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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- September 13 - 14, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Soldiers in Myanmar coup
attempt get 15 years
AFP - Myanmar's military government
announces minor cabinet reshuffle
Reuters - Myanmar jails 83 soldiers
for 15 years over coup plot
Reuters - ASEAN cool for now to mega
trade area in East Asia
Reuters - Japan says East Asia free
trade zone a possibility
Reuters - Twenty injured in
Bangladesh refugee camp clash
Dow Jones - Korea Mulls Asean FTA As
Prospect Of East Asia Zone Dims
AP - Low-key ceremony to
mark founding of alternative parliament in Myanmar
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 4:37 PM
Soldiers in Myanmar coup attempt get 15 years YANGON, Sep 14 (AFP) - More than 80 soldiers have been given jail sentences of 15 years by a secret military tribunal for their involvement in an alleged coup attempt against Myanmar's military regime, sources close to their families said. The commander of the soldiers' unit, which oversaw security for the family of former dictator Ne Win, received a heavier but unspecified sentence, they said. Major Thet Myo Aung was a key prosecution witness in the case against Ne Win's son-in-law Aye Zaw Win and three grandsons Aye Ne Win, Kyaw Ne Win and Zwe Ne Win, whom the junta have accused of attempting to wrest power in a military coup. The four were supposedly going to enlist the help of friendly elements within military security to overthrow the junta, but they were betrayed by an unidentified former military commander. The verdict in their criminal case is due on September 26. Thet Myo Aung was given immunity in the criminal court but did not escape trial by the military tribunal. A source close to the soldiers' families said they were ordered personally by Yangon's military commander late last week to leave their barracks by Sunday. "They were told that their spouses had been found guilty and sentenced to 15 years each," the source told AFP. "They have been provided with 10,000 kyat (nine dollars at open market rates) and a ration of edible oil per family and ordered to vacate the premises," he said, adding that the soldiers had been transferred from a jail outside Yangon to the notorious Insein prison. The soldiers in the unit were arrested when news of the coup attempt first broke in March, shocking the country. Along with the arrests of the four alleged masterminds, Ne Win himself -- who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for 26 years before stepping down in 1988 -- and his daughter Sandar Win were placed under house arrest. The four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, which include plotting against the state, enticing members of the military to stage a coup on their behalf, and various economic crimes. If found guilty the men could face the death penalty, but analysts believe capital punishment is unlikely to be meted out. Long jail sentences are likely, however. Four top figures -- the nation's chief of police, the air
force chief of staff and two of the country's 12 military commanders -- were
sacked in the wake of the scandal, though no charges have been brought against
them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's military government
announces minor cabinet reshuffle
YANGON, Sept 14 (AFP) - Myanmar's military government has announced a cabinet reshuffle which includes the retirement of two of its ministers, the state-run press reported Saturday. The ruling State Peace and Development Council said that hotels and tourism minister Major General Saw Lwin and a prime minister's office minister Major General Tin Ngwe had retired. No reason was given but Tin Ngwe is known to be in poor health. Meanwhile minister for post and telecommunications Brigadier General Thein Zaw has taken over the hotels and tourism portfolio in addition to his current portfolio. Information minister Brigadier General Kyi Aung has been shifted to oversee the Ministry of Culture, which was formerly handled by Tin Winn along with his labour portfolio. Former deputy trade minister Brigadier General Kyaw San is the new minister for information. The last reshuffle occurred earlier this year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 8:53 PM
Myanmar jails 83 soldiers for 15 years over coup plot By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar military tribunal has sentenced 83 soldiers to 15-year jail terms in connection with an abortive plot to overthrow the country's ruling junta, sources close to their families said on Saturday. The sources, who declined to be identified, said the soldiers, carrying ranks from private to major, were members of a security unit guarding former Myanmar dictator Ne Win. "They were kept at a military camp outside Yangon during the trial and moved to the Insein Prison when it ended," one source said, adding that the tribunal handed down the sentences about two weeks ago. A government source confirmed that the trial of the 83 soldiers had ended recently but he declined to disclose the tribunal's decision. Legal sources in Yangon said those sentenced by the tribunal could appeal. A separate open trial of Ne Win's four relatives accused of plotting to overthrow Myanmar's military rulers ended in late August with the presiding judge saying he would deliver a verdict on September 26. The son-in-law and three grandsons of the elderly former strongman were arrested at a Yangon restaurant in March, accused of planning a coup together with a group of military officers and a practitioner of black magic. They were charged with high treason, punishable by death. The trial has been on since May at Yangon's notorious Insein prison, where the men are being held. Many diplomats are sceptical that a coup had been planned and say the arrests and trial were probably an attempt by the junta to cement its rule and purge opponents. Ne Win and his daughter, Sandar, have been confined to their homes in Yangon since the arrests, although the junta has not yet directly implicated them in the plot. A senior military intelligence officer told Reuters earlier that more than 200 people had been questioned by the military government in connection with the high treason plot but only 83 were brought to trial. Ne Win seized power in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, 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 violently put down by the military. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 9:03 PM
ASEAN cool for now to mega trade area in East Asia By Patrick Chalmers BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (Reuters) - Southeast Asian countries played down on Saturday the idea of a mega trade zone including China, Japan and South Korea, preferring to tackle each country separately for now. Japan had earlier floated the idea of the giant trade area including itself, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and South Korea. Singapore Trade Minister George Yeo, speaking at a news conference with his counterparts from ASEAN and the three East Asian states, said the 10-nation Southeast Asian group preferred to go for individual free trade areas (FTA) with each other. "If ASEAN agreed to a 10 plus three FTA, ASEAN will be marginalised," he said, referring to the relative economic clout of the potential partners. "That's why it has long been a position of ASEAN that we deal separately with China, with Japan, with Korea in order to secure a certain independent position for ourselves." Talk of free trade deals has rung this week round meeting halls in Brunei, host to a meeting of economy and trade ministers from ASEAN. Firing debate is the world economic slowdown, which last year knocked more than nine percent off trade volumes between ASEAN and its three East Asian partners, leaving it at $185.2 billion. JAPAN STUDIES OPTIONS Japanese Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma had earlier suggested Southeast Asian countries might fancy the chance of an FTA incorporating China, Japan and South Korea. "If China does it, and Japan does it and should South Korea decide to do it, in the mid- to longer-term, a path leading towards such a plan may be revealed," Hiranuma told reporters. He was speaking the day after ASEAN states agreed with China to start partial liberalisation of trade on certain goods from 2004 as part of efforts to build an free trade area by 2011. They also promised to establish closer economic ties with Japan, including a possible free trade zone by 2012 or earlier. South Korea said it was also considering the possibility. "Korea is now undertaking feasibility studies on how to deal with this free trade area with ASEAN countries," South Korean Trade Minister Hwang Doo-yun told the news conference. Hiranuma said Japan might even seal a separate, bilateral free trade area agreement with China and South Korea. Japan has said scrapping bilateral tariff and non-tariff barriers would be up for negotiation as would its politically sensitive farm sector. He said speeding liberalisation of some products ahead of the full implementation, as in China's case, might also be an option. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Hiranuma met with his Chinese and Korean counterparts on Friday evening to discuss bilateral and regional issues, the first such official meeting of the three sides on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering. While they agreed that U.S. moves to curb steel imports were "inappropriate", Japanese officials said, Japan and South Korea expressed reservations about China's unilateral retaliation against the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 4:18 PM
Japan says East Asia free trade zone a possibility BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian countries may forge a future free trade area (FTA) with China, Japan and South Korea to create a huge East Asia market, Japan's trade minister said on Saturday. "If China does it, and Japan does it and should South Korea decide to do it, in the mid- to longer-term, a path leading towards such a plan may be revealed," Takeo Hiranuma, Japan's trade minister, told reporters. He was speaking the day after Southeast Asian states agreed with China to start partial, liberalisation of trade on certain goods from 2004 as part of efforts to build an FTA by 2011. They also promised to establish closer economic ties with Japan, including a possible free trade zone by 2012 or earlier. Hiranuma, who is in Brunei for the annual meeting of trade ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Japan may even seal a separate, bilateral FTA agreement with China and South Korea. Japan has said scrapping bilateral tariff and non-tariff barriers would be up for negotiation as would its politically-sensitive farming sector. Hiranuma added that speeding liberalisation of some products ahead of the full implementation, as in China's case, may be an option to consider. "During the meeting, some ASEAN ministers said the FTA with Japan could be achieved earlier than 10 years and that the timeframe was too long. There was hardly any opposition to try to do this before China," Hiranuma said. "I'm sure there will be many hurdles to overcome. But I'm not pessimistic," he added. ASEAN groups the countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Hiranuma met with his Chinese and Korean counterparts on Friday evening to discuss bilateral and regional issues, the first such official meeting of the three sides on the sidelines of ASEAN gathering. While they agreed U.S. moves to curb steel imports were "inappropriate", Japanese officials said, Japan and South Korea expressed reservations about China's unilateral retaliation against the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 9:34 PM
Twenty injured in Bangladesh refugee camp clash COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - At least 20 Muslims from Myanmar were injured in clashes with police at a Bangladesh refugee camp in southeastern Cox's Bazar district, officials said on Saturday. They said violence erupted on Friday when police tried to disperse refugees at Nayapara camp protesting against a government plan to repatriate them. "Police fired blank shots and used batons to disperse the stone-throwing and knives-wielding protesters, in which at least 20 people were hurt," said police officer Mozammel Hossain at Cox's Bazar, 450 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka. Police said they arrested five refugees. Nayapara camp houses 9,000 refugees, known as Rohingyas, while another 12,000 live in the nearby Kutupalong camp, police said. Authorities also called in paramilitary troops to tighten security at the two refugee camps, said Mohammad Matiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar district. Some 250,000 Rohingyas crossed the Naaf river into Bangladesh in early 1992 from west Myanmar's Arakan province to escape alleged military persecution. Most of the refugees have been repatriated under supervision of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees before Yangon stopped the process more than two years ago. Officials said the Bangladeshi government was trying to persuade Myanmar to take back the remaining refugees without delay. But the refugees said they wanted to live permanently in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 14, 9:11 PM
Korea Mulls Asean FTA As Prospect Of East Asia Zone Dims BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -(Dow Jones)- South Korea said Saturday it's mulling a free trade area with the Association of South East Asian Nations as Asean members played down the prospect of a massive free trade zone encompassing South Korea, China and Japan. South Korea is the last of the ex-Asean countries in the "Asean Plus Three" group to indicate it's considering such an agreement. Asean Plus Three plans to discuss at its November summit a study on the merits of forming an East Asia free trade area encompassing the Asean's 10 member countries plus China, South Korea and Japan. But Asean signaled Saturday that it prefers to deal with the countries on a separate basis when it comes to tariff cuts. Speaking after a meeting of the economic ministers from the Asean countries and their counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea, Hwang said he thinks Asean Plus Three should retain the East Asia alliance as its ultimate goal, but in the meantime South Korea is considering going it alone. "Korea is now undertaking a feasibility study how to deal with FTA with Asean countries," Hwang told a press conference. Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Hwang said Korea would also take into account the East Asia study group report, which has analyzed the merits of both an Asean Plus Three free trade area as well as the merits of having three separate free trade areas between Asean with each of China, Japan and South Korea. "We will make our decision how to deal with this very important issue in the future," Hwang said. The Asean countries are worried that the sheer size of the populations of China, Japan and South Korea would mean, in the words of Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry George Yeo, "a ten plus three FTA is really a three plus ten FTA." "If Asean agreed to a ten plus three FTA, Asean will be marginalized," Yeo said. "That's why it has long been a position of Asean that we deal separately with China, with Japan, with Korea in order to secure a certain independent position for ourselves." He was speaking the day after Asean and Japan agreed to form a free trade zone within 10 years. China and Asean aim to sign a framework agreement in November that will commit them to nutting out a free trade agreement, also within a decade. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Low-key ceremony to mark
founding of alternative parliament in
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy party will hold a scaled-down ceremony Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of its alternative parliament, a party spokesman said. The decision to hold a smaller celebration than in previous years is seen by some diplomats and observers as a conciliatory gesture toward the ruling junta, which is currently holding closed-door talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, or NLD. The formation of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament on Sept. 16, 1998 infuriated Myanmar's military rulers, who responded with a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. ``Leaders of ethnic political parties are invited for lunch to mark the occasion, but the NLD will not hold the ceremony on a large scale,'' NLD spokesman U Lwin said Saturday. The alternative parliament was primarily backed by the NLD, which won a landslide victory in a 1990 general election but was denied power by the military, which refused to allow parliament to convene. The parliament committee also includes members of ethnic political parties. The NLD declared that the committee would perform parliamentary functions until a formal parliament was convened. However, it exercises no real power or even influence. The government declared it illegal and insisted it be abolished, following up its warnings with a wave of opposition arrests. Parliament committee secretary Aye Thar Aung was given a 21-year prison sentence in 2000 for violating political emergency and publishing laws. The committee's speaker, Dr. Saw Mra Aung, was detained at a government guest house in 1998. Saw Mra Aung, 83, was freed last year and Aye Thar Aung, who is being treated for lung cancer, was released last month on humanitarian grounds. The NLD had long insisted that the 1990 election results be honored _ but at the parliament committee anniversary celebration last year, the party did not reiterate that demand. In late 2000, Suu Kyi began closed-door talks with the junta to end the country's political deadlock, which has made Myanmar a pariah state in the eyes of many Western countries. Little tangible progress has been made aside from the release of several hundred political prisoners. More than 1,000 of them are estimated to remain behind bars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |