[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
The Nation (12-9-99)
<html>
<table border=3D0>
<tr><td width=3D30><td width=3D120></td><td width=3D300><font face=3D"arial"=
size=3D4><b>Headlines</font></b><font size=3D3>
</font><br>
<font size=3D5><b>Burmese probed over bomb find<br>
</font></b><font size=3D3>POLICE said yesterday they were investigating=
whether Burmese dissidents were linked to a cache of powerful explosives=
uncovered in northern Thailand. <br>
Police and customs officers in Chiang Rai province seized 58 kilogrammes of=
explosives on Friday along with three boxes of dynamite and two tonnes of=
ammonium nitrate used to manufacture explosives. <br>
Police said the cache had been uncovered on the premises of a local=
transport company in Mae Sai district near the Burmese border. <br>
''The bomb is so powerful that it could have destroyed the whole of Mae Sai=
district,'' an police officer said. <br>
He said police were investigating whether exiled Burmese dissidents were=
connected to the explosives. <br>
Last Sunday Karen rebels blew up a natural-gas pipeline in southern Burma,=
temporarily halting supplies to a number of factories. <br>
The attack, near the town of Bilin in Mon state, shut down supplies for=
about 24 hours to some industries, including a French-built cement factory=
and a gas-powered turbine. <br>
A Karen National Union (KNU) spokesman said on Thursday that more attacks=
were planned and accused Rangoon troops of looting, killing and raping in=
villages in Karen state. <br>
The KNU is the main ethnic minority rebel group yet to sign a ceasefire with=
the ruling military in Rangoon. <br>
Burmese pro-democracy groups had called for a nationwide uprising on Sept 9=
aimed at ending decades of military rule. <br>
They said several small-scale demonstrations had taken place throughout=
Burma but a tight security net limited protest. <br>
Diplomats in Rangoon said the planned day of unrest had passed quietly, with=
many people staying at home as troops patrolled the streets and manned=
roadblocks. <br>
The Nation, Agence France-Presse</td></tr>
</font></table>
<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------------- <br>
<br>
<font size=3D5><b><div align=3D"center">
Burma In Revoult<br>
</font><font size=3D4>Opium And Insurgency Since 1948 <br>
</font><font size=3D3>By Bertil Lintner<br>
<br>
</b><i></div>
In 1948, the standard of living </i>in Burma <i>surpassed that of other=
Asian countries. FiftYyears later, Burma is one of the poorest countries in=
the word. Meanwhile, in 1948, </i>Burma produced <i>some 30 tonnes of=
opium, </i>while <i>in 1996-97, they harvested 2,500 tonnes of raw=
</i>opium, An unholy rims between <i>Burma's booming drug production and=
its insurgency and counter-insurgency</i> <i>has ensured that the country=
stays backward </i>and <i>poor. Interspersed with anecdotes gleaned=
from</i> <i>personal research and interviews, this book, a revised and=
updated version of the 1994 edition, is both detailed and interesting</i>.=
<i>The main players in</i> <i>the web of intrigue are</i> <i>the Rangoon=
government the 'ethnic resistance, the Communists, the Kuomintang and the=
US government. International organisations have pumped in money to try to=
end poppy cultivation here but to no avail. The author has travelled=
throughout the region with his wife who was formerly a Burmese guerilla.=
<br>
<br>
</font></i>
<BR>
</html>