AP
- Myanmar opposition says Iraq war caused by dictatorship
AP
- Asia's largest security group fears terrorist threat due to Iraq crisis
AP
- Thai police scale cliff face to find big heroin stash
Gulf News - Dhaka, Yangon sign deal
The
Seattle Times - Myanmar's campaign against women and children
Bkk
Post - Burma vows to cooperate
The
Star - Texchem setting up aquaculture products plant in Myanmar
The
Hoover's - GAIL INDIA (discovers natural gas reservoir in offshore block A-1 in
Myanmar)
Asian Tribune - UN Rights Expert To Exam Administration Of
Justice, Civil Liberties In Myanmar
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Myanmar opposition says Iraq war caused by dictatorship
Fri Mar 21, 6:36 AM ET
YANGON, Myanmar
(AP) - Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's party said Friday the war in Iraq (news - web sites) is the
result of its dictatorial leadership, but that conflict still might have been
avoided through peaceful means.
"The system of unrestrained
dictatorship has led to this war," the National League for Democracy said in a
statement.
However, there were questions whether "the issue could
have been resolved without going to war, had the world community taken necessary
measures beforehand," the party said.
Myanmar has been under
strict military rule since 1962. The current group of generals took power in
1988 and called elections in 1990. However, they refused to hand over power
after Suu Kyi's party won.
The NLD said "all nations should work
towards achieving harmony" in the wake of the U.S.-led attack, and that Iraqis
should be given humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation help after the war.
Myanmar's government has not released a statement about the
war.
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Asia's largest security group fears terrorist threat due
to Iraq crisis
Fri Mar 21, 1:39 AM ET
By SEAN YOONG, Associated Press Writer
KARAMBUNAI, Malaysia (AP)- Galvanized by the threat of a terrorist
backlash due to the war in Iraq, Southeast Asia joined the United States, Japan,
India and other nations Friday in debating ways to deter extremist attacks.
Canada warned that the al-Qaida terror network might exploit
international opposition toward the U.S.-led campaign to oust Saddam Hussein,
while a European Union counterterrorism official said Westerners across the
world were at risk.
"Let us be prepared for any eventuality," said
N. Parameswaran, deputy secretary general of Malaysia's foreign ministry, which
is hosting the two-day meeting of officials from the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and 13 other countries.
The conference,
called the ASEAN Regional Forum, is Asia's largest security group. It began
Friday as the U.S.-led assault on Iraq intensified.
Peter Bates,
deputy director of counterterrorism in Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs,
said anger toward the strikes on Iraq could be become "an opportunity by groups
like al-Qaida to justify their activities."
"We are concerned that
we will see an increase in terrorist activity," Bates told reporters. "The only
appropriate response ... is to develop a common standard of security worldwide.
Otherwise, we will lose victims" to terrorist attacks.
Dionyssios
Sourvanos, president of the European Union's working group for counterterrorism,
urged governments to protect Western targets from incidents such as the October
bombings that killed 202 people, including many foreign tourists, on Indonesia's
Bali island. The attacks were blamed on the al-Qaida linked Jemaah Islamiyah
militant group.
"We have to make sure that the proper measures are
taken when Westerners are involved in the area," said Sourvanos, who is from
Greece.
Robert Pollard, deputy chief of mission at the U.S.
Embassy in Malaysia, said 1,600 al-Qaida members and supporters have been
detained in 68 countries since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States,
but governments should continue to bolster exchange of intelligence and other
cooperation.
"If countries are not cooperating in
counterterrorism, it's possible there won't be sufficient information sharing
and other activities to make sure we keep these guys on the run," Pollard said.
The conference in Sabah state on Borneo island brings together
diplomats, army and police officers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia,
China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand,
the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and
Vietnam.
Four members of the security group ? Myanmar, Mongolia,
North Korea and Papua New Guinea ? sent no representatives to the meeting.
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Thai police scale cliff face to find big heroin
stash
Fri
Mar 21, 3:47 AM ET
BANGKOK, Thailand
(AP) _ Police in northern Thailand
scaled a mountainside and found a cache of 85 kilograms (187 pounds) of heroin
lodged high in a cliff face, officials said Friday.
The discovery
Thursday followed a three-month investigation into reports that a large amount
of heroin and other drugs had been smuggled to the area from neighboring
Myanmar, police Capt. Nopakhao Kokilavathin said.
Officers climbed
more than 1,000 meters (3,250 feet) to find the heroin in a cliff near Mae
Suriya village in Mae Hong Son province, 650 kilometers (400 miles) north of
Bangkok, he said.
The province is part of the infamous Golden
Triangle drug production region, where the frontiers of Thailand, Myanmar and
Laos meet.
``The heroin is believed to have been there for a
couple of months,'' Nopakhao said. Police suspect it was smuggled along with
more than 5 million methamphetamine stimulant tablets from the town of Lashio,
Myanmar.
On Wednesday, police confiscated 1.3 million tablets
believed to have been part of the same lot. That seizure led to the discover of
the heroin, he said, without elaborating.
The Thai government
launched a tough anti-drug campaign on Feb. 1. At least 1,500 deaths have been
linked to the drug trade since the blitz began, raising fears among human rights
groups that officers are carrying out summary executions. But police say most
victims were gunned down by drug gangs trying to silence informants.
Drug agencies estimate that more than 1 billion pills of the
stimulant methamphetamine are smuggled into Thailand each year, along with large
amounts of heroin, and that more than 3 million Thais are addicted to the speed
pills.
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Gulf News online
Dubai:Friday, March 21,
2003
Dhaka, Yangon sign deal
Dhaka |From Our Correspondent | 21-03-2003
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed another accord yesterday for
shipping arrangements to facilitate enhanced trade between the two countries, a
UNB report from Yangon said.
Foreign Minister Morshed Khan signed
the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on coastal shipping on behalf of
Bangladesh at a ceremony at the Yangon Trade Centre.
On the
Myanmar side, Transport Minister, Maj. General Hla Myint Swe, signed the MoU,
which is an outcome of Wednesday's official talks between the prime ministers of
the two countries.
Visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister, Khaleda
Zia, and Secretary of State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar, General
Khin Nyunt, were present at the signing ceremony.
Last Wednesday,
Dhaka and Yangon agreed to establish a direct road link between the two capitals
and also struck an agreement on Account Trade to boost bilateral economic
cooperation.
Khaleda suggested that the business communities
of both countries take the lead in exploiting the untapped trade and
investment potential in the two countries for the economic progress of the two
peoples.
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The Seattle Times
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 -
12:00 a.m. Pacific
Lynne Varner /
Times editorial columnist
Myanmar's campaign against women and
children
As we head into war with one member of
the Axis of Evil, allow me to divert attention briefly to another country that
could comfortably reside on that list: Myanmar ? formerly Burma.
Myanmar is ruled by a junta of thugs and cowards who have used
rape for at least the past six years to bring its ethnic areas under control.
In a well-documented report, "License to Rape," co-authored by two
Thailand-based human-rights groups (and corroborated by a State Department
investigation), at least 625 girls and women have been the victims of systematic
rape, torture and public execution. The victims included girls as young as 5.
Many of the women and children were held and raped continually over a four-month
period. One-fourth of the rapes ended in murder.
Men cannot
protect their wives, mothers and daughters because they often flee as the army
approaches or risk charges of collaboration with rebels or risk being forced
into the army.
Many of the women have joined an estimated 1
million who've been pushed out of Myanmar. The women end up in the refugee camps
that dot the Thai border, afraid, depressed and having left behind their
possessions and any hope for a future.
The government of Myanmar
calls the women's accounts of rape fabrications. The military has gone into
villages and forced people to sign petitions stating that the rapes did not
occur.
Indeed, few of us would know that living in Myanmar can be
hell on Earth if it were not for the two indigenous women who recently told the
stories in the halls of Congress, the United Nations and here in Seattle.
Few people in Myanmar are allowed to use the Internet. The
country's most well-known citizen, Aung San Suu Kyi ? opposition leader and
Nobel Peace Prize recipient ? is free after years of house arrest but barred
from using the Internet or publishing a newsletter. Her telephone service is
frequently cut off in mid-conversation.
If a pattern of evil is
needed to justify intervention from the U.S. and other nations, here's a country
that can provide it. The Myanmar junta has pressed millions into forced labor.
Women and girls are forced into Bangladesh, where they are openly sold as
concubines in public markets. The ruling military junta murdered thousands of
peaceful protesters who took part in pro-democracy demonstrations 14 years ago.
Despite elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition
party winning 82 percent of the parliamentary seats, the junta refuses to hand
over power.
Iraq needs democracy. So does Myanmar. A country the
size of Texas, it is rich in petroleum, timber and precious stones. But the
lunatics at its helm have turned the country into a major exporter of
methamphetamine and heroin. The Asian Development Bank's 2002 report estimates
that Myanmar's drug trade constitutes 20 percent of all business in the country.
Myanmar has gone from being a country with a high standard of
living in the 1930s and 1940s to one that the U.N. a decade or so ago called the
least-developed country on the face of the Earth.
Want an argument
about regional stability? Myanmar is a nest of instability snuggled between two
superpowers, India and China.
It deserves our attention as much as
Iraq, but thankfully this attention can come in the form of international
pressure rather than military intervention. The U.S. has banned new investment
in Myanmar. Congress should now bar imports. Legislation circulating through
Congress should find plenty of supporters.
Sanctions work.
Check out South Africa.
The Bush administration, and the
rest of the international community, should increase pressure. This can come in
the form of releasing all political prisoners, recognizing that more than 80
percent of the citizens voted for Suu Kyi and restoring democracy.
Neighboring Thailand should continue to offer shelter to those
fleeing Myanmar. It is a financial burden, yes, especially for a country that
has hosted refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. But it is a burden that
could be eased if Thailand were more welcoming of help from refugee agencies and
nongovernmental organizations.
Tourism is another weapon to use.
Tourists should consider how their money keeps a repressive regime in business.
If you're looking to walk along beautiful beaches and sample chicken curry, stay
home. But if you're prepared to open your eyes to the real Myanmar, the people
in chains, the children working on roads and the fear that is palpable most
everywhere, go. When you return home, tell everyone what you saw.
The disgust of the entire international community is the only way
to stop Myanmar from continuing its war on women and children.
Lynne K. Varner's column appears regularly on editorial pages of
The Times. Her e-mail address is lvarner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Bangkok Post - Friday 21 March
2003
Burma vows to cooperate
Supamart
Kasem
Thai and Burmese authorities have agreed to jointly
crack down on drug trafficking along the border.
The agreement was
reached during yesterday's meeting of the Border Liaison Officers (BLO) in Mae
Sot.
Burma's Pol Col Khin Maung said he was willing to cooperate in
suppressing drug trafficking gangs along the border.
Rangoon had a
clear policy on drug suppression, he said.
The BLO in Myawaddy
recently arrested two traffickers, seizing about one million speed
pills.
Meanwhile, a local police officer was seriously wounded and
a tribal drug-gang member killed in a gunfight in Tak's Wang Chao district early
yesterday.
Pol Cpl Bunlue Nojit, of Wang Chao police station,
suffered serious injuries in the exchange of fire with Puayee sae Song, 46, a
Hmong tribal drug suspect during a search at his house in a small
community.
Another policeman shot and killed Puayee sae Song as the
suspect was about to kill the wounded officer.
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The Star online
Friday, March 21,
2003
Texchem setting up aquaculture products plant in
Myanmar
TEXCHEM Resources Bhd is setting up a
manufacturing facility for surimi, fishmeal and other aquaculture products in
Myeik, Myanmar.
The facility is expected to begin commercial
production in the fourth quarter of the year, according to a statement from the
company yesterday.
?We believe the export market for our surimi
and fishmeal products will surpass US$25mil by 2006,'' Texchem president and
chief executive officer Datuk Seri Fumihiko Konishi said.
To
facilitate the setting up of the facility, A.S.K Andaman Ltd, a joint-venture
company between Texchem subsidiary Texchem Food Sdn Bhd and Myanmar's Mascot
Industries Co Ltd, signed a land lease agreement yesterday with the Myanmar
Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.
The facility will provide
about 800 jobs in the first year of operations and is expected to employ up to
1,300 workers upon reaching full capacity.
?During the first year
of operations, the manufacturing plant would require 40,000 tonnes of raw fish
per annum. The figure is expected to increase to 99,000 tonnes in five years,''
the statement said.
The surimi and fishmeal products mainly will
be exported to countries like Japan, Australia and those in Europe.
?The move to set up manufacturing facilities in Myanmar will
enable the group to tap the country's natural resources and obtain a reliable
supply of good quality and more cost-effective raw materials,'' the statement
said.
A.S.K Andaman has an authorised capital of US$20mil and a
paid-up capital of US$187,000. Texchem Food owns a 90% stake in the
joint-venture company, which has total capital and investment outlays of
US$4.824mil and US$6.238mil respectively.
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Hoover's online
KEY DEVELOPMENTS: GAIL INDIA (discovers
natural gas reservoir in offshore block A-1 in Myanmar)
March 20,
2003 11:40pm
Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has
discovered a natural gas reservoir in the offshore block A-1 in Myanmar. If this
reservoir reaches peak production, it is likely to produce 60 million cubic
metres of natural gas per day for a period of 20 years. This project is a joint
venture between OVL (ONGC Videsh Ltd), GAIL, Daewoo International (DI) and
Korean Gas Company (KOGAS). OVL and GAIL hold 50 percent stake in the project
while DI and KOGAS hold the rest of the stake. The joint venture grants GAIL the
right to market 90 percent of the natural gas produced from this block. GAIL
also plans to obtain the balance of 10 percent marketing share of KOGAS.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-21
UN
Rights Expert To Exam Administration Of Justice, Civil Liberties In
Myanmar
A United Nations human rights expert is
headed to Myanmar for a week-long follow up investigation into the Government's
efforts to ensure the genuine exercise of civil liberties and overall
developments in the administration of justice in the country.
Mbr> Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, will visit that country from 19 to 26 March to re-evaluate issues he
has examined during his previous missions, including the situation of political
prisoners, and the exercise of basic political freedoms.
The
Special Rapporteur will also discuss with authorities in Myanmar his proposal
for an independent assessment of allegations of human rights violations in ethic
minority areas, including in Shan State, under the auspices of his
mandate.
Mr. Pinheiro will present his preliminary observations
from the visit to the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights,
currently underway in Geneva.
- Europaworld: 21 March 2003
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