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20-Mar-00:The AAP News



[Added Note: There appear to be regional initiative against money
laundering by international criminal syndicates, as the SEN. Amanda
Vanstone has attended a  ministerial seminar in Bangkok. Burma was also
an attendance, but no mention of Singapore attending to the meeting. It
is quite refreshing to see the governments of the region have been
mobilising against the money launderers. Also significant was the
position of China against amphetamine production/trafficking by Burmese
junta and drug warlords. Such position statement certainly dispel the
notion that Chinese authorities might tolerate the Burmese junta (& Wa
rebel's) illegal behaviour(especially illicit drug production and sale)
as an  expense for saving ideological partnership. It become more and
more clearer that the Burmese junta does not necessarily enjoy as much
political support from China.
	A worrying trend is Junta trying to annihilate the remaining of KNU
rebels, despite peace overture put forward by KNU. This may be a
profound illusion by Burmese generals that the KNU could be annihilated
by use of force now a days. We must keep watching closely to these
developments, and especially refugee movements in Thai/Burma border.
         -- Regards, U Ne Oo.]
**********************
THAI-VANSTONE ASIA: MONEY LAUNDERING SEEN AS COMMON ENEMY
NO 1 SAYS VANSTONE
DATE: 20:00 20-Mar-00
 ASIA: Money Laundering Seen as Common Enemy No 1 Says Vanstone Thai
Vanstone

 By Ron Corben

 BANGKOK, March 20 AAP - International money laundering by criminal
syndicates, estimated by the  United Nations at $US500 billion ($A821.29
billion) a year, was the "common challenge" for all nations,  Minister
for Customs and Justice, Amanda Vanstone, said today.

 Ms Vanstone, attending an Asia Pacific ministerial seminar on fighting
organised crime, called for greater  cooperation to improve regional
safety.

 "The challenge that we all face that's in common is one of money
laundering," Ms Vanstone said in an  interview with AAP.

 "While the criminals at a high level keep themselves away from the
crime - they get someone else to do the  robberies, someone else to do
the murders, someone else to carry the drugs - they are never very far
from the  money," she said.

 "So the fight against money laundering - in a cooperative sense - is
extremely important because that's the  fight that will take you to the
top level criminals."

 The seminar, hosted by Thailand, is aimed at promoting greater
cooperation in combating organised crime, in  areas ranging from
narcotics to people smuggling, money laundering and the illegal use of
electronic-commerce.

 More than 20 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia,
Cambodia, China, Burma, New Zealand,  the United States and Vietnam are
attending the two-day conference.

 A report by United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
(UNODCCP), said organised  criminal groups were increasingly becoming a
threat to law and order.

 "Their activities are becoming ever more transnational and
wide-ranging, affecting social, economic, and  political institutions,"
the Vienna-based UNODCCP said in a pre-seminar paper.

 "Money laundering, trafficking in human beings, firearms and drugs, and
corruption are only some of the  activities carried out by organised
crime groups," the paper said.

 Profits from such criminal activities is estimated at $US1,500 billion
($A2.46 trillion) a year.

 Ms Vanstone said regulations and opportunities "to track money" were
one of the "key weapons against  crime."

 "The more we can get the rest of the region to work together in
bilateral and multilateral ways, the safer our  region will be.

 "We will take that message to Vienna so that the countries around the
world will recognise the need for  cooperation in law enforcement
against transnational crime," she said.

 AAP rec/hu/de
**************
 BURMA-FIGHTING ASIA: FIGHTING SENDS KAREN REFUGEES INTO
THAILAND
DATE: 22:31 20-Mar-00
 ASIA: Fighting sends Karen refugees into Thailand Burma Fighting

 TAK, Thailand, March 20 AFP - More than 1,500 refugees have spilled
into western Thailand after two days  of fierce fighting between Myanmar
government troops and ethnic Karen rebels, Thai officials said today.

 Fighting broke out when 450 junta troops attacked a Karen base inside
the Myanmar border adjacent to  Umpang district in western Tak province,
426 kilometres north of Bangkok, district officials said.

 "Several soldiers from both sides died and many were injured but we
cannot yet confirm the figures," an  official said.

 Junta troops also attacked two other bases of the Karen National Union
(KNU) over the past few days, he  said.

 The KNU has fought an exhausting 51-year battle for greater autonomy
against the central government in  Yangon and is one of the last major
insurgent groups fighting the junta.

 Thailand is home to more than 120,000 refugees from Myanmar, many of
whom live in camps on the Thai side  of the border.

 AFP ej
--
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