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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - January - 14, 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Bangladesh on alert, awaits talks with
Myanmar
AFP - Myanmar's junta orders media attacks on
Suu Kyi to stop
Dow Jones - Japan To Send IT Mission To Shape
Support Plan - Kyodo
The Times of India - Bangladeshis fleeing Myanmar border areas
Bkk Post - 'Decisive'
steps in drug war
Bkk Post - Officer among 4 suspects shot
in Burma
Bkk Post - Editorial - High time for
reconciliation
Bkk Post - Khun Sa aide ordered
detained
The Nation - Burmese generals steal fizz
from Mandalay Beer
Bkk Post - Experts visit clinics near
Burma frontier
WIRE
Bangladesh on alert, awaits talks with Myanmar COX"S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Bangladesh said on Sunday its troops were
ready to respond quickly if Myanmar soldiers opened fire across the countries"
border or if Myanmar resumes construction of a dam on the Naf border river. "We
are ready for a prompt and appropriate response if they pull the trigger again
or resume construction of the dam." said Colonel Shawkat Ali, a commanding
officer of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border force.
Tension along the border in southeast Bangladesh has been high for the past
two weeks since Myanmar began building a dam, or embankment, on the Naf river at
Totardia to divert water for irrigation and shrimp farming.
Bangladesh says the structure will cause soil erosion and flooding on the
Bangladesh side and has demanded that it be stopped. The two sides exchanged
fire across the Naf on January 8 but there were no casualties.
Myanmar then suspended construction of the dam but deployed some 35,000
troops along its 320 km (200 miles) border with Bangladesh, Bangladesh military
officers say. The Naf forms part of the border. Ali said Bangladesh had deployed
more than 10,000 paramilitary troops to face any attack from Myanmar.
Witnesses said BDR troops have taken up position in fortified positions and
bunkers. "We are maintaining a round-the-clock alert," Ali told reporters. "We
are ready to defend our interests along the frontier." Bangladesh is still
awaiting a response from Myanmar to a call for a high-level meeting to resolve
the dispute, he said.
Usually only a few hundred troops are stationed on either side of the Naf.
Both countries have restricted the movement of civilians near the frontier. The
two countries fought a brief battle in 1967 over a similar attempt by
military-ruled Myanmar to build a dam in the Naf in violation of an
international convention.
Sunday, January 14 3:21 PM SGT
Myanmar's junta orders media attacks on Suu Kyi to stop YANGON, Jan 14 (AFP) -
Myanmar's junta has ordered state-run media to halt its stream of attacks on
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a further sign of a thaw between the two
sides as they edge towards a landmark dialogue.
For the first time in years, the weekend's official press carried none of
the usual cartoons and commentaries slamming Aung San Suu Kyi and her National
League for Democracy.
Military sources told AFP that the regime ordered the "Mirror" daily and
the English- and Burmese-language editions of the "New Light of Myanmar" to stop
hurling vicious personal insults at the opposition leader.
The move came at the request of UN special envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail,
who brokered secret talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and junta number-three
Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt that began late last year.
Razali put the request to Khin Nyunt during a meeting in Yangon earlier
this month, the sources said.
Diplomats here have for some time been urging the junta to halt the petty
attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, arguing that they poison the political atmosphere
in the military-run country.
But with the announcement last week of the secret talks, aimed at paving
the way for the first official dialogue between the two warring sides since
1994, the mood in Yangon appears to be improving.
"The move by the authorities to desist from further NLD bashing, especially
its leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is a positive one and it is hoped other such
gestures of goodwill will follow," said a political analyst in Yangon.
The junta may now decide to release jailed NLD party members, especially
the sick and infirm, to show it is serious about building confidence between the
two sides, analysts said.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest since September 22 since
she and a group of senior NLD leaders attempted to travel to the northern city
Mandalay on party business.
The Nobel peace laureate has been a favourite target of the official press
-- daily cartoons and commentaries threaten her with expulsion and lampoon her
as a tool of Burma's colonial rulers, Britain.
Aung San Suu Kyi, whose British husband Michael Aris died of cancer two
years ago, has also been routinely accused of being a traitor to her "race" for
marrying a foreigner.
Responding last week to news of the secret talks, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright warned the junta must not be allowed to continue to submit
the opposition leader to "patronizing and cruel conversations".
"She needs to be respected as a political leader and not as, what was
explained to me, as a 'little sister' that they have to take care of by keeping
her in her house," she said.
For her part, the formidable opposition leader has infuriated the secretive
generals by patronising them and referring to them with disdain in
interviews.
Sunday January 14, 12:43 AM
Japan To Send IT Mission To Shape Support Plan - Kyodo BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Japan will
dispatch a government mission to four Southeast Asian countries this week to
discuss their demands for an information technology support plan, that Japan
pledged last year to provide with $15 billion, Japanese government officials
said Saturday, Kyodo News reported.
According to Kyodo, the mission will visit Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam
and Malaysia from Sunday.
Wataru Nishigahiro, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry's
Economic Cooperation Bureau, will lead the mission. Other members include
officials from the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry, and the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and
Telecommunications, Kyodo reported.
At the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa last July, Prime Minister Yoshiro
Mori unveiled a five-year aid package worth $15 billion to help developing
countries catch up with new technologies such as computer networking and
electronic commerce and to develop human resources.
Nishigahiro said that his team would be followed by a project formation
team, comprising technical experts, to draw up concrete assistance plans in each
country, Kyodo reported.
"This March or April," he said, "we hope that we will be able to announce
the first disbursement. Our estimation is that 20% to 30% of $15 billion will be
provided in official development assistance and the rest will be investments or
loans to private sectors by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation."
According to Kyodo, Nishigahiro also said that in their meeting with
Singapore officials, they would exchange views on how they can work together to
develop IT in other countries, particularly new members of the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
"Singapore is an advanced IT country...Therefore, I believe that Singapore
and Japan will be able to cooperate to overcome the digital divide in this
region," he was quoted as saying.
According to another official participating in the mission, Kyodo reported,
the Japanese team will meet the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy,
Finance and Industry Razil Ramli and the Malaysian Minister of Energy,
Communications and Multimedia Leo Moggie Anak Irok, among others.
This will be the second IT-related assistance mission to Southeast Asia.
Last October, Japan sent a similar team to the Philippines, Thailand and
Cambodia.
The Times of India - January 14,
2001.
Bangladeshis fleeing Myanmar border areas DHAKA: Heightened tensions along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border have led to
Bangladeshi citizens feeling their homes in the border areas over the past four
days, official sources said.
Official sources here said Myanmar border guards had planted landmines and
imposed a curfew along a 20-km stretch on their side of the border since January
10. The curfew was imposed against the backdrop of a massing of troops by both
sides along the border.
The sources said landmines planted by the Myanmar troops had exploded in
the Naikkongchari, Fultali and Amtali sectors of the border in Bangladesh's
southeastern Cox's Bazar region over the past four days. Two cattle perished in
the explosions in the Amtali sector, they said.
Trouble erupted after forces of the two countries deployed along the border
exchanged fire January 8 as Myanmar forces allegedly attempted to construct an
embankment on the bank of the river Naf that separates the two countries. The
Myanmar troops agreed to suspend the construction work for a week following a
flag meeting between senior officials of the two countries.
Local people and troopers from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) said the Myanmar
troops had started planting the landmines Wednesday. Locals said the explosions
had created panic among the people living near the border on the Bangladesh
side.
Panic-stricken people in the frontier villages had fled their homes. The
BDR troopers had also instructed woodcutters and local people not to go near
border pillars.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad said Thursday that Dhaka was
monitoring the situation and maintaining regular contacts with authorities in
Yangon over the developments across the Naf river. Myanmar's Ambassador in Dhaka
was also summoned to the foreign ministry here and a strong protest lodged
against attempts to construct the embankment on the Naf river.
Bangkok Post - January 13,
2001.
'Decisive' steps in drug war Thailand to act alone if Burma won't help Saritdet Marukatat and Ampha Santimethaneedol Thailand will resort to "decisive means" to deal with illegal drug
factories on the border if Rangoon does not act, Thaksin Shinawatra said in
Chiang Mai.
While declining to explain what he meant by "decisive means", the Thai Rak
Thai leader said yesterday he would attempt to deal with the problem
diplomatically.
On the basis of "mutual sincerity and good neighbourliness", he would have
talks with Burma's leaders about cracking down on methamphetamine factories on
the Burmese side of the border. If this failed to secure their co-operation, Mr
Thaksin said Thailand might have to deal with the problem in its own way.
"Neighbours which share a common border must not cause trouble for each
other. If there is no response and the troubles persist, we will make things
right," said Mr Thaksin. Thailand, he said, could not tolerate allowing ethnic
people to produce drugs "on its doorstep".
The prime minister-in-waiting said he would explore personal connections
with neighbouring countries to improve relations.
Earlier, Thai military officers suggested precision cross-border raids to
destroy drug factories run by the Wa ethnic group.
The factories reportedly churn out millions of methamphetamine tablets a
day, most of which are smuggled across the border to satisfy the needs of up to
one million users here.
Burma's military strongman Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt yesterday sent a
congratulatory message to Mr Thaksin for winning the elections.
He expressed hope that Thai-Burmese relations would improve. Analysts,
meanwhile, urged the government to act promptly to stamp out the influx of drugs
and illegal labour from Burma, the two most serious security threats facing
Thailand.
They said Mr Thaksin could not afford to sit back while society was
devastated and the economy slowly crippled.
"Thai society is encountering a new war on the western frontier-the war
against drugs," warned Surachart Bamrungsuk, deputy director of the Institute of
Security and International Studies at a seminar organised by the Supreme
Command.
The government faced an uphill task. It could not rely on help from western
countries whose focus was on stamping out heroin use. The influx of speed
tablets was perceived as Thailand's domestic problem because it posed no
immediate danger to others, said Mr Surachart, a political scientist at
Chulalongkorn University.
Rangoon's policy of relocating the Wa from Burma's north to border areas
close to Thailand made it easier for the group to smuggle drugs.
Somkiat Osothsapha, an economist at Chulalongkorn University, said drug
addiction would deplete the workforce and affect foreign investor
confidence.
He pointed to Colombia and Peru, where foreign investment was drying up
amid a crisis of confidence in their ability to fight the drug scourge.
He said the problem was too serious for any one agency. A war room should
be set up with the armed forces as the spearhead agency. Mr Surachart said the
emergence of international gangs dealing in drugs could prolong the problem for
a decade.
Bangkok Post - January 13,
2001.
Officer among 4 suspects shot in Burma AThai police officer and three Karen men suspected of involvement in the
drug trade were found dead in Burma on Thursday.
Their bodies were found at Bo Aung village in Burma, about 20km from the
border, near a log processing factory run by tycoon Sunthorn
Ratsameeruekset.
Border officials in Sangkhla Buri district heard about the discovery from
Maj Aye Tun, commander of Burma's 299th battalion. Pol Sgt-Maj Suwit
Rung-arunkarn, 47, a member of a narcotics police unit, Kyaw Win Sein, 38, Ma
Pa, 43, and Kyaw Paing, 51, died of gunshot wounds.
Officials were allowed to bring back the bodies of Pol Sgt-Maj Suwit and
Kyaw Win Sein, the only two carrying Thai ID cards.
According to a source in the narcotics police intelligence unit in Sangkhla
Buri, Pol Sgt-Maj Suwit was in a drug suppression unit but also worked as a
guard for Mr Sunthorn. He allegedly supplied drug precursors to the Red Wa and
dealt in methamphetamines.
The source said Pol Sgt-Maj Suwit and his men were shot dead on their way
back from meeting a group of Red Wa drug dealers at a Burmese village. - A man
has been arrested in Chiang Rai and charged with possessing one million
methamphetamine pills with intent to sell.
Pornsak Kulna, 41, of Lamphun, was apprehended on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai
highway in Wiang Pa Pao district.
Bangkok Post - January 13,
2001.
Editorial - High time for reconciliation Thailand was among the first to welcome news of contact between Aung San
Suu Kyi, first lady of the National League for Democracy, and Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt,
first secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development Council in
Rangoon.
A Foreign Ministry statement expressed hope that this would lead to
national reconciliation in Burma, commended the United Nations secretary-general
Kofi Annan, and his special envoy Razali Ismail, for their "unrelenting
efforts", and urged them to pursue the matter to its desired conclusion.
Singapore, a top-ranking investor in Burma, said the "positive development"
showed the importance of "patient and quiet diplomacy".
The generals in Rangoon should be pleased with the friendly encouragement
from Thailand, an immediate neighbour and partner in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, and Singapore, a top-ranking investor in Burma, and
Asean colleague.
They should not be surprised by the scepticism that tinged the reactions of
Western governments, notably that of the United States, whose Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright called for respectful treatment of Ms Suu Kyi.
Britain's Foreign Office Minister John Battle said there would be no easing
of pressure for the assurance of democracy and human rights in Burma "until we
see real progress."Mr Razali, a veteran Malaysian diplomat, announced news of
the contact in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday after a five-day trip to Rangoon during
which he met Ms Suu Kyi twice, and held separate talks with Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt
and Foreign Minister Win Aung.
The NLD and the UN spokesman in New York Fred Eckhard subsequently
confirmed that the contact was made. Mr Eckhard moreover specified that the
meeting took place in October.
Though it is not public knowledge yet whether the meeting preceded or
followed Mr Razali's trip to Rangoon that month, his second after being
appointed special envoy in April, it makes sense that something should move
now.
Mr Razali is known to be a skilful diplomat well versed in UN procedures,
and this was his third mission to Rangoon The military junta owes much to his
country, Malaysia, which spearheaded the move for Burma to be admitted into
Asean in July 1997, and tried hard to protect it from sanctions approved by the
International Labour Organisation in November for failure to end forced
labour.
In addition, Burma is soon to receive a fact-finding mission of the
European Union troika, comprising the current Swedish presidency, the High
Representative to the Common and Foreign Security Policy Xavier Solana, and a
European Commissioner. Suggested by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung during an
Asean-EU meeting in Vientiane last month, the mission would be important to
Burma's chance of sealing a bilateral agreement with the EU. This event would
make the cash-strapped country eligible to development aid from the affluent
bloc as nine other Asean member states are.
Mr Razali is due to go on what will be his fourth mission to Rangoon
shortly, and Ms Suu Kyi is expected to meet with a member of the junta again in
March.
The UN secretary-general has urged the Burmese government and opposition to
"seize the momentum" and work for national reconciliation "at an early
date".
To keep up this momentum, and prove doubters wrong, Rangoon should free Ms
Suu Kyi and other NLD members from virtual house arrest, and allow them freedom
of movement. Real and lasting reconciliation would be hard to achieve so long as
such a basic right is denied to the side that undoubtedly won the Burmese
people's mandate in elections in May 1990.
Bangkok Post - January 13,
2001.
DRUGS Khun Sa aide ordered detained Extradition to US will take two months The Criminal Court yesterday approved the detention without bail of a
former secretary of Khun Sa, pending his extradition to the United States for
trial on drug trafficking charges.
Yang Wan Hsuan, or Lao Tai, was arrested on Tuesday in Mae Sai district,
Chiang Mai, at the request of US authorities.
The prosecution report said the suspect and his accomplices had smuggled
large quantities of heroin to the US from 1984 to 1989. Lao Tai, 55, was a close
aide of former drug warlord Khun Sa and head of the Shan State Army political
affairs section.
The extradition procedure will take about two months.
- A special drug unit could be set up at every police station nationwide to
suppress drug trafficking.
A police source said the unit would be separate from crime suppression
operations and would specifically tackle drug problems in each station's
area.
Police chief Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkhaviboon assigned his deputy, Pol Gen
Sant Sarutanont, to head a 15-member panel looking at the idea.
Pol Lt-Gen Priewphan Damaphong, commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression
Bureau, said the search for drug traffickers operating on the Burmese border
would be stepped up.
More checkpoints were being set up at the request of US authorities who had
contributed hi-tech equipment to detect drugs, he said.
The Nation - January 14,
2001.
Burmese generals steal fizz from Mandalay Beer Some said she should have known better. But businesswoman Win Win Nu
thought her connection with the Burmese leaders would be solid enough to protect
her investment. But when her business began making money, the generals showed
her the door.
For the past two years, Win Win Nu has worked tirelessly to take back what
she feels was rightfully hers - a joint-venture enterprise in what was once a
near bankrupt Mandalay Brewery.
Her investment, with initial capital of US$6.3 million [Bt270.9 million],
came to an abrupt halt in November 1998. Scores of armed soldiers were
dispatched to her home, and machine guns were positioned all around the
compound. Soon afterwards her local bank accounts were closed.
"At the order of General Than Shwe, the soldiers with machine guns told us
to get off the property," Win Win Nu told The Nation during a recent interview
in Bangkok. Than Shwe is the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), the highest decision-making body of Burma's ruling military regime.
Win Win Nu's case is an important one. According to the agreement forged
between her Singapore-based company, Yaung Chi Oo Trading, and the Ministry of
Industry No 1 in 1993, the government would have full control of the brewery's
books, while she would be in charge of marketing and operations.
Win Win Nu and her husband had taken a 45-per-cent stake in the joint
venture.
The couple turned the brewery around within six months.
Production increased tenfold. Mandalay Beer became a brand to be reckoned
with. Business was good. The company became the country's largest single
taxpayer.
"They had no idea what marketing was all about," Win Win Nu said about the
government officials who were unable to turn a profit under their own
management.
But soon afterward, the Burmese-born businesswoman became a victim of her
own success.
"They accused us of misappropriating funds. How could we? We didn't have
control of the books," she said.
With nothing to lose, she took her case to the local courts.
After fighting for 18 months, she was forced to liquidate her share in the
company.
The first team of liquidators was led by a local tycoon, Steven Law, the
son of Lo Hsing-han, a former Burmese opium warlord who had surrendered to the
government in return for amnesty.
Win Win Nu said she had sought help from the people she knew - including
powerful security chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Win Aung. But no
one helped her.
With nowhere to turn, Win Win Nu began to flip through the pages of an
Asean agreement on the protection of investments, and came across an untested
mechanism for settling such disputes.
At the moment, the Asean secretariat is looking into the matter, Rudolfo
Severino, the regional group's secretary-general, told The Nation.
In a letter sent to Win Win Nu's lawyer, the office said she followed
proper procedures and channels by serving notice to the Burmese government and
providing a copy to the secretariat.
And although the Burmese government was not a signatory to the original
agreement, the letter said, the fact that Rangoon signed the protocol when it
became a full Asean member in 1997 meant that the regime is therefore required
to abide by the agreement.
Since joining Asean, Burma's military government has consistently been
placed under an unwanted spotlight by international media and human rights
organisations.
United Nations agencies and a number of Western governments have
consistently condemned the regime, which initially saw Asean as a ticket to
economic growth and further integration with the world community. But when the
economic crisis struck, the investments Rangoon was hoping to see drifted
outside the region.
To help restore confidence, Asean members agreed upon an investment
promotion mission at their annual meeting in Singapore in 1999. But until now,
the outcome has not been satisfactory. And given the political crises in the
Philippines and Indonesia, Burma's appalling economic situation is likely to
remain for some time to come.
For the time being, all eyes are on Asean.
How it handles this unprecedented case will say a great deal about its
seriousness in restoring business confidence.
If it fumbles, it could derail the ongoing investment-promotion drive at a
time when the region is desperately trying to show the world's investors that
it, too, has something good to offer.
Bangkok Post - January 14,
2001.
HEALTH Concerns mount over border disease Experts visit clinics near Burma frontier Supamart Kasem in Tak A team of Thai experts visited public health officials in Mae Sot district
to observe the spread and treatment of communicable diseases along the Burmese
border.
As part of a joint medical agreement signed in July by Thailand and Burma,
the team yesterday visited Mae La refugee camp in Tha Song Yang district and the
Cynthia Clinic in Mae Sot, where sick Burmese people from Myawaddy are treated.
The team was led by Dr Anussorn Suthirat.
The agreement was signed in Chiang Mai by Public Health Minister Korn
Dabbaransi and his Burmese counterpart, Maj-Gen Khet Sein.
The programme, to focus on the prevention of the spread of malaria,
HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, will be funded with US$252,000 from the United
Nations and the two nations.
Dr Kanoknart Pisuthakul, director of Mae Sot hospital, said the two
countries would set up a joint team of doctors, nurses, public health officials
and NGO workers at Mae Sot-Myawaddy in Tak, Mae Sai-Tachilek in Chiang Rai,
Kanchanaburi-Three-Pagoda Pass, and Ranong-Kawthaung.
Dr Kanoknart said she led a team of eight officials to Myawaddy on Dec 5 to
meet their Burmese counterparts. They agreed to exchange information on
epidemics, and the treatment and transfers of patients. Details would be
hammered out at the next meeting in Mae Sot late next month.
Records from the Tak public health office found malaria has spread widely
along the border. The number of malaria patients reached 91,703 since 1996, most
of them Burmese.
A number of Burmese workers contracted HIV/Aids because of lack of
understanding on the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases.
The number of people seeking treatment for tuberculosis increased during
the past few years.
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