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-------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - February - 21, 2001. -------------------------------------------- HEADLINE --------------------------------------------- Reuters -Myanmar seeks successor after hardline general
dies
Reuters -Myanmar troops clash with rebels near Thai
border
AFP - Ethnic rebels take Myanmar base near border Reuters - Myanmar troops clash with rebels near Thai
border
AFP - Signs of progress in Asia's drug
blackspots
Xinhua - Thai-Myanmar Border Tension Renewed After
Clash
SCMP - Generals jostle to replace No 4
leader
Tuesday February 20, 2:34 PM
Myanmar seeks successor after hardline general
dies
By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government was on Tuesday considering who would take over as its fourth
most senior leader after hardline Lieutenant-General Tin Oo was killed in a
helicopter crash.
Diplomats in Yangon said Monday's death of 67-year-old Tin Oo would weaken
a hawkish faction led by General Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Diplomats say there is a split in Myanmar between allies of Maung Aye, who
are against any weakening in the military's iron grip on power, and a faction
led by SPDC Secretary One Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, which favours making
modest reforms in the hope of improving Myanmar's economy.
Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt are the second and third most senior members of
the SPDC. Maung Aye is also army commander while Khin Nyunt is military
intelligence chief.
Analysts say they are jostling for position to take over the reins of power
given the ailing health of SPDC Chairman Than Shwe.
Tin Oo was considered an ally of Maung Aye. They said the choice of a
successor could indicate whether hardliners or reformists had the upper hand in
the government. It was not known when a replacement would be announced.
Last month Khin Nyunt denied the military was split. He said there were no
disagreements over a decision to initiate secret talks with the pro-democracy
opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Rumours had circulated that more hawkish generals were unhappy about the
secret talks. But Khin Nyunt told the Myanmar Times in an interview that rumours
of a split within the ranks in the military had been spread by foreign media and
some diplomats.
LITTLE HOPE OF MORE SURVIVORS
Officials said on Tuesday there was little hope of finding survivors among
14 people still missing after the helicopter crashed in bad weather into the
Salwin River in Kayin state, southeast of the capital Yangon.
State media said that of 29 passengers and crew aboard the helicopter, 13
had been rescued and two people, including Tin Oo, were confirmed dead.
Officials said two cabinet ministers -- Brigadier-General Lun Maung,
minister at the prime minister's office, and Colonel Thein Nyunt, minister for
the development of border areas -- were also believed to have been killed in the
crash.
Tin Oo survived two apparent attempts on his life in the 1990s.
In April 1997, his eldest daughter was killed by a parcel bomb which the
authorities said was mailed to his house from Japan. Tin Oo was at home at the
time, but was not injured by the blast.
The government blamed the attack on Myanmar dissidents based in Japan, but
opposition groups denied responsibility and said it was linked to a power
struggle among Myanmar's ruling generals.
In December 1996 two bombs exploded at a Buddhist shrine on the outskirts
of Yangon after a visit by Tin Oo.
The blasts killed five people and wounded 17. The government blamed ethnic
Karen guerrillas, who denied responsibility.
Wednesday February 21, 8:06 PM
Myanmar troops clash with rebels near Thai
border
By Nopporn Wong-Anan BANGKOK (Reuters) - Fresh
clashes broke out on Wednesday between Myanmar soldiers and rebel ethnic
guerrillas near the Thai border area where Thai and Myanmar troops were involved
in bloody confrontations earlier this month.
A source in the rebel Shan State Army (SSA) said the guerrillas had
attacked a Myanmar military outpost at dawn and killed 10 soldiers. There was no
comment from the Myanmar authorities.
The clashes were across the border from the Thai frontier town of Mae Sai.
The town was hit by shells and bullets earlier this month during fighting
between SSA rebels and Myanmar soldiers and their allies in the United Wa State
Army. Thai soldiers returned fire, and the clashes provoked a war of words
between the two countries.
The SSA has fought Myanmar government forces for several decades to try to
secure an autonomous Shan state.
Yangon has accused Bangkok of giving moral and military support to the Shan
guerrillas, who it says are the major drug producers and smugglers in the
region.
Thai soldiers have said Myanmar's military is involved in the drugs trade
and accuse the United Wa State Army of being behind most of the methamphetamines
flooding Thailand.
The border crossing between Mae Sai and the Myanmar town of Tachilek has
been closed since the clashes earlier this month.
THAI SOLDIERS NOT INVOLVED
Thai Third Region Army Commander Lieutenant General Watanachai
Chaimhuanwong told local television on Wednesday that Thai soldiers were not
involved in the morning's clashes.
"It is a fight between Myanmar and the Shan troops. We were not involved in
or damaged by the clashes," he said.
But the war of words between Bangkok and Yangon continued on Wednesday as
Bangkok urged the resumption of bilateral talks suspended by Myanmar two years
ago.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Pradap Pibulsonggram told a news conference
the Myanmar leadership should inform Thailand formally when it would like to
restart the regional border committee meetings, which Yangon suspended two years
ago.
Myanmar military intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt was
quoted by state newspapers on Tuesday as saying that Yangon wanted to resolve
its border dispute with Thailand peacefully.
"The current Thai border problem should be solved with (an) optimistic
approach based on mutual understanding, respect and magnanimity as true good
neighbours," Khin Nyunt was quoted as saying.
Thailand said it was glad to hear the comments but asked Myanmar to go
through proper channels.
"If Myanmar is serious and sincere in seeking a peaceful solution, she can
prove that by sending Thailand an official letter to resume the meetings,"
Pradap said.
New Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters Wednesday he
hoped the governments of both countries could meet after the situation returned
to normal.
"When the situation returns to normal, there should be talks to strengthen
the relationship and I hope that won't be long," Thaksin said.
Wednesday February 21, 8:04 PM
Ethnic rebels take Myanmar base near
border
BANGKOK, Feb 21 (AFP) - Ethnic
rebels overran a Myanmar military base Wednesday after a brief battle near the
Thai border, where fighting strayed into Thailand 10 days ago and touched off a
border crisis, Thai sources said.
Thai television reports Wednesday night showed ethnic rebels hiding in tall
grass and firing automatic weapons through a veil of smoke as they descended on
a Myanmar military base near the Thai border.
During a half-hour skirmish, Shan State Army (SSA) rebels stormed the base
located some 300 meters (990 feet) from the Thai border, Thai sources
said.
The base was situated inside Myanmar, opposite the Mae Fah Luang district
in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai.
The attacking troops torched the base, and one Myanmar soldier was killed
while another was taken prisoner, according to a Thai border source.
Thai television showed the Myanmar prisoner with his hands bound and a sack
over his head before showing an image of the bloodied uniform belonging to the
killed soldier.
Scores of Thai troops have been sent to the border region in recent weeks
to guard against incursions by Myanmar troops, whose fighting against ethnic
rebels strayed into Thailand earlier this month.
The crisis began February 11 when artillery and gunfire rained down on the
Thai border town of Mae Sai as the Thai and Myanmar armies traded fire in a
conflict started by warring ethnic rebels.
With large troop build-ups on either side, there have been fears that new
fighting could break out at any time.
The area has been in a state of tense stand-off since last Tuesday when the
crossing was closed amid fears of fresh fighting.
The Thai army has said it may draft its top brass to negotiate with Myanmar
over the border tensions, after initial talks failed to resolve the
problem.
The United States has issued an advisory warning its citizens to exercise
caution in the border region with Myanmar.
Myanmar denies being responsible for the artillery attack on Mae Sai, and
accuses the rebel Shan State Army of shelling the town, as well as its twin
settlement on the Myanmar side, Tachilek.
The official media in Yangon has lashed out at the Thai army's role in the
affair, accusing it of being in league with drug traffickers along the rugged
border region.
WIRE: 02/21/2001 2:49 am ET
Myanmar troops clash with rebels near Thai
border
BANGKOK, Feb 21 (Reuters) -
Fresh clashes broke out between Myanmar soldiers and rebel ethnic guerrillas on
Wednesday near the Thai border where Thai and Myanmar troops were involved in
bloody confrontations earlier this month.
A source in the rebel Shan State Army (SSA) said the guerrillas had
attacked a Myanmar military outpost at dawn and killed 10 soldiers. There was no
comment from the Myanmar authorities.
The clashes were across the border from the Thai frontier town of Mae Sai.
The town was hit by shells and bullets earlier this month during fighting
between SSA rebels and Myanmar soldiers and their allies in the United Wa State
Army.
Thai soldiers returned fire, and the clashes provoked a war of words
between the two countries.
The SSA has fought Myanmar government forces for several decades to try to
secure an autonomous Shan state.
Myanmar has accused Bangkok of giving moral and military support to the
Shan guerrillas, who it says are the major drug producers and smugglers in the
region.
Thai soldiers have said Myanmar's military is involved in the drugs trade
and accuse the United Wa State Army of being behind most of the methamphetamines
flooding Thailand.
The border crossing between Mae Sai and the Myanmar town of Tachilek has
been closed since the clashes earlier this month.
Thai Third Region Army Commander Lieutenant General Watanachai
Chaimhuanwong told local television on Wednesday that Thai soldiers were not
involved in Wednesday's clashes and could not confirm the casualties.
"It is a fight between Myanmar and the Shan troops. We were not involved in
or damaged by the clashes," he said.
Wednesday February 21, 8:02 AM
Signs of progress in Asia's drug
blackspots
VIENNA, Feb 21 (AFP) -
Afghanistan and Myanmar remain countries of "major concern" in Asia, but their
governments have made some progress in clamping down on production, a UN report
said Wednesday.
The two countries' opiate drug production is also having a spillover effect
in the rest of the region, notably India which is seeing increasingly supplies
of heroin from Myanmar.
"Continuing production of opium in Afghanistan and the resulting smuggling
of opiates and related criminal activities in West Asia remains a major
concern," said the report by the International Narcotics Control Board
(INCB).
"Drug problems in South Asia have been mostly related to its proximity to
the two main regions illicitly producing opiates, namedly West Asia, including
Afghanistan, and East Asia including Myanmar."
Afghanistan has long been a global blackspot for drug production, and last
year the INCB raised serious question marks over whether the country's Taliban
leadership were seriously committed to a clampdown.
But this year the INCB welcomed notably the passing of a law to ban opium
poppy cultivation last year, as well as the banning of the collection of taxes
on heroin and cannabis.
Another UN drug agency, the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), went even
further in congratulating the Taliban on clamping down on the opium industry,
saying it had been wiped out in Taliban-controlled areas.
A UNDCP survey last month of 2,200 villages in Taliban-controlled areas
found no poppy cultivation at all, UNDCP representative for Pakistan and
Afghanistan Bernard Frahi told AFP.
But the INCB was more cautious. "We remain extremely concerned about
Afghanistan, although there are some positive signs," INCB President Hamid
Ghodse told a press conference.
He notably cited figures suggesting the existence of drug stockpiles
equivalent to 3-4 years of illicit exports in Afghanistan.
"We are looking for seizures in Afghanistan, by the authorities there,"
said Ghodse. "The stocks are there. They can be seized," he said.
On Myanmar, also regularly slammed by the UN agency, there are also
encouraging signs. "While Myanmar continues to be the world's second largest
source of heroin and opium, illicit opium production has declined in recent
years," said the report.
The 80-page INCB report gives an annual overview of drug problems around
the world, noting attempts to clampdown on drug production in Latin America and
Asia, while abuse trends evolve in Europe and north America.
But it is not all good news for the Asian region.
"In East and Southeast Asia, there has been a drastic increase in the
manufacture of, trafficking in and abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants in the
past few years," it said.
Meanwhile in South Asia "traffickers are exploiting weaknesses of law
enforcement systems caused by corruption, lack of concern over drug-related
matters, and lack of human and technical resources."
In central Asia, drug abuse is growing in impoverished ex-Soviet countries
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). "Illicit drug prices decreased
in CIS member states while the availabily of heroin increased leading to growing
abuse of heroin by injection."
Back in south Asia, India is suffering increasingly from heroin arriving
from Myanmar to the east. The two countries' authorities are cooperating to
fight the trafficking, the report noted.
But it said: "The Board appeals to both governments to strengthen that
cooperation in order to counteract those disturbing new developments."
One of the trends in the region is the arrival of the synthetic drug MDMA
(Ecstacy), much of it produced in Europe where the drug took off in the dance
clubs in the 1990s.
Most ecstacy comes from Europe, but it added that "laboratories in the
border area between Myanmar and Thailand may ... already be manufacturing
relatively inexpensive MDMA for local abuse."
The INCB report also notes disturbing trends in Australasia.
In Australia for example "heroin related death tolls and arrests are on the
rise." summary, while in New Zealand "the demand for MDMA (Ecstacy) is rising,"
the report said.
Thai-Myanmar Border Tension Renewed After
Clash
2001.02.21 17:13:34
BANGKOK, February 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Tension along the Thai and
Myanmar border in Mae Sai District of northern province 0f Chiang Lai is
renewed when the Shan State Army troops (SSA) clashed with Myanmar
soldiers and seized their outpost in Thachilek Province opposite the
border town early this morning, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported
Wednesday.
An informed source was quoted as saying that around 50 SSA armed men
stormed the Pa Lang Luang outpost where about 20 Myanmar soldiers are stationed.
The gunfire continued for around one hour and ended with the SSA
troops successfully seizing the military camp. One Myanmar soldier was
killed and another captured in the clash, said the report.
Thai soldiers are kept on full alert along the border to prevent
troops of both sides from trespassing into Thai territory. Spokesman
for the Defense Ministry Banchorn Chavalsilp was quoted as saying that the
military was keeping a close watch on the situation to ensure the
country's sovereignty would not be affected by the incident.
Troops had been reinforced in Mae Sai to maintain the safety of people's
lives and property in the border town.
The evacuation of people into safe places depends on the discretion
of the Third Army officers because they are stationed near the clash areas
and are aware of what is going on there.
South China Morning Post
Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Generals jostle to replace No 4
leader
REUTERS in Rangoon The military Government yesterday was considering who would be appointed No 4 leader after hardline Lieutenant-General Tin Oo was killed in a helicopter crash. Diplomats in Rangoon said Monday's death of Tin Oo, 67, would weaken a hawkish faction led by General Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. The diplomats say there is a split in the regime between allies of General
Maung Aye, who are against any weakening in the military's iron grip on power,
and a faction led by the council's Secretary One, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt,
which favours modest reforms in the hope of improving Burma's economy.
General Maung Aye and General Khin Nyunt are respectively the second and
third most senior members of the council. The former is also army commander,
while General Khin Nyunt is military intelligence chief.
Analysts say they are jostling for position to take over the reins of
power, given the ailing health of chairman Than Shwe.
Tin Oo was considered an ally of General Maung Aye. Analysts said the
choice of a successor could indicate whether hardliners or reformists had the
upper hand in the Government.
Last month, General Khin Nyunt denied the military was split. He said there
were no disagreements over a decision to initiate secret talks with the
pro-democracy opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Rumours had circulated that more hawkish generals were unhappy about the
secret talks. But the intelligence chief told the Myanmar Times that rumours of
a split had been spread by foreign media and some diplomats.
Officials said yesterday there was little hope of finding survivors among
14 people still missing after the helicopter that was carrying Tin Oo crashed in
bad weather into the Salween River in Kayin state, southeast of Rangoon.
State media said that, of 29 passengers and crew aboard the helicopter, 13
had been rescued and two people, including Tin Oo, were confirmed dead.
Officials said two cabinet ministers - Brigadier-General Lun Maung,
Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, and Colonel Thein Nyunt, Minister for
the Development of Border Areas - were also believed to have been killed in the
crash. |