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BURMA RELATED NEWS - May 20, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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AP - UN Envoy To
Myanmar Admits Job Frustrating, May Quit '03
AP - U.N. envoy to
Myanmar admits to frustration, but says committed to it
AFP - Bangladesh,
Myanmar hold first border talks in 10 years
Reuters - Unocal
investors vote against sale, sole CEO role
BKK Post - Embassy
silent on death plot
BKK Post - Burma
pledges cooperation on anti-drug and economic issues
LA Times -
Stockholders Press Unocal on Myanmar
The Nation - New
bridge to link Mae Sai and Tachilek
The Nation - Burma
says yes to deal on repatriation
The Nation - UN
envoy to query PM on human rights
Business Standard -
Govt looks to Myanmar for natural gas
UN News centre - UN
labour agency, Myanmar reach accord to help victims of forced labour
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Tuesday May 20,
6:04 PM
UN Envoy To Myanmar Admits Job Frustrating, May Quit
'03
KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--The U.N. envoy credited with breaking the
decades-old deadlock between Myanmar's military rulers and pro-democracy
opposition said Tuesday it was a frustrating, lonely job and he will consider
quitting at the end of the year.
Until then, Razali Ismail said, he will
push hard to advance reconciliation between the junta and opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and encourage democratic reform in the country.
Razali, a
veteran Malaysia diplomat who was appointed U.N. special envoy in 2000, achieved
a breakthrough soon afterward by brokering talks between the junta and Suu Kyi's
opposition.
The talks were followed by Suu Kyi's release from 19 months
of home detention and the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners.
But analysts and opposition leaders say reconciliation has foundered in
recent times and accuse the ruling generals of not being serious about restoring
democracy.
Razali confirmed Tuesday he would visit Myanmar again June 6-10
and said he expects to hold talks separately with Suu Kyi and top Gen. Than
Shwe.
He admitted the process had sometimes been frustrating for him,
but said he was committed to it.
"I see no reason why it should be only
me that should be doing it," Razali told The Associated Press. "Someone else
could take over and continue doing it.
"But I am going to do my
damnedest to get this done in as quick a time as possible," he said.
He
declined to say if he would quit the job, saying "I will look at the matter by
the end of the year." He stressed that this was not meant as an ultimatum.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The current junta came to power in 1988, and has faced widespread international
criticism for ignoring democracy and human rights.
The military
government held elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly.
The regime has freed
some political prisoners since Suu Kyi's release more than a year ago, but more
than 1,200 others are believed to remain behind bars, according to human rights
groups.
Razali said he was confident reconciliation could still be
achieved in Myanmar, though "we have come up with some things, we've got to
formulate new ideas, new approaches."
Asked if he believed the junta was
still committed to reconciliation, Razali said: "The leaders are on record (as
being) fully committed to make the transition from authoritative government to
civilian, democratic and constitutional government. The United Nations continues
to believe that this is so."
He said the junta must be encouraged to
take up the "norms and principles" that govern other countries in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the 10-country regional trade grouping
Myanmar joined in 1997.
"Asean is moving in the direction of ... dealing
with people's participation more and more, free markets - the same thing must
happen to all Asean members," Razali said.
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Tuesday May 20, 5:15 PM
U.N. envoy to Myanmar admits to frustration, but says
committed to it
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ The U.N. envoy credited with breaking the
decades-old deadlock between Myanmar's military rulers and pro-democracy
opposition said Tuesday it was a frustrating, lonely job and he will consider
quitting at the end of the year.
Until then, Razali Ismail said, he will
push hard to advance reconciliation between the junta and opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and encourage democratic reform in the country.
Razali, a
veteran Malaysia diplomat who was appointed U.N. special envoy in 2000, achieved
a breakthrough soon afterward by brokering talks between the junta and Suu Kyi's
opposition.
The talks were followed by Suu Kyi's release from 19 months
of home detention and the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners.
But analysts and opposition leaders say reconciliation has foundered in
recent times and accuse the ruling generals of not being serious about restoring
democracy.
Razali confirmed Tuesday he would visit Myanmar again June
6-10 and said he expects to hold talks separately with Suu Kyi and top Gen. Than
Shwe.
He admitted the process had sometimes been frustrating for him,
but said he was committed to it.
``I see no reason why it should be only
me that should be doing it,'' Razali told The Associated Press. ``Someone else
could take over and continue doing it.
``But I am going to do my
damnedest to get this done in as quick a time as possible,'' he said.
He
declined to say if he would quit the job, saying ``I will look at the matter by
the end of the year.'' He stressed that this was not meant as an ultimatum.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The current junta came to power in 1988, and has faced widespread international
criticism for ignoring democracy and human rights.
The military
government held elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly.
The regime has freed
some political prisoners since Suu Kyi's release more than a year ago, but more
than 1,200 others are believed to remain behind bars, according to human rights
groups.
Razali said he was confident reconciliation could still be
achieved in Myanmar, though ``we have come up with some things, we've got to
formulate new ideas, new approaches.''
Asked if he believed the junta
was still committed to reconciliation, Razali said: ``The leaders are on record
(as being) fully committed to make the transition from authoritative government
to civilian, democratic and constitutional government. The United Nations
continues to believe that this is so.''
He said the junta must be
encouraged to take up the ``norms and principles'' that govern other countries
in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the 10-country regional trade
grouping Myanmar joined in 1997.
``ASEAN is moving in the direction of
... dealing with people's participation more and more, free markets _ the same
thing must happen to all ASEN members,'' Razali said.
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Bangladesh, Myanmar hold first border talks in 10 years
DHAKA, May 20 (AFP) - Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday opened
their first border talks in 10 years, officials said here.
The three-day
meeting in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka will mostly focus on the problems faced by
Bangladeshi fishermen in the Bay of Bengal and on cross-border smuggling, the
officials said.
The border talks, the first between the countries since
a round in Yangon in 1993, comes after a visit to Myanmar in March by
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and a trip here last year by Myanmar's
leader Senior General Than Shwe.
The visiting delegation is headed by U
Maung Htay, director general of Myanmar's immigration department, while the
12-member Bangladeshi team is headed by Major General Mohammad Jahangir Alam
Chowdhury, chief of the Bangladesh Rifles.
The Myanmar team is to tour
the northeastern tea-growing Sylhet district Wednesday.
Bangladesh and
Myanmar share about 300 kilometers (186 miles) of border, including around 100
kilometers (62 miles) in the Bay of Bengal.
The two countries engaged in
border standoffs in 1991 and 2001 and relations were strained in the early 1990s
when around 250,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims flooded into Bangladesh from
Myanmar, claiming atrocities by the Yangon junta.
Ties have improved
since then, with the repatriation of most of the refugees under a United Nations
agreement, but more than 20,000 still live in camps in Bangladesh.
Than
Shwe was the first leader of Myanmar's junta to visit Bangladesh since the 1988
coup in Yangon.
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Tuesday May 20, 6:13 AM
Unocal investors vote against
sale, sole CEO role
BREA, Calif., May 19 (Reuters) - Shareholders in oil giant Unocal Corp
overwhelmingly rejected outside proposals on Monday to split the roles of chief
executive and chairman and to hire an investment bank to sell the company.
The company also said it had no intention of withdrawing from Myanmar
despite legal challenges to its involvement with that country's military-ruled
government, which has been criticized for human rights abuses.
Unocal's
board had recommended against both of the failed shareholder resolutions. The
proposal that it effectively bar Chief Executive Charles Williamson from also
serving as chairman drew just over 10 percent of votes cast.
The
proposal that it hire an investment bank to prepare for a sale mustered about 4
percent of investor votes.
Meanwhile, protesters outside the shareholder
meeting, some bound in chains, urged the El Segundo, California-based company to
withdraw from a gas pipeline it operates in partnership with the government of
Myanmar.
About 150 shareholders attended the Unocal meeting, which was
held in a Unocal auditorium, while about 50 protesters, some of them Burmese,
demonstrated outside.
Unocal has been dogged by challenges to its
involvement in the the Yadana natural gas pipeline in Myanmar. Human rights
groups charge that the Myanmar military used forced labor in constructing the
pipeline that connects an offshore gas field to Thailand.
Unocal
executives defended the company's involvement in Myanmar, saying its investment
there in partnership with Thailand's PTT and France's Total has spurred
construction of roads and improved schools and hospitals.
"We have no
intention of leaving Burma (Myanmar) because we believe in what we're doing
there," Williamson told investors.
Although the United States prohibited
new investments in Burma in 1997, Unocal was exempted from any sanctions because
it had begun doing business there several years earlier.
"As long as
Unocal is in there providing legitimate money for the dictatorship, they are
supporting the dictatorship," said Bruce Clark, who represented the Paper
Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union.
The
union, while it does not represent Unocal workers, has been campaigning with its
parent organization, the AFL-CIO, for the company to review its Myanmar
investment in light of human rights concerns.
A federal appeals court
ruled in September that Unocal must stand trial in a lawsuit brought by
villagers allegedly subjected to forced labor, rape and murder during the
construction of the gas pipeline. Another lawsuit is pending in California state
court.
Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said the company was confident it
would be vindicated in court.
Shares in Unocal have lost about 24
percent over the past year and the company's earnings fell by almost half in
2002. But Unocal has forecast earnings that will more than double this year,
boosted in part by new oil production from a field in Indonesia.
"Nobody
at Unocal is happy about our performance in 2002," Williamson told investors.
Shareholders also approved the reappointment of four members of Unocal's
10-member board for a three-year term.
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Bangkok Post - Tuesday 20 May
2003
Embassy silent on death plot
Intelligence points to
Burma's Red Wa
Post reporters
The US embassy yesterday
declined to confirm or deny reports it had warned the government to boost
security for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra because his life was under
threat.
Reports said the US had informed the National Security Council
and the National Intelligence Agency, citing sources in Burma's Tachilek town
opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, that some overseas drug dealers were
planning to assassinate Mr Thaksin.
During the campaign against drugs
which ended on April 30, there were also reports that Wa drug producers had
hired hitmen for 80 million baht to kill Mr Thaksin.
An embassy spokesman
yesterday declined to say if the reports had grounds, only that as allies the US
and Thai governments exchanged intelligence information all the
time.
``We will tell the Thai government whenever we have evidence of a
threat against the Thai people or government leaders,'' he said.
Defence
Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya said authorities were keeping a close
watch on certain people named by US intelligence as having connections with the
assassination plot against Mr Thaksin.
``They want to hit us but we will
hit them first,'' Gen Thammarak said. ``We cannot afford not to listen to any
warning as the war on drugs had caused huge damage to drug mafias,'' Gen
Thammarak said.
Gen Thammarak dismissed rumours Phuket could be attacked
by terrorists, saying the island resort was safe.
Mr Thaksin said he was
aware of the reports and security agencies were coping well.
``Don't
worry. We have our plans. I won't talk much. Security staff are prepared. I work
for the national interest and my own interests come later.''
Pol Lt-Gen
Chalermdej Chompunuj, Narcotics Suppression Bureau commissioner, said the US
warning did not specify which group was a threat to Mr Thaksin, but intelligence
from Burma pointed to the Red Wa.
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Bangkok Post - Tuesday 20 May 2003
Burma pledges cooperation on anti-drug and economic issues
Agreement to build another bridge inked
Achara Ashayagachat Subin Kheunkaew - Chiang
Rai
A key Burmese general yesterday pledged full cooperation with
Thailand in drug suppression and economic cooperation, Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai said.
Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the Burmese
State Peace and Development Council, told Mr Surakiart after the ground-breaking
ceremony on a new bridge linking Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district with Tachilek
that Rangoon was committed to the anti-drug policy and would help Thailand if
the kingdom had intelligence information on drug trafficking.
Burmese
Foreign Minister Win Aung said political will remained strong for the two
countries, resulting in seizures of opium and methamphetamines in Burma. But he
insisted cooperation had to continue to stop chemical precursors coming into
Burma for drug production.
``Fighting against drugs requires intelligence
cooperation with the neighbouring countries and good detection equipment. That
is what we are doing now,'' Saman Polnok, chief of the Office of the Narcotics
Control Board's northern region said.
Mr Surakiart led a Thai delegation
in bilateral talks in Tachilek town before the signing of an agreement with his
Burmese counterpart to build a two-lane, 38 million baht bridge to boost trade
and tourism between the two countries and southern China.
It was due for
completion by December this year, according to Terdsak Sedthamanop,
director-general of the Highways Department.
Mr Surakiart was escorted by
Gen Khin Nyunt and Mr Win Aung on a helicopter tour of the Yong Kha village in
Shan state, where the Mae Fah Luang Foundation is aiding the Wa ethnic group
under the crop substitution programme.
The Burmese delegation also showed
off a similar self-initiated development programme in Hong village by ethnic
Burmese with a long-term plan to export lamyai, oranges and rice to
Thailand.
But Thai border traders in Chiang Rai yesterday called on the
government to urge Rangoon to lift sanctions on 24 products it has banned from
entering its markets.
The call was made in a letter handed to Mr
Surakiart after the ceremony.
Boontham Thipprasong, deputy president of
the provincial trade chamber, complained that even other Thai goods not included
in the list of banned products were finding it difficult to reach the Burmese
markets. Despite the restrictions, exports to Burma from Mae Sai town account
for five billion baht a year. Lifting the barriers could boost the figure to
more than 10 billion baht, the trader claimed.
Traders now have to send
goods upstream on the Mekong river to southern China and then re-export them to
Burma on its northern border.
Thanomsak Seerivichayasawasdi, president of
the Thai-Burmese culture and economic forum in Chiang Rai, noted that the
restrictions were placed due to Burma's lack of confidence on Thai policy
towards the Burmese ethnic minorities.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
needs to do more to end Rangoon's suspicion, he said.
Products banned
from sale in Burma include instant noodles, cigarettes, fresh fruits, washing
machines and soft drinks.
Gen Khin Nyunt has told the Thai minister that
Burma would soon sign a memorandum of understanding with Thailand on labour
cooperation in Bangkok.
The MoU, which has been delayed for nearly two
years, was now waiting for final approval from both cabinets to pave way for the
smooth repatriation of illegal workers back to Burma.
Thailand has
sheltered a million illegal workers from the neighbouring country.
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Los Angeles Times - May 20, 2003
CALIFORNIA
Stockholders Press Unocal on
Myanmar
By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff
Writer
A group of major pension funds Monday called on Unocal
Corp. to reconsider its role in a controversial pipeline project in Myanmar,
saying it was concerned that the El Segundo-based company's involvement there
was a financial liability and a drag on the stock price.
The group, led
by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi and joined by California's
treasurer and the state's two largest pension funds, released a letter to Unocal
management about the Myanmar project during the oil company's annual
shareholders meeting Monday in Brea.
In all, representatives from 10
investment funds owning more than 4.5 million Unocal shares, or 1.6% of the
stock, signed the letter and requested a meeting on the matter with Charles
Williamson, Unocal's chairman and chief executive. The 10 funds include the
California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State
Teachers' Retirement System.
Unocal's role in Myanmar, previously known
as Burma, has been dogged by controversy for years. But until recently, the most
vocal objections have come from a determined band of human rights groups and
Myanmar nationals, who have held protests outside the company's shareholders
meeting for several years running.
A wide range of organizations, from
the International Labor Organization to the U.S. government, have accused the
Myanmar government of human rights abuses and using slave labor. Through it all,
Unocal has maintained that its investment in local schools and hospitals has
benefited villagers ? and its commitment to the pipeline project has not
wavered.
"We have no intention of leaving Burma because we believe in
what we are doing there," Williamson told shareholders Monday.
In its
letter to Williamson, parts of which were read at the meeting Monday, the
investor group said: "We fear that Unocal's involvement in Burma, in particular
its business relationships with the Burmese military regime, has contributed to
the stock's decline in value and could further depress the stock price due to
the political and legal risks associated with the joint venture."
In
particular, the group cited Unocal's possible financial liability in several
pending cases accusing the company of looking the other way as soldiers
protecting a gas pipeline project allegedly dragooned residents into forced
labor and committed other human rights violations, including murder and rape.
Much of the discussion Monday centered on the Myanmar project, but
shareholders also voted down shareholder proposals that would have split the
chairman and CEO posts and would have supported hiring an investment banking
firm to consider putting the company up for sale.
Unocal's stock price
fell 29 cents to $28.81 Monday in New York Stock Exchange trading.
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The Nation
New bridge to link Mae Sai and
Tachilek
Rungrawee C Pinyorat
Published on May 20, 2003
Thailand and Burma yesterday signed
an agreement to build a second "friendship bridge" across the Mae Sai River to
facilitate trade and tourism in the upper Mekong region.
Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai signed the pact with his Burmese counterpart, Win
Aung. Also on hand in the Burmese province of Tachilek, opposite Chiang Rai's
Mai Sai district, was Secretary No 1 of the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), Gen Khin Nyunt.
Surakiart said this bridge was a significant
symbol of the strong relationship between Thailand and Burma, especially at the
people-to-people level. It would facilitate the road linkage between the two
countries, increasing the efficient movement of goods and tourism along the
border and providing an access to southern China, he said.
An existing
bridge across the Mae Sai proved too narrow to serve increasing traffic. The new
bridge will be located approximately 2.5 kilometres to the east.
Construction of the bridge is expected to be completed within six months.
Asked if the bridge might facilitate drug trafficking, Surakiart said
drug problems would continue to exist with or without it. He noted, though, that
Gen Khin Nyunt had vowed to give full cooperation to Thailand's drug crackdown
efforts.
Surakiart said the two countries would soon sign an agreement
on the repatriation of Burmese workers in Bangkok as Khin Nyunt had agreed to
all details of the draft accord.
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The Nation
Burma says yes to deal on repatriation
Rungrawee C Pinyorat
Published on May
20, 2003
Burma and Thailand will soon sign an agreement on
repatriation of illegal Burmese workers, said Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai yesterday.
Surakiart said General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), had agreed to all the details of
the draft memorandum of understanding (MoU).
Burmese Foreign Minister
Win Aung would be signing the agreement, he said, adding that the date for the
signing had yet to be set.
Surakiart held bilateral talks yesterday with
Khin Nyunt on another MoU concerning the construction of a second Friendship
Bridge over Mae Sai River in Burma's Tachilek province.
The MoU for
Burmese workers would facilitate the process of deportation of illegal workers
back to Burma.
The Burmese authorities would accept all illegal workers
regardless of ethnicity, he said. "We could directly send illegal Burmese
workers to the border without having to send their names [to the Burmese
authorities] in advance," he said. Surakiart said this was an important step in
solving the long-standing problem of illegal migrant workers between the
countries.
The influx of migrant workers was expected to persist,
however, due to the economic disparity between the countries.
Surakiart
also said multilateral talks would be held between Thailand, Burma, Laos and
Cambodia to discuss a collective plan for economic development.
"Only
with economic cooperation with our neighbouring countries can Thailand find a
long-term and sustainable solution to the problem of illegal workers," he said.
He said Thailand would help create jobs in Burma by promoting the cultivation of
cash crops.
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The Nation
UN envoy to query PM on human rights
Published on May 20, 2003
A United Nations
human-rights envoy will raise concerns about alleged abuses in Thailand when she
meets Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and senior officials today. But she will
not be discussing alleged extrajudicial executions, said Hina Jilani, the UN
secretary-general's Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders.
The alleged extrajudicial killings - more than 2,000 of them - are said
to have occurred during a three-month government anti-drugs campaign. "It is not
in my mandate to look into this issue," she said.
Jilani will be in
Thailand until May 27 to collect information about the status of human-rights
campaigners in the Kingdom before submitting a report to the UN. The report will
be based on interviews and consultation with concerned state agencies and
non-governmental organisations, she said. The right to associate, right to
assembly and freedom of _expression_ were central issues in her interviews and
discussions, she said. Jilani will spend 10 days at several sites including
Chiang Mai and Hat Yai collecting data.
She may also raise concerns
about the status of human right defenders from Burma.
Some campaigns to
protect human rights in Burma are coordinated from Thailand. A number of
activists are based in Chiang Mai.
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Business Standard
Govt looks to Myanmar for natural
gas
Pradeep Puri in New Delhi
Published : May 20, 2003
The petroleum ministry is gradually shifting its preference from
Iran to Myanmar for importing natural gas through pipelines.
Gail
(India) Ltd and ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) have jointly acquired a 30 per cent
participating interest in an exploration block in Myanmar.
Though the
ministry is insisting that its interest in importing natural gas through
offshore pipelines from Iran has not waned, officials say they consider it to be
an uneconomical exercise.
Since the ministry has agreed to import
liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran, Teheran will not take it amiss if India
lays pipelines to another country for natural gas imports.
The ministry
has been considering the feasibility of importing gas from Myanmar to the
eastern or south-eastern parts of the country, ever since ONGC Videsh and Gail
signed agreements with Daewoo International of Korea for participating in its
exploration block in that country.
Daewoo International was awarded
Block A-1 in offshore Myanmar in October 2000. In early 2001, Gail decided to
participate in this block. It acquired a 10 per cent stake and ONGC Videsh a 20
per cent stake in the block on January 28, 2002.
Daewoo International,
with 60 per cent equity, is the operator of the project and Korean Gas, with 10
per cent interest, is the fourth partner in the project.
The block
extends over 3,885 square km off the Rakhine coast in the Arakan offshore in
northwestern Myanmar near Bangladesh. Considering the proximity of this block,
India will be the natural market for its gas.
The petroleum ministry is
of the view that Block A-1 can be connected to West Bengal by a 600 km offshore
pipeline through the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Bangladesh.
The
other option will be to take an inland route through Myanmar to Mizoram, Tripura
and through Bangladesh to bring gas at the Indo-Bangladesh border to the east of
Kolkata.
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UN News Centre
UN labour agency,
Myanmar reach accord to help victims of forced labour
15
May ? The United Nations labour agency has negotiated a formal understanding
with Myanmar for the establishment of a facilitator to assist possible victims
of forced labour in the south Asian country.
?I welcome both the Formal
Understanding on the Facilitator to assist possible victims in Myanmar to seek
remedies available under the relevant legislation and as provided under the
Forced Labour Convention No. 29 (1930) and the reaffirmation of your
government's commitment to eradicating forced labour, expressed in this Formal
Understanding,? the Director-General of the International Labour Organization
(ILO), Juan Somavia, said in a statement in Geneva.
Mr. Somavia also
reiterated that the ILO Liaison Officer in Yangon, Hông-Trang Perrett-Nguyen
"will continue to do her utmost for a successful conclusion of the Plan of
Action.? In addition to the formal understanding on the facilitator, such a Plan
of Action would comprise a road-building project in a pilot area; alternatives
to the use of forced labour; and information and awareness raising.
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