[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
Burma news #135
**************************BurmaNet***************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
*************************************************************
The BurmaNet News:30 March 1995
Issue #135
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTED IN PASSING:
Contents:
***********************IRRAWADDY*************************
*************************THAILAND************************
BKK POST: NYUNT SWE: WE DON'T NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE
BKK POST: THAILAND, BURMA TO DEMARCATE DISPUTED HILL
SLORC-KAREN PEACE TALKS IN PROGRESS, CONFIRMS RANGOON
*************************SHAN*****************************
***********************INSIDE BURMA*************************
THE NATION:MON REBELS READY TO RESUME TRUCE TALKS
BKK POST: BURMESE DELEGATES TO DRAFT NEW CONSTITUTION
**************************************************************
The BurmaNet News is an *********************************
electronic newspaper * Iti *
covering Burma. Articles * snotpo *
from newspapers, magazines, * werthatcor *
newsletters, the wire * ruptsbutfea *
services and the Internet as * r.Fearoflos *
well as original material * ingpowercor *
are published. * ruptsthosewhoare *
The BurmaNet News is * subjecttoit...Theef *
e-mailed directly to * fortnecessarytoremain *
subscribers and is * uncorruptedinanenvironm *
also distributed via * entwherefearisanintegralpar *
the soc.culture.burma * tofeverydayexistenceisnoti *
and seasia-l mailing * mmediatelyapparentto *
lists and is also * thosefortunate *
available via the * enoughtolivein *
reg.burma conference on * statesgovern *
the APC networks. For a * edbytherule *
free subscription to * oflaw...fear *
the BurmaNet News, send * is ahab it. *
an e-mail message to: * Iam *
* no *
majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx * taf *
* ra *
In the body of the message, * id. *
type "subscribe burmanet-l" * Aun *
(without quotation marks) * gSa *
* nS *
Letters to the editor, * uu *
comments or contributions * Ky *
of articles should be * i. *
sent to the editor at: *********************************
strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
In Washington:
Attention to BurmaNet
c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB)
Information Office
815 15th Street NW, Suite 609
Washington D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343
In Bangkok:
Attention to BurmaNet
c/o Burma Issues
PO Box 1076, Silom Post Office
Bangkok 10504 Thailand
Tel: (066) (02) 234-6674, Fax: (066) (02) 631 0133
[The NCGUB is the government-in-exile, made up of the people
who won the election in 1990. Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based
non-governmental organization that documents human rights
conditions in Burma and maintains an archive of Burma-related
documents. Views expressed in The BurmaNet News do not
necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB or Burma Issues]
**************************************************************
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BF: BURMA FORUM
BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
CPPSM:C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
**************************************************************
NYUNT SWE: WE DON'T NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE
30 March 1995
Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe again said yesterday his
country did not need Thailand to help settle conflicts with ethnic
minorities. "We have our own programme to solve our problems. If we
need help from others, we ask. Until now we have no problem. We can
solve (problems) by our own ways and means," he told reporters after
a 60-minute meeting with Foreign Minister Krasae Chanawong. U Nyunt
Swe is in Bangkok to co-chair the second meeting of the Thai-Burmese
Joint Boundary Committee with his Thai counterpart Surin Pitsuwan.
Thailand has extended an offer to mediate peace talks between the
State Law and Order Restoration Council and the Karen National Union
following attacks on the Karen headquarters in Manerplaw early this
year. Dr Krasae said until now the Burmese had not yet made any
request for Thailand's intervention. The Burmese deputy foreign
minister said his government was still waiting to begin talks with
the KNU, adding there has already been some direct contact at local
level. Dr Krasae quoted U Nyunt Swe as saying the Burmese Government
would avoid causing border problems to help the relationship between
the two countries. U Nyunt Swe was quoted as asking for Thailand's
cooperation to suppress the world's biggest drug warlord Khun Sa. But
the two ministers did not discuss the issue in detail. "It's not only
Burma that wished to tackle this problem. Thailand also regards Khun
Sa forces as an outlawed grouping for their narcotic-related
activities," said Dr Krasae. (BP)
THAILAND, BURMA TO DEMARCATE DISPUTED HILL
30 March 1995
Thailand and Burma will begin demarcating the disputed frontier on
Chumphon Province's Hill 491 this year, according to the
director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Treaties and Legal Affairs
Department. Krit Garnjina-Goonchorn said Burma will be ready to
demarcate the border line after it finishes work on demarcating the
frontier with India. Mr Krit was speaking after Thai-Burmese talks in
preparation for the Joint Boundary Committee, when senior officials
of the two countries agreed on the demarcation. The one-day meeting
of the committee starts today. Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan
co-chairs the meeting with his Burmese counterpart Nyunt Swe. The two
ministers will 491 broke out late in December 1992 when Burmese
troops seized the hill in the southern province. Thai and Burmese
armed forces agreed to withdraw from Hill 491 and demarcate the
Thai-Burma border line. But the lack of manpower in Burma has caused
the demarcation to be delayed, Mr Krit said. "Burma has only three
officials on the legal aspects and lacks enough officers to talk with
Thailand, and it has been demarcating its borderline with India,
which finished this year," he added. The two countries have to
conduct a joint survey at the hill to decide which area they should
demarcate first, and the demarcation will use the watershed along the
hill which Burma has never surveyed, the senior Foreign Ministry
official said. The Government allocated 21 million baht for the
demarcation at the disputed location two years ago. (BP)
BURMESE DELEGATES TO DRAFT NEW CONSTITUTION
30 March 1995
More than 600 delegates, most hand-picked by Burma's military
government, met yesterday to resume work on writing a new
constitution which some diplomates dismiss as more from than
substance. The 633 delegates, dressed in national costume or military
uniforms, attended the opening meeting of the National Convention to
draft Burma's third constitution in the grounds of the Presidential
Place in central Rangoon. Some delegates do not expect to see a quick
conclusion to the convention, which met first in January 1993 with
the goal of writing and adopting a constitution that authorities say
will allow a democratically elected government. "What's the hurry"
one army delegate asked Reuters. "This constitution might be the last
one we have. We want to make sure it's good. "We have a saying here:
'If you want the best quality, you must take your time.' That's our
theme," the delegate added. Rangoon-based diplomats do not hold out
much hope regarding the constitution, saying even if it is completed
it is not likely to be followed. "My views on the constitution are
that it is not worth more than the paper it's written on," said one
diplomat. After the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc) assumed power in 1988 following a brutal suppression of a
national pro-democracy uprising, it promised to hold elections "as
soon as law and other have been restored." Though a 1990 election
resulted in a landslide victory for the main opposition party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), Slorc did not accept the
outcome. Afterwards, Burma's powerful military intelligence chief
Khin Nyunt said the body elected was not a parliament but a
"constituent assembly" with powers only to draft a new constitution.
When the National Convention was first summoned in january 1993, only
107 were elected members of parliament and 49 were party
representatives. The military hand-picked the rest. The convention
has adjourned three times because delegates were unable to agree on
certain issues. Delegates say the main stumbling block deals with
Burma's many ethnic groups and their rights of self administration.
(BP)
MON REBELS READY TO RESUME TRUCE TALKS
30 March 1995
Ethnic Mon separatists fighting the ruling Burmese State Law and
Order Restoration Council (Slorc) have decided to resume negotiations
on a military ceasefire with Rangoon. Nai Tin Aung, the New Mon State
Party (NMSP) official in charge of foreign affairs, said the party's
central committee decided in a meeting which ended last week to
resume the talks. Previous rounds of negotiations held last year were
suspended by the NMSP because of a disagreement over the zones of
control to be allocated to the Mon insurgents. "The NMSP will resume
talks with the Slorc," Nai Tin Aung said. "We have not yet fixed a
date, we need to contact the Slorc first, but they will probably be
held in April." He said he also expected the new negotiations, a with
the previous rounds of talks, to take place in the coastal city of
Moulmein. Asked whether the Mon would also seek a political
settlement, or the payment of a tax for the construction of a gas
pipeline slated to run through Mon-held territory, the Mon official
only said that discussions on a ceasefire would come first.
"Negotiating a military ceasefire is the first step in the dialogue,"
he explained. "All other matters, including a political settlement,
will come later." Nai Tin Aung said he is optimistic that Slorc would
come forward with a new position on what areas the Mon separatists
would be allowed to control. The Slorc's previous offer to allow the
Mon to hold twelve small areas in southeastern Burma was deemed
unacceptable by the NMSP. "I don't think they will offer the same
thing again," he said. "The deadlock has lasted one year already. So
I am hopeful they won't take the same position." The Karen National
Union, another ethnic separatist group which has been in battle with
Burma's central government for decades, also announced Monday that it
would seek ceasefire talks with the Slorc. But Nai Tin Aung said he
had not previously been aware of the KNU's decision. Mon and Karen
troops are both active in southeastern Burma, where a pipeline is to
be constructed to transport gas from Burma's Gulf of Martaban into
Thailand. Both the KNU and the NMSP have said they opposed to the
construction of the pipeline under the current conditions of the
project.
Reuter reports from Rangoon: More than 600 delegates, most
hand-picked by Burma's military government, met yesterday to resume
work on writing a new constitution which some diplomats dismiss as
more from than substance. The 633 delegates, dressed in national
costume or military uniforms, attended the opening meeting of the
National Convention to draft Burma's third constitution in the
grounds of the Presidential Place in central Rangoon. Some delegates
do not expectto see a quick conclusion to the convention and
Rangoon-based diplomats do not hold out much hope regarding the
constitution, saying even if it is completed it is not likely to be
followed. "My views on the constitution are that it is not worth more
than the paper it's written on," said one diplomat. After the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) assumed power in 1988
following a brutal suppression of a national pro-democracy uprising,
it promised to hold elections "as soon as law and order have been
restored". (TN)
SLORC-KAREN PEACE TALKS IN PROGRESS, CONFIRMS RANGOON
30 March 1995
The Burmese government is currently holding low level discussions
with the Karen National Union (KNU), Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister
U Nyunt Swe said in Bangkok yesterday. He told reporters after a
meeting with Foreign Minister Krasae Chanawongse at the ministry that
his government was still waiting to see what progress could be made.
U Nyunt Swe said progress would be made in the talks between Burma's
State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) and the ethnic
guerrillas. Talks began, between low-level officials, following last
week's announcement by the KNU Defence Minister Gen Bo Mya for his
troops to cease miliatry operations against the Burmese army in an
attempt to test Slorc's reaction to whether both sides could enter a
peace dialogue. U Nyunt Swe said that the Burmese government had
offered the same dialogue to all groups resisting Slorc's authority.
"It is going well and, so far, we are talking to 14 groups. Only one
or two are still holding out. We are following the same line with
these last few. Everything will work out," he said. He said if
politics could be left out, peace was achievable. "If we do not play
political games, I think they (the ethnic groups) will listen," U
Nyunt Swe said. U Nyunt Swe turned down Thailand's offer to mediate
between the Slorc and the KNU, saying Burma has its own peace plan.
"We have our own programme to solve our own problems. If we need help
from others we ask for it. We can solve our problems our way," he
said. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai had earlier said that Thailand was
ready to mediate between the Slorc and the KNU to bring peace to the
area. Krasae said that believed the only way to solve the problem was
through development. He said that Thailand's policy was more in
favour of the Burmese government. He believed that the development
and well-being of the people would eventually lead to democracy, and
the human rights issue would have to be sorted out. He saidthat
relations between Thailand and Burma were good and he did not want
Burma's internal problems to upset this friendship. Thailand would
cooperate with a Slorc request to help depose drug warlord Khun Sa.
Krasae said that the drug trade was an international issue and not
just a problem for the Burmese government. He said that with respect
to extraditing Burmese accused of criminal activities, Thailand's
legal system would try them. "If they are found guilty, they would be
sent back," Krasae said. U Nyunt Swe co-chairs a two-day meeting on
the second Thai-Burmese Joint Boundary Committee, with Deputy Foreign
Minister Surin Pitsuwan. The meeting, which ends today, was held in
Bangkok. (TN)
===================== news ends =========================