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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - February 23, 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Rebel leader vows to fight Myanmar
troops
AP - Thailand Bans Shipment
Of 'Strategic' Goods To Myanmar
AP - Six More Bodies
Recovered From Myanmar Helicopter Crash
AP - Myanmar Newspaper
Blames Businessmen For Currency Plunge
AFP - Greedy businessmen blamed for Myanmar currency
slide
Asia Pulse - Indian Cos Set to Form JVs, Trade in Myanmar
Market
Bkk Post - Burma finds mountain assault
tough
Bkk Post - Junta seeking demarcation
edge
The People's
Daily - Thai Defense Minister Blames Border Tension on Meeting
Suspension
BBC - Burmese
general mourned by thousands
Friday, February 23 4:16 PM SGT Rebel leader vows to fight Myanmar troops DOI KO WON, Myanmar, Feb 23 (AFP) - A Shan State Army (SSA) leader vowed to
fight advancing Myanmar soldiers Friday and said his troops were preparing to
mount their own offensives.
"From now on we will not just wait for Myanmar troops to fire on us. We
will move to fight them, too," SSA leader Yawd Serk told reporters at a jungle
encampment about one kilometer (under a mile) from the Thai border in Shan
State.
"I believe we can fight against Myanmar troops because we want our country
back," he said.
Yawd Serk said SSA troops had been attacked because they were positioned
along a border route used by Myanmar to transport drugs, and that the SSA was
simply following its policy to suppress the drugs trade.
He said the SSA had its own legal means of supporting its military
operations, which cost the ethnic rebel group approximately 100 million kyats
(198,800 dollars) per year.
"We have our own legal businesses. We are not involved in drugs," he said,
declining to reveal the nature of the group's businesses for fear Myanmar
authorities might intervene.
Ethnic Shan rebels were not the only target of Myanmar troops, Yawd Serk
said.
"I believe they don't want to attack only the Shan, they want to attack
Thailand also," he said.
Yawd Serk said SSA troops had abandoned a Myanmar military base they had
taken earlier this week, and that Myanmar troops had returned to it.
During a half-hour skirmish late Wednesday, Shan State Army rebels stormed
the base located some 300 meters (990 feet) from the Thai border, Thai sources
said.
Some 20 Myanmar troops had been stationed at the base inside Myanmar,
opposite the Mae Fah Luang district in the northern Thai province of Chiang
Rai.
The attacking SSA troops, who numbered about 50, torched the base. One
Myanmar soldier was killed and a second was taken prisoner during the fighting,
according to a Thai border source.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed Wednesday that the
fighting took place on Myanmar soil, and said Thailand would ensure the security
of its people along the border.
Thaksin said he considered the fighting a domestic issue for Myanmar and
that he thought it would end soon.
Scores of Thai troops have been sent to the border region in recent weeks
to guard against incursions by Myanmar troops, whose battle with ethnic rebels
strayed into Thailand earlier this month.
The SSA is one of the only major armed factions left in Myanmar yet to
agree to a ceasefire with the Yangon government.
Yawd Serk has pledged to cooperate with international efforts to suppress
drug trafficking.
Friday, February 23 10:32 PM SGT
Thailand Bans Shipment Of 'Strategic' Goods To
Myanmar
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP)--Thailand barred the shipment of so-called
strategic commodities to Myanmar from four northern provinces, Thai officials
said Friday.
The ban, which Thai army spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpataranetr said is a
joint operation of the army and the interior ministry, comes at a time of
military tension with Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The ban covers such materials as fuel, medicine, vehicle spare parts and
rice, and applies to the provinces of Tak, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang
Rai.
Many consumer goods in Myanmar are imported overland from Thailand. Last
year, Thailand exported more than 36 billion baht ($1=THB43.075) worth of
commodities though six official border checkpoints, and probably at least as
much was smuggled across the border.
Thousands of Thai and Myanmar troops have been facing off along the
160-kilometer stretch of border at the northernmost part of Thailand since
clashes about two weeks ago.
The fighting was a spillover of fighting between Myanmar troops and Shan
ethnic rebels. Thailand said the Myanmar troops intruded onto the Thai soil to
take a hill overlooking the rebel bases. They were driven out after heavy
fighting, the Thai army said.
WIRE: 02/23/2001 6:34 am ET
Thailand tells Myanmar to back off from
border
BANGKOK, Feb 23 (Reuters) -
Thailand said on Friday it would only reopen a busy border crossing to Myanmar
at the town of Mae Sai if it was assured its neighbour's soldiers would not
cross the frontier in their battles against ethnic Shan guerrillas.
Tension flared between the two countries earlier this month, with dozens
reported killed in border clashes between soldiers from the two sides, prompting
Thailand to shut down the Mae Sai border checkpoint, 900 km (560 miles) north of
Bangkok and opposite the Myanmar town of Tachilek.
Thailand says Myanmar soldiers seized one of its border outposts on
February 10 and then hit Mae Sai with stray shells during a battle against
ethnic guerrillas. The border has been closed since.
But Myanmar has denied it shelled Mae Sai, and accused the Thai military of
backing ethnic Shan rebels.
Thai army spokesman Colonel Somkuan Saengpattaranetr said on Friday Myanmar
should show goodwill by not deploying "excessive troops" near the Thai border.
"We have experienced in the past that when Myanmar soldiers went after
ethnic rebels on Thai soil, they set Thai markets on fire during their pursuit,"
Somkuan said.
Somkuan also said the army was concerned that there could be disagreements
with Myanmar over border demarcation.
Thailand shares a 2,400 km (1,490 miles)) border with Myanmar, of which
only 59 km (36 miles) are demarcated.
OLIVE BRANCH
Thailand said on Thursday it welcomed an olive branch from Myanmar's
military government, which said it hoped the dispute over the clashes could be
solved peacefully.
But Myanmar's official New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Thursday accused
Thailand of failing to help crack down on drugs trafficking.
"Instead of lending us a helping hand in this task, they are assisting the
drug traffickers," the newspaper said.
Myanmar says the Shan rebels are the main drugs traffickers at the border,
while Thailand says the United Wa State Army, an ethnic army allied to Yangon,
are the worst culprits.
The Thai Army on Friday denied it supported the drugs trade.
Foreign ministry spokesman Pradap Pibulsonggram also brushed aside the
accusation.
"We already denied that last week and the situation has somewhat improved,
as Myanmar has shown a positive gesture," Pradap told Reuters.
He said Thailand has taken leading role in drug suppression and urged
Yangon not to "divert attention from the real cause of the problem," which was
that Myanmar troops had encroached on Thai soil.
The Shan State Army (SSA), which has fought Myanmar government forces for
several decades to try to secure an autonomous state, on Friday denied it was
involved in drugs trafficking.
"The verbal attack is a ploy (by Myanmar) to avoid holding official talks
with Thailand," SSA leader Yod Suk told Reuters.
"They know it was their fault, as they attacked the Thai border, and they
know bilateral talks would lead to eradication of drug plants at the
border."
Friday February 23, 2:04 PM
Six More Bodies Recovered From Myanmar
Helicopter Crash
YANGON (AP)--Rescue workers
have recovered six more bodies from a helicopter crash that killed Lt. Gen. Tin
Oo, the ruling junta's No. 4 general, who was due to be buried with full
military honors in Yangon Friday.
Twelve people are now confirmed dead and four are still unaccounted for
from the accident Monday, near Pa-an, 160 kilometers southeast of Yangon, the
capital, said a government official on condition of anonymity.
The Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed in bad weather into the Salween
river in Karen State with 29 people on board. Thirteen people survived. The
search for bodies by navy divers continues.
The four missing include Maj. Gen. Sit Maung, commander of southeast
military command. Like Tin Oo, he was one of the 21-member ruling State Peace
and Development Council, which seized control of Myanmar 12 years ago after
crushing a popular uprising for democracy.
The others missing are air staff Col. Tin Win, navy staff Col. Kyaw Tin Hla
and general staff officer Lt. Col. Maung Maung Thet, the official said.
The six bodies recovered Thursday were Lt. Col. Hla Paing, 44, helicopter
pilot Maj. Soe Naing, 41, co-pilot Capt. Nay Min Aung, 29 and three other
helicopter crew, the official said.
The crash was the worst tragedy to hit the Myanmar regime since it took
power in Sept. 1988.
Tin Oo, 67, was the fourth-ranking general in the ruling council. He was
set to be buried Friday afternoon at Mingaladon military cemetery on the
outskirts of the capital, amid tight security.
Tin Oo had survived at least one assassination attempt. In April 1997 a
parcel bomb airmailed from Japan exploded in his house, killing his third
daughter. Tin Oo was in the house but escaped unhurt.
Scores of baskets of flowers sent for Tin Oo's funeral by well-wishers were
subject to security checks before being stored on racks at the cemetery,
witnesses said.
Details of the crash and the identities of survivors have not been made
public by the government, which controls the media and keeps a tight grip on
information.
Authorities are expected to investigate the crash. There is no indication
it was caused by sabotage.
Friday February 23, 10:43 PM
Myanmar Newspaper Blames Businessmen For
Currency Plunge
YANGON (AP)--With Myanmar's
kyat currency hitting record-low rates of exchange, a commentary in a
state-controlled newspaper Friday blamed "avaricious businessmen" for spreading
rumors destabilizing commodity prices.
The article in the Myanma Ahlin daily warned that these "selfish"
entrepreneurs will have to pay for their actions.
"Any action has an equal reaction (and they) will suffer for their own
misdeeds," it said.
The kyat fell past the level of 500 to one U.S. dollar on the free market
Feb. 17 in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
It temporarily went to 580 to the dollar Wednesday before rebounding to 510
Thursday. The plunge resulted in a sharp hike in the price of gold and imported
goods, and in the past few days, local basic goods as well.
The official exchange rate remains at about 6 kyats to the dollar, but many
business and consumer transactions are based on the rate quoted on the black
market, which is tacitly tolerated by the government as necessary to carry on
business.
The reasons for the kyat's recent slide hasn't been clear, although the
trend reflects the military government's failure to boost a sluggish economy.
Recent clashes along the border with Thailand have also been blamed.
Friday February 23, 5:11 PM
Greedy businessmen blamed for Myanmar
currency slide
YANGON, Feb 23 (AFP) -
Myanmar's junta blamed "greedy businessmen and rumour mongers" Friday for
spiralling food prices and a huge slide in the value of the local currency the
kyat.
The kyat has slipped to 510 to the US dollar in the wake of fighting on the
border with Thailand and the death of Myanmar's fourth most powerful military
leader Lieutenant-General Tin Oo earlier this week.
The state-run Mirror daily carried the accusation Friday, coinciding with
the general's burial with full honors in Yangon's military cemetary.
"Many people overreacted by even resorting to panic purchasing of essential
commodities fearing the worst," the commentary said.
It said panic was sparked by rumours spread deliberately by unscrupulous
businessmen over the past three or four days.
"Gold prices as well as black market dollar rates suddenly shot up together
with those of Thai goods coming accross the border," the Mirror said.
"Even if the trade routes with Thailand closed down indefinitely, ordinary
people would hardly be affected by it because everything they need is now being
produced in the country."
The commentary urged people to do away with "foreign made" goods and to
cultivate a proper sense of "national outlook."
The kyat was at 503 to the dollar on Monday. Its most recent slide started
several weeks ago, when it was worth about 450 to the dollar, against about 320
at the beginning of 2000.
The kyat's value on the black market, through which most business is
carried out, compares to an official exchange rate of six to the
greenback.
The value of Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs), a special currency
denominated in dollars, has also fallen.
FECs are valued at slightly more than 400 kyat. The kyat rate of FECs was
once equal to or even higher than that of the dollar when its local usage was
widespread.
The growing price disparity has been attributed to over-printing of the
special currency, which has meant that the amount in circulation exceeds the
number of dollars collected by the government.
Some restaurants in Yangon are now charging 15 percent more for meals paid
for in FECs instead of dollars.
The city is now awash in FECs, and as demand shrinks, people are eager to
hedge their bets by offloading the currency by buying dollars or gold. The price
of gold in Myanmar has shot up as a result.
Myanmar's creaking economy has long been seen as on the verge of collapse
due to crippling international sanctions and mismanagement by the junta.
Foreign investment has all but dried up due to the 1997 Asian financial
crisis and the stigma attached to investing in a country blamed by the West for
serious human rights abuses.
The poor state of the economy is one factor believed to be behind a nascent
political thaw, resulting in senior military leaders meeting with opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Some commentators say that the regime is planning to make some concessions
to the National League for Democracy in the hopes of shedding its pariah status
and easing sanctions.
Friday February 23, 5:40 PM
Indian Cos Set to Form JVs, Trade in
Myanmar Market
KOLKATA, Feb 23 Asia Pulse -
Several Indian companies, including Britannia Industries, IFB Agro and Tractor
India Ltd, have expressed willingness to enter into joint ventures or join hands
with trade partners to cater to the Myanmar market, yet to be tapped by domestic
firms.
Britannia Industries Ltd General Manager G Chakraborty said his company was
willing to enter into a joint venture with local firms to cater its biscuits and
other products to the market.
The company would conduct a study to determine the consumption level, taste
and preferences of Myanmar buyers before making investment decisions, he
said.
IFB Agro Industries Ltd, a city-based firm engaged in agro-processing and
marine products, said it was willing to join hands with trade partners from the
country for import of raw materials and exporting its products.
Tractor India Ltd also looked for catering its products, including heavy
load vehicles, to the Myanmar market.
There were also queries from sectors like construction, agro-processing and
financial services about the new market.
Myanmar, a country rich in agro products as also natural gas and minerals,
may hold rich potential for Indian firms, UMFCCI president U Win Myint
said.
The market was now dominated by Malyasian and Taiwanese companies but held
potential for competitive Indian firms as well, he said.
Bangkok Post - February 23,
2001.
Burma finds mountain assault
tough
Army sounding out junta about talks Post Reporters
Twelve battalions of Burmese and United Wa State Army soldiers have laid
siege to a mountainous stronghold of the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army in an
ongoing suppression drive.
Col Korn Juan, who commands about 2,000 SSA soldiers protecting the
stronghold, said nine Burmese and three UWSA battalions had surrounded Doi Kaw
Wan and tried to advance on the SSA headquarters but had run into tough
resistance.
He said the Shan positions were heavily shelled throughout Wednesday
night.
Col Korn Juan does not believe government troops would be provided with air
support as the weather would not permit such action.
Yesterday morning, Burmese troops retook their base opposite Ban Pha-hi of
Mae Sai district which had fallen into Shan hands.
The base was overrun by SSA soldiers on Wednesday morning in a lightning
raid in which one Burmese soldier was killed and one captured. The Shan fighters
withdrew after putting the base to the torch.
The government is examining the preparedness of Thailand and Burma on
holding a Regional Border Committee meeting, but local- and regional-level talks
will not be held unless Rangoon initiates an offer to arrange them.
Early this month, Thai and Burmese troops exchanged fire at the border in
Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai after Burmese soldiers allegedly trespassed on
Thai soil. Army spokesman Col Somkuan Saengpattharanate said the army will not
offer to arrange talks with Burma on border disputes since it is now Burma's
turn to host such meetings which had been delayed for two years with no reason
at Burma's request.
Rathakit Manathat, Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman, said consultations
were held to look at the likely agenda and timeframe for the border
committee.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who planned a trip to Burma, was
taking part in the consultations, Mr Rathakit said According to Col Somkuan,
Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong had been authorised by army
chief Gen Surayud Chulanont to decide on the organising of talks with Burma by
taking the Thai military's dignity into consideration, he said.
Col Somkuan said security beef-up along the border in the North will
continue to prevent incursions by Burmese troops until results of expected peace
talks can bear fruit.
Soldiers in border areas of Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son are now
on full alert against a possible influx of Shan refugees into Thailand.
Earlier, Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri said the Supreme Command had
been ordered by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Gen Chavalit to arrange
talks with Rangoon.
According to him, meetings between regional border committees and joint
committees will be held if local-level talks between township border committees
fail.
As for the timing of Mr Thaksin's visit to Burma, Mr Rathakit said there
should be more clarity on this after the government policy statement in
Parliament.
Mr Rathakit hoped the call on Tuesday by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary one
of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, for a peaceful settlement to
border disputes would lead to fruitful talks at all levels before things got
much worse.
In a related development, a source from the Pha Muang task force said the
border situation had also forced Burmese and Thai troops stationed on Doi Lang
in Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai, who had enjoyed good ties, to suspend
contacts.
Bangkok Post - February 23,
2001.
Junta seeking demarcation
edge
Minority offensive seen as a sideshow Achara Ashayagachat
Burma's move to mobilise troops close to the Thai border is designed to
give it the upper hand in demarcation talks, an academic warned yesterday.
Relocation of 200,000-300,000 Red Wa close to the border would cause
demarcation problems, said Pornpimol Trichote, of Chulalongkorn University's
Institute for Asian Studies. "Burma's aim is not to crack down on ethnic
minorities but to triumph in border demarcation, said Ms Pornpimol.
"Hence the mobilisation of Burmese government troops and its ethnic
minority allies close to the Thai border along wide stretches of territory," she
told a seminar on Burmese ethnic minorities and border problems.
"We must understand that Burma is a very dynamic military state, that it
takes after China in very long-term planning," she said.
Settlement of so many Wa people, complete with their plantations, close to
the border could pose an obstacle to border markers, she said.
Thailand shares a 2,400km border with Burma, of which only about 59km are
demarcated.
Pisanh Paladsingha, a Thai writer of Mon extraction, said the government
should consider what Rangoon might want before asking favours of the
junta.
A past Thai government had been too quick to congratulate itself, he said,
citing the euphoria over Gen Chettha Thanajaro's success some years ago in
securing the release of Thai fishermen held in Burma for poaching.
He said the Thaksin Shinawatra government should think beyond just "selling
mobile phones and doing business with Burma".
Wut Boonleart, a Thai of Karen extraction from Ratchaburi, said the Thai
and Burmese governments should stop using minorities as tools for their own
ends.
For 50 years, Karen had suffered when they obstructed bids to exploit
natural resources in the border area, he said. Priyanoot Panpradab, an actress
who wrote the book Battle for the Lost Land that is being serialised on TV
channel 7, called for peaceful negotiations so that ethnic minorities could
happily co-exist.
She wrote her book in order to encourage the younger generation to
sympathise with the plight of ethnic minorities, she said.
Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said
the new government should respond to demands for an end to abuses of human
rights and democracy, wherever they may occur.
The United Nations, he said, should address the issue of human rights
violations of ethnic minorities in Burma now that it had helped broker a
dialogue between the military junta and the pro-democracy opposition.
The People's Daily - February 22, 2001.
Thai Defense Minister Blames Border Tension on Meeting Suspension
The border tension between Thailand and Myanmar was mainly attributed to
the suspension of the meeting of joint border committees of the two neighboring
countries for more than two years, Defense Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
said, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported Thursday.
The adjournment of the talks by the joint bodies for that long led to the
lack of good understanding and trust between the two nations, Chavalit was
quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Gen Chavalit, who is also deputy premier, said the bilateral relations
would strengthen and no conflict would occur should the joint committees at all
levels hold discussion at lease once a year.
Asked whether it is time for leaders of both countries to hold discussion
now, he said the border problem should be addressed through talks by low-level
officials first.
The minister said he believed the situation would improve soon and the
premier would visit Myanmar to discuss the problem once the government's policy
statement was delivered at Parliament.
He also blamed the border tension on ill-intent persons. They did not want
to see peace exist along the Thai and Myanmar frontier. But the Thai government
remains insistent on the need to strengthen friendship with neighboring
countries, said Chavalit.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was quoted as saying that he had been
informed of the clash between Myanmar soldiers and the Shan State Army troops at
the former's outpost opposite Mae Sai District of the northern province of
Chiang Rai.
The Thai military had been kept on alert to prevent the battle from
spilling over into the Thai territory.
Thaksin did not want the media and the public to worry too much about the
situation. The border problem would be solved sooner or later, he said.
BBC -Friday, 23 February, 2001, 18:26
GMT
Burmese general mourned by thousands Thousands of people have lined the streets of Burma's capital Rangoon to
watch the funeral procession of the country's fourth most powerful leader.
Lieutenant-General Tin Oo was killed on Monday, along with 11 others in his
delegation, when his helicopter plunged into the Salween river after suffering
engine trouble.
Four people are still missing, presumed dead, while 13 passengers survived.
All the victims were given a military funeral, with soldiers carrying
coffins draped with Burmese flags and decorated with wreaths along the mile-long
route.
Reports said security was tight in the capital and shops were closed. The
hundreds of wreaths sent by well-wishers reportedly had to undergo security
checks.
Officials have blamed bad weather and mechanical failure for the crash.
Houses packed
The houses of the general and Brigadier-General Lun Maung, a minister in
the prime minister's office who was also killed, were packed with visitors
paying their respects to their families.
Analysts have said the death of General Tin Oo - officially known as
Secretary Two in the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and chief
of staff in the army - would have an impact on the government.
A veteran of campaigns against ethnic and communist insurgents, General Tin
Oo had often publicly threatened to "annihilate opponents of the regime".
Parcel bomb
There has been no suggestion of foul play in the helicopter crash, but the
general has been the target of two previous assassination attempts in the 1990s.
In April 1997, a parcel bomb sent from Japan exploded in his house, killing
his eldest daughter but sparing him.
General Tin Oo also had a narrow escape in December 1996, when two bombs
exploded at a Buddhist shrine on the outskirts of Rangoon just hours after he
visited the area.
The blasts - which the government blamed on ethnic Karen guerrillas -
killed five people and wounded 17.
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