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THE BURMANET NEWS:Tuesday, August 1



                        THE BURMANET NEWS
Tuesday, August 11, 1998                              Issue #1069

The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma.

BurmaNet News website			Links to more news on Burma
http://burma.net/news/			http://www.soros.org/burma/linkread.html
(Under construction)

*****************************
Noted in Passing:


         "The aliens who entered Myanmar and broke the existing laws have
         been seized by the public...Authorities are planning to take
necessary
         action against them. The incident proves that Myanmar people cannot
         stand the attempts of internal axe-handles and foreigners to
         destabilize and destroy the nation and as such they seized the
         foreigners distributing the leaflets."
                              The regime.  See NLM: AGENTS-SABOTEUR CAUGHT
IN
					THE CAT [sic] OF INCITING SOCIAL UNREST
					IDENTITIES, NATIONALITIES AND ACTION PLANS REVEAL
					THOSE BEHIND PERPETRATORS

      "In a message to the junta, Dr. Sein Win added, 'these young people
are
      only dangerous to you if you harm or hold them.  Let them go.'"
                               See NCGUB: PM CALLS FOR RELEASE OF
DEMONSTRATORS


      ``Our clear policy is we will not interfere with the internal affairs
of
       other countries but at the same time, as a democratic country, we
admire
       whoever fights for democracy.''
					Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan
					See REUTERS: THAILAND SAYS MYANMAR MAY
                              CHARGE ACTIVISTS


*****************************
Contents-

REUTERS: MYANMAR EYES ON AUGUST 21 DEADLINE
REUTERS: THAILAND SAYS MYANMAR MAY CHARGE ACTIVISTS
NLM: AGENTS-SABOTEUR CAUGHT IN THE CAT OF INCITING SOCIAL UNREST IDENTITIES,
NATIONALITIES AND ACTION PLANS REVEAL THOSE BEHIND PERPETRATORS
NCGUB: PM CALLS FOR RELEASE OF DEMONSTRATORS
REUTERS:  MYANMAR SAYS FOREIGN ACTIVISTS PART OF PLOT
FEER: INTERNAL MATTER-- ALL MAY NOT BE WELL WITHIN THE MILITARY REGIME
BBC: BURMA ALLOWS EMBASSY VISITS TO FOREIGNERS IN DETENTION
WASHINGTON POST:  FOUR AU STUDENTS AMONG ACTIVISTS  DETAINED IN BURMA
AFP: MYANMAR JUNTA SAYS NO LONGER RESPONSIBLE FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S
SAFETY
AFP: PROTEST AT MYANMAR EMBASSY IN BANGKOK IN SEVENTH DAY
REUTERS: ANALYSIS-MYANMAR'S GAS SUCCESS SEEN DOUBLE EDGED

*****************************

Reuters: Myanmar eyes on August 21 deadline
11:56 p.m. Aug 10, 1998 Eastern

By Chris Johnson

BANGKOK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - In Myanmar, all eyes are focused on August 21
after Saturday's anniversary of a key uprising passed quietly.

August 21 is the opposition deadline given to the country's ruling generals
for a move to democracy.

By this date, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, wants the military government to
convene a parliament of members elected at polls in May 1990.

The NLD won those elections by an overwhelming margin but the result was
ignored by the military.

The military has ruled Myanmar, previously known as Burma, since 1962 and is
likely to ignore the NLD's deadline as it has ignored all the
opposition's other demands.

But diplomats, exiles and non-governmental organisations all agree pressure
in Myanmar will build over the next two weeks and the NLD will find ways to
highlight its demands and underline its argument that change must come soon.

``Everyone here is expecting the tension to build as the 21st comes
closer,'' said a Yangon-based diplomat. ``The NLD play their cards very
close to their chest but they will obviously want the day to be uppermost in
people's minds.''

Life for many Myanmar people has been paralysed by the political standoff in
the country. Universities have been closed since December 1996, when the
authorities shut them after student unrest.

The military has said it wants to reopen the universities this month and
published university entrance results last week. But there has been no
announcement yet and some diplomats think the institutions may remain closed
for some time.

Some diplomats expected the NLD and other pro-democracy groups to use last
Saturday's anniversary of an uprising on August 8, 1988, of opposition
supporters against the military to campaign for the convening of parliament.

Opposition supporters say thousands of unarmed civilians were shot by
troops in the crackdown that followed the uprising. The government says the
death toll was only a few dozen.

Foreign activists handed out leaflets at prominent tourist sites across
Yangon on Sunday calling on the people of Myanmar to remember the 1988
uprising -- or ``Four eights day.''

Eighteen activists, including six U.S. citizens, were later detained by
police and are being held pending investigation.

The military government vowed on Monday to take action against the
activists, accusing them of trying to stir up unrest in the country.

Saturday passed quietly and diplomats said they had heard that Suu Kyi had
requested pro-democracy supporters to do nothing to anger the military on
the anniversary.

But tactics in the run-up to the August 21 deadline may be different,
diplomats say. By giving the government an ultimatum to convene a
parliament, the NLD has put the ball firmly in its own court and must force
the issue, they argue.

London-based human rights pressure group Amnesty International is expecting
campaigning to be stepped up inside Myanmar and says there could be a
government reaction.

``I think there is going to be a build-up of activity there and what we are
asking the military authorities to do is to exercise restraint, not to use
violence if there are demonstrations, not to give their troops live ammo and
basically just to allow them to peacefully demonstrate and gather,'' said
Amnesty spokeswoman Donna Guest.

She gave no hint of the kind of activity she expected but diplomats say
there is a possibility of spot demonstrations, public-relations stunts, or
Suu Kyi could use the restrictions imposed on her movements to highlight the
situation in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, daughter of national hero and independence campaign leader Aung
San, has done this in the past.

Released from six years of house arrest in July 1995, Suu Kyi's movements
are monitored closely by the government and she has been prevented by
government security men from leaving Yangon on three occasions in recent
weeks.

In the last incident at the end of July, she was stopped in her car while
travelling to visit supporters in a village outside Yangon and endured a
six-day standoff with the authorities before she was forcibly returned to
the capital.

Although praised at the time as a brilliant publicity coup, which prompted
criticism of the Myanmar government by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, diplomats say the confrontation was unplanned and is unlikely to
be repeated.

Suu Kyi became ill during the ordeal from dehydration and was manhandled
during her return to Yangon when she was bruised and badly shaken, diplomats
say. The military government denies the accusation and says the security men
treated Suu Kyi well.

The problem for the NLD is that the military government appears to have
exceptionally tight control of Myanmar.

The military has moved swiftly in the past to stop illegal demonstrations
and Myanmar people, many of whom have never known life except under the
military, are afraid, diplomats say.

Although poverty is widespread and financial mismanagement and the Asian
economic crisis have made life hard for ordinary people, it takes a special
set of circumstances to foment the open revolt that big demonstrations would
involve.

``It is difficult to say whether the people will be able to put pressure on
this government to bring democracy. It seems the government has things under
control,'' said an Asian diplomat.


*****************************
NLM: AGENTS-SABOTEUR CAUGHT IN THE CAT [sic] OF INCITING SOCIAL UNREST
IDENTITIES, NATIONALITIES AND ACTION PLANS REVEAL THOSE BEHIND PERPETRATORS
New Light of Myanmar
http://www.myanmar.com/nlm/aug11.html
[The on-line edition of the New Light carries photos of those arrested]

YANGON, 10 Aug Rome foreigners yesterday morning distributed small
instigative leaflets and dropped them from cars at busy public places in
Yangon to incite unrest in commemoration of the four eights (8-8-88) but the
public nearby seized them and sent them to the authorities

    In this connection, General Staff Officer (Grade I) Lt-Col Hla Min of
the Office of the Strategic Studies and officials of the Information
Committee met the local and foreign journalists and briefe them at No 2
Tatmadaw Guest House at 1 pm today.

    It was attended by personnel of the News and Periodicals Enterprise of
the Ministry of Information and correspondents of foreign news agencies such
as Kyodo, Nikkei, Xinhua, AFP, TBS, AP, NHK, Youmiuri, Mainichi, Fuji TV,
Reuters, NTV, Tokyo, Asahi, Nihon Keizai and TV Asahi.

    They explained that some foreigners took taxis and then scattered the
four eights commemorative small red instigative leaflets measuring 3.6"x2"
on which "Goodwill Message" was printed in yellow both in English and
Myanmar bearing a fighting peacock at busy centres such as Kaba Aye Pagoda
Road, in front of Kaba Aye Pagoda, Bogyoke Aung San Market, at the junction
of the Bogyoke Aung San Street and Shwebontha Street, at the junction of
Sule Pagoda Road and Maha Bandoola Street, at the junction of Anawrawhta
Street and Sule Pagoda Road, at the junction of Maha Bandoola Street and
Shwedagon Pagoda Road and in the vicinity of Shwedagon Pagoda yesterday
morning. Some of them distributed the small leaflets. The public wishing to
live in peace could not stand the acts of those foreigners and seized the
motor vehicles and
the foreigners on board, finally sending them to the nearest police
stations.

    The foreigners seized by the public were two American men, four American
women, two Thai men, one Thai woman, two
Malaysian men and one Malaysian woman. Moreover, three Indonesian men, one
Filippino woman and one Australian
woman who arrived in Myanmar together with those seized were also exposed at
the airport and they are being held for
interrogation.

After investigating the foreigners who distributed the leaflets, it was
found that they were sent by the International Organization for Democracy in
Burma in the US using the democracy and human rights groups in Thailand,
that the 18 foreigners were organized into six groups, from "An to "F", each
comprising three members, that they had been instructed time and places to
distribute the leaflets in Yangon, that each group was to distribute the
leaflets at two places, that with systematic arrangements each group was
given the telephone numbers and addresses of the US Embassy, Thai Embassy,
Australian Embassy, Indonesian Embassy, the Philippine Embassy, British
Embassy and Malaysian Embassy to be able to contact in times of emergency
and the map of Yangon.

    Out of the foreigners, American citizen Mr Green Joel Edwards arrived in
Thailand on 8 July and while there he was organized by Ms Debbie Stothard of
the Alternative Asean organization to assist in the cause of democracy and
human rights in Myanmar. Similarly, other American citizens Miss Chhatpan
Sapna and Miss Hamliton were also organized by Ms Stothard. They therefore
arrived in Myanmar to perpetrate the acts. They admitted that the T-shirts
bearing instigative words in commemoration of the four eights and leaflets
were issued to them by Ms Stothard.

    American citizens Mr Tyler Richard, Miss Michele Lynn and Miss Nisha
Marie arrived in Myanmar as they were sent by Myanmar expatriates in US who
told them that there would be public unrest in August in Myanmar and asked
them to take part in the riots. Myanmar expatriates were said to have issued
the T-shirts and leaflets to them.

    Thai citizen Mr Jaran is vice-chairman of the Union for Civil Liberty in
Thailand and adviser to Parliament of Human Right which was contacted by the
US based International Organization for Democracy in Burma. He was informed
that the tenth anniversary of the four eights would be held in Yangon and
expenses would be sent to him if he would like to attend the anniversary. Mr
Jaran of the Union for Civil Liberty, his assistant Miss Chanaka and a
 .farmer Mr Sawat were then selected to be sent to Yangon. T-shirts and
leaflets were given to the three at the airport and they were sent to
Yangon. Indonesian
Mr Sulaiman Haikal and group arrived in Yangon after being organized by Mr
Rachada of Bangkok-based Alternative Asean Network on Burma which gave the
group T-shirts and leaflets on arrival in Thailand.

    All those foreigners were organized by various groups acting to incite
unrest in Myanmar and destabilize the country on the pretext of democracy.
They revealed that the International Organization for Democracy in Burma
stood.for their expenses tour and arranged the plot. The Naga International
Travel Service initiated the package for them and they arrived in Myanmar on
7 August and checked in together at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel and planned
to leave on 9 August. If the
distribution of leaflets was successful they planned to hand over the rubber
block to the hardcores inside the country for
continued distribution of the leaflets.

    RFA has been broadcasting daily the so-called appeal of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi in anticipation of the four-eights anniversary. Radio stations such as
VOA and BBC, too, were playing up the tenth four-eights anniversary to
incite unrest in Myamnar. The so-called tape appeal to the public of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi" was smuggled out of the country by Alternative Asean group
and sent to the VOA and RFA which have been,broadcasting it. BBC TV has also
been featuring the four eight special features daily. The Democratic Myanma
Athan based in Notway is also said to be broadcasting tenth four-eights
anniversary in citements. At the same time, other opposition  groups outside
the country were trying to incite riots in stable and peaceful Myanmar and
cause public concem and they are interfering in the Internal affairs by
using foreigners.

Anti-government groups in foreign countries are thus trying to  destabilize
the country and cause public concern and anguish in collusion with the
internal destructive group working on the pretext of democracy and human
rights. Organizations in some big nations are supporting such acts and they
are paying the Myanmar expatriates and teaching them to oppose and destroy
Myanmar. Those groups in collusion with internal axe-handles are found to be
carrying out synchronized activities, to incite unrest in the country.

    The aliens who entered Myanmar and broke the existing laws have been
seized by the public. These foreigners smuggled in the instigative leaflets
in the soles of slippers and Ovaltine cartoons and hidden in their clothes.
Their premeditated acts to the detriment of Myanmar and its people are
evident. Authorities are planning to take necessary action against them.

    The incident proves that Myanmar people cannot stand the attempts of
internal axe-handles and foreigners to destabilize and destroy the nation
and as such they seized the foreigners distributing the  leaflets. Foreign
news agencies and anti-government groups in foreign countries believing the
false reports of internal destructive group active on the pretexts of
democracy and human rights planned to carry -out a synchronized acts.
However, the four-eights anniversary  incidents, which they expected to
occur, did not materialize anywhere in Myanmar. The People, as usual, are
living in peace undisturbed, said the spokesman, in his statement.

Officials replied to queries of the correspondents.


*****************************
Reuters: Thailand says Myanmar may charge activists
12:21 a.m. Aug 11, 1998 Eastern

BANGKOK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said on
Tuesday he thought the 18 foreign activists arrested for distributing
leaflets in Myanmar over the weekend could be charged.

But Surin said his government still had no word on the fate of the
activists, who were picked up by police on Sunday after a mass hand-out of
pro-democracy leaflets at tourist sites in Yangon in defiance of the
military government.

``We should give them (Myanmar) some time to perform the legal procedure. I
understand that they might be charged in accordance with the existing
laws,'' Surin told Reuters.

Surin said Thailand had applied for consular access to its three nationals
but the request had not yet been granted by the Myanmar authorities.

He said the activists seemed prepared for the consequences of their
actions.

``What we can do is ask for lenience and (legal) practice in accordance
with international standards,'' he said.

Myanmar officials have said the 18 activists -- six Americans, three Thais,
three Indonesians, three Malaysians, two Philippine citizens and an
Australian -- are being held pending investigations.

The authorities have not yet said whether they will charge or release and
deport the foreigners.

On the growing tension between Myanmar's military rulers and the opposition
led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Surin said he had discussed the
issue with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on the telephone on
Friday.

``Thailand and Japan have reached the common view to encourage a compromise
by holding a dialogue between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi in order
to avoid the bitterness of the conflict from rising further,'' Surin said.

Surin later told reporters:

``Our clear policy is we will not interfere with the internal affairs of
other countries but at the same time, as a democratic country, we admire
whoever fights for democracy.''


*****************************
NCGUB: PM CALLS FOR RELEASE OF DEMONSTRATORS
Tells junta they 'are only dangerous to you if you harm or hold them.'

For more information, contact the NCGUB Press Office at +1(202) 393 7342

Begin text:

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma today deplored the
arrests of eighteen members of a "multinational peace-making team" by the
military junta in Rangoon and called on the regime to ensure their safe and
speedy release.  Prime Minister Sein Win, speaking from Washington, said
that "I am touched by their concern for my people and moved by their
courage, but I also know what it is to fear for the safety of loved ones who
are at the mercy of the generals.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the
families of the regime's newest prisoners."  In a message to the junta, Dr.
Sein Win added, "these young people are only dangerous to you if you harm or
hold them.  Let them go."

The text of the flier they were distributing read:

We are your friends from around the world. We have not forgotten you. We
support your hopes for human rights and democracy. 8-8-88 -- Don't forget --
Don't give up.

A junta spokesman said that eighteen will be tried on criminal charges and
that "Action will be taken against them according to the law. They will be
charged and tried."


				###

BACKGROUNDER ON ARRESTS, CRISIS IN BURMA:

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THOSE ARRESTED:  The peace-making team of
eighteen included lawyers, academics, business people and students.  Of the
eighteen, six are US nationals, three are Thais, three are Malaysians, one
is Australian, two are Filipinos and three are Indonesians.

Michele Keegan (USA): at nineteen, Ms. Keegan is the youngest of those
arrested.  She is to be a sophomore at American University this fall where
she is majoring in Psychology.  Michele grew up in New Jersey and has helped
to raise money to purchase health and educational supplies for refugees
living along the Thai-Burma border.

Nisha Anand (USA): is twenty-one years old and is an honors graduate from
American University with a degree in International Relations which she
received this spring.  She received a full scholarship from the masters
program in Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University which will
begin in the fall.

Sapna Chhatpar (USA): is twenty years old and will be a junior at American
University this fall, majoring in International Studies.  She is from
Maryland and has helped to raise money to purchase health and educational
supplies for refugees living along the Thai-Burma border.

Anjanette Hamilton (USA): is twenty years old and will be a sophomore at
American  University this fall, majoring in anthropology.  She is from
Connecticut and became interested in Burma while living for a year as an
exchange student in India.

Tyler Gianini (USA): Tyler is twenty-eight years old and is a lawyer with an
environmental organization with offices in Washington.  Tyler grew up in the
Washington area and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in
1995 and is member of the Virginia bar.

Joel Greer (USA): is a thirty-four year old law student at Yale Law School
in Connecticut.

Alison Vickary (Australia): is a thirty-five year old economics at Macquarie
University.  She lives in Marrickville, Australia.

Jaran Ditapichai (Thailand): is a fifty two year old lecturer at a
university in Thailand.  He lives in Bangkok.

Suwat Uppahad (Thailand): is thirty-seven years old and he is a member of an
agricultural cooperative in Thailand.

Chanakan Phundaemvong (Thailand): is twenty-two years old and she is a
university student.

Ellene Sana (Philippines): is thirty six years old and she works with a
non-profit organization in the Philippines.

Ponciano Resuena (Philippines): is thirty-three years old and he works for a
non-profit organization in the Philippines.

See Chee How (Malaysia): is thirty-four years old and he is a businessman in
Malaysia.

Jonson Chong (Malaysia): is twenty-seven years old and he works with a
non-profit organization in Malaysia.

Ju Lynn Ong (Malaysia): is twenty-seven years old and she is a university
student in Malaysia.

Cass Evert (Indonesia): is twenty-one years old and he is a university
student

Haikal (Indonesia): is twenty-one years old and he is a university student.

Fadjri (Indonesia): is thirty-seven years old and he is a journalist in
Indonesia.

RECENT SIMILAR ARRESTS: James Mawdsley, a 25-year old British-Australian
student was released last week after serving three months of a five year
sentence for entering Burma illegally.  Mawsdley had distributed leaflets
similar to the ones carried by the peace-making team.  Mawdsley was held in
solitary confinement in Rangoon's notorious Insein1 Prison for three months,
"crushing cockroaches and reading a hard-back copy of the New English
Bible."2  The Independent, a London newspaper describes Insein Prison as:

"overcrowded, infested, and brutal, [a] sprawling collection of brick and
concrete buildings [that] houses prisoners from across Burma in small dirty
cells. Most are political prisoners, the overwhelming majority Burmese
nationals, serving up to 25 years for" subversive acts" such as speaking to
United Nations researchers.

BURMA'S LAWS:  A report by Amnesty International on Burma's political
prisoners described Burma's legal system, in the words of one of the junta
members, as "no law at all."  The junta has claimed the peace making team
violated the Emergency Provisions Act of 1950, the Printing and Publications
Act of 1962 and a law prohibiting "statements conducive to public mischief."
In May 1998, Burma sentenced a number of persons to seven year sentences
under the Printers and Publications Act, including an eighty-year old man
who had been a prominent figure in Burma's independence movement.
Dissidents charged with violations of the Emergency Provisions Act have
recently drawn five-year prison terms.  Burma's has the world's most
draconian Internet laws, including one which penalizes possession of an
unauthorized modem or fax machine with seven to fifteen years in prison.  In
1996, Leo Nichols, an Anglo-Burman who was honorary consul in Rangoon for
several European countries died after serving six weeks of a three year
prison term received for the unauthorized possession of a fax machine.  Mr.
Nichols is believed to have been denied medical treatment despite known
serious medical conditions.

NLD LEADER UNDER VIRTUAL HOUSE ARREST:   National League for Democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under virtual house arrest with
extra riot police and security checks around her home.  The NLD statement
noted that "This measure ... signifies increased restriction of (NLD leader)
Aung San Suu Kyi and is tantamount to putting her under house arrest...If
this continues, the NLD has no other recourse but to take legal action.


Footnotes:

1 Insein is pronounced "insane."

2 Andrew Buncombe , Season of hell in Burma junta's jail, THE INDEPENDENT
(London),August 7, 1998


*****************************
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS FOREIGN ACTIVISTS PART OF PLOT
11-AUG-98

 YANGON, Aug 11 (Reuters)- The fate of 18 foreign activists
 held in Myanmar for distributing pro-democracy leaflets was
 unclear on Tuesday as the military government accused the group
 of being part of a plot.

 Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said in Bangkok that he
 thought the activists, detained on Sunday after handing out
 thousands of leaflets at Yangon tourist sites, might be charged.

 But a government spokesman declined to confirm rumours that
 the activists would be tried, saying only that ``the legal process
 is underway and (it would) be premature to give comment on the
 outcome at this moment.''

 Reporting the detention of the activists for the first time, all three
 of Myanmar's state-owned newspapers said the group had
 colluded with ``internal axe-handles,'' the term by which the
 government commonly refers to traitors.

 They said the ``plot'' was arranged outside Myanmar.

 ``Their premeditated acts to the detriment of Myanmar and its
 people are evident,'' said the newspapers, which carried
 identical reports and commentaries attacking the activists as
 well as pictures and brief biographies of each of the group.

 ``The authorities are planning to take necessary actions against
 them,'' the newspapers said.

 Myanmar police detained six Americans, an Australian, three
 Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians and two Philippine
 citizens on Sunday.

 Activists said they handed out about 10,000 red, palm-sized
 leaflets reminding the Myanmar people not to forget a
 crackdown on opposition demonstrators 10 years ago. The
 leaflets carried the message: ``8888-- Don't forget-- Don't give
 up.''

 On August 8, 1988, soldiers fired on a pro-democracy
 demonstration near Yangon city hall, killing many civilians.
 Opposition supporters say thousands of people died in the unrest
 that followed. The military puts the death toll at a few dozen.

 Diplomats representing the activists in Yangon said they had still
 not been told what would happen to their nationals.

 The Thai Foreign Minister told Reuters in Bangkok that his
 government had not yet seen its nationals.

 ``We should give them (Myanmar) some time to perform the
 legal procedure. I understand that they might be charged in
 accordance with the existing laws,'' Surin said.

 ``What we can do is ask for lenience and (legal) practice in
 accordance with international standards,'' he said.

 Several diplomats said they believed the government would like
 to expel the detainees quickly rather than risk a protracted and
 probably high-profile incident.

 But others said they thought the activists could be held for some
 time before being deported.

 This was how the authorities treated a foreign activist, James
 Mawdsley, who was detained in September 1997 for chaining
 himself to a fence and shouting anti-government slogans.

 He was sentenced to five years jail and fined for entering the
 country illegally but was released and deported on August 6.

 Sunday's leaflet drop was organised by the Alternative ASEAN
 (Association of South East Asian Nations) Network on Burma
 (Altsean-Burma), which supports Myanmar's democracy
 movement.

 Altsean-Burma has said the activists included lawyers,
 academics, business people and students who had gone to
 Myanmar to commemorate the anniversary with a ``goodwill
 message.''

 Tension between the government and the opposition National
 League for Democracy (NLD) has risen in recent weeks ahead of
 an NLD deadline for the government to convene by August 21 a
 parliament of members elected in May 1990.

 The NLD, led by 1991 Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
 won that election but the government has ignored the result.

 Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's national hero and founding
 father Aung San, was released from six years of house arrest in
 July 1995, but still faces restrictions on her movements and all
 visitors to her home are monitored carefully.




*****************************
BBC: BURMA ALLOWS EMBASSY VISITS TO FOREIGNERS IN DETENTION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Tuesday, August 11, 1998 Published at 13:13 GMT 14:13 UK

Burma allows embassy visits to foreigners in detention

The Burmese authorities have allowed diplomatic officials to visit some of
the foreigners detained in the capital, Rangoon, on Sunday.

United States embassy officials spent one-and-a-half hours on Tuesday with
the six Americans heldand have applied for regular access.

An embassy spokesman told the BBC the sixwere in good health and had not
complained about their treatment.

Thai officials have also been allowed to visit the three Thais being held.

Altogether, eighteen foreigners were detained after distributing
politically- sensitive leaflets to mark the tenth anniversary of the
suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations.

The Americans say the Burmese authorities still haven't decided whether to
charge them.


>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service


*****************************
FEER: Internal Matter-- All may not be well within the military regime
Far Eastern Economic Review
http://www.feer.com/Restricted/index_p2.html

 By Shawn W. Crispin in Rangoon

 August 13, 1998
 The contrasts could not have been sharper in the Burmese
 government's six-day stand-off with the opposition, which ended
 on July 30. Stranded on a bridge on the outskirts of Rangoon was
 the dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. Wearing a traditional Burmese
 pinni jacket and the headdress of a peasant girl, she seemed
 somehow saintly. Looking on, the forces of the ruling junta, with
 their barb-wired roadblocks and firearms, appeared downright
 beastly. Meanwhile, in a country haunted by a history of shocking
 images, the streets of Rangoon remained quiet.

 Nearly 10 years to the day--August 8, 1988--on which the
 military killed thousands by opening fire on crowds of
 pro-democracy demonstrators, this veneer of calm has the junta
 spooked. Domestic and international political pressure mounts for
 the government to open dialogue with Suu Kyi's National League
 for Democracy. Meanwhile, any hope that Asean membership,
 granted last year, would help to boost the beleaguered country's
 wealth has been squelched by the regional economic crisis. And
 increasingly erratic signals hint at divisions between military
 intelligence and the rest of the armed forces.

 "There is a growing, albeit quiet, antagonism between military
 intelligence and the army--particularly between intelligence chief
 Khin Nyunt and army commander Gen. Maung Aye," says a
 Western diplomat. Khin Nyunt, handpicked in 1984 by
 then-dictator Ne Win, has always been seen as Burma's heir
 apparent.

 Indeed, nowhere are the policy inconsistencies between the junta's
 two power centres more apparent than in their recent divergent
 approaches to dealing with the NLD, the country's chief
 opposition party. Quiescent since 1995, when it withdrew its
 participation in drafting a new constitution, in June the NLD upped
 the tempo of its opposition campaign by demanding a dialogue
 with the government, which goes under the name of the State
 Peace and Development Council. The party also insisted that the
 parliament democratically elected in 1990 be convened by August
 21.

 In seeming accord, the junta has answered such demands with a
 characteristically hard and ruthless line. Since June, it has jailed 42
 elected NLD members and restricted the movement of many
 others. In its hardest position against Suu Kyi since it freed the
 Nobel Peace Prize winner from six years of house arrest in 1995,
 the SPDC restricted her from leaving the Rangoon area on three
 separate occasions.

 But a deeper inspection reveals cracks in the party line. Suu Kyi's
 first two halted excursions to meet provincial NLD members
 outside the capital on July 8 and July 20 were resolved peacefully
 through military-intelligence intervention. But her latest attempt
 ended with her being violently forced back to the capital--an
 abrupt policy departure from the earlier two incidents. "The army
 decided to deal with this one," says another Rangoon-based
 diplomat. "They have lost their patience, which may indicate Khin
 Nyunt's influence is on the descent. "

 This isn't the only time that mixed signals have emerged from the
 junta since November, when, in a quiet coup, a number of
 ministers were sacked on charges of corruption. On June 25,
 stick-wielding hooligans under the army's direction attacked a
 "reading group" in front of Suu Kyi's compound. (Since the military
 closed all universities in 1996, Suu Kyi has held fortnightly
 meetings to peacefully discuss current events. ) In the melee, one of
 the military-intelligence officers in Suu Kyi's compound, Maj.
 Thura, suffered minor head injuries while trying to stop the
 flogging.

 The November coup, many diplomats contend, originated with
 Gen. Ne Win, Khin Nyunt's patron. Ne Win ruled Burma from
 1962-88 and continues to act as junta puppetmaster. But as
 rumours swirl that the 87-year-old's health is declining, the coup
 may not have come off as cleanly as first thought. "Because Khin
 Nyunt controls the press and information dissemination, everyone
 assumes he is running the country. But in the end Maung Aye still
 wields a bigger stick," says the Western diplomat.

 Rivalry and suspicion between military intelligence and the army
 are nothing new, nor are differences in outlook between Khin
 Nyunt and Maung Aye. But whatever the two men's differences,
 so far they have avoided creating full-blown groups. Now, though,
 the regime faces its greatest political and economic challenges
 since the 1988 democratic uprising, and the strain is beginning to
 show.

 Khin Nyunt brokered numerous recent ceasefires along the Thai
 border, where some ethnic insurgents have fought for 50 years.
 Maung Aye, a former army commander who has built his career
 battling ethnic insurgents, probably preferred a final military
 solution to the conflicts. What's more, political analysts speculate
 that Maung Aye thought the ceasefires spared his former
 battlefield adversaries. "The terms of the Shan ceasefire, in effect,
 legalized all Khun Sa's drug money and have made him veritable
 royalty in Rangoon," says a Burma watcher in Thailand, referring
 to the notorious Shan opium warlord.

 There may also be a philosophical schism opening within the
 regime. Khin Nyunt was the impetus for Burma's entering Asean in
 July 1997 and many analysts speculate his fate rests on the
 initiative's success. At that time, the top brass agreed that Asean
 would grant the regime the legitimacy needed to woo
 much-needed foreign investment into Burma. "They figured the
 Asean model of an authoritative political system, an open
 economy, would work for them just like it did for Indonesia," says
 an ambassador to Burma. "But the regional financial crisis has
 made their moment of triumph very short-lived. "

 Worse yet for the military, that moment of triumph has quickly
 turned into a moment of ignominy. Thai Foreign Minister Surin
 Pitsuwan's recent call to replace Asean's founding precept of
 "noninterference" with "flexible engagement" was seen as a direct
 attack on Burma. The regime's continued political intransigence
 quickly became a topic at the recent Asean and Asean Regional
 Forum meetings in Manila, and Burma's foreign minister, Ohn
 Gyaw, had to listen. "The Asean shield for the SPDC has
 completely evaporated," says the ambassador. "They suddenly feel
 very much alone and exposed. "

 Criticism from its perceived Asean brethren caught the junta
 off-guard. And as foreign investors flee the country, isolation looks
 a lot more appealing to many SPDC members than keeping a
 door open to the world. "Considering what the financial crisis has
 brought to bear on the more liberalized Asean economies,
 openness is beginning to be perceived as a threat and may soon be
 replaced by a resurgent isolationism," says a Rangoon-based
 analyst.

 The first signpost has been recent restrictions placed on all border
 trade in a crude attempt to stop the free-fall of the Burmese
 currency, the kyat. Since July 1997, the blackmarket rate has slid
 to 365 to the U. S. dollar from 170. The currency remains officially
 pegged to the dollar, however, at only 6. 25 kyat.

 With Maung Aye serving contemporaneously as head of the Trade
 Policy Council, the prospect of future economic opening looks
 bleak. "Maung Aye is a soldier boy through and through.
 Decisions are made by dictate and without consultation," says the
 Western diplomat. "Unfortunately, he is hopelessly ignorant about
 economics. "

 More outward-looking, Khin Nyunt knows that a return to the
 isolationist policies of the 1960s and 1970s is a dangerous
 proposition. In January and March, he even solicited suggestions
 from private economists on how to solve the country's economic
 woes. They called for the blackmarket and official currency rates
 to be brought into line. But the more conservative elements of the
 SPDC fear the effect a devaluation would have on inflation,
 already dangerously high at 50% on domestically produced goods.

 If it wants to avoid inflationary pressure, reworking the exchange
 rate will require that Burma obtain foreign aid. But with
 Washington-led sanctions still in place, that probably won't
 materialize until the government starts talks with the NLD.

 How long it will be before this happens, if ever, remains unclear.
 Khin Nyunt seems to understand the need for openness. Maung
 Aye appears to be in denial. And Prime Minister Than Shwe,
 increasingly a figurehead, would probably rather retire than deal
 with it. None of them like it, but as Suu Kyi continues her push, it
 will likely accentuate their different perspectives and a fractious
 power struggle cannot be ruled out.



*****************************
WASHINGTON POST:  FOUR AU STUDENTS AMONG ACTIVISTS  DETAINED IN BURMA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/11/022l-081198-idx.html
By Keith B.  Richburg
 Washington Post Foreign Service
 Tuesday, August 11, 1998; Page A18

 BANGKOK, Aug.  10-Eighteen foreigners, including
 four students from American University, remained in
 detention in Burma tonight as the military junta in
 Rangoon weighs whether to charge them formally -- and
 perhaps send them to prison -- for handing out leaflets
 commemorating the date of the regime's bloody
 crackdown on a student-led, pro-democracy uprising a
 decade ago.

 A spokesman in Rangoon said the 18 activists were
 detained Sunday after handing out thousands of tiny red
 pamphlets, about the size of the palm of a hand, with the
 numbers "8888" -- for the date, Aug.  8, 1988, when
 troops opened fire on student protesters in Burma,
 launching a crackdown that eventually killed thousands.
 The leaflets also read: "Don't Forget -- Don't Give up. "

 The Rangoon government has been extremely jittery in
 the weeks leading up to the anniversary, and has been
 clamping down on opposition from the National League
 for Democracy and restricting the movements of the
 party's leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu
 Kyi.

 The activists, who went to Burma on tourist visas last
 Friday, were members of a group called Altsean, for
 Alternative ASEAN Network.  ASEAN is the
 Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which last year
 admitted Burma as its ninth member, over the vehement
 objections of human rights groups and others critical of
 the regime's suppression of political dissent.

 Six of the 18 people arrested are Americans, one is
 Australian, and the rest are from Thailand, Indonesia,
 Malaysia and the Philippines.  The four American
 University students apparently became interested in the
 cause of Burma's democracy movement after hearing Suu
 Kyi's husband speak at the campus in Washington.

 The four AU students, all women, were identified as
 Nisha Marie Anand, 21, a graduate student, Anjannette
 Hamilton, 20, Michele Keegan, 19, and Sapna Chhatpar,
 20.  The other detained Americans were identified as
 Tyler Giannini, 28, a lawyer, and Joel Greer, 34, a Yale
 University law student.

 ["We're trying to first make sure these students get all the
 necessary help that we can to help get them out of there,"
 Todd Sedmak, an American University spokesman said
 today.

 [Sedmak said university officials had been in touch with
 the State Department about the detention of the AU
 students, staff writer John Fountain reported. ]

 Representatives of the activist group here in Bangkok
 were concerned that some students had not informed
 their families of their plans to travel into Burma.

 By nightfall, officials of the American Embassy had not
 been allowed to visit the detained activists.  "They have
 asked repeatedly for consular access," a U. S.  Embassy
 spokeswoman in Bangkok said tonight.  "So far, no one
 from the embassy has been able to see them. "

 There was no word on the detainees' conditions, and
 supporters here were concerned that they did not know
 where the activists were being held.  Some apparently
 were detained at the airport Sunday just as they were to
 board their scheduled return flight to Bangkok.

 The Burmese government spokesman in Rangoon told
 reporters today, "At the moment, I can't say the extent of
 legal action that will be taken against them. "

 Burmese authorities searched the students' hotel rooms
 and found what a statement said was seditious material.
 The statement said the activists "were apprehended
 attempting to incite unrest in Yangon. " Yangon is the
 junta's name for Rangoon, a switch made at the same
 time the regime began calling the country Myanmar.

 Diplomats were divided over whether the 18 would be
 formally charged -- and face possible prison sentances --
 or whether they might all be deported after a brief time
 in detention for questioning.

 An Australian diplomat said he had a "gut feeling" that
 all 18 would be deported.  But others were skeptical,
 particularly after initially anticipating that the detainees
 would be placed on the day's last flight from Rangoon to
 Bangkok that landed here around dinnertime.

 The arrests come at a sensitive time in Burma's
 long-strained relations with the West, and as Rangoon
 has shown signs of increasing defiance of international
 opinion.  Earlier this month at an ASEAN regional
 meeting in Manila, Secretary of State Madeleine K.
 Albright launched a blistering rhetorical attack on the
 Burmese regime.

 "With each passing day, the likelihood of a social
 breakdown -- or explosion -- that could undermine
 regional stability grows higher," she said.  She called
 Burma "a country in great and growing distress. "

 As she spoke, troops had surrounded the car of Suu Kyi
 to prevent her from visiting supporters in a provincial
 city.  In Manila, Albright and the foreign ministers of
 Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and other
 ASEAN countries confronted the Burmese foreign
 minister, Ohn Gyaw, in an unscheduled meeting and
 demanded that foreign diplomats in Rangoon be
 permitted to visit the opposition leader.

 Ohn Gyaw delivered a testy response from the junta in
 Rangoon the next day saying the request for a meeting
 was denied.


*****************************
AFP: Myanmar junta says no longer responsible for Aung San Suu Kyi's safety
Tue 11 Aug 98 - 08:26 GMT

YANGON, Aug 11 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Tuesday said it no longer took
responsibility for the safety of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
despite days earlier guaranteeing her security.

"Since we have withdrawn our official security at her request, we are no
longer responsible for her personal safety or security," it said in a
statement.

Government security agents who had been deployed to protect Aung San Suu Kyi
since her release from house arrest in 1995 were withdrawn when the Nobel
peace laureate ordered them out of her compound here last Thursday.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD), Myanmar's leading opposition
party, said its young supporters would protect her.  The junta said about 10
youths had been staying at the compound around the clock since the official
security team withdrew.




*****************************
AFP: Protest at Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in seventh day
Tue 11 Aug 98 - 10:46 GMT

BANGKOK, Aug 11 (AFP) - A streetside protest by some 50 exiled students
from Myanmar entered its seventh day Tuesday outside Yangon's embassy here.

Police have urged the group to move but said they would not use force.

The number of demonstrators had fallen from 60 a day earlier and some 250 on
Saturday, the 10th anniversary of a military crackdown on pro-democracy
protestors in Yangon which left thousands dead by some accounts, according
to a police officer based near the embassy.

Exiled pro-democracy groups have called for a mass campaign of civil
disobedience in Myanmar and warned of confrontation if the junta does not
convene parliament by August 21, a deadline set by the leading National
League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party.

The NLD, led by Nobel prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won 1990 elections by
a landslide but the junta has refused to relinquish power.

The protestors in Bangkok said they would remain outside the embassy until
parliament was convened and some pledged to launch hunger strikes if the
August 21 deadline wasn't met.



*****************************
Reuters: ANALYSIS-Myanmar's gas success seen double edged
12:10 a.m. Aug 11, 1998 Eastern

By Neil Fullick

SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Two large gas fields are set to dramatically
increase Myanmar's hard currency earnings despite U.S. sanctions against
the military-led government, but the success could turn out to be
double-edged.

The Yadana gas field, offshore Myanmar, is due to start producing 325
million cubic feet per day (cfpd) of gas in coming months. The Yetagun
field, also offshore, is due to start up in 2000 with production of some 200
million cfpd.

``It will be a significant amount of earnings for Myanmar, there is no
doubt about that,'' one diplomat said.

But the gas fields could prove to be less of a windfall than at first
appears for Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries.

The major discoveries have effectively cornered the gas market for the
region. Additional finds could well mean there is no one to buy the gas,
especially as the economic slump in Asia forces firms to cut back future
demand projections.

``There is a lot of potential but people are reluctant to explore the
offshore areas because it's gas proven. The two big players have the market
sewn up,'' said Ian Cross, Asia-Pacific director of upstream consultants
Integrated Exploration and Development Services Ltd.

The best placed buyer for any future Myanmar gas discoveries -- Thailand --
has little appetite to buy beyond Yadana and Yetagun.

Neighbouring Bangladesh is proving up its own large gas reserves.

``So if anyone did find gas offshore Myanmar, I don't know what they would
do with it. They would have to sit on it,'' Cross said.

IEDS estimates that Myanmar currently produces a modest 174 million cubic
feet per day (cfpd) of natural gas from various small fields.

The introduction of Yadana and then Yetagun will take the country's gas
production to more than 600 million cfpd.

Yadana operator France's Total SA had targeted July 1 for the start up, but
a delay in completing a power station in Thailand to take the majority of
the gas has pushed that back 4-6 months, equity partner Unocal Corp said on
July 14.

Nevertheless, within a few months of start up the field will be producing
325 million cfpd, doubling Myanmar's production.

Output is expected to rise to 500 million cfpd within a year's time as
Myanmar takes some of the gas to feed a 300 megawatt power station and a
570,000 tonne-per-year urea plant.

Energy consultants Wood Mackenzie of the U.K. estimate that Myanmar's
earnings from the Yadana field will be $2.873 billion in nominal terms over
the expected life of the field to the year 2030.

Wood Mackenzie estimates Myanmar's earnings from the Yetagun field, which is
due to start up in 2000, will be $823 million through to 2025.

The estimates are based on the real value of the earnings over the period
using a discounted rate of 10 percent per year.

Without any adjustments, Myanmar's earnings from the Yadana field would be
just under $15 billion, the company says.

The fields have been developed despite the U.S.' unilateral sanctions on
Myanmar, which targets U.S. companies investing in the country.

In recent years, the sanctions have had some effect in prompting Coca-Cola
and Texaco Inc to withdraw from Myanmar. But Unocal remains and is an active
supporter of investment in the country.


Oil major Texaco sold a 35.42 percent stake in the Yetagun field in 1997.

The gas earnings will produce a surge in dollar income for a country that
only admitted foreign investors in 1988, after 26 years of self-imposed
isolation.

``In a large economy it would just be money. In this economy it will be a
very measurable proportion of earnings,'' one diplomat said.

Myanmar's main foreign exchange earnings have traditionally come from rice,
beans and pulses and to a smaller extent, wood.

Its foreign exchange reserves are estimated at anywhere between $150
million and $350 million.

Yadana's first few years of earnings will be used to pay off the debt that
helped finance Myanmar's share of the development costs, analysts said.

The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise has a 15 percent stake in each field.

Yadana's shareholders are Unocal with 28.26 percent, and Thailand's PTT
Exploration and Production Plc with 25.5 percent. Total owns 31.24 percent.


Yetagun is made up of MOGE, Malaysia's Petronas, Britain's Premier Oil,
Japan's Nippon Oil and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).

There are 10 other exploration projects underway in Myanmar, but only
Yadana and Yetagun have so far proved major successes.

IEDS estimated 1997 crude production at 9,600 bpd but there is no
indication of output rising in the years ahead.

``I think they would be happy to maintain current production,'' Cross said.








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