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BurmaNet News: December 1, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: December 1, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2000 02:03:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
________December 1, 2000 Issue # 1673_________
NOTED IN PASSING: ?It wasn't quite another day at the office, but no one
really expected to find a nice Burmese officer hanging about the village
looking over the speed stash.?
The Bangkok Post. See Bangkok Post: Inside Politics--What do we have
here?
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Junta soldiers: some construction have
begun at the Salween dam site
*Times of India: Myanmar Army launches offensive against Naga rebels
*Daily Star (Bangladesh): Myanmar to remove mines planted on border
*The Hindu Newspaper (New Delhi): IGNOU-Myanmar tie-up
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Army Occupies Mongkoe--Ceasefire pact
terminated
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Inside Politics--What do we have here?
*UPI: India's regional diplomacy surprises the West
*AP: Thai army tightens border security against dry season Myanmar
*Xinhua: Myanmar Leader Maung Aye to Visit Laos
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Le Monde Diplomatique (France): Business, oil and human rights
*Xinhua: Major Chinese Company to Help Myanmar Expand Telecom Network
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Junta soldiers: some construction have
begun at the Salween dam site
30 November 2000
Reporter: Saeng Khao Haeng
Some soldiers recently told S.H.A.N.'s source construction of a sort had
started since the end of the monsoons near the projected dam site of
the Salween.
Soldiers who were hitching a ride from the Tasang bridge, between Shan
State's Mongpan and Mongton townships, to Monton said concrete posts
were being erected at Tangseng, between Palao (the dam site) and the
Tasang Bridge. According to the soldiers, the structure, after
completion, would be able to sustain 5,000 tons of water.
The laborers were villagers from the surrounding area, they said,
receiving K. 500 each per day from the Burmese engineering unit.
"Actually, we were willing to work for wage, but our superiors said 'No,
it's too dangerous.'"
Unconfirmed reports said one of the holes dug along the western bank
collapsed some time in October killing several workers. The soldiers,
however, neither rejected nor admitted it.
The platoons from the 4 battalions in Mongton, namely : IB 65, IB 225,
IB 227 and LIB 519, are on rotation for security against possible
attacks from the Shan State Army, whose 727th Brigade is active around
here, one of the soldiers said.
According to the GMS Power from Bangkok, the purpose of the present
undertaking is to work out a conceptual design for the dam.
____________________________________________________
Times of India: Myanmar Army launches offensive against Naga rebels
Dec. 1, 2000
NEW DELHI: A rebel newsletter has confirmed government claims that the
Myanmar Army has launched a major offensive against anti-India Naga
insurgents in northwest Myanmar, as part of growing cooperation between
the two countries in tackling cross-border terrorism.
According to 'Freedom,' a newsletter circulated by the outlawed United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on the Internet, the Myanmar Army is
preparing for an offensive against the headquarters of the Khaplang
faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), located
in a "remote zone of northwest Myanmar."
The newsletter, dated November 15 and issued by the ULFA's "publicity
department," claimed the Myanmar Army had attacked two NSCN-K
strongholds since late October. Cadres of the ULFA and United National
Liberation Front, a rebel group from the northeastern state of Manipur,
were also injured in these attacks, the newsletter claimed.
The ULFA's claim confirms statements by Union Home Minister Lal Krishna
Advani on November 17 that the Myanmar Army destroyed five NSCN-K camps
this year and even suffered casualties in these operations.
Advani, who was defending the government's decision to upgrade ties with
Yangon's military junta, had said that cooperation between the armies of
the two countries to curb the activities of insurgent groups along the
1,643-km India-Myanmar border had increased in recent years.
"We have information that there are some more camps (operated by
anti-India rebels in Myanmar) and we will be pursuing this matter,"
Advani had said shortly after a ceremonial welcome was accorded to
General Maung Aye, the second highest leader of Myanmar's military
junta, when he visited here earlier this month. Aye, who is also chief
of the Myanmar Army, was the highest leader of the military junta to
visit India.
The ULFA newsletter said the Myanmar Army offensive against the NSCN-K
was launched following "ministerial-level discussions" between New Delhi
and Yangon. "Earlier the Myanmar Army attacked the 2nd battalion of
NSCN-K on October 23 injuring six guerillas belonging to ULFA and UNLF,"
the newsletter said.
"Later, on November 5 the Myanmar Army again tried to attack the Kannyak
region headquarter but this time the guerillas gave a befitting reply to
their enemy, killing three and wounding 5l (Myanmarese soldiers)," the
newsletter said. The NSCN-K, which is one of two powerful rebel groups
that have been waging a violent bush war for two decades to create an
independent homeland for Naga tribals in India's northeastern region,
recently suspended hostilities against the security forces and began
talks with the government on reaching a formal cease-fire agreement. The
other Naga rebel group, the Isak-Muivah faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), had entered a cease-fire
agreement with the government in August 1997.
It is believed the operations mounted by the Myanmar Army against the
NSCN-K, which is headed by S.S. Khaplang, a Hemi Naga from Myanmar, was
one of the key factors that forced the rebel group to begin peace talks
with the Indian government. The NSCN-K has several camps in
Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar's Sagaing division bordering Nagaland.
The Indian armed forces, on their part, have stepped up operations
against Kachin and Karen rebel groups from Myanmar that have links with
guerrilla groups in India's northeastern states. (IANS)
____________________________________________________
Daily Star (Bangladesh): Myanmar to remove mines planted on border
COX'S BAZAR, Nov 29: Myanmar agreed in principle to remove landmines
planted on the 'no man's land' along the border that killed a number of
people, reports UNB.
The assurance came from the Myanmar border security force NASAKA at a
meeting with Bangladesh Rifles at Ghumdhum BDR Outpost near
Naikhangchhari border on Tuesday.
Officials here said the delegation of NASAKA said they would apprise
their higher authorities of the matter. They, however, accused the
Arakanese rebels of planting mines on 'no man's land.'
"The flag meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere aiming to defuse
tensions heightening in the border areas," said an official.
In the meeting, both sides admitted that at least seven people of the
two countries were killed in last two weeks in landmine explosions.
____________________________________________________
AP: Thai army tightens border security against dry season Myanmar
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Thailand has ordered its soldiers on the border
with Myanmar to be especially alert as seasonal combat flares anew
between Myanmar government forces and ethnic rebels, a Thai army said
spokesman Thursday.
``The dry season is here and fighting inside Myanmar has already taken
place. The fighting seems fiercer this year and it has started earlier
than usual,'' said Col. Somkuan Saengpatranetr.
He said no Thai reinforcements have been sent to the border.
The dry season usually starts around the beginning of November, and
traditionally the less mobile conventional forces of the government take
advantage of the improved weather conditions to launch offensives.
The spokesman said the Thai army has instructed its personnel to
prevent the fighting from spilling onto Thai soil and keep any foreign
forces out.
At the beginning of November, Myanmar government troops launched
attacks on two strongholds of the Karen National Union, resulting in
heavy fighting during which at least two artillery shells landed on Thai
soil. Thai villagers in the immediate area in Tak province, 370
kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangkok, were temporarily evacuated.
Somkuan said a Thai soldier was killed in a clash with intruding
Myanmar forces in a northern Thai province in late October.
The Karen National Union forces are believed to number 2,000-3,000, a
fraction of their armed strength in their heyday more than one decade
ago, when they controlled huge tracts along the Thai-Myanmar frontier.
The KNU has been fighting for regional autonomy since the independence
of Myanmar _ also known as Burma _ in 1947.
____________________________________________________
The Hindu Newspaper (New Delhi): IGNOU-Myanmar tie-up
New Delhi, Nov.26. The Indira Gandhi National Open
University and the University of Distance Education,
Myanmar, have signed an agreement for offering 10 of
IGNOU's academic programmes in that country by
distance mode.
The signing of the MoU followed a week-long visit
by a two-member delegation headed by Prof. Mya Oo,
University of Distance Education, Yangon. The visitors
had a series of discussions with Prof. V.S. Prrasad,
acting vice-chancellor IGNOU, and Mr. K.J.S. Prasad
Rao, Registrar, and visited various divisions and
schools of IGNOU.
IGNOU intends to offer Myanmar computer and
information technology programmes as well as
programmes in library and information services,
tourism studies, management and education. It will
also assist the University of Distance Education in
developing use of information and communication
technologies for distance and open learning through a
staff development and research assistance programme.
____________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Army Occupies Mongkoe--Ceasefire pact
terminated
30 November 2000
Reporter: Saeng Khao Haeng
Ceasefire agreement with the Mongkoe Defense Army came to a bloody end
when Rangoon forces unleashed a campaign last Thursday that destroyed
both its warring factions, reported S.H.A.N. source from the north.
Troops from the Northeastern Command i.e. IB 45 (Kutkhai), IB 242
(Kutkhai), IB 290, LIB 312 (Kunlong) according to Dr. Naing Aung, member
of National Council of the Union of Burma, together with 2 artillery
batteries (believed to be Battery 076 from Kutkhai and Battery 083 from
Kunlong) entered Mongkoe, Muse District near the Chinese border on 23
November.
The following day, the invading troops opened fire on both factions of
the MDA who were fighting. The same day (another source said on 25
November) the Army attacked Huey Monglong near Mongkoe with heavy guns,
killing 89 (Dr. Naing Aung says 97), among who was Li Niming, one of
the two leaders of the mutiny. By the end of 25 November, the Army was
in control.
Col. Tin Hlaing, Minister of Interior, visited the area the next day and
at the time of this reporting (29 November) he is still in Muse, the
district seat.
Mong Sala's fate is not known, though believed to be still alive. As for
the other mutiny leader, Khong Lao Su or Hong Lao Su, he is believed to
have escaped across the border.
The mutiny was reported to be supported by one of the Kokang factions
and the United Wa State Army.
The United Wa State Army, in the meanwhile, is cooperating with Rangoon
to launch an operation against Yawdserk's Shan State Army further south
near the Thai border.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Bangkok Post: Inside Politics--What do we have here?
November 30, 2000
It wasn't quite another day at the office, but no one really expected to
find a nice Burmese officer hanging about the village looking over the
speed stash....
The seizure last week of 100,000 methamphetamine pills from a Muser
village just inside Burma across from Chiang Rai wasn't really that
newsworthy in itself. But the capture of a Burmese army officer who had
been assigned to the village to protect the stash _ now that was worth a
headline. It confirmed the general impression that those in uniform
across our western border are cashing in on the drug trade.
That raid was followed by a fierce exchange of mortar fire last
Wednesday between the forces of Thailand and Burma near the village of
Ban Pasang Na Ngern in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district. A Burmese
soldier was killed and two Thai rangers were wounded in the clash.
"Around 20-30 mortars were fired by our side to counter the Burmese
fire," said one among the local security force. "The situation on that
day was quite serious." The earlier raid was the work of the Shan State
Army, which attacked the Muser Abi village inside Burma, opposite Ban
Pasang Na Ngern. As well as the stash and the Burmese officer, a number
of other armed men were captured by the SSA led by Chao Yod Suek.
"Muser Abi is a border village where the United Wa State Army keeps its
pills before moving them across the border," said a local drug-buster.
He also said it was very possible that the raid would have come up with
as many as two million to three million pills if only it had been staged
a few days later. He didn't say how he came by this information.
Thirteen people were captured in the SSA raid, including two Thai drug
traffickers, the Burmese officer and four members of the UWSA.
An officer with the 3rd army's Pha Muang Task Force, which supervises
the war on drugs along that part of the border, said he was not
surprised by the presence of the Burmese officer.
"We are all aware that Burmese military elements are directly involved
in drug trafficking along the border area by providing protection to
illicit drug transportation," he said.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, commander of the 3rd army, said this
latest development just confirmed the belief that the drug trade along
the Burmese border had the direct blessing of security forces on the
other side.
Members of the ruling junta in Rangoon have repeatedly denied that they
have anything to do with the drug trade along the border. They say
methamphetamine production is located mainly in areas controlled by the
UWSA, areas off-limit to government forces.
____________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Leader Maung Aye to Visit Laos
December 1, 2000, Friday 1:47 AM Eastern Time
YANGON, December 1
Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
General Maung Aye will soon pay an official visit to Laos, a neighbor in
the east, according to a government statement here Friday.
Maung Aye is to make the trip at the invitation of President of the
National Assembly of Laos Samane Vignaket.
There have been frequent exchanges of visits at high level between
Myanmar and Laos in recent years.
In November 1998, Lao Prime Minister Sisawat Keobounphan visited
Myanmar, during which two agreements were signed on mutual visa
exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports and on
cooperation between the state-run Myanma News Agency and its Lao
counterpart, the Khaosan Pathet Lao.
Last year alone, First Secretary and Second Secretary of the Myanmar
SPDC Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt and Lieutenant-General Tin Oo
respectively toured Laos in March and December.
During Khin Nyunt's trip, the two countries held the Fourth Meeting of
the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) and signed an
agreement on preventing trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances
and on controlling banned chemical substances.
During a visit to Myanmar by Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Somsavat Lengsavad in August this year, the two countries held
the Fifth Meeting of the JCBC, which discussed promotion of the existing
traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries and
regional and international issues.
Myanmar and Laos both became members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations in July 1997.
____________________________________________________
UPI: India's regional diplomacy surprises the West
UPI, Thu 30 Nov 2000
It was the last thing expected by Karl Inderfurth, the U.S. assistant
secretary of state for South Asia, when he arrived in Delhi for a
farewell visit to find himself sharing the spotlight with Iraq's
vice-president Taha Yassim Ramadhan. Iraq's success at breaking out of
the isolation into which the U.S. had locked it since the Gulf War came
as a sharp jolt to the U.S. diplomat. After an exchange of visits by
President Bill Clinton and Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee,
Inderfurth had been proud that Indian-U.S. relations were the best they
had been in years. But as well as the presence of the Iraqi, who claimed
that Iraq and India had reached a "strategic understanding" and that
India now backed a lifting of the remaining sanctions on Iraq,
Inderfurth was in for another surprise.
After years of turning a cold shoulder to the Myanmar military junta,
and giving strong and vocal support to the Nobel peace prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement, India has suddenly begun to woo
the Mynamar military. (Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters still use the
former name of Burma for their country.) The latest issue of India's
'Outlook' magazine claims that India has agreed to lease helicopters to
the Myanmar military, while Indian mechanics refurbish Myanmar's elderly
fleet of Bell helicopters. India is also to upgrade Myanmar's radar
systems, supply military uniforms and train some military personnel.
And Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh is to open a new road link
from India to Burma. Earlier this year, India was taking a strong stand
on behalf of Burmese democracy at the summit of the Non-Aligned
Movement, which could have led to Myanmar's expulsion. Aung San Suu Kyi,
awarded the Nehru Peace Prize, had become a heroine to Indian
politicians. Jaswant Singh even allowed her supporters in the democracy
movement to use rooms in his official residence. But last month, the
shift in Indian policy became clear when the red carpet was laid out for
Gen. Maung Aye, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar army. Former Indian
Army chief Gen. V P Malik has returned the compliment. The explanation
for India's about-face is simple enough. National security interests
appear to have taken precedence over principle. In its years of
isolation, Myanmar had become far too close to China for India's
comfort.
Above all, Myanmar had given China's military a foothold in the Indian
Ocean, making available basing facilities and at least four electronic
listening posts in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The most
dangerous, from India's view point, was a listening post with a network
of 150-ft masts, on Great Coco Island, perfectly placed to monitor the
telemetry of India's missile tests. The base also kept watch on Indian
air and naval movement throughout the Bay of Bengal, and signaled
China's strategic goal of establishing a permanent presence in the
Indian Ocean. Indian defense planners have long been nervous of China's
fast-improving military capabilities, and of the close alliance between
Beijing and Pakistan. With the cream of India's armed forces tied down
around Kashmir and along the Pakistan border in the west, a Chinese
presence in Myanmar raised the grim prospect of another threat on
India's eastern flank. China has provided the bulk of the modern
military equipment of the Myanmar forces.
In a series of arms deals in the 1990s, China provided two squadrons of
J-6 and J-7 aircraft, and another two squadrons of A-5 ground attack
warplanes. Chinese-made and obsolescent by world standards, they
represented a technological lap forward for Myanmar. China also supplied
armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft guns and mobile rocket
launchers to the army, and 10 Hainan-class fast attack boats, along with
two Jianghu frigates. Along with the warships came teams of Chinese
naval personnel to train Myanmar in their use, and also to man the Great
Coco listening post. In return, China helped extend and modernize
Myanmar's naval base at Hainggyi Island, which U.S. intelligence sources
claim is now far larger than Myanmar's own modest needs would require.
Even though initial fears that China was installing submarine servicing
facilities have yet to be confirmed, the prospect of Hainggyi becoming a
routine Chinese facility in the Indian Ocean has caught the attention of
Pentagon as well as Indian observers. India has not yet begun to try to
match China's largesse in military equipment, seeing a cooler and less
inflammatory path in helping bring Myanmar out of its isolation, and
giving Myanmar's ruling junta options beyond dependence on Beijing. --
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Le Monde Diplomatique (France): Business, oil and human rights
December 2000
Written by Roland Pierre Paringaux.
[Abridged]
[Translation from French by Info Birmanie]
...In Burma, it is the French company Total and its American partner
Unocal which are at the center of an international campaign of critics.
These two companies, associated with the Burmese company Myanmar Oil and
Gas Enterprise for the exploitation of the Yadana gas field and for the
building of the pipeline, are accused to have benefited from human
rights violations committed, during the build up, by the Burmese
military in dozen of villages. The International Federation of Human
Rights and other NGOs have mentioned the occurrence of forced
relocation, forced labour and even summary executions. Total and Unocal
have denied being directly concerned by these accusations.
The French company has settle a rehabilitation program for the concerned
villages and its American partner keeps on saying that their
implantation is, in the long run, beneficial for the population. But
this defense strategy is weakened by the caricatural behaviour of the
Junta who holds power since 1988. To such an extend that, the United
States, the European Union and the UN have adopted critical resolutions
against it and that several transnational companies : Heineken, Pepsi
Cola, Motorola, Eastman Kodak but also the American oil companies Texaco
and Atlantic Richfield, has withdrew, putting forward "the lack of
democracy". After these departures, Miss Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the
opposition and Nobel Peace price, has declared that Total had became
"the best support" of the military regime...
[Info Birmanie adds: References are given to support this article,
especially ½ Birmanie TOTALitaire ╗ from Alan Clements Esprit
Frappeur edition. This book analyses the relationship between the oil
industry and the Burmese dictatorship, of which it the oil industry is
one of the main supports. It also looks at the role of the trasnational
company Total. Available at Info Birmanie 22, rue de Milan 75009
PARIS.]
____________________________________________________
Xinhua: Major Chinese Company to Help Myanmar Expand Telecom Network
YANGON, December 1
A leading Chinese modernized telecommunication and information
enterprise, the Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., reached the largest whole-set
high-technology export contract with the Myanmar Posts and
Telecommunications authorities here Friday for improving and expanding
the telecommunication network in four major cities in Myanmar.
On behalf of respective parties, President of the Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd.
Gunther Strobel and Director-General of the Myanma Posts and
Telecommunications U Maung Maung Tin signed the contract.
Attending the contract signing ceremony were Chinese Ambassador to
Myanmar Liang Dong and Myanmar Minister of Communications, Posts and
Telegraphs Brigadier-General Win Tin.
The contracted project, worth nearly 20 million U.S. dollars, will cover
expansion of the telecommunication network in Yangon, Mandalay, Pyay and
Toungoo.
Under the contract, the products supplied by the Chinese company cover a
55,000-line digital switching system, transmission equipment, outside
plant cable and integrated services digital network.
The project is scheduled to complete in two years and the
telecommunication infrastructure of Myanmar is expected to take on a new
look after implementation.
Shanghai Bell, a Sino-Belgian joint venture established in 1984, has
acquired the largest market-share in the Chinese domestic market and
over the past decade, it has developed its international business in
more than 20 countries and regions including the United States, Germany,
Belgium, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Norway, Australia, Bangladesh,
the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Russia, Iran, Jordan, Iraq, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan and China's Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region.
________________
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