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BURMA RELATED NEWS - May 03,
2001.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Inside Burma: Opposition fights
on
AP - Philippines VP Says He Was Refused Audience
With Suu Kyi
AP - Pakistan Leader Sees Closer Ties With
Myanmar Regime
AP - Thailand, Myanmar Agree To High-Level
Meeting On Rifts
AP - Myanmar Troops Recapture Camp From Shan
Rebels
AP - Pakistan Leader Seeks Closer Ties With
Vietnam
AP - Cambodia Urges Lower Asean Import Duties
For New Members
AFP - World Press Freedom Prize awarded to journalist U Win Tin of Myanmar AFP - Southeast Asian ministers fine tune trade
link expansion plans
Reuters - Thai foreign minister plays down
Myanmar clashes
Reuters - ANALYSIS-Fears grow that Myanmar talks
may be deadlocked
AFP - Pakistan, Myanmar to forge trade
relationship between military govts
BBC - Burmese talks feared stalled
BBC - Asian states 'fail to protect
press'
NSTP - Myanmar sets up dedicated zones to woo
investors
ABC online - Pakistan,
Burma to forge new links
The Nation - Conflict over Burma
policy
The Nation - INVESTMENT IN BURMA: Business feels
pinch
The Nation - Ministerial-level meetings on again
The Nation - Army chief tells of Phop Phra
attack
Bkk Post - Drug fight comes first, says
PM
Bkk Post - Border areas awash with illegal
cash
Bkk Post - Post bag -
Burmese shelling cannot be ignored
Xinhuanet - Thai-Myanmar Relations Still Good:
Thai FM
Xinhuanet - Thai Defence Minister Sees Need to
Step up Bid to Mend Ties With Myanmar
JT - Myanmar solutions
require three-way talks
IHT - UN Call to End Burma Abuses Hits
Flat Note
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 2 May, 2001, 15:55 GMT 16:55 UK
Inside Burma: Opposition fights on By Jonathan Head in Rangoon
Volunteers tap out a newsletter in the back of an old office in Rangoon.
The office is the last refuge of the National League for Democracy(NLD), the
party that won Burma's last election.
The party won a landslide victory in the 1990 election but the military
authorities refused to hand over power.
Crowds still throng the dilapidated NLD headquarters, drawn in by leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who continues her campaign against military rule from house
arrest.
But party leaders admit that years of repression, are taking their toll.
"We cannot keep up our membership, some are getting old, some are getting
disease or something like that and some were forced by security people to leave
the party," said U Lwein, the party's Executive Secretary, "so we're reduced to
the very bare minimum."
'Not stalled'
So the news of a secret dialogue between the generals and Aung San Suu Kyi
has been grasped by a people hungry for change.
But after eight months and no visible progress, there are fears here that
the talks may be grinding to a halt. That prompted the military regime to break
its silence this week at a gathering in Burma of ministers from the 10-member
Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).
The regime insisted the talks were going well.
"The question of... this process being stalled is not correct, it's not
stalled. And we hope that this process, which is very much complex and delicate,
should be... discussed right now," Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung told the
meeting.
Burma now lags decades behind its neighbours. Its hard-pressed people
desperately need an end to the deadlock between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
military. For them the pace of political change is painfully slow.
Burma's rulers though, are in no hurry to see an end to their control over
the country. The road to a better future for its people could still be a very
long one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 6:54 PM
Philippines VP Says He Was Refused
Audience With Suu Kyi
MANILA (AP)--Vice
President Teofisto Guingona said Thursday he sought an audience with democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to Myanmar early this week but was turned
down.
Guingona said many Philippine pro-democracy groups appealed to
him to seek a meeting with Suu Kyi and he relayed their request to Myanmar
Foreign Minister Win Aung, who didn't oblige.
Win Aung replied the Myanmar government has started a dialogue
with Suu Kyi's group in an bid to foster reconciliation, Guingona said.
"We don't want confrontation with the lady so she herself has
expressed that it is better at this time not to have outsiders visit," Guingona
quoted Win Aung as saying.
He said he was satisfied with the explanation.
Guingona, who also serves as foreign secretary, attended on
Monday an informal retreat at a golf course of 10 foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Myanmar's military junta has faced intense Western criticism
and private complaints by other Asean members over its handling of the democracy
issue.
It refused to honor the results of the 1990 general elections
that were won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. Instead, it has
severely restricted the political activities of the NLD, and kept Suu Kyi under
virtual house arrest since Sept. 22.
Hopes have been raised of a change in attitude of the junta
after it started the talks with Suu Kyi's group in October.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 4:56 PM
Pakistan Leader Sees Closer Ties With
Myanmar Regime
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Gen. Pervez Musharraf ended the
first visit in 16 years by a Pakistan leader to Myanmar Thursday, confident of
expanding ties between the two military governments.
Musharraf said there was a special solidarity between himself and the
Myanmar regime leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe as they were both military men,
bonded by the culture of "uniform."
"It is Pakistan's desire to get closer to Myanmar. The future looks
bright," Musharraf told a press conference at Yangon airport, at the end of his
three-day stay, before departing for Vietnam.
"We are desirous of proceeding on a faster track with this mutual
relationship in trade, commerce and economy," he said.
Myanmar and Pakistan closely cooperate in defense but bilateral trade
currently amounts to less than $20 million a year. Both countries face
diplomatic isolation as they are governed by unelected military regimes.
Myanmar faces sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights
record and failure to turn over power to a democratically elected government.
Musharraf's visit is the first by a Pakistani head of government since that
of military ruler Zia-ul Haq in 1985. Only leaders of Southeast Asian countries
and the prime minister of China, which is Myanmar's closest ally, have visited
in the past 13 years.
Musharraf invited Than Shwe to make a reciprocal visit to Pakistan.
During this week's visit, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a
memorandum of understanding for cooperation in science and technology.
Close relations with Pakistan are often seen as the result of uneasy
relations between Myanmar and India, Pakistan's archenemy. Pakistan is believed
to supply small arms to Myanmar.
But a visit by Myanmar's army chief Gen. Maung Aye last year signaled a
thaw in relations with India.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 9:03 PM
Thailand, Myanmar Agree To High-Level
Meeting On Rifts
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand and
Myanmar have agreed to a meeting of their senior officials in an attempt to end
border clashes and angry words that have soured their relations.
The agreement was reached during Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai's
three-day visit to Myanmar that ended Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said in a
statement Thursday.
It said the meeting, which has been postponed for two years, will be held
in Bangkok, with details to be worked out soon.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said the meeting is expected
to take place after the annual gathering of the foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled for July in Vietnam.
While in Myanmar, Surakiart met with Foreign Minister Win Aung and
Secretary One Khin Nyunt, a top general in the ruling junta. The Foreign
Ministry statement said Surakiart discussed the reasons for tensions between the
two countries, and both sides agreed to solve problems.
It said Win Aung has agreed to visit Thailand in the near future. When he
comes, it would be the first official visit by a Myanmar minister to Thailand in
three years.
Relations between the two countries are at their lowest in years,
principally because of the trafficking of vast amounts of methamphetamine drugs
from border regions of Myanmar, which Thailand says the Myanmar regime is doing
little to stop.
Tensions at the border spilled into a direct armed confrontation in
February when at least five Thai and Myanmar civilians were killed. Earlier this
week, three Thai villagers were killed in a cross-border raid by ethnic fighters
allied to Yangon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 12:31 PM
Myanmar Troops Recapture Camp From Shan
Rebels
BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar troops
early Thursday recaptured a military outpost on the Thai-Myanmar border from
Shan rebels after two weeks of heavy fighting, the rebels and Thai officials
said.
The Shan State Army, or SSA, withdrew from the Pachee camp at 4 a.m. local
time Thursday after heavy mortar shelling by Myanmar government forces, said a
senior SSA rebel.
Arthit Jittangwong, chief of civil defense in Fang district, Chiang Mai
province, about 800 kilometers north of Bangkok, said Myanmar soldiers were now
occupying the camp and nearby hilltops.
SSA overran Pachee camp, which lies within a few hundred meters of the Thai
border, April 22. They killed six Myanmar soldiers and seized 170,000
methamphetamines in the raid.
The incident provoked a war of words between Thailand and Myanmar, after
Myanmar accused Thai forces of fighting alongside the Shan.
Yangon has also claimed that Thailand has been planting illegal drugs at
abandoned Myanmar government military outposts to make it appear that there is
official involvement in the drug trade.
Relations between the two countries are at their lowest in years,
principally over the trafficking of vast amounts of methamphetamine drugs from
border regions of Myanmar, also known as Burma, which Thailand says the Myanmar
regime is doing little to stop.
Tensions at the border developed into a direct armed confrontation in
February, when at least five Thai and Myanmar civilians were killed. Earlier
this week, three Thai villagers were killed in a cross-border raid by ethnic
fighters allied to Yangon.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai, who returned late Wednesday
from a three-day visit to Myanmar, has urged calm, saying that border disputes
would be resolved through talks.
Yet Lt. Gen. Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, the regional army commander for
northern Thailand, told an army radio station Thursday that Myanmar kept firing
accusations at Thailand and was stalling on restarting talks to resolve the two
countries' differences at the border.
"They (Myanmar) keep accusing us every day, and as well as that, Yangon has
ordered the border troops to attack us," he said, referring to this week's raid
on a Thai village (Singapore: THVI.SI - news).
Opposite Pachee camp, the sound of gunfire had now died down.
But the situation was still not safe enough for more than 600 hill tribe
villagers who had been evacuated from the border to return home, said Arthit,
the civil defense official.
The SSA senior rebel said its 200 fighters had retreated to the west of
Pachee. They had suffered two dead and 14 wounded in two weeks. He claimed
Myanmar casualties had been much higher, but could not put a figure on it.
Myanmar has yet to comment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 6:39 PM
Pakistan Leader Seeks Closer Ties With
Vietnam
HANOI (AP)--Pakistan's leader,
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, met with Vietnam's prime minister Thursday as part of
efforts by Islamabad to improve ties with Southeast Asia.
The three-day visit is the first by a Pakistani leader to Vietnam since the
two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972.
Musharraf received a red carpet welcome at the presidential palace and then
began hour-long talks with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
The two leaders were to witness the signing of a bilateral trade agreement
later Thursday.
Musharraf arrived in Vietnam from Myanmar, which like Pakistan faces
diplomatic isolation as both are governed by unelected military regimes.
On Friday, Musharraf is to meet President Tran Duc Luong, visit an
ethnology museum and a Vietnam-South Korea electronics plant.
His official schedule does not include a meeting with newly appointed
Communist Party Secretary General Nong Duc Manh.
Last year, bilateral trade totaled just $26.7 million, up from $9 million a
year earlier.
Musharraf seized power in an October 1999 coup, and his trip is viewed as
part of efforts by his government to reduce its political isolation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 1:33 PM
Cambodia Urges Lower Asean Import Duties
For New Members
SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP)--Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Thursday
urged the six richest members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to
give concessions on import duties for its four newest and poorest partners.
Hun Sen said Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Brunei were obligated to help the poorer members improve their developing
economies. The four new members of Asean are Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and
Cambodia.
Hun Sen was speaking at the opening of the two-day seventh annual Asean
economic ministers retreat, being held at a plush hotel just a few kilometers
from the historic Angkor Wat temple complex in northwestern Cambodia.
Hun Sen said Southeast Asian nations will sink or swim together in the age
of globalization and that it was in the interests of the countries with more
mature free market economies to boost those struggling to shed socialist and
communist economic systems.
To "have rapid reduction of economic disparity between original and new
members, it is necessary, in my view, to take some more new measures," he said.
A proposed Asean Generalized System of Preferences could spur economic
growth in the poorer countries and boost trade in the region, he said.
This would make it cheaper for goods made in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam to be exported to the six founding members of Asean, he said.
"I believe that this initiative would become a stimulating factor for trade
expansion in our region and to the third countries, and it would also promote an
increased inflow of investment to new members with low level of development and
weak production base," Hun Sen said.
But in a disappointment for the Cambodian hosts, ministers from Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have canceled plans to attend, sending
deputies instead.
Later Thursday, the ministers are scheduled to discuss increasing trade
with Australia and New Zealand.
Friday, the ministers will meet with representatives from China, South
Korea and Japan and seek ways to bolster trade between Southeast Asia and
Northeast Asia.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 8:41 PM
Africa marks World Press Freedom Day,
with Taylor, Mugabe singled out
WINDHOEK, May 3 (AFP) - Africa
was due Thursday to mark World Press Freedom Day here, as three presidents,
Charles Taylor of Liberia, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali, made a top-ten world list of this year's worst enemies of the press.
A report released Wednesday by the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists (CJP), came on the eve of a three-day seminar in Windhoek where the
head of UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Koichiro
Matsuura, and 300 journalists were due to assess press restrictions on the
continent.
The CJP report said Taylor ranked second to Iranian supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for clamping down on independent press.
"He has jailed outspoken journalists on trumped-up charges, censored some
media outfits at will, and forced others out of business through abusive tax
audits," the report said of Taylor, a former warlord who won elections in
Liberia in 1997.
The report said several newspapers closed down and their staffs left the
country en masse after Taylor threatened journalists who did not toe his
line.
Zimbabwe's government, meanwhile, had "launched an all-out war against
independent media, using weapons that range from lawsuits to physical
violence."
The report also said Zimbabwe's secret service had screened e-mails and
Internet communications, and that two bomb attacks had damaged the offices of
the independent Daily News.
In Tunisia, where President Ben Ali has become a veteran on the list, a
pro-government newspaper said press freedoms were improving.
"Things are moving," La Presse said, citing an increase in television
debates and critical articles published in the local press.
Tunisian parliament is due Monday to vote on easing a provision of the
country's press laws.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki urged underdeveloped
countries to make press freedom a priority.
"The concept of press freedom is a universal one," he said in a
statement.
Mbeki charged that press freedom in its fullest sense was "enjoyed mainly
by an elite -- urban rather than rural, rich rather than poor, industrialised
rather than developing".
The UNESCO chief, after arriving in Windhoek on Wednesday, said that more
than 100 countries had still not ensured basic press freedoms.
"In democratic countries where democratic elections have been organised,
there still isn't always total press freedom," the UNESCO chief told AFP.
During the Windhoek seminar, this year's UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize is to be awarded to journalist U Win Tin of Myanmar, who is
currently jailed in his country.
U Win Tin was former editor of the daily Hanthawati newspaper in Myanmar
and a founder of the National League for Democracy. He was arrested in July 1989
and jailed for 14 years for being a member of the Communist Party, according to
a UNESCO statement.
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, is an award worth
25,000 dollars, made each year since 1997 on World Press Freedom Day to a
person, organization or institution considered to have made an outstanding
contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 2:52 PM
Southeast Asian ministers fine tune
trade link expansion plans
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, May 3 (AFP) - Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) economic ministers hunkered down Thursday to fine tune initiatives to
expand trade links beyond the politicaly volatile region and on bridging the
economic divide among its 10 members.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, in a speech formally opening the
ministerial "retreat", said the gathering was being held at a crucial juncture
as ASEAN's export-driven economies reel from the impact of the slowdown in the
US and Japanese economies and the downturn in the global electronics
sector.
While Southeast Asian economies have recovered from the financial crisis in
1997 and 1998, "the global outlook for 2001 is becoming significantly more
adverse," he said.
He hoped the meeting would allow the ministers to "discuss ways to sustain
the recovery of ASEAN economies, to build up business and investor confidence
and to mitigate the impact" of China's emergence as a formidable competitor once
it joins the World Trade Organisation.
Political troubles in the region, such as those gripping the Philippines
and Indonesia, have driven investors to safer havens such as China and the
emerging Indian market, analysts say.
For ASEAN to remain competitive, it must promote itself as a group --
offering a market of 500 million people to potential trading partners, according
to analysts.
Hun Sen, whose country joined ASEAN only two years ago, urged the ministers
to stay the course to realise the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), which aims to
reduce tariffs to between zero and five percent by 2003 for the group's wealther
members and at a later date for poorer members.
All tariffs are to be torn down by 2010 for the more developed ASEAN
countries and 2015 for its less developed members.
A discussion agenda obtained by AFP said the ministers will exchange views
on the latest developments in efforts to establish free trade agreements with
ASEAN's major trading partners to the Northeast -- Japan, China and South
Korea.
There will also be an exchange of views on the initiatives to link AFTA
with the Closer Economic Relations alliance -- a free trade area covering
Australia and New Zealand -- as well as issues related to a new round of WTO
talks.
The Siem Reap meeting however has been watered down, with almost half of
the ASEAN members -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- sending
deputy ministers.
Only Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand had their
ministers in attendance, prompting revisions in the schedule.
The signing of a protocol amending the Asian Investment Area agreement was
canceled. A scheduled consultation between the ministers and the US Trade
Representative office was also put off as no representative from the US
arrived.
Talks between the Malaysia and Thailand on the issue of compensation
arising from Kuala Lumpur's decision to delay the opening up of its auto sector
by two years would not take place as Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz was
absent, ASEAN sources said.
On Friday, the ASEAN ministers and deputies will meet with Chinese Minister
for Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng and South Korean Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Trade Hwang Doo-yun will attend.
Japan, where a new government has just taken over, will send a vice
minister, organisers said. The meetings are under the ASEAN plus three dialogue
process.
Efforts to narrow the economic gap within ASEAN -- vividly illustrated in
the difference between technology savvy Singapore's gleaming skyscrapers and the
dusty, crater-riddled roads in Siem Reap -- will also be high on the
agenda.
"Overcoming the digital divide which differentiates all of us and
differentiate us from the rest of the world, will be our biggest challenge in
the next decade," said Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 2:57 AM
Thai foreign minister plays down
Myanmar clashes
By Andrew Marshall YANGON (Reuters) - Thai Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai ended his first official visit to Myanmar on
Wednesday insisting relations between the two governments were good despite
border clashes between their soldiers.
Surakiart arrived in Yangon on Sunday for an informal meeting of
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers and stayed on
for bilateral talks with his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung.
Weekend violence soured the atmosphere. Thailand's military says it fired
warning shots across the border on Sunday after stray shells fired by Myanmar
troops landed in Thailand.
The Myanmar troops were fighting to retake three bases, just 100 metres
(yards) from the Thai border, that were overrun by ethnic minority Shan rebels
earlier this month. They recaptured one base on Wednesday and hoped to take the
others soon.
Myanmar says the Shan rebels are "drug bandits" and has repeatedly accused
the Thai military of backing them.
Surakiart told a news conference in Yangon the weekend firing -- the latest
in a series of flare-ups along the border -- should not damage inter-government
relations.
"We both raised concerns over the incidents of the past weeks and we both
agreed that we will make the utmost effort to ensure that incidents such as this
will not occur again," he said.
"Both sides are aware problems such as these should not and will not
escalate to government level, and we still consider the relationship between the
two governments to be friendly and cordial."
"THAI TRICKSTERS"
The two sides have been trading accusations since February, when several
Thai and Myanmar soldiers died in an exchange of fire between the two sides.
Bangkok says the United Wa State Army, a militia group allied to the
Myanmar government, is the source of most of the drugs flooding Thailand, and
has called on Yangon to crack down.
Myanmar says the Shan State Army is the region's main drugs producer.
During Surakiart's visit, angry Myanmar government statements said Thai troops
were backing the Shan rebels and supporting the narcotics trade.
Myanmar's state-run newspapers joined the attack, blaming the border
problems on Thais involved in the trade.
"The Thai tricksters are gaining profits from the drug business and
black-marketing," said a commentary in the English-language New Light of Myanmar
on Wednesday.
Surakiart said Myanmar had agreed during his visit to press ahead with
trilateral cooperation with Thailand and China to eradicate drugs production in
the Golden Triangle region.
He said trading accusations with Myanmar was counterproductive.
"Problems will not be resolved by... blaming each other. Problems can be
resolved when both sides sit down and clarify the facts," he said. He denied
that Thailand was supporting any ethnic minority militias in Myanmar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 12:38 PM
ANALYSIS-Fears grow that Myanmar
talks may be deadlocked
By Andrew Marshall YANGON, May 3 (Reuters) - Fears
are growing in Myanmar that landmark talks between the ruling generals and
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are deadlocked, and that the process could
founder unless clear signs of progress emerge soon.
News earlier this year that the military government had been holding secret
meetings with Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi raised hopes that the political
stalemate that has gripped Myanmar for more than a decade could finally be
broken.
But the foreign governments and opposition activists who hailed the start
of talks are growing increasingly restless. No details of the talks have
emerged, and foreign diplomats warn that international goodwill won't last
forever.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which has pledged to refrain
from criticising the government while the talks go on, says it still has faith
in the dialogue.
But senior NLD leaders say they have no hard information on what has been
happening at the closed-door talks.
"We don't know what is happening at the talks, but I believe there is no
deadlock," a senior member of the NLD's central executive committee told Reuters
in Yangon.
"But you can't go on keeping secrets for a long time. It must come out in
the end," he said.
"This process must be made known to the people."
The NLD won Myanmar's last election in 1990 but has never been allowed to
govern. Suu Kyi has been kept confined to her house since September with access
to her strictly controlled.
MOUNTING CONCERN
Foreign diplomats in Yangon say their information suggests the talks have
hit an impasse.
The message is coming not just from Western countries traditionally hostile
to the military government, but also Asian nations which have tended to be more
flexible in their approach.
"We have heard that the talks have been stagnant for a few weeks," a senior
Asian diplomat told Reuters. "We must be patient however. We can't wait forever,
but we can wait a while to see if the government has the intention to push
dialogue forward."
In its first public comments on the talks, the government denied this week
that they had stalled.
"This is not a public relations stunt," Foreign Minister Win Aung told
reporters. "This is for the sake of the people of Myanmar -- 52 million people.
We don't play games. If we played games, we might have played a long time ago."
But he said no timeframe could be set for the talks.
"There is no set time for the dialogue or peace process in Northern Ireland
or Sri Lanka or in the Middle East," Win Aung said. "This is not a process where
you can start a countdown. It is a process that is timeless."
Opposition leaders and diplomats warn that unless details of the talks
emerge, or the government makes further gestures of good faith, the delicate
dialogue could unravel.
Foreign goodwill could also wane. Japan last month said it was giving
Myanmar a $29 million aid package as a token of support for the talks. Myanmar
desperately needs more foreign financial support, but diplomats say it must earn
this.
Most of the dozens of ethnic groups in Myanmar say they are prepared to
wait for a basic agreement between Suu Kyi and the military before they join
reconciliation talks.
But some ethnic groups and exiled opposition activists are fearful that a
secret deal could be struck to sideline them, and signs of progress are needed
to placate them.
"If they have a concrete reason to think the government is blocking
dialogue, people will not stand for that. All over the world they would not
stand for it," the senior NLD member said.
"I understand that the government knows this too."
WAITING FOR A SIGN
Diplomats say that, despite their concerns, it is still far too early to
give up hope.
The NLD, too, says the process is bound to take time.
But confidence-building is essential.
The government has already made some gestures, stopping attacks on the NLD
in the official press and releasing more than 80 political detainees earlier
this year.
The NLD and diplomats say another visit by U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail
would be a key step in bolstering the process. They say Razali played a central
role in brokering the talks.
"Mr Razali, the peacemaker, must be here at this moment. He is the one who
will explain," the NLD member said.
But Win Aung said no visit by Razali was scheduled.
"He will come at an appropriate time," he said.
Diplomats say that while the government faces no serious internal political
threat, the country's precarious economic situation is the main factor pushing
the military towards dialogue with the opposition.
"Clearly the economy was a major factor leading to these talks," the Asian
diplomat said. "If the (economic) situation goes on this way they have no
hope."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 3, 3:37 PM
Pakistan, Myanmar to forge trade
relationship between military govts
YANGON, May 3 (AFP) - Pakistan
and Myanmar will forge new trade and commerce links to tighten the bonds between
Asia's two military governments, Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf said
Thursday.
Before departing for Vietnam at the end of a three-day official visit,
Musharraf said the two regimes had plenty in common.
"The fact that the two of us are a uniform culture means that there's a
certain bond between each other," he told reporters.
"Pakistan certainly wishes to get closer to Myanmar," he said, adding that
Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe shared the sentiment. "The future looks
very bright."
Musharraf said two-way annual trade between Myanmar and Pakistan currently
totalled just 20 million dollars.
"We want to have better future relations in trade and commerce ... that's
why I brought a team with members who could focus on the issue of the economic
relationship," he said.
"The best way to build the relationship is to bring the two private sectors
together."
The delegation, including Science and Technology Minister Ataur Rahman and
Export Promotion Bureau chairman Tariq Ikram, discussed cooperation in
information technology and biotechnology as well as textiles and
agriculture.
Musharraf said Than Shwe had agreed to make an official visit to Pakistan
in the near future, and trips were also being planned by business delegations
from each country.
The Pakistani leader's first official visit to Myanmar represents a bid by
the junta for recognition outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) which it joined four years ago.
Musharraf is the first non-ASEAN leader to travel to Myanmar since 1988,
when a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy forces earned it the ire of the
international community.
In a sign of the warming relationship, 800 Pakistani sailors aboard a
destroyer, a tanker and a submarine last week made the first foreign naval visit
to Myanmar in 14 years.
Analysts said that as well as a getting-to-know-you exercise, Musharraf's
visit was an opportunity to ensure Pakistan is not left out as India moves to
tighten its relationship with Myanmar.
"Although India is aiming at balancing power with China, it means the two
countries are leaving Pakistan out," said Myanmar-watcher Chayachoke
Chulasiriwongs from Thailand's Chulalongkorn University.
"Pakistan would like to come into this triangular relationship."
Myanmar's official press made much Thursday of the military backgrounds of
the two nations, and hailed the visit as a resounding success "which further
strengthened the already strong ties."
"Both General Musharraf and Senior General Than Shwe are soldier-statesmen
in their own right, having weathered similar storms and having been given the
helmsmenship of state under similar circumstances," the New Light of Myanmar
said.
"The two leaders ... are dedicated soldiers hoisted by the needs of history
into the arena of national politics."
Musharraf's visit, the first by a Pakistani leader since late military
ruler Mohammad Zia ul Haq came here in 1985, will be followed by a two-day trip
to communist Vietnam.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Thursday, 3 May, 2001, 14:31 GMT
15:31 UK
Burmese talks feared stalled By South-East Asia analyst Larry Jagan
There is growing concern in Burma that talks between the military
authorities and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi have stalled.
The dialogue, which started nearly seven months ago, has been taking place
in complete secrecy.
Neither side had said anything publicly until earlier this week when
Burma's Foreign Minister, Win Aung, told journalists in Rangoon that the process
was not just a publicity stunt and was progressing according to plan.
Both sides have also refrained from criticising each other. But, according
to senior opposition sources, there have been no direct talks between the two
sides for more than two months.
Two-month silence
Although the Burmese foreign minister said dialogue was progressing well,
diplomats in Rangoon fear the process is in fact in danger of complete collapse.
They believe the UN special envoy, senior Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail,
needs to return to Rangoon immediately to help revive them.
Mr Razali told the BBC that he was keen to return to Rangoon and was
working on a date with the military authorities.
But while Mr Razali remains hopeful, the Burmese Government so far has has
not agreed to a new visit.
And privately they have told diplomats that it's not likely to happen in
May.
Opposition sources believe this is probably because the generals are not
anxious to have their public relations advantage dented.
Mr Razali is one of the few people who has access to the opposition leader
and is able to assess the state of the talks.
Frustration
Senior leaders in the National League for Democracy believe Aung San Suu
Kyi is increasing frustrated by the lack of progress being made, including the
failure of the military authorities to keep several promises such as releasing
more political prisoners.
They also believe that Aung San Suu Kyi now wants all restrictions on her
movement lifted. She accepted them initially when the talks were at a
confidence-building stage.
Now that they have stalled, say NLD leaders, only the military authorities
benefit from her continued detention.
The international community is also increasingly anxious to see some
concrete results from the talks.
So far the Burmese generals have been complimented for starting the
dialogue process, and although the international community wants to encourage it
they may soon run out of patience.
The International Labour Organisation will review Burma's use of forced
labour at its annual general meeting in Geneva next month.
And the generals will certainly have to provide concrete evidence of change
if they are to avoid another stronger censure being passed at that
meeting.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Thursday, 3 May, 2001, 14:03 GMT
15:03 UK
Asian states 'fail to protect press' International media and human rights groups are marking World Press Freedom
day by attacking governments across Asia for failing to protect journalists.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a list of 10
"enemies of the press" - world leaders they say are responsible for the worst
abuses against the media.
Among the 10 are President Jiang Zemin of China and the Malaysian Prime
Minister, Mahathir Mohamed.
Another group, Reporters without Borders, as well the human rights
organisation Amnesty International, have also highlighted abuses against the
media in Asia.
Abuses
The CPJ says President Jiang appears on its list for a fifth successive
year "for maintaining the Communist Party's obsessive control over information."
CPJ executive director Ann Cooper says that Mr Mahathir, on the list for
the third year running, is among those "who don't even bother to try to hide
their abuses behind a screen of empty rhetoric".
Reporters without Borders says in its annual report that nine journalists
were killed last year in Asia - in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and
the Philippines.
Last month, the group asked the Sri Lankan Government to step up the search
for the killers of BBC reporter Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, who was shot dead in his
home in the northern city of Jaffna.
The reports points out that journalists in Asia are increasingly the target
of criminal gangs or extremist movements rather than the state.
Imprisonment
Burma is highlighted - along with China - as a country that jails
more journalists than anywhere else in the world.
Amnesty International reports the case of a Burmese journalist, U Win Tin,
who is serving a 20-year jail sentence, accused of passing information about
poor prison conditions to the UN.
Amnesty says the rise of new media through the use of the internet is often
seen as a threat by repressive regimes.
It calls on governments across the region to make "to make a public
commitment to uphold the right to freedom of _expression_ and guarantee protection
for journalists."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press
Myanmar sets up dedicated zones to woo
investors
By KAMARUL YUNUS 03 May 2001 TRAVELLERS in Myanmar need not worry too much about having to carry small
change with them, coins that is, as there aren't that many in circulation.
One probable reason is that most people, men and women, still prefer to
wear the longji, the equivalent of the sarong in Malaysia.
There are no pockets to keep the coins, while notes are simply tightly
rolled up in the longji at the waist.
A wallet, if one is carried, is curiously tucked in the back.
Longji is by far the attire of choice, appropriate both as casual and
formal wear; common in the office as well as out in the streets.
It is worn with pride, a traditional costume that is practical and
comfortable, and also elegant when matched with an equally traditional low,
stiff-collared tunic, long or short-sleeved, that is usually in white.
Given the huge ready demand, business in the production or distribution of
the longji is brisk.
According to a Myanmar government official, there are longji factories,
being a promoted industry, in every corner of the country.
Even then, the country still imports a sizeable amount of the product from
neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, as part of the Government's efforts to draw more investors to
the country, several dedicated industrial zones have been developed in recent
years, and there are now at least one in each of the 14 state
administrations.
Investment Commission director Si Si Win said since the implementation of
the Foreign Investment Law in 1988, a cumulative foreign capital inflow of
US$7.4 billion (US$1 = RM3.80) has been approved.
"About 50 per cent of the capital comes from Association of South-East
Asian Nations members but Myanmar has also been able to attract investment from
developed countries despite the US sanctions imposed two years ago," she told
Malaysian journalists on an eight-day visit to Myanmar last month.
The visit was arranged following a meeting between Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order Restoration
Council chairman Than Shwe in January.
Si Si Win said Singapore is currently the biggest foreign investor in
Myanmar, followed by Britain, Thailand, Malaysia, the US and France.
Factors taken into account in the approval of projects include prospects
for exports, size of investment, opportunity for the development of support
industries, regional development and employment opportunities.
"We are not only encouraging labour-intensive industries but also high
technology ones," she said.
Myanmar also invites foreign investors to put their money in the plantation
and mining sectors as well as in infrastructure and manufacturing
activities.
As for the existence of separate investment policies pursued by the state
and federal governments, Si Si Win said foreigners are welcome to set up
companies under state policies by registering themselves in accordance with the
Myanmar Companies Act.
But they will not be able to enjoy federal government incentives
administered by the Myanmar Investment Commission such as three-year tax
holidays, and duty-free imports of machines and equipment, and also raw
materials.
As for trade, Myanmar exported 10.8 billion kyats (pronounced charts, RM1 =
150 kyats) worth of goods in its financial year ended March 2001, 7.5 billion
kyats of which was accounted for by the private sector and the rest the state
sector.
Imports amounted to 14.6 billion kyats, with the private sector accounting
for 11.8 billion kyats and the state 2.8 billion kyats.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABC online - MAy 03,
2001.
Pakistan, Burma to forge new links
Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf says Pakistan and Burma will
forge new trade and commerce links to tighten the bonds between Asia's two
military governments.
Speaking at the end of a three-day official visit, General Musharraf said
the fact that the two nations have a uniform culture means there's a certain
bond between them.
Delegations from the two countries discussed cooperation in information
technology and biotechnology as well as textiles and agriculture.
General Musharraf says Burmese leader Senior General Than Shwe agreed to
make an official visit to Pakistan in the near future, and trips are also being
planned by business delegations.
Burma's state media has hailed the visit as a success, describing the two
leaders as "dedicated soldiers hoisted by the needs of history into the arena of
national politics".
Last week, 800 Pakistani sailors aboard a destroyer, a tanker and a
submarine made the first foreign naval visit to Burma in 14 years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - May 03,
2001.
BORDER TENSIONS: Conflict over
Burma policy
CONFLICT within Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration over its
approach toward Burma and cross-border drug problems surfaced yesterday, with
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh asking Thaksin to tell an outspoken
general to ease his aggressive tactics, a government source said.
Chavalit sought an urgent meeting with Thaksin, which was also attended by
PM's Office Minister Thamarak Isarangura, the source said.
Speaking to reporters, Thaksin, who has launched a high-profile anti-drugs
campaign, said border tensions needed to be resolved quickly, but any solution
should not affect the government's ability to fight drug traffickers.
The meeting was called after Third Army Commander Wattanachai Chaimuenwong
fired his latest salvo at Burma over Monday's raid on a border village in Tak
province by Rangoon-backed armed ethnic insurgents.
Chavalit was quoted as saying the rising tensions between Thailand and
Burma, stemming from the government's drive to halt the flow of drugs from
Burma, should be solved amicably, and not through aggressive means.
According to the source, Chavalit said the use of military aggression would
further complicate the government's efforts to patch up ties with Burma. He
pointed to the scant progress made by Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on
his fence-mending trip to Rangoon this week.
Former army chief Chavalit, who is known to have considerable rapport with
Burmese leaders, asked Thaksin to put a stop to Wattanachai's heavy-handed
antics in implementing the government's anti-drugs campaign and in dealing with
border incidents.
His earlier instructions to Wattanachai to scale back his aggressive
tactics appeared to do little to stop the outspoken commander.
In a move directed at Wattanachai, Chavalit has instructed a panel to
investigate how anti-drug Task Force 399 came into being without his knowledge.
The task force is part of joint Thai-US efforts, in which US personnel will help
train Thai soldiers in anti-drug operations.
Emboldened by Thaksin's February declaration of war on drugs produced in
Burma, Wattanachai earlier reported that some 700 million stimulant pills
produced in areas under the control of Rangoon-backed Wa rebels flood into
Thailand each year.
In his latest salvo, Wattanachai said he saw no point in Bangkok calling
for a truce with Rangoon since the junta was not acting in good faith. "Don't
you see? When high-level talks were in progress in Rangoon, they sent troops to
destroy the atmosphere of the talks," the general told The Nation.
Wattanachai vowed to track down members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army (DKBA) who conducted the raid on Molithai village in Tak's Phop Phra
district. He said the attack was aimed at diverting the Army's attention from
the planned movement of 20 million speed pills through Burma's Myawaddy
district.
The commander also confirmed that the attack, which killed three Thai
civilians and injured seven, was aimed at a Thai military outpost near the
village in retaliation for the Army's seizure of more than 10 million
methamphetamine tablets in Tak earlier this month.
Describing the DKBA, which resides opposite Tak province, as a "group of
bandits", Wattanachai said the group collaborated with the drug-producing ethnic
Wa army in the burgeoning drug trade and had been granted a special autonomous
zone within Burma by the junta.
The group survived by trading in contraband logs, minerals and illicit
drugs with the help of Thai traders, he said.
The DKBA are using Tak as a new entry point, allowing them to transport
illicit drugs to Northeast Thailand without having to enter Laos or ship them by
sea to the coastal province of Ranong.
Thai soldiers and DKBA fighters again exchanged gunfire on Tuesday night.
No casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, Burmese troops in eastern Shan State recaptured a base from
ethnic minority Shan guerrillas and were poised to take another two rebel
strongholds near the Thai border, Thai Army officials said.
Hundreds of Burmese troops launched an overnight assault on the Shan State
Army (SSA) hill base, pounding it with mortar bombs before securing it at
daybreak, said Col Chainarong Klaewkla in Chiang Mai province, bordering Shan
State.
The fighting was part of a two-week Burmese government offensive against
the separatist SSA, which operates along the border Thai-Burmese border in the
Golden Triangle area straddling Thailand, Burma and Laos.
Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Kraisak Choonhavan
expressed concern over the rift between Chavalit and Wattanachai, urging them to
reconcile their differences.
Kraisak agreed that the Army was justified in using force to repel
intruders, but warned that the strategy of raiding drug labs inside Burma was a
bad one.
Rangoon yesterday accused Thailand of waging a systematic campaign to
defame Burma by helping drug-trafficking rebels overrun small Burmese border
outposts and then falsely claiming drugs were found there, a senior Burmese
government official said yesterday.
During a press conference, Deputy Chief of Intelligence Maj General Kyaw
Win said the drugs Thailand claims to have seized at the vacated outposts were
planted after Burmese soldiers retreated.
Lt Colonel San Pwint of Burma's Office of Strategic Studies, meanwhile,
listed a series of incidents in which small Burmese outposts near the Thai
border had been overrun by rebels under cover of shelling by the Thai military.
San Pwint said the attacks had escalated since last September's visits to
Thailand by then-US defence secretary William Cohen and Admiral Dennis Blair,
commander-in-chief of US Pacific forces, as part of efforts to boost cooperation
between the two countries' military forces to counter drug trafficking.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION, RANGOON - May 03,
2001.
INVESTMENT IN BURMA: Business feels
pinch
Don Pathan,
FIGHTING Along the Thai-Burmese border has taken its toll on Thai investments in Burma with Rangoon imposing restrictions on various business transactions and more and more consumers shunning Thai goods. During a Monday evening meeting with Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai, about 30 Rangoon-based Thai businessmen called on the government to
bring to an end the border tensions as soon as possible.
"We have been directly affected. We have been told that certain items would
be no longer allowed," one Thai businessman said.
Tensions along the border have spurred the Rangoon government to unleash
the state-run press to stir up anti-Thai sentiment among the people, the Thai
businessmen claimed. They also acknowledged that Thailand was not completely
blameless either, accusing the media and entertainment companies, including
television soap operas, of stirring up nationalism for the wrong reasons.
"We have been taught that to be a good Thai one must hate the Burmese,"
said the businessman, adding that educators and others must change the
perception of Burma as Thailand's historic enemy.
Surakiart told the businessmen the government would do its utmost to
prevent flare-ups from becoming a national issue out of fear public sentiment on
both sides would deteriorate further.
One businessman criticised the Thai Third Army for closing the Mae
Sai-Tachilek crossing and imposing other restrictions along the northern border,
in an apparent effort to starve out the drug-producing United Wa State Army
(UWSA).
"They said that the closing of the border will starve out the [Wa] ethnic
group, but it's the average people who are suffering. Not all measures taken up
by the Third Army are working," the businessman said.
Average Burmese people dependent on Thai consumer goods deemed the border
closure as unfair to them, the businessmen warned.
Thai-Burma relations have sunk to one of the lowest points in recent times
following cross-border shelling over two months ago when fighting between
Burmese government troops and Shan rebels spilled across the Thai side of the
border.
Moreover, Rangoon has accused Thai troops of backing the rebel Shan State
Army (SSA) in a recent attack on their outpost at Ban Pachee, adjacent to Chiang
Mai's Fang district.
Nearly 200,000 methamphetamine tablets were found at a Wa camp according to
SSA leader Col Yawd Serk, who handed the confiscated drugs over to the Thai
army.
Rangoon then hit back, claiming the drugs belonged to Thai soldiers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION, RANGOON - May 03,
2001.
Ministerial-level meetings on
again
Don Pathan
DESCRIBING Thai-Burmese relations as "still solid" despite continuing border clashes, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday that the neighbours would resume their joint-commission meetings that have been put off for the past two years. The ministerial-level meetings, to be conducted in Thailand, will be
chaired by the two countries' foreign ministers and will address a wide range of
bilateral issues, including trade and economic cooperation, Surakiart said.
Speaking to reporters following his two-day official visit to Burma, which
was preceded by an informal gathering of the 10 Asean foreign ministers,
Surakiart said Thailand and Burma had also agreed to sign a memorandum of
understanding on joint cooperation to counter narcotics problems.
The final version of the agreement should be completed by the time Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visits Burma, Surakiart said. He did not say when
the visit would take place.
The agreement would be similar to the one Thailand signed with China last
year, he added. It would require the two sides to exchange information about
drug trafficking and coordinate joint efforts in various fields in order to curb
the illicit trade. Burma has also agreed in principle to conduct as soon as
possible a tripartite meeting at ministerial level with Thailand and China on
combating the drugs trade.
"Drugs happens to be one of the most important issues in Thailand," said
Surakiart, following his meeting with his counterpart Win Aung.
The ongoing border tensions were discussed with Burma's security chief,
Lt-General Khin Nyunt, Surakiart said.
The border clashes have involved not only Burmese government troops and
ethnic rebels, but also the Thai Army.
Surakiart said Thai and Burmese officials were in the process of verifying
information regarding the recent attack against a Thai village in Tak province
by the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a raid that resulted in the
deaths of three Thai villagers.
However, he stopped short of putting the blame on Rangoon, saying "now is
not the time to be pointing fingers".
The Township Border Committee, a joint mechanism at the local level that is
supposed to meet at least once a month, will be looking into the incident at its
next gathering, he said.
"It's very important that we don't let the flare-ups along the border
become a national issue. As far as both governments are concerned, the relations
between the two governments are still solid," Surakiart said. Despite the
flare-ups and the continuing finger-pointing between the two sides over who has
been violating whose sovereignty, as well as harsh statements out of Rangoon
alleging that Thai troops were helping Shan rebels, Surakiart insisted that his
visit had been a positive one.
He described his meetings with Win Aung and Khin Nyunt as "frank and
positive", adding the Burmese foreign minister agreed to make an official visit
to Thailand.
Thai-Burmese relations have hit their lowest ebb for a decade following the
cross-border shelling between the two sides since February. Both sides have
accused one another of supporting rebel groups, while foreign diplomats have
said a proxy-war along the border is in the making.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - May 03,
2001.
INTERVIEW: Army chief tells of
Phop Phra attack
The following excerpts are from an interview with Third Army commander
Lt-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, by The Nation's Sorayuth Suthasanachinda
and Kanok Ratanawongsakun:
What are the latest developments?
Peace prevails at Phop Phra. But we are pursuing our attackers.
How did they carry out the invasion?
They crossed the Moei river at 4.30am. We had five Thais standing guard
over the river at our base. They knew that because standing guards have been in
place for a while now. The attackers were defiant. The fired at the base with
RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], small arms and mortars. Three Thais were
killed and two others injured. The killings seemed intentional.
Were your soldiers not casualties from a hot pursuit and killed by
stray bullets?
Thirty soldiers were reported to have invaded the Thai border. Our
counterattack prevented them from further penetrating into Thailand. As a
result, two of our men were injured.
What was the cause of the killings?
One of the possible causes is drugs. We made two major hauls. The affected
group was the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, who reportedly inherited the trade
from the United Wa State Army.
The group hauled the drugs from Burma into Thailand. I believed the drug
factories are still there.
They were avenging the crackdown on their lucrative drug trade
then?
That was part of the story. And there was also a false rumour that a major
haul of up to 20 million amphetamine tablets would be transported from Myawaddy
to Phop Phra, which appears to have been an attempt to get us off the trail. But
we never expected them to be so upset as to launch a fatal attack. This was
unprecedented.
Will the armed stand-off intensify?
An intensified stand-off will serve them right. This side of the border has
reported peace for a long time. Not the Burmese army though, the Karens are
allowed to do what they like unopposed - illegal logging, unlicensed mining and
narcotics.
They have no problems with Rangoon?
Rangoon and the group seem to be on good terms. The group seems to occupy
an autonomous zone.
As reports suggest, Tak's Phop Phra district is a new route for
running drugs?
Definitely. It offers ready access to Northeastern Thailand. The route is
easier than trafficking drugs via boat to Laos or Nong Khai, and even easier
than trafficking via sea to coastal Ranong.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 03,
2001.
Drug fight comes first, says
PM
Surakiart snubbed after troops clash Fighting drugs will take priority over forging ties with Burma, the prime
minister said yesterday as Burma embarrassed visiting Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai.
Rangoon accused Thai troops of planting drugs and accepting US military
support even as Mr Surakiart held talks with his Burmese counterpart Win
Aung.
Security officials claimed Thailand began backing rebel attacks after
receiving pledges of military support from the United States.
The exchange comes after pro-Rangoon Karen rebels attacked a Thai military
outpost in Tak's Phop Phra district on Tuesday, leaving three Thai civilians
dead.
That clash, and a massive drug haul seized by the Third Army last week,
appear to have triggered Burma's outburst which deals a blow to the Thaksin
government's hopes of closer relations.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday no amount of handshaking
with Rangoon would compromise his stand on drugs.
Drug suppression efforts would get first priority even at the expense of
harming already sour relations, he said. In Rangoon, Lt-Col San Pwint, a member
of the Office of Strategic Services, said Thailand was unable to solve its
domestic drug problem, and was therefore "deliberately launching a dirty
campaign to defame Burma by overrunning military outposts".
He said troops were also planting drugs at abandoned Burmese government
outposts, seizing them, and claiming they came from Burma, to imply the drug
trade had official backing.
The Third Army, meanwhile, said the Phop Phra assault by the Rangoon-backed
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army was unprecedented.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, the commander, said the attack was
probably linked to the Third Army's seizure of millions of methamphetamines in
Phop Phra last week.
Around 15 million methamphetamine tablets were taken in a Third Army
suppression drive late last month.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai said it was the first time DKBA guerrillas had launched
an assault on a Thai military outpost.
"They might want to avenge our seizure of millions of methamphetamines," he
said. Rangoon, he said, had given DKBA guerrillas permission to operate freely
at the border area opposite Phop Phra, which is rich in logging, mining and
drugs.
He said around 30 DKBA guerrillas had intentionally attacked the outpost,
clearly in violation of Thai sovereignty.
Intelligence reports suggested that another batch of methamphetamines, some
20 million pills, was being prepared for passage to Thailand.
Relations between Thailand and Burma soured badly after their troops
clashed in February when Burmese forces crossed into Thailand during an attack
on ethnic minority rebels.
The government blames Burma for a massive influx of methamphetamines that
it considers a threat to national security.
It says Burma's military government turns a blind eye while ethnic minority
groups produce the drugs and smuggle them across the border.
Burma sees it differently. "Since visits by US officials to Thailand, the
Thai army has mounted attacks along the border," said San Pwint.
"Putting ethnic rebels in the front, the Thai army has consistently
assisted rebels along the border since February, attacking small military
outposts." In a briefing last week, a US military spokesman said US Special
Forces troops were training Thai troops, not serving with them. Foreign Ministry
spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said accusations that Thai forces planted drugs
were "groundless" and did not merit a response.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 03,
2001.
Border areas awash with illegal
cash
Anucha Charoenpo and Ampa Santimathaneedol The office against money laundering will move against criminal gangs in
border provinces washing illegal money from drug trafficking and gambling.
Pol Lt-Gen Vassana Permlarp, secretary-general, said the situation in
provinces like Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Tak was worrying. Up to
five billion baht a year was being laundered in some provinces.
His office would work closely with local law enforcement authorities to
ensure Thai and foreign people entering and leaving the country declare the
amount of cash they were carrying.
Travellers were not allowed to carry more than 50,000 baht in cash outside
Southeast Asia, or more than 500,000 baht if visiting neighbouring
countries.
A regulation was also being drawn up to limit the amount of foreign
currency carried by Thai and foreign travellers entering and leaving the
country. Enforcement of the laws would be announced soon, he said.
Pol Lt-Gen Vassana said since the office became operative, 45 cases had
been submitted to the Anti- Money Laundering Office for investigation.
Six had been found to be linked to money laundering. The others were still
being investigated.
Assets worth about 160 million baht had been ordered seized.
Most money laundering was linked to drug trafficking and fraud.
The European Union (EU) was to set up a Bangkok office to help combat money
laundering activities in Asia, Pol Lt-Gen Vassana said. He hoped arrangements
would be complete by the end of this month.
Thailand could learn a lot from the EU, which would introduce modern
training and much-needed information, he said.
The European Union had chosen to open an office in Thailand because the
country had the best law against money laundering in Asia, Pol Lt-Gen Vassana
said.
He denied international allegations Thailand was chosen because it was the
biggest money-laundering base in the region.
Also, the EU expected Thailand to play a strong role in seeking support for
co-operation from other Asian countries.
This would be especially true in Southeast Asia, he said. The law against
money laundering has been in effect for nearly three years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - May 03,
2001.
Post bag - Burmese shelling cannot be
ignored
According to the article "Warning fire triggers fresh tirade from junta"
(Bangkok Post, May 1), the Thai army's shelling of Burmese positions across the
border on Sunday was an "unnecessary aggravation" designed to give artillery
support to the Shan rebels.
The Royal Thai Army would like to clarify that the fighting between Burmese
troops and the rebels along the Thai-Burmese border has directly affected
Thailand. Property and the lives of villagers living along the border are in
danger and they are being evacuated to safety due to the shells fired from Burma
landing on Thai soil. The Third Army has fired artillery and mortar warning
shots towards the area where shells spilled over the border. The Royal Thai Army
has to protect our sovereignty and bring peace and security to Thai
people.
Maj-Gen Sirapong Boonpat, Army Secretary
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai-Myanmar Relations Still Good:
Thai FM
2001.05.03 21:17:00 BANGKOK, May 3 (Xinhuanet) --
Relations between Thailand and Myanmar are still good despite tensions
along the border, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said here
Thursday.
Speaking after returning from his first official visit to Myanmar,
Surakiart said that bilateral ties between Thailand and Myanmar should be
considered sound despite border disputes, which were caused by drugs
problems and clashes between Myanmar government forces and armed ethnic
groups.
The two countries had agreed to cooperate in addressing the border
problems, Surakiart was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.
Myanmar also agreed to a trilateral cooperation plan with Thailand
and China to crack down on drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle area, he
said.
Thailand has never rendered any support to armed ethnic groups in
Myanmar and drug trafficking along the border, the foreign minister
noted.
The two countries' relations have been at a low ebb since February
when an exchange of fire caused casualties on both sides.
Thailand asked Myanmar to crack down on an armed ethnic group,
accusing the group as the main producer and trafficker of methamphetamine,
while Myanmar said Thai military was supporting another ethnic group in
Myanmar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai Defence Minister Sees Need to
Step up Bid to Mend Ties With Myanmar
2001.05.03 16:02:11 BANGKOK, May 3 (Xinhuanet)--
Defense Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyuth has reiterated that the
government would step up efforts to mend divisions with the Myanmar
counterpart so that the border disputes could be settled as soon as possible,
the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported Thursday.
His statement came after a Buddhist Karen troop stormed a Thai
village in the northern province of Tak early this week, killing three
people.
Chavalit, who is also deputy premier, said on Wednesday that the
border conflicts with Myanmar are among the urgent problems the government
had tried utmost to address since it took office around two months ago.
"We tried to seek ways to ease tension along the border of the two
countries. But since the disputes are rather complicated, it might need
time and patience before they are settled," he stated.
The former prime minister said the military had made an all-out effort to
contain the worsening of the border conflicts and that the tension would
ease if governments of the two neighboring countries stepped up building
mutual understanding.
He conceded the attack on the Thai village would more or less affect
efforts being made by Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathienthai to settle
the border disputes on the table.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Japan Times: Apr. 30,
2001
Myanmar solutions require three-way
talks
By RICHARD HUMPHRIES
Special to The Japan Times Myanmar's junta, the State Peace and Development Council, is engaged in
secret reconciliation talks with democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. For now,
exiled dissidents and ethnic opponents of the junta watch cautiously from the
sidelines. Any solution to Myanmar's problems, though, will have to consider
their concerns.
Mahn Nyein looks you in the eye when he talks. A serious man, he's well
known for a remarkable exploit in 1970. Then an imprisoned political dissident
on Myanmar's inhospitable Coco's Island group, he and fellow inmates built a
raft and sailed hundreds of kilometers to the mainland in an escape attempt.
They were recaptured, but only he survived.
Today he's a senior official in the Karen National Union, an ethnic
organization that has fought successive Myanmar governments for autonomy since
1949. When asked about the ongoing reconciliation talks he was forthright.
"We have a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "The SPDC should show more
sincerity and release all political prisoners. The NLD (National League for
Democracy) should have freedom to organize and engage in political
activities."
As for the international community, Mahn Nyein said, "Pressure helped bring
about the talks. The SPDC had no way to carry on and needed an outlet to release
it, so they lack sincerity. Now is not the time to release that pressure."
These themes were also expressed elsewhere. The National Coalition of the
Union of Burma is an umbrella opposition group formed in 1992 that includes
ethnic-minority alliances as well as exiled Myanmar student and parliamentary
groups. Aung Moe Zaw, NCUB secretary general, cautioned against early
expectations. "Now the talks have started, but there is a long way to go," he
said. "We need to solve two main problems -- the lack of democracy and the needs
of the ethnic minorities."
The NCUB leader said that while the talks were at a sensitive stage, more
flexibility by the junta was not unreasonable. "There should be freedom of
political movement for Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. Also elected ethnic MPs,
like those from the Shan NLD, should be free to meet and discuss issues among
themselves."
The international community, he said, "for the time being . . . should
encourage both sides. (But) current pressures like the U.S. sanctions, the Swiss
freezing of junta members' bank accounts and the ILO action should be
maintained."
Two of the Shan political opponents of the regime differ widely in their
views of the talks.
For Aung Mart of the Restoration Council of Shan State, the matter was
simple. "We have no position on the talks," he said. "They are a separate issue,
as our goal is independence."
The Shan Democratic Union believes that eventually Myanmar's political
debacle will have to be settled in tripartite fashion, meaning at least one more
seat at the reconciliation table for other ethnic groups. If that happens, they
want to be ready to participate, not simply to listen.
To that end, they have embarked upon a constitution-writing program led by
Sao Seng Suk, a veteran nationalist and group spokesman. A first draft is being
prepared this year, and grassroots Shan participation is encouraged.
According to one SDU member, the purpose is, "to prepare the Shan people
for when a real one is written. It canused either for an independent Shan State
or as talking points for making a new . . . one."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- UN Call to End Burma Abuses Hits
Flat Note
Elizabeth Olson International Herald Tribune Thursday, May 3, 2001 Member States Fail to Rally in Fight Against Forced Labor GENEVA Last November, the International Labor Organization issued its first call for stiff sanctions against one of its own, asking its 175 member countries to punish Burma's military government if Rangoon continued the widespread practice of using forced labor. . The action was extraordinary for the UN agency, which sets global standards in the battle against child labor and workplace discrimination. The organization, composed of governments, employers' organizations and labor unions, traditionally seeks consensus on issues, inhibiting it from taking radical steps. . While the organization did not recommend specific sanctions, analysts say its initiative was aimed at cutting off activities, including trade and investment, that foster Burma's use of forced labor. But the ensuing months have highlighted the complexities of trying to force a reluctant country to change its ways. Even though human rights groups and trade unions say they have clear evidence that forced labor is continuing in Burma, a recent labor organization report did not identify any country that had taken new measures against it since the agency's call. . Further weakening the effort to isolate Burma, Japan in April announced the largest aid package to Burma since the military government's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988. . The European Union and the United States, which had indicated they would be prepared to move ahead with additional sanctions, have taken no action since the organization's initiative. The EU suspended trade privileges in 1997 and has listed Burma as the only exception to an initiative to drop trade barriers for most developing-country goods. . The union's administrative body said it was "ready to propose further measures," including some in the trade and investment areas. But, as with the United States, its chances of hitting Burma where it hurts - barring its textiles - are limited because Burma is a member of the World Trade Organization and protected by its free-trade rules. Even though a U.S. State Department report this year listed Burma among the world's top three human rights abusers, Washington's maneuvering room is limited. In addition, support in Congress for fresh action on Burma has fractured as the generals in power in Rangoon have kept open a dialogue with Burma's most prominent dissident, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. . The United States has already banned investment in Burma and suspended its trade preferences. Yet it finds itself as Burma's biggest export market despite past congressional interest in curbing its imports, mostly textiles. . In fact, both the United States and the EU have seen their trade with Burma soar in recent years. . According to statistics provided by the European Union statistical agency, Eurostat, trade by the 15 countries that make up the EU nearly doubled from E222.6 million ($198.6 million) in December 1999 to E404.3 million last December. . U.S. Commerce Department figures show a 372 percent increase since 1997 and a 118 percent increase since last year to $412 million in imports to the United States. . As much as the Americans and Europeans find themselves in a quandary over Burma, the labor organization has discovered that its strong stand against Rangoon's conscript labor has highlighted, inadvertently, its biggest weakness - a lack of enforcement power. . American officials at the March meeting of the agency's governing body publicly worried about the labor organization's effectiveness in ensuring an end to compulsory labor. . "In the absence of democratic reforms in Burma, the practical ability of an ILO presence there to assure that forced labor has been eliminated nationwide is highly problematic," a U.S. Labor Department official, Charles Spring, told the group. . The agency's credibility is important to the Bush administration, which opposes efforts to directly link worker safeguards to trade issues. The White House appears to view the labor organization as the alternative to lodging the responsibility for labor standards at the World Trade Organization - an option favored by labor unions. . Efforts to link trade and labor standards are vigorously opposed by developing countries, which see such moves as protectionism by wealthy countries. . The World Trade Organization, unlike the labor agency, has enforcement power because its dispute-settlement system allows countries to impose sanctions on trade violators. . Some in the U.S. Congress would like to force the issue by getting legislation approved that would bar Burmese goods across the board, an action that would force Rangoon to file a trade organization complaint - thereby placing labor standards firmly before the trade forum. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |