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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - January - 09, 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- India Abroad - Tension along
Bangla-Myanmar border after exchange of fire
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi: West's democracy
poster-child, but thwarted at home
AFP - Myanmar junta holds secret talks with Suu
Kyi, dialogue planned
AFP - UN envoy leaves Myanmar after meetings
with Suu Kyi
AP - UN Envoy Says Mediation With Myanmar "Very
Satisfactory"
AP - Bangladesh, Myanmar Troops Exchange
Gunfire
BBC - Burma halts work on controversial
dam
The Washington Times - Burma junta clamps down on freedom party
The Nation - Burmese drug connection still
unknown
BKK Post - God's Army fighters get
ultimatum
BBC - Suu Kyi meets military
Tuesday January 9, 12:31 PM
Tension along Bangla-Myanmar border after exchange of fire By Ershadul Huq, India Abroad News Service Dhaka, Jan 9 - Tension is running high along Bangladesh's border with
Myanmar after a protracted exchange of fire Monday when the Myanmarese side
reportedly began building an embankment on the Naf river in violation of a
bilateral agreement.
The Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned Myanmar's ambassador here Monday
afternoon and lodged with him a strong protest over the attempt by Myanmarese
border guards to build the embankment, ministry sources said.
Ambassador U Ohn Thwin was summoned following exchange of fire between
border guards extending over several hours. The embankment construction,
according to Bangladesh, was in violation of a clause of a 1966 agreement
between the two countries that was renewed in 1980.
Official sources here said paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel
exchanged fire with Nasaka, the Myanmar border force, at a frontier position at
the Teknaf point of Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar for several hours over
the attempted construction of the embankment. Decisive fire by BDR personnel, a
strong protest note from the Bangladesh government and a flag meeting between
the two sides eventually led to a cease-fire and suspension of construction in
the evening.
The Nasaka personnel reportedly initiated the gun battle by shooting three
rounds at around 10.00 a.m. after manhandling a BDR courier who had ventured
across the border with a proposal for a flag meeting. When the messenger crossed
back into Bangladesh, BDR personnel returned the fire using automatic weapons,
including heavy and light machine guns.
Reports say the Bangladeshi side was provoked into firing at around 12.15
p.m. Sporadic shooting continued till 3.30 p.m., mainly from the Myanmar side.
"We only fired warning shots," said a BDR official. Construction of the
embankment reportedly stopped immediately after BDR returned fire.
Meanwhile, the BDR has called in reinforcements from Cox's Bazar. Usually
more than 1,000 BDR men are posted in the region. The BDR was at its full
strength when the tension began. However, the army has not been put on alert,
despite its strong presence in the nearby Chittagong region. "We are in a
position to cope with the situation ourselves," said a top BDR official posted
in the area.
The Myanmar forces agreed to sit at a flag meeting around 4.30 p.m. At the
company-level meeting, the Myanmar side agreed to suspend construction of the
embankment. Foreign and home ministry officials here said they were closely
monitoring the situation.
The Myanmarese embassy in Dhaka is "yet to receive any feedback from our
headquarters," said a senior official. "We want to have a border line of peace
and tranquility with our neighbors, including Bangladesh," he said.
Tuesday, January 9 8:31 PM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi: West's democracy poster-child, but thwarted at home YANGON, Jan 9 (AFP) - Twelve
years after she returned home from Europe, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
remains excluded from power by Myanmar's junta but has emerged as an icon of
democracy for the West.
The Nobel peace laureate saw aspirations for democracy in heady 1988
demonstrations evaporate in a hail of gunfire which left thousands of protestors
dead.
The years since then have been one of ultimately fruitless struggle against
the military by her National League for Democracy (NLD).
After a decade of intimidation, repression and arrests, it has little but
the fame of its charismatic leader to sustain it.
Over the last three months, with international attention drifting from
Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest yet again, things looked
particularly grim.
But news emerged Tuesday that the dogged efforts of UN envoy Razali Ismail
have achieved a breakthrough in efforts to kick-start a process that may break
the political deadlock.
The Malaysian diplomat said senior members of the junta had held secret
top-level talks with the opposition figurehead since late last year.
And sources told AFP that the two sides were poised to begin an historic
dialogue aimed at achieving national reconciliation in Myanmar.
As the weight of sanctions and poor economic management threaten to bring
the country to its knees, many observers believe at least some junta elements
are willing to countenance change.
The daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San -- who is revered by
opposition and junta alike and was assassinated months before the country won
independence from Britain in 1948 -- has paid a high price for her fame.
A victim of her own popularity, she was placed under house arrest in 1989
under the "Law Protecting the State from Destructionists" and only granted
limited freedom in 1995.
Her thunderous silence during those years of house arrest galvanized global
opposition to the junta, drawing denunciations from the United Nations,
governments and human rights groups world wide. The award of a Nobel peace prize
in 1991 only served to reinforce that opposition.
Aung San Suu Kyi was born June 19, 1945, in Yangon and educated there until
1960 when her mother, Khin Kyi, was named ambassador to India, and then at Delhi
University. From 1964-67 she studied philosophy, politics and economics at St.
Hugh's College in Britain's Oxford University.
In 1972 she married British academic Michael Aris. Their first son,
Alexander, was born in 1973 and their second, Kim, in 1977. The junta seized on
her marriage as evidence she is not committed to Myanmar and frequently refers
to her simply as Mrs Aris.
Aris died in March 1999 after a long struggle with cancer. The junta denied
him a visa to visit his wife in the last months of his illness.
Aung San Suu Kyi declined to leave the country to be by her husband's side,
an _expression_ of solidarity with those strugging for democracy. She also feared
she may never have been allowed back in.
She had returned to Rangoon in April 1988 to tend to her sick mother and
found the city awash in protests against the military, which had seized power in
1962.
The demonstrations quickly spread nationwide and grew in intensity,
prompting her to take on the role of intermediary in what was to become a bloody
confrontation.
In September 1988, she was named secretary-general and co-founder of the
National League for Democracy, an alliance of 105 opposition parties challenging
the junta.
Beginning in October 1988 she crisscrossed Burma, delivering more than 100
campaign speeches for the NLD ahead of national elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi mesmerized huge crowds with her beauty and speaking
ability, and because she was the daughter of Burma's founding father.
Despite being confined to her home, she led the NLD to a landslide victory
in 1990 polls which the junta refused to accept.
She has held regular meetings of supporters at her compound and continues
to speak out against the junta.
Tuesday, January 9 7:18 PM SGT
Myanmar junta holds secret talks with Suu Kyi, dialogue planned BANGKOK, Jan 9 (AFP) -
Myanmar's junta has held secret top-level talks with opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and the two sides are poised to begin an historic dialogue that could
end a decade of political deadlock, sources told AFP Tuesday.
Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the junta's first secretary and powerful
chief of military intelligence, met with Aung San Suu Kyi at least once last
month, diplomatic sources in Bangkok and Myanmar's capital Yangon said.
A second meeting scheduled with the Nobel peace laureate may already have
taken place over the last few days.
The diplomats said they did not know what had been discussed in the talks,
but indications were that they had gone well.
Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) were now expected to embark on
their first official dialogue since 1994, they said.
The sources said Myanmar's ruling general had confirmed in private that
contacts were underway with the opposition party which it has tried to destroy
since denying it a landslide election victory in 1990.
"I think everyone here accepts it is true and that direct talks have gone
on between Aung San Suu Kyi and senior people in the SPDC," one diplomat told
AFP.
It was not yet clear what form the dialogue would take, but it was believed
Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta would broach political issues while other topics,
such as the economy and health care, were addressed on the sidelines.
The breakthrough in attempts to achieve national reconciliation in Myanmar
is largely credited to UN envoy Razali Ismail, who Tuesday left Yangon at the
end of his third mission to the country since he was appointed in April.
Tuesday, January 9 4:58 PM SGT
UN envoy leaves Myanmar after meetings with Suu Kyi YANGON, Jan 9 (AFP) - UN envoy
Razali Ismail left Myanmar Tuesday, ending a five-day visit aimed at
establishing a historic dialogue between Myanmar's ruling junta and the
opposition.
Before leaving Yangon for Kuala Lumpur, Razali attended a wrap-up meeting
with Myanmar foreign minister Win Aung, according to official sources.
During his visit, Rizali met twice separately with opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and Lt. General Khin Nyunt, the first secretary of the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Sources in Yangon said the Malaysian diplomat spent more than two hours
Monday with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who has been under house
arrest since September 22. They also met at length on Saturday.
No details of the meeting were available, but it was expected to focus on
Razali's mission to achieve national reconciliation in Myanmar and break a
decade-long impasse between the two sides.
Both sides have remained tight-lipped about the so-called "secret meetings"
while representatives of Myanmar's ethnic minorities, who hold a political stake
in the outcome of the meetings, monitored the situation closely.
"We appreciate the fact that the two main protagonists have to handle the
situation very, very carefully," Khun Tun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities
League for Democracy (SNLD), told AFP Tuesday.
"It's like both sides are holding onto a water-port that could easily break
into pieces if it should slip through their fingers and fall," he said
Khun Tun Oo, who met Razali during his first visit to Yangon, said he
welcomes what has become known as the 'Razali Initiative' and expressed hope
that a breakthrough would result.
"We also have a high stake in this matter and we want him to succeed," he
said.
Rizali's visit has mustered little public interest in Myanmar, where a
state media blackout has been imposed for the visit.
Any results from the trip are not likely to be known until Razali reports
to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who appointed him to the job in April.
Many observers believe that Razali's efforts in three visits to Myanmar
since then may be beginning to achieve some results.
But with the junta characteristically reticent and the opposition leader
and several senior NLD members under house arrest since September, the
speculation cannot be confirmed.
Sources in Yangon and Bangkok have hinted contacts between the Nobel
laureate and the junta have already begun. Diplomatic circles have been abuzz
with such rumors for months.
Diplomatic sources say even if Razali doesn't manage a breakthrough, he may
at least kick-start a reconciliation process with enough momentum to develop
under its own steam.
They are cautiously optimistic the skilful and experienced diplomat, who
has seemingly won the confidence of both sides, may find success where envoys
before him failed.
Tuesday, January 9 7:41 PM SGT
UN Envoy Says Mediation With Myanmar "Very Satisfactory" KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--A U.N. envoy
said Tuesday that his latest visit to broker a dialogue between Myanmar's
military regime and the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi had been "very satisfactory."
Razali Ismail, a former Malaysian diplomat, held separate meetings with Suu
Kyi and Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, a senior leader in the ruling junta, during his
five-day trip.
"I found the visit very satisfactory, very good," Razali told The
Associated Press on his return to Kuala Lumpur. "Let's leave it at that. You
have to draw your conclusions from that."
Razali said he was "already in the process" of briefing U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan concerning the visit - his third to Myanmar since
his appointment in April.
Razali said that he would be visiting Myanmar again "soon."
The trip coincided with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's first
visit to Myanmar in two years, sparking speculation of a possible link. The U.N.
envoy, however, said the timing was coincidental.
Mahathir's "visit definitely helped the U.N. effort, but it is a separate
Malaysian initiative," Razali said.
Mahathir, who returned at a separate airport, told reporters that Myanmar's
government had invited Malaysian companies to invest in the processing of raw
materials, including fisheries.
Mahathir, who has consistently defended the military regime against
international criticism over the years, met with Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the top
figure in the ruling State Peace and Development Council.
The military government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has come under
intense international criticism for repression of Suu Kyi's party, use of forced
labor and repression of minority ethnic groups.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was never allowed to take power
after a sweeping general election victory in 1990. The government refuses to
hold talks with the NLD if they include Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize.
Tuesday, January 9 4:42 PM SGT
Bangladesh, Myanmar Troops Exchange Gunfire DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)--Bangladesh and Myanmar border troops
exchanged gunfire over Myanmar's building of an embankment on a river that
divides the two neighbors, officials said Tuesday.
No casualties were reported during Monday's skirmish along the River Naaf,
which forms part of a 500-kilometer frontier between the two countries, said
Maj. Gen. Fazlur Rahman, head of Bangladesh frontier forces.
The gunfire began after the Myanmar border troops roughed up a Bangladeshi
guard who had carried a letter protesting the construction of the embankment 100
meters inside Bangladesh, Rahman said.
In Dhaka, the foreign ministry lodged a protest with Myanmar's ambassador,
U Ohn Thwin.
"We are awaiting reports from our government," the Myanmar ambassador told
reporters after the meeting.
Bangladesh has reinforced its 1,000-strong border guards along the river,
310 kilometers south of Dhaka.
Tension mounted in the region where Bangladesh has put up nearly 22,000
Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar in 1990, accusing the Myanmar soldiers
of torture and persecution.
BBC - Monday, 8 January, 2001, 20:54
GMT
Burma halts work on controversial dam A senior security official in Bangladesh has said Burma has agreed to
suspend the construction of a controversial dam on the border between the two
countries.
Troops from the two countries had earlier exchanged shots across the River
Naaf which forms part of the border between the two countries.
There are no reports of any injuries.
The Bangladeshi authorities summoned the Burmese ambassador to discuss
their concerns over the dam construction project on the river Naaf, which they
say will flood or cause erosion in Bangladeshi territory.
Bangladesh claims the work would be in violation of an agreement between
Dhaka and Rangoon that they would not build any dams to obstruct or divert the
flow of the Naaf.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 9, 2001 Burma junta clamps down on freedom party By Joshua Kurlantzick RANGOON, Burma — While pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
languishes under house arrest, Burma's ruling junta is trying to demolish her
National League for Democracy (NLD) party once and for all.
"The military is desperately trying to stamp the NLD out. A full-force
crackdown is in effect," said Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Altsean-Burma, a
Bangkok-based group that monitors Burma issues.
On Dec. 21, the junta handed down sentences of up to 21 years for six
leading members of the NLD, which won a majority of seats in Burma's 1990 free
elections, a poll that was then annulled by the military. The six were tried in
closed sessions inside Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison and found guilty of
distributing pro-democracy leaflets.
Hundreds of lower-level NLD workers reportedly have been detained
throughout the country in the past six months, while Burma's leaders have
stepped up their attacks on the opposition NLD.
Mrs. Suu Kyi will be "crushed without mercy," Tin Oo, a leading member of
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the official name for the junta,
told Burma's state-controlled media.
And in a potentially debilitating move, Mrs. Suu Kyi's brother, Aung San
Oo, a U.S. citizen, has sued his sister in an attempt to reclaim half of her
residence, which he says should be a jointly owned family property.
Some analysts suspect the junta pushed Aung San Oo, who is not a
pro-democracy activist, to file the suit. Since foreigners cannot hold property
in Burma, if Aung San Oo wins, his half of the house would be turned over to the
government, which then could potentially evict Mrs. Suu Kyi.
Mrs. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since late September, when the
junta prevented her from traveling to the central city of Mandalay to visit NLD
members.
Some Bangkok-based analysts say that if she loses the lawsuit, the military
might keep her under arrest but transfer her to a prison, further isolating the
opposition leader.
Although dealings within the junta are often opaque, several theories have
emerged as to why the SPDC is attempting to annihilate its opposition.
Some analysts believe a group of hard-liners centered on army chief Maung
Aye has gained the upper hand within the military.
The Maung Aye faction believes it can wipe out the NLD and still maintain
ties with its key allies, said Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs, a Burma specialist at
Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"Relations with the U.S. couldn't get much worse, the hard-liners figure,
so there's not much to lose on that front," he said.
China, Pakistan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India are
Burma's key trading partners and suppliers of military assistance. None of those
countries has commented publicly on the junta's treatment of Mrs. Suu Kyi.
Burma has very limited ties with the West because many Western states
imposed tough sanctions on Rangoon in the 1990s after the junta refused to
recognize an overwhelming election victory by the NLD.
The hard-liners also may be using the anti-NLD effort to isolate
pragmatists within the regime who are in favor of engaging the opposition, Mr.
Stothard said.
In July, Zaw Tun, the junta's deputy minister for development, was fired
for denigrating the regime's management strategies and suggesting a more
pragmatic economic and political approach.
Other Burma experts argue that the junta believes it has generated enough
good will by crushing several ethnic insurgencies that people have begun to
accept it as the country's legitimate ruler.
But the attempted crackdown could backfire.
"The military has weeded out the NLD members who were fearful, leaving a
hardened, more sophisticated, tougher group of activists willing to take more
serious and extreme measures," Mr. Stothard said.
And if free elections were held again, the NLD would probably
triumph.
Many Rangoon residents quietly but adamantly express admiration for Mrs.
Suu Kyi, although they have become increasingly wary of talking about
politics.
The Nation - January 10,
2001.
Burmese drug connection still unknown HELP would be sought from Burma to locate drug traffickers behind the
largest ever haul of methamphetamines and heroin seized in Thai waters,
Narcotics Control Board chief, Kitti Limchaikit said yesterday. The Burmese
counterparts who made the hand-over to Thai drug traffickers were believed to be
at large and Thai authorities would like to see them stand trial in a Thai
court, Kitti said.
Thai anti-narcotics and security officials had found 7.8 million
methamphetamine pills and 114 kilograms of heroin in two fishing boats in the
Andaman Sea.
Acting on a tip-off, the Narcotics Suppression Bureau sought assistance
from the Royal Thai Navy, which on Sunday deployed two cruisers and an aircraft
to arrest the alleged drug traffickers.
According to an official, an initial investigation suggested the drugs may
have originated from the Golden Triangle. Anti-narcotics officers said this area
was largely controlled by a pro-Rangoon minority group, called the United Wa
State Army.
The six people who have been arrested so far include: Raksit Vinijkul,
Sombhat Pinthong, Pratheep Thawee-apiradeeroj, Chairat Sae-tan, Supachai
Krajaejan, and a Burmese national, Chun-chang Sae-yor.
Kitti said authorities had seized Bt30 million worth of assets from
Pratheep, Bt3 million of assets from Chairat and Bt300,000 of assets from
Supachai. They were also looking into Chairat's 24 bank accounts.
Suchart was being held responsible for the offence as he was the owner of
two trawlers found carrying the drugs, which had an estimated street value of
about Bt1 billion, officials said.
According to the officials, the drug shipment was loaded in Burma. The
heroin-loaded trawler was destined for lower Southeast Asia, while the other
vessel carrying the amphetamines was bound for Thailand.
Bangkok Post - January 09,
2001.
BORDER - God's Army fighters get ultimatum Surrender in a week or face death hunt Wassana Nanuam The Karen God's Army guerrillas who killed six Thai villagers in Suan Phung
district of Ratchaburi on Dec 30 have been given a week to surrender or they
will be tracked down and shot.
Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont said the army had contacted the guerrillas
through their relatives living along the border to turn themselves in to Thai
authorities within seven days.
A large number of Karen people would have difficulty crossing the border if
the attackers did not surrender, as it would be sealed and security stepped up,
he said.
According to Gen Surayud, the anti-Rangoon Karen National Union has
promised to help with the search for the 15 guerrillas, for fear of
repurcussions from the possible closure of border passes.
More than 200 villagers staged a rally in front of Suan Phung district
yesterday to demand the relocation of Karen refugees away from their
community.
The villagers told the district chief they wanted the refugees removed from
the camp in Tham Hin village of Suan Phung district.
They criticised officials of the camp and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees for negligence of duty, saying many Karen refugees
entered and left the camp freely. Some reportedly provided food supplies to the
so-called God's Army.
District chief Phayakphan Porkaew promised to look into the complaint and
forward their demand to higher authorities.
BBC - Tuesday, 9 January, 2001, 17:34
GMT
Suu Kyi meets military Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met senior
representatives of the military government in the first such reported contact in
five years.
The UN envoy to Burma Razali Ismail told the BBC that regular contact was planned and the process of national reconciliation had begun. He was speaking after a visit to Rangoon during which he met both sides -
even though Aung San Suu Kyi is under virtual house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide
election victory in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power.
"I think this [meeting] is extremely significant," Mr Razali said. "It's
what the UN and international community were hoping would happen and we're very
glad this has taken place."
Optimism
Mr Razali declined to name the military leaders who met Aung San Suu Kyi,
but said it was at a sufficiently high level that both sides were satisfied.
Sources in Rangoon believe the military intelligence chief Lieutenant
General Khin Nyunt was involved.
Although the UN has confirmed the meeting no one is divulging any details.
According to diplomats in Rangoon there is cautious optimism that the
country's political deadlock is in the process of being broken.
They believe recent international pressure may have unsettled the country's
military leaders and encouraged them to be more conciliatory towards Aung San
Suu Kyi
In November the International Labour Organisation demanded member countries
consider adopting economic sanctions against Rangoon.
The Association of South East Asian Nations, to which Burma was admitted in
1997, has also played a constructive role.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was in Rangoon last week, is
understood to have told Burma's regime very forcefully that they needed to be
more conciliatory.
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