BurmaNet News: April 21 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

April 21 2003 Issue #2220

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: NLD yet to hear anything from SPDC on ‘trust’ statement
Kaladan: 6 Madrassa committee members and teachers arrested
Kaladan: Arbitrary arrest and extortion by Nasaka
AP: Myanmar junta ignoring peace: Karen rebels

MONEY

Xinhua: Myanmar’s cotton yarn production drops sharply in 2002
Xinhua: Myanmar’s rubber export sharply up in 2002

REGIONAL

Reuters: Iraq crisis boosts for UN overhaul-Razali
Xinhua: Hotline set on Thai-Myanmar border to fight drug trafficking

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma April 20 2003

NLD yet to hear anything from SPDC on "trust" statement

It has been almost a week now that the SPDC (State Peace and Development
Council) has said in a statement that it has complete trust in Burma's
democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and that it wishes to resolve the
country's issues through constructive consultation. But, National League
for Democracy (NLD) Spokesperson U Lwin told the Democracy Voice of Burma
(DVB) that nothing out of the ordinary has happened so far.
U Lwin said that despite the importance of such a development, neither the
NLD nor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has received any word about it and that he
had to ask some news agencies for a copy of the news to read about it.
Here is DVB's interview with U Lwin:
U Lwin : They have heaped praises on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi but there has
not been any word from them yet. It is quite difficult to understand the
situation. They have released three statements already. The first two are
indicative of their displeasure but the third one could perhaps be
described as being more positive. This is because the third one contains
something like their trust for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who they said was
working for the nation and that they encourage her tours.
It was also mentioned that interferences during the tour were the act of
two or three overzealous persons and whether right or wrong, the
government was not involved in the act. The third statement which came out
unexpectedly made all things look fine. This is because the third one was
contradictory of the first two statements. It was not much of a surprise
to us, because that sort of thing has happened before.
DVB : Do you mean that you have not received any word from the government
or nothing extraordinary has happened as a follow-up to the third
statement?
U Lwin : Yes, that's true. It is quite evident that the opportunity is
still there, it has not disappeared, but [chuckles] it has not been taken
yet...
____________

Kaladan News April 21 2003

6 MADRASSA COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND TEACHERS ARRESTED

Buthidaung, April 21: 3 committee members of a madrassa (religious school)
with 3 teachers, who were arrested on 15 March by Nasaka for expanding the
madrassa structure, are still in police custody, according to our
correspondent.
It was a madrassa placed at Rwa Nyo Daung village, Buthidaung Township,
Arakan State. Owing to extreme necessities the villagers made a small
extension to the existing madrassa structure, without permission from the
Nasaka, which usually is not easily available. For this, the villagers
were punished by Nasaka who, on 15 March, arrested 3 members of the
madrassa committee with 3 teachers. They all were inhumanly tortured even
with electric shock, sources said.

On 17 March, the Nasakan forced the villagers into demolishing the
madrassa completely, the sources further said.
The arrested persons are: (1) Mostafa Kamal (ex-chairman of Rwak Nyo Daung
village), (2) Salamat Ullah (member of madrasa committee) (3) Chairman of
the Rwak Nyo Daung VPDC (4) Maulana Ashraf Ullah (teacher) (5) Maulana
Nurul Islam (teacher) (6) Maulana Fayas Ahamed (teacher), sources further
added.

There are about 150 students in this madrassa. “A teacher of the madrassa
preferring not to state his name told our correspondent that Burma is a
country with no religious freedom, although the SDPC claims to have total
freedom of religion. Islam has become their main target and the future of
our students is very much uncertain.”
_________

Kaladan Press April 21 2003

ARBITRARY ARREST AND EXTORTION BY NASAKA

Buthidaung, April 21:  Nasaka (Border Security Force) arrested a Rohingya
man unlawfully and extorted money on 27th March while he was visiting his
relatives at Buthidaung township of Arakan State from neighbouring
Maungdaw town, according to our correspondent.

On 25 March the victim Mostafa Kamal, 47, son of Mohamed Meah of Nalbannya
(Pandaw Pyin) village, Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, had gone to visit
the house of his relative Lal Meah at Atwin Nget Thay
village ( Kyar Zingyar Para ) in Buthidaung township obtaining all
required travel pass and documents, including form (4) , he further added.

The following day, that is on 26 March, two Nasaka personnel from Phon Nyo
Lake (Pyumali) Nasaka camp, in Nasaka area number (9), of Buthidaung
Township went to the village and arrested Mostafa Kamal from the house of
Lal Meah with an allegation that the visitor was a Bangladeshi, without
considering the fact that he had with him all relevant documents acquired
from Maungdaw Township authorities.

On information, the Chairman and Secretary of the Atwin Nget Thay village
accompanied by Lal Meah (host) went to the Nasaka camp and made a request
for the release of their genuine visitor. But the camp in-charge was
reported to have demanded an amount of Kyat 200,000/- from them, the
sources further added.

However, Mostafa Kamal was later released on 27 March on payment of a
ransom of Kyat 70,000/-. Thus an elderly man of the village told our
correspondent, “ the Nasaka’s action is totally unacceptable but we
have no alternative. What they are doing ‘might is right’.
________

Associated Press April 21 2003

Myanmar junta ignoring peace: Karen rebels

BANGKOK: An ethnic rebel group of Myanmar on Monday accused the country's
military rulers of ignoring its peace overtures, saying the junta only
wants to perpetuate its power.

The Karen National Union also admitted blowing up sections of a natural
gas pipeline in Myanmar on March 29 and April 15 to highlight the fact
that the responsibility for "a meaningful dialogue in Burma lies squarely"
with the junta. The KNU, which has been fighting for autonomy for decades,
is one of the few remaining rebel groups in Myanmar, or Burma, which did
not sign a cease-fire with the junta after it took power in 1988.

Peace talks between the two sides broke down in 1996 and since then the
group has had no contact with the junta. The KNU is demanding multilateral
talks involving the government, the ethnic minorities such as the Karen
and Myanmar's main opposition group, the National League for Democracy of
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

KNU president Ba Thien said in a telephone interview from his base in the
border area between Myanmar and Thailand that the government was "buying
time." "They are trying to delay the talks, but anyway I still hope that
peace talks will take place one day," he said. In a statement dated April
19, and received on Monday, the KNU said it targeted the gas pipeline also
to bring global attention to the junta's military purchases with revenues
from natural gas sales.

According to the Myanmar government, the section of the pipeline damaged
by explosives is near Hnitkayin village, about 105 kilometres (65 miles)
south of the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine. The other section sabotaged
is in Warbotaw village, 21 kilometres (13 miles) northwest of Karen state
capital, Pa-an.

The pipeline carries natural gas from offshore fields for use in Myanmar,
and is considered much less important than another line going to Thailand,
Myanmar's main gas buyer. The pipeline to Thailand, partly owned by
Western and Thai oil companies, has long been controversial. Human rights
activists say it was built by forced labour, with workers drafted by the
government.

If the government "continues to kill and oppress KNU and the Karen people,
and commit similar abuses against the country, it shall receive
appropriate response and punishment," the KNU statement said. The junta,
which refused to hand over power after losing the 1990 elections to Suu
Kyi's party, began holding reconciliation talks with her in October 2000
but no progress has been made. Ethnic minorities have been sidelined in
the reconciliation process.

MONEY

Xinhua News Agency April 21 2003

Myanmar's cotton yarn production drops sharply in 2002

The cotton yarn production of Myanmar dropped 26.1 percent to 4,101 tons
in 2002 from 2001, the latest figures of the state-run Myanma Textile
Industries (MTI) showed.

During the year, the country's cotton fabrics production also fell 15
percent to  17.77 million meters from the previous year.

Myanmar demands 88,400 tons of cotton yarn and 760 million meters of cloth
annually for its 52 million's population at a per capita rate of 1.7
kilograms for cotton yarn and 14.62 meters for cloth, according to the
MTI.

Official statistics show that in the fiscal year of 2002-03 which ended in
March,  Myanmar grew 360,450 hectares of cotton.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has designated a special cotton belt area across two
divisions of Magway and Sagaing, in which over 262,000 hectares more of
land will be put under cotton in order to supply enough cotton to some
textile plants where production is underway.
____________

Xinhua News Agency April 21 2003

Myanmar's rubber export sharply up in 2002

The raw rubber export of Myanmar grew sharply by 35.8 percent to 25,000
tons in 2002 compared with 2001, the latest figures of the state-run
Myanma Agricultural Produce Trading show.

The export earned 11.8 million US dollars during the year, up 28.2 percent
from the previous year.

Meanwhile, during 2002, the country also increased the import of rubber
goods by 23 percent to a value of 44 million dollars.

Rubber, one of Myanmar's major industrial crops, stands as one of its
major foreign exchange earners.

The country has been making efforts to extend the cultivation area of
rubber and such area has been expanded to four divisions and states from
two with the increase of the area to 182,250 hectares now from 81,000
hectares in 1994.

Out of Myanmar's rubber plantations, 87 percent are owned by the private
sector, while the rest is represented by the state sector.

REGIONAL

Reuters April 21 2003

Iraq crisis boosts case for UN overhaul-Razali
By Patrick Chalmers

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Reuters) - Reform of the United Nations is now
needed more than ever since the Iraq crisis has revealed the shortcomings
within the institution, one-time General Assembly president Razali Ismail
said on Monday.

The Malaysian diplomat, who led the last major push to overhaul the U.N.
system in the late 1990s, said the U.S.-led attack on Iraq might have been
avoided had the Security Council already been revamped.

"The world has to search for a new formulation," said Razali, who is the
U.N. special envoy to Myanmar.

"The Security Council cannot be involved in huge issues that deal with
security and the lives of people on the basis of its present structure.
That surely must be clear to everybody," he said in an interview with
Reuters.

The career diplomat is touted as a possible replacement to
Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he retires, with the post due to go to
an Asian under a traditional rotation system.

But Razali denied any ambition to take the job.

His 1997 plan suggested the Security Council be enlarged to 10 permanent
members from five, and to 14 non-permanent members from 10, mainly to
boost the presence of developing countries in a body dominated by World
War Two's victors.

He said such an institution would be harder for the United States, or any
other country, to ignore.

"If you are not able, on a predictable basis, to get the Americans to
accept that their best interests lie through doing things with the U.N.,
then you have a problem.

"They can walk away...and do what they want to do. You must not allow such
a situation to happen," Razali said, adding Iraq was just such an
instance.

The United States attacked Iraq in March, quickly toppling President
Saddam Hussein's regime.

The assault ended months of divisive diplomacy that saw Washington able to
persuade only a handful of countries of its charge that Baghdad had
weapons of mass destruction.

"If you had read the signs earlier, you would have known that the
Americans weren't bluffing," Razali said.

"They had worked out that they would go to Baghdad one way or another," he
said, adding U.N. diplomats and opponents of the invasion could have done
more to provide credible alternatives.

A workable plan to "de-fang" Saddam, with support from major powers in the
region such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was one possibility, he said.

Razali's reform plan, for a time the focus of serious lobbying and
negotiations, eventually ran out of steam as countries wrangled over who
would get the additional seats.

The Malaysian said his plan failed in part because of disagreements among
developing countries, singling out Pakistan's opposition to India winning
a permanent member seat as one major obstacle.

Asked about chances of reform, he laughed: "I have no clue what the
prospects are, but it should be attempted."

He rejected the idea that the United States under President George W. Bush
would be an implacable opponent to reform.

"There are people who are alarmed or even disgusted at what's happened.
Even people working in the government of the United States, some of them
that I know, are quite aghast at what has happened.

"We cannot accept: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. In many ways the
U.N. is broken. We have to fix it."
____________

Xinhua News Agency April 21 2003

Hotline set on Thai-Myanmar border to fight drug trafficking

A hotline has been set up between authorities on the Thai-Myanmar border
to fight against drug trafficking, newspaper The Nation reported Monday.

The direct telephone line links anti-drug officials in northwestern Thai
area called Tak and the town of Myawaddy in eastern Myanmar cross border.

The hotline was expected to improve coordination between local authorities
on both sides by allowing round-the-clock communication, the newspaper
said.

"The hotline will allow local officials to work more closely on drug
suppression," the newspaper quoted a local Thai official as saying.

The two governments agreed to improve cooperation in border areas to fight
against drugs when Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Myanmar
in February.