AFP
- Myanmar junta head arrives in Vietnam
Xinhuanet - Myanmar puts over 38 million dollars' gems on
sale
ABC
online - Head of Burma's military junta in Vietnam
Bkk
Post - Doubts grow over death threat report
Asian Tribune - Myanmar general discharged from Singapore
hospital
Asian Tribune - Myanmar: Echo to fund ?1.5 million for safe
drinking water project in Yangon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar junta head arrives in Vietnam
HANOI, March 15 (AFP) - Myanmar's military leader Senior General
Than Shwe arrived in Vietnam Saturday on a three-day official visit, the foreign
ministry said.
Than Shwe, accompanied by his wife, arrived at
Hanoi's Noi Bai international airport by special jet and was greeted by senior
protocol officials.
His visit, at the invitation of President Tran
Duc Luong, is aimed at "promoting bilateral relations between the two
countries," the ministry said earlier this week.
The two sides
will exchange views on "regional and international issues of mutual concern", it
said.
The junta head is due to meet Luong and Prime Minister Phan
Van Khai later Saturday, before sitting down to a state banquet.
On Sunday, Than Shwe will visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to pay
his respects to Vietnam's independence hero and Communist Party founder,
according to the official agenda.
He will then hold talks with
Nguyen Van An, chairman of Vietnam's parliament, the National Assembly.
The following day he will meet Vietnam's top leader and party
chief Nong Duc Manh, before returning to Yangon in the afternoon.
It is Than Shwe's third trip to the communist nation, following
his last visit in 1998 for the leadership summit of ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations).
Last year trade between the two
countries stood at 12 million dollars, but they are hoping it will increase to
30 million dollars by 2005.
Vietnam and Myanmar, both
authoritarian regimes and targets of western criticism over their human rights
records, retain close political links.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar puts over 38 million dollars' gems on sale
Xinhuanet 2003-03-15 19:35:00
YANGON, Mar. 15
(Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar put over 38
million US dollars' worth of locally-produced quality gems, jade, pearl and
jewelry on sale through competitive bidding and at fixed prices at its 40th
annual gems emporium which started here on Saturday.
Over 300
merchants of 117 companies from 7 countries and regions, mostly from China,
China's Hong Kong and Thailand, are participating in the nine-day emporium,
sponsored by the state-run Myanma Gems Enterprise under the Ministry of Mines,
said Deputy Minister U Myint Thein at a press briefing here Saturday.
Local gem traders are also invited for the bidding.
This is another gems emporium four months after the end of its
11th mid-year event early last November which set a new record high of the
proceeds with 30.7 million US dollars against the pasthighest sale in March 2000
when 24.17 million were earned.
That mid-year gems display
attracted a total of 969 merchants from 10 countries and regions, mostly from
China and Thailand, thehighest number ever before.
Myanmar started
holding annual gems emporiums in 1964, introducing mid-year ones in addition
since 1992 to boost the country's dollar earning.
Since 1964,
Myanmar has earned a total of 390.62 million dollars from its gem emporiums,
according to the MGE statistics.
Myanmar, a well-known producer of
gems in the world, is in possession of nine gems -- ruby, diamond, cat's eye,
emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet tinged with
yellow.
There are three famous gem lands in Myanmar where gems are
produced -- Mogok in Mandalay division, Mongshu in Shan state and Phakant in
Kachin state.
Myanmar claimed that it has found in the country the
world's biggest ruby weighing 21,450 carats, largest star sapphire weighing
63,000 carats, biggest peridot weighing 329 carats, largest pearl weighing 845
carats and largest jade stone weighing about 3,000 tons. Of them, the biggest
ruby and the star sapphire were discovered in Mogok, while the largest jade
stone was found in Phakant.
To develop gem mining industry,
Myanmar enacted the New Gemstone Law in September 1995, allowing national
entrepreneurs tomine, produce, transport and sell finished gemstone and
manufactured jewelry at home and abroad.
In April 2000, the
government started mining of gems and jade in joint venture with 10 private
companies under profit sharing basis.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head of Burma's military junta in Vietnam
15/03/2003 20:12:31 | ABC Radio Australia
News
Burma's military leader Senior General Than
Shwe has arrived in Vietnam for a three-day official visit.
Foreign
ministry officials say the general and his wife arrived at Hanoi's Noi Bai
international airport by special jet.
Earlier in the week, the
ministry said the meeting was aimed at "promoting bilateral relations between
the two countries" and would focus on "regional and international issues of
mutual concern".
General Than Shwe, who heads Burma's military
junta, is due to meet Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan
Van Khai later today.
It's the general's third trip to the
communist nation, following his last visit in 1998 for the leadership summit of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Vietnam and Burma are
both led by authoritarian regimes and have been criticised over their human
rights records.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Saturday 15 March
2003
Doubts grow over death threat report
Rated least
credible, admits Chavalit
Post reporters
Doubts have grown over the credibility of the police's
intelligence report that drug kingpins had put an 80-million-baht price on the
prime minister's head.
Even Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, in charge of security affairs, admitted yesterday the report was
rated F-level _ the least credible.
``That means the report is
still questionable and requires further checks,'' he said.
The
death threat against Thaksin Shinawatra, publicly revealed this week by national
police chief Sant Sarutanond, was treated with scepticism by the Armed Forces
Security Command, which supervises military intelligence units.
Pol
Gen Sant claimed drug kingpins outside the country, including Surachai ``Bang
Ron'' Ngernthongfu and Wei Hsueh-kang, had offered an 80-million-baht reward to
anyone who took Mr Thaksin's life.
The latest police intelligence
said the United Wa State Army, based in Burma near the northern Thai border,
wanted Mr Thaksin dead because his war on drugs had disrupted its drug business
and cost this biggest drug producer in the Golden Triangle area billions of
baht.
The report said Bao Youxiang, a top Wa leader, was very
angry. He was said to have acquired a large number of weapons from China and
ordered Wei and Surachai, now helping produce methamphetamines in Wa-controlled
areas, to tell their networks in Thailand to get ready for ``a big job'' _ which
was understood to refer to an attempt to assassinate Mr
Thaksin.
Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya said
none of the military intelligence units was aware of the death threat. All of
them were checking if it was real or just a rumour.
``Our military
intelligence is credible,'' he said, adding that at this point he could not say
if the police report was accurate or not.
Gen Chavalit said some
intelligence units, which he did not name, had reported to him that the UWSA had
already denied they were plotting to have Mr Thaksin
killed.
Opposition Democrat leader Chuan Leekpai said the military
had yet to confirm Mr Thaksin's life was in danger so his conclusion now was
that the report originated from inside the government.
Thaworn
Senniam, a Democrat MP, had earlier accused the government of fabricating the
report to win public sympathy and shift public attention away from drug-related
killings.
Deputy Democrat leader Banyat Bantadtan said he did not
understand why the government made public the issue that must be kept
confidential.
Security officials put Mr Thaksin's life at risk when
they revealed he was a target of assassination and that he now travelled in a
bullet-proof van.
``Professionals don't do that. Once they reveal
their security measures, the bad guys will know what they must not do and start
looking for some other ways,'' Mr Banyat said.
Mr Thaksin,
meanwhile, said he was not afraid and would be proud to die in duty.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-15
Myanmar general discharged from Singapore
hospital
Singapore, March 15: Maung Aye, vice
senior general and the second highest-ranking officer in Myanmar's junta, has
been discharged from a hospital in Singapore where he had been undergoing
treatment since last Sunday, a hospital source said Friday.
Maung
Aye, 65, who is vice chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council,
was discharged from the state-run Singapore General Hospital at about 1 p.m. on
Friday. (Kyodo News - Japan Today)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-15
Myanmar: Echo to fund ?1.5 million for safe drinking water project
in Yangon.
European Commission's Humanitarian Aid
Office (ECHO) - Belgium has decided to fund Euro Dollar 1.5 million for safe
drinking water to the residents of Thongwa Township in
Rangoon.
Myanmar (Burma) has been affected by internal conflict
since 1988 and now faces a growing humanitarian crisis as infrastructures and
public services continue to deteriorate. Fifty six percent of Burmese have no
access to health care and clean water is not available for four in ten of the
population. A quarter of the people are living below the poverty line. Infant
mortality rates are very high.
People living in conflict zones are
particularly vulnerable. Forced labour, the threat from landmines and general
insecurity have prompted many to flee to refugee camps on the border with
Thailand.
This decision will fund the provision of safe drinking
water to 49,000 inhabitants of the Thongwa township in Rangoon as well as
measures to protect vulnerable people in conflict zones and to improve their
living conditions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------