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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 30,
2002.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar abuzz with talk Suu Kyi will
be freed
AP - UN's Razali Ismail demurs on Suu Kyi
release in Myanmar
AP - Speculation mounts in Myanmar about Suu
Kyi's release
AFP - Myanmar UN envoy hints at release of Aung
San Suu Kyi
Reuters - U.S. regains seat on U.N. Human Rights
Commission
Reuters - India pushes for equity oil abroad as
output falls
Reuters - ''Something big'' may happen in
Myanmar -UN envoy
AP - U.N. envoy expects major development in
Myanmar, but demurs on Suu Kyi release
BBC - Hopes mount for Burma
breakthrough
VOA News - UN Envoy Expects Progress In
Burma
The Nation - PM urges less conflict
Bkk Post - Storm kills five in Tak refugee camp
Bkk Post - PM
wants army to be more lenient
Bkk Post - Aid to
junta `not justified'
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Govt to Release Aung San Suu
Kyi
Xinhuanet - Over 2,000 Illegal Myanmar
Immigrants Repatriated From Thailand
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar abuzz with talk Suu Kyi will be freed
Tue Apr 30, 4:59 AM ET By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) -
Military-ruled Myanmar was abuzz with speculation on Tuesday that pro-democracy
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was set to be freed after 18 months in house
arrest following a deal with the ruling junta.
The release of the 56-year-old Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the top demands of the international community. She has been kept confined to her lakeside Yangon residence, with her telephone line cut, since September 2000. A source close to the ruling junta told Reuters the government was set to
announce the release of Suu Kyi and a deal under which she would co-operate with
the junta in administering humanitarian work in fields such as health and
education.
"It will be more than the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and some other
political prisoners. It will be a breakthrough in Myanmar politics," the source
said.
Razali Ismail, the U.N. special envoy to Myanmar, ended a four-day visit to
the country on Friday saying he expected a breakthrough soon in the peace
process.
On Tuesday, Razali told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the expected major
announcement could include the release of political prisoners or further freedom
for political activities.
"The one that everyone expects is the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," the
Malaysian diplomat said.
"Be patient. I think something big will happen."
PATIENCE WEARING THIN
The government began secret talks with Suu Kyi in October 2000, a move
hailed as a breakthrough. But since then no concrete progress has been
announced.
The release of Suu Kyi is widely regarded as the single most important step
the junta could take to show the increasingly impatient international community
that it is considering political change.
Myanmar Labour Minister Tin Win told a news conference at the weekend that
the government would make a major announcement "in a few days". Asked what
progress had been achieved in the talks, he said: "Just wait and see."
Witnesses said a team of municipal workers were cleaning the road outside
Suu Kyi's home on Tuesday morning and repairing potholes.
Diplomats in Yangon confirmed speculation was rife that Suu Kyi would be
freed, but pointed out that similar rumours have circulated before.
"Certainly the government has to announce something," one Western diplomat
said. "It's hard to see how it could fail to include Suu's release. But we've
been disappointed before."
Suu Kyi, the charismatic daughter of assassinated independence hero Aung
San, was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995. She was placed back under
house arrest in 2000 after she embarrassed the government with several
high-profile attempts to challenge travel restrictions that confined her to
Yangon.
Her release in 1995 did not herald any political change. But analysts said
if she had indeed agreed to limited co-operation with the ruling junta, this
would be a major shift in her stance.
Previously she has refused all overtures from the military to work with
them.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won Myanmar's last election
in 1990 by a landslide, but the military government refused to hand over power.
Myanmar has faced international isolation and economic sanctions over its human
rights record and its treatment of Suu Kyi and the NLD.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, 30 April 2002
UN's Razali Ismail demurs on Suu Kyi release in Myanmar KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A
U.N. envoy stopped short Tuesday of saying whether an expected major
announcement by Myanmar's military regime would include freeing opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
Razali Ismail, the retired Malaysian diplomat who has worked for the past
two years to reconcile the hard-nosed junta and the opposition led by Suu Kyi,
was asked by reporters what he expected to the regime to do.
"On a scale of zero to 10, what would be your expectation?'' Razali said.
"It must be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, release of political prisoners,
further freedom for political activities, several things like that.''
Razali said upon his return from Myanmar last week after meeting Suu Kyi
and the government's most senior leaders that he was optimistic that something
major would happen quickly.
"The one that everyone expects would be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,''
Razali said Tuesday. "I think something big will happen, something notable.''
But Razali demurred when pressed to be specific on whether Suu Kyi, winner
of the Nobel Peace Prize, would be freed from the various forms of house arrest
that she has been held under for the past dozen years.
"I don't know,'' Razali said. "I would like to see all significant events
take place.''
"Democracy is a point in the situation that will be reached much, much
later,'' Razali emphasized.
"It is the process towards that we want to see. You have to be patient.''
Razali, 63, said that he was aware what measures the government would
announce but refused to disclose them or give a precise date.
Speculation has been building in Yangon, Myanmar's capital, that the
generals would use the May Day holiday Wednesday to make an announcement.
Myanmar officials have said that "signficant progress'' toward
reconciliation would be disclosed, but said they didn't think it would include
Suu Kyi's release.
The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won parliamentary
elections in a landslide in 1990 but was never allowed to take office.
Since Razali began his shuttle diplomacy at the behest of U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan, the government has freed 258 political prisoners, but
perhaps 1,000 more remain in jail.
The NLD has also been allowed to reopen some branch offices.
Razali said Tuesday that whatever the government announces "is not a
concession, it is a major development.''
"I have never been critical with anybody that I do business with,'' Razali
said.
"I find them to be great patriots who have done a lot in terms of stability
and consolidation of the state.''
In the past decade, the military has made peace deals or defeated various
separatist rebel groups.
But it has been widely criticized for human-rights abuses and allowing a
flourishing drugs trade that critics say corrupt officers have profited from.
The United Nations renewed Razali's six-month term as envoy in March.
The diplomat said that he plans to make his next trip in two months.
He sidestepped questions about rumors that he might retire.
"I don't know,'' Razali said. "There are so many factors. I am getting old
to start with.''
----------------------------------------------------------------- Speculation mounts in Myanmar
about Suu Kyi's release
Tue Apr 30, 5:17 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP)-
Speculation mounted Tuesday in Myanmar about opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi's release from house arrest as a U.N. envoy spoke of an imminent
breakthrough in his efforts to end the country's political deadlock.
Myanmar's military junta has kept Suu Kyi confined to her house since
September 2000 after she defied the authorities by trying to travel outside
Yangon for a political meeting.
On Tuesday, municipal workers armed with brooms swept and cleaned the area
around her lakeside residence in Yangon, filling up trash bins with dry leaves
and rubbish. Others painted a median strip on the road.
The activity was highly unusual as the barricaded street leading to Suu
Kyi's house has been left untended since her house arrest began.
Her possible release has become the most talked about outcome of a four-day
visit last week of Razali Ismail, a special envoy of the United Nations (news -
web sites) who has worked for the last two years to reconcile the opposition and
the hard-nosed junta.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Razali said Tuesday there
is immense expectation for the junta to release Suu Kyi.
But he stopped short of saying that would happen, suggesting a major
announcement expected shortly from the government could also be the release of
political prisoners or further freedom for political activities.
"The one that everyone expects would be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,"
Razali said. "I think something big will happen, something notable," he
said.
Razali said he was aware what measures the government would announce but
declined to give details.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. The
current junta took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for
democracy and killing thousands of people.
The generals called elections in 1990 but refused to step down after Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy party won. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to the country.
Razali, when pressed if he expected Suu Kyi to be freed, said: "I don't
know. I would like to see all significant events take place."
Even if Suu Kyi, 56, is formally released it is unlikely that the junta
will allow her to resume full political activity. Since 1989 she has been under
one form of restriction or another including a period of house arrest from 1989
to 1995.
"Democracy is a point in the situation that will be reached much, much
later," Razali said. "You have to be patient."
Razali succeeded in starting closed-door reconciliation talks between Suu
Kyi and the junta in October 2000. The government has since freed 258 political
prisoners, but human rights groups say 1,000 more remain in jail. The NLD has
also been allowed to reopen some branch offices. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday April 30, 2:18 PM
Myanmar UN envoy hints at release of Aung San Suu Kyi (AFP) - The United Nations
special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, hinted that the release of Nobel peace
laureate and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be imminent.
And in the Myanmar capital Yangon, a high-ranking junta official made a
rare visit to Aung San Suu Kyi's home Tuesday, sources said, heightening
speculation she could be freed after 18 months under house arrest.
Razali, who visited Myanmar last week, was commenting on a statement by a
minister in Myanmar's military government Sunday that "significant progress" in
national reconciliation was due in the next few days.
Asked by reporters what he expected, the normally reticent Razali replied:
"It must be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, release of political prisoners and
further freedom for political activities.
"That is on the menu. The one that everyone expects is the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi. Be patient. I think something big will happen."
A Malaysian foreign ministry official told AFP it was "fair" to speculate
that Aung San Suu Kyi's imminent release was on the cards, but cautioned: "The
Myanmar authorities may impose restrictions."
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under virtual house arrest for much of the past
decade and all of the last 18 months.
Razali's comments, made on the sidelines of a conference here, came after
Myanmar Labour Minister Tin Win said Sunday: "A certain significant progress
will take place within a few days."
But Tin Win played down the possibility this week would see the release of
Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I don't think so," he said when asked if the junta would release her in
coming days.
However, Brigadier-General Than Tun, the official liaison officer between
the opposition leader and Myanmar's military regime, spent 10 minutes at her
University Drive residence Tuesday, in his first visit for several months.
Than Tun, the head of the political department of the defence ministry,
does not see Aung San Suu Kyi on a regular basis, but typically only when there
is a matter that needs to be attended to.
Myanmar observers were watching closely for any sign that a release was
imminent, particularly as major announcements are typically made ahead of
important holidays, such as Wednesday's May Day celebrations.
The international community has been anxiously awaiting news out of Yangon
since envoy Razali made a key four-day visit to Myanmar ending Friday in which
he said important developments could happen "quite quickly."
Razali, a Malaysian diplomat, held a rare meeting Friday with the junta's
troika of top generals and said afterwards he felt the reconciliation process
was back on track.
The talks, brokered by Razali since their inception in October 2000, have
proceeded at a painfully slow pace, yielding few tangible results to date except
for the release of some 250 political prisoners and the re-opening of several
offices of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
Barring her outright release from house arrest, the release of a
substantial group of political prisoners would be seen as a significant goodwill
gesture by the junta to counter concern that political reconciliation had
stalled.
The European Union estimates there are more than 1,000 political prisoners
languishing in Myanmar's jails, several of them NLD members.
The opposition NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 but was prevented from
taking power by the regime.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday April 30, 2:17 AM
U.S. regains seat on U.N. Human Rights Commission By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The
United States regained its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission on Monday
after a humiliating defeat last year knocked it off the panel it helped found in
1947.
European Union countries Italy and Spain pulled out of the race to ensure
that the United States ran for a safe seat among those reserved for Western
nations on the 53-member commission that investigates human rights abuses around
the world.
In Monday's secret balloting, held by the U.N. Economic and Social Council,
parent body of the Geneva-based rights commission, Australia, Germany and
Ireland were elected along with the United States for membership in 2003.
All four are representatives from the "Western European and Other States
Group", known as WEOG.
For the Asian group, China, Japan and Sri Lanka were elected, squeezing out
the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine beat Hungary by 28-26 votes for the Eastern
European seat.
The African nominees were uncontested: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Swaziland and
Zimbabwe. So were those from Latin America: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
"Now that we are back on the commission, we look forward very much to
working to continue to promote this important issue," said U.S. envoy Sichan
Siv.
Last year's defeat stunned the Bush administration. Diplomats blamed the
United States for poor lobbying, the then-huge debt Washington owed the world
body and U.S. rejection of global agreements, on arms, climate and others.
In the arcane machinations of U.N. elections, almost all committee
chairmanships and other posts are divided among geographic groupings. If a group
fails to agree on a slate, the seats are open to a vote.
In 2001, the Western group could not agree on candidates, France, Austria
and Sweden for three rotating Western seats, thereby squeezing out Washington.
The United States as well as Russia and India had served on the commission
since its inception in 1947. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of U.S. President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, was the commission's first chair and the main author of its 1948
landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"The U.S. return means serious engagement with the commission to rescue it
from the current crisis of 'abuser solidarity,'" said Joanna Weschler, the U.N.
representative for Human Rights Watch.
A group of countries that may be targets of the commission have banded
together to shield themselves from scrutiny and publicizing abuses, she said.
The commission failed to discuss reported repression in China, dropped
criticism of Russian abuses in Chechnya and voted to end years of investigations
into human rights in Iran.
Efforts to investigate alleged abuses in Zimbabwe were blocked. A
resolution, opposed by Washington, calling for anti-terrorist measures to
conform with international humanitarian law was withdrawn.
Several countries accused of violations in past have seats on the
commission, including China, Cuba, Congo, Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and
now Zimbabwe.
Countries singled out for individual attention this year included Iraq,
Israel, Sudan, Myanmar, Cuba, Congo, Burundi, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 29, 7:16 PM
India pushes for equity oil abroad as output falls By Himangshu Watts NEW DELHI, April 29 (Reuters) -
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is planning to invest in oil producing
fields in 11 countries from Latin America to Southeast Asia, the state-run
firm's chairman, Subir Raha, said on Monday.
India, which imports two-thirds of its crude needs for its 17 refineries
processing 2.3 million barrels per day, is making a big push for equity oil
abroad as domestic output is declining and no significant oil field has been
discovered in recent years.
"Negotiations are in progress in Indonesia, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Oman,
Sudan, Libya, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Algeria and Venezuela," Raha told reporters.
The company's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, is seeking equity oil overseas
and also looking at other options in countries such as Iran, which forbids
equity stakes and allows only buy-back deals.
ONGC already has a 20-percent stake in the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia and
has a 45-percent share in a gas field in Vietnam with estimated reserves of 2.04
trillion cubic feet (57.76 billion cubic metres).
The company also has a 20 percent equity stake in an offshore gas
exploration block in Myanmar.
ONGC, India's main exploration and production firm, produced 494,000
barrels per day or 24.7 million tonnes of crude oil, out out of India's output
of 640,000 bpd in the year ended March 31.
A smaller state-run firm, Oil India Ltd, produced 64,000 bpd, while private
firms and joint ventures in which ONGC also has a stake, contributed 82,000 bpd.
Domestic output has fallen from almost 700,000 bpd seven year ago. India
has failed to attract global oil majors in its offer for exploratin blocks and
its existing fields have plateaued or have started declining.
ONGC's existing fields can produce oil for another 24 years and gas for 21
years, officials said.
The company hopes to add to its reserves with new finds and enhanced
recovery from existing fields and it is in talks with foreign firms for tie-ups
for exploring oil in India's deep water blocks, ONGC officials said.
ONGC has also identified a structure on the west coast that could have gas
reserves of one trillion cubic feet.
"We have drilled a few wells and the results are promising. We will drill
some more wells and commercial production can start in two years," an ONGC
official said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- ''Something big'' may happen in Myanmar
-UN envoy
KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Reuters) ? The U.N. envoy to Myanmar said on Tuesday said he expected ''something big'' to happen in the country, fuelling speculation that pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is about to be released. Razali Ismail said the expected major announcement by the ruling junta could include the release of political prisoners or further freedom for political activities. ''The one that everyone expects is the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,'' the
Malaysian diplomat told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. ''Be patient. I think
something big will happen,'' he said.
The release of the 56-year-old Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize, is one of the top demands of the international community. She has been
kept confined to her lakeside Yangon residence, with her telephone line cut,
since September 2000.
A source close to the ruling junta told Reuters the government was set to
announce the release of Suu Kyi and a deal under which she would co-operate with
the junta in administering humanitarian work in fields such as health and
education.
----------------------------------------------------------------- U.N. envoy expects major
development in Myanmar, but demurs on Suu Kyi release
Tue Apr 30, 1:47 AM ET By JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press Writer KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A
U.N. envoy stopped short Tuesday of saying whether an expected major
announcement by Myanmar's military regime would include freeing opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
However, in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, municipal workers swept and cleaned
the area around the pro-democracy leader's house, feeding speculation that her
release is imminent.
Myanmar's military government said over the weekend that "significant
progress" in healing the 12-year-long rift between the junta and the
pro-democracy movement led by Suu Kyi will be revealed within days.
Some believe the generals will use Wednesday's May Day holiday to make
their announcement.
Razali Ismail, the retired Malaysian diplomat who has worked for two years
to reconcile the opposition and the hard-nosed junta, said the announcement
could also be the release of political prisoners or further freedom for
political activities.
"The one that everyone expects would be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,"
the U.N. envoy told reporters Tuesday. "I think something big will happen,
something notable."
Razali, 63, returned from Myanmar late last week after meeting Suu Kyi and
the government's most senior leaders. He said he was aware what measures the
government would announce but refused to disclose them or give a precise
date.
Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been under various forms of
house arrest for the past dozen years. Her current confinement began in
September 2000 after she traveled outside Yangon for a party meeting without
official permission.
Myanmar officials have said that "significant progress" toward
reconciliation would be disclosed, but said they didn't think it would include
Suu Kyi's release.
About 30 of Suu Kyi's supporters gathered outside the ramshackle
headquarters of her National League for Democracy party in Yangon Tuesday, but
were skeptical that she would be released soon.
"I will believe it only when she is released," said Tun Tun, an NLD
supporter.
The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. The NLD
won parliamentary elections in a landslide in 1990 but was never allowed to take
office.
Since Razali began his shuttle diplomacy at the behest of U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan, the government has freed 258 political prisoners, but
perhaps 1,000 more remain in jail. The NLD has also been allowed to reopen some
branch offices.
Razali said he found the Myanmar government to be "great patriots who have
done a lot in terms of stability and consolidation of the state."
But he stressed that democracy would only be "reached much, much later....
You have to be patient."
The United Nations renewed Razali's six-month term as envoy in March. The
diplomat said that he plans to make his next trip in two months. He sidestepped
questions about rumors that he might retire.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 30 April, 2002, 07:38
GMT 08:38 UK
Hopes mount for Burma breakthrough Speculation is rising that Burma's ruling military junta is on the verge of
releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Brigadier-General Than Tun, the official liaison officer between Aung San
Suu Kyi and the military regime, made a rare visit to her lakeside residence on
Tuesday, where she has been under house arrest for the last 18 months.
His 10-minute visit followed hints by the UN envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail,
that the Nobel Prize winner could be released shortly.
Mr Razali spent four days in talks with Burma's junta and opposition last
week in an attempt to break the country's political deadlock.
UN envoy optimistic
Referring to rumours that Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed, the Malaysian
diplomat told reporters in Kuala Lumpur: "That is on the menu. The one that
everyone expects is the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. Be patient. I think
something big will happen."
A source close to the junta appeared to back up Mr Razali's comments when
he told Reuters news agency: "It will be more than the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi and some other political prisoners. It will be a breakthrough in Myanmar
politics."
The source said the opposition leader could be freed in a deal under which
she would co-operate with the military in humanitarian work such as health and
education.
Mr Razali was optimistic after his latest talks with the government, and
the Burmese Labour Minister Tin Win told a news conference at the weekend that
the government would make a major announcement "in a few days".
Patience waning
For more than 18 months, the Burmese military government has been in secret
talks with Aung San Suu Kyi. But in recent weeks, the international community
has been voicing its impatience at the lack of progress in the dialogue brokered
by the UN envoy.
Europe, the United States and Japan have all warned Rangoon that, unless
there is significant progress soon, they will be forced to consider isolating
the country further and even introducing trade sanctions.
The BBC's Burma analyst, Larry Jagan, says only Aung San Suu Kyi's release
would satisfy them.
But diplomats in the Burmese capital, Rangoon, stressed on Tuesday that
similar rumours have circulated before.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Pacific UN Envoy Expects
Progress In Burma
VOA News 30 Apr 2002 06:16 UTC The United Nations envoy for Burma has indicated he expects the country's
military government to make significant overtures to the pro-democracy
opposition soon.
Razali Ismail told reporters Tuesday in Malaysia he expects Burmese
military leaders, in his own words, to do "something big" as part of efforts to
revive stalled reconciliation talks with the opposition. Mr. Razali did not say
whether he expects the release of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi from virtual house arrest. However, he said the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi, the release of political prisoners and greater political freedom
are major issues to be resolved in any process of reconciliation.
On Sunday an official of the Rangoon government said what he called
"significant progress" had been made as a result of Mr. Razali's visit to Burma
last week.
The U.N. envoy has been trying to help restart stalled negotiations between
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and the military government.
The NDL won elections in 1990, but Burma's military rulers refused to hand over
power.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
BORDER TENSIONS: PM urges less
conflict
Published on Apr 30, 2002
Thaksin pushes softer approach, says some incursions unintentional
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told the military yesterday to take a
softer approach in dealing with border conflicts.
He said that although narcotics traffickers from Burma would not get
lenient treatment from the Thai authorities, if other Burmese people
unintentionally crossed the border it was not a big deal.
Thaksin's statement was in response to fighting between the Thai army and
the pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army over the weekend in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa
Luang sub-district, which was triggered by the detention of two ethnic Wa
suspected of been involved in trafficking illicit drugs into Thailand.
There were no reports of casualties as a result of the clash, which began
on Friday when an armed Wa force of 60 men surrounded the Thai border post
demanding release of their two detained colleagues.
Rangoon accused the Thai military of kidnapping the two from the river that
borders the two countries and firing mortars into its territory. Neither Burmese
troops nor the Wa had retaliated by shelling the Thai side, the junta
said.
Thaksin praised Burma's restraint, saying the junta had sought diplomatic
channels to settle the dispute rather than military means.
Burmese foreign minister Win Aung reportedly sent a diplomatic note to his
counterpart Surakiart Sathirathai to explain the Burmese version of
events.
The military should have flexibility about people entering from the
neighbouring country accidentally, Thaksin said, adding that narcotics
traffickers would not be tolerated.
"Military leaders should understand that relations with Burma are tense.
We don't want to wage a war of words, and incidents at the border should be
handled with special care," he said.
"Firing into the territory of another is a form of sovereignty violation,"
he said.
Thaksin said cooperation with Burma on combating illicit drugs had been
discussed intensively with key Burmese leader Muang Aye, who finished his
three-day visit on Friday, the day the border fighting broke out.
"The two governments have a clear agenda to fight against narcotics. The
armies of the two countries should do the same," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 30 April
2002
Storm kills five in Tak refugee
camp
Supamart Kasem - Tak
Five Karen refugees, including three children, were killed when a rainstorm
lashed a refugee camp in Tha Song Yang district on Sunday evening.
Kyaw Lwin Htoo, 14, Phaw My Na, 12, Ma Lae, 6, Mit Nwe, 29, and Ma Ohn
Chit, 29, were found dead under the rubble of their shelter in Mae La camp after
the storm had passed.
Thirty-five shelters in Zone A and B were damaged and five completely
destroyed by the storm, which wreaked havoc for about half an hour.
Four other refugees were injured, two of them seriously, and sent to Mae
Sot hospital for treatment.
Anuchit Songkhao, Tha Song Yang district clerk, along with representatives
from the Karen Refugee Committee yesterday inspected the camp damage.
He said relatives of the victims were preparing funeral rites and the
damaged shelters would be repaired by NGO staff.
Mae La is one of three camps in Tak and holds 37,000 refugees.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 30 April 2002
PM wants army to be more lenient
Burmese explain `facts' of clash
Post reporters
The prime minister yesterday asked the military to show restraint in
dealing with unintentional border crossings by Burmese troops and their allies,
unless suspected of drug trafficking.
Thaksin Shinawatra's surprise remark came after last week's exchange of
mortar and cannon fire between cavalry troops of the Third Army Region and armed
militants from the United Wa State Army, at Ban Pong Hai in Mae Fah Luang
district, Chiang Rai.
The clash followed the capture of two UWSA fighters suspected of scouting
for drug traffickers. The UWSA's demand that their men be returned was rejected
and they responded by shelling Thai positions. The military retaliated in
kind.
Mr Thaksin said relations at the government level between Thailand and
Burma had improved satisfactorily, so the military should be careful in dealing
with unintentional border incursions.
A senior military officer said he was puzzled by the prime minister's
remark.
``It is our duty to safeguard our sovereignty, but now the prime minister
urges us to be lenient,'' the officer said.
Rangoon has claimed elements in the Thai miltiary are trying to undermine
the premier's policy of fostering ties with Burma.
Win Aung, the Burmese foreign minister, has sent a letter to Foreign
Minister Surakiat Sathirathai explaining the ``facts'' of the incident.
The Burmese ambassador also met with a deputy foreign permanent secretary
to inquire about the incident, a ministry spokesman said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 30 April 2002
Aid to junta `not justified'
Kraisak urges govt to push for democracy
Onnucha Hutasing
The government should refrain from giving excessive help to Rangoon and opt
instead to push democratic principles in negotiations, Senate foreign affairs
committee chairman Kraisak Choonhavan said yesterday.
The government was going too far in giving financial support to the ruling
junta when there was no sign of movement towards democracy in Burma, he
said.
Problems between Thailand and Burma were structural and democracy-related,
so Bangkok should use democratic principles in negotiations with Rangoon.
The senator said Thailand had never benefited from paying the ``price of
friendship'' with Burma and at the same time unwittingly put Burmese people in
trouble.
Rangoon made a habit of breaching peace agreements with the 22 Burmese
minority groups and had increased the size of its army from 100,000 to
400,000.
``Even as our government gave Gen Maung Aye a warm welcome during his visit
here, there were clashes at the border.
``An accusation followed that Bangkok allowed the Thai military to enter
Burmese territory.
``Under the Thaksin administration, there have been about 10 skirmishes at
the Thai-Burmese border, killing 20 people. I want to ask how could a friend do
such things?'' he said.
Mr Kraisak said the International Labour Organisation had condemned Rangoon
for using slave labour, burning villages and killing 125 people in its bid to
realise the Yadana gas pipeline project.
Burma had failed to combat drugs despite a UN subsidy equal to 625 million
baht to support farming to replace drug crops.
Instead of creating peace, Rangoon had moved at least 100,000 people from
the North to occupy minority-held areas in the lower part of the country, he
said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Govt to Release Aung San
Suu Kyi
Xinhuanet 2002-04-30 18:39:31 YANGON, April 30 (Xinhuanet) --
The Myanmar government will release the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
within a few days after placing her under house arrest for 18 months, informed
sources said Tuesday.
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the National League
for Democracy (NLD), is being expected after Razali Ismail, special envoy of
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, ended his historic mission to Myanmar last
Friday.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been confined to her Yangon residence since September
2000 after she defied the government's travel restriction. It was the second
time that she was put under house arrest, with the first time being from July
1989 to July 1995 which lasted for six years.
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi has been one of the highest demands of the
international community and the move is widely seen as an important step taken
to imply that it is deliberating to make a political change.
The government and the NLD began confidence-building talks since October
2000, believed to have been initiated by Razali.
The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in the 1990
general election sponsored by the government after it took over the power of
state on September 18, 1988 at the height of the country's political
crisis.
The NLD complains that although the election has ended for nearly 12 years,
the government still not hands over the state power to the winning party.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar military government has been under economic
sanctions from western countries led by the United States, on account of its
human rights records.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Over 2,000 Illegal Myanmar
Immigrants Repatriated From Thailand
Xinhuanet 2002-04-30 10:48:31 YANGON, April 30 (Xinhuanet) --
Altogether 2,208 illegal Myanmar immigrants have been repatriated from Thailand
since earlier this year, according to a recent disclosure of the Myanmar
Ministry of Home Affairs.
The repatriation signified the initial progress made in the move.
The repatriated Myanmar illegal immigrants were screened at a receiving
center set up in February at Myanmar's border town of Myawaddy in Kayin state
opposite to Thailand's Maesod.
Six Myanmar government ministries were involved in the screening
work.
The home affairs ministry said that immigrants returning from Thailand
faced no legal action, adding they had to undergo health examinations for
HIV-AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases.
In February, Myanmar formed a Leading Committee, headed by First Secretary
of the State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, on
receiving illegal immigrants from Thailand.
In addition, a Myanmar-Thai Joint Task Force was also formed and had its
first meeting in Yangon in February, the second in Phuket in March and the third
in Myawaddy in April.
It was reported that there are 140,000 Myanmar refugees and more than
400,000 Myanmar illegal immigrants in Thailand.
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