[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

The BurmaNet News: October 5, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 Catch the latest news on Burma at www.burmanet.org
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: October 5, 1999
Issue #1372

HEADLINES:
==========
BANGKOK POST: PM ACTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS EMBASSY GUNMEN TERRORISTS
THE NATION: GUNMEN'S HANDS WERE SHAKING, SAFETY CATCHES WERE OFF
ASIAWEEK: IN EXILE AND POWERLESS STILL, MYANMAR'S DISSIDENTS KEEP UP THE
FIGHT
SHAN: JUNTA FORTIFYING THE SALWEEN DAM SITE
BKK POST: THAILAND SHOWS DEMOCRACY WORKS
AFP: MYANMAR TO REVAMP BESIEGED CURRENCY STRUCTURE
*****************************************************

BANGKOK POST: PM ACTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM
4 October, 1999

Top officials will reassess security

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has summoned a meeting of the
anti-international terrorism committee at Government House on Wednesday to
review the Burmese embassy siege and to reassess the existing security
system.

The committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, met on Sunday in the wake of
the siege. Sources said the National Security Council, the National
Intelligence Agency, military and police intelligence officers will take
part in Wednesday's meeting.

Among the points to be discussed would be how the five dissident students
got into the country, how they brought in war weapons, who were giving them
assistance in Thailand, and who were calling into the embassy during the
siege on Friday.

Sources said security agencies will bring up for consideration what should
be done with the 3,000 Burmese students taking asylum in Thailand, as well
as the 250,000 illegal immigrants from Burma who work in factories in
provinces bordering Burma.

Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, who personally handled the
negotiating process during the hostage drama, said yesterday he didn't
expect any problem from Rangoon regarding the way the Thai government
handled the situation. He said Rangoon had been regularly briefed about the
situation.

Meanwhile, an informed army source said the five Burmese dissident students
who seized the Burmese embassy had intended to hold the Burmese ambassador
hostage but they narrowly missed him.

The source said yesterday that Ambassador Hla Maung and his wife had been on
their way to the embassy and were about five minutes away when they heard of
the embassy siege. They immediately took refuge at Yan Nawa police station,
the source said.

Thirteen embassy officials, including U Nyan Lynn, the minister, were among
the 38 people held hostage by the students, who called themselves Vigorous
Burmese Students Warriors.

The source said the army had confirmed that one of the five hostage-takers
was San Naing or Ye Thiha, one of the two hardline students arrested and
jailed for the hijacking of a Burmese airliner from Burma to U-tapao in
1989.

At that time the Burmese junta sought his repatriation to serve his sentence
in Burma. But the request was turned down by the Thai government for fear
his repatriation would provoke international condemnation, the source said.

During Friday's hostage drama, Gen Chettha Thanajaro, an adviser to the
prime minister who is known to have cultivated good personal relations with
the Burmese military leadership, was in regular contact with Rangoon via
Lt-Col Kyaw Han, the Burmese military attache in Bangkok.

General Chettha, the source said, informed Maj-Gen Kyaw Win-a close aide of
Gen Khin Nyunt, the Burmese military strongman-of the three demands put
forth by the hostage-takers.

The Burmese regime gave full authority to the Thai government to solve the
hostage situation and deal with the armed students.

The National Council of the Union of Burma, an umbrella organisation of
Burmese minority groups, yesterday called on the United Nations to solve the
Burmese problem. The council's general secretary Maung Maung Aye blamed the
embassy siege on the military junta's disregard for the political
aspirations of the Burmese people. He thanked the Thai government for the
peaceful end to the drama.

Meanwhile, Pol Maj-Gen Chakthip Kunchorn Na Ayutthaya, the deputy
commissioner of city police, has ordered Division 6 of the Metropolitan
Police to set up an investigation team and gather the testimonies of all the
hostages and embassy staff.

Foreign hostages should also testify, but were free to leave the country if
they so chose, he said.

Pol Maj-Gen Chakthip said police would also seek the testimony of M. R.
Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the deputy foreign minister.

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

REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS EMBASSY GUNMEN TERRORISTS
4 October, 1999

BANGKOK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Myanmar accused Thailand on Monday of glorifying
the gunmen who seized its Bangkok mission last week and suggested some of
the foreigners taken hostage helped stage the attack.

Myanmar's military government, in a statement faxed to Reuters, called the
gunmen terrorists and warned that referring to them as student pro-democracy
activists would invite further attacks on Myanmar missions from
anti-government groups.

The government statement said its suspected the 25-hour siege that began
last Friday appeared to be ``more or less a stage-act where some foreigners
who came into the embassy to apply for visas had also been involved.''

Thai Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart had said after the siege ended
on Saturday and again on Monday that the heavily armed attackers were not
international terrorists but radical student activists fighting for
democracy.

The five attackers brandishing AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades held
89 people, including Myanmar diplomats, embassy staff and families and
foreigners hostages until they negotiated an escape with Thai authorities.

Labelling themselves the ``Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors,'' the gunmen
persuaded the authorities to let them flee to the Thai-Myanmar border in a
military helicopter. They took two Thai officials along to guarantee safe
passage.

As the helicopter was about to take off, some of the freed foreign hostages
unfurled pro-democracy headbands and a flag, euphorically cheering and
shouting support for the attackers.

``One wonders at any point during the entire siege of the embassy if the
trigger-happy gunmen's or hand grenade jugglers' activity resulted in death
of not only the embassy staff but families including children, can they
still be regarded not as terrorists but students fighting for democracy,''
the Myanmar government statement said.

While expressing relief at the quick end to the siege, Myanmar said it and
the world community were deeply concerned over the future safety and
security of their representatives abroad.

It said the way the embassy attackers had been condoned, despite having
threatened the lives of Myanmar diplomats and their families including
children, could set a bad precedent.

``Other radical or non-radical groups may get the wrong message that these
kind of terrorist and criminal activities can be conveniently carried out
under the banner of freedom, democracy and human rights,'' it added.

Myanmar also said one of the attackers had been involved in the hijacking of
a Myanmar aircraft to Thailand about 10 years ago and was caught last year
with a huge cache of explosives in Thailand.

``Unfortunately a number of camps along the Thai-Myanmar border are also a
home to these sorts of people, obviously becoming breeding grounds for armed
violence and sanctuaries for radicals,'' it added.

Thailand provides sanctuary for many Myanmar student dissidents who fled
across the border after the Yangon military killed thousands in crushing a
pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

It has also allowed frequent pro-democracy demonstrations in front of the
embassy in Bangkok.

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

THE NATION: GUNMEN'S HANDS WERE SHAKING, SAFETY CATCHES WERE OFF
4 October, 1999

THE pilot of the helicopter that flew the hostage-takers to safety following
their siege at the Burmese Embassy recounted his dangerous assignment, in
which the life of a Cabinet member was at stake.

Pol Maj Somyot Buaman told The Nation that he had been a little scared when
he learned of his mission, adding that it was the first time he had had to
fly an aircraft for people who were ready to shoot him at anytime.

He said the five men had left the safety catches of their assault rifles
unlocked and some had held hand grenades throughout the ordeal.

Somyot said he was ordered to fly his helicopter to wait for the
hostage-takers at the Armed Forces Preparatory School. After arriving there,
he got out of the helicopter and waited for further instructions from Pol
Chief Pracha Promnok.
After it was confirmed that he had to fly the dissidents to the Thai-Burmese
border, Somyot climbed aboard. He said he noticed his armed passengers were
so nervous that their hands were trembling all the time.

The pilot said he had asked them to leave their weapons behind for the sake
of the safety for everyone on board, but they ignored him. Among the
passengers was Deputy Foreign Minister M R Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who
offered himself in exchange for the release of the hostages.

''I saw that the situation became increasingly tense, so I advised M R
Sukhumbhand to try to make friends with the men. Then I lifted off. I asked
the gunmen where they wanted to go and they said 'Ratchaburi','' Somyot
said.

He went on to say that the men were looking grim even after the helicopter
left Bangkok. He asked the ones holding grenades to keep them out of the way
and it was then that a mountain range came in sight. The armed men looked
relieved and all broke into smiles.

They told him to keep flying along the range. He later realised that he
might be flying over Burmese territory and the helicopter risked being shot
at.

It began to rain and the gunmen said they could not locate their
destination. After spending nearly half an hour flying aimlessly, Somyot
said he had told them he would fly them to a border village. But when he
descended, the men noticed a number of armed border policemen below. They
snatched up their grenades, yelled at him and ordered him to fly away.

He told them to say exactly where they wanted to go as the fuel was running
out. They told him to fly to the Takolang Base, but they did not know its
location, so he asked for their permission to radio a border police base
nearby for the coordinates.

Somyot said that while flying over a mountain range, a pall of smoke came
into view, to the delight of the armed men. Some 40 armed men emerged from
the forest and waved. The armed men in the helicopter waved in return.

The men below were on an overhanging rock which had been cleared of bushes,
obviously to facilitate a helicopter landing, the pilot said. Around the
landing area lay some bonfires and sticks flying red flags.

''Because there were more armed men below, I asked the deputy minister if he
wanted me to land, for fear that they might hold us hostage there. He told
me to set down,'' Somyot said.

He recounted that the leader of the gang, who identified himself as Johnny
[San Naing], had been the first to jump out of the helicopter after it
reached the ground. ''He hugged the people on the ground. The others on
board followed him and they all hugged each other,'' the pilot said.

He added that after all the armed dissidents had left, he was still
concerned they would point their guns at the helicopter. He prepared to
charge them with the aircraft if they resorted to foul play.

Somyot said that after consulting with his co-pilot he let the helicopter
hover just above the ground to see the gang's response.

''The men turned to us and the leader smiled and bowed to the deputy
minister. Then they waved us goodbye and slipped back into the forest,'' the
pilot said.

That was the first time during the one-hour flight that he had really felt
relieved. ''I was very excited, but the deputy minister remained calm
throughout. He insisted on landing, although we didn't know what would
happen to us,'' the pilot said.

After refuelling in Kanchanaburi, he flew Sukhumbhand back to Bangkok.

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

ASIAWEEK: IN EXILE AND POWERLESS STILL, MYANMAR'S DISSIDENTS KEEP UP THE
FIGHT
8 October, 1999 by Dominic Faulder

"The military in Rangoon are in a state of high paranoia, and in some cases
near hysteria." So charged a political activist at a recent news conference
in Bangkok. Excitedly, she recited the usual mantra of Burmese dissidents:
spiraling food prices in Myanmar, discontented rank and file soldiers, a
seething populace. Foreign- based activists repeatedly claim that a "mass
movement" drawing from this deep well of grievances will finally push
Myanmar's widely reviled junta, the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), from power.

Despite the clatter outside Myanmar's borders, the opposition-in-exile has
been pretty ineffective. Within the country, things have been relatively
quiet, with few signs that people are organizing a widespread revolt - let
alone believing it could actually happen. The military has a stranglehold
and doesn't look like it's about to make any concessions. If economic duress
is an indicator for social upheaval, something would have happened a long
time ago. The country remains bankrupt, with rice prices soaring in recent
weeks and the kyat plummeting to around 360 to the U.S. dollar. A news
agency reported Bogyoke Market in Yangon to be "virtually devoid of
shoppers." Said one merchant: "We're mostly sitting down and twiddling our
thumbs. This has never happened before."
Yet, in recent weeks, junta spokesmen have been unusually feisty, blasting
their detractors in cyberspace with four-letter words, ruminating at the
U.N. General Assembly, wooing the Australians on human rights, and engaging
in rare public debates. "Democracy is a very delicate flower," Myanmar's
ambassador to Britain, Kyaw Win, explained to the British Broadcasting Corp.
"It doesn't grow easily anywhere, and is not easily transplantable."

Back home, it's business as usual. Not a day passes without the junta
announcing "voluntary" resignations from Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition
National League for Democracy. Last week, it was 55 NLD members in Salin
township in the southern part of the country. Said one official: "They no
longer wished to participate in party politics of the NLD." The "proof" was
their resignation letters. If nothing else, tallying the daily purges proves
the NLD still enjoys remarkably strong support in great adversity. By an
official account, 29 of the 392 NLD MPs have died, and 107 are imprisoned or
detained.

With the opposition inside Myanmar largely bottled up, much of the
resistance to the junta is expressed overseas. Thailand harbors hundreds of
Myanmar's political dissidents. A veritable alphabet soup of groups -
concentrated in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot - vie for the limelight in
their battle for democracy. Further complicating the picture is a slew of
foreign and local non-governmental organizations. The inability to create
any change in Myanmar suggests exiled activists have lost touch with the
public mood back home. However discontented with chronic misgovernment they
might be, people are simply unprepared to "go under the gun" to create
change.

"[The military] knows their profession," says Tin Maung Win of the
Democratic Alliance of Burma, one of the exile groups. "They shoot to kill."
Meanwhile, the political stalemate continues to drag the country backward.

The demands the dissidents abroad are making remain unchanged: primarily, to
release all political prisoners and engage in dialogue with the NLD, which
won a landslide in the 1990 election. However many of Myanmar's people might
support such a demand, events in the past few months have shown that they
feel safer to remain passive. Two British activists certainly paid heavily
for daring to protest. James Mawdsley, 26, a three-time "repeat offender,"
and Rachel Goldwyn, 28, were slammed with stiff sentences last month.

Still, it's not just foreigners who are active. In August, the Thailand-base
d All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) had announced that the
numerically significant "four-nines" day, 9/9/99, would mark "the beginning
of a wave of force that would topple the regime." Eleven years earlier on
Aug. 8, 1988, or 8/8/88, mass demonstrations erupted that were eventually
put down with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives. Little happened on this
Sept. 9, however - at least in Myanmar. The military made sure of that by
deploying extra police in the capital, shutting roads and arresting up to
500 people. Curfews and tourist visa bans were imposed. In Thailand,
dissidents held protests. "We never expected people to come out on to the
streets like in 1988," said the ABSDF's Moe The Zun. "This was a good time
to remind the Burmese people to continue their struggle for democracy." But
the struggle will need more than just a reminder to succeed.

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

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: JUNTA FORTIFYING THE SALWEEN DAM SITE
4 October, 1999 No: 10 - 6 from: shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx

According to sources close to the Shan States Army of Yawdserk, the Burma
Army has been, for the past two months, building up their positions along
the Salween River near the site which had undergone a five-month long
feasibility study until the end of March.

Saengjuen Sarawin, S.H.A.N.'s principal reporter, who recently returned
from his visit to the SSA Base, reports: "Units from 4 Infantry Battalions,
330, 332, 518 and 520, numbering 4-500, came from Mongpan (on the western
bank) to keep vigilance on both sides of the river from Ta-sangé to Tasang".

Tasang is the ferry crossing between Mongpan Township on the western bank
and Mongton Township on the eastern. A few kilometers north is the projected
dam site where feasibility studies took place in late October
last year by a Thai company.

In addition, there are 8 motorboats that patrols along the river, said the
sources. "The aim looks to be two-fold", said one. "First, to prevent the
Shan fighters from crossing back and forth along that stretch, and, second,
to insure security for the dam site".

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

BANGKOK POST: THAILAND SHOWS DEMOCRACY WORKS
4 October, 1999

Editorial

Take a bow, all you men and women involved in responding, assessing and
ultimately ending the siege at the Burmese Embassy. From the top of
government to the beat policemen, you performed correctly and even
heroically. From the initial, fast response to the final helicopter
departure, everyone responded correctly and professionally. This capable
reaction has again reflected excellently on our country.

The imaginative end to the crisis was particularly admirable. We hope that
M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra receives full recognition for his bravery and
dedication to his country. He put himself directly in harm's way in order to
save the hostages and end the tense crisis. M.R. Sukhumbhand is not a
policeman or soldier, and has no training to handle terrorists. Yet he
volunteered to accompany the Burmese gunmen on their helicopter flight to
Ratchaburi. His spirit deserves a special thanks from all Thais, as well as
the embassy hostages.

Spare us the criticism of allowing the dissidents to "escape". The fast
resolution to the case ended the fright, and possibly saved the lives of 51
Burmese who managed to stay hidden inside the embassy compound. "Johnny" and
his companions were unaware of these embassy employees and their families.
In a prolonged blockade, they would have been discovered, and put at
gunpoint.

The authorities must now, however, make an effort to track down and arrest
the dissidents. From the beginning of the siege, authorities were clear that
their mission was to end the incident quickly, with no violence. Their
success is undeniable. But Thailand also is a country of laws, and criminals
must be brought to book.

There should be some serious second thoughts about the invasion of the
embassy. The first is that it was an aberrant action. In Rangoon, no doubt,
the secret police are harassing and detaining democrats, political rivals
and family members of those suspected of involvement in the weekend
violence. Not a shred of political opposition will be tolerated. In Bangkok,
although local authorities are certain to be wary, life and politics has
resumed already. Peaceful groups will continue to protest against the
Rangoon junta at the front door of their embassy.

The takeover on Sathorn Road is insupportable. As they did in the hijacking
of a Burmese passenger plane a decade ago, the Burmese used totally
undemocratic means to try to press their demands for democracy. But it must
be remembered that the violent regime in Rangoon is the despair of its
citizens. Despite a free election, the military clings to power with
violence and colludes with drug lords to addict Thai youth to narcotics.
Burma's ironic response to the embassy seizure was that the military
dictators would tell the people how much, and what kind of democracy they
can have.

The Burmese government is addicted to drug money, and to power. It should
reflect that it never fears a similar event taking place in Rangoon. No Thai
terrorists, for example, will put innocent Burmese at risk in a desperate
attempt to force the Thai government to take rational steps towards
democracy. Thailand has problems, and its democracy is far from perfect. But
unlike the Burmese, our government and citizens are working peacefully to
make our leaders accountable.

That forward movement clearly continued on the weekend. The Burmese crisis
was met with a well-ordered response. The government was clearly in charge.
The army stayed on the far sidelines, as is proper during a police
emergency. Government officials, civil servants and police officers
consistently acted properly-and often bravely. Finally, as is necessary in a
democratic state, the public were regularly informed and updated through the
media. If it begins to establish such democratic reforms, the military
dictatorship in Rangoon can help to end the threat of any such terrorist
acts in the future.

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

AFP: MYANMAR TO REVAMP BESIEGED CURRENCY STRUCTURE
3 October, 1999

SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (AFP) - Myanmar is to revamp its beleaguered currency
structure, including realigning the official exchange rate to better reflect
the market, according to a senior junta minister.

The review would also include the question of whether the kyat should be
partially or fully convertible, Brigadier General David Abel told AFP as the
currency slumped to new lows against the US dollar.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) trade ministers meeting here at the weekend.

The military rulers of Myanmar are facing international sanctions to punish
alleged gross human rights abuses and the suppression of the democratic
opposition of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta have mounted raids on informal currency traders in Myanmar as the
black market rate rose recently to about 360 kyats to the dollar, from about
330 in May.

The official rate is around six kyats to the greenback.

"We are looking at mechanisms to realign our currency to an acceptable
rate," said Abel, a former finance minister. He declined to give a definite
time frame for the review.

Asked how the authorities would determine the "acceptable" rate, he said
among factors to be considered were Myanmar's gross domestic product and
foreign exchange earnings.

"There is a structural framework and structural calculations which we have
considered and have drawn up. This whole methodology we can always adjust to
the prevailing situation," said Abel, a member of the junta officially
called the State Peace and Development Council.

Pressed for some indication on the timing of the currency revamp, he said
Yangon had delayed the planned review due to the Asian currency turmoil
which erupted in mid-1997 and plunged most of the region into a recession.

"After the crisis, we have to be more prudent now in dealing with this
matter. It might take some time. When we feel that when we do it, it will
not affect the man on the street, then we will do it," he said.

Abel said the Myanmar authorities were aware of the difficulties endured by
foreign investors on the dual exchange rate for the kyat -- the black market
and official rates.

"We cannot have a dual rate - it is bad for investment, bad for trading, it
is not conducive.

"It is better to have one single currency rate," Abel said, adding that the
unit "might be partially convertible, wholly convertible from what we have
now which is a fixed rate."

Asked whether foreign expertise would be roped in to help in the realignment
of the currency rate, he said: "We can do it ourselves. We have enough
competent people to do it."

Myanmar had rejected an International Monetary Fund call to devalue the
currency in the 1980's because the Fund refused to give the country a
"safety cushion," Abel said.

He said despite Western sanctions, Myanmar was confident its economy would
expand by 6.4 percent in 1999 as forecast, up from 5.8 percent last year --
the highest GDP rate in Southeast Asia.

He forecast an "even higher but achievable" economic growth of 6.5 percent
in 2000.

Abel said European and US sanctions on Myanmar had little effect on the
economy and added that investments particularly from Europe had not stopped
flowing into the manufacturing, telecommunication, transportation, oil and
gas, forestry and mining sectors.

Myanmar is involved in an ASEAN programme knocking down tariffs to create a
regional free trade area.

ASEAN's original members, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand, will have to lower their tariffs on industrial
products to between zero and five percent by 2002.

Myanmar, which has to knock down tariffs to such a level by 2004, and the
other newer members -- Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- have flexible
deadlines.
*****************************************************