20 November 2004
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(1)
(2)Muslim Rohingyas, police
clash in Ukhiya, over 100 wounded
(3)Agriculture authorities forced farmers to grow
subsidiary crops
(4)
(5)
(Commentary)
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=============================================================
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
yesterday, according to a
pro-democracy campaign group based in United
State.
"He just arrived at his home two hours ago and is with
his family now
in
There is no alternative confirmation but US Campaign said "
incredible ".
Min Ko Naing is the leader of banned nationwide student union and
most
famous person in 1988 pro-democracy
uprising. He was arrested on March
23, 1989 and sentenced to 20 years.
Junta has announced 3937 prisoners will be released from
jails
throughout
Government mouth-piece media reported late Thursday that the
prisoners
were wrongly charged by the former
National Intelligence Bureau which
was dissolved by regime in last
month.
As a first batch of release, 600
prisoners all across
released which include 13 political
prisoners including senior members
of Aung San Suu Kyi's
party National League for Democracy.
U Win Naing, a veteran politician
lives in
national reconciliation.
" I would like to say thanks
to military leader" he said.
" Military, politicians and
people should work hand in hand" he added.
Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy U Tin Oo are
still
under house arrest.
The Lists of confirmed political prisoners that have
released which
confirmed by Campaign Group:
(1) U Kyaw San (Member of Parliament) released from Insein prison.
(2) U Ohn Maung (Member of
Parliament)released from Insein
prison.
(3) U Toe Po (Member of Parliament)released
from Insein prison.
(4) U Aung Zin (lawyer)released from Insein prison.
(5) Dr.Soe Than
of Democratic Party for a New Society released from
(6) Yar Kyaw of Democratic Party
for a New Society released from
(7) Tin Mar Ni (Female) of Democratic Party for a New
Society (8)
Ohnmar (Female) of
DPNS
(9) Zaw Zaw
Linn of Democratic Party for a New Society
(10) Thet Naing
(11) U Nyan Hla
(12) Min Zaw Thein
(13) Ko Khun Sai
According to Amnesty International, there are over 1350
political
prisoners in
Some observer warn that military junta used the term
suspended in
their announcement, "
prison terms of 3,937 convicts have been
suspended with effect from today,
and they will be released from the
respective prisons" which can
carries the sense that at some
future date the prison terms could be
resumed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Muslim Rohingyas, police clash in Ukhiya,
over 100 wounded
==============================================
Narinjara News
Cox’s Bazar 19 :
Over a hundred Rohingya refugees and law-enforcers
were injured in a violent clash at
the Kutupalong Muslim Rohingya
camp
in the Ukhiya
Thana southern district of Cox’s Bazar
Nov. 18,
according to local sources.
The sources said the trouble exploded at about
and ansars
(village security) went to the camp to rescue a police
officer detained by some Muslim Rohingyas during his visit to the camp
earlier in the morning.
Camp director Md. Nurul
Alam Chowdhury, along with
police officer
Wahid, visited the camp to inspect its latest conditions
after the Eid
vacation.
Police said the two noticed that over 100 refugees were
holding a
meeting on a hilltop against their
repatriation to
the refugees to refrain from
calling such meetings, which are illegal.
The irate refugees then held police officer Wahid and beat
him. The
camp director somehow managed to
escape. On being informed, police and
ansars
from nearby barracks rushed to the spot to rescue the police
officer.
“As soon as police and ansars
arrived at the place of the occurrence,
the Muslim Rohingyas
opened fire on them. We also resorted to gunfire
in self-defense,” a police officer
said. They arrested nine Muslim
Rohingya refugees including their leader Ishaque
Master.
When news of the arrests of Muslim Rohingyas
spread, a horde of
frenzied refugees attacked the
nearby police and ansars barracks.
On being informed, police reinforcements from Ukhiya Police Station
joined in the fight at about
police officer managed to flee.
At least 85 refugees and 15 police and ansars
were injured in the
clash that continued for two hours.
The two sides traded around 300
rounds of bullets.
Police officer Wahid was admitted to
Other injured police and ansars
were treated at the hospital of
Concern
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner M.
Habibur Rahman told a news
agency
that the present camp situation was
“under control.”
Some 8,000 Rohingya refugees are
waiting for repatriation at the
Kutupalong camp, while 12,000 are at Nayapara camp,
according to the
local newspaper.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Agriculture
authorities forced farmers to grow subsidiary crops
===================================================
Independent Mon News Agency (
subsidiary crops on farms irrigated
by the Win-Pha-None Dam, according
to villagers in the area.
“A group of township agriculture authorities came to the
villages and
gathered villagers to grow
subsidiary crops such as rice and beans,” a
villager said.
According to Nai Jorn, a reporter, villagers are dissatisfied with
authorities because they were
forced to grow crops in previous years
and received no benefits for
growing them.
Nai Lawi,
a farmer from Kalortort, asked, “How can farmers grow
paddy
without enough water? They
distributed so little water. The farmers
had paid for the water but no water
reached their farms. How can paddy
grow without water? That is why
farmers lost their investment in the
farms.”
According to the farmers, they had paid 5,000 kyat per acre
for water
whether or not they grew paddy or
beans.
“The authorities also forced farmers who denied the order to
grow
paddy because of water difficulties
to grow beans. But it was of no
benefit because the soil was not
good for growing beans,” Nai Lawi
added.
Nai Jorn
reported that some farmers refused to grow what authorities
wanted. Other farmers, who had easy
access to the water, grew it.
However, halfway into the growing, authorities cut the water
and
farmers faced a water shortage for
their paddy.
“It caused the farmers to gain no benefits,” a farmer said.
The authorities are trying to prove that their dam built
five years
ago benefits local people.
However, in Kalortort, Abit, Sat-thwa and six other
villages, farmer
faced no benefits and had to do
what the government authorities
wanted, Nai
Jorn reported.
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===============================
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh will lay the foundation stone
of the Jiribam
to Manipur railway link Nov. 20. The railway link is
aimed at future connections with
line, which will have 13
underground tunnels, will connect to Imphal,
the capital of Manipur, bordering
North East Frontier Railway chief public relations officer
T. Rabha
said the railway line will be
completed within six years. “This line
would help in the setting up of
future railway connectivity with
The recently concluded BIMSTEC (
Lanka and
the six countries.
A railway line up to Kalay in Sagiang division, Burma, would be
ready
by 2005 and a technoeconomic
survey will be carried out soon for
setting up another line up to Tamu, bordering India, according to the
government press release.
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By Htet Aung Kyaw (Commentary)
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
November 20, 2004
Most ordinary people in Burma are happy about the purge of
ex-prime
minister Khin Nyunt and his
Military Intelligence (MI), but leaders in
the opposition party, ethnic groups
and the business community are
confused and worried about the
country' s future.
"We are very happy living without MI interference in
our daily life,''
says a dollar broker in downtown
Rangoon. Similarly, junior officials
of Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy party say they are
happy without the MI. "Since
Oct. 19, no MI are coming into my home
and following me like before. So we
can do more activities right
now,'' said an NLD organizer in
Mandalay, Burma's second capital.
However, three NLD organizers were arrested Nov. 5 in Danuphu town in
Irrawaddy division. "That is the first time members were
arrested for
carrying party statements,'' said
party spokesman U Lwin. In Khin
Nyunt's era, U Lwin
would ask MI officers or liaison officer Brigadier
Gen. Than Tun,
who regularly visited his office, about these cases.
But now there is a lack of communication between the
government and
opposition. (former
liaison Brigadier Gen. Than Tun and 16 other MI
officers were arrested in late
October.)
The NLD sent a letter directly to new Prime Minister Lt.
Gen. Soe Win
to help solve it, but there has
been no reply yet.
In fact, Soe Win and his hard-line
cabinet members have no time to
talk with politicians because they
are busy with 17 ex-rebel cease-
fire groups of ethnic armies. A day
after Khin Nyunt was arrested, Soe
Win and his secretary Gen.Thein Sein secretly went to
to meet
Ihein Sein
and regional commanders met Karen and Mon ethnic leaders
who control 10,000 troops in the
South.
"This is because cease-fire groups are the second
nearest enemies" for
them, after Khin Nyunt's MI troops, who are under arrest, commented
Htay Aung, an exiled defense
analyst in neighboring
are two points: "First, they
want to cut close relations between
former rebels and the MI. Second,
they want support from rebels for
their National Convention and the
so-called seven-step road map to
democracy,'' he added.
Even though Soe Win and Thein Sein met rebel leaders,
there is
continuing tension between
the army and cease-fire groups. Wa and
Kachin leaders are unhappy with
Khin Nyunt's removal because he signed
cease-fire agreements with them and
gave them business opportunities.
But now they face restrictions on their business: the new
cabinet
ordered that everyone must return
unlicensed cars illegally imported
from Thailand and China.
The most serious case is reinforcement of government troops
around
bordering rebel areas. "If we
continue in this situation, our men will
resume armed struggle,"
shouted a spokesman from Pan San, a Wa
headquarters town, in a telephone
conversation with this journalist.
After learning about inside the country, how can the
international
community and exile groups help
them?
As the first move, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda visited
Rangoon and met Soe Win last week.
Jakarta's spokesman says the visit
was intended “to communicate our
views and one may even say our
concern" about developments.
But other countries are still silent, especially neighboring
Thailand.
Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra who had claimed Khin Nyunt was under
arrest early Oct. 19, before the
Burmese made an official
announcement. But now he is so
quiet. Why?
Some observers suspect that at least one of Khin Nyunt's men might be
in Taksin's
hands. "Without any inside information from the junta or
MI, how can he claim that? I didn't think this information
was just
from his ambassador in Rangoon,''
says a Burmese observer in Bangkok.
But noone knows what relations are
between Thacsin and head of junta
Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Apart from Asean, what is the
attitude of the west? The UN, US and EU
are also silent! "We and the
international community are watching
closely for what is really going on
inside the country. Don't hurry
about that," a senior
politician in exile replied to this journalist.
But analysts and observers don't agree with him about
continuing to
watch without any action. "I
want to remind you that 'time and tide
wait for no man,' so you must take
water while it is raining,''
commented an analyst from the Burma
Fund, a Washington-based think
tank. This opportunity is the best
situation for exile groups and the
international community to
interfere in
the movement, he said.
Thankhin Chan Tun,
an 84-year-old a veteran politician in
agrees with him that the
international community should urge current
military leaders to resume dialogue
with Aung San Suu Kyi. "If you
compare Khin Nyunt and the current
leadership, you might guess Khin
Nyunt was more flexible. But sometime the hardline soldiers might bend
their steering 90 degrees.''
He pointed out a positive sign recently, that
Senior General Than Shwe sent a condolence letter to opposition
figure Bohmu
Aung, one of 30 comrades who fought for indepence
from
the British led by Aung San, father
of Aung San Suu Kyi, who passed
away on Nov. 9, the father of Tamadaw. (Bohmu Aung was leader
of a 23-
member strong group of veteran
politicians who were working closely
with Suu Kyi)
Than Shwe had never been sent an official condolence letter
to any
opposition figure in the past 16 yeasr. So Chan Tun thought this
is a
very positive sign for the future.
"So all forces, inside and outside the country, should
urge Gen.Than
Shwe, who holds the steering of
dictatorship to democracy," he
requested.
(Htet Aung Kyaw is a senior
journalist for Oslo-based Democratic Voice
of
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Burma News International is a network of nine exiled media
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Network,