BurmaNet News: March 1-3 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

March 1-3 2003 Issue #2187

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: NLD harassed in Kawthaung
DVB: Lawyer denies Aung San Suu Kyi filed lawsuit against cousin

DRUGS

AFP: Myanmar seeks US help in battle on drugs
TV Myanmar: China gives Burma aid for drug control programme
AFP: US classes fight against illegal drugs as part of war on terror

MONEY

Xinhua: Myanmar’s oil, gas production up in first 10 months of 2002

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post: Army told to give rebels a hard time
Bangkok Post: Withdrawal curbs by Burmese Banks won’t affect trade with
Thailand
Xinhua: Myanmar leader meets Chinese delegation
Narinjara: Burmese FM meets his counterpart in Dhaka
AFP: Khaleda Zia to visit Myanmar this month

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: un Envoy urges world to recognize change in Myanmar

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma March 1 2003

NLD harassed in Kawthaung

The NLD members in Kawthaung are being harassed and hampered by local
authorities, it is reported. The Kawthaung Township NLD was abolished in
1998 and the secretary of the local authorities U Khin Maung Kyi summoned
the members and told them that they have no rights to take part in
politics. DVB’s Myint Maung Maung reports:
Myint Maung Maung : On the 23rd of February, the Kawthaung Township NLD
members went to form an organisational office in Ban Kachun Village. And
on the 26th, the secretary of the local authority, U Khin Maung Kyi
summoned the NLD members and protested to them for doing so. The local NLD
chairman U Sein Win and secretary U Ko Maung Than met U Khin Maung Kyi. He
told them that Kawthaung NLD was abolished in 1998 and there is no NLD in
Kawthaung. Therefore, the abolished members of the NLD have no rights to
organise and rally, he told them. He also forced them to sign the
admission that they formed no organisations and held no meetings in Ban
Kachun Village. The two NLD members refused to sign their signatures and
told the authorities ‘to mind your own business and we will mind ours’. U
Khin Maung Kyi then told them that the local authorities were not doing
that because they wanted to but because of the order from higher
authorities.
__________

Democratic Voice of Burma February 25 2003

LAWYER DENIES AUNG SAN SUU KYI FILED LAWSUIT AGAINST COUSIN

The Information Committee of the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) released an Information Sheet today saying that the accusations by
the National League for Democracy (NLD) with regard to the ruling of the
Bahan Township Court against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last week were untrue.

The NLD had released a statement the day after the verdict by the Bahan
Township Court saying that there was political interference in cases in
which the NLD was involved and that the authorities were dictating all
decisions for the cases.

The SPDC categorically rejected the charge today.

The case started when Ko Soe Aung, a cousin of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who
was permitted to live gratis in her compound, physically assaulted her
last May.

The SPDC statement said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's own use of the Burmese
courts to sue her cousin Ko Soe Aung was proof of her faith in the
judicial system and that she only complained when the court did not rule
in her favour. Under Burmese law, all citizens are treated equally and the
NLD leadership has been using the judicial system to play politics.

The Democratic Voice of Burma contacted U Mya Win, attorney for Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, and asked him to explain. He said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi never
filed any legal complaint in the case.

Mya Win - recording I have not read the Information Sheet but what I
understand from what you are saying is incorrect. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
never sued anyone. But the police were informed about it because it was a
police case. Filing of legal charges depends on the police who are
responsible for conducting the investigation. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not
file any charges with the court. She reported about the incident and since
the police found that it was a criminal act, they filed the charges with
the court. Ko Soe Aung, however, filed a complaint against Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi with the court.

DVB So, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not seek legal action in court and it was
the police who filed it?

Mya Win Yes, it was a police case...

Ko Soe Aung lodged a complaint against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Bahan
Township Court for refusing to let him into the compound.

Verdicts for both the cases were announced on Friday 21 February . Ko Soe
Aung who physically assaulted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty and
was ordered to pay a 1,000 kyat fine or spend a month in jail. Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi was also ordered to pay 500 kyat fine or spend a week in
prison for refusing to let Ko Soe Aung enter her compound.

When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi disagreed with the verdict, the case was
transferred to Western Rangoon District Court.

DVB asked Attorney U Mya Win about the latest situation of the case.

Mya Win - recording The latest situation is that we are waiting for word
from the district court with regard to the revision of the case.

DVB I see. We heard that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has withdrawn her complaint.

Mya Win That is true.

DVB What would that mean?

Mya Win It means that we have withdrawn our complaint but the district
court is acting on its own motion and overseeing the revision of the case.

DVB Is it legal?

Mya Win Yes, it is. That is in accordance with the legal process. It will
reopen and revise the case.

DVB Does that mean Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will have to appear before the
court again?

Mya Win It depends. The court can decide whether to summon her or not. We
still do not know what the court decision is.

DVB What is your personal opinion about the case?

Mya Win My view is that no offence was committed because she prevented
entry into her compound for reasons of her personal safety. For instance,
her personal safety had been violated before and what she did was an act
with no ulterior motive and therefore it cannot be defined as an offence
in the legal sense...

DRUGS

Agence France Presse

Myanmar seeks US help in battle on drugs
By Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar’s military government urged the United States on Sunday to help it
fight drug production and trafficking, or risk losing out to powerful drug
lords.

The United States has put Myanmar, considered one of the world’s top opium
sources, on a list of countries it says have done so little to fight drugs
that they are ineligible for US aid, but helps conduct an annual poppy
survey in the country.

But the impoverished southeast Asian nation said it had slashed opium
production 70 percent in the past five years to around 600 metric tonnes
in 2002, a drop of 26 percent from 2001. “By working together, we can win
the war on drugs. But if we fail to work together, the drug traffickers
gain the advantage,” a government statement faxed to Reuters said.

This year’s joint US-Myanmar poppy survey is due to finish on Monday.
Myanmar’s views come a little more than a week after it invited the United
States to enter dialogue on the country’s political future following US
criticism of Myanmar’s human rights record and stalled transition to
democracy.

The military, which has wielded power in various guises for four decades,
refused to recognise a 1990 landslide election victory by Nobel peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party.

The ruling junta released Suu Kyi from house arrest last May, raising
hopes of a democratic transition, but has so far been reluctant to enter
into talks with her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The
gulf between the two sides appears to be widening, with the government
increasingly railing against “destructive elements” — regarded as a
euphemism for the pro-democracy movement.

“The destructive elements...are floating fabrications and rumours to
disturb peace and stability of the state, destroy the development drive,
break up the national unity and slow down the pace of narcotics
elimination programmes,” junta head, Senior General Than Shwe, said in a
message carried by state media on Sunday.

Diplomats in Yangon say decades of mismanagement have thrown Myanmar into
economic crisis.

Last month hundreds of Yangon citizens queued outside banks demanding
their savings after rumours of the closures of a handful of financial
firms spread through the Myanmar capital. Authorities put curbs on
withdrawals and tried to reassure the public by saying they were giving
banks “assistance”.
___________

TV Myanmar March 1 2003

CHINA GIVES BURMA AID FOR DRUG CONTROL PROGRAMME

Mr Li Jinjun, ambassador of People's Republic of China PRC to Myanmar
Burma , presented a donation of 12,000 US dollars to Col Tin Hlaing,
Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control CCDAC chairman and home affairs
minister, at 1200 noon 0530 gmt today for establishment of a model
training school for poppy substitute crops cultivation and livestock
breeding in Kokang region, Northern Shan State Special Region-1.

Also present at the meeting were Brig-Gen Khin Yi, CCDAC secretary and
Myanmar police force director-general, and Police Col Kham Aung, CCDAC
joint secretary and head of Narcotics Elimination Department.

In accord with Myanmar-China Narcotic Drugs Control Programme, CCDAC and
Yunnan Province Narcotics Control Council of the People's Republic of
China, have jointly implemented cultivation of poppy substitute crops in
Shan State Special Region-1, Kokang region, since July 2002 and have
provided assistance of 300,000 yuan worth of agriculture technologies,
equipments, and implements. So far, three agriculture technology courses
attended by over 300 local people have already been conducted.

Over 12 tons of wheat, paddy, and barley seeds, more than 2m lime and
lemon saplings, fertilizers, and pesticides were also provided. It is
learnt that PRC will continue to provide other necessary needs relating to
the establishment of a model training school for poppy substitute crops
cultivation and livestock breeding in Kokang region, Northern Shan State
Special Region-1.
_____________

Agence France Presse March 1 2003

US classes fight against illegal drugs as part of war on terror

The fight against illegal drug trafficking is part of US efforts to defeat
international terrorism, according to the US State Department.

"The US campaign against global terrorism in 2002 highlighted the
importance of our international drug control programs," the department
said in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy report,
released Saturday.

"As the single greatest source of illegal revenue, the drug trade has long
been the mainstay of violent political insurgencies, rogue regimes,
international criminal organizations and terrorists of every stripe," it
added. "Whether through the heroin that financed the former Taliban regime
in Afghanistan or the cocaine that sustains the decades-old insurgency in
Colombia, the drug trade generates the money that is the lifeblood of the
violence that increasingly threatens global peace and stability," it
stressed.

The report restated a list of 23 countries released in January which
Washington considers producers or major transit points: Afghanistan, the
Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), China, Colombia, the Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and
Vietnam.

The US government considers Afghanistan to be the world's top heroin
producer, and Colombia the top cocaine producer.

The report also listed countries considered "major sources of precursor or
essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics" --
including the United States, plus Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China,
Germany, India, Mexico, and the Netherlands.

It also identified "major money laundering countries" and jurisdictions as
those "whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions
involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics
trafficking."

They were: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Brazil,
Burma (Myanmar), Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Cyprus, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece,
Guernsey, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, the Isle of Man,
Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau,
Mexico, Nauru, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay,
Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand,
Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States,
Uruguay, and Venezuela.

MONEY

Xinhua News Agency March 2 2003

Myanmar's oil, gas production up in first 10 months of 2002

Myanmar produced 4.74 million barrels of crude oil in the first 10 months
of 2002, up 21.2 percent from the same period of 2001, according to the
latest figures released by the Ministry of Energy.

During the period, Myanmar yielded 7,569.8 million cubic-meters of natural
gas, an increase of 3.23 percent from the corresponding period of 2001.

Official statistics show that Myanmar has 3,154 million barrels (419.5
million tons) of recoverable reserve of crude oil in the country's onshore
and offshore areas, while possessing a total of 50.95 trillion cubic-feet
(1,442.05 billion cubic-meters) of such reserve of natural gas in those
areas.

Meanwhile, there is a total of 19 inland oil fields in Myanmar where at
present foreign companies from Indonesia, Bahamas, Britain, Cyprus and
China are operating.

However, Myanmar's domestic crude oil production is far from meeting its
demand and has to annually import crude oil.

In 2001, Myanmar bought 100 million gallons (420,000 tons) of gasoline and
more than 300 million gallons (1.26 million tons) of diesel.

Meanwhile, contracted foreign investment in Myanmar's oil and gas sector
has reached 2.607 billion dollars since late 1988, according to official
statistics.

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post March 2 2003

Army told to give rebels a hard time
By Wassana Nanuam

The army has been told to play hard-ball with armed ethnic rebels along
the Thai-Burmese border to make them go to the negotiating table with
Rangoon.

Defence Minister Gen Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya said he had told
the Third Army, which oversees the northern region, to give the Karen
National Union and the Shan State Army a hard time.

``These troops must be pushed out of the country. We must not allow them
to come in, even for goods. Give them a hard time and they will
negotiate,'' he said.

The move follows Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's remark after his
return from a visit to Rangoon that Thailand would help bring about
national reconciliation in Burma.

Five ethnic rebel groups had earlier agreed to the proposed reconciliation
dialogue.

They are the KNU, the SSA, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP),
the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP).

Gen Thammarak said his involvement in resolving border disputes between
Thailand and Burma could be traced to border tension at Khao Hua Lone hill
in Mae Fa Luang district in May 2001.

He said he had called deputy army chief Gen Watanachai Chaimuanwong, then
assistant army chief, and told him to hold fire while he was negotiating
with senior Burmese authorities.

As for drug problems, Gen Thammarak said it would be more practical to
join forces with China, which is thought to have influence over
drug-running groups like the Wa.

Thai authorities have been working closely with Beijing in trading
intelligence. A Thai military officer has been dispatched to Beijing and
his Chinese counterpart sent here to maintain close ties.
___________

Bangkok Post March 1 2003

Withdrawal Curbs by Burmese Banks Won't Affect Trade with Thailand
By Woranuj Maneerungsee

 New restrictions on deposit withdrawals by Burmese banks will not affect
border trade with Thailand, according to Panithi Tangphati, adviser to
the Tak Chamber of Commerce.

In general, traders did not deposit large amounts of money with commercial
banks and the border trade did not rely much on banks, he said.

The Burmese bank association two weeks ago announced a ceiling on
withdrawals of 500,000 kyat (about 22,600 baht) per account per week to
limit runs on deposits.

The official exchange rate of the Burmese kyat is 6.20 to one US dollar.
But in the black market on which most people rely for everyday
transactions, the rate is now about 950 kyat to the dollar.

Sources said many customers were in practice limited to only 100,000 kyat
per week in withdrawals during the past week.

Mr Panithi said reports that Burmese banks were in a weak financial
position were groundless.

Loan interest rates in Burma stand at about 12.5 percent, well below the
inflation rate of 30 percent. This had prompted many businesses to borrow
to invest in the property sector.

But he said banks had been recalling their loans to ensure adequate
liquidity.

"Personally, I think [deposit runs] are normal in countries that are
opening their economies. Even Thailand has encountered this problem
before."

However, he said, foreign businesses that relied on the domestic market
might feel the impact since the purchasing power of locals would be
depressed.

A foreign investor, who declined to be named, said he was concerned about
the situation in the capital Rangoon, as the military government might
issue policies that affected investors.

The Thai envoy in Rangoon said there had been an improvement in recent
days. The envoy quoted a banking consultant as saying last Friday that the
Burmese central bank had extended loans ranging from US$ 833 million to
US$ 1.8 billion to banks that had suspended credit-card services.

Officials yesterday were monitoring the situation to see what impact there
would be on businesses' operations at the end of the month when workers'
salaries are paid.
____________

Xinhua News Agency March 2 2003

Myanmar leader meets Chinese delegation

Second Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Soe Win met with visiting delegation of the Chinese
Association for International Understanding (CAIU) here Sunday afternoon.

Soe Win said nurtured by leaders of elder generation of the two countries,
the Myanmar-China friendly ties have continuously developed.

He noted China's economy has developed at a high rate with science and
technology advancing.

Head of the delegation and senior adviser to the CAIU Wang Jiarui said
Sino-Myanmar friendly ties have got consolidated continuously, stressing
that this not only conforms to the common interest of the two countries
but is also beneficial to peace and stability of the region.

The delegation arrived here Sunday on a six-day visit.
_____________

Narinjara News March 3 2003

Burmese Foreign Minister meets his counterpart in Dhaka

 Bangladesh and Burma yesterday agreed to work out details on the proposed
road link and a coastal shipping arrangement, according to the local
press and news agencies in Dhaka.

The Burmese Foreign Minister U Win Aung had a discussion with his
Bangladeshi counterpart, M Morshed Khan in an hour-long meeting, ‘held in
an extremely cordial and friendly atmosphere’  as reported by BSS, the
government news service  decided on setting up a joint commission at
foreign ministers level, which would meet annually.  Matters of bilateral
issues and economic cooperation dominated the talks, Foreign Secretary
told newsmen.

The setting up of a joint commission at foreign ministers level is
expected be finalised during the Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s visit to
Rangoon on 19th this month.

The Burmese foreign minister handed over a letter of invitation to the
Prime Minister from Than Shwe, the chairman of the Burmese junta State
Peace and Development Council.

On repatriation of the remaining nearly twenty thousand Burmese refugees
in the squalid camps in the south-east of the country, the foreign
secretary said that, the Burmese foreign minister gave full assurance of
taking them beck ‘following verifications’.  He also added that there were
more than quarter million Burmese refugees before, but now less than one
tenth of the original is left, which would be resolved sooner rather than
later.  But the present rate of repatriation of the refugees is so slow
that only a couple of families are being repatriated every Wednesday,
according to our border correspondent who quoted some of the residents
there, which if continued will take a very long time,

Both sides expressed optimism that the visit of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
would further strengthen the sense of goodwill that the Burmese junta
chief generated on his trip to Dhaka last December.

The Burmese side also assured of their full support regarding the
inclusion of Bangladesh in the ASEAN Regional Forum.
_____________

Agence France Presse March 3 2003

Khaleda Zia to visit Myanmar this month

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will pay a two-day official visit to Myanmar
this month, the first by a Bangladeshi premier to the eastern neighbour in
a decade, officials sais Sunday.

Zia will travel to Yangon on March 19 at the invitation of Myanmar Senior
General Than Shwe, who visited Bangladesh in December, an aide to the
premier said. Than Shwe was the first leader of Myanmar’s junta to visit
Bangladesh since the 1988 coup in Yangon.

Bangladesh is increasingly pursuing a “look east” foreign policy and is
talking with Myanmar on building a direct road link between the
neighbours. Officials hope the highway would link cash-strapped Bangladesh
to the economic giants of Southeast Asia and eventually connect it to
China.

Last month a shipping service was launched between Bangladesh and Myanmar,
the first legal sea link betwedesh after it won independence from Pakistan
in 1971.

But relations were strained in the early 1990s when around 250,000
Rohingya Muslims flooded into Bangladesh from Myanmar, claiming atrocities
by the junta. Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most
of the refugees under a United Nations agreement, but more than 20,000
still live in camps in Bangladesh.

The neighbours have a small amount of bilateral trade, with Myanmar
exporting timber, maize, rice and fish and Bangladesh selling fertiliser,
cement and medicine.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France Presse March 3 2003

UN Envoy Urges World to Recognize Change in Myanmar

A UN envoy has urged the international community to drop its high
expectations for transition in Myanmar and recognize the incremental
changes taking place, the ***Myanmar Times*** said in its edition to be
published Monday.

The United Nations special human rights rapporteur on Myanmar, Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, also reiterated his call for countries to engage and not
isolate military-ruled Myanmar, the semi-official weekly said.

"It is time to take stock of, acknowledge and evaluate the ongoing effects
of incremental change which have taken place," the Brazilian academic
wrote in a report to be presented to a meeting of the UN Human Rights
Commission in Geneva starting this month.

"It is high time to replace the high expectations of the ideal game
scenario and the writing of constitutional models, with a down-to-earth
discussion of less prescriptive requirements which will be able to
stimulate a real process of change," he wrote. He stressed that "the
policy option now should be engagement, not isolation."

"The sooner the international community is ready to assist, the better and
smoother the change will be in Myanmar," Pinheiro said in the report. "The
people of the country should not be held hostage to a political
transition."

He said the United Nations would compile a report on the basic needs of
the population of impoverished Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and urge
the international community to consider being actively involved.

Western governments have led the push for Myanmar to be subject to
sanctions until its military rulers makes concessions to the democratic
opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

They have said they would not consider comprehensive aid for the country,
which is battling malnutrition, poor education and a burgeoning aids
crisis, until the regime commits to a full political dialogue with Aung
San Suu Kyi.

The United States threatened last month it would consider further
sanctions against the country in light of a lack of political reform.

Aung San Suu Kyi said last month that international pressure should be
maintained to force progress in Myanmar, according to Jody Williams, a
fellow Nobel Peace laureate who visited her. Williams said Aung San Suu
Kyi was "very clear that pressure both inside and outside the country are
critical to bringing about democracy in Burma."