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BurmaNet News: August 28, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
           August 28, 2001   Issue # 1874
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB :NLD issues statement, supports Suu Kyi Burma frees two opposition 
leaders; party statement supports Suu Kyi 
*AFP: United Nations envoy meets with Aung San Suu Kyi 
*AP: Official: ILO ready to work for end to forced labor in Myanmar 
*Federation of Trade Unions Burma: Forced Labor for Baluchaung dam

MONEY _______
*The Nation: Brighter future for Burma's workforce

GUNS______
*TV Myanmar: Burma: Malaysian defence minister and delegation arrives in 
Rangoon 

DRUGS______
*Bangkok Post: China slams Burma over drug trade 
*Bangkok Post: Two arrested with van full of speed 
*Bangkok Post: Govt believes Rangoon will convince Wa to co-operate - 
Some have already turned to cash crops
*The Nation: Drug army may be included in talks  
*Burma Courier: Aussie Drug Cop Gives 'Advanced' Lessons on Detection

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Thailand warns Myanmar dissidents ahead of junta number-three's 
visit 
*The Irrawaddy: Mediator Role Urged for Razali
*Bangkok Post: Junta leader granted audience with King 

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*AsiaWeek: Webfiles: Remember Where You Read It First--Yes, there is 
going to be a settlement in Myanmar 


					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



DVB :NLD issues statement, supports Suu Kyi Burma frees two opposition 
leaders; party statement supports Suu Kyi 

Text of report by DVB on 27 August

The NLD [National League for Democracy] Central Executive Committee 
[CEC]  has released a statement today noting that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 
would  continue to strive for the success of the talks and the 
realization of  democracy. 

Within a few hours after the restrictions on U Aung Shwe and U Tin Oo 
were  lifted yesterday, they together with U Lwin went to Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi  and held talks for over an hour. After that the NLD leaders 
held a meeting  today at NLD Central Headquarters on Shwegondaing Road 
for over four hours  and released the statement. The SPDC [State Peace 
and Development Council]  and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have been holding 
talks for almost a year and this  is the first time that Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi's remarks were publicly  announced. An NLD women's group member 
read the full text of the statement  to DVB over the phone. 

[Unnamed NLD member] The restrictions on NLD Chairman U Aung Shwe and 
NLD  Vice Chairman U Tin Oo were lifted in the afternoon of 26 August 
2001 and  at 1600 that evening [local time] the chairman and 
vice-chairman together  with Secretary U Lwin met with General Secretary 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  Chairman U Aung Shwe and Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo 
expressed their complete  trust in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They also 
totally agree with and support Daw  Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts. 

In accordance with the authority vested by the NLD elected 
representatives,  the state and division party organizations, and 
township party  organizations, NLD Chairman U Aung Shwe and General 
Secretary Daw Aung San  Suu Kyi will continue to strive with strong 
unity for the establishment and  development of a democratic system. 

NLD General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed great satisfaction 
in  seeing Chairman U Aung Shwe, Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo, Secretary U 
Lwin, and  other CEC members to be able to become active again in party 
affairs.  
It is believed that all NLD members together with Chairman U Aung Shwe 
and  CEC members will strive with unity and carry out their duties with 
the view  of benefiting the entire populace. 

The Central Executive Committee. National League for Democracy. [End of  
recording] 

That was the full text of the NLD Statement. In an AP news report from  
Rangoon, U Tin Oo said today's meeting was unable to reveal anything in  
relation to the present talks in order not to jeopardize the situation 
and  added he was happy because the SPDC is trying to solve a political 
problem  by using the dialogue approach. Regarding the release of 
political  prisoners, the NLD statement urged to release women and 
national races  political prisoners first and then the aged and those 
suffering from ill  health. 

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 27 Aug 01 


___________________________________________________



AFP: United Nations envoy meets with Aung San Suu Kyi 

YANGON, Aug 28 (AFP) - UN envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail met with 
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her residence Tuesday as part of a 
mission to promote her historic dialogue with the junta, sources said. 

 The Malaysian diplomat arrived at the lakeside villa about 5:15 pm 
(1045 GMT) after hour-long talks with the military regime's powerful 
intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt. 
 It was not known how long the meeting would last, but on each of 
Razali's four previous visits to Yangon he has spent several hours with 
the Nobel peace laureate. 

 Razali arrived in Myanmar on Monday, a day after the military regime 
released two senior members of the opposition National League for 
Democracy (NLD) who had been under virtual house arrest since September. 


 The release of Tin Oo and Aung Shwe, which was hailed as a significant 
goodwill gesture by observers in Yangon, left Aung San Suu Kyi the sole 
NLD leader confined to her house by the military regime. 

 Before the release of her two top lieutenants, the democracy leader was 
said to be frustrated at the slow pace of the releases, with some 170 
freed in small groups since the secret talks began. 
 But the NLD said Monday that she "expressed great satisfaction" at the 
decision to allow the pair to go free, a move that could help revive the 
party's activities. 

 Observers hope that Razali's visit will accelerate the pace of the 
dialogue, which he helped initiate last October. 

 The contacts, the first since 1994, are aimed at initiating an official 
national reconciliation dialogue that could lead to democratic reforms 
after four decades of absolute military rule. 
 Earlier Tuesday the UN envoy held talks with high-ranking officials, 
including Foreign Minister Win Aung, and attended a luncheon for 
diplomats and business leaders. 

 On Wednesday he is to meet with representatives of six pro-democracy 
ethnic political parties who are anxious to be invited to join the 
10-month-old talks between the opposition and the junta. 

 Sources told AFP that Razali appeared to be in good spirits at the 
luncheon and hopeful his trip would be productive after months where the 
process appeared to have slowed down. 

 "Razali had not yet met any of the main players so he was not able to 
say anything other than he is very hopeful that things will work out," 
said one of the guests. 

 "But he seems to be in a happier frame of mind and I suppose we will 
know more in the next few days." 

 Observers of the political process believe that at some stage, when 
there have been enough prisoner releases, Aung San Suu Kyi will make a 
long-awaited statement on the talks," he said. 
 "In the meantime we will just have to keep our fingers crossed. All of 
us can only hope and encourage from the sidelines," he said. 

 Diplomats say Razali plays a vital role in bridging the gap between the 
generals and the democratic opposition, which has never been allowed to 
take power despite winning a landslide election victory in 1990. 

 "As long as Razali is engaged, his visits have always had an impact, 
she (Aung San Suu Kyi) will continue to put her trust in him," said one 
Western ambassador. 



___________________________________________________




AP: Official: ILO ready to work for end to forced labor in Myanmar 

August 28, 2001

BANGKOK, Myanmar (AP) _ The ILO has sought assurances from Myanmar's 
military government about the safety of the people it may consult to 
assess the country's progress in ending forced labor, the ILO chief said 
Monday. 

 A high-level four-member team from the International Labor Organization 
will visit Myanmar for three weeks in mid-September to look at the 
practical implementation of measures announced by the junta, which last 
year faced unprecedented censure from the U.N. body. 

 Speaking on the sidelines of the ILO's Asian regional conference in 
Bangkok, ILO director general Juan Somavia said the safety of 
organizations and individuals who might consult with the ILO team was a 
``central and key'' issue. 

 ``The security of the people with whom we might meet has already been 
raised before authorities there,'' Somavia told a news conference. ``It 
will be upmost in our minds ... to ensure there are no consequences 
afterwards.'' 

 The comments were apparently in response to fears that those who speak 
openly about forced labor in Myanmar may later face government 
retribution. 

 Somavia added that as a Chilean national who had fought for 17 years 
against dictatorship in his homeland, he had some ``relevant 
experience'' in this regard. 

 Myanmar, also known as Burma, is ruled by a military junta with a 
pervasive military intelligence apparatus. According to human rights 
groups, it has more than 1,800 political prisoners. Its rights record 
has earned the country pariah status in the eyes of the West. 
 In an unprecedented move last November, the ILO urged its 175 member 
governments to impose sanctions and review their dealings with Myanmar 
to ensure they are not abetting forced labor. 

 The ILO recommended individual governments, organizations and labor 
unions should decide for themselves what to do. 

 Myanmar's military has been accused of forcibly recruiting civilians to 
build road and railways and to act as military porters for the army on 
campaigns in border regions against antigovernment insurgents. 

 The ILO reached agreement in June with the Myanmar government on a 
visit by an assessment team in September. The team is expected to report 
back to the ILO governing body in November. 

 An ILO statement issued last week said its team would have ``full 
discretion to establish a program of such contacts and visits as it 
considers appropriate across the country.'' 
 Myanmar was not represented at the ILO conference, held once every four 
years. It is prohibited from doing so because of the allegations of 
forced labor against the military regime. 

__________________________________________________


Federation of Trade Unions Burma: Forced Labor for Baluchaung dam

Documented by  - Evergreen Environmental Group, Karenni.
Reported by - FTUB


Date fo happening		1st and 2nd weeks of August 2001.
Perpatrators			LIB 72 and LB 426.

The officers from the LIB 72 and LB 426 forced villagers from Mahtaw 
Khu, Lawdalay, Lay Einsu, Sorikyai and Kanni villages to clear the land 
along the 3 miles long water intake pipe of the Baluchaung dam. The land 
had to be cleared to a furlong on each side.

The villagers had to bring their own food and utensils to be used in the 
clearing. 

The clearing was done in the areas where land mines had been laid in 
1990 for security. The places where the mines were shown with poles with 
flags.

The people who had to do the actual work or their interview recordings 
are available should verification be needed.


______________________MONEY________________________




The Nation: Brighter future for Burma's workforce

Aug 28, 2001


Burma's per-capita income should more than double to about US$2,000 (Bt 
90,000) by the end of the next decade, according to Phisit Pakkasem, a 
member of the East Asia Vision Group. 
Phisit, who is also former chief of the National Economic and Social 
Development Board says the Burmese economy is now poised for more stable 
growth under a more diversified agricultural sector, and greater 
integration with the regional economies. 

But he does not rule out the Burmese economy growing at a rate of around 
6 per cent annually in the next decade. Burma now has a per-capita 
income of $765 compared to Thailand's $1,949. 

He recently visited Burma at the invitation of Brig-General D O Abel, 
minister at the State Peace and Development Council. The Burmese 
government has given its support for greater regional cooperation. 

The East Asia Vision Group recently submitted a recommendation to 
regional leaders that the East Asia Free Trade Area be formed so that 
the region did not fall behind the expanding European Union and the 
Americas' new free-trade pact. 

Phisit said Burma was making steady progress in diversifying its 
agro-industry. It has moved into the plantation business through joint 
ventures with foreign investors in rubber, palm oil, bananas, 
pineapples, cotton and jute. It is now exporting 1.2 million tonnes of 
rice. 

Joint ventures are also promoted in gem-mining and -cutting with annual 
exports of $50 million. In fisheries, Burma exported $300 million to 
$400 million worth of marine products last year. 

"It has so much that Abel once said without more fishing 'all our fish 
will die of old age'," Phisit said. 

Burma now has more than 150 textile factories producing $500 million 
worth of exports, most of which goes to the US. 

The government has also been careful not to encourage monopolies in any 
of the business sectors, Phisit noted. 

The state is enjoying income flows from the two gas fields, Yanada and 
Yetagun. Thailand last year imported 555 million cubic feet of gas per 
day worth $260 million. 
It attracted up to 300,000 foreign tourists annually, although the 
number has fallen somewhat, according to Phisit. 

He played down the impact of international economic sanctions on Burma, 
saying that they only served to push the country further towards close 
economic ties with China. 
Burma, he said, now has the highest per-capita income of the four new 
members of Asean, itself, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. 




________________________GUNS_______________________


TV Myanmar: Burma: Malaysian defence minister and delegation arrives in 
Rangoon 

 TV Myanmar, Rangoon, in Burmese 1330 gmt 27 Aug 01 


Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Sri Mohamed Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul 
Razak, his wife and delegation arrived in Yangon Rangoon at 1530 local 
time today to pay a goodwill visit to the Union of Myanmar Burma at the 
invitation of Lt-Gen Tin Hla, deputy prime minister, minister for 
military affairs, and quartermaster general of the Union of Myanmar. 

The Malaysian defence minister and his wife and delegation were welcomed 
at Yangon International Airport by Lt-Gen Tin Hla, deputy prime 
minister, minister for military affairs, and quartermaster general, and 
wife; Yangon Commander Ma-Gen Khin Maung Than and wife, Foreign Minister 
U Win Aung and wife, Joint Adjutant- General Brig-Gen Maung Nyo and 
wife, Joint Quartermaster-General Brig-Gen Kyaw Win and wife, Malaysian 
Ambassador to Myanmar Dato Mohamed bin Noh and wife, Military Attache 
Lt-Col Haji Harun bin Hitam and wife. 

Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Sri Mohamed Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul 
Razak and his delegation called on Lt-Gen Tin Hla, deputy prime 
minister, minister for military affairs, and quartermaster at 1700 local 
time today in the reception hall of the Ministry of Defence. Present at 
the meeting with Lt-Gen Tin Hla, deputy prime minister, minister for 
military affairs, and quartermaster were: Maj-Gen Khin Maung Than, 
chairman of Yangon Division Peace and Development Council and commander 
of Yangon Command, and senior officials from the Ministry of Defence. 

Present at the meeting with the visiting delegation were Malaysian 
Ambassador to Myanmar Dato Mohamed bin Noh and Military Attache Lt-Col 
Haji Harun bin Hitam. 

Lt-Gen Tin Hla, deputy prime minister, minister for military affairs, 
and quartermaster-general of the Union of Myanmar, and wife Daw Win Kyi 
hosted a banquet in honour of Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Sri 
Mohamed Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, his wife, and delegation at 1900 
this evening at Karaweik Palace. 

The banquet was attended by Maj-Gen Khin Maung Than, chairman of Yangon 
Division Peace and Development Council and commander of Yangon Command, 
and his wife, Foreign Minister U Win Aung and his wife, senior officials 
from the Ministry of Defence, Malaysian Ambassador to Myanmar Dato 
Mohamed bin Noh and wife, Military Attache Lt-Col Haji Harun bin Hitam, 
and invited guests. 








________________________DRUGS______________________
	


Bangkok Post: China slams Burma over drug trade 

August 28, 2001 


Rangoon's failure to stop armed minority groups from smuggling opium and 
heroin into South China is threatening social security in the region, 
Chinese drug fighters said. 

Officials of China's Narcotics Control Committee told a visiting 
delegation of UN Drug Control Programme officers and journalists that 
the drug situation could not improve because Rangoon was "too 
compromising" towards the Wa and Shan minority groups. 

"The Burmese government can control only 200 kilometres of the common 
border with Yunnan province, while the rest of the 1,997km-long frontier 
consists of sensitive and untouchable areas," said Lei Jianbo, deputy 
head of the Yunnan branch of the NCC. "Though the central Burmese 
government has prohibited the narcotics trade publicly, some local 
governments still connive with drug traffickers. This is a fact as 
everyone knows," he said. 

Wang Guang, an officer based in Dehong autonomous region, named Mongku, 
in the so-called "northern Golden Triangle" in the Shan state, as 
Burma's major production and trading centre for opium and heroin. 

Chinese officials said although UNDCP and Yunnan provincial authorities 
had tried to persuade the Burmese minorities to substitute opium 
cultivation with sugar cane, buck wheat and other economic crops, drug 
trafficking into Yunnan had increased rapidly over the past 10 years. 

During the period, authorities had busted more than 63,000 drug 
trafficking cases resulting in the seizure of 34 tonnes of heroin, 12 
tonnes of opium and the arrest of more than 86,000 offenders. 

"The reason was Rangoon's lack of ability to control drug production in 
the Golden Triangle. Some government officials are even encouraging 
villagers to sell drugs. We were very disappointed with this," said a 
senior Chinese official who asked for anonymity. 

An article recently published in the Yunnan Ribao denounced an unnamed 
neighbour as a "devil" in the drug racket. The official provincial daily 
said traffickers had opened a so-called "China route" after Thai 
authorities blocked a south-bound route following the crushing of Khun 
Sa's drug syndicate five years ago. 

Officials said the Yunnan-Burma highway, from Mu Se in Burma to Rui Li 
in China, served as a transit point for goods destined for provinces 
like Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Xinjiang, Guangdong, Fujian. From there, 
the drugs were shipped to international markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 
Europe. 







					


Bangkok Post: Two arrested with van full of speed 

Monday 27 August 2001 

City police yesterday stopped a van in Klong Sam Wa district and found 
1.3 million methamphetamine pills.

Two suspects, Sarawut Raros, 26, and Uthairat Donthienchai, 40, were 
arrested on the spot.

Police said a search of their van uncovered the pills hidden in many 
small cardboard boxes.

Police said the two confessed they had been paid 50,000 baht to deliver 
the drugs to an agent in Chon Buri.

The two claimed the consignment belonged to an influential trafficker in 
the North and it was the second shipment they had delivered.

The two men have been charged with drug trafficking.

Meanwhile on Friday, police arrested two other men and seized 330,000 
speed pills in Lamphun.

Wasant Boonma, 24, and Wichai Saengkaew, 33, denied the charge of drug 
trafficking and refused to answer any questions.





					

Bangkok Post: Govt believes Rangoon will convince Wa to co-operate - 
Some have already turned to cash crops 

Monday 27 August 2001 

Yuwadee Tunyasiri 

The government is confident Burma can convince the Wa minority group to 
co-operate in its efforts to halt drug production in the Golden 
Triangle.

At a recent meeting in Phuket, Thai officials urged their Burmese 
counterparts to help negotiate the co-operation of the Wa.

The government hopes to see some progress early next month before the 
visit to Thailand of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the secretary-general of the 
State Peace and Development Council. 

A cabinet source said some members of the Wa had already began producing 
alternative cash crops like longan and wine-making grapes. They also 
wanted to open avenues of trade with Thailand and were keen to learn 
Thai to improve trade opportunities.

Joint efforts between the two countries to help this group would also 
encourage other Wa groups to halt their drug production activities and 
turn to other cash crops, the source said.

Gen Thammarak Issrangkul na Ayutthaya, PM's Office minister, hailed the 
success of the Phuket meeting and said much ground was covered in the 
war against drugs.

The minister, who will accompany Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today 
on his three-day trip to China, said he would discuss the matter with 
Chinese officials and exchange information on the production of 
drug-producing chemicals in China.

The prime minister would seek Beijing's co-operation, he said.
			
				



				


The Nation: Drug army may be included in talks 

Published on Aug 27, 2001 


Thailand has proposed an unusual tripartite meeting with the Burmese 
government and a major drug-producer, the Uni-ted Wa State Army (UWSA), 
to curb the rise in drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle, a senior 
government official said yesterday.

The source said he expected Burma's powerful Lt-General Khin Nyunt to 
convey his government's response to the proposal when he visited Bangkok 
next month.

The proposal was floated when Thai and Burmese anti-narcotics officials 
met in Phuket earlier this month. According to the source, Burma's 
police director-general Soe Win agreed to the meeting in principle and 
said he would forward the proposal to his government for 
consideration."Both countries agreed that it was time for all concerned 
in this issue to sit down and talk about the effective suppression of 
the trafficking of narcotics in the region," the source said.The Golden 
Triangle area - where the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos converge - 
is one of the world's major production sites of opium and heroin.

Thailand and the international community have accused the UWSA of 
producing large quantities of narcotics, including heroin and - more 
recently - amphetamines in the region.

The UWSA controls a "special zone" in Burmese territory covering a large 
area over the border from the Thai provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai 
and Mae Hong Son. 

Thailand is a transit route for all types of illegal drugs, especially 
amphetamines, from the Wa-controlled zone. 

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called on Burma to suppress the 
UWSA's activities but has been told the area is beyond Rangoon's 
control.

The source said a representative from the UN's Drug Control Programme 
was at the Phuket meeting and aware of the proposed tripartite meeting.

Chatchai Suthiklom, deputy secretary general of the Office of Narcotic 
Control Board (ONCB), said the meeting could greatly enhance attempts by 
Thailand and Burma to eliminate drug trafficking in the region.

"We need co-operation from all sides to effectively suppress drug 
trafficking," Chatchai said. "This meeting, if it takes place, would be 
a good starting point for all sides in their fight against narcotics."In 
a related development, PM's Office Minister Thamarak Isarangura said 
yesterday joint border patrols, crop-substitution programmes and the 
exchange of intelligence would be the key points Thailand would put on 
the table when top anti-narcotics officials from four countries meet in 
Beijing today and tomorrow.Thamarak will lead the Thai delegation in 
meetings with its counterparts from Burma, Laos and host China. The 
gathering is the latest effort by the four countries to cooperate in the 
war against drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle and southern China.

Thamarak said he would propose that security regulations along the 
border be revised to allow troops from different countries to jointly 
investigate suspected drug labs and trafficking routes.

Piyanart Srivalo, Marisa Chimprabha







__________________________________________________




Burma Courier: Aussie Drug Cop Gives 'Advanced' Lessons on Detection

Based on news from NLM and DVB: Updated to August 22, 2001 

RANGOON - The opening ceremony of a five-day 'advanced course' on 
detection of narcotic drugs was held at the Sofitel Hotel last Sunday 
morning, the New Light of Myanmar reports. 
The course, under the sponsorship of Burmese junta's drug control bureau 
and the Rangoon office of the UN Drug Control Program for 25 trainees of 
the military junts's Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence, the 
government's Customs Department and the Myanmar Police Force, was under 
the instructorship of Mark Dennison of the Australian Federal Police. 
Among the notables in attendance at the opening ceremony was John Whalen 
of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. 

A internal report of Burma's Northeast military command in Lashio, 
brought to light this week by DVB radio in Oslo, suggests that Burma's 
counter-narcotics squads may be in need of something more than training 
in detection. 

The report noted that there are thousands of acres of poppy plantations 
in northern Shan State alone.  Neatly traced out charts and tables 
showed that less than a third of the vast acreage of poppy plantations 
'detected' in the Shan state highlands, had been destroyed. 

One table showed areas where poppy fields had not been destroyed.  They 
included over 50,000 acres in the special region under the control of 
the Wa "peace group" of Pauk Yu Chan, about 15,000 acres in an area 
under the Kachin Defence Army of Ma Htu Naw, about 7,000 acres in the 
Laukkai region of the Kokang "peace group' of Phon Kya Shin, and nearly 
2,000 acres in the area controled by the Mong Ko Defence Army.  All of 
the groups enjoy cease-fire deals with the generals in Rangoon. The 
report indicated that thousands of acres of poppy fields were located in 
areas directly controlled by the Burma army such as Hsenwi, Tangyan, 
Kutkai, Namhkam, Mu-seh, Kunlong, and Ho-pang townships. 

Australia's Federal Police may not have the same expertise in the area 
of crop 'destruction' as it does in narcotic 'detection'.  Perhaps, the 
Taliban could be called in for the next course.  Burma's Northeast 
Military Command could even be invited to send a few observers. 



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



AFP: Thailand warns Myanmar dissidents ahead of junta number-three's 
visit 

BANGKOK, Aug 28 (AFP) - Thailand Tuesday warned Myanmar dissidents 
against staging protests or disturbances during next week's visit by the 
military-run nation's intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt. 

 "It would not be right for them to do that. These people are sheltering 
in Thailand which has given them a warm welcome," Defence Minister 
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told reporters. 

 Khin Nyunt is scheduled to meet with Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra 
during his September 3-5 visit which cements a return to cordial 
relations after a bitter six-month-long row between the two neighbours. 

 The historically tense relationship with Myanmar erupted into open 
hostility in February when the two national armies staged a half-day 
clash sparked by skirmishes between rival ethnic militias on the border. 


 But even before that ties were strained by a series of incidents 
involving exiles, including a siege on Myanmar's embassy in the Thai 
capital. 

 Chavalit reiterated Thailand's policy of non-interference in Myanmar's 
affairs but said the government wished for peace and prosperity for its 
neighbour. 

 "We are not interfering, but we want to see peace in Myanmar, not only 
with (democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi case but also with the minority 
groups." 

 Chavalit said the contentious issues of trade, fishery, illegal labour 
and the refugee problem would be tabled during the three-day visit. 

 On September 4 Khin Nyunt will be granted an audience with Thailand's 
King Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of 
Bangkok. 



___________________________________________________




Bangkok Post: Junta leader granted audience with King 

August 28, 2001


Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary-one of Burma's State Peace and Development 
Council, will be granted an audience with His Majesty the King in Hua 
Hin during his Sept 3-5 visit. 

A Defence Ministry source said the meeting was scheduled for next 
Tuesday at Klaikangwon Palace. The Burmese army strongman will also meet 
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Defence Minister Chavalit 
Yongchaiyudh and top Thai military leaders for talks on illicit drugs, 
fishing problems, minority groups and border demarcation. 

The source said Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt would also visit Shin Corp's telecom 
firms to gather information that would help Burma develop its 
telecommunications sector. 

For security reasons, Lt-Gen Khin would not decide which city hotel he 
would stay in until just before his visit. 

He would spend one night in Hua Hin as a guest of the Third Army Corps 
commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh. 

The 19th Regional Border Committee Meeting will take place in Pattaya on 
Sept 5-7. It will be chaired by Lt-Gen Watanachai Chaimuanwong, the 
Third Army chief, and his counterpart, Maj-Gen Thein Sein, Burma's 
Triangle Regional commander. 




___________________________________________________




The Irrawaddy: Mediator Role Urged for Razali

By Maung Maung Oo

August 25, 2001  Burmese dissident groups based in Thailand have called 
on the United Nations special envoy to Burma to step up his role in the 
country?s ongoing political dialogue during a planned visit to Rangoon 
early next week.

In an open letter dated August 24, three exiled opposition groups urged 
Razali Ismail, the UNs special envoy to Burma, to act as "a mediator 
rather than a facilitator" in the current talks between the countrys 
ruling junta and National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu 
Kyi. 

The letter was jointly signed by the All Burma Students Democratic Front 
(ABSDF), the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), and the Network 
for Democracy and Development (NDD).

Razali, who has visited Rangoon several times since he broke the news of 
the dialogue in January, is due to return to the Burmese capital on 
August 27. 

Following his last trip in June, Razali offered reassurances that the 
dialogue appears to be on track. He said he predicted that Burma would 
have a civilian government within four years.

But after nearly a year without any visible evidence of progress, apart 
from the release of some 160 political prisoners, many of whom had 
actually completed their sentences, there are growing concerns that 
Razalis prognosis may be overly optimistic. 

Razali, a Malaysian diplomat who assumed his current position late last 
year, has taken a less critical stance towards the Burmese regime than 
his predecessor, Alvaro de Soto. It is now in doubt, however, whether 
his approach will be any more effective in ending Burmas political 
deadlock. 

Fearing that the current round of talks may turn out to be mere 
window-dressing for the international community, dissidents say they 
hope Razali will take a more hands-on role during his upcoming visit. 

"We want the UN to take more involvement in the talks," said ABSDF 
spokesperson Win Naing Oo. 







___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________



AsiaWeek: Webfiles: Remember Where You Read It First--Yes, there is 
going to be a settlement in Myanmar 

 By ROGER MITTON

 Monday, August 27, 2001

 Web posted at 06:35 p.m. Hong Kong time, 06:35 a.m. GMT 

 Over the weekend I interviewed Chanin Vongkusolkit, the CEO of Banpu, a 
leading Thai company in the power production and mining sector. As well 
as operating in Thailand, Banpu has plants in Indonesia and Vietnam. "We 
are also looking at Myanmar," said Chanin. "There is talk that Suu Kyi 
may be brought into the government, so things can change." His comment 
-- which echoes that made recently by Thailand's defense minister, Gen. 
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who has close ties with his Myanmar counterparts 
-- indicates how business perceptions are changing for the good as a 
result of the current dialogue between pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu 
Kyi and the military rulers in Yangon. 

 After speaking to Chanin, I grabbed a taxi for a lunch appointment with 
an ASEAN diplomat who tracks Myanmar affairs and whose country has a 
strong intelligence network there. The diplomat told me that their 
reports indicate the talks are proceeding on track and he cautioned me 
not to pay any attention to the negative statements being written in the 
Bangkok 

 press and most of the Western media. He asked me if I had heard that 
Myanmar's paramount leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, had recently visited 
Suu Kyi. I told him I had not. He said that his country believes the 
ageing Than Shwe wants a settlement before he leaves office. I said I 
 agreed with that reading and I asked him if he'd heard about 
speculation that Than Shwe may visit New York to address the United 
Nations General Assembly after he visits the Malaysian prime minister 
Mahathir Mohamad in October. He said he had not. 

 We both agreed that it is doubtful Than Shwe will go to New York -- 
unless some provisional agreement has been reached with Suu Kyi by that 
date. Is it possible? The answer is: Yes, but it seems too soon. At 
best, it would probably be an announcement of confidence-building steps 
rather than the formation of a transitional government. Either way, the 
timing would be apposite, since it would come almost exactly one year 
since the dialogue began. Let us look back briefly and review the 
progress coldly and dispassionately. We know the meetings began at Than 
Shwe's instigation soon after Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for 
trying to take the train out of Yangon. We know that Razali Ismail, the 
pointman for both Mahathir and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, helped 
facilitate the 

 talks. And we know that Maj.-Gen. Kyaw Win (aka Ko Kyaw Win), a 
sophisticated acolyte of Than Shwe, is conducting the talks for the 
regime at Suu Kyi's residence. Kyaw Win and Suu Kyi are the same age and 
have long known and respected each other. 

 We also know that since the talks began, almost 200 political prisoners 
have been released, including the Aug. 26 freeing from house arrest of 
top party leaders Tin Oo and Aung Shwe. We know, too, that the NLD's 
headquarters and 18 other branch offices in the Yangon area have been 
 allowed to reopen and operate as normal. I know this personally since 
I've been to the NLD office half a dozen times this year and I've spoken 
to central committee members, including the go-between U Lwin, who sees 
Suu Kyi every week and reports back to the party hierarchy. The regime's 
scathing attacks on Suu Kyi and her party in the controlled domestic 
press have ceased. For its part, the NLD has stopped holding regular 
meetings at the party offices that were essentially denunciations of the 
regime. So both sides are being nice to each other. 

 We also know that the United States and Britain, previously two of the 
most vituperative critics of the regime, have not merely ceased their 
own denunciations but have begun to put out conciliatory statements 
about how they expect progress from the talks and how, perhaps, after 
all, engagement is the way to go. The changing U.S. position is 
particularly intriguing. On February 1, a brain-storming session was 
held at Washington's Georgetown University -- which, for the first time 
at an 

 American function of this sort, openly used the name Myanmar in its 
subject title. Along with academics and diplomats, including the Myanmar 
ambassador in Washington and the former Chinese ambassador in Yangon, 
top officials from the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon and the 
military services attended. Ralph "Skip" Boyce, the deputy assistant 
secretary of state, was among those who spoke. Boyce is the State 
Department's top man on Myanmar and previously attended both the 
Chilston Park and Walker Hill meetings that attempted to thrash out a 
political solution. 

 Soon after the Georgetown University conclave, on Feb. 26, Boyce took 
off for Yangon to see Khin Nyunt and Suu Kyi. He visited both parties in 
the company of the U.S. head of mission in Yangon, Priscilla Clapp, a 
noted hardliner in her dealings with the regime. Yet, a little over a 
month   later, on April 18, Clapp gave a remarkably conciliatory speech 
to the Asia Society in Washington and spoke of "rays of hope" in Myanmar 
as a result of the talks between Suu Kyi and the regime. Skip Boyce 
visited for a second time on Aug. 2 and again, with Clapp, spoke to both 
sides engaged in the talks. There is now speculation that Secretary of 
State Colin Powell may visit Yangon soon -- perhaps as a side trip from 
the Shanghai APEC Summit in November (Powell spoke with top regime 
officials when he attended the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Hanoi 
in late July). 

 The British, for their part, have moved as much as the Americans. Aside 
from dumping the former foreign secretary Robin Cook and his 
much-maligned "ethical foreign policy," Prime Minister Tony Blair's 
government has quietly begun to propound a pro-engagement line and has 
now publicly stated that a carrot is being offered in the form of 
substantive and specifically defined aid, social assistance, language 
training and other measures if there is progress in the talks. On July 
25, Blair's top foreign policy adviser in the cabinet office, Robert 
Cooper, head of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's East Asia Command, 
flew to Yangon for 
 talks with Kyaw Win and Suu Kyi. 

 As one observer in Yangon said: "A man of Cooper's stature does not fly 
all the way out here to check on the weather. The British know there is 
movement in the talks and they don't want to be caught off guard when a 
settlement is announced." Cooper was gratified at the ready access he 
was granted to Suu Kyi, whom he has known since the late 1960s when he 
was a junior diplomat at the British mission in New York and she worked 
at the U.N. headquarters, living with a longtime friend of her father's 
family, the former singer Dora Than-E. 

 Aside from the U.K. and U.S., other Western governments and 
organizations have begun to discreetly change their stance on Myanmar. 
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group, headed by the former 
Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans (who was so instrumental in 
bringing a political settlement to Cambodia), is now taking a strong 
pro-engagement line and is critical of the sanctions policies of the 
West. As well, in an astonishing unilateral act that flew in the face of 
many Western governments (and of Suu Kyi, to a certain extent), the 
heads of nine United Nations organizations based in Yangon signed a June 
30 appeal for increased humanitarian aid to Myanmar. The U.N. reps 
pointed out the grotesque inequity of the situation whereby Myanmar 
receives only $1 per capita annually compared to $68 for Laos, which has 
an even more despotic regime. 

 Clearly this situation is going to change in tandem with the progress 
made in the talks. Already some aid bodies are taking the lead - the 
International Organization for Migration said in July that it will set 
up a field presence in Myanmar. It will be needed -- particularly in 
light of changing Thai policies. The new Thaksin Shinawatra government 
in Bangkok, which is adopting a robust, commerce-driven engagement 
initiative with Yangon, has made it clear that refugees on its side of 
the border will have to return to Myanmar. They can go voluntarily or 
they will be moved back. This month, Thailand's National Security 
Council secretary-general Khajadpai Buruspatana said bluntly : "Our 
policy is to close the camps and send the refugees back home." 

 We must also factor in visits to Yangon by senior East Asian officials 
to update themselves on the talks. Recently, top Japanese foreign 
ministry officials, including Kunihiko Makita, the director-general of 
the ministry's Bureau of Asia & Oceania, and Taeko Takahashi, head of 
the 

 Southeast Asia desk, met both sides in the dialogue. Others nipping in 
to check on what's happening have included Hisashi Owada of Japan's 
Institute of International Affairs, and Tomomitsu Iwakura, senior 
adviser of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Right now, is there on 
his fifth trip, this one a 4-day visit to ginger the talks along. Soon 
after, the International Labor Organization will send in a team which 
will have unprecedented permission to travel the country and assess 
whether forced labor has really been eradicated as the regime contends. 

 As well, a European Union delegation will revisit, as will the U.N. 
Human Rights Rapporteur, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro. After his first visit in 
April, Pinheiro said: "There are several signs that indicated evolution 
leading to an eventual political opening." Those signs are even more 
manifest  today - and, as the flurry of visits indicates, they are 
growing stronger by the day. That is why Banpu's Chanin and other 
business leaders in the region are already starting to look at Myanmar 
for possible investment. 

 Well, that'll do for now. In the second part to follow soon, I'll let 
you know exactly why all these people are changing their tack and flying 
into Yangon to find out what's happening. In other words, I'll tell you 
what the talks are all about and when we can expect an accord to be 
signed. And remember, when it is announced, when the rest of the world's 
press report that it is a surprise -- you will be able to say, Hey, no, 
it's not a  surprise at all. I read about it in detail in Asiaweek long 
ago. When I wrote on May 31 that by the end of this year "a settlement 
will have been reached between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi," the 
cynical response from the former British ambassador to Thailand, Derek 
Tonkin, was: "Oh, yeah?" I have one word for Mr. Tonkin: "Yeah." 








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