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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 15,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - ASEAN warns Western
powers to handle Myanmar issue delicately
AFP - Tough issues
await Southeast Asian foreign ministers in week ahead
AFP - Myanmar says
May 30 unfortunate, working on Aung San Suu Kyi release
AP - Myanmar's
military government under intense pressure over Suu Kyi as ASEAN allies
meet
AP - ASEAN to
discuss Myanmar issue in departure from noninterference
policy
Reuters - Myanmar
says Suu Kyi to be freed, fears assassins
Reuters - Asia
security meet may be clouded by Suu Kyi,Korea
Reuters - N.Korea
too busy for Asia meeting, official says
WP - Envoy Sees
Chance of Burma Talks
TT - Myanmar-Unocal
case could affect global trade
The Star - Asean to
issue joint statement on Myanmar
Bkk Post - PM
denies pandering to Bush over Suu Kyi
Kyodo News -
Myanmar willing to release Suu Kyi: foreign minister
Benama - Asean's
Interest to Have Clear Date On Suu Kyi's Release - Syed
Hamid
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Sunday June 15,
4:38 PM
ASEAN warns
Western powers to handle Myanmar issue
delicately
PHNOM PENH (AFP) - ASEAN defended its policy on Myanmar and
cautioned Western powers to handle the issue of restoring democracy in the
country delicately, fearing it could blow up into another Yugoslavia and be the
focus of intense external power rivalry.
Ong Keng Yong, secretary
general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the group
had managed to contain the Myanmar issue within the country's boundaries with
its so-called constructive engagement policy.
"Speaking as the ASEAN
Secretary-General, I am not talking about the right or wrong of the institutions
in Myanmar, but what is important is for everyone to understand the complexities
of Myanmar," Ong told AFP Sunday in an interview ahead of a meeting of ASEAN
foreign ministers in the Cambodian capital.
Reacting to a barrage of
criticism levelled at ASEAN for what some have called its failure to restore
democracy in Myanmar, he said: "The situation there should not be allowed to
develop into a ugly confrontation that will destabilise the situation in
Southeast Asia."
Citing the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Ong said
military-ruled Myanmar, with up to 10 major communities and more than 100
linguistic groups located alongside China and the South Asian continent, could
flare up into "another Yugoslavia, multiplied many times over."
"We
sometimes forget that this unique piece of geography called Myanmar can be a
major destablising factor in the Indian ocean, not just in Southeast Asia, which
is just a small part of the equation," he said.
Ong, a Singaporean, said
if Myanmar erupted into ethnic violence, India "will never allow any
destablisation of the Indian Ocean while China will never allow a deterioration
south of its border where there are many ethnic communities.
Yangon
launched a crackdown on the opposition, rearresting its leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
after a bloody May 30 clash between supporters of her National League for
Democracy (NLD) and backers of the military regime.
The crackdown led to
an international outcry, with US Secretary of State Colin Powell calling the
ruling Myanmar generals "thugs" and vowing to push the other ASEAN member states
to confront Myanmar during a meeting here.
"I do not want to confront
Mr. Powell or anyone else critical of Myanmar but I just want to state the
facts," Ong said.
He pointed out that ASEAN could not dictate to member
states how they should run their countries, but through "delicate" discussions
over the last decade or so "we have engaged Myanmar in a very purposeful way --
politically and economically.
"By engaging Myanmar, we have put this
Myanmar issue in this Pandora's box. It does not impinge heavily on anyone's
strategic interests -- China, India, the United States or even Indonesia. It is
basically a manageable issue."
"Are we prepared to open the Pandora's
box? If we are, can we afford to do that?"
Ong said that if ASEAN
dictated to any of its member states how their governments should be run, "we
will be setting a dangerous precedent and we will be known as facilitators of
regime change or political status quo.
"If we do that, do you think
China, India, Russia and Japan will be comfortable with their relations with
ASEAN?"
Ong admitted, however, that Yangon could provide "better
treatment" to Aung San Suu Kyi.
"In the case of ASEAN, many of us wish
that her treatment can be better but at the same time, it is important to
realise that there are two sides of the coin.
"You cannot say one
side can do no wrong and the other side is always wrong," he said without
elaborating.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung, speaking separately
Sunday, said the events of May 30 were "very, very unfortunate" and his
government was working towards the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We are
working on that, even though I cannot say how soon, tomorrow or the day after
tomorrow or like that," he said when asked whether the Nobel peace laureate
would be released from "protective custody".
Aside from Myanmar, ASEAN
comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Sunday June 15, 3:50 PM
Tough issues await Southeast
Asian foreign ministers in week ahead
Regional terrorism
and the latest crackdown in Myanmar are among a slew of pressing issues
confronting Southeast Asian foreign ministers when they begin gathering in the
Cambodian capital under tight security.
The spectre of nuclear conflict
in North Korea and the SARS outbreak are also among the issues expected to be
addressed by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
ministers.
Headlining the week's meetings is the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF), Asia's top security grouping, which brings together ASEAN and its
security dialogue partners including the United States, China and the European
Union.
The rising threat of regional terrorism is likely to dominate
talks, following recent arrests in Cambodia and Thailand of alleged members of
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian group blamed for the
Bali bomb attacks last October that killed more than 200 people.
ASEAN
watchers have warned that the grouping has to confront head-on political and
security challenges in its backyard in order to earn the respect of its key
partners.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has warned one of his top
priorities here will be to push reluctant ASEAN members to confront Myanmar's
recalcitrant military rulers.
The United States has led an outpouring of
international outrage over the junta's detention of Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
ASEAN, primarily an economic grouping, has
traditionally maintained a strict policy of non-intervention in the internal
political affairs of its members. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
The bloc has already been criticised for its inaction over
Myanmar's latest nationwide crackdown on democracy activists.
One early
disappointment for this week's talks emerged last week with the pull-out of
North Korea's foreign minister Paek Nam-Sun, who apparently balked at the
prospect of multilateral talks over his country's nuclear ambitions.
The
Stalinist state has instead sent ambassador-at-large Ho Jong, letting down
Cambodian officials who had wanted to use the forum to help ease tensions by
brokering a Paek-Powell meeting.
ASEAN ministers will also hold talks
with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea, who are together
expected to examine the economic damage wrought on the region by the SARS
outbreak.
The ASEAN meeting will be the first for the region's foreign
ministers since the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which
has left nearly 800 dead and infected more than 8,400, mostly in
Asia.
ASEAN leaders and China met in April in Bangkok over the outbreak,
winning the grouping plaudits for its quick and united response to the
disease.
Phnom Penh was under heavy security at the weekend, with
thousands of troops expected to be deployed in the days ahead amid concerns that
the ARF in particular could provide a target for terrorists.
Cambodia has
been named on al-Qaeda hit lists, and with its reputation for lawlessness, fears
have been raised over whether it could become a haven for
terrorists.
Besides ASEAN, other ARF members are Australia, Canada,
China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea,
South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.
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Sunday June 15, 12:24 PM
Myanmar says May 30
unfortunate, working on Aung San Suu Kyi
release
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung said the
events of May 30, when decomcracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained after
violent clashes, were "very, very unfortunate" and his government is working
towards the release of the opposition leader.
"We are working on that,
even though I cannot say how soon, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or like
that," he said when asked whether the Nobel peace laureate would be released
from "protective custody".
Aung San Suu Kyi was placed in "protective
custody" after the clashes between her supporters and a junta-backed mob that
left dozens dead.
Speaking before the beginning of a series of meetings
this week sponsored by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Win
Aung said there were "some spectres who did not want to see national
reconciliation move ahead smoothly".
"What we can assure you of is that
we are working on that to bring the situation back to normal and the police
inquest is still going on," Win Aung told reporters after meeting with his
Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong.
"What happened on the 30th of May was
very unfortunate and we are working very, very hard for our national
reconciliation process," Win Aung said.
These included militant monks and
some youths who he described as "rowdy" and were responsible for the
clashes.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Upcoming
meetings include the ASEAN Regional Forum where Myanmar is expected to face
international opposition to the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ARF
includes ASEAN security dialogue partners like Australia, Canada, China, Japan,
Russia, the United States and the European Union.
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Myanmar's military government under intense pressure over
Suu Kyi as ASEAN allies meet
David
Longstreath / AP
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHNOM PENH,
Cambodia, June 15 ? Asian foreign ministers agreed to discuss Myanmar's
detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a regional summit this
week, a departure from their policy of non-interference in each other's internal
affairs.
The announcement Sunday by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations reflected the growing international pressure on Myanmar's military
regime to release the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The 10 ASEAN members ?
including Myanmar ? will issue a statement Tuesday to ''express their common
view on the subject,'' ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad Jr. said.
''Notwithstanding its domestic nature, Myanmar has agreed to an ASEAN
discussion on recent political developments in that country,'' Abad told
reporters Sunday.
ASEAN foreign ministers meet Monday and Tuesday,
officially to enhance economic cooperation. They will join their Asian and
Western counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, at a
23-member Asian-Pacific regional security meeting Wednesday and Thursday.
The ASEAN talks also will focus on terrorism, an issue highlighted by
the arrest of eight suspected Islamic extremists in recent weeks in Cambodia and
neighboring Thailand.
The men were accused of being members of Jemaah
Islamiyah. The regional hardline Islamic network is blamed for the Oct. 12
bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Four
suspects were allegedly plotting attacks on embassies in Bangkok.
''Active cooperation against international terrorism contribute greatly
to regional security and stability,'' Hor Namhong, who will chair the ASEAN
Regional Forum, said in a statement Sunday.
Powell, who will voice U.S.
concerns about the spread of Islamic extremism in South Asia, will also use the
meeting in Phnom Penh to muster support to help defuse the standoff over North
Korea's suspected nuclear weapons programs.
Tensions in the region have
been mounting since October, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted
having a covert nuclear program, and ASEAN ministers want assurances that war
will not break out.
They had hoped North Korean Foreign Minister Paek
Nam Sun would attend the meeting, saying his high-level presence would add
weight to discussions, but the North's delegation will instead be led by
diplomat Ho Jong.
North Korea last week threatened to develop a nuclear
arsenal to deter U.S. hostility, but Powell gave assurances in an interview with
The Associated Press that Washington ''will not be frightened into taking action
that would not be appropriate.''
ASEAN has long followed a policy of not
commenting on its members internal affairs ? but the international outcry over
Suu Kyi's detention apparently pushed it to bend the rule.
Suu Kyi was
arrested May 30 after her supporters clashed with a pro-democracy crowd in
northern Myanmar while she was on a political tour. Opposition groups say the
Myanmar junta orchestrated the clash, worried by the increasing number of crowds
she was drawing during her tours of the countryside. She has been kept
incommunicado since her arrest.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung on
Sunday defended Suu Kyi's detention.
''We have heard there were
assassins coming in the country. I don't know who their target will be,'' he
said. But if ''anything happened to her it will be blamed on us.''
Although the government has said in the past that she is in ''protective
custody,'' this is the first time that an assassination theory has been put
forward.
Win Aung refused to say who the possible assassins were or why
they would target Suu Kyi.
He also refused to give a committed date for
her release.
''Don't press us to commit ourselves to a timeframe and
date of releasing her ... the important thing is that the will (to free her) is
there,'' he said.
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ASEAN to discuss Myanmar issue in departure from
noninterference policy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHNOM PENH,
Cambodia, June 15 ? Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations will discuss the detention of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi during their annual meeting this week, in a departure from the group's
policy of noninterference in members' internal affairs.
''Notwithstanding its domestic nature, Myanmar has agreed to an ASEAN
discussion on recent political developments in that country,'' ASEAN spokesman
M.C. Abad Jr. said Sunday.
He told reporters that the foreign ministers
of the 10 ASEAN countries, in their joint communique to be issued on Tuesday,
''will express their common view on the subject.''
''This is the first
time that ASEAN will comment on this domestic issue. Myanmar has accepted
ASEAN's proactive stance on this subject of concern,'' Abad said.
ASEAN
maintains a policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of member
countries, but was apparently forced to take notice of growing international
pressure on Myanmar's military government to release Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, who has been in detention since May 30.
The ASEAN
foreign ministers hold their annual meeting on Monday and Tuesday before holding
talks with counterparts from 13 other Asia-Pacific countries, including
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Powell has said he wants ASEAN to take
up the Myanmar issue more seriously.
Abad said ''bilateral consultations
are going on between some member countries of ASEAN and Myanmar,'' and the
subject would also come up for discussion during the foreign ministers' dinner
on Sunday.
''I do not know yet what will be the final wording in the
joint communique, but it will involve certain elements including the briefing by
the Myanmar representative to his ASEAN counterparts on the incident on the 30th
of May,'' Abad said.
He said the statement will include ASEAN's support
for the United Nations' role in mediating reconciliation between Myanmar's
military junta and Suu Kyi, initiated by special U.N. envoy Razali Ismail in
October 2000.
''As you know, ASEAN has always supported political
dialogue and national reconciliation processes in Myanmar. There is no change in
that policy,'' he said.
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Sunday June 15, 8:50 PM
Myanmar says Suu Kyi to be
freed, fears assassins
By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Reuters) - Myanmar is detaining pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi amid vague fears there are assassins on the prowl in the
country but she will be freed when the time is ripe, Foreign Minister Win Aung
said on Sunday.
Win Aung, who was in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh
for a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders, said he could not give an exact date when
Suu Kyi might be released.
Asked why the Nobel laureate was still being
held, he spoke of assassination plots but was vague about the target, and said
the government wanted to avoid blame in case she came to harm.
"There
were some assassins going around the country," he said. "I don't know whom their
targets were, our leaders? But if anything happened to her it will be blamed on
us."
"To me they are just rumours but we have to take care of
everything," he said later in the day.
Suu Kyi was taken into what Win
Aung called protective custody after clashes between her supporters and those of
the military government in the north of Myanmar on May 30, but he said she would
be freed.
"I cannot say how soon, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or
when, but we can assure you one thing -- that we are working to bring back the
situation to normal," he told reporters after a meeting with Cambodian Foreign
Minister Hor Namhong.
The military government would press on with
efforts towards national reconciliation despite the May 30 incident during Suu
Kyi's tour of the country that Win Aung said had sparked fears of anarchy
reminiscent of 1988.
That year, pro-democracy demonstrators supporting
Suu Kyi were brutally crushed by troops in the capital, Yangon, and an unknown
number of people were killed.
Suu Kyi was not being detained, Win Aung
said.
PROTECTED FROM HARM
"Let us not call it
detention. What we would like to say is that for the time being we protect her
from personal harm," he said, adding that the government would be the first to
be blamed if any harm befell the Nobel Peace Prize winner for her campaign to
bring democracy to her homeland.
U.N. envoy Razali Ismail met Suu Kyi at
the junta's headquarters in Yangon last Tuesday and said she was in good health
and good spirits.
Much work was going on behind the scenes to solve the
problems, said Win Aung, but he declined to give details.
"Aung San Suu
Kyi will be free again, of course," he said, adding that she was always under
the protection of government security guards even though she sometimes refused
their presence.
Suu Kyi and about two dozen senior members of her
National League for Democracy have been held at locations in or outside the
Myanmar capital. Some of the locations are undisclosed.
U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell has said he would use his trip to Phnom Penh this week for
the annual meeting of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)
Regional Forum to push Myanmar's neighbours to bring pressure to bear.
ASEAN operates on the basic principle of not interfering in the affairs
of its neighbours, but ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said members
nations expected some form of censure of Myanmar in a final communique to
reflect international concerns.
"There will be an exchange of views that
might be robust," he said of this week's talks. Win Aung said he had assured his
Cambodian host that Myanmar was committed to the path of national reconciliation
and to the introduction of democracy, but stressed that peace and stability were
prerequisites for such changes.
"We are working very very hard for our
national conciliation process to succeed," he said.
Myanmar's ruling
military blamed Suu Kyi last week for the failure of talks on a transition to
democracy and said democracy in Myanmar, under military rule since a 1962 coup,
remained one of its "main goals".
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Sunday June 15, 12:10 PM
Asia security meet may be
clouded by Suu Kyi,Korea
By Jane
Macartney, Asian Diplomatic Correspondent
PHNOM
PENH, June 15 (Reuters) - North
Korea's nuclear ambitions and the detention of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader
will cast a divisive shadow when Asia-Pacific foreign ministers meet this week
but the war against terror will offer a patch of common ground.
The
annual meeting on security of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian
Nations) Regional Forum will bring U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on a
whirlwind trip to a region where he is anxious about the spread of Islamic
extremism and has spoken openly against Myanmar's detention of Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Powell, and other non-ASEAN ministers such as
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, may find it hard to persuade an
organisation that holds non-interference in the internal affairs of its members
as a basic principle to come up with open criticism of Myanmar's military
rulers.
"While counter-terrorism issues will serve as a focal point for
cooperation, strains between the diverse member states over the leadership and
direction of the forum will permeate all discussions and colour any agreements,"
said a report by security think-tank Stratfor.
Foreign ministers of the
10-member ASEAN begin arriving in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Sunday
and all eyes will be on U Win Aung of Myanmar.
Members may be hoping
Myanmar will release Suu Kyi before or during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
meeting to save them embarrassment but few expect the foreign minister to be
receptive to criticism.
Suu Kyi was detained, yet again, on May 30 after
a violent clash between her supporters and government henchmen in which at least
four people died. Powell has urged tougher sanctions against the military junta.
"This is very bad for ASEAN... it is not good for the image of political
reforms in Southeast Asia," said Ralf Emmers of the Institute of Defence and
Strategic Studies in Singapore.
"The original plan to integrate Myanmar
and bring change has failed, constructive engagement has failed. This is a
country comparable with Zimbabwe or North Korea."
STRAINS AND
AGREEMENTS
North Korea's foreign minister, Paek nam Sun, chose
to be a no-show rather than face inevitable pressure -- not only from Powell but
from neighbours anxious about another nuclear power in their region. Pyongyang
also deprived itself of an opportunity for talks with Powell at possibly the
only forum in the world attended by senior officials of the two sides.
Last year, Paek drew Powell aside for a 15-minute chat during a coffee
break in an almost unprecedented level of contact under the administration of
U.S. President George W. Bush, who has lumped North Korea with Iraq and Iran in
an "axis of evil".
The ASEAN foreign ministers will meet on Monday and
Tuesday and will hold their much larger ARF talks including the United States,
Australia, China, India and Japan on Wednesday.
ASEAN groups Malaysia,
Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Vietnam,
Singapore and Laos.
While little progress is likely on Myanmar or North
Korea, the group should be able to voice greater determination and to agree on
closer cooperation in the war on terror.
In the last few days, Cambodia
has announced the arrests of four suspected Islamic extremists with links to the
al Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiah group that is blamed in the Bali bombing.
Thailand revealed last week it had cracked a plot to attack a summit of the
summit of leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in Bangkok later this
year.
This will be music to Powell's ears, but he is sure to ask for
more, analysts said.
"Terrorism was the big issue last year," said ASEAN
expert Emmers. "That's what the Americans are coming for and now that the war on
Iraq is behind us the Americans are rethinking their entire strategy in East
Asia.
"The Americans use all the multilateral forums they can find, not
because they need direct military support but because they want diplomatic
support. They need to know that Asian countries are serious."
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Sunday June 15, 8:20 PM
N.Korea too busy for Asia
meeting, official says
By Jane Macartney,
Asian Diplomatic Correspondent
PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Reuters) - North Korea has dismissed 11th-hour
appeals to send its foreign minister to a regional security meeting, saying he
is too busy, the secretary-general of the Association of South East Asian
Nations said on Sunday.
Ong Keng Yong said host Cambodia and ally China
had both been "flabbergasted" when reclusive North Korea late last week said
Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun would not attend the annual ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF).
The gathering is a rare opportunity for the North's officials to
appear at an international meeting attended by senior U.S. officials.
"This is a nice forum where we all sit and have an exchange of views and
no one is beaten up," said Ong, dismissing speculation that North Korea may have
chosen not to go because of fears he would come under intense pressure in the
23-country grouping over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
"We are at a
loss," Ong told Reuters, adding that he suspected the impoverished communist
state may be overpricing its leverage on the stage of international diplomacy.
"We are still trying to convince them to come, but they say they are too
busy," Ong said. An ambassador at large will attend the meeting in the Cambodian
capital, Phnom Penh, but is expected to do little more than read the party line.
The North's decision contrasts sharply with Paek's eagerness to talk to
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell at last year's summit in Brunei.
During that gathering, Paek drew Powell aside for a 15-minute chat
during a coffee break in an almost unprecedented level of contact under the
administration of President George W. Bush, who has lumped North Korea with
pre-war Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil".
WHAT TO DO ABOUT
MYANMAR?
Officials said Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong
was particularly disappointed, given his country's historically friendly ties
with secretive North Korea, which gave a home in exile to King Norodom Sihanouk
and still supplies his bodyguards.
Despite the rebuff, ASEAN would
continue to try to engage North Korea to ensure it did not feel as if a door had
been slammed in its face since this could lead to even more uncooperative
actions, said Ong.
North Korea said last week it needs a nuclear bomb so
it can cut its one-million-strong army that faces U.S. troops in South Korea
across the world's most heavily fortified frontier. The announcement sparked
concern from Japan and South Korea as well as longtime friend, China.
North Korea is not the only headache for Ong at this year's ARF meeting.
He must also finesse the controversy surrounding ASEAN member Myanmar,
now under increasing pressure from ARF participants such as the United States,
European countries and Australia, to free -- yet again -- pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi who was taken into custody on May 30.
While ASEAN
operates under the principle of not interfering in the internal affairs of
members, several nations feel Myanmar cannot escape some form of censure in the
meeting's closing communique given the international opprobrium heaped on its
military rulers for detaining Suu Kyi once again, he said.
"We have to
be credible," Ong said. Myanmar officials understood the sensitivities and had
agreed to try to come up with a form of wording although other members were
almost certain to want to see proactive measures by the junta, he said.
"There will be an exchange of views that might be robust," he said.
Powell said last week he wanted tougher sanctions against the Junta while the
European Union is to discuss similar actions on Monday.
The summit this
week will also focus on the war on terror and preliminary talks last week among
senior officials saw agreement with a U.S. plan of action to combat terror
following on from last year's agreement at Brunei's meeting, he said.
"The United States is learning how to work in a way that does not make
the Islamic constituency in the region more agitated," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Washington Post
Envoy Sees Chance
of Burma Talks
Permission to Meet Suu Kyi Viewed as a Promising
Sign
By Ellen Nakashima and Alan
Sipress
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 14,
2003; Page A15
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- U.N. special envoy
Razali Ismail said Friday that he believed further mediation coupled with
international pressure could win release of detained Burmese opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and lead to a political settlement between the opponents and
the government.
Razali, the first foreigner to see Suu Kyi after a brutal
crackdown on her pro-democracy movement two weeks ago, said divisions within the
government offered hope that the two sides could resume talks.
"My job is
to use this [division] to try to pry open the door as widely as I can," he said
in his first extensive interview since leaving Rangoon, the Burmese capital, on
Tuesday. "We have to begin to talk to the people who are pragmatists to see what
can be done quickly."
He said that the government's decision to let him
meet with Suu Kyi for 30 minutes Tuesday after initially refusing his request
reflected a possible willingness by some in the military to
compromise.
Razali said he was pleased to visit Suu Kyi and determine
that she was not harmed when a government-backed militia attacked her motorcade
on May 30 as she was touring northern Burma. But he fell short of two other
goals: to win her release and start negotiations between the State Peace and
Development Council and her National League for Democracy (NLD) movement, which
won a parliamentary election in 1990 in a landslide and was then denied power by
the junta.
"I am quite troubled by my visit this time," he
said.
Razali, a Malaysian diplomat, has been leading international
efforts for three years to find a solution to Burma's political standoff and end
the country's long international isolation. A deal he brokered in May 2002 freed
Suu Kyi, a 57-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, from 19 months of house
arrest.
His meeting with Suu Kyi this week, which came in the final hours
of a five-day trip to Burma, was held in a modest house in a militarized area in
Rangoon. Razali said Suu Kyi, the daughter of Gen. Aung San, Burma's founding
father, wore a blue sarong and jacket and looked "bedraggled" but showed her
characteristic defiance. And although the meeting was held in the presence of a
general, the escort, far from inhibiting the conversation, was "cowed" by Suu
Kyi, Razali said. Describing her detention on May 30, Suu Kyi told Razali her
convoy of supporters was stopped just outside the town of Dipeyin. She told him
she heard a "commotion" from behind. "They tried to smash the windows of her
car," he said. "She was protected by her people."
Assailants threw stones
and her four-wheel drive vehicle sped off. She did not know what happened to
about 17 colleagues and dozens of supporters who had come to see her. Razali
said he told her only that four NLD members had been killed and that there had
been injuries.
She said she was angered that she was facing official
charges of disturbing the peace. "What peace have I disturbed? They're the ones
who blocked the car. They're the ones who came in and did all these things," she
said, according to Razali.
In failing to secure Suu Kyi's release, Razali
has drawn criticism from senior officials in Washington and some human rights
activists, who found his upbeat comments after leaving Burma
inappropriate.
"In the future, it might behoove Razali to temper his
enthusiastic comments to more accurately reflect the climate of fear in Burma,"
said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose legislation banning imports from Burma
passed in a 97-to-1 vote this week. "He failed to secure Suu Kyi's release, and
I am surprised that he did not say more to condemn the outrageous actions of the
thugs in Rangoon."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, due in the
Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, next week for a regional conference, asserted
that the "larger process" Razali and Suu Kyi are pursuing is "failing" because
the Burmese leaders have rebuffed their efforts.
Razali cautioned against
pursuing a policy of tighter sanctions without a continuing diplomatic effort.
"If you hit too hard, the moderates or the pragmatists will be at a disadvantage
because the people who do not want to do this will say, 'Look, they just want to
bang us on the head and that's it,' " he said. The moderates "will be
out-flanked."
While in Rangoon, Razali dealt mainly with the junta's
second- and third-ranking leaders, Gen. Maung Aye and Gen. Khin Nyunt. He also
met with Foreign Ministry officials and with several leaders of Burma's ethnic
minorities, who have long battled the military government and are involved in
the reconciliation process.
But Razali did not meet with the government's
top official, Gen. Than Shwe, considered by analysts and diplomats to be the
primary opponent of political negotiations. "There is a tussle in this
organization. Some find me very inconvenient, obviously," Razali
said.
The junta's greatest fear is of instability and renewed conflict
with armed ethnic minorities, he said. "They fear that the NLD will really be
influenced by various extremist groups that would in turn create problems," he
said. "We have to tell them that security is not just about law and order. It is
the people's participation."
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Taipei Times
Myanmar-Unocal case
could affect global trade
Plaintiffs say rape, pillage and fossil
fuels became part of the "security" arrangements for a natural-gas
pipline
By Alex Markels
NY
TIMES NEWS SERVICE
Sunday, Jun 15, 2003,Page 12
In a watershed
case that could affect how multinationals do business in developing countries, a
federal appeals court will consider on Tuesday whether the energy giant Unocal
should stand trial in connection with human rights abuses that the government of
Myanmar is accused of inflicting on villagers during construction of a
natural-gas pipeline.
The crucial question before the unusually large
panel of 11 judges is whether to apply international legal standards that hold
parties responsible for aiding and abetting human rights abuses. The case is in
the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
The plaintiffs are
a group of villagers from Tenasserim, a region in southeastern Myanmar. They say
Unocal paid the military to provide security for the project and supported the
government, widely considered one of the world's most repressive, which forced
villagers to help build the US$1.2 billion pipeline in the 1990s and threatened
those who refused with rape and other atrocities. Unocal denies the accusations.
If the court allows the civil suit to go to a jury trial, "this will
raise the stakes for multinationals that do business with repressive regimes,"
said William S. Dodge, an international law professor at the Hastings College of
the Law in San Francisco. "There are plenty of repressive regimes around the
world, and there are plenty of multinationals that do business with them. The
question is, how far can a corporation like Unocal go in cooperating with such a
regime before the company bears some legal responsibility?"
The case is
among a growing number based on the once-obscure Alien Tort Claims Act, a 1789
law originally intended to help prosecute international pirates in American
courts. Since the early 1980s, it has been used to argue cases successfully
against foreign military and police personnel accused of human rights abuses.
More recently, human rights and labor groups have seized on it to do battle with
oil, mining and other multinational companies that work with governments that
they say engage in torture, genocide and similar violations of international
law.
There have been more than a dozen alien tort cases filed against
companies since the mid-1990s, but none have so far gone to a jury trial. Some
have been dismissed on procedural grounds, while others are pending. The
possibility of trials has raised concerns among both corporations and the Bush
administration over potentially embarrassing testimony -- and worry that a
verdict could set a precedent that encourages thousands of foreign plaintiffs to
seek damages for crimes committed by their own governments.
"You get a
perfect storm of sympathetic plaintiffs, trial lawyers and anti-globalization
activists working together to bring these suits," said William A. Reinsch,
president of the National Foreign Trade Council, an industry group based in
Washington. He cites cases like one recently filed against dozens of companies
that did business in South Africa under apartheid.
"It could be
disastrous for global trade," he added.
Shaking in their boots
Though there has not been a single verdict against them,
companies are feeling the impact of the litigation, which they must increasingly
factor into investment decisions.
"It's causing companies to run away
from situations like [Myanmar]," said Errol Mendez, a law professor at the
University of Ottawa and recently a co-author of Global Governance, Economy and
Law (Taylor & Francis), which details the impact of such lawsuits on
multinational companies.
He and others point to a variety of recent
corporate decisions to demur or pull back from projects in countries where
governments have been accused of human-rights abuses, including Nigeria,
Indonesia and Sudan as well as Myanmar.
Although Unocal, based in El
Segundo, Calif., continues to do business in Myanmar, "this has created a great
deal of uncertainty about future investing," said Charles O. Strathman, its vice
president and chief legal officer. "It's not just the legal fees involved; it's
also very disruptive and a big time commitment."
While corporate
officials emphatically defend their human-rights records overseas, "business
leaders are getting very nervous about these lawsuits," said Catherine J. Boggs,
a lawyer at Baker & McKensie in Chicago, who advises companies about
security arrangements with local governments. "Some think the best way to deal
with them is to try to repeal the law altogether, or at least modify it."
To that end, pro-trade groups and the Justice Department filed briefs in
May in the Unocal case, arguing that the alien tort statute had been misapplied
by plaintiffs and that such lawsuits could undermine American business interests
and the war or terrorism. The lawsuit bears "serious implications for our
current war against terrorism" and permits similar claims to be easily asserted
against allies in that war, an assistant attorney general, Robert D. McCallum,
wrote in the government's brief.
Company officials worry that the
aiding-and-abetting standard, which can include "knowing practical assistance,
encouragement or moral support" to the perpetrator of the abuse, is so broad
that practically any involvement with the government of Myanmar could be
misconstrued as complicity.
The plaintiffs argue that Unocal was well
aware of the military's poor human rights record in Myanmar and should have
known that its security forces would engage in brutal practices, like forcing
villagers who lived in the path of the pipeline not only to relocate, but to
help build it.
A lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Katharine J.
Redford of EarthRights International in Washington, said: "Their own consultants
told them they could be implicated as a willing partner in the abuse. That's
exactly our allegation." Even if the suit fails to prove that such actions
amounted to aiding and abetting Myanmar's military, legal experts say that
potentially embarrassing evidence made public during a jury trial could embolden
potential plaintiffs in other cases to come forward. "It's similar to what
happened with tobacco," Sebok said. "The very fact that they were able to see
the corporate files raises the threat value, so the next time around there would
be greater willingness to settle at some price."
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Star - Sunday, June 15, 2003
Asean
to issue joint statement on Myanmar
PHNOM PENH: Asean
Foreign Ministers will include a statement on the recent crisis in Myanmar in
their joint communique at the end of the 36th Asean Ministerial Meeting, which
begins tomorrow.
?This will be the first time that Asean will have
a statement on Myanmar,? said Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) chairman Chem
Vithya to Malaysian media yesterday.
?This shows that we are proactive
and have a common position on the issue.?
Chem said the Myanmar
issue would be also discussed during the Asean Regional Forum, which would be
held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
?It will be discussed. If Asean
does not bring up the matter, the non-Asean will,? he said.
Chem
said the senior officials had earlier been briefed on the situation in Myanmar
by political department director-general U Thaung Tun.
He said SOM
had expressed hope for peace and reconciliation to return to Myanmar as soon as
possible.
?SOM had also expressed support towards efforts by the
United Nations special envoy, Tan Sri Razali Ismail (to negotiate for the
release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi),? he said.
He,
however, said that Myanmar had made no indication as to when Suu Kyi would be
released.
Suu Kyi had been placed under ?protective custody? by
Myanmar's military government following clashes between her supporters and
military backers on May 30. The incident had prompted a crackdown on her
pro-democracy party.
Razali, who went to Myanmar, met Suu Kyi for
an hour and had said that she was well and unhurt in the clashes. He also said
he expected the military government to release her in two weeks.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Sunday 15 June 2003
PM
denies pandering to Bush over Suu Kyi
Thaksin takes credit for
talks with Razali
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday hit
back at claims he had pandered to the US over Burma, saying Rangoon asked him to
assure US President George W. Bush it would push ahead with national
reconciliation.
Thammasat University political scientist Surachai
Sirikrai on Friday criticised a joint statement signed by the two leaders
calling for Burma to immediately release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The move contradicted the government's policy of not interfering in
Burma's internal affairs, he said.
Speaking yesterday during his weekly
radio address, Mr Thaksin said before he visited the US, he told Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to urge his Burmese counterpart to allow a
meeting between UN special envoy Razali Ismail and Mrs Suu Kyi.
When he
arrived in Washington, Rangoon contacted him via its embassy to say it had
followed his advice, he said.
Mr Thaksin said Rangoon had promised the
imminent release of Mrs Suu Kyi, and asked him to assure Mr Bush it would
continue to work toward national reconciliation.
Also during his address,
Mr Thaksin said Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Commerce Minister
Adisai Bodharamik would visit China tomorrow to sign a free-trade
agreement.
Similar deals would be signed with India in July, and
Australia in October, he said.
In addition, he said an FTA would be
signed with Japan next year, at about the same time as a deal with the United
States.
Mr Thaksin insisted he was taking a leading role in providing
balance to international politics.
``We respect all foreign treaties,''
he said. ``For example, we have signed the one-China agreement, so we have to
stick to it.''
--------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar willing to release Suu Kyi: foreign
minister
PHNOM PENH, June 15, Kyodo - Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung told
reporters here Sunday his country's military government was willing to release
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from detention but gave no indication when
the pro-democracy heroine will be freed.
''I cannot say the date. Let us
not commit ourselves (to being) tied up with the date. But the will to do that
is important. The sincerity is there,'' the minister said.
He made the
comments after bilateral talks with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong
ahead of an annual meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to formally begin Monday in the Cambodian
capital.
''Even though I cannot say how soon, tomorrow or the day after
tomorrow, we can assure you that we are working on that to bring the situation
back to normal,'' Win Aung said.
Suu Kyi and some members of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed in what the Myanmar junta calls
''protective custody'' following violent clashes between NLD supporters and
pro-junta demonstrators on May 30 in northern Myanmar.
Win Aung said
Myanmar police are investigating the clashes, which the junta says left four
people dead and 40 injured.
''When the situation becomes clearer later,
Daw (Mrs.) Aung San Suu Kyi will be free again,'' he said.
''We have to
protect her because we know that whatever happens to her will be a real trouble
to us. Everything will be blamed on us,'' he said, adding that the junta has
learned of assassination plots in the country.
''We know that there were
some assassins...in the country. I don't know whom the target will be,'' Win
Aung said.
Win Aung denied allegations that the Myanmar military
government staged the May 30 melee, saying, ''We have never had any intention of
harming her. She is the daughter of our national hero and leader. She is like
our sister.''
''It came to our understanding that there were some
attempts to make our country fall back into anarchy like in 1988...We have to
calm down ourselves, solve the problems so that we will not go back into
anarchy,'' he said.
On Friday, a senior Myanmar official said Suu Kyi
would be released this month if ''normalcy'' returns to the military-ruled
nation.
Thaung Tun, director general of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry's
Political Department, said it would be best to release Suu Kyi before Wednesday,
when foreign ministers from more than 20 Asia-Pacific countries gather in Phnom
Penh for a regional security forum.
Suu Kyi has led the fight for
democracy within Myanmar through the NLD, which won the country's 1990 elections
by a landslide but was never allowed to take up seats in parliament.
In
May last year, the junta released Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
from 19 months of confinement at her home in Yangon.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysian News Agency
June 15 , 2003 22:53PM
Asean's
Interest to Have Clear Date On Suu Kyi's Release - Syed
Hamid
From Zuraidah Abdul Rahman and M. Saraswathi
PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Bernama) -- Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid
Albar told his Myanmar counterpart U Win Aung here Sunday that it will be in
Asean's interest if there is a clear date for the release of detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
He met Win Aung before the 36th Asean Ministerial
Meeting starts here Monday.
Syed Hamid said Win Aung assured him that
Yangon would speedily investigate the fracas that led to Suu Kyi being held
under protective custody on May 30.
"It will be good if there is a clear
end date to the current situation. He gave his reassurance that they are
interested (in releasing Suu Kyi) as we are," he told Malaysian journalists.
Syed Hamid said Win Aung reiterated that Suu Kyi would be released as
soon as possible.
He said Yangon was not against the reconciliation
process and the current situation was only a temporary measure to enable them to
look at the various issues and problems to guarantee security and stability in
Myanmar.
"They do not expect the reconciliation process between the two
parties (between Myanmar government and the opposition) to derail or stop
forever. So, this is something that is temporary," he said.
He said
Yangon would carry out an intensive investigation and advise Asean member
countries on the latest development on the situation as Suu Kyi's detention
could have an adverse impact on neighbouring countries.
Syed Hamid said
the situation in Yangon was a concern to Asean members as it would jeopardise
the peace and security and have an impact on the region.
As such, there
was a need for Asean to be able to explain the situation in Myanmar in a very
credible manner so that the regional grouping's reputation and image would not
be questioned in any way, he said.
He, however, noted that Myanmar
should not be sidelined or marginalised by the international community in
international affairs, but should be brought to the mainstream.
"On our
part, we've done everything possible not to marginalise or sideline Myanmar by
members of the international community," he said.
Syed Hamid said Win
Aung expressed his appreciation to Malaysia for its support and understanding
the country's domestic issues.
"We had a frank and sincere discussion on
the subject and I think it is important to Malaysia to continue supporting
Myanmar, which we have been doing since the country joined Asean," he added.
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