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BurmaNet News: August 1, 2001




______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
           August 1, 2001   Issue # 1855
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


NOTED IN PASSING: ?the largest prison for journalists in Asia?

Reporters without Borders describing Burma.  See  AP: Myanmar 
journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom group

INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Rangoon junta frees 4 MPs, more expected before UN envoy's 27 Aug 
visit
*AP: Myanmar journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom 
group
*DVB: Education Ministry issues order on strict security measures at  
schools

MONEY _______
*Xinhua: Tourist Arrivals in Myanmar Decline in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Earns Less from Customs Duties in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Produces 811,000 barrels of Crude Oil in 1st Quarter
*AFP: Thailand seeks better deal on Myanmar fishing concessions

GUNS______
*The Nation: Wa army delivers 7 Thai officials to Burma Junta; release 
expected

DRUGS______
*AP: Thai government revokes nationality of alleged drug smuggler 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Sydney Morning Herald: Pressure on Rangoon to return to democracy 
*Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio (Thailand): Thai FM spokesman says 7 missing 
Thai officials under care of Burmese
*South China Morning Post: Burma--Satellite TV to beam 'true image' 

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Xinhua: Myanmar Media Calls for Cooperation Among Nations to Fight 
Drugs

OTHER______
*Universities Historical Research Centre: Academic Conference in Myanmar 
(Burma)


					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________





DVB: Rangoon junta frees 4 MPs, more expected before UN envoy's 27 Aug 
visit


[FBIS Translated Text] [Translated text released August 1; date of 
broadcast unknown]


 DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the SPDC [State Peace 
and Development Council] military government has released another four 
political prisoners at about 1000 today. All four released today are 
elected representatives from the National League for Democracy [NLD]. 
Their names and particulars are: U Chit Htwe, age 36 years, elected 
representative from Myothit Township Constituency-2 [Magwe Division], 
and released from Thayet Jail; U Khin Maung Win, age 57 years, elected 
representative from Oktwin Township Constituency-2 [Pegu Division], and 
released from Toungoo Jail; and U Aung Myint, age 57 years, elected 
representative from Letpadan Township Constituency-1 [Pegu Division], 
and U Nyunt Aye, age 65 years, elected representative from Letpadan 
Township Constituency-2, both released from Tharawaddy Jail. 

According to latest reports received by DVB, U Ohn Maung, age 73 years, 
elected representative from Nyaunglebin Township Constituency-1 [Pegu 
Division], who is not well, was also released from Tharawaddy Jail 
together with the other four political prisoners but was rearrested. U 
Ohn Maung is old and is not in good health. In order to know the latest 
situation of the political prisoners and the views of the NLD, DVB 
contacted NLD Central Executive Committee Member U Lwin and first asked 
him why U Ohn Maung was released and then rearrested. 

[Begin recording]

 [U Lwin] I do not know whether the list was wrong. 

When they first informed us U Ohn Maung was in the list. Then they 
corrected the list and he was not included in the new one. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] Can you give us any confirmation after this release on 
the number of prisoners still in jail? 

[U Lwin] Do you mean elected representatives? Well, 28 elected 
representatives still remain in jails. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] Are these 28 elected representatives from NLD or do 
they include other parties as well? 

[U Lwin] They are all from NLD and do not include other parties. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] What can you comment about the frequency and situation 
of the release of prisoners?

 [U Lwin] Well about that, I do not know with what idea they are 
releasing. If you consider those released recently about three in the 
last batch have some sentences remaining to be served. For instance, U 
Par Par Lay has two years outstanding sentence. Apart from that the 
sentences of all those released including today were almost completed. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] You mean to say they have released only those who have 
completed their sentences? 

[U Lwin] Well the trend seems like that. More than one perhaps three or 
four, might be released before their sentences are completed. We will 
need to confirm that. [Htet Aung Kyaw] Like we heard in the news, can we 
say that the releases are in accord with the agreement reached at the 
talks? 

[U Lwin] No, we cannot say that. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] Generally speaking since political prisoners were 
released and NLD is allowed to reopen its township branches, can we say 
that relations between NLD and the government is improving? [U Lwin] 
Well, the past events have shown that conditions have improved and 
better understanding reached. 

[Htet Aung Kyaw] Were you allowed to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 
during this time and how is her health?

 [U Lwin] Yes, I see her. I have been seeing her. I see her regularly. 
[end recording] 

That was DVB interview with NLD Central Executive Committee Member U 
Lwin. According to exiled elected representatives [MPs] three non-NLD 
MPs are still held in SPDC jails bringing to about 31, the number of MPs 
remaining incarcerated. Human rights organizations say there are more 
than 1,800 political prisoners in Burma. DVB has learned that more 
political prisoners majority being MPs will be released before UN 
Special Envoy Mr Razali arrive in Rangoon on 27 August.





___________________________________________________



AP: Myanmar journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom 

July 31, 2001

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Describing Myanmar as ``the largest prison for 
journalists in Asia,'' an international press freedom group is calling 
for sanctions against the country's military government to be maintained 
until jailed journalists are released and censorship is eliminated. 

 The Paris-based group, Reporters Without Borders, issued a 20-page 
report Tuesday documenting the plight of 18 detained journalists and the 
lack of press freedom in Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

 It said that despite nine months of closed-door negotiations between 
the military government and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition 
National League for Democracy, ``the situation concerning freedom of the 
press has not improved one iota.'' 

 Myanmar's military regime has long been ostracized by Western 
governments for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over 
power to a democratically-elected government. The United States and 
European Union countries limit diplomatic and business contacts with the 
regime. 

 Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 general election, but 
the military never allowed parliament to convene, and subjected its 
opponents to severe harassment and detention. 

 ``Torture is still commonplace in prisons and detention centers, and 
some journalists suffer from serious mental disorders resulting from 
long periods of isolation,'' said the report. ``Censorship, threats and 
arrests are still the routine for journalists working for the few 
private media in the country, and for political activists who speak out 
against the situation in Burma.'' 

 A request to the Myanmar government spokesman for reaction to the 
report went unanswered Tuesday. 

 According to Reporters Without Borders, better known by its French 
acronym RSF, journalists have received long prison sentences for 
``having 'distributed information hostile to the state,' owning 
undeclared video cameras, talking with foreign journalists or sending 
information to Burmese media in exile.'' 

 Although prison conditions are very harsh, several detained journalists 
have put up resistance, taking part in such activities as smuggling out 
information to human rights groups, taking part in hunger strikes and 
even circulating underground publications, said RSF. 

 Outside prison walls, official domination of information is near-total, 
with major media controlled by the military and their families and 
rigorous censorship applied to the few independent private journals, the 
group said. 

 Censors subject to close scrutiny any articles using words such as 
``democracy,'' ``corruption'' or ``education,'' it said. 

 Reflecting the government's sensitivity to the popularity of Suu Kyi, 
the 1991 Nobel peace laureate, favorable references to the opposition 
leader are ``clearly forbidden'' and it is impossible to publish an 
article about a female head of state. 

 RSF says that some underground publications, written, published and 
distributed by opponents of the regime, circulate sporadically. 

 The most common sources of uncensored information are broadcasts of 
international radio stations such as the BBC, the U.S. government-funded 
Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and the Democratic Voice of Burma, 
which is based in Norway. 

 RSF said its report was based on information from interviews with 
Myanmar exiles in northern Thailand in June this year, ``since it is 
impossible to carry out an unfettered investigation in Burma.'' 

___________________________________________________





DVB: Education Ministry issues order on strict security measures at  
schools

30 July

DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the SPDC [State Peace  
and Development Council] Education Ministry has issued a directive to  
State and Division Education Departments. Furthermore, the Tenasserim  
Division Higher Education Department has issued a similar directive to  
various District and Township Education Departments and the District  
Peace and Development Council Offices on 25 July. The students,  
parents, and teachers were disheartened as a result of the directive.  
DVB correspondent Myint Maung Maung filed the report giving details of  
the directive.

[Myint Maung Maung] The directive states:

1. Teachers, parents, and school council members shall take turns to  
perform security duty at the school day and night.

2. No one apart from students must be allowed inside the school during  
daytime.

3. Teachers, staff, and students are not allowed to bring in any book,  
note, picture, or poster apart from the prescribed texts and must  
strictly adhere to the dress code.

4. No unauthorized slogans, pictures, or posters other than those  
permitted shall be pasted or hung in the classrooms, on the walls, or  
inside and outside the fences.

5. Apart from normal teaching responsibilities, the teachers must take  
extra security duty of the school and the students.

6. Persons running authorized food stalls inside the schools must not  
bring in any paper, picture, or badge not related with their work. 
The directive is effective immediately and the above articles must be  
adhered to until further notice.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 30 Jul 01 










______________________MONEY________________________



Xinhua: Tourist Arrivals in Myanmar Decline in 1st Quarter

YANGON, August 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 42,998 foreign tourists visited 
Myanmar in the first quarter of this year, dropping by 37. 8 percent 
compared with the corresponding period of 2000, the country's Economic 
Indicators said in its latest issue. The declination of tourists arrival 
was obvious in the number of those travelling across border, reaching 
only 4,732 during the three-month period and constituting a fall of 85.1 
percent in the cross-border arrivals from the same period of 2000 when 
it was 31, 762. The sharp reduction of cross-border tourists arrivals 
was seen as being due to the outbreak of border clashes between Myanmar 
and Thailand in February which lasted until June. Thailand is one of 
Myanmar's two neighboring countries supplying most of the tourists to 
the country. While the number of foreign tourists arriving Myanmar by 
land was experiencing a sharp drop during the first quarter of this 
year, those coming in by air increased by 2.63 percent, reaching 38,266 
as compared with the same period of 2000. According to official 
statistics, in 2000, the number of tourists arrivals was registered at 
only 234,900, falling by 9.3 percent from 1999. Of them, 49 percent 
entered the country by land through border points. In recent years, 
Myanmar participated in tourism fairs held yearly in Thailand, 
Singapore, China's Hong Kong, Berlin, London and South Korea, aimed at 
drawing more tourists to Myanmar for the development of its tourism 
industry. Meanwhile, Myanmar is also cooperating with tourism 
authorities of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN) in activities in the region including cooperation 
programs for tourist destinations in the ASEAN region and market 
promotion activities of nations in great Mekong region as well as 
Ganges-Mekong cooperation program. To develop its tourism, Myanmar has 
signed bilateral agreements with China, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and 
Thailand. Enditem
2001-08-01 Wed 00:12 




___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Myanmar Earns Less from Customs Duties in 1st Quarter

YANGON, August 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar received 209 million U.S. dollars 
from customs duties in the first quarter of this year, 13. 9 percent 
less than the same period of 2000 when it registered at 243 million 
dollars with the income, according to the latest figures released by the 
country's Central Statistical Organization. The main source of Myanmar's 
customs duties income comes from import through normal trade and border 
trade, of which the import customs duties income earned through normal 
trade accounted for 97. 9 percent of the total during the three-month 
period. To promote agricultural development, the Myanmar government has 
exempted import customs duties levied on agricultural implements 
including fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety and machinery. 
According to official statistics, in 2000, Myanmar earned 891 million 
dollars from customs duties and its foreign trade totaled 4.086 billion 
dollars in the year, of which imports amounted to 2. 567 billion 
dollars, while exports were valued at 1.519 billion dollars.




___________________________________________________



Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 1st Quarter

YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Electric power generated by the state-run 
Myanma Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity supplier 
of the country, totaled 1.236 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in the first 
quarter of this year, 2.57 percent more than the same period of 2000, 
said the latest issue of the government Economic Indicators. Meanwhile, 
the installed generating capacity of the MEPE reached 1,172 mega watts 
(mw) at the end of the first quarter of 2000. Official statistics show 
that in 2000, electric power generated by the MEPE went to 5.028 billion 
kwh, 17 percent more than 1999. According to the MEPE, since 1988 
Myanmar's electric power installed generating capacity has increased by 
509 mw, of which that of natural gas power plants rose by 255 mw, while 
that of steam power ones by 143 mw and that of hydropower ones by 111 
mw. Myanmar is implementing five more hydropower plants -- Paunglaung, 
Zaungtu, Mone, Thaphanseik and Maipan. Three of them are China-aided 
projects. Upon their completion, the five power plants will add 407 mw 
more to Myanmar's installed generating capacity and is expected to 
greatly ease the serious electricity shortage problem of the country.



___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Myanmar Produces 811,000 barrels of Crude Oil in 1st Quarter

YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar produced a total of 811,000 barrels 
of crude oil in the first quarter of this year, 11.94 percent less than 
the same period of 2000, according to the latest data released by the 
country's Central Statistical Organization. During the three-month 
period, the country yielded 347.08 million cubic-meters of natural gas, 
also falling by 10.3 percent from the corresponding period of 2000. In 
2000, the country produced 3.538 million barrels of crude oil and 1.538 
billion cubic-meters of natural gas. Since Myanmar opened to foreign 
investment in late 1988, investment in the oil and gas sector coming 
from oil companies of Australia, Britain, France, Indonesia, Japan, 
Thailand and the United States has reached 2.355 billion dollars in 51 
projects, taking up 32.2 percent of the country's total contracted 
foreign investment. So far Myanmar's petroleum and its products are 
insufficient to meet the demand and the country still has to import 
280,000 to 300, 000 tons of crude oil and 100,000 to 150,000 tons of 
diesel oil annually. 



___________________________________________________




AFP: Thailand seeks better deal on Myanmar fishing concessions 

BANGKOK, July 31 (AFP) - Thailand rejected Tuesday a set of regulations 
proposed by Myanmar as a condition for the lifting of a ban on Thai 
fishing trawlers operating in its waters, saying it would be a financial 
burden. 

 Myanmar cancelled Thai fishing licenses in October 1999 after the Thai 
government supplied an escape helicopter to five anti-junta gunmen in 
exchange for the release of 38 hostages held captive at Myanmar's 
embassy in Bangkok. 

 Despite a series of talks, the two sides have failed to reach agreement 
on the revival of fishing concessions, in a stand-off that has cost Thai 
fishermen dearly. 

 Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intarawithayanunt said Fishery 
Department and Foreign Ministry officials would travel to the 
military-ruled nation in the hope of negotiating a workable deal for 
Thai trawlers. 

 Myanmar is proposing a range of conditions, including that Thai 
fishermen pay a special tax in addition to a percentage of the profits 
from fish caught off its coast. Thailand has countered with a plan for a 
single license fee. 

 "Thai fishermen say that if we pay all of the fees, it will cost a 
lot," Pitak said, adding that Thai fishing vessels risk losing money 
under the proposed scheme. 

 If Thailand and Myanmar can strike a deal on the issue, an agreement 
would be signed during a planned September visit by the Myanmar junta's 
number-three, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, he said. 

 Roughly 450 Thai-registered fishing trawlers and 80 Myanmar-registered 
ones were hit by Yangon's decision to revoke all fishing licences. 



_______________________GUNS________________________




The Nation: Wa army delivers 7 Thai officials to Burma Junta; release 
expected

July 31, 2001

The seven Thai military and narcotics-suppression officers kidnapped in 
Burma on Friday are likely to be freed today after they were handed over 
to the Burmese army by their Wa abductors yesterday, said an informed 
source. According to the source, the Burmese army wants Thailand to send 
a senior officer to receive the officers, who were captured by the Wa 
drug army during a trip in the vicinity of Tachilek township on the 
Burmese side of the border. 

PM's Office Minister Gen Thamarak Isarangura, who oversees the 
government's war on drugs, confirmed yesterday the United Wa State Army 
(UWSA) had handed the Thai hostages over to the Burmese army after the 
Burmese military government stepped in to help negotiations between Thai 
and Wa officials. Thai military officers along the border believed the 
officers had been handed over to Burma's Battalion 331, under the 
command of Col Aye Saw. However, the report has not been confirmed as 
direct contact with the seven officers has not been made, the officer 
said on condition of anonymity. 

Bangkok yesterday dispatched Gen Wichit Yathip, chief of staff attached 
to the defence minister, and Chartchai Suthiklom, deputy 
secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, to 
Rangoon to urge the Burmese junta to pressure their UWSA allies to 
release the seven officers. The announcement of their planned hand-over 
came last night, just a few hours after the two officers left for 
Rangoon. 

Army chief Gen Surayudh Chulanont said the officers had crossed the Mae 
Sai-Tachilek checkpoint on July 27 on a border pass to visit a revered 
monk residing about 30 kilometres from the border. According to a Thai 
border officer, the seven officers had notified Burmese border 
authorities of their visit and both sides understood that visiting the 
monk would not create any problem. But along the way, according to an 
army intelligence officer along the border who spoke on condition of 
anonymity, the seven were kidnapped by a unit of the UWSA under the 
command of Wei Hsieu-kang, a notorious opium warlord who is wanted in 
Thailand and the United States on drug-trafficking charges. "I have no 
doubt that it was Wei's men who carried out the abduction," the officer 
said. The kidnapping was believed to have been in retaliation for the 
government's get-tough policy against Wei's illicit activities. Wei, 55, 
commands a sizeable faction within the 20,000-strong UWSA and is 
believed responsible for the smuggling of millions of methamphetamine 
pills into the Kingdom every month.







________________________DRUGS______________________




AP: Thai government revokes nationality of alleged drug smuggler 


July 30, 2001


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ The Thai government on Monday announced it has 
revoked the Thai nationality of Wei Hsueh-kang, an alleged major drug 
dealer whose arrest has been sought by the United States. 

 Interior Minister Purachai Piumsomboon said Wei represented a threat to 
national security, according to the radio network of the government's 
Mass Communications Organization of Thailand. 

 Wei, an ethnic Chinese, is wanted for drug trafficking by the U.S 
government, which has offered a dlrs 2 million reward for his capture. 
He is under indictment in a U.S. federal court in New York for heroin 
trafficking. 

 Wei, 49, is a leader of the United Wa State Army, an armed ethnic rebel 
group in Myanmar that is believed to illegally smuggle heroin and 
methamphetamine, a stimulant. 

 According to the U.S. State Department, Wei's group ``is currently the 
dominant heroin trafficking group in Southeast Asia, and possibly 
worldwide.'' The State Department says Wei is thought to be hiding in 
Myanmar, also known as Burma. 
 Myanmar is the world's biggest producer of opium and its derivative, 
heroin. It also produces huge amounts of methamphetamine, which is 
exported mostly to neighboring Thailand. 

 The drugs are produced mostly in northern and eastern Myanmar in areas 
under the semiautonomous control of ethnic minorities. The Thai and U.S. 
governments accuse Myanmar's military regime of not doing enough to 
suppress the trade, in order not to stir ethnic unrest. 

 Wei, whose Thai name the State Department says is Prasit 
Chivinnitipanya, was awarded Thai citizenship in 1985. 

 The state-run Mass Communications Organization of Thailand quoted 
Interior Minister Purachai as saying that the government had a list of 
several suspected drug kingpins whose Thai citizenship would be revoked.







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



Sydney Morning Herald: Pressure on Rangoon to return to democracy 

(Jul 30, 2001)

By Mark Baker, Herald Correspondent in Singapore 

The Rangoon military regime is under renewed pressure to return Burma to 
democracy or face fresh international sanctions. 

Western governments and Japan are signalling impatience with the pace of 
secret talks between the opposition leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, and 
senior military officials that have been under way since late last year. 


Senior Western diplomats at the annual meeting of the Association of 
South-East Asian Nations in Hanoi last week said the United States and 
the European Union were preparing to increase pressure on the junta if 
there was not clear evidence in the next two to three months that it was 
ready to compromise with Ms Suu Kyi and her National League for 
Democracy. 

Several Western ministers are believed to have warned the Burmese 
Foreign Minister, Mr Win Aung, that the regime's recent decision to 
release about 150 political prisoners was not enough to end trade and 
investment sanctions that have crippled the Burmese economy. 

"We have to show there is more to democracy than just releasing several 
political prisoners," the Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel, 
said. 

The EU's external affairs commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, said Burma must 
demonstrate a commitment to reform and end human rights abuses, 
including forced labour, if it wanted to see European sanctions lifted. 

Japan, once Burma's most important aid donor, also appears to be 
toughening its stance under the new leadership of Mr Junichiro Koizumi. 

The Japanese Foreign Minister, Ms Makiko Tanaka, told Mr Win Aung the 
regime must speed up the release of the 1,800 political prisoners still 
in detention and ensure Ms Suu Kyi's early release from de facto house 
arrest. 

"I told him that although Myanmar [Burma] may have domestic problems, I 
want it to return her to society as quickly as possible so that we can 
work together with the international community," Ms Tanaka said. 

While Ms Suu Kyi has not commented publicly on her talks with the 
regime, her decision not to attend a ceremony two weeks ago marking the 
anniversary of the assassination of her father, the Burmese independence 
hero Aung San, was interpreted as evidence the dialogue has stalled or 
remains far from a breakthrough. 

But Mr Win Aung said the talks were making progress and insisted 
Rangoon's aim was to return to democracy. "Now the atmosphere is good. 
Now we are moving forward. The process has started. We are patient, we 
are cautious and, yes, we are optimistic," he told Reuters. 
Australia's Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, said after meeting Mr Win Aung 
on Friday that he believed progress was being made in the talks with Ms 
Suu Kyi.



___________________________________________________



Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio (Thailand): Thai FM spokesman says 7 missing 
Thai officials under care of Burmese

[FBIS Translated Text] July 31, 2001

The Foreign Ministry has received a confirmation from Thai authorities 
that the seven officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board 
[ONCB], who were missing after entered Burma on 27 July, are now under 
the care of Burmese officials in Tachilek and all of them are safe. Thai 
and Burmese officials are negotiating for the release for the seven 
officials. Norachit Sinhaseni, director general of the Foreign 
Ministry's Information Department and Foreign Ministry spokesman, said 
that the Burmese government did not have details on the entry of the 
seven Thai officials. 

However, the Burmese authorities have extended cooperation in searching 
for the Thai officials and have coordinated with the Thai ambassador in 
Rangoon. [Begin recording] [Norachit We have notified the Burmese 
authorities that we received information saying that the seven Thai 
officials are now safe and are under the care of the Burmese 
authorities. [Unidentified correspondent] You meant that they are under 
the care of the Burmese authorities and not under the Red Wa Army. 
[Norachit] Yes, under the care of the Burmese authorities, according to 
the latest unofficial report. [end recording] The foreign ministry 
spokesman believed that there will be new development in the settlement 
of the Thai seven officials today because Thai representatives led by 
ONCB Deputy Director General Chatchai Suthikhon are negotiating with 
Burmese officials in Rangoon to settle the issue.

Source: Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio in Thai -- Traffic news radio station 
with reputation for providing good coverage of breaking news] 




___________________________________________________




South China Morning Post: Burma--Satellite TV to beam 'true image' 

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR in Rangoon

Burma is launching an English-language television channel intended by 
the ruling generals to present a ''true image'' of the country. The 
regime says the satellite service will be beamed to 120 countries. 
The Myanmar Radio and Television English Programme, MRTV3, would be 
launched on Burmese public TV tomorrow and be available for viewing 
outside the country from Saturday, said the New Light of Myanmar 
newspaper. The new English-language programme will use Thaicom-3, a 
satellite owned by Shin Corporation, the telecommunications conglomerate 
founded by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. 

It would be available on a ''global beam'' to homes with their own 
satellite dishes in 120 countries spanning an area from Western Europe 
to Australia, including most of Asia, said Shin Corporation's 
communications officer in Bangkok, Richard Jones. 

''This is only one of many contracts we have with the Government,'' Mr 
Jones said. Burma is Shin's second-largest client after India. 

It was unclear whether the new satellite channel on Thaicom-3 was opened 
as a result of Mr Thaksin's visit to Burma last month to patch up 
relations strained by border conflicts and Thai accusations that the 
Burmese military was actively involved in the drug trade. 

''MRTV-3 will facilitate projecting Burma's true image abroad more 
distinctly and more attractively,'' said the state-run New Light of 
Myanmar daily.





___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________



Xinhua: Myanmar Media Calls for Cooperation Among Nations to Fight Drugs

YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar 
Tuesday called on all nations in the world to have positive mutual 
understanding towards one another and cooperate with one another to deal 
with narcotic problem. In an article, the newspaper pointed out that the 
drug problem, which every nation confronts today, is concerned with the 
entire mankind of the world, not only with a particular nation. 

For this, the problem cannot be tackled by a particular nation, nor can 
it be solved by all nations exclusive of a particular nation, it said. 
It noted that Myanmar is cooperating with U.N. agencies, the nations in 
the region, member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
and other world nations. So far, Myanmar has signed memorandums of 
understanding on regional drug control plan with China, Cambodia, Laos, 
Thailand and Vietnam as well as bilateral cooperation agreements on drug 
control with India, Vietnam, the Russian Federation, Laos, the 
Philippines and China. Official statistics show that Myanmar has since 
1988 seized a total of 53.19 tons of narcotic drugs including 4 tons of 
heroin, 31 tons of opium and 17.6 tons of ephedrine as well as 82.5 
million tablets of stimulant drugs, destroying a total of 50,617 
hectares of poppy cultivation. The country, since 1990, has also burned 
up in Yangon for 15 times 81.7 tons of narcotic drugs including 23.69 
tons high-grade opium and 34.27 tons low-grade opium, 3.74 tons heroin, 
11.58 tons ephedrine as well as 80.85 million tablets of stimulant 
drugs.




______________________OTHER______________________




Universities Historical Research Centre: Academic Conference in Myanmar 
(Burma)

CONFERENCE: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
 
We are glad to announce the holding of a Conference "Texts and Contexts 
in Southeast Asia" to be held in Yangon from 12 to 14 December 2001. The 
Conference provides a wonderful opportunity for participating in a 
discussion of current scholarship on aspects of Southeast Asian history 
with a special emphasis on Myanmar and for meeting with international 
and Myanmar scholars in an atmosphere of warm hospitality. 

Registration fee for the Conference is US$ 150 (in Foreign Exchange 
Certificates) payable after arrival in Yangon. The registration to be 
made before 17 November 2001 with the provision of the following 
particulars: Name, Position, Affiliation, Address, Fax and E-mail 
address. 

Accommodation for participants is being arranged at two hotels (with 
free transportation to the Conference venue): Summit Parkview Hotel 
located near the People's Park and Shwedagon Pagoda at rates of US$ 35 
(single) and US$ 40 (double) and the Central Hotel in a downtown 
location close to Bogyoke Market at a rate of US$ 20 (twin). 

If you would like us to make a reservation for you at one of these 
hotels please let us know before 17 November 2001. Also please let us 
have the date of your arrival in Yangon and the flight number so that we 
can meet you at the airport. 

These are some of papers which will be presented at the Conference: 

- Aung Thwin - Rama Zat: Text and Dramatic Presentation

- Michael A. Aung-Thwin - The Legend That Was Lower Burma

- V Balambal - Relevance of Ramayana in the Modern Age

- Aurore Candier - France through Myanmar Eyes: Commentaries on Kinwun 
Mingyi's Paris Diary 

- Michael W Charney - Reading Yakhine Min-thami Eigyin as a 
Fifteenth-century Historical   Document

- Catherine Diamond - Personal Texts and Public Contexts: Maturation and 
Political Upheaval in   Lloyd Fernando's Scorpion Orchid and Robert 
Yeo's The Singapore Trilogy 

- Thomas Engelbert- The Vietnamese "Tale of the Golden Turtle" in a 
Southeast Asian Context 

- Neil A. Englehart - Representing Civilization: King Chulalongkorn's 
Accounts of His European   Travels, 1897 and 1907

- Annemarie Esche - War and Peace in Myanmar Literature of the 20th 
Century 

- Helen James - Adoniram Judson and the First Anglo-Burmese War: 
Creation of a Missionary  Discourse in Pre-colonial Burma

- Stephen Lee Keck - Text and Context: Another Look at Burmese Days 

- Khin Aye - Buddhavamsa and Myanmar Literature

- Khin Khin Ma - Myanmar Queens in Historical and Literary Texts 

- Khin Maung Nyunt - Historical Writings of U Po Kya

- Ursula Lies - The Verse Novel Truyen Kieu: Remarks on the Subject of 
Ethics and Moral  Standards

- John N. Miksic - The Manjusrigrha Inscription of Candi Sewu, Saka 714/ 
A.D 792 

- Elizabeth Moore - Texts in New Contexts: Shwedagon and Kyaikhtiyoe 
Today 

- Myo Myint - Prince Mekkhara and Dictionary in English and Burmese 

- Ohno Toru - The Main Versions of the Ramayana in Southeast Asia 

- Ryuji Okudaira - Political Ideas of Eighteenth Century Myanmar Seen in 
the Manugye  Dhammathat

- T R Sareen - The Nature of Colonial Archives for the Study of 
Southeast Asia 

- Sunait Chutintaranond - Historical Texts on Thai-Myanmar Relations 

- Than Tun - Estimation of Various Publications by the Myanmar 
Historical Commission 

- Than Htut & Thaw Kaung - Some Myanmar Historical Texts and their 
Historical Fiction 

- Thet Tun - The Writings of J. S. Furnivall

- Tin Lwin - Date of the Saddaniti

- Tun Aung Chain - The Mingun Bell Inscription: The King as Dhammaraja 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Universities Historical Research Centre
Amara Hall, Yangon University Campus
Yangon 11041, Myanmar
Tel: 95-1-532622/ 95-1-524200, Fax: 95-1-530121/ 95-1-515175 E.mail: 
uhrc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx









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