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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 20-
22, 2002.
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HEADLINES
--------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Suu Kyi tests waters with first political
trip outside Yangon: NLD
AFP - Two Thai soldiers hurt by stray mortar
rounds on Myanmar border
AFP - Myanmar asylum-seekers in Malaysia are
'pretending': Yangon
AFP - US has immense skepticism over Myanmar
government: senior official
AFP - Anti money-laundering group takes four
nations off hit-list
Reuters - Myanmar's Suu Kyi Seeks Changes
Sooner, Not Later
Reuters - Suu Kyi makes first political trip
outside Yangon
Tehrantimes - Rebel Shans Returns Border Bases
to Myanmar: SSA
AP - Myanmar opposition leader goes to
countryside for party business, testing junta's sincerity
AP - Defendants in Myanmar coup trial plead
innocent
Reuters - U.S. Officials Seek AIDS Funding for
Myanmar
VOA News - Burmese Opposition Leader Leaves
Rangoon for Political Consultations
Kyodo News - Myanmar transfers Chinese drug
fugitive to China
Xinhuanet - One More Opposition MP
Released in Myanmar
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday Jun 22 11:17 AM SGT Suu Kyi tests waters with first political trip outside Yangon: NLD Yangon (AFP) - Pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi has left the Myanmar capital on her first political trip
outside Yangon since her May release after 19 months of house arrest, her
National League for Democracy (NLD) said.
The Nobel peace laureate left the city at 6.00am Saturday (2330 GMT Friday)
for Magway, a town 450 kilometres (280 miles) to the north which has an active
NLD branch.
"She will meet with NLD members there," a party source told AFP.
"It is significant because it is the first trip that she is taking outside
of Rangoon (Yangon) for political purposes," the source added.
Afterwards, Aung San Suu Kyi, 57, was due to travel to the town of Natmauk,
near the famed temples of Pagan, to visit the birthplace of her father, Burma's
independence hero Aung San who was assassinated in 1947.
The NLD source said Aung San Suu Kyi had informed the authorities of her
intention to visit Magway in central Myanmar.
Last Friday Aung San Suu Kyi traveled outside the capital for the first
time since her release, and visited a revered Buddhist monk at his monastery 320
kilometres (200 miles) south of Yangon.
Her party and family sources said she conducted no political activities
there as the trip was strictly religious.
Since being released from house arrest on May 6 she has mainly visited the
township offices of her NLD, making active efforts to reinvigorate the party
which has suffered from years of repression since it won a landslide election
victory in 1990, but which the junta refused to recognise.
During the brief excursions she has called for the release of all political
prisoners in the country and for citizens to "persevere" in their fight for
democracy.
Observers have said a trip outside of the capital would be the true test of
the regime's commitment to allow her freedom of movement.
Aung San Suu Kyi's second period of house arrest - the first lasted from
1989 to 1995 - was imposed in September 2000 after she made several attempts to
leave Yangon on party business.
Aung San Suu Kyi has said the military regime has not placed any conditions
on her release this time and that she is free to travel wherever she
wishes.
Following her May release she told reporters she intended to travel around
Myanmar - and even abroad.
Since October 2000 the charismatic leader had been engaged in secret talks
with the junta brokered by the United Nations.
But since her release she has been largely ignored by the regime and has
met no senior generals, a sign the historic discussions aimed at national
reconciliation have stalled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday June 20, 1:42 PM
Two Thai soldiers hurt by stray mortar rounds on Myanmar border (AFP) - Two Thai soldiers were
injured by stray mortar rounds that hit an outpost on the Thai-Myanmar border, a
Thai army spokesman.
Colonel Somkuan Saengpattaranetr told AFP on Thursday that the mortar
rounds, fired from Myanmar, hit the outpost Wednesday in Wieng Haeng district of
Chiang Mai, some 700 kilometres (435 miles) north of Bangkok.
Two rounds slightly injured two soldiers and caused damage to a flagpole,
he said.
Several rounds also landed in nearby jungle, he said, adding Thailand had
fired smoke rounds as warnings in response.
"The Pha Maung border task force will send a protest letter over
yesterday's incident to Myanmar," he added.
Myanmar said Thursday there was no exchange of fire between the two
countries.
"There is no exchange of fire between the Myanmar and Thai troops on the
border," spokesman Colonel Hla Min said in a brief statement.
Relations between Thailand and its military-run neighbour have been at a
low in recent weeks, following clashes along the border in late May that left
several dozen troops and pro-Yangon ethnic Wa militia dead or missing.
The rebel Shan State Army (SSA), whom the Myanmar junta claims is supported
by the Thai military, captured seven Myanmar border outposts during the
fighting.
After both countries exchanged protest notes over the clashes, Yangon
unilaterally closed its border checkpoints with Thailand, blocked official
visiting delegations, and launched a stream of anti-Thai vitriol in its state
press.
Meanwhile, more than 300 Thais were evacuated Wednesday from the border
area in Tak province's Phob Phra district as fighting between Myanmar troops and
ethnic minorities continued, Colonel Somkuan also said.
The fighting persisted overnight, he added.
On June 4 Yangon announced its troops and allies in the United Wa State
Army (UWSA) were launching an all-out offensive against the SSA to reclaim their
lost border posts.
Yangon has made no public reference to casualties since its offensive
began.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday June 20, 2:05 PM
Myanmar asylum-seekers in Malaysia are 'pretending': Yangon (AFP) - A group of 18 Muslim
illegal immigrants from Myanmar who are refusing to leave the grounds of a UN
refugee agency in Malaysia are "pretending" to seek asylum, a Yangon official
said.
"Some individuals or groups are trying to get into Malaysia using various
ways and means, including pretending to seek asylum with the help of human
traffickers and some NGOs," Myanmar's junta spokesman Colonel Hla Min told AFP
on Thursday.
The group invaded the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre in
the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur in two batches on Monday and
Tuesday.
In the junta's first comments since the incident, the spokesman said the
18, who are members of Myanmar's minority Rohingya Muslim community, originally
went to Thailand to work illegally.
"The 18 persons seeking asylum in Malaysia are I believe those who went to
Thailand to work there as illegal workers. But due to the changes of policy on
foreign illegal workers these 18 people went to Malaysia to seek jobs," Hla Min
said.
"But the government of Myanmar is sending workers to Malaysia through
proper official channels, creating difficulties for those who enter Malaysia
illegally," he said, adding that this had led them to pretend to seek
asylum.
The 15 men, two children and a woman have remained camped in the compound
of the centre and say they will not leave until they are granted asylum in
Malaysia or a third country.
The immigrants said previous asylum appeals had always been rejected, but
there was no other place for them to turn to as they were being persecuted in
their own country.
In January, more than two dozen Rohingya immigrants stormed the centre to
seek asylum, but were handed over to immigration officials who said they would
be deported.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday Jun 20 10:20 AM SGT
US has immense skepticism over Myanmar
government: senior official
(AFP) - The United States still
harbors huge skepticism towards Myanmar's military regime, but will respond with
positive gestures should Yangon make genuine efforts to promote political
reform, a senior US official said.
US officials have however held "brainstorming" sessions to examine their
options in Myanmar policy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and
Pacific Affairs Matthew Daley said Wednesday in testimony to a House of
Representatives committee.
Daley warned that Washington had no intention of easing or lifting a
punishing range of sanctions designed to nudge Myanmar towards democracy,
despite the recent release from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
"We have to keep the pressure up, we have enormous skepticism towards the
regime," he told the House International Relations subcommittee on East Asia, on
the day when Aung San Suu Kyi celebrated her 57th birthday.
Hardline US policies towards Myanmar have come under increasing scrutiny in
recent weeks, following signs that a secret dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi
and the junta, brokered by United Nations envoy Razali Ismail, may be making
slow progress.
US officials admit they are not sure exactly how well the process is moving
ahead, because both sides have honored a promise to keep the deliberations
confidential.
But Daley said that Myanmar could influence the US position by moving
towards democratic reform, for the first time since annulling a 1990 election
victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
"Significant, concrete steps including the improvement of human rights will
spur a positive response on our part," Daley said.
Daley did not specify what steps officials had in mind. However, US
policymakers have told AFP on condition of anonymity in recent weeks that they
have a full toolbox of diplomatic options short of lifting sanctions.
A first step might be to lift the ban on Myanmar officers of the rank of
general and above traveling to the United States, while a second could be to
fill the vacant ambassador's post at the embassy in Yangon.
If progress leads to a fundamental shift in Myanmar's political climate,
the United States may consider easing prohibitions on lending to the military
government by international financial institutions.
Already, the State Department has pledged to work with Congress to provide
aid for NGOs not linked to the military which are tackling Myanmar's explosive
HIV/AIDS crisis -- a measure some observers say is way overdue.
Karen Turner, an administrator at the US Agency for International
Development (USAID), said at the hearing that Myanmar, formerly Burma, was
becoming the "epicenter" of East Asia's AIDS epidemic.
Most current US government assistance towards Myanmar AIDS sufferers is
confined to refugees from the country living in refugee camps inside the Thai
border.
However USAID is proposing a "limited focus" program in Myanmar to include
primary prevention programs for most at risk groups likes prostitutes and drug
users.
General anti-AIDS education and training for healthcare providers would
also be in the package, Turner said.
"All activities will be closely coordinated with Burma's democratic forces
inside and outside of Burma," she said.
"No assistance will be provided to the military regime."
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday June 21, 11:50 PM
Anti money-laundering group takes four nations off hit-list (AFP) - An international task
force to combat money laundering said it had removed Hungary, Israel, Lebanon
and St. Kitts and Nevis from a list of countries deemed "non-cooperative" in the
fight against global financial fraud.
The 29-nation Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) also
said Friday it had taken steps to identify financial centers lacking firm
measures to counter terrorist funding.
The independent FATF, formed in 1999, operates under the auspices of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In its 13th annual report, issued after a meeting here, the group concluded
that the four countries removed from its non-cooperative list had taken adequate
steps to combat money laundering.
But it maintained Russia on the list, a decision that irked the finance
ministry in Moscow.
A ministry spokesman insisted the government had moved decisively against
money laundering, citing new legislation and the formation of a financial
surveillance committee.
Elsewhere the task force called for additional "counter-measures" against
Nigeria, such as stepped up surveillance, starting October 31 "if its government
fails to enter into immediate contact with the FATF and enact adequate legal
reforms."
It expressed concern about "the lack of progress" in Ukraine in the
adoption of anti-money-laundering legislation and warned that it was ready to
consider further sanctions at its next meeting in October.
The list now comprises the 15 following jurisdictions: Cook Islands,
Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar,
Nauru, Nigeria, Niue, Philippines, Russia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and
Ukraine.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States, the FATF
-- at a special meeting in Washington last October -- approved eight special
recommendations aimed at stamping out sources of terrorist funding and urged
members and non-members alike to assess their capacities for fulfilling
them.
"We are very encouraged by the participation of non-FATF countries in this
exercise and we will work to ensure that countries that have not replied to the
questionnaire (on compliance) do so by September 1," said FATF president Clarie
Lo.
The task force also established a working group to identify financial
centers -- based on the self-assessment questionnaires -- that need special
technical assistance to implement measures to counter terrorist financing.
The eight anti-terrorism recommendations call for ratification of relevant
United Nations conventions, the criminalization of terrorist financing, the
freezing and confiscation of assets, reporting suspicious transactions,
international cooperation, the licensing or monitoring of remittance and wire
transmissions and a review of laws on non-government organizations that could be
used for financing terrorism. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Suu Kyi Seeks Changes
Sooner, Not Later
Fri Jun 21, 7:10 PM ET LONDON (Reuters) - Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged the military junta in a recent
interview to speed up democracy talks, although she voiced cautious optimism
that change would eventually come.
The 57-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was released from 19 months of house arrest in early May and has said she wants substantive talks with generals who have ruled the Asian state, also known as Burma, for the last 40 years. "There is so much that we need to do as a country," she told the Burma
Campaign UK lobby group in an interview earlier this week in Myanmar, footage of
which was obtained by Reuters on Saturday.
"I don't think we can afford to wait. Personally I don't think we can even
afford to wait another day. Every day we wait for change means one day for us in
efforts to rebuild our country."
But she added: "I am very hopeful that there will be political change
within the next year or so."
Suu Kyi has said she expects the government to move eventually toward
democracy and end the isolation that has left it a pariah on the world stage.
But, having succumbed to international pressure to release Suu Kyi, the
junta shows no signs of compromising politically and hundreds of political
prisoners are said by critics to remain in detention. "I am very concerned about
that because the rate (of release of political prisoners) has been very, very
slow," she said.
Suu Kyi said international assistance should be targeted at raising the
standard of living of ordinary people rather than boosting economic indicators
like gross domestic product.
She urged the European Union ( news - web sites) and United States to do
more to support the move to democracy and bolster the economy.
"Of course we always think everybody could do a little bit more, if not a
lot more -- a more active interest in what is happening, a better understanding
of conditions in Burma," she said.
Suu Kyi spoke of a recent trip outside the capital Yangon to the Karen and
Mon states, the first in about two years.
"It was very interesting. I saw many aspects of the country which I needed
to see in order that I might know what we needed to do," she told the
interviewer.
She also said she was surprised at young people's awareness of the need for
political change.
"I was very touched, very pleased and at the same time rather saddened by
how sensitive the young people are at the need to build up a future for their
generation." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday June 22, 1:06 PM
Suu Kyi makes first political trip outside Yangon By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) -
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi left the Myanmar capital on Saturday on
her first political trip outside Yangon since her release from house arrest last
month, her National League for Democracy (NLD) said.
Suu Kyi will make a 10-day trip to Mandalay, Myanmar's second city and
cultural hub 380 miles (610 km) north of the capital, to visit NLD party offices
and officials.
"Aung San Suu Kyi left for Mandalay at about 5 a.m. (2230 GMT) this morning
by car," NLD secretary U Lwin told Reuters.
"She was accompanied by Vice Chairman U Tin Oo and some other members. They
will be back in Yangon about ten days later," he said.
U Lwin said she would see to organisational matters for the party in
Mandalay and other places on the way. She is expected to meet NLD party
officials, including members of youth and women's committees.
A senior military intelligence officer last week told Reuters that Suu Kyi
had informed the authorities of her planned trip.
Asked if the authorities had arranged security for her, the officer, who
declined to be named, said: "They don't like us to follow them."
When she was released after 19 months of house arrest, Suu Kyi said there
were no restrictions on her movement. But it remains to be seen whether she will
be allowed to rally support for her pro-democracy movement.
On her way to Mandalay, Suu Kyi is expected stay overnight in Magwe, 340
miles (550 km) north of Yangon. The next day she will visit the birthplace of
her father, independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947.
Last week, she made a two-day pilgrimage to Thamanya Hill in Karen State,
200 miles (320 km) southeast of Yangon. It was a private trip to see a revered
Buddhist monk.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Her house arrest, from September 2000 until last month, was prompted by
several high profile attempts to leave Yangon in defiance of travel
restrictions.
A bid to drive south of the capital in August 2000 led to a nine-day
roadside standoff after police blocked her car. She was eventually forcibly
returned home, sparking an outcry from the international community.
A month later, Suu Kyi was stopped and placed under house arrest when she
tried to travel by rail to Mandalay.
Suu Kyi's NLD won Myanmar's last election by a landslide in 1990. But the
military government refused to hand over power.
The Nobel peace laureate has been holding secret talks with the junta since
October 2000, aimed at ending the country's political deadlock. But the talks
have yet to yield any concrete agreement and have focused on "confidence
building," officials say.
Suu Kyi has said she wants to get down to substantive talks as soon as
possible to map out the country's political future.
The military government insists it is committed to building democracy but
says moving too fast could unleash anarchy. But the junta is keen to get
international sanctions lifted to try and salvage the country's economy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Tehrantimes
Saturday, June 22, 2002 Rebel Shans Returns Border Bases to Myanmar: SSA CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The rebel Shan State Army (SSA) has withdrawn from
border outposts captured from Myanmar troops near the Thai-Myanmar border a
month ago, rebel sources said Friday.
"The SSA have withdrawn its fighters from all mountainous positions near
the Thai border captured last month to avoid direct confrontation with ethnic
groups," SSA spokeswoman Nang Khur Hsen told AFP.
She said that Myanmar's ruling military regime had ordered minority groups
who have signed cease-fire agreements with Yangon to fight against the
SSA.
"Our enemy is the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council). We do not
want to kill minority people as they are our brothers," SSA said.
The SPDC is the official name of Myanmar's ruling military regime.
"Since the fighting began, we have said that we would eventually withdraw
and that we did not intend to permanently hold onto the bases," she said, adding
that the SSA wanted to destroy camps harboring amphetamine and heroin production
facilities.
Thai villagers living along the Myanmar border told AFP that the Myanmar
troops had yet to reclaim the bases.
"They are continuing shelling on mountain positions that were left empty by
the Shans 12 hours ago," a village source said.
Several hundred of the junta's troops died or were wounded during the
offensive they launched on May 20 to recapture border outposts that were overrun
by the rebels, the SSA spokeswoman said.
Fourteen SSA fighters had been killed and 25 injured, she said.
However, a Thai military observer estimated on June 9 that up to 100
Myanmar troops had by that stage been killed during fighting, while some 50 Shan
fighters had been killed or injured.
Meanwhile, Myanmar denied a report in the Thai Press Friday that Thai
troops were searching for physical evidence that Myanmar troops had been using
chemical weapons against the SSA.
"It is regretful that such routine, deliberate and ridiculous allegations
made by such terrorist groups are given much attention and highlighted by the
Thai media to create more harm to the bilateral relationship between Myanmar and
Thailand," a junta spokesman said in a statement.
The border clashes have prompted a serious deterioration in bilateral
relations between the two countries, with Myanmar accusing Thailand of providing
military support to the SSA.
Thailand refutes the claim.
The SSA is one of the few major armed insurgent groups in Myanmar yet to
sign a cease-fire agreement with the ruling junta.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar opposition leader goes to
countryside for party business, testing junta's
sincerity
ASSOCIATED PRESS YANGON, Myanmar, June 21 ? Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday started a weeklong tour of the countryside on party business, a test of the military junta's sincerity after it released her from house arrest last month. Suu Kyi's low-key but unhindered departure a little after dawn indicated
that the military government was keeping its promise, made after freeing her on
May 6, to allow her full political freedom.
Suu Kyi's previous plans to leave the capital were thwarted by the junta.
Her last attempt to travel to the northern city of Mandalay in September 2000
resulted in her house arrest.
However, the government started U.N.-brokered reconciliation talks with her
in October 2000, and since then has eased its crackdown on the opposition.
The current military junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy movement, and has refused to hand over power to Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy, which won the 1990 elections called by the ruling
generals.
Suu Kyi, 57, left her lakeside home in the capital, Yangon, for Mandalay at
about 6 a.m. in her Toyota sedan, followed by another vehicle carrying members
of her National League for Democracy party, witnesses said.
En route to Mandalay, 350 miles north of Yangon, the Nobel peace laureate
will visit the towns of Magwe, Kyaukpadaung and Natmauk, party officials said.
Natmauk is the hometown of Suu Kyi's father, Myanmar's independence hero
Gen. Aung San.
Since her release, Suu Kyi has visited various NLD offices in the outskirts
of Yangon to reorganize her party. On June 14, she went on a pilgrimage to
Thamanya mountain, 100 miles east of Yangon, to pay homage to a revered Buddhist
abbot.
She made another pilgrimage outside the capital on June 19 to offer
breakfast to monks on her 57th birthday.
The purpose of her latest trip is party business, she will have meetings
with party members at all the places that she visits, an NLD official
said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Defendants in Myanmar coup trial
plead innocent
Fri Jun 21, 2:53 AM ET By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar - Four relatives of former dictator Ne Win, who are accused
of planning a coup against Myanmar's military junta, pleaded innocent to the
capital charge of high treason on Friday.
The defendants entered their pleas after a special tribunal formally
accepted the treason charge laid out by the prosecution against Ne Win's
son-in-law Aye Zaw Win and three grandsons.
Myanmar's military government alleges that Aye Zaw Win and his sons ? Kyaw
Ne Win, Aye Ne Win and Zwe Ne Win ? tried to recruit military units to kidnap
junta leaders and force them to form a new regime loyal to Ne Win. They were
arrested on March 7, and if found guilty, could be sentenced to death.
The four men are also charged with the illegal importation and use of
telecommunications equipment.
"After listening to the deposition of 46 witnesses and examining the
evidence produced before court, the court has decided to charge the accused with
high treason," said presiding judge Aung Ngwe.
He then asked the defendants to enter their pleas. Wearing white shirts and
sarongs, the four men stood up one by one and announced, "I plead not
guilty."
The judge set the next hearing for Monday when defense lawyer Tun Sein will
re-examine four prosecution witnesses and produce 13 defense witnesses.
Ne Win, 91, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1962. He led Myanmar,
formerly known as Burma, to economic ruin before stepping down in 1988 in the
face of pro-democracy demonstrations that were quashed by the military.
The government says his family planned the coup because they were upset
about losing some of their economic and social privileges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Officials Seek AIDS Funding
for Myanmar
Thu Jun 20,10:22 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.
officials Wednesday asked Congress for $1 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Myanmar
despite strict US sanctions on the military-led country, saying it was now the
center of the disease in the region.
Washington cut off bilateral aid to Myanmar, also called Burma, in 1998.
But after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in
May the Bush administration said it would consider funds for nongovernmental
organizations specifically for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"We think Burma, not Cambodia, may now be the epicenter for HIV/AIDS
Southeast Asia," Karen Turner of the US Agency for International Development
told a House International Relations subcommittee on the region.
Up to 4% of Myanmar's population may be affected by HIV/AIDS, said Turner,
USAID's deputy assistant administrator in the Asia and Near East bureau.
Turner said Myanmar needs about $35 million a year to begin to effectively
combat the disease. USAID wants Congress to approve a $1 million effort that
would include a primary prevention program aimed at prostitutes and drug users,
education for the general population and training for health care providers.
Congressional members, who criticized the current leadership in Myanmar but
also expressed concern about the high rate of HIV/AIDS incidence, were generally
receptive.
President Bush Wednesday pledged $500 million to help fight AIDS in Africa
and the Caribbean. The money would help buy anti-HIV drugs for pregnant women
and their babies, and improve health facilities by assisting hospital programs,
hiring medical professionals and supporting other efforts aimed at reducing
mother-to-child transmission.
Washington observes an arms embargo against Myanmar, as well as an
investment ban, visa restrictions and a freeze on new lending and grant programs
by international agencies.
The Bush administration has made it clear that this policy will not change
unless Myanmar does more to improve its record on issues such as human rights
and drug trafficking.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- VOA News
Asia Pacific Burmese Opposition
Leader Leaves Rangoon for Political Consultations
Ron Corben Bangkok 22 Jun 2002 10:46 UTC Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi tested the political boundaries
of her release from house arrest by starting a journey to the city of Mandalay
Saturday. The trip is part of the rebuilding process for the National League for
Democracy, or NLD.
Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi left her Rangoon residence for
Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, near dawn. National League for Democracy
officials saying she will be away for 10 days.
The trip is the second undertaken by Aung San Suu Kyi since her release
from house arrest on May 6. The first, last week, was a two-day private
pilgrimage to meet with a revered Buddhist monk.
This time, she will hold political consultations with NLD members. Senior
party officials, including vice chairman U Tin Oo, also are on the trip.
Since her release, Aung San Suu Kyi has been rebuilding the party
structure, devastated in recent years by harassment from the military government
and the arrests of party members.
On this journey, Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to stay overnight in several
towns, including the hometown of her father, independence hero General Aung San.
Aung San Sun Kyi attempted to travel out of Rangoon in September 2000, but
was placed under house detention until her release in May. She also spent much
of the 1990s under house arrest, after the NLD decisively won national
elections. The military never let the party take over the government.
In late 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi and the military government began secretive
talks, with the assistance of a United Nations envoy, as part of efforts to
create a political dialogue.
The latest journey tests of the success of those talks. The government
promised Aung San Suu Kyi unrestricted movement after her release from
detention. Burma observers will also watch to see whether Aung San Suu Kyi will
be able to conduct political rallies in Mandalay.
The government hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi's release and her unrestricted
political movement will lead major donor nations to ease sanctions on aid and
trade with the impoverished country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar transfers Chinese drug fugitive
to China
YANGON, June 22 Kyodo - Myanmar
authorities have handed over a Chinese drug fugitive found hiding in the
northeastern state of Kokang to Chinese authorities across the border in Yunnan
Province, local media reports said Saturday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- One More Opposition MP Released in
Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-06-21 20:05:34 YANGON, June 21 (Xinhuanet) --
The Myanmar authorities released on Friday one more member of the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD), said a government statement.
U Saw Oo Re, 74, who is alao an elected member of parliament (MP) in the
1990 general eletion, was freed from Loikaw "correctional facility" in Kayah
state on ground of humanitarian consideration out of his sickness suffered in
the prison, said thestatement.
It was the third batch of detained NLD members released by the government
after the 19-month restriction on Aung San Suu Kyi, theparty's general
secretary, was lifted on May 6.
The release has brought the total number of freed NLD members and its
activists to 273 since January 2001. The released include 54 MPs, of whom, 21
were freed from jail before completion of their prison terms.
Since Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest, the NLD hasbeen placing
top priority on the release of all its party members and all other political
prisoners still in detention in the country.
Despite Aung San Suu Kyi's release, no exact time table has been worked out
by the government to continue dialogue with the NLD as a follow-up of the
confidence-building talks.
Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi has come out of her residence visiting five of
her party branches in Yangon not long after her release and on June 14 she went
out of the capital to pay homage to a noted monk in Kayin state whom she last
paid the same in 1995when she was freed from six years' house arrest for the
first time.
The NLD won overwhelmingly victory in the 1990 general election,sponsored
by the military, with 396 parliamentary seats out of 485.
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