BurmaNet News: January 5, 2000

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---------------- The BurmaNet News ---------------- 
January 5, 2000
Issue # 1433
---------------------------------------------------- 

NOTED IN PASSING: "I have instructed the national police chief
to find more effective measures to intercept drugs as this haul
has proved that international cooperation [with Burma] was
useless" Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, (See  AFP: Thai PM
blames Myanmar for narcotics influx)

========== 
HEADLINES: 
========== 

Inside Burma-

 DPA: MYANMAR VETERANS CALL FOR DIALOGUE 
 AFP: MYANMAR JUNTA BRANDS SUU KYI A 'TERRORIST'
 KYODO: MYANMAR JUNTA LEADER WARNS AGAINST TERRORISTS 
 AFP: AUNG SAN SUU KYI CALLS FOR ASIAN SUPPORT IN MILLENNIUM
 MESSAGE 
 SHAN: DRUGS BRIEF--PRICE OF OPIUM SOARING 
 XINHUA:  MYANMAR LEADER CALLS FOR BUILDING STRONG NATION IN NEW
 MILLENNIUM 
 XINHUA: MYANMAR BUILDS FUTURE ON ITS OWN: NEWSPAPER,
DVB: TWO BOMBS EXPLODE AT LOIKAW OUTPOST

International 
 AFP: THAI PM BLAMES MYANMAR FOR NARCOTICS INFLUX 
  DPA: THAILAND EXECUTES MYANMAR NATIONAL 
 FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: BURMESE ABYSS
  XINHUA: SINO-MYNAMAR MARRIAGES INCREASE IN BORDER CITY



*********************************************** 
DPA: Myanmar veterans call for dialogue 

Deutsche Presse Agentur

January 5, 2000

Veterans from Myanmar's (Burma's) independence struggle called
on Tuesday for the country's military junta and the leading
opposition party to initiate a dialogue to end the country's
political deadlock. 

"We old veterans place great hope on a dialogue between the
State Peace and Development Council and the National League for
Democracy, discarding personal grudges in ushering in the
auspicious new millennium," said Bo Hmu Aung, leader of the
23-Veteran Politicians Group. 

Bo Hmu Aung is one of the four remaining founding members of the
"30 Comrades", who led Myanmar's resistance movement
against the Japanese during World War II and later the struggle
for independence from Britain, which was finally achieved in 1948. 

Of the original "30 Comrades" only General Ne Win, Myanmar's
former military strongman who ruled the country between
1962-88, Bo Ye Htut, Bo Kyaw Zaw, who is believed to be living
in Beijing, and Bo Hmu Aung are still alive. 

The comrades were originally led by General Aung San, who was
assassinated in 1948, and whose daughter Aung San Suu Kyi
now heads the NLD opposition party that won Myanmar's 1990
general election by a landslide. 

Despite its electoral win, Myanmar's military junta has denied
the NLD power for the past 10 years, and has thus far refused to
discuss sharing power with them, leading to a political deadlock
that has undermined Myanmar's economic development and social
services. 

"Political disharmony has developed into general crisis
proportions," said Bo Hmu Aung, who set up his octogenarian political 
club  with 23 members about a decade ago. 

He added, "Building national solidarity by means of national
reconciliation is the only breakthrough to address the national moral
deterioration and economic hindrances." 

Myanmar's junta has claimed they might initiate a dialogue with
the NLD if Nobel laureate Suu Kyi was excluded from the talks, a
precondition which the opposition does not accept.
AFP: Myanmar junta brands Suu Kyi a 'terrorist'
           
                    
YANGON, Jan 4: 

Myanmar's ruling military today lashed out at the opposition
party of Aung San Suu Kyi at a ceremony marking the 52nd
anniversary of independence, branding them "terrorists" and
calling on the people to destroy them, reports AFP. 
More than 15,000 members of government-sponsored associations
gathered in Yangon's People's Park to listen to the Independence
Day message from junta chairman General Than Shwe. 
"It is imperative to oppose and remove with the people's might
the destructive danger of the terrorist and destructive group
heading for utter devastation," said the message read by
Yangon's military commander and run in all state media. 
In the speech, read out following a flag-hoisting ceremony, Than
Shwe also called for people "to oppose the neo-colonialists from
abroad" who were assisting "internal national traitors." 
Although Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League
for Democracy (NLD) were not named, the language used was that
typically reserved for them by the junta which has repeatedly
accused them of having foreign backing. 
It also echoed language used by the Nobel peace prize winner and
daughter of independence hero General Aung San in a message
delivered after her release from house arrest by the junta in
1995, observers said. 

The NLD, which won 1990 elections but were never allowed to take
power, were scheduled to release a message at a meeting attended
by Aung San Suu Kyi later Tuesday. 

The exiled "government" of Myanmar said earlier in a statement
issued in neighbouring Thailand that colonial rule by Britain
had been preferable to that of the military. 
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
said the country had been in a state of "civil war" since
independence on January 4, 1948, and called for talks with the
military. 

"The deprivation of freedom under the State Peace and
Development Council is much worse than the deprivation of
liberty under the rule of the foreign power," the statement said
using the junta's official name. 

The NCGUB lamented the military's takeover of power in 1962
saying it did nothing to restore peace and stability and urged
people to rise up against the junta. 

*********************************************** 
KYODO: Myanmar junta leader warns against terrorists 

YANGON, Jan. 4, 2000

The chairman of Myanmar's ruling junta issued a warning Tuesday
against unspecified terrorist and 'destructive groups' which he
said were out to destroy the country. 

'It is imperative to oppose and remove the danger of the
terrorist and destructive groups heading for utter devastation,'
Senior Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council, said in a written statement. 

The message was announced as Myanmar on Tuesday celebrated 52
years of independence from British colonial rule which lasted
more than 120 years. 

'We are working for the perpetuation of the Union of Myanmar and
building a new peaceful and developed nation based on 'three
national causes' - nondisintegration of the union,
nondisintegration of national solidarity and the perpetuation of
national solidarity,' the message said. 

It was read on behalf of the council chairman by the military
commander of Yangon, Maj. Gen. Khin Maung Than, during
independence day rites held in the capital. The event was
attended by government officials and representatives of
nongovernmental organizations and ethnic groups. 

Myanmar gained independence on Jan. 4, 1948. 

The ruling junta has refused to recognize the results of the
1990 general elections, in which pro-democracy Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy scored a landslide victory.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi was released from house
arrest in 1995. 

*********************************************** 
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi calls for Asian support in millennium
message 

BANGKOK, Dec 31 

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a New Year's
message criticised Asian nations, particularly Japan, for a
"lack of compassion" and failure to support the democracy
movement in her military-ruled homeland. 

"I think there is a lack of compassion, which is a great pity
and a great surprise because Buddhism was born in Asia and
Buddhism is the great religion of compassion," the Nobel peace
laureate said. 

"In our struggle for democracy and human rights, we would like
greater support from our fellow Asians," she said in the message
distributed by a network of activist non-governmental
organisations based in southeast Asian countries. 

The taped message is to be delivered to crowds at a New Year's
eve rally outside the Legislative Council Building in Hong Kong,
the Alternative ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
Network on Burma (Myanmar) said. 

In the message Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the National League
for Democracy (NLD), singled Japan out as having a special
responsibility to promote democracy in Myanmar. 

"We would especially like the Japanese people to take a strong
stand in the battle for democracy," she said. 

"As the richest Asian country and as a democracy Japan has a
duty to promote human rights and democracy in other parts of
Asia. We hope the year 2000 will see a blossoming of Japanese
interest in human rights and democracy." 

Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly called on the international
community not to invest in Myanmar or provide aid while the
military remain in power. She has also urged foreign tourists to
stay away in an effort to starve the military of funds. 

Japan suspended all but a small amount of humanitarian aid to
Myanmar in the late 1980s but agreed in February to help finance
reconstruction of the airport in Yangon. 

In 1998-1999 Japan provided more than 1.3 million dollars to
Myanmar under an assistance program. 

The United States and some European nations have imposed
sanctions on Myanmar, alleging widespread human rights
violations and as a result of the junta's refusal to hand over
power to the NLD following its huge victory in 1990 national
elections. 

"In a country like Burma, where we have been crushed under the
military regime for many, many years, want and fear stalk us all
the time," Aung San Suu Kyi said. 

"People wake up in the morning wondering which of their friends
have been taken into detention by the authorities ... wondering
what the future of their children will be." 

She expressed solidarity with Hong Kong activists. 

"What you have achieved in the field of economics, I'm sure you
will be able to achieve in the field of humanity as well." 


*********************************************** 
SHAN: Drugs Brief--Price of Opium Soaring 

January 5, 2000

Shan Herald Agency for News

The price of opium, fresh from the field in Pangpi, Mongpan
Township, is currently fetching B. 24,000 per viss at Nakawngmu, Mongton
Township, reported Maihoong from southern Shan State.

"Last year, it went up to K. 180,000 (about B. 20,000 at
unofficial exchange rate)", said sources to Maihoong. "The government
claims it was because of their anti-drugs efforts. That wasn't so. It 
was actually, first, the weather and, second, the heroin operators were
scrambling over each other to stock their refineries".

Sources also said the unprecedented cold weather during the last
weeks of December destroyed many poppy plants. "It means the price may 
go even higher", one said.

It was also reported that Shan Nationalities People's Liberation 
Organization (SNPLO), a Pa-O ceasefire group, has become the
biggest producer of heroin in the south. "In the north, it is Kokang who
are becoming bigger than the Was, because of the latter's submission
to anti-drug programs forced by China. Nowadays, the Was are
growing poppies outside the Wa region. So the total output is not going 
tochange much unless it is because of the weather".


*********************************************** 
XINHUA:  Myanmar Leader Calls for Building Strong Nation in New
Millennium 

YANGON, January 1 


Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Senior General Than Shwe has urged the Myanmar people to firmly
join hands with one another in defending the nation and
citizens, building a peaceful, tranquil and stable nation in the
new millennium. 

Senior General Than Shwe made the call here Saturday in a
message welcoming the 21st Century. 

He cited the country's geographical condition, favorable weather
condition, richness in natural resources and so on as the good
foundations in building national strength. 

The government, upholding five principles of peaceful co-
existence, has been maintaining friendly relations with
neighboring nations, nations in the same region and the world
community as a whole and cordially dealing with them on an equal
footing, the Myanmar leader stressed,noting that it is also
taking part in affairs of Asia and the world. 


*********************************************** 
XINHUA: Myanmar Builds Future On Its Own: Newspaper

January 2, 2000

Myanmar is building up its future with its own ways and means,
said official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on Sunday. The
paper stressed in an article the importance of clear and dynamic
national outlook and vigil and called for energetic efforts to
catch up with the rapid changes in the world. On building the
nation, the paper said the government needs to take into account
the outstanding national characteristics of the nation and the
people, historical and cultural traditions, religion and
economic development of the nation in practicing democracy and
improving human rights. It stressed that every nation has the
rights to freely choose a political system, the path of
development and social value and shape its own destiny. The
paper said that the government is making all-out efforts to
overcome all kinds of sabotage, obstacles and hindrances and to
enable Myanmar to stand tall in the international community,
taking lessons of the country's past history. 

*********************************************** 
DVB: TWO BOMBS EXPLODE AT LOIKAW OUTPOST

Democratic Voice of Burma Radio
Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 28 Dec 99 


Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 28th December 

It has been learned that there were two bomb explosions in the
compounds of the Military Intelligence [MI] office and the
Regional Command Centre [RCC] in Loikaw, Kayah State, during the
second week of December. 

The first bomb explosion occurred at 2300 [all local time] on
14th December at the RCC compound located near the general
hospital in Loikaw's Minzi Ward. At least 10 people were
believed to have died. 

Another bomb explosion occurred at about 0500 on 15th December
in the compound of MI Unit-27 office at Loikaw's 500-acre model
ward. 

When Loikaw residents inquired about the bomb explosions the
SPDC [State and Development Council] authorities lied that they
were part of a military exercise. 

The first bomb explosion coincided with the arrival in Loikaw of
Forestry Affairs Minister U Aung Phone. Lt-Col Win Saw,
commander of LIB [Light Infantry Battalion] No 426, who is
responsible for the security of the minister, was arrested and
is now facing a military tribunal. 

Rumours spreading among the SPDC circle blamed the KNPP [Karenni
National Progressive Party] rebels while some said that it was
not possible because of the SPDC's stringent security measures
in Loikaw. Sources close to the Defence Services circle said
that it could be an inside job because of growing
dissatisfaction within the Defence Services. Some say it could
be the work of a disgruntled group of forestry personnel who are
angry at the timber smuggling activities of the forestry
minister, the MI unit, and the command centre. 


*********************************************** 
AFP: Thai PM blames Myanmar for narcotics influx 

Agence France Presse

BANGKOK, Jan 4, 2000 

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai Tuesday indirectly blamed
Myanmar authorities for a lack of cooperation in stemming the
inflow of illicit drugs believed responsible for soaring
addiction rates amongst youth. 

The criticism follows the discovery by police here of two hauls
totaling 3.8 million amphetamine tablets allegedly manufactured
by ethnic Wa insurgents in eastern Myanmar. 

"I have instructed the national police chief to find more
effective measures to intercept drugs as this haul has proved
that international cooperation was useless," Chuan told
reporters. 

"From the report it is clear that the drug belongs to the Wa, so
the drugs certainly came from outside (Thailand)," he said. 

"I have made the observation that the arrests were accidental.
How can that quantity of the drugs have slipped past the
authorities' eyes." 

Although Chuan did not directly name Myanmar, Yangon has
repeatedly vowed to cooperate with neighbouring Thailand to
clamp down on the illicit cross-border trade. 

Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan received an assurance of
cooperation while in Yangon in August at a meeting with powerful
junta First Secretary Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt. 

Thai officials have blamed the United Wa State Army for
trafficking hundreds of millions of amphetamine tablets made in
jungle laboratories across the border. 

Critics of the Myanmar regime accuse it of allowing the Wa
insurgents to continue trading drugs in return for a ceasefire.
Many believe the junta also profits financially from the trade,
a charge Yangon's generals deny. 

Myanmar is one of the world's biggest producers of heroin along
with Afghanistan and is accused of hosting hundreds of
amphetamine factories along its border with Thailand. 

Meanwhile, Thailand reportedly has more than 600,000 child drug
addicts. 

Researchers from Chulalongkorn University's Education Centre for
the Underprivileged recently found that children made up more
than 50 percent of total drug arrests and up to 80 percent of
cases in the juvenile court related to methamphetamines. 


Frankfurter Rundschau: Burmese abyss
 5th January 2000
[unofficial translation by the Burma Group Tübingen}


In the focus: World Bank blames military for ruin of the country

By Jürgen Dauth (Hong Kong)

The rule of military drove Burma into misery. To this conclusion comes
the economic and social report of the World Bank. Today, hunger is the
scourge of the former rice bowl of Asia.

Since the last World Bank report on Burma, which was published ten years
before, the situation of the military ruled Southeast Asian country has
significantly worsened. Just 50 years before Burma was the rice bowl of
Asia, which adjusted without problems the major amount of production
arrears in other countries of the region.

Today there live 13 million people, that are a third of all Burmese,
below the level of existence. A third of all children are underfed. Ten
per cent of the boys and girls, so the World Bank registers, live at
"the limits of physical existence". The number rows of the Burmese ruin
still continue: 30 per cent of the schoolable children are not even
given first schooling, and only 40 per cent of the boys and the girls
complete the primary school. 70 per cent of the families in the two
largest cities Mandalay and Rangoon must go several times in the year to
the pawnbroker, so that they can buy food from borrowed cash.

And guilty of all, the World Bank judges, are Burma's generals, who
cannot handle the economy. It lacks experts and assessments. Burma's
governing military got their qulifications in the battle fields, but not
at universities.

The state is like the nation - a poorhouse. There is no sufficient money
available, for education and social services, enumerates the World Bank.
What the state can  spend, goes to the blown up armed forces and
inefficient state enterprises. There are only few small businesses,
which can expand, in order to create jobs. The banks fail to give them
credits, because they cannot deposit securities.

But family enterprises of the military, however, can borrow generously,
even if it is known that they never pay back again their debts. Where
the state fails, the private sector of the economy would have to invest,
recommends the World Bank. But only the agriculture produces surplus and
contributes three-quarter to the gross national product. 92 per cent of
the Burmese work in the agricultural sector. But whatever the farmers
harvest, they must sell it to a large extent for low prices to national
export enterprises. The naked subsistence remains then.

The United Nations and the World Bank offered support to Burma. But the
western nations, which boycott Burma and which are main backers of the
international institutions, will give no more dollars as long as the
generals will make no political concessions. This would mean the release
of political prisoners and first steps toward a civilian government.

But the military refuses persistently to recognize the results of the
democratic elections in 1990. The generals know that the will of
revolution in the population is broken. The exile-Burmese in Thailand
does not have any influence on the mass of the population.

The World Bank won't be able to move anything, just like with all its
recent reports before. The military already accused the economic and
social report as "strongly exaggerated". On Tuesday, the 52nd
Anniversary of the independence of Burma, the junta expressed their
opinion on the democracy movement: These "terorrist groups" have to be
fought, said general Than Shwe.
*********************************************** 
XINHUA: Sino-Mynamar Marriages Increase in Border City

KUNMING, January 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of transnational
marriages has increased in recent years in Ruili, a small border
city separating southwest China's Yunnan Province and Myanmar's
Namhkan County. According to preliminary statistics, there are
now 500 Sino- Myanmar couples in Ruili which is famous for its
Naxi Dongba Culture and pictographic characters. The increase in
cross-border marriage is attributed to the country's opening-up
policies and the frequent business contacts between the two
neighboring countries, local social analysts say. According to
local officials, many Myanmar people have been coming to Ruili
for shopping, sightseeing, and doing business for the past 10
years, providing good opportunities for young people from both
sides to nurture love. Shuai Enhuang, a farmer from a village in
Ruili, said he was extremely happy to see his youngest son marry
a pretty Myanmar girl, as did his three elder brothers. The 57-
year-old Shuai used to live a very poor life, but became well-
off after contracting a farm and planting winter fruits and
vegetables. He then replaced his shabby bamboo hut with a well-
furnished home, attracting four Myanmar girls to marry his four
sons. 


*********************************************** 
DPA: Thailand executes Myanmar national 
January 5, 1999

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Bangkok 


Thailand executed a Myanmar (Burmese) national who was on death
row for attempting to smuggle 11.2 kilograms of heroin out of
the kingdom, officials said on Wednesday. 

Hla Win, 60, was shot dead Tuesday at Bang Khwan maximum
security prison, Corrections Department officials said. 

He was the first prisoner to be executed in Thailand this year,
and the second death-row inmate to receive capital punishment
for heroin trafficking in recent years, Thai officials said. 

Thailand executed altogether 16 prisoners in 1999, including one
woman and Myanmar national Tong Nyunt, 51, an illegal immigrant
accused of killing his Thai wife, her nephew and niece with an
axe three years ago. 

Hla Win, who was killed by rifle shots to the heart on Tuesday
evening, had received a sentence of capital punishment after
being found guilty of attempting to smuggle 11.2 kilograms of
heroin out of Bangkok International Airport to Indonesia on
September 13, 1993. 

Hla Win, who denied his guilt and appealed his case up to
Thailand's Supreme Court, was allegedly using a Nepalese woman
to act as his heroin courier. 


***END***************************************** 


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