Thursday, April 13 8:32 AM SGT

Britain's Premier Oil refuses to leave Myanmar

LONDON, April 12 (AFP) -

British oil company Premier Oil has no intention of leaving Myanmar, the company's chief executive said Wednesday after the British government asked it to withdraw to heighten pressure on Yangon's military leaders.

"We respect the political and human rights concerns of certain government and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and the support of sanctions in relations to these issues," a statement quoted Chief Executive Charles Jamieson as saying.

"However, although we're often pressurised to pull out of areas, we strongly believe that dialogue engagement as well as sustainable development, are key to effecting changes both now and in the future."

The chief executive added that he believed the company's ongoing dialogue with the human rights campaigning organisation Amnesty International had made a significant difference in Myanmar.

Junior foreign minister John Battle earlier said he had told Jamieson that he wanted Premier Oil to negotiate its withdrawal from Myanmar and end its ties with the regime.

"I set out our position in a way which could not be misunderstood," Battle told reporters.

"I really expect Premier to do the decent thing without having to resort to legal pressure."

Battle said further: "The continuing presence of reputable companies in Burma (Myanmar) is encouraging the regime there to flout international opinion."

Premier Oil has a 27-percent stake in the 650 million dollar (406 million pound, 649 million euro) Yetagun gas project in Myanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar opposition leader whose National League for Democracy's huge victory in 1990 national elections was overruled, has repeatedly urged the international community not to invest in the country or supply aid as long as the military remains in power.

In Paris a foreign ministry spokesman said France would not follow Britain's example by asking TotalFinaElf to withdraw from Myanmar, even though it deplored human rights violations in the country.

Rights group Amnesty International issued a statement later Wednesday saying it was "astonished" by Premier Oil's statement.

"The human rights situation there (in Myanmar) continues to be extremely grave," it said, adding that it had stressed that in meetings with the company's executives.

The organisation said it called on Premier Oil to demonstrate "what effective improvements their presence has brought about" in Myanmar, and insisting that "Amnesty does not endorse such a presence."

Meanwhile, Premier Oil announced a new gas discovery in Indonesia at Iguana-1, near to the West Natuna gas export facilities.

In a statement Wednesday, the company said a number of options were being reviewed for the sale of the newly-discovered gas.

Thursday, April 13 1:55 PM SGT

Myanmar angered by British "witch hunt"

BANGKOK, April 13 (AFP) -

Myanmar's ruling generals Thursday blamed the pro-democracy opposition for efforts by Britain to force an oil company to pull out of the country due to human rights concerns.

Junta spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Hla Min said pressure from British junior foreign minister John Battle on British firm Premier Oil was based on "regretful" misinformation.

"Mr Battle is not aware of the actual situation and conditions in Myanmar but is acting on information disseminated by the armed insurgents and politicians who are opposing the Myanmar government and also from those lobbying for them," he said in a statement to AFP.

A number of Western nations including Britain maintain sanctions on Myanmar due to the junta's refusal to recognise a landslide 1990 election victory by pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Western states also allege a wide array of human rights violations by the Myanmar regime.

Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly spoken out in favor of sanctions and urged foreign firms not to work with the junta.

Myanmar on Thursday accused Britain of mounting a "witch hunt."

"It is more regretful that Mr Battle still wants to continue the witch hunt while many others in the world community are trying to do good for the very people they want to assist.

"Unfortunately Mr Battle continues to favour (a) confrontational stance which is merely designed to achieve nothing but just (make Britain) feel good."

Premier Oil said Wednesday it had no intention of leaving Myanmar despite the pressure.

"We strongly believe that dialogue engagement as well as sustainable development, are key to effecting changes (in Myanmar) both now and in the future," a statement quoted Chief Executive Charles Jamieson as saying.

Battle earlier said he had told Jamieson that Premier Oil should negotiate a withdrawal from Myanmar and sever ties with the regime.

"I set out our position in a way which could not be misunderstood," Battle told reporters.

"I really expect Premier to do the decent thing without having to resort to legal pressure."

Premier Oil has a 27-percent stake in the 650 million dollar (406 million pound, 649 million euro) Yetagun gas project in Myanmar.

In Paris a foreign ministry spokesman said France would not follow Britain's example by asking TotalFinaElf to withdraw from Myanmar, even though it deplored human rights violations in the country.

Thursday, April 13 4:06 AM SGT

World Bank says fighting AIDS must be part of development assistance

WASHINGTON, April 12 (AFP) -

The World Bank said Wednesday the fight against AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan African, must become an integral part of efforts to combat poverty and promote economic development.

Although no new economic assistance for fighting the disease was announced, Bank president James Wolfensohn said policymakers gathered here for the spring meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund would discuss the need for programs to prevent and treat AIDS.

A paper drafted by World Bank staff on intensifying action against AIDS, released here Wednesday, will be presented to policymakers Sunday.

According to the paper, the epidemic "is swiftly dismantling the development achievements of the past 50 years" in the worst-hit countries.

"The AIDS paper is one that you could predict we would have on the development committee agenda, with 50 million people now having contracted the disease and 32 million people being extant, of whom 23 million are in Africa," Wolfensohn told reporters.

"This constitutes a very big challenge for us, not just in terms of the human aspect, but it's become a major development challenge, if not the most important development challenge confronting us in Africa today."

Wolfensohn, who was wearing the red ribbon lapel badge denoting AIDS awareness, noted that some pharmaceutical companies had provided retro-viral drugs at no cost to some developing nations, and that "discussions are going ahead with other companies about what they can do."

Additionally, World Bank officials are "trying to work with governments to come up with programs that will make it culturally acceptable to talk about it and to deal with it."

The region hardest hit is sub-Saharan Africa, where 85 percent of the AIDS deaths have occurred, said the paper.

"Africa's burden has resulted from conditions that allow the virus to spread -- notably poverty, dilapidated health systems and a high level of untreated sexually transmitted infections," the paper said.

The paper said one million people have died from AIDS in South and Southeast Asia, which also face a crisis because of the disease.

"India has the largest number of persons living with HIV/AIDS -- nearly four million -- and the virus has appeared in new Indian states in the past two years," said the paper, which also cited rising incidence of AIDS in Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

The study said "the most worrisome trend" on AIDS is occurring in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, whether the disease is spreading largely because of intravenous drug use. Often, this represents the early stage of an epidemic, which can accelerate with sexual transmission.

"The fact that HIV has grown so rapidly in a region where awareness is high underscores that awareness alone is insufficient; support for behavior change must follow," the paper said.

Channel Newsasia-Thursday, April 13 2:00 AM SGT

Myanmar national gets jail and cane for illegal entry and for harbouring illegals

A Myanmar national was sentenced to a total of 28 months' jail and four strokes of the cane for illegal entry to Singapore and harbouring eight other illegal immigrants.

The court heard that 34-year-old Khin Maung was arrested on the 28th of last month at a flat at Block 6, Teban Gardens, for being an immigrant offender.

He was arrested along with eight other Myanmar nationals staying in the flat.

Investigations showed he had rented the flat from its Singaporean owner and then sub-let it to his compatriots.

The Singaporean owner will be dealt with separately.

The Business Times-April 13, 2000.

UK tells firm to quit Myanmar gas project

U

K ministers have taken the unprecedented step of asking Premier Oil to withdraw from its 27 per cent interest in Myanmar's Yetagun gas project in an attempt to increase pressure on Yangon's military government.

Mr Battle: not seeking power to impose embargo

"The continuing presence of reputable companies in Burma is encouraging the regime there to flout international opinion," said John Battle, Foreign Office minister. "We are concerned that (Premier) are still in there and would prefer that they get out."

He added that this was the first time the Labour government -- which claims to operate an "ethical foreign policy" -- had intervened directly with a private company. But the government was not seeking legal authority to impose an embargo, he said.

"Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world," Mr Battle said, citing offences including rape, torture, forced labour and oppression of ethnic minorities.

Premier said it was studying Mr Battle's letter. But Charles Jamieson, chief executive, indicated the company was likely to stick with the US$650 million (S$1.1 billion) project on which it and its partners had not yet seen any return. "We believe constructive engagement is more likely to bring progress in countries like Burma," he said.

Mr Battle said the request to Premier, announced along with a tightening of the European Union's position, was justified by the country's human rights record. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar opposition leader, had also urged Premier to withdraw, he added.

Last year Malaysia's Petronas and Amerada Hess of the US formed a strategic alliance with Premier, each taking 25 per cent stakes in the UK quoted oil and exploration group and focusing it on Asian gas development, including the Yetagun field.

Petronas had already acquired a large minority stake in the Yetagun field from Texaco of the US in September 1997. Texaco decided to sell its interest in Myanmar after President Bill Clinton banned new investment in the country. Unocal, another US company, has retained its interests in Myanmar.

The UK has sought to take the lead in Europe in pushing for a tougher line on Myanmar. This led to the latest tightening, agreed on Monday, under which the EU has imposed a ban on the export of equipment that can be used for internal repression. -- FT

The Australian

Britain tells oil firm to quit Burma
By CARL MORTISHED and RICHARD BEESTON
13apr00

THE British Government has taken the unusual step of urging a British oil company to pull out of Burma because of the ruling junta's human rights record.

Foreign Office minister John Battle said he had told Charles Jamieson, chief executive of Premier, to end the company's commercial ties with the "disgraceful regime" in the military-ruled South-East Asian country.
But Premier was unrepentant, saying it had no intention of leaving Burma, where it is involved in a $US200 million gas project.

The oil company's defiance will put it directly in the firing line as the Government seeks to put Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's ethical foreign policy on a stronger footing.

Citing a record of killings, forced labour and oppression of minorities, Mr Battle said that Burma had one of the worst human rights records in the world. "Against that background, we have decided to ratchet up the pressure," he said.

Mr Battle said that he was not asking Premier to break the law, "but to negotiate and withdraw".

The Foreign Office said that the Government asked Premier to quit Burma two years ago, but Mr Jamieson denied that any such request had been made.

The Government has been under pressure from Burmese activists to impose unilateral sanctions on the country, a policy the Government has been resisting, claiming it would contravene European law.

A threatened judicial review of government policy by Burma Action Group ended recently when the Government conceded it could impose sanctions. The Foreign Office squarely accused Premier of supporting the military regime: "We feel that the continuing presence of reputable companies in Burma encourages the regime and is a factor in Burma's refusal to improve its human rights record."

Mr Jamieson questioned whether disinvestment would have any effect. "Isolation has been Burma's lot since 1962 when Ne Win took power, without any startling results. Talking to people is more likely to make progress," he said.

The Government's decision to target Premier coincided with moves by the European Union to step up sanctions against the military regime.

The names of key Burmese officials will be published in a ban on visas and in order to freeze their overseas assets. In addition, the ban on military exports will be extended to include equipment that might be used for internal repression.

EU sanctions against Burma are intended to support Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel prize winner.

Premier has a 26 per cent interest in Yetagun, a vast gasfield offshore of Burma. Premier's partners include Petronas, Malaysia's state oil and gas company, and PTT, the Thai power company that will import the gas into Thailand.

The Straits Times-April 13, 2000.
KL to produce 40,000 skilled workers a year

This is what it hopes to achieve when new industrial training centres are built under the Eighth Malaysia Plan

MALACCA -- Malaysia will be able to produce 40,000 skilled workers annually under the Eighth Malaysia Plan when more advanced industrial training centres are built, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said.

The centres are expected to produce such workers to meet the needs of local industry in the fields of electronics, gas and chemistry, robotics, mechatronics and information technology in the future.

He said that, by the end of next year, the existing and soon-to-be completed centres, costing about RM1.7 billion (S$766 million), could produce up to 17,000 skilled workers a year.

The minister said the figure would increase to 40,000 once the 16 new centres were completed under the eighth plan.

Dr Fong, who opened a human resources development seminar here, said the country needed a highly skilled work force for the export-oriented industries. "There are many manufacturers who have received big orders but cannot deliver because of the shortage of skilled manpower."

"An established plant requires an average 400 to 500 skilled workers. Therefore, serious efforts must be made to see that we have sufficient skilled labour to enable our industries to compete in the global market," Dr Fong said.

He also said his ministry would hire local and foreign experts and instructors to teach at the centres.

"We have also asked the Public Service Department to send ministry officers abroad for further training as part of our long-term human resource development strategies," he said.

The move, he added, was also aimed at turning Malaysia into the region's foremost educational and training centre for professionals.

"We are also going around the country to hold seminars for school-leavers so that they can join the training institutes immediately after school," he said.

The minister also said that the federal government would give out loans totalling RM500 million (S$225 million) to 17,000 students taking diploma and advanced programmes at its technology centres.

This is aimed at bolstering the country's human resource development and training skills.

"The government will increase the loans if the need arises, depending on the number of trainees." -- The Star/Asia News Network, New Straits Times.

The Straits Times Interactive

South East Asia News

APR 12, 2000

This boy insurgent just needs a big hug

Pictures of the child leaders of the Karen ethnic insurgency, God's Army have been splashed around the world. Tales of their apparent mystical powers have been told. In a first-time interview with the press since the January hospital raid, one of the 12-year-old twins, Luther Htoo, met an American journalist and spoke with The New York Times via satellite telephone.

SUAN PHUM (Thailand) -- Numerous legends and myths surround the 12-year-old twins who lead the God's Army. Between them, the twins say, they command 400,000 invisible soldiers.

If anybody shoots at them, the bullets just bounce off. And they can kill their enemies simply by pointing a rifle at the ground and concentrating really hard.

These might be the fantasies of a million schoolboys. But they are the beliefs that have led grown men into battle -- the legends that surround two child warriors who lead a ragged ethnic insurgency called God's Army, just across the border from Thailand in Myanmar.

Last week, one of the twins, Luther Htoo, left his mountain hideout with 15 of his soldiers to the hills along the border for his first interview since God's Army carried out a suicidal raid on a Thai hospital in January.

In a satellite telephone interview with The New York Times, he came across as a fidgety child with a childish voice who constantly turned to his followers for answers, asking them,"What should I say?"

Some of these answers were: He wants freedom for his people, the Karen minority. He is invulnerable to land mines and bullets. His favourite toys are real guns and ammunition. And he misses his parents.

On videotape he seemed more like a spoiled mascot than a general: He was carried through the woods on the shoulders of his men handed a lighted cheroot whenever he murmured, "I want a smoke," and tolerated benignly as he climbs in and out of the laps of the men he commands.

Clad in a camouflage fatigue shirt with a "US Army" patch, a "Love" tattoo on his arm, and a new short haircut, he turned away from time to time to double over in a wrenching smoker's cough. He seemed the unlikely leader of a separatist militant group.

Although Luther and his brother, Johnny, did not join the January raid, in which all 10 gunmen were shot dead after taking hostage of a hospital in the town of Ratchaburi, the twins became the objects of widespread curiosity abroad.

Now they are also wanted by the Myanmar military and shunned by other Karen rebels.

Like some other movements of this kind, God's Army lives by ascetic rules.

Alcohol, drugs and adultery are banned, along with milk, eggs and pork. Many Karens are Christian, and the twins are said to know the Bible by heart, although they have never studied it. Johnny was born first and goes everywhere first, according to a 45-year-old guerilla, even though Luther is regarded as having greater divine powers because he apparently has 250,000 invisible heavenly soldiers while Johnny has 150,000.

But Johnny commands more of the everyday kind of soldier. According to the guerilla, he has about 100 fighters protecting about 300 civilian followers, apparently including the boys' parents.

Luther has about 30 fighters, although in the interview he had to ask a subordinate for the number.

The boys' parents are simple farmers without magical powers, the guerilla said.

When the boys became leaders, their father put down his hoe and took up a gun to follow them.

In their Thursday meeting with Mr Jason Bleibtreu, an American photographer and video cameraman, the guerillas -- both boys and men -- had carried an assortment of M-16 and AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers.

They wore fatigues, shorts and a Donald Duck T-shirt along with black head scarves and rubber sandals. Some were barefoot.

Jason Bleibtreu said the soldiers seemed to treat the boy with a mixture of deference and patient parenting.

"They wouldn't allow him to act upon all of his whims," he said. "Sometimes he would want to ride on someone's shoulders. He would motion, lift me up, lift me up, and they would talk him out of it."

There seemed to be nothing extraordinary about this 12-year-old, apart perhaps from his childishness.

"What struck me most was he seemed to want attention, emotional contact," Mr Bleibtreu said.

"He wanted more hugs from his mother. He would sit down with me and put his hand on my shoulder. I got the feeling he wanted me to hug him.

"He would jump from soldier to soldier to their laps. The other boys weren't doing this. I felt sad, as a father: jeez, this kid wants a hug." -- New York Times

THE TWINS: The stuff of myths and legends

ONE of their followers, a 45-year-old guerilla, disclosed some of the myths that have built up around the Htoo twins deep in their jungle hideout.

Using the Karen term "bu," or "little brother," he referred to Luther as Bu Lu and to Johnny as Bu Joh.

"Once, when Bu Joh was bathing in a stream, he shouted to everybody, 'Look at me!' and he jumped into the water," said the anonymous guerrilla.

"When he came out he was an old man with long white hair and a white beard. All the soldiers were afraid, but he said, 'Don't be afraid: I'm Bu Joh! If you don't believe me, I'll change back.' And he jumped back into the water and came out as a boy again. I didn't see this myself, but more than 100 soldiers did see it."

In another incident that the guerilla said he did witness, Luther gave each fighter three magic bullets but admonished them to save them for emergencies.

One doubter disobeyed and shot one of the bullets at a tree. When he checked the tree, there were 10 bullet holes. "After that, he believed," the guerrilla said.

In a third incident, Luther sent his men into battle but remained where he was, pointing his rifle silently at the ground. Afterwards he asked how many of the enemy had been killed. Twenty, he was told. He then held up his rifle; exactly 20 bullets had disappeared from its magazine. -- New York Times

The Straits Times Interactive

South East Asia News

APR 12, 2000

God's Army short of food and losing support

SUAN PHUM (Thailand) -- On the run and short of food, God's Army has split into three small groups, two of which are led by the twins and the third by another 12-year-old.

The twins now talk to each other only by hand-held radio and are said to command fewer than 200 fighters, including child soldiers.

The leader of the third group is another 12-year-old called Chopa Thupli, or King of the Black Tongue.

This boy, a guerilla said, is actually 200-years old, a Thai king who once fought against the Burmese and decided to return as a Karen so that he could keep on fighting them.

His divinity is believed to be shown by the black colouring on his tongue. Some people believe the black colouring is a sign of magical powers.

The guerilla said the twins did not have black tongues, as others have reported.

But, he added, the twins were reincarnations of past leaders.

Luther and his brother, Johnny, became the objects of widespread curiosity abroad when 10 gunmen, then believed to be members of God's Army, were shot dead after taking hostage more than 800 patients and staff at a hospital in the town of Ratchaburi.

They also became the targets of a stepped-up hunt by the Myanmar military and found themselves barred from their potential sanctuary in Thailand. They also lost the support of other Karen rebels who are now under increased pressure on both sides of the border as a result of the disastrous raid.

The Karens have been fighting a separatist insurgency since Myanmar became independent of British colonial rule a half-century ago. Most other ethnic groups have reached an accommodation with the government in the last decade, but some Karens have continued to fight. -- New York Times

BBC-Thursday, 13 April, 2000, 13:49 GMT 14:49 UK

Dalai Lama meeting cancelled in Japan

The Dalai Lama says his visit to Japan is a spiritual affair

The Dalai Lama preaches at a recpetion in Tokyo

The governor of Tokyo has cancelled a meeting with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, amid fears that it could hurt Japan's ties with China.

The governor of the capital, Shintaro Ishihara, has a reputation for upsetting China over Tibet.

Local reports say the Japanese government had asked the governor not to meet the Dalai Lama - who arrived on Thursday in Japan - to avoid problems with China.

Hurting ties

China has protested to Japan that granting a visa to the Dalai Lama would harm bilateral relations.

The Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has said his visit is a spiritual affair designed to promote Buddhist teachings.

But Beijing accused him of being a political exile under a religious guise.

"In disregard of representations on many occasions by the Chinese side, the Japanese side insisted on allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Japan," China's foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said in Beijing.

"We hereby express our very strong resentment and regret over this," he added.

No politics

Japan has said that Tibetan leaders' problems with the Chinese Government would not be a factor in its decision as Tokyo maintains that issues regarding Tibet are an internal affair of China.

The Dalai Lama is not allowed to engage in any political activities during his visit to Japan.

The representative of the Dalai Lama's Tokyo liaison office criticised what it called Japan's pro-Beijing stance, saying it has always posed difficulties for the Dalai Lama.

"It is not because of the Japanese people, but because of the Japanese Government which easily succumbs to pressure from the Chinese Government," said Karma Gelek Yuthok. Exile

The spiritual leader has lived in exile in northern India since he fled Tibet in 1959, after China suppressed an uprising against Chinese rule.

His weeklong visit to Japan includes lectures and a visit to the ancient capital of Kyoto.