BurmaNet News: March 2, 2001

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         March 2, 2001   Issue # 1748
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*New York Times: Memo Feeds Concern That Exports to U.S. Help Burmese 
Junta
*DVB: Time bomb discovered at Indaing ammunition depot near Rangoon
*Xinhua: Fourteen Confirmed Dead in Myanmar's Air Crash
*AP: Rescuers find body of top general killed in helicopter crash
*AP: U.N. official: Myanmar ignoring `tragedy' of child trafficking  

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*U.S. Department of State: Powell meets Razali
*AP: Myanmar welcomes Thai foreign minister's statement 
*AP: Myanmar slams U.S. drug blacklisting as politically motivated
*Xinhua: Thai Troops Still On Alert Along Thai-Myanmar Border
*AFP: International unions urge Myanmar to stop forced labour

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*AP: Ban Sought on Myanmar Imports



__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



New York Times: Memo Feeds Concern That Exports to U.S. Help Burmese 
Junta 

March 1, 2001 



By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Myanmar, which has been governed by a military junta for more than a 
dozen years, is rapidly increasing apparel exports to the United States 
despite American economic sanctions against that country. 

A newly declassified State Department cable describes how factories in 
Myanmar, formerly Burma, have produced garments for leading American 
designers and retailers, including Kenneth Cole, Nautica, Jordache, 
Kmart and Wal-Mart. 

The cable, written by the American Embassy in Myanmar's capital, 
Yangoon, also known as Rangoon, to the Secretary of State voices concern 
that Myanmar's military leaders are benefiting financially from these 
shipments because most of the factories are joint ventures partly owned 
by the military government. 

"The Burmese garment industry is booming -- growing 45 percent in the 
last year," said the cable dated last July. "Factories on the northern 
outskirts of Rangoon are operating non-stop, producing winter clothes 
for the U.S. market." 

In 1999, the cable said, Myanmar exported $168 million worth of garments 
to the United States, but those shipments more than doubled last year, 
soaring to $403.7 million. That places Burma's apparel exports to the 
United States well above France's, at about the same level as Israel's 
exports to the United States. 

Four years ago, President Clinton banned all new American investments in 
Myanmar, but the government has not banned trade with that country, 
although it has encouraged companies not to do business there. Mr. 
Clinton took those actions because of the military junta's repression of 
the democratic opposition and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of 
the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
The cable was obtained from Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who 
along with Senator Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican, and Senator 
Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has called for the prohibition 
of apparel imports from Myanmar. 

"Here we have perhaps the most brutally repressive military regime in 
the world," Senator Harkin said. "And by importing all this apparel from 
there, we're putting close to half a billion dollars into their coffers 
every year.  

That money is going right to this brutally repressive regime and we're 
not doing anything about it. You talk about holes in our sanctions in 
Iraq, that's nothing compared to this." 

Most of Myanmar's garment factories, the cable states, have been 
financed by Korean, Taiwanese and Hong Kong manufacturers that have 
turned to Myanmar because they are bumping up against quotas imposed by 
the United States limiting imports from their countries. Myanmar, by 
contrast, has unfilled import quotas to the United States. 

Low pay is a major attraction for foreign manufacturers, the cable 
suggests. "Workers reportedly receive salaries ranging between 5,000 and 
17,000 kyat (or $14 to $47 dollars) per month for a 48-hour work week," 
the cable said. "The lowest paid workers are trainees who receive 5,000 
kyat per month or about U.S. 8 cents an hour." 

The cable also noted another reason that garment manufacturers are 
flocking to Myanmar -- labor unions are prohibited there. 

Describing a visit to a factory capable of producing one million shirts 
per year, the cable states, "The factory owners claimed that the 
Government of Burma Ministry of Labor adequately protected the workers 
and that there was no need for unions in Burma." 

Earlier this week, the State Department denounced Myanmar in its annual 
human rights report, finding that the military government deprived the 
most basic social and political rights. 

Last November, the International Labor Organization, a United Nations 
agency, recommended, in its strongest sanctions ever, that the 
organization's 175 member states review their business dealings with 
Myanmar because of the widespread use of forced labor there. 

"It's criminal that at the moment the administration is talking about 
increased repression in Burma, our government is allowing a huge 
increase in apparel imports from Burma under a very lax quota," said 
Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the National Labor Committee, a 
New York-based group that promotes workers rights. 

Jessica Moser, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the company's American 
stores stopped importing apparel from Myanmar three years ago, although 
she added that Wal-Mart stores in other countries only stopped such 
imports about a year ago. 

Michele Jasukaitis, a Kmart spokeswoman, said, "We do not import 
directly from Burma, and we double-check our distribution centers for 
any indirect imports from Burma." 

Kenneth Cole officials acknowledged that one of the designer's 
subcontractors had been importing sweaters from Burma, but the company 
said it terminated such imports from Myanmar as soon as it learned about 
them several months ago. 

Nautica and Jordache officials did not return telephone calls. 



___________________________________________________




DVB: Time bomb discovered at Indaing ammunition depot near Rangoon

March 2, 2001

[FBIS Translated Text] 

DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that a time bomb was 
discovered near the No.8 Ammunition Depot at Indaing Central Ammunition 
Battalion on Tuesday [27 Feb] evening. Within hours of the discovery, 
many security personnel were stationed in Indaing. Furthermore, the 
military engineers' battalion has been searching the premises for more 
explosive devices. According to Rangoon SPDC [State Peace and 
Development Council] sources, the dissatisfaction is growing among 
military officers for lack of official announcement regarding the death 
of SPDC Secretary-2 Lt Gen Tin Oo in a helicopter crash. Newsletters 
requesting an official announcement is also being distributed.

 A foreign diplomat told DVB that the situation in Rangoon is back to 
normal. He continued to say that a power struggle rumor brewing among 
the military top brass is also not true. He said so many people are 
commenting in numerous ways about Lt Gen Tin Oo's death in a helicopter 
crash. The same diplomat remarked, so far there has been no official 
statement concerning the crash from the SPDC. When asked about the 
activities of the National League for Democracy [NLD] headquarters he 
answered that the Shwegondine Road headquarters of the NLD remains shut 
and added that the city has returned to normalcy. 

According to news received by DVB, the Burmese currency [kyat] has 
become stable and one US$ is now worth 490 kyat while the FEC [Foreign 
Exchange Certificate] is now 390. Last week the kyat nosedived to almost 
600. A diplomat said the currency rebounded because the government 
closed the money changers and tried to arrest people who tried to deal 
in foreign exchange. Another reason for the drop in value of the Burmese 
currency is the rumor that the pay of government employees will be 
increased.

02 MAR 1745z 



___________________________________________________


Xinhua: Fourteen Confirmed Dead in Myanmar's Air Crash

YANGON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 people has been confirmed dead 
in February 19 Myanmar helicopter crash by Friday's official newspaper 
The New Light of Myanmar. The 14 included Lieutenant-General Tin Oo, 67, 
Second Secretary of the ruling Myanmar State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC) and Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations and Chief 
of Staff of the Army, Brigadier-General Lun Maung, 65, Minister at the 
Prime Minister's Office and Major-General Sit Maung, 53, Chairman of the 
Mon SPDC and Southeastern Commander. 

It has also been confirmed so far that 13 people have been rescued with 
2 still missing and fearing dead. Of a total of 29 on board the former 
Soviet-made military helicopter MI-7 which accommodates 26 only, 22 were 
government officials and seven were crew members. The helicopter, which 
carried Tin Oo and entourage on an inspection tour of a new bridge,was 
heading for Hpa-an in eastern Kayin state from Mawlamyine in southern 
Mon state and crashed into the Thanlwin River near Hpa-an. Government 
report said that the accident was due to bad weather condition.


___________________________________________________



AP: Rescuers find body of top general killed in helicopter crash  

YANGON, Myanmar 

March 2, 2001

(AP) _ Rescue workers have pulled out the body of a top general from a 
river, 11 days after he died in a helicopter crash along with several 
top officials of Myanmar's military junta, officials said Friday.   The 
body of Maj. Gen. Sit Maung was found Thursday, 13 kilometers (8 miles) 
from the site where the M-17 helicopter crashed in Salween river in 
southeastern Myanmar on Feb. 19, an official said, speaking on customary 
condition of anonymity.   With the latest discovery, divers have so far 
recovered 14 bodies, and the search is continuing for two remaining 
passengers missing -- navy Col. Kyaw Tin Hla and Lt. Col. Maung Maung 
Thet, a general staff officer of the Defense Ministry.  

 The helicopter was carrying 28 military officials and one civilian when 
it went down. Thirteen people swam to safety or were rescued.   The 
death of so many important military officials including two Cabinet 
ministers was the biggest blow suffered by the State Peace and 
Development Council, as the junta calls itself.   The most senior 
general killed in the crash was Lt. Gen. Tin Oo, the fourth-most 
powerful official in the ruling council whose members took power in 
September 1988 after crushing an uprising for democracy.   Sit Maung, 
53, the commander of the military's southeastern forces, also was a 
member of the State Peace and Development Council. A brief obituary of 
Sit Maung was published in official newspapers Friday. 



	
___________________________________________________




AP: U.N. official: Myanmar ignoring `tragedy' of child trafficking  

March 2, 2001


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ The top U.N. human rights monitor Thursday 
accused Myanmar of ignoring the plight of its children who end up 
working as illegal laborers or prostitutes in Thailand.   ``It's a 
tragedy that young children are forced by extreme poverty into crossing 
frontiers,'' Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights, said.   

She was speaking to reporters after touring the Kredtrakarn Protection 
and Occupational Development Center, a children's refuge located on a 
river island outside Bangkok.   It is home to 280 girls and young women 
from Thailand, and its poorer neighbors Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The 
girls get bed and board as well as schooling and training in handicrafts 
and computing.   Robinson said some countries, especially military-run 
Myanmar, are not admitting the scale of the worsening problem of human 
trafficking, caused by poverty, discrimination against minorities and 
the abuse of human rights at home.   

``I have seen a three-year old child from Cambodia inside here,'' she 
said.   About 60 percent of the girls at the refuge have migrated to 
Thailand to work in factories, as household maids or in the burgeoning 
flesh trade. There are an estimated 1 million illegal migrants of all 
ages in Thailand. Most come from Myanmar.   Over the past year, 350 
children from the center have been repatriated, but not to Myanmar, 
which has yet to cooperate with a region-wide United Nations project to 
combat trafficking in women and children.   

``Certainly the girls I spoke to from Myanmar want to go home to their 
families. It's important that Myanmar accepts its responsibility in this 
area,'' Robinson said.   Montip Kityangsopon, a social worker, said the 
center had opened its doors to foreign children two years ago, after 
Thailand made legislative changes to recognize child migrants not as 
immigration offenders but victims.   Many of the migrants from Myanmar, 
which shares a more than 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) border with 
Thailand, are from ethnic minorities who have fled conflict between 
government military and rebel armies or forced relocation.   

Some Cambodian children at the center have been deported and trafficked 
into Thailand as many as four times to work in begging gangs or selling 
gum and flowers to tourists, Montip said.   About 20 girls at the center 
from Laos had been duped by traffickers to work as prostitutes in 
southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. 

``The pimps threaten them that `if you go anywhere, the police will 
catch you,''' Montip said. The girls were set free after they managed to 
tip off their embassy.   ``I miss my family,'' one 15-year old Lao girl, 
who did not want to be named, told Robinson. The girl was weaving a 
cotton sarong on a wooden loom _ one of the training activities at the 
center.   Gamini Abeysekera, the U.N. Children's Fund representative in 
Thailand, said some children arrived as migrants in Thailand with their 
parents, others were brought by organizing trafficking gangs.   It could 
take up to two years to organize their repatriation, during which time 
they could get counseling and skills training.   Abeysekera believed the 
attitude of the Myanmar government to accepting returnees was 
``softening.''


___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________



U.S. Department of State: Powell meets Razali

DAILY BRIEFING
Richard Boucher, US State Dept. Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 1, 2001


MR. BOUCHER: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. What I would like to 
do at the beginning is talk a little bit about Burma, the meeting and 
 ....... 
Secretary Powell met today with UN Special Envoy for Burma, Razali 
Ismail. The Secretary was encouraged by Ambassador Razali's report that 
dialogue between the Burmese regime and Aung San Suu Kyi is moving 
forward. We hope that the dialogue will lead to national reconciliation 
in Burma and democratic transition to a civilian government.

Ambassador Razali has brought an energetic, far-seeing and balanced 
perspective to his efforts at facilitating communication between all 
parties in Burma. We strongly support his mission, and we are ready to 
assist him in any way that we can.

Although we are encouraged by the ongoing dialogue and recent releases 
of some political prisoners, we are mindful that the Burmese regime 
continues to systematically violate the fundamental basic human rights 
of its citizens. We urge the Burmese regime to move forward in its 
dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's democratically elected 
representatives. 

So that is my way of rundown on part of the meeting between Ambassador 
Razali and the Secretary.

Q: Another question on Burma. Now, Burma is one of the two countries -- 
Burma and Afghanistan -- in this new narcotics report -- which is not 
certified, and this morning the Ambassador met with the Secretary. Was 
there any discussion about the drug -- why his country was one of the 
two only not certified?

MR. BOUCHER: There was not any discussion of the drug certification 
report. They talked about the dialogue, they talked about our desire to 
support Ambassador Razali's effort to foster a dialogue. But at this 
point, there was no discussion of the drug report or -- well, as I 
pointed out in the statement, we still think Burma has many human rights 
problems that need to be addressed as well, so this is the beginning of 
a dialogue. There are many issues that need to be addressed by Burma.
	
___________________________________________________




AP: Myanmar welcomes Thai foreign minister's statement 

March 2, 2001

YANGON, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung on Thursday 
welcomed his Thai counterpart's statement that Thai diplomacy will be 
governed by the ``Asian way'' of noninterference.   ``We welcome the 
Thai minister's statement. We not only follow the 'Asian way' of 
noninterference, but also follow the five principles of peaceful 
coexistence, mutual respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, 
nonaggression (and) noninterference in one other's affair,'' Win Aung 
said.   

``We also follow our ancestors' saying: `make big problems small and 
smaller problems will disappear''' Win Aung added.   Thailand's new 
foreign minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, told reporters Thursday that 
the ``Asian way'' of practicing diplomacy does not mean ignoring human 
rights and democracy. But Asian way means outsiders should not make 
Asian leaders lose ``face'' during negotiations or force their opinions. 
  

Surakiart had also spoken about the ``Asian way'' during a speech at the 
inaugural session of Thai parliament this week.   Surakiart's comments 
have been construed as a shift in Thailand's foreign policy by 
abandoning the previous government's pro-Western stance to actively push 
for democracy in Myanmar whose ruling military junta seized power in 
1988.   Surakiart said the Asian way of solving problems was responsible 
for the new signs of reconciliation between Myanmar's junta and the 
opposition led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.


	
___________________________________________________


		


AP: Myanmar slams U.S. drug blacklisting as politically motivated  

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) 

March 2, 2001

Myanmar, the world's second largest producer of opium and heroin, 
slammed the United States Friday for putting it on a drugs blacklist, 
saying the action was politically motivated.   In a statement received 
in Bangkok, Myanmar's military regime said the United States was 
absolving itself of all blame although it was the world's biggest market 
for drugs and a center of drug-linked organized crime and money 
laundering.   ``Giving out funds to certain countries while scapegoating 
others will not solve much of the drug problem we are facing today,'' 
said the statement. ``Just holding the purse does not give any nation 
the right to finger point.''   

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department put Myanmar and Afghanistan on a 
list of countries that it said were not fully cooperating with U.S. 
anti-drug efforts in 2000. This made them subject to economic penalties 
that will have no real effect because the countries are already under 
other U.S. sanctions.   Cambodia and Haiti were also put on the list but 
received a national security waiver of economic penalties.   Myanmar 
faces sharp U.S. criticism and is deprived of most international sources 
of foreign aid because of its human rights record and refusal to hand 
over power to democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi whose party won general 
elections in 1990.   

The Myanmar statement claimed the blacklisting was based on ``political 
reason rather than the actual facts.''   The U.S. report conceded that 
production of heroin and opium had steadily declined since 1996 due to 
Myanmar government eradication efforts and adverse weather conditions. 
But production of methamphetamines had skyrocketed, it said.   The 
government has been unwilling or unable to take on the most powerful 
drug producing and trafficking groups, which include ethnic armies that 
have signed cease-fires with the regime, the report said.   Until the 
mid-1990s, Myanmar was the world's leading producer of opium, the raw 
material of heroin, but it was eclipsed by Afghanistan.   The United 
States has disputed a recent U.N. report that said the Taliban rulers of 
Afghanistan have virtually eliminated poppies, the flower from which 
opium is produced. The United Nations Drug Control Program says it 
expects opium production to be negligible in Afghanistan this year 
because of a ban on poppy imposed by Taliban.   

However, Myanmar is still the source of about 80 percent of production 
in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, where the borders of northern 
Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.   The report hailed Thailand for ``one 
of the most effective illicit narcotic crop control programs in the 
world,'' while Vietnam had also made steady advances in the war against 
drugs.   In Hanoi, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy 
Thanh's said in statement that the country has ``basically eradicated 
poppy opium plant areas.'' Without commenting on the U.S. report, the 
statement said Vietnam is a developing country with ``constrained 
finances, but has always placed a high priority on drug control and 
prevention.''   A minister overseeing Thailand's narcotics control 
bureau hailed the report as ``very useful.'' Thammarak Issarangkura na 
Ayuthaya said the report's criticism of Myanmar did not surprise him.   

``It is normal for countries that do not have good relations with the 
United States to withhold cooperation, including in narcotic 
suppression,'' Thammarak told The Associated Press.
 





___________________________________________________





Xinhua: Thai Troops Still On Alert Along Thai-Myanmar Border

March 2, 2001

BANGKOK, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Thai troops deployed along the Thai-Myanmar 
border are still on alert and tight surveillance, as Myanmese forces are 
prepared to launch renewed crackdown on armed ethnic groups, the Thai 
News Agency (TNA) reported Thursday. Thai troops, particularly those who 
were deployed along the border in the northern province of Mae Hong Son, 
are now on high alert and perform tight surveillance following a fresh 
clash between Myanmese forces and their ethnic allies with the armed 
Kaya Karen group on Wednesday. The clash caused an influx of a number of 
refugees from the Myanmar side into the Thai soil. Local Thai 
authorities have provided temporary shelters for the refugees. Thai 
forces along the border are now prepared to cope with any incident, 
which may result from possible renewed clashes in the Myanmar side, and 
to protect refugees in the shelters, said the report. Thai soldiers 
along the border in the western province of Tak are also well prepared, 
as it is now the time when Yangon normally cracks down the armed Karen 
National Unit (KNU), and more Yangon forces with heavy arms have been 
moved in near the border, it added. Local authorities had told leaders 
of 17 villages in six sub- districts along the border to warn villagers 
to be aware of their safety and to arrange local security system. Thai 
forces are also well prepared along border areas in Mae Sai and Mae Fa 
Luang districts of Chiang Rai. Border tension has resulted in reduced 
smuggling of metamphetamines into the Thai territory over the past 
weeks, the report noted. 


___________________________________________________





AFP: International unions urge Myanmar to stop forced labour 

TOKYO, March 1 (AFP) - The head of an international trade union Thursday 
urged governments of the world to pressure Myanmar to end its forced 
labour practices.   

"Overwhelming and indisputable evidence shows that the military regime 
has systematically violated the human rights of the people of Burma, 
particularly in the area of forced labour," Bill Jordan, general 
secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, told 
a press conference.   Jordan's group, which represents 156 million 
members around the world, was in Tokyo for a two-day conference with 
representatives of unions and democracy movements from around the world 
to discuss the labour situation in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.  

 "One of the reasons why we called for this meeting is, contrary to what 
the military junta is saying to governments, the practice of forced 
labour continues unabated," Jordan said.   Conference participants 
discussed how labour unions may assist the International Labour 
Organization, which sent letters to numerous governments last December 
asking them to review their ties with Myanmar as long as the junta 
tolerated forced labour, Jordan said.  

 "The unsaid statement of the letter was: If you have trading 
relationships with the military regime ... you are, without doubt, 
sustaining the military regime and the abuses that have been perpetrated 
by the military regime," Jordan said.   The ILO has been studying the 
labour situation in Myanmar since 1993, and has found millions of people 
were engaged in forced labour, mainly in domestic infrastructure 
projects, Jordan said.   Many people have been killed for speaking 
against the government or failing to perform the jobs they were required 
to do, Jordan said.   "The evidence that has been collected was so 
comprehensive and so damning ... A part of the exercise here in Tokyo is 
to build up the presentation of (labour abuses in Myanmar), which we 
will take worldwide to make sure the ILO decisions are implemented," he 
said.   

The ICFTU is building a data base of multinational companies that do 
business in Myanmar, some of them under harsh labour conditions, Jordan 
said, while declining to identify any.   "Labour unions will take the 
matter to the companies (to stop working with the government of 
Myanmar). 

Regrettably so, some consumer items -- are made in Burma for a fraction 
of the prices that they are sold for either in Japan, Europe or in 
America," he said.   "Almost all industries in the world do businesses 
with Burma," he said.   "The military dictatorship has been operating 
for many years in Burma and publically crushed democracy," Jordan said.  
 "The fact is that they exist on oppression. Until democracy is 
restored, this forced labour will probably never shut down."  





_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 


AP: Ban Sought on Myanmar Imports

The Associated Press, Thu 1 Mar 2001 

WASHINGTON (AP) ù A Democratic senator urged a ban on U.S. clothing 
imports from Myanmar Thursday, saying such business gives dollars to the 
nation's ``brutal dictators'' and cuts American jobs.  

Meanwhile, the State Department pledged to help promote reconciliation 
between the country's military rulers and the opposition led by Nobel 
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.  

``Most Americans think we already have tough sanctions in place with 
Burma, but ... our current sanctions policy is more bluster than bite,'' 
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said, using the old name for Myanmar.  

``Many U.S. apparel companies are importing more and more of their 
clothes from the Burmese gulag,'' where factory workers earn as little 
as 7 cents an hour, he said, noting that it is impossible to do business 
in the country outside of joint ventures with state-owned companies.  

In 1997 the Clinton administration banned new investment in Myanmar. 
Although the government does not prohibit trade with the country, it has 
discouraged Americans from doing business there. 
 
But Harkin said that since the ban, apparel imports from Myanmar have 
grown 372 percent ù to $403.7 million last year.  

The Defense Department abruptly stopped importing clothing from Myanmar 
in December. Critics in Congress and in human rights groups said the 
practice ran contrary to the administration's efforts to put an economic 
squeeze on Myanmar, whose military rulers refused to recognize the 
election victory a decade ago by Suu Kyi's National League for 
Democracy.  

On Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with the U.N. special 
envoy to the country, Razali Ismail.  

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell was encouraged by 
the envoy's report that talks between the regime and Suu Kyi were 
progressing.  
``Although we're encouraged by the ongoing dialogue and recent releases 
of some political prisoners, we're mindful that the Burmese regime 
continues to systematically violate the fundamental, basic human rights 
of its citizens,'' Boucher said.  

The envoy's predecessors visited the country a half dozen times and made 
no headway.  








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