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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MAY 10,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Sacramento Bee - Editorial: Junta on the run
Reuters - Ex-dictator's relatives seek
lawyer in Myanmar
Asia Pulse - Asean Officials Meet in
Vietnam to Discuss Development Gap
Reuters - China seizes massive
international heroin shipment
Dow Jones - INTERVIEW: Asian Devt Bk To
Mull Renewed Myanmar Funding
Reuters - Suu Kyi and junta prepare for
new talks in Myanmar
Kyodo News - Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi hopes to visit Japan
Reuters - Release of
Aung San Suu Kyi spurs Myanmar currency
AP - Japan promises
dlrs 4.9 million in aid after junta frees Suu Kyi
AP - Myanmar, Vietnam
support anti-terrorism fight _ without interference in other countries' affairs
BBC - Burma's military set for new
talks
----------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial: Junta on the
run
Keep the pressure on Burmese regime Sacramento Bee Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, May 9, 2002 Aung San Suu Kyi has been freed by the military junta that rules a country
it has renamed Myanmar but that the world still calls Burma. Her campaign on
behalf of political freedom won her the Nobel Peace Prize but also years of
persecution and house arrest. Now the lock on her door has been opened by a
combination of international sanctions, an economy in ruin, her refusal to cut a
deal with her jailers and, perhaps, a belief by the regime that it has destroyed
her pro-democratic party.
Whatever its reasoning, the junta says that Suu Kyi is now free not only to
come and go as she wishes but to engage in the political life of the country.
That seems almost too good to be true, and perhaps it is.
The National League for Democracy, which she founded, won an overwhelming
victory in elections in 1990 that the military quickly annulled. But its ranks
have been seriously depleted by imprisonment and worse, and more than a thousand
members remain in prison. Will they be freed? Will there be new elections? If
so, will Suu Kyi and the NLD be allowed to compete, and to assume office if they
win?
The regime was careful not to touch on such specific points in announcing
Suu Kyi's freedom. For her part, Suu Kyi used moderate language in welcoming her
freedom. Her task now, she said, is to do all she can "to make sure that
democracy comes to Burma."
Until there are clearer signs that that process is under way, the United
States and other countries and institutions that have imposed sanctions should
make only modest gestures in response to the modest step the junta has
taken.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 10, 5:42 PM
Ex-dictator's relatives seek lawyer in Myanmar By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - The trial of
four relatives of former Myanmar dictator Ne Win, accused of plotting to
overthrow the junta, was adjourned on Friday after they were unable to find a
lawyer willing to take on the ruling military.
The son-in-law and three grandsons of the geriatric former strongman were
arrested at a Yangon restaurant in March and accused of planning a coup together
with a clique of military officers and a practitioner of black magic.
They face the death penalty if found guilty.
"We have tried, but no lawyer could be found," Aye Zaw Win, son-in-law of
the former dictator who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for more than a quarter
century, told the court.
Judge Aung Ngwe adjourned the trial until May 15, saying the court would
seek a lawyer for the accused.
"Although they can afford their own lawyer, it is necessary for the court
to find lawyers on their behalf as the punishment is the death sentence," he
said.
He said a fifth man accused of treason had confessed and agreed to appear
as a prosecution witness.
More than 100 people, including four top military men, were rounded up last
month and questioned in connection with the plot.
But foreign diplomats in Yangon and analysts said it was unlikely the
accused had been seriously planning a coup, and the arrests were more likely a
sign of a struggle between hard-liners in the junta and those seeking more
cooperation with the pro-democracy opposition.
The trial is being held inside the notorious colonial-era Insein prison in
Yangon. Friday's hearing was the third since the trial began at the start of the
month.
BITTER ENEMIES
Ne Win and his daughter have been confined to their home in Yangon since
the arrests, although the junta has not yet directly implicated them in the
plot.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, one of Ne Win's most bitter
political enemies, was released from 19 months under house arrest on Monday,
just days after the trial opened.
However, diplomats and analysts say her release did not necessarily
indicate a major step towards political reform. It was more likely a bid to
placate Western criticism and get international sanctions lifted.
Ne Win's four relatives are charged with high treason, but legal sources
said if they were found guilty they were unlikely to get the death penalty, but
serve long prison terms instead.
Ne Win seized power in a military coup in 1962. He stepped down in 1988 and
handed power to a new generation of generals when the country was convulsed by
pro-democracy protests which were bloodily put down by the military.
Astrologers were among his most important advisers and many of his
decisions were based on the pronouncements of fortune tellers.
Deeply superstitious, Ne Win even replaced the country's banknotes with
denominations which were multiples of nine, which he believed was his lucky
number.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 10, 12:13 PM
Asean Officials Meet in Vietnam to Discuss Development Gap HANOI, May 10 Asia Pulse -
Senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] member
countries met in central Da Nang city on May 7-8 to discuss ways of narrowing
the regional gap in development.
To reach that end, the participants, including representatives from the
ASEAN Secretariat, proposed projects that will help the development of new
member countries and boost regional cooperation.
The participants also exchanged views on future relations with the
grouping's dialogue partners.
The group member countries have finalised a plan of action on narrowing the
gap of development, and are working on a number of projects to help accelerate
development in new member countries.
ASEAN was founded by Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Brunei; with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar joining the
organisation in recent years.
On the sideline of the meeting, ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo C. Severino
and other participants were received by chairman of the Da Nang City People's
Committee Nguyen Ba Thanh.
The central port city's mayor briefed them of the city's advantages for
development, citing its location in the East-West corridor, the ASEAN road
network, and a future railway that runs from Singapore to China.
So far, the city has attracted a combined capital of US$54.3 million from
ASEAN investors.
The money has been invested in the production of soft drinks, wooden
furniture, wickerwork, the assembly of electronic appliances, garment making and
food processing.
In addition, Da Nang has established cooperative ties in culture and
education with Laos, Thailand and other ASEAN countries.
During their stay, the ASEAN guests went sightseeing around Da Nang city,
the neighbouring Hoi An ancient town, and former imperial Hue city.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 10, 12:07 PM
China seizes massive international heroin shipment BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese
police seized 357 kg (785 lbs) of heroin in the southern China's city of
Shenzhen and Yunnan province in April, one of its largest seizures of the drug,
state-run Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday.
The heroin stash belonged to an international drug group which had tried to
ship the heroin from Myanmar to Hong Kong through China, Xinhua said.
The seizure was made with the cooperation of police in Hong Kong, Thailand,
Myanmar and the United States, it said.
Eleven suspects were seized by Myanmar authorities while Thai police had
arrested one alleged international drug trafficker identified as "Pai Peng", it
said.
China's southern province of Yunnan borders Myanmar and Laos, which with
northern Thailand makes up the "Golden Triangle", a leading source of heroin.
China has intensified its crackdown on drugs as sweeping economic reforms
have boosted incomes and caused the number of registered drug addicts to jump in
recent years.
China has about 900,000 registered drug addicts -- most of them hooked on
heroin -- up from 148,000 in 1991.
Some foreign experts say the true number of addicts in the country of 1.3
billion people may be as high as seven million.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 10, 11:27 AM
INTERVIEW: Asian Devt Bk To Mull Renewed Myanmar Funding By Owen Brown Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Starved
of Asian Development Bank funding since 1986, Myanmar's first steps toward
reconciliation with the opposition this week have heightened the prospects of a
resumption in aid, a bank official says.
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released Monday from 19
months of house arrest, raising hopes that the military government that has
controlled the country since 1988 will loosen its grip on power.
As part of international pressure on the military government, the ADB has
withheld loans to Myanmar since 1986 and ceased technical assistance programs a
year later.
Amid that backdrop Myanmar's economic growth outlook and prospects for
lasting poverty reduction remain uncertain, according to the ADB's recent
economic outlook.
The release of Suu Kyi presaged the ADB's annual meeting this weekend in
Shanghai, providing the board of directors their first opportunity to review the
bank's policy toward Myanmar.
"This is a great opportunity as everyone is here," Asian Development Bank
Mekong Department director general Rajat M. Nag told Dow Jones Newswires
Thursday in an interview. "I presume they are weighing it up carefully and
closely."
Nag said the ADB hopes the process of reconciliation will continue to lead
to something more advanced "but this is a very important step."
Myanmar Finance Minister U Khin Maung Thein is in Shanghai for the ADB
meeting, also providing the ruling government a prime opportunity to lobby the
international community for the resumption of development lending.
Nag said the ultimate decision on renewed assistance remains with the
bank's board of directors. However, he added that he hoped the international
community will "respond very positively to this development."
Brushing Up On Homework
The current ADB board is made up of representatives from the U.S., Japan,
South Korea and the European Union. Japan, which traditionally holds the ADB
presidency, has previously been a strong supporter of resuming economic
assistance to Myanmar, while the U.S. has adopted a more cautious approach due
to concerns about human rights.
But with brighter prospects in Myanmar, Nag said the bank's Mekong
department hopes to begin to upgrade its knowledge base, particularly in sectors
such as agriculture and finance, in readiness for the resumption of direct
development lending. He also expected any new funding would be coordinated with
other multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the United Nations
Development Program, or UNDP.
Nag said the department wanted to have the fundamental homework in place so
that "once the board of directors gives us some guidance we can be ready."
"There is a lot of work to be done, we haven't had any operations in
Myanmar for more than 10 years - so what we need to do is build up our knowledge
base as soon as we can," Nag said.
"We would start really in the macroeconomic sense - macroeconomic reform,
macroeconomic adjustment would have to be seriously looked at," he added.
The precise state of Myanmar's economy is hard to gauge. The Southeast
Asian nation, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The government doesn't issue detailed economic statistics and independent
verification of the figures it gives is difficult. Most economists believe the
government's figures are exaggerated.
The country has a limited industrial base and is heavily reliant on its
agricultural sector and commodities for export earnings. Inflation is estimated
to have averaged more than 25% a year for more than a decade.
Myanmar continues to have a trade deficit and only sufficient foreign
reserves to cover about a month's imports. Closed off from most of the
international community, the government has little recourse to overseas aid
funding to modernize its economy. Overall public sector debt is estimated to
average about 5% of GDP, according to ADB figures.
But Suu Kyi's release this week has rekindled hopes of reconciliation
between the opposition party and the ruling government.
Her National League for Democracy party has pledged to work with the
military to resolve divisive issues such as the drafting of a new constitution
and a resolution of the 1990 election, which the party won by a landslide. A key
demand of the NLD during the past decade has been that the military honor that
election result.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 10, 8:18 AM
Suu Kyi and junta prepare for new talks in Myanmar By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
ruling military and pro-democracy opposition said on Thursday they were
preparing for a new round of talks following the release of Aung San Suu Kyi
from house arrest this week.
The talks have been stuck in a "confidence-building phase" over demands for
the opposition leader's release since they were brokered by the United Nations
18 months ago.
The 56-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner was released
from house arrest on Monday after 19 months of confinement.
"The release of Aung San Suu Kyi cannot be seen as the triumph of
democracy...We must step up from this stage to meaningful political dialogue,"
the central executive committee of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)
said.
"We haven't changed our basic policy matters for the time being. These
matters must be resolved through talks," it said in the two-page statement in
the Burmese language.
The NLD said it would adopt a flexible stance in the talks, but had not
given up its demands that the results of 1990 elections it won be recognised.
The party said it also stood by earlier calls for foreign investment
boycotts and still backed economic and aid sanctions while the country was ruled
by the military.
It also called for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
There are an estimated 1,500 political prisoners still detained in Myanmar
jails, according to Amnesty International.
Major-General Kyaw Win, vice-chief of military intelligence, told reporters
both sides were ready to move on, but he did not say when the new round of
national reconciliation talks would start.
CONFIDENCE
"We have confidence in each other. That is why we will be talking...It has
been agreed between Aung San Suu Kyi's side and ours to carry out these matters
(the talks) after coordinating," he said.
Kyaw Win said the two sides had agreed not to reveal anything at the
moment. "But we will be able to tell you at appropriate times in future when the
talks progress in momentum," he added.
Talks between the junta and the NLD began secretly in 2000.
The NLD statement said Suu Kyi planned to travel outside the capital Yangon
in the near future to help organise party activists in other areas. A similar
statement about her travel plans was made on Monday.
Suu Kyi's most recent spell under house arrest came after she made a number
of high-profile attempts to travel outside Yangon in 2000 in defiance of travel
restrictions.
A bid to travel south of the capital by road in August 2000 led to a
nine-day roadside stand-off when police blocked her car. She was eventually
forcibly returned home, sparking an outcry from the international community.
A month later, Suu Kyi was stopped from travelling by rail to the city of
Mandalay, and placed under house arrest, where she remained until her release
this week.
Suu Kyi's first attempt to leave Yangon will be a test of how much leeway
the military regime will offer her.
Analysts say she seems to be taking a more conciliatory approach this time,
trying to avoid actively embarrassing the ruling generals.
She has agreed that the road to her house, once a focal point for protest,
should remain closed for the moment.
Her release was widely seen by diplomats as an attempt by the generals to
get sanctions lifted rather than the start of genuine momentum for political
change.
The military has ruled Myanmar for four decades, and says the multi-ethnic
country could disintegrate if it moves towards democracy too quickly, but the
desperate state of the economy may have forced their hands.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi
hopes to visit Japan
TOKYO, May 10 Kyodo - Myanmar's
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, freed this week from virtual house
arrest, said Friday she hopes to visit Japan, a Japanese opposition party leader
said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Release of Aung San Suu Kyi spurs
Myanmar currency
YANGON, May 10 (Reuters) ?
Myanmar's kyat currency has surged since the military government released
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest earlier this week, on
hopes Western sanctions will be lifted from the impoverished country.
Dealers said the kyat was being quoted on the black market on Friday at 740
to the dollar, up from 950 a week ago and a record low of 1,000 at the end of
April, when authorities arrested several currency traders in a bid to halt the
currency's slide.
''Some of them think all economic sanctions will be lifted and loans and
investment will pour in,'' one local currency trader told Reuters.
The kyat is officially pegged at 6.9 to the dollar but this rate is only
quoted by official government outlets.
Diplomats said the country's flailing economy and the threat of tougher
Western sanctions persuaded the ruling generals to release Suu Kyi from
19-months of house arrest on Monday.
But Suu Kyi, greeted at the offices of her National League for Democracy
(NLD) by a cheering crowd of around 300 supporters, said the NLD had not changed
its opposition to foreign investment and tourism while the military was still in
power.
Diplomats who met Suu Kyi this week said she ''was very aware'' of the
economic crisis in the country, and was more open than in the past to foreign
aid, if it was channelled carefully.
On Thursday, the junta and the NLD said they were preparing for a new round
of talks, which have been stuck in a ''confidence-building'' phase since they
were brokered by the United Nations 18 months ago.
Diplomats say the next step could be the establishment of a joint committee
to deal with social and humanitarian issues, and maybe even the economy.
International financial institutions, including the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, refuse to lend to Myanmar's military government.
Yangon's business community is clinging to hopes investment and loans will
start flowing in after Suu Kyi's release.
''Merchants and entrepreneurs are waiting for further progress in the
political weather conditions,'' said one businessman.
''If it does not produce further progress within a certain period or if the
sanctions are not lifted, the kyat will certainly dive again,'' he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Japan promises dlrs 4.9 million in
aid after junta frees Suu Kyi
Fri May 10, 7:45 AM ET By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar (AP)- Japan
said Friday it will give Myanmar's military government 628 million yen (dlrs 4.9
million) to renovate a hydroelectric power plant, in an apparent reward for
freeing democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
The grant will pay for the restoration of six generators and related
substation equipment at the Baluchaung No. 2 Hydro Power Plant in Kayah state,
more than 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Yangon, a Japanese Embassy
statement said.
It is the second most significant foreign aid package to Myanmar since the
junta took power in 1988 after a bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.
Since then, donor nations including Japan have allowed only a trickle of
humanitarian assistance.
Last month, when it became clear that Suu Kyi was going to be released
soon, Japan pledged 792 million yen (dlrs 6.09 million) for the purchase of
medical equipment for Yangon hospitals.
Japan has been critical of the junta's human rights record and suppression
of democracy but does not participate in sanctions or the ban on new investment
imposed by the United States.
Japan eased its attitude in late 2000 when the junta began closed-door
reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi.
She was released Monday after 19 months of confinement at her lakeside
villa. She said at a news conference hours after her release that her National
League for Democracy party had not changed its policy of discouraging aid to
Myanmar on political grounds.
On Friday, Suu Kyi met with Japanese Ambassador Shigeru Tsumori for about
an hour at her residence.
The Japanese Embassy statement said the power plant aid agreement was
signed by Tsumori and Myanmar's National Planning and Economic Development
Minister Soe Tha.
The Baluchaung plant was built in the 1950s with Japanese war reparation
grants totaling dlrs 200 million. It is operational but is not functioning at
full capacity.
The embassy statement said the aid is expected to "improve the humanitarian
situation in Myanmar by preventing the occurrence of major accidents in the
power plant and supplying necessary electricity in a stable manner."
Myanmar rations electricity, and blackouts lasting up to three days are
common in Yangon and across the country.
Last year, Japan had said that rehabilitating the Baluchaung plant would
cost 3 billion yen (dlrs 24 million). It was not clear if Japan was planning to
give more money to foot the bill.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Press bodies demand release of
Myanmar journalist
Fri May 10, 6:42 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)-
Following the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest,
two international media organizations urged Myanmar's military rulers on Friday
to free one of her colleagues, journalist Win Tin, who has been in prison for
nearly 13 years.
The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum said Win
Tin should be released "as the next step in the confidence-building process
between the government and democracy advocates."
The two Paris-based groups said they made the appeal in a letter to
Myanmar's junta leader Gen. Than Shwe. Excerpts of the letter were faxed to The
Associated Press. The two groups said they represent 18,000 publications in 100
countries.
Win Tin, a recipient of the World Association of Newspapers' 2001 Golden
Pen of Freedom Award, is one of the founders of Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party.
He was arrested on July 4, 1989, tried in a closed military court and
sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly being a member of the banned
Communist Party of Myanmar. He is being held at Yangon's Insein Prison. The
association said he was sentenced to an additional five years in jail for
possessing writing materials. He is reported to be in poor health.
Last year, San San Nwe, Win Tin's co-winner of the Golden Pen of Freedom
award and a leading female journalist in Myanmar, was freed after serving seven
years of a 10 year sentence.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says at least 12 journalists are
still in jail in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The military, which has ruled
since 1962, keeps tight control on the media and stamps on any sign of
dissent.
The junta has refused to hand over power to the NLD, which won the 1990
general elections. Suu Kyi's release has raised hopes that the junta may be
willing to restore democracy.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar, Vietnam support anti-terrorism fight _
without interference in other countries' affairs
Thu May 9,12:16 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - At the
close of a four-day visit to Myanmar by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, the
two countries pledged support for the international fight against terrorism ?
but cautioned against using the campaign as an excuse to interfere in other
countries' affairs.
"The two sides were of the view that the international community needed to
intensify cooperation to fight against all forms of terrorism, but did not
approve of the use of anti-terrorism ... to interfere in the internal affairs of
other countries," a joint statement said without elaborating.
During the visit from May 5-8 by Luong and a Vietnamese delegation, the two
countries urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, to take a
stronger role in regional security and signed trade agreements.
The visit coincided with the high-profile release from 19 months of house
arrest Monday of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. State-owned
newspapers ignored the Nobel peace laureate, instead devoting coverage to
Luong's visit.
Vietnam and Myanmar are both members of ASEAN, along with Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Thursday, 9 May, 2002,
07:05 GMT 08:05 UK
Burma's military set for new talks Burma's military government has said it will soon resume national
reconciliation talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was freed
from house arrest earlier this week.
The two sides have been in secretive United Nations brokered talks since
October 2000, while Aung San Suu Kyi was confined to her Rangoon home.
Her National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in 1990 elections
but the military refused to hand over power.
But the junta has come under increasing pressure in recent months, as the
international community has threatened tougher trade sanctions unless Burma
reforms.
"Talks aimed at national reconciliation between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
military authorities will be resuming very soon," deputy chief of military
intelligence Major General Kyaw Win told reporters on Thursday.
However, no timetable was set.
US visa row
His comments were the first official statement on the dialogue since the
Nobel peace laureate was freed on Monday from nearly 20 months under house
arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi said after her that the initial "confidence-building"
phase of the talks had been completed, and they would now begin tackling policy
issues.
But Kyaw Win refused to confirm that.
"If we didn't have confidence in each other from the beginning, the
dialogue would not have started in the first place," he told reporters.
The US welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi but has called for major
changes before it will lift sanctions, including an arms embargo and an
investment ban.
But there has been some anger in the US over the decision to waive a visa
ban to allow a senior member of Burma's military regime to attend a drugs
conference in Washington next week.
US Congressman, Tom Lantos, a senior member of the foreign affairs
committee, said the move was a "profound mistake" and accused the Bush
administration of prematurely softening its stance on Burma.
The US State Department said the visit by Colonel Kyaw Thein, who runs
Burma's anti-drugs operation, had been planned for some time and was not related
to Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
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