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The BurmaNet News: December 21, 199



Subject: The BurmaNet News: December 21, 1998

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: December 21, 1998
Issue #1162

Noted in Passing: "We will use this peace to make our army stronger than
ever before to fight for autonomy." - Sao Hse Hten, SSA Leader (see IHT:
Burma's Shan Rebels Wrestle With Trappings of Peace) 

HEADLINES:
==========
BBC: NEW BURMESE CONSTITUTION NEARLY READY
BKK POST: BURMAN DEMOCRACY GROUPS TO SET UP UNION
BKK POST: RANGOON GEARS UP FOR DRY-SEASON OFFENSIVE 
IHT: SHAN REBELS WRESTLE WITH TRAPPINGS OF PEACE 
REUTERS: REBELS VOW TO MAINTAIN FIGHT 
FEER: BORDERLINE MOVE 
FBC: OBITUARY FOR BURMESE DISSIDENT DR. MYA MAUNG 
ASIAWEEK: NE WIN AS A HAPPY RETIREE 
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: GATHERING IN TEL AVIV 
ANNOUNCEMENT: RADIO FREE BURMA ARTICLES 
****************************************************************

BBC: NEW BURMESE CONSTITUTION NEARLY READY
15 December, 1998 

A representative of Burma's military government, General Abel has said that
the country's long-awaited draft constitution is close to completion.

It's the first time that the Burmese authorities have suggested that the
drafting process -- begun six years ago -- is nearing an end.

General Abel, who made his statement during a BBC interview at the ASEAN
summit in Hanoi, did not give any specific time-frame, but he said there
would be elections once the new constitution was in place. 

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THE BANGKOK POST: BURMAN DEMOCRACY GROUPS PLAN TO SET UP FEDERAL UNION TO
ELIMINATE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
18 December, 1998 by Ralph Bachoe

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: The term, "Burman," commonly refers to the
majority ethnic group in Burma, and "Burmese" is used to describe anything
generally related to Burma.  This article is mis-titled, and should read
"Burmese Democracy Groups ..." to rightly state that ethnic minority groups
as well as Burman groups have been involved in drafting this plan.]

Representatives of the ethnic nationalities and Burman democracy groups
last week unanimously decided to support and establish a future Federal
Union of Burma where there would be no discrimination against race,
religion and political beliefs of each and every individual in the country.

Attending the seminar were organisations belonging to the National Council
of the Union of Burma, an umbrella group, and those of others yet to join it.

Among the resolutions taken at the meeting was that Slorc/SPDC has no right
to conduct the on-and off-again national convention. "We do not recognise
such a convention and deem it 'unlawful' and a 'sham' ," said a group
spokesman.

The group fully supports a multi-party democracy system as desired by all
nationalities of the country.

Participants at the seminar stressed the importance of national solidarity
if its countrymen are to enjoy long-lasting peace and prosperity.

The group also called on the international community and the United Nations
to use its good offices to help promote democracy and bring peace and
stability to the country.

The International Herald Tribune, in it's recent report said the UN and the
World Bank had offered Burma financial support in exchange for political
dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi whose National League for
Democracy won the 1990 elections. The proposition was ignored by the
military junta.

"We welcome the initiatives and resolutions adopted by the United Nations
in 1998 with regards to Burma. They are the right decisions, and we urge
the people responsible to ensure that it's [UN] resolutions be put into
practice," said a group statement.

The three-day Seminar on National Solidarity was held from December 12-14,
at Thu Mware Kha-loe in the Karen State of Kawthoolei where a 13-point
agreement was hammered out by representatives of 23 groups.

It follows in the footsteps of the Ethnic Nationalities Seminar held in
January 1997 at Mae Thaw Raw Htha, also in Karen State, a strictly ethnic
nationalities affair. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: RANGOON GEARS UP FOR DRY-SEASON OFFENSIVE AGAINST MINORITIES
18 December, 1998 by Subin Khuenkaew 

Burma is preparing to launch a dry-season offensive against ethnic minority
rebels living along the border with three northern provinces of Thailand.

Lt-Gen Sommai Vichavorn, Third Army Region commander, yesterday said
Rangoon has been deploying troops to border areas opposite Chiang Mai, Mae
Hong Son and Tak, as part of its suppression drive against die-hard ethnic
minority groups.

He predicted that fighting between Rangoon soldiers and the rebels would
intensify.

To cope with possible foreign intrusions on Thai territory, the army will
send its troops to guard border areas prone to attacks, added Lt-Gen Sommai.

"We will not let foreign troops enter Thai soil. The army will dispatch its
soldiers to the border areas to protect national sovereignty and border
villagers," said the Third Army Region commander.

It was reported that Burma would begin its blitz on the Karen National
Union, the United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army which have long
been fighting Rangoon for autonomy.

Rangoon is expected to launch drastic crackdowns on KNU rebels hiding along
the border opposite Tak's Mae Sot district.

Fighting will intensify in border areas of Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son
where the UWSA and the SSA forces stage military activities.

In another development, the SSA, once under the control of former drug
warlord Khun Sa, has vowed to eradicate illicit drugs along the
Thai-Burmese border.

Col Yod Suk, new leader of the SSA, yesterday held a press conference to
announce his drug suppression policy.

He said: "We have a clear-cut policy on drug suppression. This is not an
image-building campaign to please the world community, but it's our duty to
crack down on drug gangs," added Col Yod Suk, a former aide of drug warlord
Khun Sa.

Meanwhile, three members of a drug gang were killed and ten others arrested
after they exchanged fire with anti-narcotics suppression forces in Chiang
Mai's Mae Ai district late on Wednesday night.

Following a tip-off, officers from the Naresuan Task Force rounded up a
drug gang in Ban San Tondu, Mae Ai district. The 13-member drug gang
resisted the arrest and opened fire on the authorities. Both sides fought
for about 30-minutes.

After the brief gunfire, three members of the gang, all Muser tribespeople,
were killed and ten others were arrested and disarmed, said Col Tomorn
Kittisophon, deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment, adding all
members of the gang were tribespeople living in a neighbouring country.

In Mae Hong Son, two Burmese soldiers were caught after they crossed the
border into Khun Yuam district.

The two - Lance Corporal Zo Win, 19, and Private Zaw Ou, 17 - were arrested
on Wednesday by a joint team of local police and border patrol police while
they were walking along a road in Tambon Mae Ngao.

They claimed they had escaped an ambush by a group of ethnic minority
rebels while they were on a routine patrol along the border.

The two were disarmed and detained for questioning. 

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

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BURMA'S SHAN REBELS WRESTLE WITH TRAPPINGS OF
PEACE
15 December, 1998 by Thomas Crampton 

OM MU, Burma - To hear the leaders of the Shan State Army tell it, the
nine-year truce in their fight against Burma's central government has done
little to demoralize, disband or disarm their rebellion. Instead, like 15
other insurgent armies in Burma over the last decade, the guerrilla
soldiers have maintained their demands for political autonomy while being
thrust into tight economic relations with Rangoon that benefit both sides,
even if there is an occasional whiff of opium in the deals.

Gangs of gun-toting teenagers patrol the perimeter fences outside the
army's heavily defended 3d Brigade headquarters, and bodyguards protect
commanders against bombs, bullets, poison or mysterious disappearance.

But the verbal agreement that began their uneasy cease-fire has allowed the
Shan State Army to leave behind some aspects of the nomadic, guerrilla
lifestyle. Youthful soldiers attend school; their families cultivate crops,
and the army leadership has established a business office in Rangoon.

Along with these comforts of peace, however, this year the soldiers
discovered an insidious new adversary that decades of jungle combat did not
prepare them to fight: Mortgage payments.

''We spent all the money we borrowed building a sugar factory and have none
left to pay for cane to crush from the December harvest,'' said Sao Hse
Hten, the army's chairman. ''The interest payments are really becoming a
headache, and I don't know what we are going to do.''

''We hope a capitalist will come in to help us. Perhaps you can tell some
people,'' he told a recent visitor, offering to lead a tour of the freshly
painted facility.

A recent low-interest government loan of 57 million kyat ($160,000) is the
kind of deal that Rangoon officials say nurtures fragile peace accords by
helping develop some of Southeast Asia's most rugged and remote regions.

Converting jungle warriors into legitimate businessmen is the only way for
the nation's puzzle of 135 ethnic groups to exist in peace, the government
says.

The Shan State Army receives monthly payments of 320,000 kyat from the
central government as well as concessions to cut teak, mine gemstones and
tax vehicles - including opium convoys - that transit their territory.

This same sort of economic cooperation, however, has also raised
accusations that Burma is narco-state, since a small set of the insurgent
groups collectively supply the majority of the world's illicit opium.

Most controversially, the government now has troops stationed in some opium
growing regions and effectively promotes money laundering by encouraging
self-declared drug warlords to invest in toll roads, bus lines and banks.

''There is a fine line between maintaining peace and encouraging
development, which everyone wants, and allowing narcotics traffickers to
conduct criminal activities and spend the proceeds with impunity,'' said a
Rangoon-based diplomat. ''While Burma's government has made efforts to
fight drugs, they will cross that line every time to stay in power.''

The Shan State Army leaders insist that they earn nothing from opium
cultivation and that government money cannot buy their allegiance.

''We will not be traitors to the thousands of our comrades who fell in our
40-year fight,'' said Sao Hse Hten, pointing to the dead warriors whose
photographs line the wooden wall of the 3d Brigade headquarters. ''The
chauvinistic ways of the Burmese mean they will try to wipe us out like the
ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. We will use this peace to make our army
stronger than ever before to fight for autonomy.''

Burma's 50-year civil war, which at times restricted the national
government to little more than the capital and its prized seaport, still
rages nearby, with government troops battling a breakaway faction from the
army of the retired opium warlord Khun Sa.

''The Burmese Army forces people to resettle in strategic villages and then
shoots on sight anyone who remains in the no-man's-land,'' said Sao Hso Hten.

According to the Thailand-based Shan Human Rights Foundation, more than
300,000 villagers have been displaced in the last two years by this tactic.

''It hurts us to see fellow Shans treated in such a way,'' said Sao Hso
Hten, shortly before clapping with pleasure while relating a story about 10
ethnic Burmese civilians killed in late October by Shan guerrillas. ''We
are at war and such things as these cannot be avoided.''

The war is not always against the Burmese, he added, pointing out that more
members of the army's ruling committee were killed by rival insurgents than
by the central government.

''When the government turned to fight other groups, we used to have
celebrations,'' said Sao Hso Hten, referring to the dozens of insurgent
groups and factions across Burma. ''We have even fought the other groups
ourselves to expand our area of control to collect taxes.''

This splintering of insurgent groups presents a threat to noncombatants
living on the Shan plateau.

''Insurgent leaders will make peace to get rich and come out of the
jungle,'' said Richard Dickens, Burma representative for the United Nations
Drug Control Program. ''But if they don't spread around the wealth enough,
the lower ranks will lead bands of disillusioned 14-year-old boys into
highway robbery or freelance opium refining.''

He added, ''This reduces the insurgents to an annoyance for the government,
not a threat to national stability, but it stops development and leaves the
narcotics dependence in place.''

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

REUTERS: REBELS VOW TO MAINTAIN FIGHT AGAINST MYANMAR
18 December, 1998 

ZUKENUE, Myanmar, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The leaders of two ethnic rebel
movements vowed on Friday to maintain their guerrilla wars against
Myanmar's military government. 

Bo Mya, the president of the Karen National Union (KNU), told 400
guerrillas and 3,000 villagers in the jungles of eastern Myanmar he would
continue a war against Yangon his movement has waged for almost 50 years. 

Clad in the army fatigues, the KNU general said only unity among the Karen
people and other minorities could overcome the power of Myanmar's State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government. 

"I would like to urge my Karen compatriots and other ethnic nationals to
have strict unity and continue fighting against the SPDC for the freedom of
ethnic nationalities," he said in a speech to mark the Karen New Year. 

Ethnic Karen in eastern Myanmar and in refugee camps in western Thailand
celebrated the Karen new year on Friday with fire crackers and traditional
dances. 

About 100,000 Karen live in sprawling camps in the northwest Thai provinces
of Tak and Mae Hong Son to which they have fled to escape fighting with the
Yangon government. 

Bo Mya's KNU was formed in 1948 and began fighting for an autonomous state
in 1949. At its peak, the movement commanded more than 20,000 guerrillas
and was regarded as the biggest military threat to the Yangon government. 

But the Christian-dominated KNU suffered a major setback in 1995 when a
Buddhist faction defected to the Myanmar army and began fighting against
its former comrades. 

Bo Mya now commands a few hundred guerrillas and is waging a low-key war
against the SPDC in eastern Myanmar. 

The leader of another rebel group, the Shan State Army, also promised on
Friday to keep up the fight against Yangon. 

Yod Suk told reporters in the jungles of eastern Myanmar his grouping would
try to stamp out the drugs trade in its region. 

Yod Suk was formerly part of the Mong Tai Army (MTA) of drug warlord Khun
Sa, who surrendered to Myanmar troops in 1996. The MTA claims to have
12,000 troops. 

"The SSA has not only washed its hands of the narcotic business, we have
also formed our own narcotic suppression teams to fight against the opium
and heroin business in Shan state," he said.

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

FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW: BORDERLINE MOVE
24 December, 1998 

China has its first legal casino. It's not, as might be expected, in a
freewheeling, southern-coast boomtown but in Yunnan province, near the
Burmese frontier.

Recent visitors to Ruili say it's no ramshackle gambling den, either, but a
real luxury casino. Local authorities saw the casino as necessary to
replace a once-thriving cross-border trade of Burmese gemstones and Chinese
consumer goods that collapsed when Burma's currency, the kyat, tumbled and
Rangoon imposed export controls on gems.

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

FREE BURMA COALITION: OBITUARY - BURMESE DISSIDENT DR. MYA MAUNG
20 December, 1998 from nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Fellow Free Burma Activists and Supporters:

The Free Burma Coalition is deeply saddened by the news of the sudden death
of one of our spiders, Professor U Mya Maung.  U Mya Maung was one of the
most passionate critics of military dictatorship in Burma.  During the
First FBC conference at American University in February of 1997, U Mya
Maung spoke that "Burma has become an unsuitable place to live.  As a
minister of Pinya era has said a place where there are no good physicians,
no pundits and no prevalence of law and order is an unsuitable location to
reside.  Today's Burma is in that situation."

SLORC media (the New Light of Myanmar, Thursday, March 13, 1997) attacked
him thus:

"Dr. Mya Maung, who is lingering in the circle of lies, has pessimistic
view on Myanmar...

It is something to be considered about appointing such a person talking
non-sense, as a professor at a place like Boston University of the United
States.  I think that Dr. Mya Maung should be examined at a lunatic asylum
to ascertain that whether he is a mad person or not."

According to his eldest daughter Melanie Maung, U Mya Maung's greatest wish
was for the younger Burmese dissidents to carry on the fight against the
current thugs, dismantle the dictatorship, and rebuild his native country
as a free and democratic country.

Here is a brief bio sketch of Professor U Mya Maung and information about
the funeral.

Dr. U Mya Maung of Natick, Massachusetts, who was Professor of Finance at
Boston College, School of Management, died of a heart attack on Thursday
morning (December 17).  He was 65.

Born in Kyaitlatt, Burma, he was educated at Myoma National(ist) High
School in Rangoon and graduated from Rangoon University in 1953.  On a
Burmese government's scholarship, he first came to the United States for
graduate education.  He received a MS from the University of Michigan and a
Ph.D. from Catholic University of America in 1957 and 1961 respectively.

While a professor at Boston College, he was a Visiting Fellow at the
East-West Center in Hawaii and the London School of Economics and Political
Science.

U Mya Maung authored a number of books including "The Burma Road to
Capitalism" and "The Burma Road to Poverty."  He was a champion of the
Burmese democracy movement and an outspoken critic of military rulers in
Burma.   His political articles frequently appeared in the Christian
Science Monitor.  

A talented musician, U Mya Maung had a passion for Burmese classical music
and often performed at various events and gatherings.  He was an invited
participant at the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway.   U Mya
Maung was also an avid golfer.

U Mya Maung leaves his three children, Melanie and Michael of Wellesley,
MA, and Christopher of Natick, MA; and his brother U Shwe Mya of Burma.

Funeral service in the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 477
Washington Street on Monday 11:00am.

Internment private.

Donations to Burma Fund, 1638 R. Street, NW, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20009

A memorial for Dr. Mya Maung is being planned at Boston College in January.
 Date to be announced later.

peace, love, and hope,
The Free Burma Coalition

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

ASIAWEEK: NE WIN AS A HAPPY RETIREE
25 December, 1998 by Saw Ba Tun, Embassy of Myanmar, Colombo 

Some observations about "Dealing  with Gen. Ne Win," the pipe dream that
appeared in VIEWPOINT [Dec. 11] [see The BurmaNet News, Issue #1154,
December 8, 1998].  I do not know Myint Thein, his credentials or
antecedents. But I presume he knows as much about Myanmar as the man in the
moon, though one can hardly blame him seeing that he lives halfway across
the world. Myint Thein, claiming to be for the interests of the people, is
either totally misinformed or plain ignorant of the situation and
personalities in Myanmar.

His comparing Kyandaw to Arlington is stretching things (as anyone who has
seen both cemeteries would agree). The destruction (desecration) of Kyandaw
was initially committed by the "democracy" activists in the 1988
disturbances. His claim that ex-Brig.-Gen. Aung Gyi was an emissary of U Ne
Win is a fabrication, clear to all who have known about the relationship
between the two since 1962.

All who know U Ne Win know he is a man of his word.  Ever since he
announced publicly that he had retired from Myanmar politics, he is just
that - a retiree and enjoying his retirement. There is no reason for him to
get involved in the running of the country, which is under the able
leadership of the Tatmadaw (Army). The quality of the "Burmese Resistance"
can be judged by the appointment as senior adviser of this ill-informed
columnist.

Saw Ba Tun
Embassy of Myanmar
Colombo

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: GATHERING IN TEL AVIV
20 December, 1998 from <ajsloot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE 

Last Friday (Dec. 18) the Israel section of Amnesty International held a
gathering in solidarity with Dr. Than Aung from the Union of Myanmar in
front of the Myanmar Embassy in Tel Aviv. The gathering was organized by
the Health Professionals Network, members of which have been writing in the
last year hundreds of letters to officials in Myanmar for the release of
Dr. Than Aung.

The physician, Dr. Than Aung, is an NLD member who was imprisoned for four
years in February 1997, after being charged with causing a person's death
by negligence. Amnesty International claims that in fact the reason for his
imprisonment was his non-violent opposition to the military government and
considers him a Prisoner of Conscience. Since his arrest no information was
obtained from official sources on his whereabouts or on his condition.

The gathering in front of the embassy occurred at a time of tension in
Israel, while people were expecting for both the fall of the Israeli
government over the peace process with the Palestinians and for a military
attack by Iraq. At the gathering were about 35 people; many of them wore
doctor's coats. Some people were chained up, whereas others were holding
big signs and distributed info to the public. There was music from the
Amsterdam performance of the Burmese singer, Bo Han.

A petition to free Dr. Than Aung with hundreds of signatures was delivered
at the embassy. The ambassador, his excellency Mr. U Kyaw Myant, who
invited representatives of Amnesty International to the Myanmar Embassy
several months ago, was informed about the gathering in advance. Mr. U Kyaw
Myant did not appear in person in front of the assembly, but had his driver
accept the petition.

Amnesty International welcomes additional information on Dr. Than Aung,
which may be sent to:

Amnesty International
International Secretariat - Medical Office
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom
e-mail: medical@xxxxxxxxxxx
fax: -44-171-9561157

OR

Amnesty International
Israel Section - Health Professionals
P.O. Box 14179
Tel Aviv 61141
Israel
e-mail: aihealth@xxxxxxxxxxx
fax: -972-3-5603391

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ANNOUNCEMENT: RADIO FREE BURMA ARTICLES
20 December, 1998 from <rfb@xxxxxxxxxxx> 

First Burmese Language Internet Radio in the World

Dear Friends, 

"It's time to think for Burmese journals" Burmese article by Saya U Thaung
(20 December) 

Please read the Saya U Thaung's article (Dynamic font) ( 20 December 98 )
on Radio Free Burma web page. Just read or print in Burmese . "It's time to
think for Burmese journals" -- Radio Free Burma http://www.fast.net.au/rfb/

"Now, no more drinking water for Rangoon" in 20 December program 

The 20 December 98 program of Radio Free Burma is available now.  You can
listen either Radio Free Burma page http://www.fast.net.au/rfb   or
http://users.imagiware.com/wtongue/ of the Radio Free Burma originally on
2NBC in Australia, is now available for real-time playback via Real Audio.
This is a Burmese-language program featuring Burma news, U Thaung's
article, views and music of Burma presented by Burmese now living in
Australia. It will be appreciated any suggestion about program.  Please
sends E-mail to (rfb@xxxxxxxxxxx )  Many thanks to Mr Wrightson Tongue,
BurmaNet and all listeners. Radio Free Burma www.fast.net.au/rfb

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