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Wired News on June 23 & 24, 1995 (r)
FreeBurma@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Attn: Burma Newsreaders
> Re: Wired News on June 23 & 24, 1995
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
> ****************
>
> 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.
> **********
>
> 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
> ****************
>
> 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
> ******************
> -----------------------------------------------end.
>
>