Junta tightens control in Monland... "As in other ethnic regions of Burma, where ceasefire agreements have been a growing source of frustration and bitterness, Monland in southern Burma has also seen its share of broken promises and the increasing likelihood that lasting peace is still a long way off. The New Mon State Party—the region?s principal ethnic opposition group—entered a ceasefire agreement with Rangoon in 1995, at the urging of the country?s military leadership as well as members of Thailand?s political and business communities, who were eager to increase investments in the region. Foreign oil companies, such as France?s Total and Unocal in the US, saw peace in the region as good for business. Each had proposed a natural gas pipeline through contested areas of Mon State—a fact that caused the regime to exert greater pressure in the interest of increasing vital foreign investment. In 1996, the NMSP received 17 industrial concessions in areas such as logging, fishing, inland transportation, trade agreements with Malaysia and Singapore, and gold mining. The regime, however, had cancelled the majority of these contracts by 1998, leaving NMSP leaders with little in terms of economic support and weakening the opposition party..."