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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 25, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar media launch venomous attack on
opposition with snake tale
BBC - Australia: Suu Kyi arrest
'unacceptable'
AFP - Junta quotes British PM to defend
crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP - Australia criticises Myanmar regime over
crackdown on opposition
AP - Myanmar Junta Chides Suu Kyi
AP - UK Envoy-Suu Kyi -2: Suu Kyi Confined Since
Fri
AP - UK Envoy Stopped From Seeing Suu Kyi Under
House Arrest
AP - Thailand To Host UN, ADB Regional Business
Forum In Oct
ABC online - Thailand
calls for ASEAN mission to mediate in Burma's politics
The Daily Star - Myanmar's rice export falls by
16pc
Kyodo News - Kono, Annan's Myanmar envoy hope
for democracy in country
The Daily Star - Suu Kyi may face uncertain
fate, warns Myanmar junta
AP - Myanmar
junta lashes out at Suu Kyi, West; seeks cooperation
Bkk Post - BORDER - Troops identified as
Karen
Bkk Post - Army reinforcement after Burmese
clash
The Nation - Burmese appeal for Asean's
help
Monday, September 25 1:12 PM SGT
Myanmar media launch venomous attack on opposition with snake tale YANGON, Sept 25 - (AFP) -
Myanmar's official media Monday launched a bizarre attack on opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), comparing it to a
poisonous snake which had to be locked up out of harm's way for its own good and
that of the community.
While Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders are kept under house arrest
by the military junta, the Burmese-language Mirror daily in a venomous
commentary drew parallels between a tale about poisonous snakes and the
pro-democracy NLD party.
About 2,500 snakes -- the majority of them adult cobras -- were being
stored in a house in Thingankyun east of the capital by a foreigner, ostensibly
to be exported, the paper said.
Things came to a head when three snakes escaped, to the consternation of
nearby residents who were already unhappy about living next to a house writhing
with poisonous serpents, the daily said.
The authorities intervened and cleared the house of snakes and peace and
tranquility returned to the neighbourhood.
"If the angry community, already up in arms, had taken matters into their
own hands and burnt down the house to get rid of the snakes, they would have
been committing a crime and all the snakes would have been killed," the
commentary said.
"Thanks to the timely intervention of the authorities concerned, the snakes
were moved away and the threat of poisonous snakes removed from the community,"
it said.
It went on to compare the NLD leadership to a poisonous snake while
referring to recent confrontations between the NLD and the military junta which
have left Aung San Suu Kyi and party leaders under virtual house arrest.
"You can imagine how much public hatred the NLD leadership is inviting upon
themselves by their antics at ferry-crossings, railway stations and on the
wayside," it said.
If it had not been for timely intervention by the authorities, they would
have felt the wrath of angry crowds who were "totally fed-up with their
despicable acts blindly carried out at the behest of foreign powers," the
commentary said.
On Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were escorted from Yangon
central station by police cars after being prevented from boarding the train to
the northern city of Mandalay.
NLD leaders had arrived at Yangon station Thursday afternoon saying they
wanted to take a train to Mandalay to check reports of a crackdown on NLD
offices there.
The junta had September 14 ended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and
other NLD leaders following a nine-day roadside showdown but barred her from
leaving the capital.
The Nobel laureate and other members of the NLD central executive committee
were placed under virtual house arrest on September 2, after they tried to
attend a party meeting outside Yangon.
BBC - Monday, 25 September,
2000, 12:40 GMT 13:40 UK
Australia: Suu Kyi arrest 'unacceptable' The Australian Government has added its voice to growing
international criticism of the Burmese regime over its renewed detention of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Burmese opposition leader has been held under virtual
house arrest since she was prevented from taking a train out of the capital,
Rangoon, last Friday.
Describing the Burmese authorities' action as
"unacceptable", Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was
increasingly concerned about Aung San Suu Kyi's welfare.
"I have repeatedly urged the Burmese government to respect
the right of freedom of movement and association for all Burmese people," Mr
Downer said in a statement released on Monday.
"The Burmese government has once again flagrantly ignored
this fundamental right."
Since being forcibly evicted from Rangoon railway station,
Aung San Suu Kyi and several senior colleagues from her National League for
Democracy have been held under tight security.
Telephone lines to their homes have been cut and diplomats
have been denied access.
On Friday US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
condemned what she called "only the latest outrage committed against Aung San
Suu Kyi and other party leaders by the Burmese authorities".
Japan has also said it will put pressure on the Burmese
Government to "lift a measure of restriction on the freedom of movement of Aun
San Suu Kyi".
Burma's Government has hit out at what it calls "blatant
interference" in Burma's internal affairs "under the pretext of human rights and
democracy".
Movements restricted
The military authorities have maintained strict controls
on Aung San Suu Kyi's travel outside the capital since freeing her from six
years of house arrest in 1995.
Last month she was involved in a nine-day stand-off with
police, after leaving her home and attempting to drive to a party meeting
outside the capital.
That protest was also forcibly ended by the authorities,
after which the opposition leader and her colleagues were detained at their
homes whilst the government carried out what it said were investigations into
their activities.
In official statements on last week's stand-off, the
Burmese Government has said Aung San Suu Kyi was requested to leave the station
after she "lashed out" at cleaning staff after being told that train tickets had
sold out.
Blair quoted
It has said variously that she is being held for her own
protection or to prevent social chaos.
In comments released on Monday the authorities quoted a
speech from UK Prime Minister Tony Blair made during recent fuel protests to
defend its actions.
"'Legitimate protest is one thing. Trying to bring the
country to a halt is quite another, and there can be no justification for it',"
the Burmese Information Committee's website said, quoting from Mr Blair's 12
September speech.
"The government of Myanmar [Burma] agrees with his
statement," it said, adding that critics should "care for the welfare of whole
48 million population of Myanmar and not just one single individual's
interests."
Monday, September 25 4:06 PM SGT
Junta quotes British PM to defend crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi YANGON, Sept 25 (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling junta Monday used
a speech by British Prime Minister Tony Blair against oil protests to defend its
crackdown on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy (NLD).
"Unfortunately, Ms Su Kyi's so-called non-violent approach
to democracy is rather designed in putting the entire (NLD) party on the direct
confrontation with the government," the junta said in an English-language
statement calling on the rest of the party to cooperate and avoid
confrontation.
"'Legitimate protest is one thing. Trying to bring the
country to a halt is quite another, and there can be no justification for it',"
said the statement quoting from Blair's September 12 speech about oil protest
blockades in Britain.
"The government of Myanmar agrees with his statement," it
said, adding it hoped its western critics would "care for the welfare of whole
48 million population of Myanmar and not just one single individual's
interests."
Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders have been under
virtual house arrest since their latest standoff with the junta ended on Friday
with the Nobel laureate being escorted home from Yangon central railway station
by police after being blocked from travelling to the northern city of
Mandalay.
The junta variously says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held
under house arrest for her own protection or to prevent social
chaos.
The "cordial and frank" September 14 meeting between the
junta's number three, Secretary-One Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, and NLD
chairman Aung Shwe showed that both sides could avoid confrontation, it
said.
In contrast Aung San Suu Kyi and foreign critics were
"creating unnecessary obstacles delaying her orderly transition to multi-party
democracy," it said.
The military rulers also slammed foreign diplomats for
"blatant interference in the host country's internal affairs under the pretext
of human rights and democracy."
British and United States diplomats have regularly
attempted to visit Aung San Suu Kyi during her periods of house
arrest.
Former colonial power Britain and the US have been at the
forefront of international condemnation of the junta for human rights abuses and
its treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990,
but the junta has never recognised the result.
Monday, September 25 5:00 PM SGT
Australia criticises Myanmar regime over crackdown on opposition SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) - Australia Monday sharply criticised
Myanmar's military regime for putting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under
virtual house arrest, saying it was a flagrant breach of her
rights.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government was
deeply concerned over the crackdown which came after the National League for
Democracy (NLD) leader's latest confrontation with the junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters attempted to travel to
Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, by train Friday. They were told that all trains
were full and later escorted from the station.
Downer said the Australian embassy in Yangon was seeking
to meet Aung San Suu Kyi at the earliest opportunity to check on her welfare and
that of her supporters.
"The Burmese government's actions in respect to Aung San
Suu Kyi and her supporters are unacceptable," he said, using the country's
former name.
"I have repeatedly urged the Burmese government to respect
the rights of freedom of movement and association for all Burmese people
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
"This includes her right to move about freely and to meet
with her supporters. The Burmese government has once again flagrantly ignored
this fundamental right."
Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders faced off the
military in a nine-day roadside confrontation earlier this month after the
opposition group attempted to defy a ban on leaving the capital.
Monday, September 25 7:13 PM SGT
Myanmar Junta Chides Suu Kyi YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's ruling junta lashed out Monday at
Aung San Suu Kyi and her Western supporters, saying the opposition leader's
``stop me if you dare'' campaign is hurting the government's goal to establish a
new kind of democracy.
In a written statement, the government accused Western
diplomats in the capital of Yangon of encouraging ``one individual .... to
destabilize and overthrow the government of the host country.''
The statement came as the British Embassy said ambassador
John Jenkins was prevented Monday from seeing the 1991 Nobel peace laureate who
is under apparent house arrest again after her latest defiance of the junta last
week.
Jenkins was stopped outside Suu Kyi's house by security
forces and told he would not be allowed to see her as ``a temporary measure,''
an embassy spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.
The crackdown demonstrates the junta's resolve to silence
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy despite the vehement Western criticism
it is facing.
The government, which had kept Suu Kyi under formal house
arrest from 1989 to 1995, refused to hand over power to her party after it
overwhelmingly won elections in 1990. The military government dislikes her
spreading her pro-democracy message, and has often used force to prevent her
from traveling.
The government statement said that instead of adopting
confrontation, the party should support the authorities in its national goal to
transform Myanmar into ``a totally different political system,'' which includes
the establishment of a ``sustainable democracy.''
Suu Kyi's latest standoff with the government began Aug.
24 when she tried to drive out of Yangon for party work. On being stopped, she
became locked in a nine-day roadside standoff that ended when she was forcibly
brought back to Yangon and kept under virtual house arrest for two weeks. Eight
other top party leaders were also confined to their homes.
When the restrictions were lifted, Suu Kyi tried to travel
outside Yangon by train on Thursday. She was forcibly evicted from the train
station and confined to her home again.
In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
condemned the junta and said Australian diplomats in Yangon were trying to meet
Suu Kyi to check her welfare and that of her supporters.
The international support Suu Kyi commands irks the junta
greatly.
Monday's government statement said Western nations should
act and care for the welfare of 48 million people of Myanmar and not ``just one
single individual's interests.''
``The so-called `war of endurance' and `stop me if you
dare' campaigns orchestrated by (Suu Kyi's party) ... need to be looked into.''
Monday, September 25 2:56 PM SGT
UK Envoy-Suu Kyi -2: Suu Kyi Confined Since Fri YANGON (AP)--Britain's ambassador to Myanmar was prevented
Monday from seeing Aung San Suu Kyi who is under apparent house arrest again
after her latest defiance of Myanmar's junta, the British Embassy said.
Meanwhile, a government newspaper warned Suu Kyi's
opposition National League for Democracy that it owes its survival to the
military authorities, who, it claimed, are protecting the NLD from the wrath of
the people.
The NLD has received similar veiled threats in the past
from the government, and the latest one appeared to justify the new round of
restrictions on Suu Kyi and eight top party leaders, all of whom have been held
incommunicado since Friday.
The crackdown demonstrates the resolve of the government
to silence the NLD despite the vehement Western criticism it is facing and the
brickbats it could receive in upcoming international meetings.
"There are many people who are losing patience and are
itching to strike on a group of people loitering around stations, jetties and
road corners. Knowing the situation, authorities have to take preventive
measures to protect the NLD snakes," said an article in the Myanmar-language
Kyemon daily Monday.
"NLD people are snakes ... (people) are ready to wipe them
out," it said.
A British Embassy spokesperson said Ambassador John
Jenkins was stopped outside Suu Kyi's house by security forces and told he
wouldn't be allowed to see her. He was told that "it was a temporary measure,"
the spokesperson said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi on Friday and
Saturday also were turned away but they will continue to try to see her, the
spokesperson said.
2: Suu Kyi Confined Since Fri
The government doesn't want Suu Kyi to spread her
pro-democracy message, and has used force to block her from traveling outside
Yangon on numerous occasions. The junta put Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace
laureate, under formal house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and refused to hand over
power to the NLD after it won elections in 1990.
Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders have been ordered to stay
inside their homes since Friday, a day after she and party deputy leader Tin Oo
were forcibly evicted from the Yangon railway station when they tried to travel
by train to Myanmar's second largest city, Mandalay. Tin Oo, 73, has been taken
away to an undisclosed location, believed to be a government guest house.
A stay in a government guest house usually means
indefinite detention without charges. Some 45 other NLD members have been held
in guest houses since September 1998 when the NLD set up a committee to convene
an alternative parliament to serve in place of the one that the government has
never allowed.
About 80 to 100 NLD workers who were with Suu Kyi at the
station on Thursday also are missing after being taken away by security forces,
a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many of their relatives say
they have not returned home since Thursday, the diplomat said.
Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were placed under virtual
house arrest for two week earlier this month after she and Tin Oo tried to
travel by car to a southern town. -0- 25/09/00 06-56G
Monday, September 25 2:52 PM SGT
UK Envoy Stopped From Seeing Suu Kyi Under House Arrest YANGON (AP)--Britain's ambassador to Myanmar was prevented
Monday from seeing Aung San Suu Kyi who is under apparent house arrest again
after her latest defiance of Myanmar's junta, the British Embassy said.
Meanwhile, a government newspaper warned Suu Kyi's
opposition National League for Democracy that it owes its survival to the
military authorities, who, it claimed, are protecting the NLD from the wrath of
the people.
The NLD has received similar veiled threats in the past
from the government, and the latest one appeared to justify the new round of
restrictions on Suu Kyi and eight top party leaders, all of whom have been held
incommunicado since Friday.
The crackdown demonstrates the resolve of the government
to silence the NLD despite the vehement Western criticism it is facing and the
brickbats it could receive in upcoming international meetings.
"There are many people who are losing patience and are
itching to strike on a group of people loitering around stations, jetties and
road corners. Knowing the situation, authorities have to take preventive
measures to protect the NLD snakes," said an article in the Myanmar-language
Kyemon daily Monday.
"NLD people are snakes ... (people) are ready to wipe them
out," it said.
A British Embassy spokesperson said Ambassador John
Jenkins was stopped outside Suu Kyi's house by security forces and told he
wouldn't be allowed to see her. He was told that "it was a temporary measure,"
the spokesperson said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi on Friday and
Saturday also were turned away but they will continue to try to see her, the
spokesperson said.
Monday, September 25 4:10 PM SGT
Thailand To Host UN, ADB Regional Business Forum In Oct BANGKOK (AP)--U.N. officials and business leaders
from the Greater Mekong subregion will meet in Bangkok next month to discuss the
experiences of investors in the area as part of an effort to increase trade, a
U.N. agency said Monday.
The Oct. 3-4 meeting is being organized by the Asian
Development Bank and the U.N.'s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific "to promote networking among business firms in the subregion," an ESCAP
statement said.
It said the Greater Mekong Subregion Business Forum will
discuss economic and business outlook, experiences of investors in doing
business and the support facilities available to private business development in
the subregion.
The Greater Mekong Subregion comprises Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Yunan province of China.
Besides private sector representatives of the subregion,
the meeting will also be attended by businessmen from outside the area who will
discuss business opportunities.
The meeting will be paid for by the government of Japan
and the ADB, and will be hosted by the Thai Chamber of Commerce under the
chairmanship of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
ABC online - Sep 24,
2000.
Thailand calls for ASEAN mission to mediate in Burma's politics Thailand has called on the Burmese junta to allow a
mediation mission from ASEAN to help solve the impasse with opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry says it believes a negotiating
team from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would help.
The team would be made up of Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei,
which along with Burma are members of the regional grouping.
Thailand says ASEAN's image had been sullied by the
long-running political confrontation in Burma and Rangoon must work to restore
its credibility in the eyes of the international community.
Meanwhile, the British embassy in Rangoon says Britain's
ambassador has been prevented from seeing Aung San Suu Kyi who appears to be
under house arrest.
Last Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were
escorted from Rangoon central station by police cars after being prevented from
boarding the train to the northern city of Mandalay.
The Daily Star - Sep
25, 2000.
Myanmar's rice export falls by 16pc YANGON, Sept 24: Myanmar exported a total of 32,200 tons
of rice in the first six months of this year, falling by 16.1 per cent from same
period of 1999 when it registered at 38,400 tons, according to the latest
figures of the country's Central Statistical Organisation, says
Xinhua.
In 1999, Myanmar exported 63,700 tons of rice, a drop also
from 111,700 tons in 1998, indicating a trend of down-sliding in the
export.
To meet its food demand, Myanmar has since January 1999
reclaimed 467,370 hectares of vacant, virgin, fallow and wetlands in the
country's six divisions and states for cultivation by private entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, more reclamation of such lands in two other states and divisions are
also being planned in four years' time beginning April 2001, the start of the
next fiscal year.
Myanmar has abundance of cultivable land stretching 18.22
million hectares, of which only 9.31 million are under cultivation while 8.91
million remained utilized.
The country's agriculture accounts for 37 per cent of the
gross domestic product and 25 per cent of the export value.
TOKYO, Sept. 25 Kyodo News
Kono, Annan's Myanmar envoy hope for democracy in country Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan's special envoy for Myanmar Razali Ismail agreed Monday to call for
the democratization of the junta-ruled country, a Foreign Ministry official
said.
While paying a courtesy call to Kono, Razali said it is
important for Myanmar to ''be accepted by and receive backing from the
international community to improve its health, sanitation and education
conditions,'' according to the official.
The Daily Star - Sep 24,
2000.
Suu Kyi may face uncertain fate, warns Myanmar junta HR Watch calls for action against Yangon YANGON, Sept 23: Myanmar's junta today detained the deputy
leader of the opposition National League for Democracy party (NLD), Tin Oo, and
placed a tight security cordon around the home of Aung San Suu Kyi preventing
her from leaving, reports AFP.
The junta also issued a chilling warning that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could face an uncertain fate if she kept up her "confrontational" ways. The moves come one day after Aung San Suu Kyi was escorted
from Yangon central station where she was stopped from boarding a train to the
northern city of Mandalay.
His detention came as a tight security cordon was placed
around Aung San Suu Kyi's house, preventing the NLD leader from leaving her home
and receiving any visitors, witnesses said.
However, junta officials stressed to AFP that no charges
were filed against any NLD leaders, but said the leadership needs to remain
under detention to allow the situation in Yangon time to calm down.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch called Saturday for
concerted action against the Myanmar junta, following the detention of the
deputy leader of the opposition party and the de facto house arrest placed on
Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Human Rights Watch today called for immediate
international pressure on Burma to lift new government restrictions on the
opposition party," the rights group said in a statement received
here.
Myanmar junta lashes out at
Suu Kyi, West; seeks cooperation
YANGON, Myanmar, Sep 25, 2000 (AP) -- Myanmar's ruling junta on Monday lashed out
at Aung San Suu Kyi and her Western supporters, saying the opposition leader's
"stop me if you dare" campaign is hurting the government's goal to establish a
new kind of democracy.
In a written statement, the government accused Western
diplomats in Yangon of encouraging "one individual .... to destabilize and
overthrow the government of the host country."
The statement came as the British Embassy said ambassador
John Jenkins was prevented Monday from seeing the 1991 Nobel peace laureate who
is under apparent house arrest again after her latest defiance of the junta last
week.
Jenkins was stopped outside Suu Kyi's house by security
forces and told he would not be allowed to see her as "'a temporary measure,"'
an embassy spokesperson said on customary condition of anonymity.
The crackdown demonstrates the junta's resolve to silence
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy despite the vehement Western criticism
it is facing and the brickbats it could receive in upcoming international
meetings.
The government, which had kept Suu Kyi under formal house
arrest from 1989 to 1995, refused to hand over power to the NLD after it
overwhelmingly won the elections in 1990. The military government dislikes her
spreading the pro-democracy message, and has often used force to prevent her
from traveling.
The government statement said that instead of adopting
confrontation, the NLD should support the authorities in its national goal to
transform Myanmar into "a totally different political system," which includes
the establishment of a "sustainable democracy."
Suu Kyi's latest standoff with the government began Aug.
24 when she tried to drive out of Yangon for party work. On being stopped, she
became locked in a nine-day roadside standoff that ended when she was forcibly
brought back to Yangon and kept under virtual house arrest for two weeks. Eight
other top party leaders were also confined to their homes.
When the restrictions were lifted, Suu Kyi and deputy
party leader Tin Oo tried to travel outside Yangon by train on Thursday. They
were forcibly evicted from the station and the home confinement restrictions
were imposed again on Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and the remaining seven top NLD
leaders.
Besides, Tin Oo, 73, was shifted to a government guest
house, a euphemism for indefinite detention without charges. Some 45 other NLD
members have been living in guest houses since September 1998.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi on Friday and
Saturday were turned away but they will continue to try to see her, the British
Embassy spokesperson said.
In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
condemned the junta and said Australian diplomats in Yangon were trying to meet
Suu Kyi to check her welfare and that of her supporters.
The international support Suu Kyi commands irks the junta
greatly.
Monday's government statement said Western nations should
act and care for the welfare of 48 million people of Myanmar and not "just one
single individual's interests."
"The so-called 'war of endurance' and 'stop me if you
dare' campaigns orchestrated by NLD ... need to be looked into," it
said.
It is unfortunate that every government step "has been
challenged, ridiculed and impeded," delaying Myanmar's "orderly transition to a
multiparty democracy," it said.
Meanwhile, issuing a veiled threat, a government newspaper
warned the NLD that it owes its survival to the military authorities who, it
claimed, are protecting the NLD from the wrath of the people.
"NLD people are snakes ... (people) are ready to wipe them
out," said an article in the Myanmar-language Kyemon daily Monday.
Bangkok Post - Sep 25,
2000.
BORDER - Troops identified as Karen Mae Sot, Tak The four armed men killed in a clash with a Thai patrol on
Saturday were soldiers of the Karen National Union, a source said
yesterday.
The source, who is a KNU member, said the four were part
of the 9-man unit of the 201st Battalion under Maj Nerda, son of Gen Bo Mya, the
KNU military leader.
The unit, led by Lt Paya, clashed with Burmese troops
opposite Phop Phra district and strayed into Thai territory while on the run.
While eating at a farm hut, the KNU soldiers were attacked
by the Thai patrol, which they first thought was a Burmese unit, and a clash
followed.
They fled across the border after learning the attackers
were Thai soldiers, leaving behind the bodies of four soldiers.
The source said Gen Bo Mya was saddened by the loss of the
four men-Lt Paya, 28, Sgt Aung Soe, 28, Pvt Ya Po Ko, 23, and Pvt Salae Moo,
20.
Gen Bo Mya wanted the Thai soldiers to return the bodies
for a religious ceremony.
Bangkok Post - Sep 25,
2000.
Army reinforcement after Burmese clash Chiang Mai Fighting inside Burma opposite Chiang Dao district has prompted a
reinforcement of Thai border forces.
A military source said the firefight began at 3pm on Saturday when an
800-strong Burmese force and two combined companies of the United Wa State Army
and Muser soldiers opened fire on Shan State Army positions at Doi Thuay
opposite Ban Muang Na Nua, Chiang Dao district.
Gunfire was heard on the Thai side of the border until 9pm.
The SSA positions were manned by 600 troops of the 727th SSA Division
commanded by Lt-Col Tuen Khua.
The conflict resumed yesterday at 4am and three soldiers, whose nationality
was unknown, were taken to Chiang Dao Hospital for treatment.
The Nation - Sep 25,
2000.
Burmese appeal for Asean's help As a Burmese, it is sad that Burma is still struggling to become a
democratic country. More than that, it is disgraceful to hear that Burma's
problem is causing trouble for other countries.
We agree completely that this is the responsibility of the military junta.
If they were doing well for the country, we Burmese would not be in trouble
in other countries. We absolutely agree that there is no place like home. But we
have to leave our motherland instead. In my opinion, no matter who rules the
country, the main thing is that the country's interest must be prioritised.
For example, if the SPDC is doing the right thing for the country, I am
going to appreciate it and I will be ready to help it develop. However, the
situation in Burma is getting worse.
The main problem, I think, is that the SPDC is conceited. That's why the
SPDC likes to blame anyone who attempts to mediate to solve problems, especially
Western countries.
According to their way of thinking, they do not believe that any Western
country can help solve the problems in Burma. So they should accept the Asean
Troika to mediate between opposition groups and themselves. This is a good
opportunity for them as well as the country.
So I would like to call on the Asean countries to persuade the SPDC to
accept the Asean Troika for the sake of distressed Burmese.
Thor Zin
LONDON, ENGLAND
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