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Burma's hotel sector attracts $600 million   

    RANGOON, Jan 10 (Reuter) - Investment in Burma's hotel and tourism
industry exceeds $600 million, second only to the energy sector, and is
creating much-needed accomodation ahead of a designated tourism push next
year, the deputy minister for hotel and tourism has said. 

    In a speech at a party held by new carrier Air Mandalay Ltd on Monday
night, Brigadier-General Tin Aye said that 16 foreign hotel projects were in
progress throughout the country. 

    ``There are presently 1,786 rooms in Rangoon and 1,250 rooms in Mandalay.
In 1996, there will be more than 5,000 rooms altogether,'' he said. 

    Foreign investors were particularly interested in building hotels near
the ancient city of Pagan and negotiations on several projects were currently
being finalised, he said. 

    The Rangoon government has designated 1996 as Visit Myanmar (Burma) Year
and expects 500,000 tourists next year. More than 50,000 people visited Burma
in 1994. 

    Some observers doubt that the government can attract such a large number
of tourists next year given the constraints of the country's infrastructure. 

    Tin Aye said measures being undertaken ahead of 1996 included simplifying
entry formalities by granting 28-day visas on arrival to group tours and
passengers on charter flight and cruise ships. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-10 09:31:49 EST
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Burma alcohol poisoning toll rises to 25   

    RANGOON, Jan 10 (Reuter) - Six more people have died of alcohol poisoning
in a Rangoon suburb, taking the death toll in the incident to 25. 

    The victims drank a substance believed to be industrial-use methyl
alcohol, the state-run newspaper The Mirror reported on Tuesday. 

    All local bars and foodstalls in the area have been banned from selling
liquor since the poisoning occured on Friday, the Burmese-language newspaper
reported. 

    Several people were still in critical condition in hospital. Some of
those who died drank the liquor-like substance at foodstalls while others
drank the liquid after finding it in plastic bottles in a nearby
river. 

    Authorities were investigating the incident but it was not yet known how
the plastic containers filled with what is believed to be methyl alcohol used
as a varnish came to be in the river.


Transmitted: 95-01-10 04:11:47 EST
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Veteran Shan guerrilla fighter dies in Burma   

    BANGKOK, Jan 10 (Reuter) - Veteran Shan nationalist guerrilla leader Sai
Lek has died in northeast Burma after a long illness, casting uncertainty
over the merger of his own armed organisation with that of opium warlord Khun
Sa, guerrilla sources said on Tuesday. 

    Sai Lek, who merged his Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) with Khun Sa's
Mong Tai Army (MTA) last year, died on Friday at Khun Sa's Ho Mong
headquarters in Shan State as a result of blood poisoning. 

    ``Sai Lek has been sick for some time and died last Friday,'' Kuensai
Jaiyen, a close aide of Khun Sa, told Reuters by telephone. 

    His death was a severe blow to the Shan in their struggle for autonomy
from Rangoon and to Khun Sa himself, other Shan guerrilla sources told
Reuters. 

    ``The death of Sai Lek has shattered Khun Sa's dream to clear his image
as an opium warlord,'' one Shan source said. 

    Khun Sa, described by the United States as the world's number one
narcotics criminal, has in recent years tried to persuade a number of Shan
and other armed ethnic groups in Shan state to join the MTA and fight against
the government. 

    Sai Lek, who was in his late 50's, was believed to have been designated
by Khun Sa as a possible successor, and his death was felt equally by the MTA
and SSPP, the Shan source said. 

    Khun Sa's success in winning over the SSPP was a big boost as Sai Lek and
the SSPP were widely recognised and supported by the Shan people as true
independence fighters. 

    ``Sai Lek was very good as a tactician in mobile guerrilla warfare. He
was the one that the Burmese were afraid of,'' a former Sai Lek comrade said.

    Sai Lek began his guerrilla war against the Rangoon government in 1962. 

    In 1989 the SSPP split and one faction signed a ceasefire deal with the
Rangoon junta leaving Sai Lek and the rump of the SSPP little choice but to__
join forces with Khun Sa, observers said. 

    Kuensai, playing down speculation that Khun Sa's position was now weaker,
told Reuters: ``Despite the death of Sai Lek the SSPP's soldiers are still
fighting alongside us.'' 

    Khun Sa, 60, the half-Chinese, half-Shan commander of about 8,000 armed
men, says he is fighting for the independence of Shan state, but the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration and Thai authorities accuse him of heroin
trafficking. 

    Though indicted by a U.S. court in 1990 on various drugs charges, Khun Sa
denies any wrongdoing and says he only taxes opium traders travelling through
his areas of control.


Transmitted: 95-01-10 00:57:03 EST
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Burma to carry on fight with opium warlord   

    RANGOON, Jan 8 (Reuter) - Burma's military government will never accept
Golden Triangle opium warlord Khun Sa even if he tried to surrender, and he
and his army must be completely uprooted, a senior Burmese general says. 

    Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the head of Burma's military intelligence
and widely regarded as the ruling junta's most powerful figure, said that
because of his drug trafficking Khun Sa was an enemy of mankind and the
Burmese people must fight him. 

    Khin Nyunt's remarks, made at a teachers' conference in Rangoon, were
published in the state-run media on Sunday. 

    Khun Sa, 60, is the half-Chinese, half-Shan commander of an 8,000-strong
guerrilla army based in northeastern Burma's Shan state. He says he is
fighting for the autonomy of the state. 

    Thai and Western anti-narcotics agencies, including the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, say Khun Sa's troops are more often used to guard
his opium business than to fight for autonomy. 

    Khun Sa denies he is a drug trafficker, saying he only taxes drug traders
passing through his zone of control to support his political objectives. 

    Khin Nyunt said Khun Sa had become rich because of his drug trafficking
and his army was strong because his men were trained by foreign military
advisers and were equipped with modern weapons. 

    He said 13 guerrilla groups had agreed to ceasefires and had ``returned
to the legal fold'' but Khun Sa and his army would never be accepted back and
would be uprooted. 

    Khun Sa's claims to be fighting for Shan nationalism and autonomy for
Shan state were just a ruse to conceal his drug business, Khin Nyunt said. 

    Burmese forces launched their first ever large-scale offensive against
Khun Sa's strongholds in Shan state in late 1993. 

    Intermittent fighting has continued since then and Rangoon-based
diplomats say they expect another offensive by government forces this dry
season, which lasts until May.


Transmitted: 95-01-08 04:15:19 EST
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Burma rebel army admits link to drug suspects   

    BANGKOK, Jan 9 (Reuter) - At least two of 10 ethnic Chinese arrested in
northern Thailand in November on suspicion of heroin trafficking are linked
to Golden Triangle warlord Khun Sa, a senior member of his Mon Tai Army (MTA)
said on Monday. 

    Thai and United States narcotics suppression officials said the 10 men,
scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in a Bangkok court on Wednesday,
were leading members of the opium warlord's organisation. 

    MTA Colonel Duan told Reuters by telephone on Monday that two of the
detained men were Khun Sa's, but denied they were senior officials. 

    ``I can only recognise two of them, Chalee and Som Wang, but they are not
at the high level which the U.S. made them out to be,'' Duan said. 

    Khun Sa, said by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as the
world's number one narcotics criminal, denies dealing in drugs, saying he
only taxes drug traders passing through his zone of control to support his
political objectives. 

    Som Wang, alias Liu Feng-te, and Chalee Yangwirikul, were seized in
November along with eight others after a New York court issued indictment
warrants against them. 

    Thai police are detaining the suspects pending a court ruling on whether
all or any of them can be extradited to the United States. 

    Colonel Duan said the Rangoon junta's latest military campaign against
Khun Sa had backfired, strengthening the warlord's image as a Shan autonomy
leader. 

    ``Khun Sa's popularity among the Shan people has increased since Burma
attacked us last May,'' Duan said, adding that anybody who fought against
Rangoon would be a hero among the Shan. 

    ``We have deployed troops and expanded our areas of influence in all
directions in Shan state,'' he said. 

    The ruling body of the Burmese junta, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), has vowed never to accept Khun Sa into the legal fold even
if he tries to surrender. 

    Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, head of military intelligence and regarded
as the ruling junta's most powerful figure, said that because of his drug
trafficking Khun Sa was an enemy of mankind and the Burmese people must fight
him. 

    Khin Nyunt's remarks, made at a teachers' conference in Rangoon, were
published in the state-run media on Sunday. 

    ``The Burmese have suffered heavy losses during the offensive against us
so I think this time they have to be more careful,'' Duan said. 

    He said at least 2,000 Burmese troops were killed during the fighting
between May and December at Mongyawt, Mongton and Mong Hsat Shan state
northeast of Burma, while putting the MTA losses at 120 killed and more than
400 wounded. 

    There was no independent confirmation of the casualty figures. 
Khun Sa, 60, is the half-Chinese, half-Shan commander of an 8,000-strong
guerrilla army based in northeastern Burma's Shan state. He says he is
fighting for the autonomy of the state. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-09 03:10:07 EST
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