized their
student bodies — notably Kuala Lumpur, whose Colleges & Universities Act
effectively bans all mass political activity without official permission (rarely
given). So the junta followed suit, building new campuses in the countryside and
laying down stiff rules for extracurricular activities.
Some 7,000 graduate students now pursue their studies in the capital's
central campus, where Ni Ni is based. The potentially more antsy undergraduates
have been relocated to two far-off campuses, about an hour from Yangon. "We are
not expecting any trouble," says Deputy Education Minister Myo Nyunt. "The
students are quite happy to be back." One of them agrees: "I'm glad not to be
working in a department store anymore. I'm happy to be back studying."
Ni Ni too is elated that she will once again be interacting with students.
"My husband did not like me to get involved with students," she says. "He did
not understand that I wanted to teach so much." Her husband is none other than
Ne Win himself, who seized power in 1962 and ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for
three decades. One of his first acts as dictator was to suppress a disturbance
at the University of Yangon and shut down the campus for a year, setting a
precedent for the numerous school closures in the intervening decades. Thus the
reopening has a special resonance for Ni Ni, who is now estranged from her
husband.
Ni Ni is currently working on a multivolume modern history of Myanmar. She
remarks: "Some say: 'Oh, Ni Ni, the wife of Ne Win, she must be rewriting
history.' I get very angry when they say that. It will be balanced and
objective."
As for the students, they seem to have been pacified in the short run. They
are not likely to be enticed into political activity if it will jeopardize their
degrees. On the other hand, their minds are becoming active once again — they
are mingling together, talking to one another, sharing thoughts and ideas. In a
Yangon cafeteria last month, when Suu Kyi appeared on CNN news, a student
quickly turned up the sound; his peers fell silent and they all listened avidly.
It is not hard to see where their thoughts might lead.
The Straits Times -
Oct 13, 2000.
UN envoy and Suu Kyi
hold further talks
SECOND MEETING
YANGON -- A special UN envoy yesterday met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the second time in his latest mission to break Myanmar's political deadlock. Mr Razali Ismail, a veteran Malaysian diplomat, met Ms Suu Kyi in her lakeside house, and was inside for more than two hours. Reporters were not allowed entry and details of the meeting were not disclosed. He was the first foreign diplomat to have met Ms Suu Kyi since she was put under virtual house arrest on Sept 22 when she tried to travel outside the Myanmar capital on party business. Similar restrictions were imposed on other leaders of her National League for Democracy party. Mr Razali had also seen Ms Suu Kyi on Wednesday, soon after the meeting with General Than Shwe, head of the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council. It was the fist time Gen Than Shwe had met a UN diplomat, raising hopes that Mr Razali might be more successful in his mission than previous UN envoys. His predecessor came to Myanmar six times but made no headway. The military government of Myanmar has come under intense international criticism for shackling the National League for Democracy party that Ms Suu Kyi heads. The party was never allowed by the junta to take power after a sweeping general election victory in 1990. Mr Razali's mandate is to discuss issues related to a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December that urges Myanmar's government to stop widespread human rights violations. --AP
|