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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- November 01, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reuters - Asian leaders meet in
Cambodia
Reuters - India looks to ASEAN to
boost trade and investment
Reuters - Thailand to investigate
Myanmar embassy letter bombs
AFP - Koizumi to attend ASEAN plus
Three in Cambodia
AFP - Thai government casts doubt
over origin of Myanmar letter bombs
AFP - ASEAN and China reach agreement
on South China Seas
AP - Chinese premier arrives in
Cambodian for regional meetings
Channel NewsAsia - Envelope with
explosive device work of terrorist groups opposed to Myanmar
MSNBC - Asia leverage with N. Korea
limited
ST - Doctor's heart work in Myanmar
pays off
Bkk Post - Information swaps to help
in drugs fight
Bkk Post - Statues to face off at
border
The Nation - BURMA BOMBS: Parcels did
not come from Thailand - FM
Xinhuanet - Myanmar stresses
importance of UN to international peace
Asia Times - French oil giant
accused of Myanmar abuses
Asia Tribune - Dr.
Cynthia Maung Received 2002 Magsaysay Award
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday November 1, 6:36 PM
Asian leaders meet in Cambodia Reuters - Heads of government from 14 Asian countries including China, Japan, India and South Korea meet in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh over the next four days to discuss security and trade in the wake of the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali. The leaders of the 10 Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will hold their annual summit on Monday, November 4. They will be joined at different times over the following two days by their northeast Asian counterparts and also by South African President Thabo Mbeki. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday November 1, 7:32 PM
India looks to ASEAN to boost trade and investment By Surojit Gupta NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Eager to keep up with neighbouring rival China, India is turning its attention to Southeast Asia in a bid to carve out new markets and political influence. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will lead a high-powered delegation for an inaugural meeting with the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who hold their annual summit in Phnom Penh on Monday. With China due to sign an agreement in the Cambodian capital to start talks to create a free-trade zone with ASEAN within a decade, Vajpayee's goal is to revive centuries-old trade links with Southeast Asia that have withered over the years. "The opportunities are immense. We see tremendous business, trade and investment in the next three years and the main driver would be knowledge-based industries," Amit Mitra, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), told Reuters. Two-way trade between India and ASEAN countries is less than $10 billion, but a report by consultants McKinsey and FICCI said it could reach $24 billion-$30 billion by 2007. ASEAN groups Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Mitra identified biotechnology, entertainment, information technology, health diagnostics, construction as well as oil and gas as areas of potential growth in what would be a geographically contiguous market of more than 1.5 billion people. "This provides a compelling rationale for strengthening business relationships between India and ASEAN," the report said. And with economic strength comes political clout. China has grown much faster than India during the past two decades of market-opening reforms, earning it regional stature that has not gone unnoticed in New Delhi. "If you do your economic homework well, political benefits will follow. China is not a democracy but because of its immense economic progress, it is able to extract greater political mileage," said Saumitra Chaudhuri, an economic adviser with ICRA Ltd, an Indian credit rating agency. SHACKLED GIANT India is especially keen to reach out to ASEAN because economic cooperation with its immediate neighbours grouped in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has failed to take off because of political rivalries. "India is trying to create a scenario whereby it wants to get out of the South Asian morass and shed its inward-looking trade and foreign policies," said Sujit Dutta of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi. "The whole process would help India immensely in terms of trade, strategic interests, expansion and protection of India's interests in the Southeast Asian region," he said. The interest in closer integration is likely to find an echo at the Phnom Penh summit. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's senior minister of state for trade and industry, said rebuilding old India-ASEAN trade links that had withered over the years was a strategic opportunity for the 10-member bloc. "If you look at Asia, the missing link is India-ASEAN," Tharman told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper recently. Expanding trade with ASEAN would provide a welcome shot in the arm for India; the central bank this week cut its forecast for growth in the year to March 2003 by a full percentage point, to 5.0-5.5 percent, because of a devastating drought. Although that still leaves India as one of Asia's most vigorous economies, growth needs to be much faster to reduce poverty and create jobs for a rapidly expanding population. The key to stronger growth, analysts say, is to step up the pace of market-opening reforms that began in 1991 but have since run into fierce political and trade union opposition. They say the government must press ahead with privatisation and deregulation, reform archaic labour laws and -- crucial in the context of ambitions for more trade with ASEAN -- reduce tariff barriers that are still among the highest in the world. "If we want to truly get into the globalisation bus we must first try and get into the shuttle as ASEAN is emerging as a key link to major economies such as the United States, China and Japan," said Chaudhuri, the credit rating agency adviser. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand to investigate
Myanmar embassy letter bombs
BANGKOK, Nov. 1 (Reuters)? Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday ordered an investigation into letter-bombs sent to Myanmar embassies in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore in the past week that Yangon blames on political exiles. Myanmar's embassy in Singapore called in the city state's bomb squad on Wednesday to destroy a letter containing a small detonator that was posted from Thailand. Similar letters turned up in the post at Myanmar's diplomatic missions in Japan and Malaysia, prompting Myanmar authorities to blame what they called dissident terrorist groups of exiles living outside the military-ruled state. Thaksin said he told Thai diplomats in the three countries to gather evidence for a report to be handed to Myanmar. ''Myanmar wants us to take action on the incidents...which they think were committed by anti-government activists in Thailand,'' Thaksin told reporters. Four decades of military rule in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have created a large population of Myanmar political exiles in neighbouring Thailand, many of whom are hostile to Yangon's ruling generals. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Koizumi to attend ASEAN plus
Three in Cambodia
TOKYO, Nov 1 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Cambodia to attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, China, South Korea, the Japanese government said Friday. Koizumi will visit Cambodia from Sunday through Tuesday. He will attend the ASEAN summit and a separate meeting of the leaders of Japan, South Korea and China, the foreign ministry said. Koizumi will also hold talks with Myanmar's Prime Minister Than Shwe and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen while visiting Cambodia, the foreign ministry said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai government casts doubt
over origin of Myanmar letter bombs
BANGKOK, Nov 1 (AFP) - Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on Friday cast doubts over the origin of letter bombs which the Myanmar government said were sent from Thailand to three of its embassies this week. Surakiart said Thai military diplomats and embassy officials in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore would seek permission to inspect the packages. "We have questioned whether the letters were sent from Thailand," he told reporters. "If necessary, experts from the Communications Authority of Thailand will be dispatched to verify the postmarks on the letters, we are not sure whether the postmarks are authentic or fake," he said. Surakiart added that the letters should also be throughly examined by Thai post office officials as well as their counterparts in the countries which received them. Myanmar's junta said Thursday that the letter bombs received at the embassies in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from October 28 to 30 had prompted a security upgrade at home and abroad. "We can deduce that this is the work of a dissident group residing in our neighbouring country as all the letters had Bangkok post-marks," junta spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nyan Lin told reporters. The devices were defused without causing any casualties, he said, adding that they were marked with 8/8/88 -- the date when widespread anti-government unrest broke out in Myanmar, eventually leading to a military takeover. Surakiart said he had already responded to enquiries from Myanmar over the affair, explaining that Thailand would not tolerate any dissident group using its territory to stage actions against neighbouring countries. He vowed to prosecute anyone found implicated in the letter bomb campaign, but said an investigation had so far failed to identify the culprits. "But for the time being we cannot jump to the conclusion that the action was taken in Thailand," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ASEAN and China reach
agreement on South China Seas
PHNOM PENH, Nov 1 (AFP) - The 10 members of ASEAN and China have made a major political breakthrough to prevent an escalation of tensions in the disputed South China Seas, officials said Saturday. Chem Widhya, spokesman for the Cambodian foreign ministry, said all members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China had reached a draft agreement on conduct in the region after marathon meetings. "The text stipulates the countries of ASEAN and China restrain from any activities that would escalate or that would complicate the relations among themselves... and also to help any person in distress," he said. Chem Widhya had chaired marathon meetings aimed at resolving long-running disputes in the area and this had resulted in the declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Seas. He said four disputing ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam -- had reached an agreement on the common text on October 11. The remaining six ASEAN members -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand-- approved the text on October 31. China gave its agreement on November 1. Beijing's approval was signalled as Chinese Prime Minter Zhu Rongji arrived here for next week's annual ASEAN summit which will draw leaders from 15 countries. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese premier arrives in
Cambodian for regional meetings
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji arrived Friday in the Cambodian capital as the first among a host of international leaders attending the biggest, most prestigious regional meetings this small, impoverished country has held since the 1960s. Cambodia is hosting the first summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion next week, and the annual summit of ASEAN, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and delegates from China, Japan, South Korea and India. Zhu will attend those meetings and preside over the signing of agreements to provide US$12.5 million in grants and interest-free loans to Cambodia. Zhu's is the third visit by a top Chinese official after President Jiang Zemin came in 2000 and Li Peng, the head of China's legislature, in 2001. The aid is seen by some as China's latest attempt to deepen its influence over Cambodia, with which it has been deeply involved over the last three decades. The Greater Mekong Subregion _ which comprises China's Yunnan province, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam _ seeks to promote development through infrastructure links and cross-border trade. As a growing economic powerhouse in Asia, China is expected to have a large presence during the ASEAN meeting. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. China, India, and other countries are invited for consultations. ASEAN officials will sign a framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation with China after meeting with Zhu on Monday. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Channel
NewsAsia
Friday November 1, 10:17 PM
Envelope with explosive device work of terrorist groups opposed to Myanmar The Myanmar Embassy in Singapore says the suspicious looking envelope it received on Wednesday, was the work of terrorist groups based in Thailand which are opposed to the Myanmar government. In a statement, the Embassy says it strongly condemns the act. The Embassy called the police after receiving a suspicious looking envelope with Thai stamps. It was later destroyed by the SAF's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Investigations showed the letter contained a low-grade detonator, but there were no explosives. Myanmar embassies in Japan and Malaysia have recently also received similar letters. Meanwhile, SingPost says it is operating at a higher state of alert. But for security reasons, it is unable to reveal the steps it has taken. It says guidelines have been issued to employees on how to handle suspicious mail, following the Myanmar Embassy incident. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia leverage with N. Korea
limited
U.S. allies are unlikely to win concessions from Pyongyang on nuclear weapons By Kari Huus - MSNBC Oct. 29 ? This week, under pressure from the United States, 21 Asian countries made a rare show of unity, calling for an end to North Korea?s reported nuclear arms development. Japan said the nuclear revelations jeopardize talks on normalizing relations. China pledged to help seek a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula. But on Tuesday, North Korea gave its response to the chorus of demands to give up its nuclear weapons program: no. Pyongyang?s defiance reflects how little influence North Korea?s neighbors can exert ? or are actually willing to exert ? on the isolated communist regime. THE WHITE HOUSE says North Korea has admitted to a program of uranium enrichment ? or at least did not deny such a program when presented damning new evidence by a U.S. State Department official. Such a program would violate the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which North Korea receives power and economic assistance in return for shelving its own nuclear program. Pyongyang has made clear it wants to negotiate with the United States on the issue. But the Bush administration says the issue is non-negotiable. And it wants its Asian allies to send the same message ? showing that all parties are ?marching in lockstep? with Washington on the issue, as one senior U.S. official put it. ?What the U.S. doesn?t want is to get into open-ended and unsatisfactory negotiations with North Korea,? says Jonathan Pollack, chairman of strategic research at the U.S. Naval War College. ?The idea is to convey that they don?t have many options out there,? Pollack says. Regional leaders certainly aren?t pleased by the nuclear revelation. In a statement at the annual meeting of APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) in Mexico over the weekend, leaders called on North Korea to ?visibly honor its commitment to give up nuclear weapons programs.? But the statement did not go as far as the United States had hoped it would, stopping short of condemning North Korea for trying to build a nuclear bomb. And even the countries most able to influence the regime are resisting the hard line of the Bush administration, in part because they don?t see it working. ?The problem with North Koreans is that they are willing to take a lot of pain in order to make their point,? said Clark Sorenson, a Korean studies professor at the University of Washington. ?They?re afraid that if they give up the program, the U.S. will ignore them altogether. This is their ace.? JAPAN?S STALLED TALKS Among the most persuasive neighbors should have been Japan, which was engaged in the start of talks to normalize relations with North Korea when the reports of North Korea?s nuclear program emerged from Washington. After wavering on how tough a line to take with North Korea, Japan opted to continue talks, including discussion of the nuclear issue, following its strategy of engagement rather than isolation. But while Pyongyang desperately needs the billions in economic aid that Japan could bring to the table, meetings with Japanese officials in Malaysia went badly. A Japanese delegation official said the North ?completely denied? calls for the country to give up its nuclear weapons program. Instead, the North Korean negotiators repeated a demand for a non-aggression pact with Washington as a condition for abandoning its nuclear weapons program, but it did not accept abandoning the weapons as a precondition for normalization with Japan. ?Our thinking is that... security issues will be solved along the way,? said Pak Ryoong Yeon, one of the delegation?s top officials. SUNSHINE POLICY CONTINUES The Korean War ended in the division of South and North across the 38th parallel. Thousands of North Koreans face off with U.S. and South Korean troops across this line, with the two sides technically still at war. Still, South Korea is least likely of the parties to lean heavily on Pyongyang. Under the ?sunshine policy? of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Pyongyang and Seoul have made unprecedented progress, establishing nascent commercial links, permitting meetings between estranged family members, transfer of aid and the start of construction of rail links. Despite protest in Seoul following the nuclear news, and frustration that the North takes more than it gives, analysts say South Korea is unlikely to depart radically from its current policy of engagement. For one thing, the South has a huge stake in continuing to build ties and encouraging economic change to help ensure that the North does not collapse. Analysts say the cost, in relative terms, for South Korea to absorb a failed North Korean state would be far greater than that faced by West Germany when the wall came down between it and East Germany. Not only that, but South Koreans see the nuclear concern as a U.S. concern, says Sorenson. ?Most (South Koreans) don?t believe nuclear weapons would ever be used against other Koreans,? Sorenson says. South Korea was set to continue working-level talks with North Korea Wednesday and has said other South-North exchanges would proceed as scheduled despite the nuclear dispute. DILEMMA FOR AN OLD COMRADE Despite a mild public response to the news of North Korea?s nuclear program, China is reportedly mortified by the prospect of a nuclear North Korea. While Beijing does not see itself as a target, it does fear that the program could provoke others into undesirable action in the region ? giving Japan an excuse to arm itself with nuclear weapons, for instance, or giving the United States further justification for its regional missile shield, which China staunchly opposes. Beijing certainly does not want to be drawn into a conflict on the side of Pyongyang by virtue of an old mutual defense treaty that remains on the books with North Korea. China has a record of helping behind the scenes in negotiations with North Korea. Asia experts say Beijing helped negotiate the 1994 Agreed Framework, for instance. China has also tried to nudge impoverished North Korea to reform its rigid state-run economy. So in meetings with President Bush last week at the Bush ranch, President Jiang Zemin pledged to help in the quest for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. But Beijing no longer has the pull it once did with its long-time communist ally. The close relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang, dating to the 1950s when China fought with North Korea against the United States and South Korea, has given way to commercial concerns. China established diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992, making way for billions of dollars in trade and investment. The death of the elder North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in 1994 and rise of his son Kim Jong Il further limited Chinese influence. The younger Kim cut some of his father?s Chinese-leaning advisers and veered toward Russia, Korea watchers say. As a major food and humanitarian aid donor to North Korea, China could threaten to cut supplies. But Beijing is unlikely to follow through, because that would only push North Korea closer to the brink of collapse ? which is the least desirable outcome for China. Not only would it likely send a flood of North Korean refugees across its border, but it could put U.S. forces ? which now remain poised south of the 38th parallel ? right on its border. Even post-communist Russia has its reasons not to be too hard on North Korea. Moscow is close to a deal to construct links between its trans-Siberian railway and the trans-Korean railway that North and South are building. The resulting transcontinental rail would significantly reduce obstacles to South Korean-European goods, which now travel by ship. Russia?s Tass News agency reported on Tuesday that Railways Minister Gennady Fadeyev was in Pyongyang discussing the plan. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Straits Times -
NOV 1, 2002 FRI
Doctor's heart work in Myanmar pays off Having spent 12 years training his counterparts in Myanmar, cardiologist here thinks they can now fly on their own By Liang Hwee Ting YESTERDAY'S trip to Myanmar may be the last one Dr Leslie Lam takes to one of the world's poorest countries to do heart work. For the last 12 years, the veteran cardiologist has been leading a team of specialists to Myanmar, where they spend a week training doctors there in the latest surgical treatments for heart diseases. Said Dr Lam, whose clinic here is at Mount Elizabeth Hospital: 'We've seen vast improvements in the way heart surgery is carried out there. The doctors there can now do complicated procedures like heart bypasses.' On this trip, the team will evaluate the progress of their counterparts in Myanmar. 'We'll step aside if they've reached a level of competency that will serve them well in years to come. I believe they may be ready to take off on their own now,' said Dr Lam. The group of eight to 15 that he takes with him each time comprises top specialists, some of whom are from the public sector, but most are from Mount Elizabeth Hospital. Each time they go up, they spend their time at the Defence Services General Hospital on the outskirts of Yangon where, besides training doctors and hospital technicians, they also perform free operations. The hardest procedures, like the insertion of multiple stents, are reserved for them. 'There is more satisfaction in doing this kind of work than the success we have in our own clinics,' confessed Dr Lam, whose patients include the Sultan of Brunei and the entire government of Seychelles. He cannot get over the abject poverty he has seen in Myanmar. 'Do you know that it takes their top cardiologist 47 years to earn what I do for one visit from the Sultan of Brunei?' Recalling his early days in Myanmar with a chuckle, the 60-year-old said that once, the electricity went off in the middle of an operation and the team had to crank up the heart-lung machine by hand. But those days are thankfully over, he said. Today, the surgeons in Myanmar work in well-equipped and brightly-lit operating rooms. Putting into practice what they have been taught, they now perform complex procedures, like clearing blocked arteries through a procedure called balloon angioplasty. The learning process has not been one-sided, said Dr Joseph Sheares, a regular on the team. ''Some of the cases there are severe ones that we don't see here. So we've learnt much from them as well,' he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Friday
01 November 2002
Information swaps to help in drugs fight PM to present aerial maps of opium fields The government will forge closer cooperation with Burma in fighting drugs through information exchanges, said government spokesman Sitha Thiwaree yesterday. The Nov 2-5 Asean summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, would in general touch on cooperation against illicit drugs and terrorism, he said. Bilateral talks with Burma would focus on drugs eradication. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would present to his counterpart aerial maps of areas in Burma where opium was still being cultivated, so Rangoon could take measures to suppress opium cultivation. Sqn-Ldr Sitha said Mr Thaksin would suggest to the summit that the role of the Asean secretariat be expanded to represent the region in attracting foreign investment. In the past, Mr Thaksin noted, cooperation within the grouping in terms of solidifying the region's investment potential had been disappointing. This explained the limited interest expressed by foreign investors towards the region. Sqn-Ldr Sitha said Asean would also work to tighten cooperation in a wide range of aspects by materialising the Free Trade Area between Asean and China, Japan, and South Korea. The framework would better reciprocate economic interest and increase trade volumes at least two-fold. The prime minister would also draw the summit's attention to the proposed establishment of the Asia Bond to help prop up small and medium-sized enterprises. The spokesman added Mr Thaksin would head a delegation to the first Greater Mekong Sub-Region Summit, also to be held in the Cambodian capital. The GMS meeting would precede the Asean summit and memorandums of understanding on trans-border freight transport and on electricity supply networks between member countries would be signed. The GMS groups Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Friday
01 November 2002
Statues to face off at border King Naresuan image to sit in disputed area Wassana Nanuam Deputy army chief Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong yesterday laid the foundation stone for a statue of King Naresuan the Great, to be built on the border with Burma, without waiting for permission from the Fine Arts Department. The site is in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district about four kilometres from Kuteng Nayong, a border area claimed by both Thailand and Burma. King Naresuan, who regained independence from Burma for the Ayudhya kingdom, is highly revered by the military. The 40-million-baht statue project is the brainchild of Gen Wattanachai, who has been pushing for its construction since he was the Third Army commander. The project has been stalled for two years while the Fine Arts Department designed the statue, enabling it to be registered as a national heritage. Gen Wattanachai's proposed design depicts King Naresuan brandishing a sword on horseback. The department, fearing the design would provoke the Burmese, alerted the Foreign Affairs Ministry which urged Gen Wattanachai to change the design. The ministry proposed a new design depicting King Naresuan on horseback with his sword hand placed on his hip. The ministry also wanted the site to be moved away from the border to prevent the statue of King Naresuan directly facing the statue of Burma's highly revered King Bayinnaung erected in Burma's Tachilek town opposite Mae Sai. Gen Wattanachai refused to change the design, and the Fine Arts Department has held back from granting its permission. A source said Gen Wattanachai wanted the statue to be completed before his mandatory retirement next year. He did not care whether the statue would be certified by the department, the source said. No reaction from the government was immediately to hand. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
BURMA BOMBS: Parcels did not come from Thailand - FM Published on Nov 2, 2002 Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai yesterday voiced doubts about the origin of parcel bombs the Burmese government claims were sent from Thailand, as Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra downplayed what appeared to be the start of a new round of tensions with Burma. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Surakiart said he had instructed Thai embassy officials to inspect the packages' postmarks to determine whether they originated in Thailand. "We have questioned whether the letters were sent from Thailand," Surakiart said. The premier yesterday ordered an investigation into the matter. On Thursday Burma claimed its embassies in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore had received parcel bombs sent from Thailand. "We can deduce that this is the work of a dissident group residing in our neighbouring country as all the letters had Bangkok postmarks," junta spokesman Lt-Colonel Nyan Lin told reporters. The devices were defused without injuries, he said, adding that they were marked "8/8/88" - the date on which widespread anti-government unrest broke out in Burma, leading to a military takeover. Burma on Thursday summoned Thailand's Rangoon ambassador to express its concern about the incident. Thaksin meanwhile was quick to downplay the parcel bombs, saying Thai-Burmese relations were unaffected by the incident. Despite a recent calm, tensions with Burma have been high in recent months, following a series of border clashes earlier in the year. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar stresses importance of UN to
international peace
Xinhuanet 2002-11-01
00:40:23
YANGON, Nov. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar leader Khin Nyunt on Friday stressed the fundamental importance of the United Nations to the preservation of international peace and security and to the promotion of economy and social development of mankind. Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council, made the remarks at the opening ceremony here of the UN Poster Exhibition. He recalled that Myanmar became the 58th UN member on April 19, 1948, just more than three months after regaining independence, saying that it is a reflection of Myanmar's belief in the noble principles of the UN Charter. He noted that Myanmar has actively participated in the UN system since joining the organization and stands among the foremost members that have contributed peacekeepers to the UN peacekeeping forces. He cited Myanmar's membership of the Disarmament Commission since its inception, in which it served as chairman of the First Committee at the 55th UN General Assembly Session in 2000, and membership of the Governing Council of the UN Environment Program since January 2002. Moreover, he added, Myanmar has also been elected to serve in the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board beginning in January 2003. He also recalled that Myanmar citizens have also served in various important positions of the United Nations, citing prominent figures among them such as U Thant, the third UN Secretary-General who served from 1961 to 1971, and U Tun Myat, assistant secretary-general who is serving as UN security coordinator. He added that there exists today wide-ranging cooperation between Myanmar and the United Nations including human development initiative, health, education and anti-narcotic and crop substitution programs. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Times - Nov 2,
2002
French oil giant accused of Myanmar abuses By Julio Godoy PARIS - The French oil company TotalFinaElf and its predecessors are once again under fire for allegedly unethical behavior in other lands, including human-rights abuses in Myanmar. TotalFinaElf is undergoing its third judicial inquiry in less than two years. Prosecutors have presented a sad litany of charges of bribery and abuse ranging from Southeast Asia to Africa, not to mention France itself. TotalFina, the enterprise that took over state-owned Elf Aquitaine in 1999 to become TotalFinaElf, faces charges over operations in Myanmar. It stands accused of ordering the kidnapping of local workers to force them to build a gas pipeline. Prosecutors say that TotalFina made payments to the Myanmese army in 1995 to secure labor for construction of the pipeline. Their case is based on allegations of two former workers at the pipeline who fled Myanmar and now live in an unspecified Southeast Asian country. The prosecution's case also includes testimonies of deserting soldiers who confirm the workers' allegations. The prosecution has pointed out that the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Commission have repeatedly condemned working conditions in Myanmar, and the abuses committed by the military government. The pipeline, which is now in operation, is considered the most important investment made by foreign enterprises in Myanmar. TotalFinaElf operates the pipeline with the US oil company Unocal and two other Southeast Asian enterprises. The pipeline, some 700 kilometers long, links gas fields in the Andaman Sea with a Thai power station. TotalFina had charge of construction of 400km of the pipeline in Myanmese territory. William Bordon, legal counselor for the two former workers, says the French company paid off the army to guarantee a supply of labor for the construction. Bordon is backing his case with recent litigation in a US court in which Unocal managers admitted that kidnappings and forced labor were used systematically in gas fields and construction camps in Myanmar. Last week a US federal court of appeals ruled that the workers from Myanmar had "amply proved Unocal's complicity in the violations of human rights" and that the company could now be sued. TotalFinaElf rejects the accusations. Director of communication Michel Hourcard says the company "respects a code of behavior and has always acted transparently". But Hourcard also condemned economic boycotts of dictatorial regimes. He said such measures "leave the local populations alone [in face of the dictatorships] and block all opening derived from economic development". TotalFina had been accused in 1998 of working with the Myanmese junta in construction of the pipeline. The chief executive officer then, Thierry Desmarest, admitted before a parliamentary commission in Paris that TotalFina had engaged the Myanmese army to "protect the construction" of the pipeline. But Desmarest denied that the company was involved in forcing people to work on the project. The new allegations against the company recall that the military units working on the construction were called "battalions Total". The prosecution says local villagers were rounded up in night raids and forced to work on the pipeline. The judicial inquiry in Paris has also heard that Elf Aquitaine channeled some US$190 million in 1995 to General Sani Abacha, who was then dictator of Nigeria. The money was paid to secure drilling rights, according to evidence produced by French prosecutors. Philippe Jaffre, who was then chief executive officer of Elf Aquitaine, confirmed the payments during questioning by prosecutor Renaud Van Ruymbeke this week. Jaffre also admitted during questioning that Elf Aquitaine paid illegal commissions to the president of Gabon, Omar Bongo, and the president of Togo, Gnassingbe Eyadema, that year for pleading Elf's case before Abacha. The Nigerian dictator died in 1999. Jaffre accepted responsibility for the payments. "The Nigerian oilfields were extraordinarily profitable," he said. "The payment of illegal commissions seemed obvious, because there was no other way to reach a friendly agreement." Jaffre argued that "there are countries where people make no difference between private and public money". He went on to name great French personalities of the past who had "amassed fortunes for themselves and for their families and friends, and at the same time served France". Jaffre said, however, that "some intermediaries apparently received more money than foreseen". These have been named by prosecutors as Gilbert Chagoury and Ely Calil, two Nigerian businessmen close to Abacha, and a Lebanese intermediary, Samir Traboulsi. The middlemen are said to have taken $70 million between them. All three have been charged with abuse of public property and influence-peddling. No charges have been brought against Bongo and Eyadema. Bongo has visited Paris often this year. Jaffre and Elf Aquitaine also stand accused of paying for weapons used in the civil war in Congo-Brazzaville (also known as the Congo Republic) in 1997 in which more than 10,000 people were killed and more than a million forced to leave the country. Officials from the Congo Republic have testified that Elf Aquitaine paid for weapons for the troops of former president Pascal Lissouba. The new leader, General Denis Sassou Nguesso, and arms dealer Jacques Monsieur revealed the deals after Lissouba lost the war and was forced to seek exile in London. Elf Aquitaine has denied any involvement in the war. "Whatever the French foreign policy towards Africa was, Elf Aquitaine was only concerned with oil," said Jacques de Naurois, director for institutional relations for TotalFinaElf. "For the rest, we leave historians to explain and resolve the mysteries of ancient history." When asked whether Elf had been involved in arms deals, he said "No". The judicial inquiry into payments made by Elf Aquitaine began in 1994, and is scheduled to be completed next spring. Forty-two former officials of the enterprise have faced investigation. Some have already been convicted and given prison sentences. Elf Aquitaine stands accused of paying illegal commissions to middlemen and to foreign and French officials in several other countries from Venezuela to Germany. TotalFinaElf is also being held responsible by prosecutors for an explosion at an industrial site near the southern French city of Toulouse a year ago. The explosion on September 21 last year killed 31 people and wounded more than 3,000. The explosion destroyed neighborhoods around the site, and left tens of thousands homeless. TotalFinaElf is accused of negligence in storing dangerous chemicals at the site. The company was also sued over the sinking of the tanker Erika near the French Atlantic coast in December 1999. The ship, carrying 120,000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals belonging to TotalFinaElf, broke in two. The chemicals that leaked from the ship polluted more than 500km of the French coast. A report on the accident presented by the inquiry commission this week accuses TotalFinaElf of negligence in the so-called "vetting", a system of internal control in ships transporting chemical substances. Lucien Bekourian, an expert with the commission said the quality of TotalFinaElf's vetting was "clearly behind similar control processes in other companies". Bekourian said TotalFinaElf used the Erika despite warnings about the quality of the ship. TotalFinaElf argued that there are no international standards on vetting. (Inter Press Service) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Asia Tribune
Date : 2002-11-01 Dr. Cynthia Maung Received 2002 Magsaysay Award Bangkok, October 31 -The Magsaysay Award Foundation held the Ceremonial Conferment of 2002 Award for Community Leadership to Dr. Cynthia Maung on October 28, 2002 at Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. At the ceremony, Carmencita T. Abella, president of Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation made welcome remarks and then read the citation. Dr. Gelia T. Castillo, vice-chairperson of Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation conferred the award to Dr. Cynthia Maung. And Dr. Cynthia Maung addressed the response speech. In response speech, Dr. Cynthia said, " We all come from different parts of the world, but I'm sure that we all have the same concerns about the global refugee crisis." Dr. Cynthia said, " In our country, over one million people are displaced internally and approximately two million people are displaced into neighbouring countries. For over 40 years, the military regime has controlled Burma. This has left the country isolated and very divided with civil society almost totally disrupted. Children are born everyday without birth registration. Children and young people continue to drop out of school. They are vulnerable to being forced into military activities such as child soldiers and porter as well as trafficking and prostitution. All of these problems affect the psychological well being of the whole nation." " This award recognizes the courage and dignity of the people who are working towards freedom and peace for Burma. Thank you very much for supporting our struggle and for helping us to build a new partnership with all of you." said Dr. Cynthia Maung. Former Prime Minister of Thailand and 1997 Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service, Anand Panyarachun made the closing remarks on behalf of the Magsaysay Awardees. At the ceremony, six Bangkok-based awardees as follows attended: 1. Sen. Prateep Unsongtham-Hata, who works in Klong Toey slum; 2. Dr. Prawase Wase, a medical doctor at the Sirisaj Hospital of the Mahidol University; 3. Dr. Aree Valyasevi, a medical doctor at the Thailand Health Research Institute; 4. Sen. Thongbai Thongpao, a human rights lawyer; 5. Sen. Sophon Sophapong, formerly with the Bangchak Petroleum; 6. Anand Panyarachun, former Thai Prime Minister. Dr. Cynthia Maung is a Karen doctor and has been treating the thousands of Burmese-refugees for fourteen years in Mae Sot (of Thailand), a sanctuary for Burmese refugees in flight from upheaval and civil war at home. Born to a Karen family in Moulmein in 1959, Cynthia Maung studied medicine at the University of Rangoon. She was practicing in a Karen village near her hometown when, in 1988, Burma's military junta launched its bloody crackdown against democracy advocates. Packing a few clothes and a medical reference book, she fled with some students to Mae Sot, Thailand, where she joined other exiles. Trauma and illness were rampant among the refugees. In a dilapidated building with bare dirt floors, Dr. Cynthia went to work.. Her makeshift clinic had hardly any supplies at all. She improvised by sterilizing a few precious instruments in a kitchen rice cooker and by soliciting medicines and food from Catholic relief workers and nearby refugee camps. As she and her companions lived from hand to mouth and shared in all the work, Dr. Cynthia treated the local scourges of malaria, respiratory disease, and diarrhea as well as shrapnel and gunshot wounds and injuries from land mines. To keep up, she trained health workers to assist in the clinic and to serve as "backpack medics" across the border. By 1996, she was supporting six thatch-and-tin clinics in the Karen-controlled war zone. Here her medics treated common illnesses, set broken bones, and performed simple frontline surgery. They also trained midwives, installed sanitary toilets, and brought lessons of hygiene, nutrition, and reproductive health to villagers-all this until the Burmese Army, uprooting thousands and raising the flood of refugees to Thailand, overran the villages . Dr. Cynthia expanded her clinic to meet the need. She attracted volunteer doctors, nurses, and medical interns from abroad and tirelessly solicited help from relief agencies and NGOs. They responded and, year-by-year, the clinic grew. Today, staffed by five doctors and dozens of health workers and trainees, Dr. Cynthia's clinic provides free comprehensive health services to thirty thousand people a year. Last year, 563 babies were born there and 700 patients received new eyeglasses. The clinic operates its own laboratory and prosthetics workshop and receives support from some international organizations. Meanwhile, sixty teams of Dr. Cynthia's backpack medics continue to assist displaced villagers across the border and to support two field clinics in the war zone. Life along the border is hard in many ways. At Dr. Cynthia's clinic, injuries from domestic violence are equal to injuries from war. This is why, aside from treating patients, she fosters women's organizations, youth programs, and other efforts to redress the corrosive social consequences of refugee life. Dr. Cynthia lives above her clinic in Mae Sot with her husband and two children. She dreams of going home to Burma. The World Health Organization has said that Burma's health care system is one of the worst in the world. Dr. Cynthia would like to change that. In Mae Sot, she says, "We have already started." In electing Cynthia Maung to receive the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the board of trustees recognizes her humane and fearless response to the urgent medical needs of thousands of refugees and displaced persons along the Thailand-Burma border. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |