Wired News on June 23 & 24, 1995

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders 
Re: Wired News on June 23 & 24, 1995 
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SEA International to Build Hotel in Burma 
 
      RANGOON, June 24 (Reuter) - The French company SAE International has 
signed a contract to build a 22-storey hotel and office complex in Rangoon, 
official Burmese media reported on Saturday.  
 
    Under the contract, which was signed on Friday, SAE International will 
construct the twin tower hotel on a plot of land close to the Sule Pagoda in 
central Rangoon.  
 
    The construction of the 270-room hotel is expected to be completed by the

end of 1996 when Burma is due to celebrate visit Myanmar year.  
 
    Total investment for the project is $60 million, the media reports said.
 
 
    Foreign investment in Burma's tourism and hotel sectors stands at $500 
million and ranks second only to investment in the country's oil and gas 
sectors, according to recently published official stastistics.  
 
REUTER 
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Guerrillas Killed as Burma's Opium War Flares 
 
      BANGKOK, June 23 (Reuter) - At least six guerrillas have been killed in

renewed heavy fighting between rival opium-producing armies in Burma's Shan 
state, guerrilla sources said on Friday.  
 
    An official from opium warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA) said 
fighters from the ethnic minority Wa army launched a surprise attack on an 
MTA position at Doi Larng, near the border with Thailand, on Wednesday.  
 
    Six MTA fighters were killed and several others wounded in heavy clashes 
between the long-time enemies that continued until Thursday, the MTA source 
said.  
 
    Wa casualties were believed to be heavy and the two sides remained dug in

opposite each other in the mountains, he said.  
 
    Both the MTA and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) are deeply involved in 
the Burma's booming opium trade and they used to fight regularly over routes 
for opium caravans until several years ago when they agreed to a truce.  
 
    The UWSA was formed by rank-and-file members of the Burmese Communist 
Party's army who mutinied against their ageing leadership in 1989 and signed 
a ceasefire agreement with Burma's ruling military body.  
 
    The Wa are seeking their own state, covering the area to the east of the 
Salween River, within a federal Burma, but the ruling military has denied 
them that and offered them limited autonomy in a much smaller area.  
 
    Khun Sa's MTA is seeking the independence of Shan state and has been 
facing regular Burmese army attacks since late 1993. 
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Burmese Defy Campaign to Boycott Thai Products 
 
      BANGKOK, June 23 (Reuter) - A Burmese campaign to boycott Thai products

had not stopped Burmese villagers and traders continuing to travel into 
Thailand to buy consumer goods, a local Thai trade official said on Friday.  
 
    ``The boycott is not working because of the people's need for consumer 
products from Thailand,'' Suchart Kriratana, deputy chairman of the 
provincial Chamber of Commerce in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, told 
Reuters.  
 
    Burmese traders arriving in Mae Sot earlier this week reported seeing 
posters in Burmese towns urging people not to buy Thai products but Chinese, 
Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean goods instead.  
 
    The Thai Foreign Ministry subsequently confirmed the campaign, saying 
Bangkok had been informed of it by the Thai Embassy in Rangoon.  
 
    Senior Thai Foreign Ministry officials dimissed the boycott as a 
local-level problem that would be solved by a bilateral body responsible for 
relations between the two countries.  
 
    Burma has given no reason for the boycott call but it follows months of 
strained relations between the neighbouring countries.  
 
    Thailand says Burmese soldiers and their allies have cross the border and

Burmese officials have accused the Thais of helping Karen ethnic rebels.  
 
    ``I think the Burmese are not happy with what they see as Thailand's 
unclear policy towards them,'' said Suchart.  
 
    ``I hope the new government after the (July 2) election will impose a 
clear-cut policy and normal trade will resume,'' he said.  
 
REUTER 
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Bangladesh Hopes to Close Rohingya Camps This Year 
 
      COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, June 23 (Reuter) - Bangladesh hopes to empty 
its camps of Burmese Moslem refugees by the end of this year, repatriation 
officials said on Friday.  
 
    A total of 192,467 Burmese Moslem refugees, called Rohingyas, have 
already returned home, leaving 52,625 in Bangladeshi camps, they said.  
 
    The repatriation process, suspended for some weeks because of 
difficulties on the Burmese side, resumed on Thursday as 174 Rohingyas sailed

across the Naf River border.  
 
    A quarter million Rohingyas fled to southeastern Bangladesh in early 1992

to escape alleged military persecution in west Burma's Moslem-majority Arakan

state.  
 
    Repatriation began in September that year following an agreement between 
the two countries.  
 
    Repatriation officials say they have recorded more than 20,000 births in 
the camps.  
 
REUTER 
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