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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MAY 16,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar's ethnic minorities knocking on
door of political dialogue
AFP - Top Myanmar colonel plans more talks at
State Department: official
AP - Thai PM Offers To Broker Talks Between
Myanmar, Rebels
AP - Man Arrested Over Japan Businessman's
Killing In Myanmar
AP - Russia to help Myanmar construct a research
nuclear reactor
Reuters - U.S. hosts Myanmar colonel and offers
help on AIDS
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Adds New Hydropower Plant
BBC - Burma signs nuclear deal with
Russia
Newsday - For
Democracy, Myanmar Needs Free Press
The Nation - SHIN SATELLITE: PM's firm
signs deal with junta
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 16, 11:49 AM
Myanmar's ethnic minorities
knocking on door of political
dialogue
(AFP) - Eighteen months ago, Myanmar's ethnic minorities placed their confidence in opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she engaged in a national reconciliation dialogue with the ruling military junta. Now they are sending a message of their own: no democracy without us.
To date, Shan, Chin and Mon democracy advocates have remained in the shadow
of the Nobel peace laureate, but analysts say Myanmar cannot envision a future
without participation of its many ethnic minorities, some of which are growing
impatient.
"I think to include the minorities in any kind of talks with the government
is crucial to a peaceful settlement in Burma," Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs, who
heads the international relations department at Chulalongkorn University, told
AFP, using the country's former name.
"The roots of conflict in Burma are derived from ethnic problems."
With the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has declared that her running
dialogue with the country's generals could finally enter a political phase, the
pressure has increased.
On Tuesday a group of five ethnic minorities released a statement demanding
inclusion in negotiations.
"National reconciliation will succeed in as much as the tri-partite talks
are successful," said the statement issued by the Shan National League for
Democracy (SNLD), which represents political parties of the Shan, Mon, Zomi
(Chin), Karen and Arakanese ethnic groups.
Steps towards a democratic transition in the impoverished state have
poignantly failed to include minorities, and Aung San Suu Kyi has yet to openly
called for tripartite talks.
"We haven't reached this stage yet," she said following her release from
house arrest on May 6.
But she also implicitly recognised the importance of such groups in the
struggle for democracy by meeting with ethnic leaders on the very day she was
released.
Some observers are skeptical. "How do you want them to be part of a
dialogue which throughout its entirety has been a single person facing several
generals?" posed one analyst.
"On top of that, minorities don't even share a common position. I fail to
see how they could manage such an exercise."
Myanmar is a vast mosaic with seven principal ethnic groups, in addition to
the ethnic majority Burmese, divided into some 135 tribal groups.
They include the Karen, Mon, Shan, Kayah, Palaung, Aka, and Pa-o in the
east and southeast, the Kahin, Wa, Kokang and Intha in the north and the Chin
and Arakanese in the west.
There are multiple ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural divides among
them.
No national census has been conducted, but the Shan are estimated to
comprise some 10 percent of the total population of 50 million, with the Karen
making up seven percent and the Arakanese four percent.
Myanmar's ethnic majority, of which Aung San Suu Kyi, like the junta
generals, are members, accounts for two thirds of the population.
Myanmar has always been threatened by the centrifugal force of ethnic
conflict. Following independence from colonial Britain in 1948, the country
known as Burma was confronted with a rash of ethnic insurrections.
By the end of the 1990s, cease-fire accords with the junta had been signed
by 17 ethnic groups in exchange for a large measure of autonomy and advantageous
concessions which included holding on to their weapons, control of lucrative
cross-border trade, exploitation of teak forests, mining of precious stones and,
sometimes, management of the opium trade.
Some minorities are still fighting the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army), like the
Karen, while some cease-fire minorities have faced internal divisions, with
renegade factions splitting to take up arms against the junta.
The generals, who have come up short in their bid to control the entire
country's territory, remain ever wary of the threat of internal implosion.
The junta has shied away from welcoming ethnic minorities into dialogue,
despite appeals from the international community.
And the size and diversity of the ethnic minorities make them an essential
element in the puzzle. A political accord without them, or at least the key
ethnic groups, would risk disaster for the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), experts say.
"If the SPDC and Aung San Suu Kyi join hands without the minorities, there
would just be more fighting with the ethnic groups," Chulalongkorn University's
Chayachoke said.
Minorities are known to have conflicting interests, and various hurdles
stand in the way of a singular political platform.
"We foresee a lot of difficulties in this process as our political stances
are quite diverse," said Khun Tun Oo, chairman of the Shan National League for
Democracy.
"Some of the ethnic groups like the Wa and the Kokang and Pa-o, who are now
enjoying special favors and perks by toeing the military line, have become
wealthy beyond their dreams," he said.
"It will be very difficult to bring them into the political process, but we
aim to try."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 16, 9:31 AM
Top Myanmar colonel plans more talks at State Department: official (AFP) - A senior member of Myanmar's military government plans new meetings at the State Department this week, for what officials here say are talks to establish how his country can shed its tag as a narco-state. State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said in a statement that Colonel
Kyaw Thein would meet Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Matt Daley before his visit ends Friday.
On Monday, Kyaw met US Assistant Secretary of State for International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Rand Beers, and he is also seeing officials from
the Department of Justice, the CIA and the Drug Enforcement
Administration.
His visit to Washington came only a week after Myanmar's military
government freed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from 19 months of house
arrest.
The State Department has insisted that Kyaw's visit was planned long in
advance of her release and was not intended as a concession to Myanmar.
But it is still being vigorously opposed by some in Congress, where
Myanmar, the former Burma, has a long list of critics.
State Department officials say that the visit was cleared after Myanmar
indicated it wanted to do more to cut down on the narcotics trade in the
country, which critics claim bankrolls the military government.
Critics however say that peace deals signed between the Yangon junta and
ethnic insurgent groups were reached after the government turned a blind eye to
drugs cultivation in areas controlled by provincial warlords.
According to the latest State Department anti-narcotics report published
earlier this year, Myanmar is the world's largest producer of illicit opium. It
is also the primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants in Asia, the report
said.
US officials say however that they have no evidence that the government
itself is involved in the drugs trade -- however they believe individual
officers, especially in the provinces are implicated.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 16, 1:17 PM
Thai PM Offers To Broker Talks Between Myanmar, Rebels BANGKOK (AP)--Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has offered to sponsor peace talks between Myanmar's
military junta and ethnic rebels fighting for autonomy.
Thaksin, who was in Britain this week, told the British Broadcasting Corp.
(U.BRB) that he made the offer to the junta's No. 2 leader, Gen. Maung Aye,
during his visit to Thailand last month.
"I told him the Myanmar government should hold peace talks with ethnic
minority rebels, and if they want Thailand to play a role in coordinating the
talks we would be pleased to do that," Thaksin told BBC's Thai-language service.
The interview was broadcast early Thursday.
Thaksin said Myanmar thanked Thailand for the offer, but "are waiting for
the right timing," Thaksin said without elaborating.
He said the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest
this month is a first step toward national reconciliation and that ethnic
minority rebels should be part of the peace process to make a genuine
reconciliation.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring
democracy to Myanmar, was placed under house arrest in September 2000 for
defying a government travel ban.
The junta has reached cease-fire agreements with most rebel groups but some
armies remain active in border areas alongside Thailand. Their war often spills
over into Thailand, which is hosting more than 100,000 refugees from the Karen,
Karenni, Shan and Mon ethnic communities.
"There are several ethnic nationalities in Myanmar and the conflict is
still prevailing, so real national reconciliation will come only after they are
allowed to participate in peace talks," Thaksin said.
The Karen National Union, a prominent rebel group, cautiously welcomed
Thaksin's remarks.
"The KNU longs for a genuine political settlement but it is too early to
say if this is good news," Ba Thein, president of Karen National Union, told The
Associated Press by telephone from his jungle camp on the Thai-Myanmar border.
A spokeswoman of the Shan State Army rebel group, Khur Hsen, also welcomed
the Thai offer but cautioned the talks must be about finding a political
solution to the conflict, not a rebel surrender.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 16, 12:07 PM
Man Arrested Over Japan Businessman's Killing In Myanmar YANGON (AP)--Myanmar police
have arrested a young man in connection with the killing of a Japanese
businessman and a local woman, later seizing some of the businessman's
possessions from the suspect's house, officials said Thursday.
The suspect, Wai Lin, 24, is the son of a housekeeper who took care of
Shuho Yamanokuchi's room at a luxury hotel in northern Yangon where the
businessman had been living for the past two years, the officials said.
Yamanokuchi, 55, was general manager of Mitsubishi Corp.'s (J.MIB)
operations in Myanmar. He was found dead with Nant Tin May Htay, 22, in his room
at the Renaissance Inya Lake hotel Monday. They had apparently been stabbed to
death on Saturday, police said.
Yamanokuchi bore 27 stab wounds and the woman four. Their relationship
isn't known. Yamanokuchi was married and his wife lives in Japan.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police found a
DVD player, a VCD player, a computer and a camera belonging to Yamanokuchi in
Wai Lin's house following his arrest Wednesday.
Police are questioning Wai Lin to see if he acted alone or with
accomplices, the official said. No charges have been filed yet.
Nant Tin May Htay, a member of Myanmar's Karen ethnic minority group, was
buried Wednesday in a Christian funeral.
Yamanokuchi's wife and parents arrived from Japan Tuesday but it wasn't
known when his funeral will take place.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Russia to help Myanmar construct a
research nuclear reactor
Wed May 15, 1:50 PM ET MOSCOW (AP) - Russia has agreed
to help Myanmar's military regime construct a center for nuclear studies and a
research nuclear reactor, the Russian government said Wednesday.
Under the agreement, the two countries will cooperate in designing and
building a nuclear studies center that will include a research nuclear reactor
with a thermal capacity of 10 megawatts and two laboratories, Russian
authorities said in a statement.
The agreement will also include structures for the disposal of nuclear
waste and a waste burial site.
Russia has agreed to design the center, offer assistance in choosing the
site and supply equipment and materials. Russian experts will also assemble,
install and help operate the center's main technical equipment, the statement
said.
Under the plan, Russia will deliver the nuclear fuel.
The agreement did not say when work would begin, but said Russia's Atomic
Energy Ministry and Myanmar's Ministry of Science and Technology would work out
further details.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is one of Asia's poorest countries and
suffers frequent fuel shortages. Myanmar officials have said want a nuclear
reactor purely for peaceful purposes.
The country has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA,
of its intention to acquire a research reactor. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 16, 8:24 AM
U.S. hosts Myanmar colonel and offers help on AIDS By Elaine Monaghan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
United States offered a tentative carrot to Myanmar on Wednesday, promising help
on AIDS but telling Yangon to follow up its release of Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi by freeing other dissidents.
In a hint of a possible thaw after years of sanctions, the State Department
announced it would work with lawmakers to agree on funding that would go
indirectly to fight AIDS and to non-government organizations in the country.
The development followed a meeting between Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage and the U.N. special envoy to Myanmar, veteran Malaysian
diplomat Razali Ismail.
The State Department also announced details of talks this week between
Myanmar's top anti-drugs official and counterparts in Washington, the first such
contacts since the release from house arrest of Suu Kyi, who won the last
democratic election in 1990 but has never been allowed to rule.
"We are working with Congress to formulate plans to deliver HIV/AIDS
assistance to Burma's needy population through U.N. agencies or independent NGOs
that are not connected to the military regime," spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said.
"This step is being taken now even as sanctions remain in place," she added
in a statement that talked of the "terrible suffering" in Myanmar caused by
HIV/AIDS.
Washington observes an arms embargo, investment ban, visa restrictions and
a freeze on new lending and grant programs by international agencies. Bilateral
aid was cut off in 1988 and the Bush administration has made clear it will not
resume unless Myanmar does more to improve its record.
Washington has given humanitarian aid to Myanmar indirectly in the past
through U.N. programs, for example, but a State Department official said this
was the first time money was being sought for a specific program in the country
itself.
"Significant concrete steps toward national reconciliation and political
reform will spur a positive response. We urge the Burmese government to release
all prisoners unconditionally," Cassel said.
The State Department has emphasized that the visit by the Burmese colonel
was unrelated to Suu Kyi's release, having been organized before it happened.
"He's not here to negotiate some political agreement. His purpose here is
to talk about counternarcotics issues," a State Department official said of
Colonel Kyaw Thein's visit.
The colonel -- the first Myanmar official to visit Washington in two years
-- held talks on Monday with Rand Beers, assistant secretary of state for
international narcotics and law enforcement.
The meeting angered Republican Tom Lantos of California, the leading
Democrat on the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, who
said last week the visit would prematurely send a supportive signal to the
military regime.
Lantos' spokesman on Wednesday accused the administration of flouting the
spirit of the visa ban against members of the military regime by letting in the
colonel from May 13 to 17.
The State Department said the colonel's visa fell outside the ban because
he was too low in rank to be affected.
Kyaw Thein is also scheduled to meet Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Matthew Daley later this week.
Myanmar was described in the State Department's 2001 report on narcotics
flows as the largest producer of illicit opium. The DEA has an office in Yangon
which more typically conducts counternarcotics business with the country.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Adds New Hydropower
Plant
Xinhuanet 2002-05-16 11:10:23
YANGON, May 16 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar has added a new hydropower plant in the country's eastern Shan state,
bringing the total number of such plants built in the state to 15, according to
a report of the Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power reaching here Thursday.
ã??ã??The Meipan Creek hydropower plant in Monghsat township, put into service
on Tuesday, was built at a cost of 150 million Kyats (about 0.317 million U.S.
dollars) plus 320,000 dollars, the report said.
ã??ã??The plant, installed with two 600-kilowatt generators, can supply
electricity to Monghsat and its surrounding areas where cottage industries are
being extended.
ã??ã??The building of the plant is also part of Myanmar's developmentof its
border areas on which the government has spent 24,610.42 million Kyats (about
70.31 million dollars) since 1989 up to date.
ã??ã??According to official statistics, electric power generated by the Myanma
Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) under the ministry, which is a state-run main
electricity supplier of the country, totaled 4,799.36 million kilowatt-hours
(kwh) in the year 2001, a 4.5-percent reduction from 2000.
ã??ã??Meanwhile, there was no increase in the installed generating capacity
(IGC) of the MEPE, remaining at 1,172 mega watts (mw) over the period from April
2000 to the end of 2001.
ã??ã??To ease serious electricity shortage in the country, Myanmar isbuilding
more hydropower plants including the three built by Chinawhich are Paunglaung,
Mone and Thaphanseik.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, 16 May, 2002, 11:36 GMT 12:36 UK
Burma signs nuclear deal with Russia Burma's military junta has signed an agreement with Russia to help it build
a research nuclear reactor.
The two countries are also to co-operate on building a nuclear study centre, two laboratories, and nuclear waste site, according to a statement by the Russian Government. The Burmese opposition is against the nuclear reactor, which Russia says
will be used for research purposes, warning that it could lead to nuclear arms
proliferation in the region.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also reportedly raised
concerns about safety standards in Burma. Diplomats in Rangoon say authorities
have trouble maintaining existing electricity generators, let alone a nuclear
reactor.
Burma's Foreign Minister, Win Aung, told the BBC earlier this year that his
country was committed to developing a nuclear research facility for medical
purposes, and possibly to generate nuclear power.
Russia's help
Russia is to supervise the building of the low-powered reactor and will
also provide the fuel.
The Burmese Government has said the nuclear facility will be used for
peaceful purposes.
"What we are doing is totally above board and (there's) nothing clandestine
as written in several media reports," Kin Maung Win told reporters in January.
He said it was imperative for developing countries like Burma - which
suffers from a chronic energy shortage - to seek to narrow the development gap.
He pointed out that all Burma's neighbours, with the exception of Laos,
were reaping the benefits of nuclear research reactors.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Newsday
For Democracy, Myanmar Needs Free
Press
By Kavita Menon
Kavita Menon is the Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect
Journalists, a New York-based press freedom advocacy group. This is from the Los
Angeles Times.
May 15, 2002
When the military government in Myanmar announced the release from house arrest of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, an official statement made a tantalizing promise: "We shall recommit ourselves to allowing all of our citizens to participate freely in the life of our political process." What could the generals in charge possibly mean? The last time the junta
allowed citizens to participate in the country's political life was in 1990, and
the government ignored the election results when it became clear that the regime
had lost badly.
Suu Kyi's release May 6 came after months of secret talks between the
opposition leader and the ruling generals. It's time to let the public in on the
discussion. If the government is serious now about permitting the public a voice
in the country's affairs, then the first step toward political reform must be to
lift state censorship of the media. Myanmar, which was known as Burma before the
junta renamed it, is a country in crisis. The economy is a shambles. One-third
of all children under 5 are malnourished, according to the United Nations, and
more than half a million citizens are HIV-positive. The country is one of the
world's leading exporters of opium. Its jails hold more than 1,000 political
prisoners.
Yet, information about these issues is hard to come by because real
journalism is nearly impossible. Local journalists are forbidden by state
censors to publish almost anything of substance and are subject to imprisonment
for simply expressing a dissenting view. "The censorship board has told us we
must not write about AIDS, corruption, education or the situation of students,"
an editor said last year. "We also cannot write about any bad news, and we must
be careful about everything political. That does not leave very much for us to
publish."
Witness Suu Kyi's release, which grabbed headlines around the world - but
not in Myanmar, where state-controlled newspapers and TV neglected to mention
it.
Censorship used to be obvious, with the Press Scrutiny Board either inking
over or ripping out offending sections from magazines and books. In the past few
years, however, the censors have become subtler, forcing editors themselves to
make the required cuts and adjust layouts to hide the damage. Because these
last-minute changes can be costly, self-censorship is widespread. And, even when
journalists do tackle sensitive topics, they often write in an elliptical style
that is designed to confuse the censors but can be equally puzzling to ordinary
readers.
Restrictions on foreign correspondents also have helped ensure that
Myanmar's problems do not receive the international attention they
deserve.
The regime announced that "national unity, peace and stability" must
accompany any moves toward democratization. But these worthy goals will never be
born of repression. To get there, the junta must consult the people and this
time listen to what they have to say. A national conversation, carried through
free media, would be a beginning.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
SHIN SATELLITE: PM's firm signs
deal with junta
Published on May 16, 2002
Shin Satellite said yesterday that it has signed a deal to provide
telecommunications services to Burmese villages, many of which have no
telephones.
The US$12-million (Bt514-million) deal with Bagan Cybertech was signed in
Bangkok.
Shin Satellite is a public company affiliated with Shin Corp Plc, the
telecommunications group controlled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
multi-millionaire family. Shin Satellite owns and operates three satellites,
Thaicom 1A, 2, and 3. According to company sources, the Burmese deal was
clinched after a visit by Khin Nyunt to Bangkok last September.
At the time, it was reported that Burma's ruling junta wanted to cancel use
of Shin Satellite's for transmission of the government's TV programmes as
Rangoon did not have the money to pay for the service.
But Shin Satellite allowed the Burmese government to continue using the
satellite service.
Shin Satellite has also recently clinched a separate contract with a
privatised Indian Internet |company and a Chinese VSAT firm.
The opposition has accused Thaksin of using his trips to these countries
for the benefit of Shin Satellite but the company has consistently denied such a
conflict of interest.
A company statement said Shin Satellite and Bagan Cybertech will jointly
set up infrastructure for the project, while Bagan Cybertech will be responsible
for its operation and maintenance.
It said 5,000 satellite signal receiving stations would be set up
throughout Burma, most of them to serve 3,000 villages that have no
communication services.
The project is being carried out in conjunction with the government's
Myanmar Post and Telecom.
Dr Ye Naing Wynn, CEO of Bagan Cybertech, was quoted as saying that his
company plans to install the service in 500 villages in the first year.
Shin Satellite said yesterday that it has signed a deal to provide
telecommunications services to Burmese villages, many of which have no
telephones.
The US$12-million (Bt514-million) deal with Bagan Cybertech was signed in
Bangkok.
Shin Satellite is a public company affiliated with Shin Corp Plc, the
telecommunications group controlled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
multi-millionaire family. Shin Satellite owns and operates three satellites,
Thaicom 1A, 2, and 3.
According to company sources, the Burmese deal was clinched after a visit
by Khin Nyunt to Bangkok last September.
At the time, it was reported that Burma's ruling junta wanted to cancel use
of Shin Satellite's for transmission of the government's TV programmes as
Rangoon did not have the money to pay for the service. But Shin Satellite
allowed the Burmese government to continue using the satellite service.
Shin Satellite has also recently clinched a separate contract with a
privatised Indian Internet company and a Chinese VSAT firm. The opposition has
accused Thaksin of using his trips to these countries for the benefit of Shin
Satellite but the company has consistently denied such a conflict of
interest.
A company statement said Shin Satellite and Bagan Cybertech will jointly
set up infrastructure for the project, while Bagan Cybertech will be responsible
for its operation and maintenance.
It said 5,000 satellite signal receiving stations would be set up
throughout Burma, most of them to serve 3,000 villages that have no
communication services.
The project is being carried out in conjunction with the government's
Myanmar Post and Telecom.
Dr Ye Naing Wynn, CEO of Bagan Cybertech, was quoted as saying that his
company plans to install the service in 500 villages in the first year.
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