BurmaNet News: December 21-23 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

December 21-23 2002 Issue #2145

INSIDE BURMA

Bangkok Post: Junta rejects latest soldier-rape charges
Irrawaddy: Opposition offices closed
Narinjara: Daily necessities from Burma: not for Rakhine State
Narinjara: Rice purchase for the year 2003 in Rakhine State
DVB: Suu Kyi in Arakan: reactions of harassment
DVB: And comments from oppositions groups
AFP: Myanmar SIDS sufferers escape sorry plight in their homeland
Washington Times: Ne Win’s legacy: Burma in shambles
Kao Wao: Mon youth office raided by Thai authorities

MONEY

Asahi: Japan to write off Myanmar debts
Kaladan: $1B gas pipeline project proposed

EDITORIAL/STATEMENTS


Close shave in Burma

INSIDE BURMA

Bangkok Post December 23 2002

Junta rejects latest soldier-rape charges

Burma's military government yesterday rejected fresh charges of gang rape
and torture made by the United States last week that resuscitated
controversy over earlier allegations.

``The recent release by the US of additional specific allegations of rape
as a weapon of war in a `preliminary' study... is a rehash of the Shan
Human Rights Foundation study in order to further attack and isolate
Myanmar [Burma],'' government spokesman Hla Min said in a statement.

The State Department said last Wednesday that the US consulate in the
northern city of Chiang Mai had found evidence supporting accusations by
rights groups, including the Shan Human Rights Foundation, that Burmese
troops used gang rape of ethnic Shan women as a weapon of war.

The groups released a report earlier this year documenting 625 sex attacks
on Shan women and girls by Burmese soldiers. It drew international outrage
and has been repeatedly rejected by the Rangoon junta.

During a short preliminary investigation, US State Department officials
said they found many victims whose stories were similar to those
documented in reports by non-governmental organisations. ``Of the 12 rape
victims interviewed, all stated that they had been gang-raped by Burmese
soldiers sometime over the past five years,'' the department said in a
fact sheet.

``Most also reported knowing several other women or girls who had been
raped and/or killed.''
_____

Irrawaddy December 23 2002

Opposition Offices Closed

Members of Burmese dissident organizations along the border in
Sangklaburi, western Thailand are in hiding after the local army ordered
them to close their offices.
On Friday, several opposition groups in exile—the All Burma Students’
Democratic Front (ABSDF), Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), Myeik
Dawei United Front (MDUF), Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO),
People’s Defence Force (PDF) and People’s Progressive Front (PPF)—were
given two days to close their offices.
The commander of the Thai Ninth Army reportedly instructed the opposition
to move their offices by the end of the weekend. Today, Thai officers took
photos of the dissident offices today but no arrests have yet been made,
according to a source in Sangklaburi.
Since last August, more than 30 members of several dissident organizations
based in Sangklaburi were arrested and deported to the Burmese border.
____

Narinjara News December 21 2002

Daily necessities from Burma: not for Rakhine State

The Burmese SPDC junta’s ban on transportation of goods to Rakhine State
since September 25th in the western part of Burma has caused skyrocketing
prices of essential commodities, reports our correspondent.
The ban on the transportation of such everyday commodities including
onions, pulses, cooking oil, rice and red chillies, has caused severe
shortage of edibles in the western state bordering with Bangladesh. The
price of a viss (1.6 kg) of onion was kyat eighty before the ban while it
is now selling at kyat five hundred. The price of cooking oil is at least
kyat two thousand. The price of rice though it is harvest season in
Rakhine state has not gone down as usual in the previous years. For a meal
now one needs to spend at least five hundred kyat in the restaurants which
is more than ten times than in previous occasions.
On a radio interview with the Democratic Voice of Burma in the morning
broadcast on 19 December, U Aye Tha Aung, secretary of the Arakan League
for Democracy, appealed to the ruling Burmese junta led by general Than
Shwe to allow free passage of the daily necessities to bring down the
artificial price hike.
Though the fish and all agricultural produce from Rakhine State are
allowed free passage to Burma proper, the daily necessities of Burma
proper cannot be brought to Rakhine State. “This is nothing but conducting
of a systematic campaign of starvation against a whole people”, our
correspondent said quoting a retired civil serviceman, “we have been
treated as enemy to the jingoist Burmese SPDC junta generals. It is plain
racism at its worst. Is Rakhine State not included in the map of Burma?”
The situation has aggravated because of the stationing of over sixty
battalion of armed forced in the state, which has never seen a serious
conflict or guerrilla activities during the last fifty years, our
correspondent concluded.
___

Narinjara News December 23 2002

Rice purchase for the year 2003 in Rakhine State

The Burmese junta, SPDC, have stuck notices on boards in the agriculture
corporation offices and at rice purchase depots asking the relevant
officials to collect rice worth US$ 270 million from across Rakhine State
in the western part of Burma, according to our correspondent.
Beginning September 15th the junta officials have ordered the rice growers
to harvest rice. The farmers and rice growers have been issued orders not
to harvest even an acre of rice without the prior permission of the
relevant Village Peace and Development Council (Yayaka) – the village
level administrative body of the Burmese junta. The Yayaka members have
been engaged to supervise the day-to-day harvesting process, keeping
records of how much has been harvested.
All the privately owned rice mills, big and small, in the state have also
been ordered closed since the beginning of this year’s rice season. Just a
handful of privately owned rice mills that have good relations with the
military intelligence personnel have been reportedly operating under the
blanket ban.
The price of rice in the open market is about five times more than what
the junta officials pay to the rice growers, which is plain exploitation,
a rice farmer told our correspondent. At present 100 tinn of rice sells at
kyat 150,000 in the open market, while the Burmese junta officials pay
kyat 35,000 for the same.
The average per acre produce of rice is less than 28 tinns, while the rice
growers have to sell 12 tinns of rice to the junta appointed rice
collectors. Besides that the farmers have also been ordered to sell all
the rice that they think more than the amount required by the family of
the farmers’ consumption, a rice grower said.
Ninety percent people of Rakhine State earn their livelihood through rice
growing since the state is hopelessly underdeveloped and there has been no
industrialization even after more than half a century of independence. The
official order will make the life of the rice growers not only miserable
but also vulnerable to the worst state-sponsored exploitation, a retired
public official said.
____

Democratic Voice of Burma December 20 2002

Suu Kyi in Arakan; reactions of harassments

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the touring NLD members are expected to be in
Taunggoke, Arakan State tonight. Yesterday, the party left Sittwe and
returned to Minbu to travel to Taunggoke [in the southern part of the
State] as it is accessible only by air or by boat directly. From Minbu,
they have to travel through Pandaung – Taunggoke road to reach Taunggoke
Pass. She is expected to meet Taunggoke NLD organising committee and stay
there for the night.

Since her release from the house arrest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been
touring around Burma, but the present Arakan trip is the worst in terms of
the harassments from local authorities. At Myauk-U, the local authorities
tried to disperse the local population who came to greet her by beating
them with batons and spraying them with water from fire engines. The
spokesman of the NLD, U Lwin told the DVB about the latest situation as
follows:

U Lwin: She will stay the night at Taunggoke and there are plans to meet
local NLD organising committee members. On the next day, she will go to
Sandoway and raise the signboard [open the office] and she will take a
rest in Ngapali.

Q: What would the condition of the people of Taunggoke be like?

A: The people there always come here. In the previous years, they dared
not show their faces. They had to lie low. They were oppressed that much.
In that condition, the delegates from Taunggoke always came to our HQs.
The audience in Taunggoke have always been good and enthusiastic.

Q: In the Shan State trip, the authority tested the water but in the
Arakan State, they are clearly reacting?

A; Yes, it’s true.

Q: The way things are going; would there be plans to discuss with them -
for them to give a reliable promise?

A; We have plans for that because we specially need it. We need to study
and we will do it after considering properly. We didn’t expect that things
would be that bad.

Q: As for the future trips to Irrawaddy and Tenesserim Divisions, would
the authorities try to ban her from travelling?

A; We can discuss with them about that.

Q: So you don’t expect that the authorities will block future trips?

A; No, I don’t expect so.
____

Democratic Voice of Burma December 20 2002

And Comments from Oppositions Groups

The followings are the views of the opposition groups inside and outside
Burma regarding increase harassment during Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's trip.

U Aye Tha Aung of CRPP and Arakan NLD: At this time, it shouldn’t be like
that. The reason is the General Secretary of the NLD went there after
discussing with the authorities. This is the era that is heading to
national reconciliation. It is an ugly thing and politically not a good
sign to try to intimidate the supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi with batons
and fire engine hosepipes while the SPDC are claiming that they are
opening a new page and allowing people to take part in politics freely.

The views of Shan NLD Chairman, U Khun Tun Oo: There must be some
polarities between the top and the bottom. There is unevenness between the
central and the local areas. They have been talking to each other. Daw Suu
is also saying that there will be some obvious developments. I think that
there are some gives and takes, but the essences haven’t trickled down to
the bottom yet. That must be the reason.

Q: The administrative machinery of the SPDC is very good. Why that kind of
things happened?

A; My guess is they are over-following their little orders.

Q: Could the incident affect the future dialogues?

A: You have to negotiate but if you can’t do that
. we have to narrow down
the polarity and differences.

Thakhin Thein Pe of Veteran Politicians: What we are seeing is not very
comforting. What should not happen could happen. Is it the local
authorities doing or? They have done it with plans. Even though it
happened in the local area, the Rangoon's HQs also have the
responsibility. She went there with their consent and understanding and if
that consent is being broken and it’s not a good sign.

Q: Would the incident affect the future dialogues?

A: We don’t like that problem. We thought that there must be a little
improvement, but now they seem to be reversing. We don’t like that. People
are now starving and that kind of things happen; they will be more
dissatisfied.

The views of one of the ministers of the exiled NCGUB, Dr San Aung : The
SPDC are saying that they have built confidence and that they have opened
a new page. That kind of harassments and prohibitions should not happen
anymore. The local authorities should support her as a leader of a legal
opposition party.

U Khaing Myo Khaing, the exiled General Secretary of the Arakan NLD: We
are despairing about the way the local SPDC authorities are treating Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi. SPDC has promised that Daw Suu is allowed to travel and
do things freely. The NLD people are going about and doing their jobs. So,
it is very difficult to believe that the SPDC leaders are heading for
democracy after seeing their action. I want to welcome Daw Suu on behalf
of Rakhine NLD. The people of Arakan respect her and trust her. So we are
welcoming her enthusiastically. We are very much despaired by the fact
that the SPDC are harassing her like now.

The Chairman of ABSDF, Ko Than Khe: It is clear that there is no real
change in the SPDC by looking at the way they are harassing Daw Suu and
intimidating people. We believe that the top military leaders are
responsible for that. The bottom followers will not do anything without
their permission. If the bottom followers have done something, the top
leaders should have the courage to take precise responsibility. It also
comes to show that the people are eager for democracy despite the
oppression and hindrances. If the SPDC are really following people’s wish,
it is necessary to start political dialogues as demanded by Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi. Or else, things will become worse for people and it could
explode.
____

Agence France-Presse December 23 2002

Myanmar AIDS sufferers escape sorry plight in their homeland
By SON MOE WAI

Shunned and mistreated by a government which would prefer to pretend they
didn't exist, HIV-AIDS sufferers from military-ruled Myanmar who make
their way into Thailand say they escaped a sorry plight in their home
country.

Ko Lwin Moe, an 37-year-old trader who was diagnosed with the disease two
years ago, says he spent a year being treated at a private clinic in the
capital in Yangon before fleeing to Thailand.

"I would be dead already if I continued to live in Myanmar," he told AFP.
"The Thai doctors simply treat me as a patient, which makes me very happy.
But in Yangon the Myanmar medical staff treated me like I was a criminal."
After grilling him for details of his financial background to ensure he
could pay for treatment, the Myanmar doctors only gave him antibiotics,
and at one point told him "You're going to die some time anyway."

"I was lucky that I had enough money and the opportunity to leave for
Thailand for further treatment," said Ko Lwin Moe, who earns his living
importing Thai goods into Myanmar.

The United Nations agency UNAIDS estimates that up to 400,000 people among
a population of 48 million are infected with HIV, while independent
experts working in Yangon say the incidence could be twice as high.

However, Myanmar's junta insists that infections are a fraction of those
estimated by organisations like the UN, and that a culture of abstinence
before marriage and fidelity afterwards will prevent the virus from
spreading.

The health ministry also rejects World Health Organisation reports
condemning health services as among the worst in the world as merely
attempts by "reactionary elements" to smear the country's reputation.

"The cultural and social values of Myanmar society are found to have a
protective effect to a greater extent than in many population groups,"
junta number-three General Khin Nyunt said in his World AIDS Day speech
this month.

The government's view, and a lack of accurate information about the
disease and how it is spread and treated, has helped create an unhealthy
attitude towards HIV-AIDS sufferers in the general community, citizens
say.

Government health campaigns urge people to "respect family values" and
"stay faithful to your spouse" but never mention condoms or the need for
drug addicts to use clean syringes.

And those who develop the tell-tale signs of the disease -- skin lesions
and wasting -- are shunned and left to sink into depression.

"In our society, people are labelling those who are HIV positive as the
bad guys," said young Myanmar businessman Tun Aung who has several friends
living with the disease.

"As far as I know there are only a handful of clinics for AIDS patients,
which are founded by missionaries and NGOs (non-governmental agencies),"
he said, adding that government hospitals do not provide specialised care.

Medicine is expensive and usually only available on the black market, he
said. Patients can spend between 70 and 300 dollars a month on drugs -- an
enormous amount in a country where a teacher's salary is less than 10
dollars.

Khin Sein, secretary general of the Burma Medical Group, a health
organisation based on the Thai-Myanmar border, said that for the country's
sake the government should focus on public health rather issues than
politics when dealing with the AIDS crisis.

"We are living in a poor country where people can not effort to buy the
latest medicines," said Khin Sein, who works as a volunteer at an AIDS
clinic in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

"So the only and most effective way to deal with the situation is to
provide knowledge about this dreadful disease to the public and teach them
how to prevent being infected."

Khin Sein said that often, HIV suffers were forced to rely on treatment
and advice from pharmacies and unlicensed practitioners in small towns,
and then die quickly from opportunistic infections.

Others resort to traditional medicines, advertised widely with the consent
of the military government despite their dubious efficacy, or from black
magic practitioners, while some leave everyday life and enter the
monkhood.

"I don't understand why the government is so slow to produce the true
figures of people who are infected with the virus. We need help and
assistance urgently from the outside world," said Ko Lwin Moe

"As far as I know people are dying everyday with AIDS."
___

Washington Times December 21 2002

Ne Win's legacy: Burma in shambles;
Dictator took a prosperous country, wrecked it through corruption,
mismanagement
By Richard S. Ehrlich

The death this month of Gen. Ne Win, Burma's elderly ex-dictator, ended
the life of a bizarre, brutal leader who used superstition, military
repression and economic mismanagement to turn a prosperous Southeast Asian
nation into a pauper and pariah.

"The former military dictator of Burma, Gen. Ne Win, has died while under
house arrest, according to reports citing family sources," the British
Broadcasting Corp. reported Dec. 5.

"Family members said the 91-year-old died at 0730 local time at a lakeside
house he has been held in, along with his daughter, since March 7," the
BBC said.

The Associated Press reported that Ne Win's remains were cremated the
afternoon of his death in a private ceremony lacking the military honors
befitting a general. Only about 25 relatives and friends - but no
government representatives - attended, and Ne Win's passing was ignored in
Burma's official media. Ne Win's health deteriorated over the past few
years, culminating in a heart attack in September 2001 and a secretive
trip to Singapore for medical treatment.

The late ex-strongman was named Shu Maung - "apple of one's eye" - when he
was born in Paungdale, central Burma, then part of British India, on May
24, 1911. His father was a civil servant.

After seizing power in a bloodless 1962 coup, Gen. Ne Win proudly
announced his xenophobic reign as "the Burmese Way to Socialism." He was
largely responsible for turning the relatively wealthy, rice-exporting
nation nearly the size of Texas into a ruined, repressive land.

Inspired by Marx and Stalin, he kicked out foreign corporations and
nationalized their businesses. The hermit-minded leader dreamed up
eccentric economic policies based on his superstitious belief in
numerology.

In 1987, he canceled the Burmese kyat currency and introduced new notes in
denominations based on his personal lucky numbers - 15, 45 and 90. Many
people were bankrupted overnight when the previous currency was declared
invalid.

People were suddenly given new 90-kyat notes, and told they could only
make change with new 45-kyat and 15-kyat bills.

"He was said to have bathed in dolphins' blood to regain his youth, and
his dedication to numerology was legendary," the BBC reported.

Ne Win set up a powerful, politicized military regime. According to the
U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and other human rights
groups, the Ne Win government tortured prisoners and carried out
extrajudicial killings to keep Burma's people in line.

Ne Win was forced aside in 1988 after the military killed thousands of
pro-democracy demonstrators during a failed uprising in Rangoon, the
capital of Burma, which Ne Win's successors renamed Myanmar.

From 1988 to 2002, the regime allowed the aged ex-despot to dwell in
oblivion as a wealthy recluse in Rangoon, where he spent much of his time
and fortune building a Buddhist pagoda in hopes of ensuring a happy
afterlife.

But last March, his world crumbled. Ne Win's favorite, business-savvy
daughter, Sandar Win, and her husband and their three adult sons were
arrested by the military junta.

Sandar Win's husband and sons were charged with attempting a coup - which
surprised diplomats, who suspected the real problem was the family's
attempt to profit from its status by ignoring the military's monopolistic
commercial regulations.

The Ne Win family was said to have been insulted at not receiving special
privileges to continue exploiting Burma's wrecked economy.

As evidence for the coup accusation, the military regime produced weapons,
uniforms and other items allegedly amassed by Gen. Ne Win's family. The
authorities also said they found "a golden embroidery" illustrated with a
crowned peacock, a tiger, a lion, a fish, three swords and a harp.

The "peacock represents Ne Win ... the emblem forms part of a royal
regalia, and it seems as if they were creating a royal family," reported
the government-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"It seems that if they managed to seize state power, they would establish
the monarchy and try to maintain family power for life," the paper added.

The purported evidence for this included three small dolls representing
the regime's top leaders - Gens. Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt -
purportedly used in black-magic rituals by the Ne Win family.

In September, a court sentenced to death Ne Win's son-in-law, Aye Zaw Win
- husband of Sandar Win - and the couple's three sons, Aye Ne Win, Kyaw Ne
Win, and Zwe Ne Win. The four men have appealed.

Several military officials and other influential people were also imprisoned.

The aged Ne Win and his daughter, Sandar, were put under house arrest,
where he remained until he died.

During the trial, many Burmese expressed delight that Ne Win's family was
suffering harsh treatment like that he meted out to his countrymen while
in power. Some said the trial was reminiscent of one 25 years ago, when Ne
Win had the masterminds of a suspected coup plot against him executed.

Today, Burma is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is
reeling under U.S. and international sanctions put in place to force the
regime to allow democracy.

Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won
a landslide victory in 1990, but the military regime refused to let the
elected parliament convene.

Though his life ended in disgrace, Ne Win's 1962-1988 reign formed much of
recent Burmese history.

Burma was subjugated by the British in three 19th-century wars and ruled
as part of British India until 1937, when it was separated from the
latter. In 1941, hoping to break Britain's grip, Ne Win traveled to Japan,
trained under the Japanese Imperial Army and helped Japan invade Burma.

After Burma's occupation, Ne Win decided Japan wanted to keep his country,
so he plotted against the puppet government and undertook a guerrilla
campaign, enabling the British to return in December 1944.

After India and Pakistan attained independence in 1947, Britain granted
Burma the same in January 1948.

Ne Win commanded the Burma National Army from 1943 to 1945 and, after
World War II, commanded the Burma 4th Rifles, where he established ties
with many of his future regime officials.

From 1949 to 1950, he was minister of defense and interior and also
commander in chief, a post he held until 1972. In that position, he took
over Burma's faltering government as a caretaker leader in 1958-60 and
staged a coup in 1962, arresting the former prime minister, U Nu.

Ne Win was rumored to have died in 1997, but showed up in Indonesia
alongside President Suharto, who was a close friend.

Upon his death this month, the French newspaper Le Monde summed up the
general's legacy by saying Ne Win dominated Burma with an iron hand for
more than a quarter-century of unenlightened rule.
___

Kao Wao December 20 2002
MON YOUTH OFFICE RAIDED BY THAI AUTHORITIES

The Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO) office at Sangkhalaburi,
Karnchanaburi Province of western Thailand was raided by Thai army on
December 19, 2002.
According to a local source, about twenty Thai Army Regiment No. 9 and
officers raided the MYPO office in the morning and all Mon youths were
deported to Plaing Japan of Three Pagodas Pass border town inside Burma
after questioning.
Nai Ong, a Mon youth leader reported, “most of Burmese democratic offices
and MYPO office was forced by the Thai military to move out from the Thai
soil. Now all members of MYPO are in the Japanese Well (Plaing Japan)
village and we are concerned of their fate as the village is inside Burmese
territory and the Burmese army can charge them for their political
activities.”
The Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO) was formed after a gathering
of Mon youth and student at Sangkhalaburi border town last year. The MYPO
is working at forging solidarity among Mon youths and reaching out network
with other ethnic youths, democratic forces and the international community.
In August, the Burmese opposition offices Peoples Democratic Front (PDF),
National League for Democracy - Liberated Area (NLD-LA), Democratic Party
for New Society (DPNS) and a Christian church were raided by the local Thai
authorities. Many ethnic and democratic offices working at Sanghalaburi,
the Thai-Burma border town have closed in fear of the Thai government's
alleged decision to crack down on the activities of their organizations.


MONEY

Asahi News Service December 23 2002

JAPAN TO WRITE OFF MYANMAR DEBTS
By ATSUSHI YAMADA

Japan will write off 150 billion yen ($1.25 billion) in loans to Myanmar
(Burma), but sone fear it may be opening itself up to international
criticism for doing so.

The Myanmar write-off is only one component of the government's efforts to
ease the burden on heavily indebted nations, but it could be construed as
support for the nation's military dictatorship. The United States, Europe
and other countries have imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar in protest
against its form of government and its poor record on human rights issues.

The writing off of the loans was to be announced at a Japan-Myanmar
economic assistance conference on Sunday.

Up until now, Japan has loaned Myanmar about 400 billion yen ($3.3 billion).

The once-prosperous nation suffers from a dire shortage of foreign
currency and struggles every year to procure the several billions of yen
it needs to repay loans to Japan.

As such, portions of these loans have been reclassified as nonperforming.

Japan stopped loaning money to Myanmar in 1988 when the current regime
took power, but has provided debt-relief measures in the form of grant aid
equivalent to the amount of principal and interest on previous loans.

As a result, Myanmar has not been making payments on the loans for some
time in any case.

From next April, Japan will not ask Myanmar to make payments.

Myanmar's current administration has been in dialogue with democratic
activist Aung San Suu Kyi, but talks have stagnated and it is difficult to
predict when a general election might be held or when the national
assembly might reconvene.

The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, Kazali Ismail, an
intermediary in the dialogue, recently described the situation as
disappointing.
_____

Kaladan News December 20 2002

$1B GAS PIPELINE PROJECT PROPOSED

Plan to link Myanmar with India via Bangladesh
Chittagong, 20 December:The Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources has accepted, in principle, a
proposal for the construction of a Myanmar-Tripura-
West Bengal gas pipeline through Bangladesh, according
to the Independent of 19th December.
The ministry forwarded the proposal, submitted by a
hitherto unknown Bangladeshi company, to the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO) last month seeking its
approval. It is now waiting for green signal from the
PMO, it further added.
"It is not a bad proposal; we accepted it in principle
and we shall take it up with the Prime Minister," AKM
Mosharraf Hossain State Minister for Energy and
Mineral Resources told The Independent of 18th
December.
The Minister in a tone of robust optimism said,
"Bangladesh can earn Tk. 1,000 crore per year through
this project and I think there is no harm in
constructing such a pipeline. It is not at all a
political issue."
"Mohona Holding Limited, a Bangladeshi company,
recently submitted the one billion-dollar project to
the Energy Ministry. The ministry formed a committee
to examine the proposal and submit a report. Sources
said that the ministry did not as yet have adequate
background information about the company and its
technical and financial competence to undertake such a
huge project covering three countries of the region.
The company has not furnished detailed information as
to how it would organize funds for the project, stated
in the Independent.
If Bangladesh government finally approves the project,
a consortium will have to be set up to implement it
within Bangladesh territory. In any such consortium
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of
Petrobangla, will be a major player. Interestingly,
Petrobangla sources did not share the Minister’s
optimism and termed the proposal " immature."
Myanmar, Tripura and West Bengal State Governments of
India have accepted the proposal in principle, to
construct a pipeline through Bangladesh territory, the
State Minister for Energy said. It could not however
be ascertained if the proposal came up for discussion
during the just-concluded visit of the Prime Minister
of Myanmar, said in the Independent.
The minister said if the Prime Minister’s office
Okayed the project then they would go ahead to form a
consortium in this regard, it further said.
Sources said that Bangladesh would put forward some
terms and conditions to the company. One of the
conditions is that Bangladesh will be the sole
operator of the pipeline and will be entitled to use
it as and when necessary in her own interest including
export and import of gas whenever needed, it more
added.
Other terms and conditions include provisions
requiring the company to construct the pipeline with
30 to 40 inch diameter and to include BPCL as one of
the main parties in the consortium, the sources said.
The proposed pipeline will enter Bangladesh border
through Brahmanbaria from the Indian territory of
Tripura and will cross into West Bengal through
Rajshahi border, affirmed in the Independent.
The pipeline may help export gas to India without
interference by any IOC, the sources said.
According to the sources, it will cost Tk.900 crore to
construct the pipeline in Bangladesh.
Energy Ministry source said USA, Australia and some
Indian companies have indicated their willingness to
offer fund for construction of the pipeline in
Bangladesh.
“We welcome the latest developments in the bilateral
relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar during the
short but effective visit of Prime Minister General
Than Shwe. But it was disappointing to learn that the
high level meet failed to make any progress in
resolving the long pending repatriation of Rohingya
refugees from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. More
than 20,000 refugees have been waiting for years with
the hope that their government would agree to take
them back, but all the attempts in the past failed to
achieve any success. Their hopes must have been dashed
somewhat since this was the first topmost level visit
to Bangladesh by any Yangon dignitary in more than ten
years. We earnestly wish the repatriation process
would be expedited so that the thousands of Rohingyas
could be relieved from their years of miseries in the
camps, said the Daily Star of 20th December.

EDITORIAL/STATEMENTS

Washington Post December 23 2002

Close Shave on Burma
By Al Kamen

Who can forget that fateful chat then-Ambassador to Iraq April C. Glaspie
had with Saddam Hussein in 1990, just before the Iraqi president invaded
Kuwait? Of course, it was policy then to kow-tow to Hussein.
But it appears she may have started a diplomatic trend, for now we have our
top official in Burma saying nice things about the military thugs who run
the
country. Worse, chargé d'affaires Carmen M. Martinez -- our top diplomat
there -- did it in an "exclusive interview" in the weekly Myanmar Times, a
rag that makes the old Pravda look like a hard-hitting investigative
journal.
Word leaked out in November that the State Department was considering
recommending that Burma be certified as cooperating in the war on drugs.
Such a move would have given the military, once known by its initials as
SLORC, a major political and economic boost.
Furious editorials and congressional protests, plus a Time magazine Asian
edition story detailing the repressive regime's links to major drug
dealers, helped persuade State to reverse course. The department may have
been in the process of that course correction Dec. 3, when Martinez praised
the regime for "a good job on counternarcotics efforts."
Martinez, according to the paper, said Washington supported democracy, but
the Burmese have to find a solution in "their style of government." A lot
of Burmese probably thought they did just that when they overwhelmingly
elected Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990, just before the military arrested
her. "We are not trying to impose our style on this country," Martinez
said.
"We can understand how it is difficult to have a democracy in a multiracial
and multireligious society," she observed. "There are similarities between
our
country and this country; we have diverse ethnic groups, diversity of
religions." It might be a whole lot less difficult if the Burmese army
would stop using rape as a weapon against those minorities.
"We wish that foreign journalists could be permitted to visit the country,"
she said, "because there are positive things going on . . . and the story
of this country will be written by the press."
There would be no need for foreign journalists, of course, if the pond scum
in charge would allow the opposition to publish a newspaper.