BurmaNet News: March 26, 2001 (r)

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Some readers did not receive the issue of March 26 so I am reposting 
this to all.  If you are now receiving a second copy, I apologize for 
the duplication.

Strider


______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         March 26, 2001   Issue # 1763
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Nation: Burmese Junta Clamps down Ahead of Armed Forces Day
*Mizzima: Ethnic Leader Arrested In Burma
*Freedom News (Shan State Army): SSA-N Captain Killed By Burmese Junta 
Troops
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans Straying into a Refinery Beaten to 
Death
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Heavy weapons galore across the border

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Drugs High on Talks Agenda
*Reuters: Thailand and Myanmar ministers to talk in Chile

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar Paddy Production Steadily on Rise

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*Shan - EU News: SPDC's drug trafficking list should be treated with 
caution

OTHER______
*Project Maje: Interpreters needed


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



The Nation: Burmese Junta Clamps down Ahead of Armed Forces Day

Monday, March 26, 2001



Agence France-presse

Rangoon- Burma's junta is laying down a heavy security presence ahead of 
its most important event of the year, Armed Forces Day.

On Tuesday it will mark the day in 1945 when General Aung Sam, Burma's 
independence hero and the father of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 
called on resistance fighters to throw out the occupying Japanese 
forces.
 
Hordes of soldiers are patrolling the meat thoroughfares of the capital, 
Rangoon, many of them brandishing steel probes used to search for 
explosives while others are even shaking down trees to check for 
devices. 

People in neighbourhoods have been awakened during the night by patrols 
checking to see if any non-residents are being harboured inside homes 
and cars are being searched at random.

The parkland venue for the centrepiece of the celebrations, an elaborate 
military parade, has been cordoned off and the closure of many 
thoroughfares has caused bad traffic snarls.

Religious rituals at the former Resistance Park has also been affected 
by the security cordon. The recital of Buddhist chants to ward off evil 
spirits has this year been done by tape recording and not by actual 
monks. 
"This is a particularly delicate time of the year for the government, 
with Armed Forces Day coming up."  a Western diplomat said.

"They are normally overly security conscious at this time of the year." 
The celebrations come amid ongoing talks between the junta and Suu Kyi 
that appear to be paving the way for their first official dialogue since 
1994. Earlier this month the junta dismissed rumours that it had been 
riven by a power struggle between intelligence chief Lt- Gen Khin Nyunt 
and military strongman General Maung Aye.

The stories were given fresh impwtus in February after No. 4 leader 
Lt-Gen Tin Oo died in what the authorities said was an accidental 
helicopter crash. 
Dissident groups clamed that Tin Oo, a trusted aide and likely successor 
to Maung Aye, was deliberately killed - a theory largely discounted by 
diplomats and observers in Rangoon.

Exiled democracy activists have tipped Tuesday as the likely date for an 
"important gesture" from the regime.

However, most observers are confident that Suu Kyi, who has been held 
under house arrest since September, will not be released before the 
talks made substantial headway.

"In the way of developments it is probably going to be a matter of 
months rather than weeks before we see anything," the diplomat said.



___________________________________________________



Mizzima: Ethnic Leader Arrested In Burma

New Delhi, March 26, 2001 

Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com) 

A prominent ethnic leader closed to BurmaÆs pro-democracy leader Daw 
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested recently in Burma, despite the talks 
between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta had been going on since 
October last year for the possible return of ôpolitical stabilityö in 
this military-run country. Reports reaching here said that Mr. Gin Kam 
Lian, Secretary General of the Zomi National Congress (ZNC) was arrested 
on 19th March at Mawlamyine, Mon State in southern Burma by the juntaÆs 
security forces.  

Dr. Kenneth who worked as financial secretary of the ZNC disclosed this 
in an interview with Mizzima News Group today. ôHe was very closed to 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We don?t know why he was arrested and his 
whereabouts nowö, said Dr. Kenneth.  

It is absolutely unjust to arrest Mr. Gin Kam Lian. He is a known ethnic 
leader working closely with Amaji (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)ö, commented Dr. 
Kenneth.  
Mr. Gin Kam Lian had been actively working in the Committee for 
Representing PeopleÆs Parliament (CRPP), which was formed in September 
1998 with the representatives of political parties that had won in the 
1990 elections in Burma.  
The Zomi National Congress (ZNC) won two parliamentary seats in the 
elections but the junta cancelled the party registration in 1992.  
Burmese junta has not made any announcement on the arrest of Mr. Gin Kam 
Lian. The junta has also arrested the president of ZNC Mr. Cin Sian 
Thang in 1999.  




___________________________________________________


___________________________________________________



Freedom News (Shan State Army): SSA-N Captain Killed By Burmese Junta 
Troops

26 March 2001



On 22rd March 2001, some Burmese soldiers under the junta's North 
Eastern Command stationed at Lashio surrounded and shot an officer from 
Shan State Army - North (SSA - N) to dead. The Shan State Army - North 
have made a cease-fire agrrement with the Junta, since 1989. This 
incidence occurred in the village of Wan Li, Murng Yai township, 
Northern Shan State, when the Burmese troops surrounded and killed 
Captain Sai Sarm, the commander of the 576th Battalion, 16th Brigade of 
SSA - N. After the murder of Captain Sai Sarm, the Burmese soldiers 
seized his M-20 pistol and left without even bothering to utter a word 
about the incidence. The Burmese junta soldiers might have thought that 
cease-fire groups are just mere sitting ducks. 
Burmese Junta Offensive Against SSA Brewing

Since the middle of March 2001, the Burmese junta's Triangle Command 
(based at Kaeng Tung) issued an order to their Tactical Command (based 
at Mong Phyak) to alert their troops and prepare for war against SSA-S 
troops in the trans-Salween areas. This order has been instructed to the 
10 battalions based in the area. They are 316th, 327th, 328th, 329th, 
330th, 331st, 334th, 335th, 359th and 526th Light Infantry Battalions. A 
large number of porters were being conscripted around the townships of 
Mong Pan, Mong Ton and Mong Sart. Reliable sources indicate that the 
Burmese junta would launch an offensive before the rainy season. 
Freedom News




___________________________________________________



Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans Straying into a Refinery Beaten to 
Death

21 March 2001

[Abridged]

14 Shan villagers traveling to Thailand on foot who 
unintentionally  slipped into the vicinity of a methamphetamine factory 
18  miles north of the Thai border were flailed to death by Burmese 
soldiers,  said a Shan source who lost his brother.

Sai Wan, 22, who recently returned form Mongton, opposite  
Chiangdao-Chaiprakarn districts, Chiangmai Province, told S.H.A.N. the 
14  villagers, including his brother Sai Wi, 24, were intercepted 
(Mongton  Township, Monghsat District, Triangle Region), on their way to 
the Thai  border by Company 4, commanded by Captain Chan Nyein from IB 
(Infantry  Battalion) 225 near Hwe Pakhee, 18 miles (29 km) north of 
BP1, the border  pass between Mongton and Chiangdao.

The villagers were accused of spying and beaten to death. 4 among them 
were  women.

"Learning that my brother was coming and knowing he was overdue, I 
slipped  across the border to find out what delayed him," said Sai Wan. 
"People in the area informed me that they were killed because they went 
too  near to the Yaba factory set up lately by an aide of Wei Hsiaokang 
and  guarded by the Burmese (military)."

Wei Hsiaokang is wanted by both US and Thai enforcement agencies for 
drug  offenses.



SHAN: Heavy weapons galore across the border

Rangoon has been hauling their heavy weapons to the Thai-Shan border,  
between Mongton, Monghsat and Tachilek on the Burmese side and Chiangmai 
 and Chiangrai on the Thai side during the past week.

On 19 March, 15 105 mm howitzers arrived in Mongton from Moulmein,  
according to a local source. 10 were unloaded at IB 65 command post and 
the  other 5 at IB 225 command post. It was also reported that more than 
20  civilian trucks were pressganged from Loilem to transport troops to 
Mongton. 
The following day 128 six-wheelers bringing hundreds of fresh troops 
pulled  up in Monghsat, 42 miles northeast of Mongton. Among them were 
12 120  mm-mortars for Doilang- Mongyawn area, said the source.


Shan Herald Agency for News.



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



Bangkok Post: Drugs High on Talks Agenda

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2001



Troop withdrawals also to be proposed

Supamart Kasem

Tak

The reported involvement of politicians in the drug trade will be raised 
during scheduled border talks with Burma.

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong said unit 
commanders agreed the issue should be on the agenda at a meeting in 
Phitsanulok last week.

The 17th Regional Border Committee meeting is planned in Keng Tung, 
Burma, from April 2-4. Lt-Gen Wattanachai will lead the 32-member Thai 
delegation, which will include senior police officers and officials from 
the Foreign and Interior ministries.

The Burmese delegation will be led by Maj-Gen Thein Sein, commander of 
Burma's Triangle Region Force.

Ties between the two nations have ebbed since Thailand accused Rangoon 
of helping the United Wa State Army produce methamphetamines for illegal 
sale in Thailand. The Burmese in turn claimed many Thai state officials 
and politicians were behind the drug trade.

A military source said the army had information that at least 10 
politicians, from two political parties, were involved in the 
methamphetamine trade in the Third Army area.


Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has asked for a report from the army 
and pledged to take action against anyone found involved.

Burma will also be asked why it has kept the Tachilek checkpoint closed 
while Thailand unilaterally opened its side of the border, and to allow 
cross-border trade to resume.

Thailand will also propose that both sides withdraw their troops from 
disputed areas around Kuteng Nayong in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district and 
Doi Lang in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district to facilitate proper border 
demarcation. Burma will be warned of retaliation if its troops continue 
to cross into Thailand when operating against ethnic rebels.



___________________________________________________



Reuters: Thailand and Myanmar ministers to talk in Chile

March 25,2001


BANGKOK, March 26 ù Thailand said on Monday it would hold talks with its 
estranged neighbour, Myanmar, at the East Asia-Latin America Forum in 
the Chilean capital of Santiago from March 29 to 30.  

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters he hoped to 
talk to Myanmar's delegation head, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung 
Win, at the meeting on how to improve the countries' relationship, which 
has been severely strained in recent weeks.        

 ''What I will state with my counterpart is neighbours should tackle 
each problem individually; not let one problem adversely effect the 
entire relationship,'' said Surakiart.        

 Relations between the two neighbours dived last month after border 
skirmishes between Myanmar troops, their allies in the United Wa State 
Army (UWSA), and anti-government Shan rebels.         

Thailand says the battles spilled over onto Thai soil, forcing a 
response. Myanmar denies this.    Bangkok says the UWSA is the source of 
hundreds of millions of methamphetamine stimulant tablets flooding 
Thailand each year, and has accused Yangon of turning a blind eye to the 
problem.         

Myanmar says Shan rebels are the main drug traffickers.   The two 
countries, which share a 2,400 km (1,490 miles) border, have waged a war 
of words since the February clashes.   Surakiart said planned discussion 
items included the restoration of border trade, strengthening of fishing 
cooperation and bilateral tourism promotion.  

       Surakiart said he would also attend a planned informal meeting of 
foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) in Yangon on April 30.    ''I anticipate that Myanmar would view 
this ASEAN meeting as my courtesy visit and I will agree on that 
anticipated invitation,'' Surakiart told reporters.         Myanmar's 
foreign ministry said Monday the tentative plan for the ASEAN meeting 
had not yet been confirmed.         

''If the planned meeting takes place, the two ministers will discuss 
bilateral issues,'' a spokesman said.  






_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 



Xinhua: Myanmar Paddy Production Steadily on Rise 

YANGON, March 26 

Myanmar is projecting to yield 20. 7 million tons of paddy out of 6.39 
million hectares cultivated in the fiscal year 2000-2001 ending in 
March, Monday's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported. 

The paper said that arrangements are also being made to cultivate paddy 
on 6.67 million hectares of land to ensure production of 23 million tons 
of the crop in 2001-2002 beginning April. 

According to official statistics, in 1998-99, Myanmar cultivated 5.76 
million hectares of paddy and produced 17.09 million tons, while in 
1999-2000, it cultivated 6.28 million hectares and produced 20.25 
million tons. 

In Myanmar, there are 18.03 million hectares of arable land, of which 
only about 10.12 million hectares are cultivated and there remains 7.91 
million hectares to be reclaimed. 

Meanwhile, Myanmar exported 122,700 tons of rice in the first 10 months 
of 2000, 98.5 percent more than the same period of 1999. 

Myanmar's agriculture accounts for 36 percent of its gross domestic 
product and 25 percent of the export value. 




_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________




Shan - EU News: SPDC's drug trafficking list should be treated with 
caution 


25 March 2001

Editorial

SPDC's drug trafficking list should be treated with caution 
The Burmese miltary junta (SPDC) spokesman, according to Reuters report 
on 23rd March, said that the information about the involvement of 
foreigners in drug trafficking in the region, including Thai politicians 
are derived ''From those who have surrendered to the government and who 
were in the drug trafficking business -- for example Khun Sa." 

Frist, the Burmese military cut a deal with Khun Sa by offering him 
santuary in exchange for his ill-gotten fortune, and of course not to 
forget the impact of breaking the will of the Shan resistance which was 
considered to be literally "dead", until Sao Yward Serk of Shan State 
Army (SSA) began to harass the occupying Burmese army effectively, and 
not to mention the negative image and notoreity befallen on the people 
of Shan States for having a pact with the devil, so to speak. Khun Sa 
has been considered a worthless trophy for the Burmese military junta 
until recently when he becomes instrumental and handy again. He has been 
thrusted again to the forefront  to be used as a counter punch against 
the Thai medias' onslaught, and perhaps might even help blows the cover 
of some corrupted and drugs-dealing foreigners,Thai officials and 
politicians.  

The intended counter move from the Burmese junta, which is expected to 
come out in the open during the forthcoming Regional Border Committee 
(RBC) meeting scheduled for April 2-4 in Kengtung, Shan State, could 
have a strong impact on Thai political landscape and even create 
considerable ripples. The so-called list of the corrupted Thai officials 
and politicians, which the Burmese military junta claimed to possess, 
could even implicate some of the Thai people in high places. Thus, the 
catch word here should be to tread carefully and wisely by not rushing 
hastily to the conclusion, once the genie is out of the bottle. 

The Thais should now weigh the pros and cons for the benefit of the Thai 
people and should refuse to yeild to particular interest groups and 
political parties. The Burmses military junta is a well-versed and 
cunning player, especially at this kind of game, and would exploit every 
means to crack and drive wedge between the new Thai administration and 
the Royal Thai Army. The unity and hardline stance of the Thai military 
leadership and civilian government is not working to the advantage of 
the Burmese junta and it is only logical that it would do anything to 
create confusion and distrust among the Thais. 

This is not to say that the really corrupted ones should go free and be 
lienent to them, but only to thoroughly prove the accusation before 
taking any appropriate action. For failing to do so and rushing in to 
produce results could amount to character assasination without 
intention.The Burmese junta is an organization bent on preserving its 
hold on political power at all cost with deeply rooted "group survival" 
instinct, which has been holding its more than 40 million inhabitants as 
hostages for decades. As such,  it would be a pity to take every 
accusation and finger-pointing coming from the military junta's sources 
at its face value without questioning  critically. 

Sai Wansai

Shan Democratic Union




______________________OTHER______________________



Project Maje: Interpreters needed


There is an urgent need for volunteer interpreters to visit Guam in 
order to help refugees from Burma who are stranded there, by translating 
during their asylum interviews with US immigration officials. The US 
immigration department is willing to speed up the process of bringing 
approved Burma refugees from Guam to the mainland, but the refugees have 
to go through interviews first, and are having to provide their own 
interpreters. There are currently hundreds of refugees from Burma 
(mostly the north/northwest) in difficult circumstances on Guam. The 
main need is for interpreters who can translate between spoken English 
and Chin (various dialects) but intepreters who can fluently translate 
between English and Burmese would be most appreciated too, as well as 
Kachin/English speakers. These are not paid positions, but hospitality 
would be provided on (warm, sunny) Guam for stays of a week to a month. 
They are trying to complete the processing by late May. IF YOU ARE 
INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING TO INTERPRET ON GUAM: P

lease contact as soon as possible, Dr. Zo T. Hmung at:

CFCoalition@xxxxxxxxxxx







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