URGENT NEWS - Myanmar Makes Arms in

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This Singapore Company and the Israeli company MUST be dealt with.


Myanmar Makes Arms in Plant from Singapore -Jane's Report

            Reuters
            23-JUL-98

            SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters)- Myanmar's military
            government has begun making small arms in a factory built
            by a Singapore government-owned company, Jane's
            Defence Weekly said in its latest issue. 

            ``Myanmar...has begun manufacturing small arms, and
            possibly ordnance, using a prefabricated factory designed
            and built by Chartered Industries of Singapore in
conjunction
            with Israeli consultants,'' Jane's said in an article on
            Wednesday. 

            The report, if true, would raise eyebrows in Western liberal
            democracies and also within the Association of South East
            Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar and Singapore
            are members, analysts said. 

            With Singapore the next country due to take over the chair
of
            ASEAN, people will be paying more attention to its relations
            with Myanmar, a Western diplomat told Reuters. 

            ``The reaction from the international community would not be
            positive,'' said Sorpong Peou, a fellow at the Institute of
            Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. 

            Officials at Chartered Industries, a Singapore
            government-owned company, could not be reached for
            comment on the report. 

            A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman also had no comment,
            saying such a sale would be a commercial matter. 

            The Jane's report said the purpose-built factory was
            produced last year in Singapore before being shipped to
            Yangon in February 1998, and would make small arms and
            ammunition up to 37 mm in calibre. 

            An assault rifle or light machine gun would be among the
first
            items produced, it said. 

            Analysts said that while the deal was commercially pragmatic
            for Singapore, human rights and security issues were thorny.

            Myanmar's military junta has engaged in a series of
conflicts
            with minority ethnic groups seeking more autonomy,
            although the level of fighting has dwindled in recent years. 

            The junta has come under fire from human rights groups and
            some Western governments for refusing to recognise the
            results of the last general election, in May 1990, and
            suppressing opposition parties since. 

            Countries such as the United States and Canada have
            imposed trade sanctions on Myanmar, including bars on
            military sales. 

            However, Singapore and various other Southeast Asian
            nations have criticised that approach as ineffectual,
            supporting instead what they call a policy of constructive
            engagement, which includes encouraging trade and
            investment. 

            Asia is a big market for arms manufacturers, and many
            countries, including the United States, deal in the region
            through offices in Singapore. 

            Singapore itself makes many of the arms used by its own
            military forces and also exports them to other countries. 

            ``We are a major centre for arms trading, this is a known
            fact....we buy and sell arms for other people,'' said Chia
            Woon Khien, head of Asian research at Skandinaviska
            Enskilda Bank. 

            ``A lot of major countries are guilty of doing this sort of
thing,''
            she told Reuters, adding it posed ``no cause for alarm.'' 

            She said Singapore was a small country and its involvement
            in Myanmar might not draw as much censure as would that
            of a larger country. 

            But some analysts expect the deal to spark discord in
            ASEAN. 

            ``Thailand would be against it because the two countries
            have cross-border issues anyway. They would not be
            happy,'' said one political analyst who declined to be
            identified. 

            ``Myanmar is definitely a hot spot within ASEAN.'' 

            Pressure has been building within ASEAN to allow nations
            more open comment on member countries' internal affairs
            and Thailand has recently been criticised by Myanmar on
            this issue. 

            Thailand is the country most likely to have a strong opinion
            about the reported Singapore-Myanmar arms deal, analysts
            say. ASEAN foreign ministers meet in the Philippines this
            week, where one of the issues is expected to be how much
            comment about each other's affairs should be permitted.