BurmaNet News: June 28-29 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

June 28-29 2003 Issue #2272

INSIDE BURMA

Boston Globe: Among Burmese, hope for reform is fading
DVB: SPDC attack on Western envoys derided
Khonumthung News Group: 3 NLD leaders in Chin State sentenced to 11 years
in prison

DRUGS

Bangkok Post: Wa fighters killed in clash

ON THE BORDER

Nation: Thaksin lashes out at UNHCR

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post: Sanctions boost opposed
Bangkok Post: Extension of permits urged
AFP: Myanmar can’t ignore neighbours’ call to free Aung San Suu Kyi: UN envoy

INTERNATIONAL

Dallas Morning News: UN dithers as Nobel laureate struggles to live

MISCELLANEOUS

Guardian: City diary (excerpt)

INSIDE BURMA

Boston Globe June 29 2003

Among Burmese, hope for reform is fading
Frustrations mount as junta detains Suu Kyi
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

RANGOON, Burma -- In the shadows of this country's most famous monument,
the glinting gold-domed Shwedagon pagoda, a man lowers his voice to
discuss the latest news from forbidden radio broadcasts about the military
regime's detention of the widely revered pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi. ''We would love to rise up and put her where she belongs -- as our
president,'' whispered Than, a 22-year-old student. ''But we saw what
happened 15 years ago,'' he added, when the military regime crushed a
pro-democracy uprising, killing thousands of protesters, according to many
accounts, and jailing Suu Kyi for the next six years.
''This regime is as bad as Saddam Hussein. There's no hope for us unless
the UN or the US intervenes,'' Than said.
In a country where citizens are forbidden from having foreigners visit
their homes and are punished for criticizing the regime, dozens of
discreet conversations with laborers, monks, university students,
teachers, businessmen, former civil servants, and farmers revealed
widespread discontent. Residents expressed anger over corruption, decaying
social services, political repression, and above all, the usurping of what
many see as Suu Kyi's rightful place as their elected leader.
On May 30, government loyalists attacked Suu Kyi and her supporters on a
country road near Mandalay, in northern Burma. Scores of supporters of Suu
Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, or NLD, were injured,
killed, or arrested. The British government says it has information that
the Nobel peace laureate is being held in a specially built hut at Insein
Prison, the country's most notorious lockup.
Burma's leaders deny this but won't say where Suu Kyi is. Representatives
from the Red Cross were permitted last week to visit other NLD detainees.
Frustration has mounted in the international community over Suu Kyi's
detention, with Malaysia and Thailand taking the unusual step of publicly
criticizing Burma's leaders, and Japan, the country's biggest donor,
freezing aid and threatening to reverse its engagement policy.
The Bush administration announced Wednesday it was preparing an executive
order to stiffen sanctions against Burma's regime, which calls the country
Myanmar.
But Western diplomats here doubt that any pressure will sway the military,
which has been in power for 40 years, to relent on Suu Kyi, whom they see
as a challenge to their power.
Unlike China's leaders, who have achieved colossal economic growth while
crushing dissent, Burma's junta has delivered low growth, hyperinflation,
and a higher standard of living only for elite military and the families
of well-connected business people, according to Western diplomats and
Burmese residents.
Rice farmers in the western Irrawaddy River delta protest that the
government takes a percentage of their crops to feed soldiers and civil
servants, and buys the bulk at a cut rate to export at high prices. Monks
seeking food donations in the area say they can barely gather enough for
themselves every morning.
In a ramshackle wooden school in a northern village near Inle Lake,
teachers say they struggle to instruct 50 to 60 children per class without
books, compared with half that many 20 years ago.
A Rangoon travel agent says he resents that the government tightly
restricts cellphone sales and car imports, creating a black market with
hugely inflated prices. A ban on importing used automobiles means cars
increase in value; a 15-year-old Toyota Corolla cost the travel agent
$30,000 last year.
Small-business people protest that the government exports cheap consumer
goods and natural resources -- teak, rubber, and jade and other gems -- to
neighbor states including China and Malaysia, but imports from them at
higher prices goods such as tires and shoes made from Burmese materials.
A factory manager said cheap Burmese-made bicycles and clothes are
sometimes exported and reimported at higher cost, with brand names affixed
from another country in deals that benefit crooked members of Burma's
regime. But the government and big-business owners say the junta has
maintained social order, invested in highways, electricity, dams, and
railways, and opened remote areas to development and tourism by brokering
truces with numerous rebel groups. They also say the government has opened
up the socialist economy to private enterprise in a country where even
toothpaste was a black market commodity 15 years ago.
Nye Nye, 32, a hotel worker in the northern Shan state, said
transportation, communications, and access to electricity are better than
10 years ago.
Even so, ''if there were an election today, the NLD would win simply
because people want change,'' he said.
In a written reply to a Globe request for comment, government spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Hla Min said: ''Critics . . . are claiming in a wishful
way all things negative. Some may be slightly close and most are far from
reality. But as long as peace, stability and national unity [are]
maintained . . . a peaceful functioning democracy is possible.''
The government's website denies critics' accusations of illegal arrests of
democracy activists, forced labor, forced sale of rice at reduced prices,
forced relocation, and confiscation of land.
''Is this government . . . as bad as it's painted outside? Absolutely
not,'' said a wealthy businessman who asked that his name not be used.
''There is more freedom in relative terms than before 1988 -- more
privatization, more opportunities, a better standard of living.''
Many ordinary people disagree, saying their lives have gotten worse.
Undercover intelligence agents are everywhere, discouraging people from
speaking their minds. A printer for a government newspaper snorted that
all the articles are lies, but said he keeps his mouth shut because he
needs the job.
When they are sure no one can overhear, many people shift the conversation
to ''the Lady'' or ''Our Leader,'' as many call Suu Kyi. In some villages,
people believe she has magical powers.
Like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, who spent decades in prison or
exile, the mythic status of the daughter of Burma's assassinated
independence hero, General Aung San, grew steadily during her years of
house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2002, until the
restrictions were lifted a year ago. Her party won a landslide victory in
1990 elections that were not recognized by the junta.
Some believe the government sponsored the recent attack on her because it
was furious that huge crowds attended NLD rallies since Suu Kyi's release
from her last stint of house arrest last year.
Though most are too fearful to utter her name, many Burmese cling to Suu
Kyi as the country's last hope for reform. Residents say the army has
expanded so dramatically in size and weaponry since 1988 that protesters
stand even less chance today.
Thaung, 56, a retired teacher who supports himself by guiding tourists for
$5 a day, says the Buddhist faith enables Burmese to tolerate oppression
without rising up. ''In 1988, everyone's frustration boiled over,'' he
said quietly. ''Now we're boiling inside. Armed struggle is the only way
to dislodge the military. But if people rise up, they will be shot down
again.''
Damar, 40, a monk from Bago in central Burma, participated in the 1988
demonstrations alongside other monks and students. He is convinced that
monks and students, two respected groups, could succeed in ousting the
junta if they dared unite again, but says people's focus on politics has
diminished as they struggle ever harder to survive.
The junta has donated toward building ostentatious pagodas in hopes of
winning public esteem. It has tried to divide monks, Damar said, by
sending spies into monasteries to spot troublemakers, and singling out
some clerics for such gifts as sport utility vehicles.
''What monk needs a Land Cruiser?'' said Damar, walking barefoot by the
roadside to collect food donations as a monk wearing sunglasses drove by
in a SUV. ''These gifts are to create jealousy and prevent cooperation
among us.''
Outside the cool sanctuary of Sule pagoda in the heart of Rangoon, the
scene of a major protest and bloody crackdown in 1988, a middle-aged man
holding a cage glanced around furtively before urging a visitor to donate
a small bill to set a bird free, as a prayer for the release of political
prisoners.
''We are like sparrows in this cage,'' he whispered. ''All we want is
freedom.''
__________

Democratic Voice of Burma June 28 2003

SPDC attack on Western envoys derided

Based on the incident at Dipeyin [Tabayin] on the 30th of May, an article
in the Burmese military junta’s ‘Myanmar Alin’ says today that western
diplomats are interfering with Burmese politics.
The author, ‘Reporter Thet Shay’ claims that the open support for the NLD
by western diplomats is an act of direct interference on Burmese politics
and it is against the diplomatic discipline.
Moreover, the diplomats are trying to find Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at her
home and U Tin Oo at his home and other people who are under house arrest
despite the bans, complains the author.
Although it is not clear which diplomats they article is aimed at but it
is interesting that the article came out after the EU diplomats boycotted
a recent drug destruction ceremony organised by the junta.
A Rangoon journalist who wished to remain anonymous explained the feelings
of the people of Burma on the government’s media as follows:
A Rangoon journalist : In fact, it is like sprinkling salt on a worm. The
worm [military junta] greatly affected by the salt, which is international
pressure, started to blame [western] diplomats about interfering in
internal affairs. If you think carefully, the article, in fact, is not an
effective one.
DVB : Yes. They carried Daw Suu's news on or about 30 and 31 May and was
not carried as news later on but only as articles by writers like Pauk Sa
and Thet Shay. Do the people have any interest in such articles and the
SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) news conferences?
A Rangoon journalist : No one reads article like this. No one reads
newspapers. What is extraordinary now is people are saying throughout the
country that they are feeling aggrieved. In Rangoon, the legal circles are
feeling very angry. Some of the merchants who are associated with them are
starting to express discontent. The schoolteachers are also expressing
discontent. Taxi drivers are voicing their concerns. They can’t bury the
incident at Dipeyin. I tell you in anticipation that the truth will come
to light one day and that day will be their downfall.
DVB : It’s going to be a month tomorrow or the day after tomorrow of the
event at Dipeyin. The lists of people killed and arrested are not
announced yet. How are the people reacting?
A Rangoon journalist : Not that people are feeling cooled down, they are
very afraid. No one dares to do anything openly but their grievances are
doubling within a month. But I dare say that the uprising will never
happen straight away. The people will do it only when the outside
pressures are big enough. I dare say that.
___________

Khonumthung News Group June 26 2003

3 NLD Leaders in Chin State Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
As Post-May 30 Crackdown Continues

Three members of the National League for Democracy in Chin State’s Matupi
Township, who were arrested by military authorities earlier this month,
had been sentenced to 11 years in prison, a local NLD member who just
arrived to Mizoram border reported. The 11-year sentence was handed down
to each of the three NLD leaders during the second week of June, but it is
still unclear as to where they will be sent to serve their sentences.

The three are identified as U Aung Thang, 38, secretary of NLD for Matupi
Township, U Hla Moe (40), and Salai Pa Thang, 32, who is a local student
leader and a final year law student at University of Mandalay.

The NLD member said people are particularly concerned about the fate of
the three convicts because they are being held in unspecified location.
The sentences were arbitrarily handed down by local military intelligence
outside of the court, and their cases were never brought to the District
court in Mindat. Mindat town is one of the two District administrative
centers in Chin State, located a few miles away from Matupi.

They were arrested by military authorities on June 4 in Matupi, and were
taken away to Mindat for interrogations there. More than 20 other NLD
members escaped the arrest, and are on the run, and their whereabouts
could not still be ascertained.

U Than Sein, an NLD Member of Parliament in exile, says the crackdown in
Matupi is part of a larger effort by the ruling military regime to crush
the NLD since the May 30 incident (in which pro-government thugs violently
assaulted the touring NLD leaders). U Than Sein says he is very concerned
that the whereabouts of the three NLD detainees are not known.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, visited
Matupi town on 10 April. Sources say that during her visit, crowds who
showed up to greet Suu Kyi were videotaped by an officer of the Military
Intelligence Service. Local organizers responsible for welcoming Aung San
Suu Kyi then took away his video camera and put him away from the crowd
until Suu Kyi left the town. U Aung Thang, U Hla Moe and Salai Pa Thang
were then arrested on June 4 and taken away to Mindat for questioning.
More than 20 other NLD members have since fled the town and are on hiding.

[Translated by Chin Human Rights Organization  from original Burmese
version.]

DRUGS

Bangkok Post June 28 2003

Wa fighters killed in clash

Soldiers killed two Wa soldiers guarding a drug convoy from Burma in a
clash in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district yesterday.

The fighting took place in tambon Tha Ton when the
methamphetamine-smuggling convoy ran into an ambush by soldiers from the
133rd Cavalry Battalion who had been lying in wait near a border trail in
Ban Saenprom village for two days.

The clash lasted about 30 minutes before the smugglers fled back into
Burma, leaving behind the bodies of two dead Wa soldiers in unform.

Two rucksacks containing about 100,000 speed pills and an AK47 rifle were
found near the bodies.

Maj-Gen Manas Paorik, head of the Pha Muang task force, said the ambush
followed intelligence reports that some 500,000 speed pills and an unknown
amount of heroin would be smuggled into Thailand from Mong Yawn, a border
town controlled by the ethnic Wa fighters.

ON THE BORDER

The Nation June 28 2003

Thaksin lashes out at UNHCR
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday slammed the UN agency for
refugees for granting protection to Burmese exiles in Thailand without the
consent of the government.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) granted
protection to Burmese people living in exile in Thailand as if it had
sovereignty over the Kingdom, the prime minister told reporters.
"If the UN can issue a piece of paper for them [Burmese exiles] to have
freedom in our country, where is our sovereignty?" he asked.
"Of course, we are a member of the UN, but just a member, not its
subordinate," he added.
Thaksin made these comments after Thursday's crackdown on 11 Burmese
dissidents which Rangoon said were planning to kidnap the Burmese
ambassador to swap him for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was
arrested on May 30. The dissidents denied this.
Thaksin has expressed anger that some of them were carrying expired UN
papers.
He said that Burmese refugees had caused much trouble in Thailand, adding
that some of them carried diseases, and were involved in the illegal trade
of narcotics and other criminal activities. He said that Burmese migrants
might have been involved in an ambush on a school bus in Ratchaburi
province last year.
"We take on all these problems, but those priests [the UN] cry foul when
we want to solve them," he said, adding that his government would deal
with any troubles on a humanitarian basis.
More than one million Burmese people fleeing economic and political
difficulties at home were living in Thailand. Some 100,000 who fled
fighting in Burma are sheltered in refugee camps along the border and many
others with UN protection as "people of concern" live elsewhere, mostly in
Bangkok. However, many of them have lost contact with the UN.
The UNHCR office in Bangkok said it had the right to grant refugee status
because Thailand was not a signatory to the main UN treaty on refugees,
and did not have its own legislation to provide for determining refugee
status.
"Obviously we only do that [grant refugee status] with the consent and
cooperation of the state in which we do it. And we've been doing this in
Thailand now for the past two decades," spokeswoman Kirsten Young was
quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said sanctions imposed on Burma by
other countries seeking the release of Suu Kyi would affect Thailand
because more Burmese people would flee the increased difficulties.
"Sanctions will directly harm Burmese people, rather than the government,"
he said.
The US, European Union and Japan have imposed sanctions on Burma to
pressure the junta into freeing the opposition leader and key members of
her National League for Democracy, all of whom were jailed on May 30 after
a bloody clash between her supporters and pro-junta protesters that killed
four people.
Surakiart said his government also wanted the junta to free Suu Kyi and
continue a dialogue towards national reconciliation.
Thailand, however, will not take any action. The simultaneous calls for
the release of the Noble Peace laureate and the crackdown on the 11
Burmese dissidents has been seen as a balanced approach on the part of
Thaksin, who has been criticised of shifting his policy in favour of the
United States.
Rangoon told Thai police that the dissident group led by Soe Muhem was
planning to kidnap the Burmese ambassador to swap him for the release of
Suu Kyi. The plotters had gathered at a Bangkok department store on June
18 to construct their plan, a source said. The source said the plotters
were to split into three groups. One would storm the embassy to take the
ambassador, one would sabotage Don Muang Airport, while the rest would
take Thai officials hostage in case the first two groups failed.
The group has denied these allegations, saying that they just wanted to
have a peaceful demonstration to free Suu Kyi.
Police said the dissidents would be charged with illegal entry.

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post June 30 2003

Sanctions boost opposed
By Achara Ashayagachat

Intensified sanctions against the military regime in Burma would only
cause another huge spillover of illegal migrants to Thailand, said Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai.

Thailand and other neighbouring countries would not want to see any
beefed-up sanctions from the European Union or Washington since it would
only hurt the poor and push them to emigrate to other countries, Mr
Surakiart said.

``We would like to see the situation to return to normal as soon as
possible. Once (Burma's) national reconciliation is back on track, the
government will consider allowing these immigrants into our country,
including workers, students, and ethnic people,'' he said.

US ambassador Darryl N. Johnson said the exact details of US sanctions
against Burma have yet to be spelled out, but the objective was not to
damage countries which were involved in trade and investment with Burma.

Rather, the measure was a bid to cut off sources of funding to the
leadership in Burma, which acted against the democratically elected leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues, Mr Johnson said.

The opposition leader has been held under protective custody since May 30
after a clash between her supporters and government-organised protesters.

Mr Surakiart and the ambassador were speaking yesterday at the
ground-breaking ceremony for the new site of the International Law
Enforcement Academy (Ilea), set up in late 1998 to provide training for
people fighting transnational crime including terrorism and trafficking in
humans and drugs.

Mr Surakiart said he hoped Ilea could strengthen cooperation in fighting
drugs.

The foreign ministers of Burma, China, India, Laos, and Thailand met to
discuss transnational issues and drugs on the sidelines of the second ACD
meeting in Chiang Mai last weekend.
__________

Bangkok Post June 30 2003

Extension of permits urged

Employment system to change next year
The Labour Ministry will ask cabinet to allow migrant workers from
neighbouring countries to extend their work permits for another year,
after which a new system for employing foreign labour will be introduced.

Labour Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said the government would extend work
permits for the final time this year, before setting up a new framework to
control the employment of workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos.

The government recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Rangoon,
Phnom Penh and Vientiane covering the employment of their nationals here.

Under the agreement, migrant workers would be required to present
authorities with proof of having undergone medical examinations in their
homelands.

The government would also deduct 1.5% of their wages to finance their
return journeys at the end of their contracts. Mr Suwat said a ministry
panel would be established to decide the sectors that would be allowed to
employ alien workers. These would most likely include the fisheries and
agricultural sectors, as well as domestic labour, he said.

The fisheries sector currently employed more than 90,000 migrant workers.
Mr Suwat said he had sought cooperation from police and the military to
curtail a rising crime rate among illegal foreign workers.

He warned that employers found to have hired illegal labour would be
prosecuted.
________

Agence France Presse June 28 2003

Myanmar can't ignore neighbours' call to free Aung San Suu Kyi: UN envoy

JAKARTA, June 28 (AFP) - Myanmar can no longer afford to ignore appeals
from its Southeast Asian neighbours for the release of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar said
Saturday.

"I don't see how Myanmar can turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the ASEAN
countries," Razali Ismail told AFP after meeting Indonesian Foreign
Minister Hassan Wirayuda, who chairs the 10-member regional grouping which
includes Myanmar.

Razali, from Malaysia, said he met for one hour with Wirayuda to learn
about the steps being considered by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to deal with the issues of national reconciliation and
democracy in Myanmar.

"It was a very helpful discussion over breakfast," he said. "As I
understand it, all things are being considered.

"My purpose here... is to underline how seriously the UN looks at the
continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi," said Razali.

ASEAN foreign ministers meeting this month called for Aung San Suu Kyi's
release, breaking a decades-old convention of non-interference in members'
internal affairs.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Wirayuda
briefed Razali on discussions held at this month's ASEAN annual
ministerial meetings in Phnom Penh.

At that meeting the foreign ministers discussed sending an ASEAN team to
Myanmar in an attempt to meet directly with Aung San Suu Kyi.

But Natalegawa said Myanmar's foreign minister must deliver that proposal
to his government.

"To date we have not heard from them," he said.

On Wednesday Razali told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that
Aung San Suu Kyi was being detained in poor surroundings at a Yangon
prison when he was allowed to meet her on June 10.

INTERNATIONAL

Dallas Morning News June 29 2003

U.N. dithers as Nobel laureate struggles to live
By RENA PEDERSON

It is no wonder the Bush administration looks on the United Nations with
some weariness.
It too often is a Dithering Club.
Current case in point: Burma. In one of the most highhanded abductions in
recent times, the military dictators there violently dragged Nobel Peace
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi into custody nearly a month ago.
It took nearly four days for the United Nations to issue a statement
protesting the freedom leader's incarceration. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said last week that he was "gravely concerned" by reports that the
Nobel laureate was being held in Insein Prison, one of the most notorious
prisons in the world.
'Grave concern'
Words are nice. "Grave concern" is good. But how about some principled
action? What will it take for the U.N. Security Council to demonstrate its
disapproval? The Council on Foreign Relations last week called for the
Security Council to convene an emergency session to condemn the Burmese
actions. But the secretary-general is on a 30-day trip out of the country,
jetting from London to Switzerland to Jordan to Africa, attending
meetings.
Kofi Annan may not realize it yet, but his credibility and his character
will be stained forever if one of the most admired voices of freedom is
lost on his watch. The exquisitely polite career diplomat could be seen in
a familiar pose when Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed his concern
about Burma at the United Nations. Mr. Annan stood by, hands gracefully
held in front of his chest with the fingertips touching, as if he were
holding an invisible ball in a triangle of fingers. He looked like an
elegantly tailored priest deep in thought.
Indeed, he is a former theology student and, by most accounts, a lovely
fellow. Yet as a consummate bureaucratic insider, he glides rather than
leads. As a 17,000-word article in The New Yorker reminded this spring, it
was this same opaque diplomat who was head of the U.N. peacekeeping
operations that left 800,000 to be slaughtered in Rwanda in 100 days. It
was this same opaque diplomat who oversaw the catastrophic U.N. mission in
Bosnia, where thousands were massacred in U.N. "safe" areas like
Srebenica.
Traveling world
Nevertheless, Mr. Annan glided to the top of the United Nations and
received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 and now spends more than a third of
the year traveling around the world to meet with member states.
Yes, the world has many problems that cry for attention, but there is only
one Nobel laureate who has been kidnapped and locked in a prison. Mr.
Annan received his prize for persuading the United States to pay its U.N.
dues, restructuring the U.N. bureaucracy and "revitalizing" the
organization. But Aung San Suu Kyi received hers for risking her life
every day for years in the face of armed soldiers with cocked guns. Kofi
Annan's work was done in air-conditioned buildings and jet planes. Aung
San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 13 years in prison and under house
arrest.
Now, Aung San Suu Kyi is back in prison, wearing the same clothes since
she was arrested May 31. It is appropriate that Insein Prison, where she
is believed to be held, is pronounced in-sane. It is a nightmarish chamber
of horrors. Dog kennels there have been converted into "dog cells" for
punishing prisoners. Most of those admitted to the hospital die there,
without sheets, blankets or medicine. Food consists of a serving of rice
twice a day with a little pea water and a teaspoon of fish paste. Once a
week, a cube of meat about an inch in size may be included.
Tortured
Human rights groups have documented that prisoners are forced to beat
other prisoners to survive. Many have been shackled, beaten and tortured.
In one awful case in 1993, a prisoner named Bo Ou was beheaded and his
head put in the vegetable soup. Heroin abuse is rampant, and so is AIDS.
Dozens of democracy advocates who have been imprisoned have died of
dysentery because of the unhygienic conditions. Sixteen members of
Parliament are in prison.
But the star prisoner is Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held under a
security law whereby she may be held up to five years without a charge.
The International Red Cross was given permission last week by the Burmese
junta to see those who were imprisoned after the bloody "Black Friday"
attack on the Nobel laureate's motorcade. But the generals won't allow the
Red Cross to see "the Lady."
To its credit, the U.S. Senate recently moved quickly to call for tougher
sanctions on Burma, and a similar bill is moving through the House of
Representatives. That's more movement than we've seen from the United
Nations.

MISCELLANEOUS

Guardian June 27 2003

City diary
By Richard Adams

• The battle to take over media agency Cordiant Communications, which is
being slugged out between WPP and Cordiant's major shareholder, has an
interesting side angle: the "lucky" winner will end up with a company that
operates in charming Burma. Cordiant owns Bates Advertising, which has a
subsidiary in Burma - the imaginatively named Bates Myanmar - which has
carried out work for foreign investors and some government-owned companies
- including the Burmese junta's old friend, British American Tobacco. Yes,
it's the same BAT that is being put under pressure by the British
government to pull out of its joint-venture cigarette factory in Burma.
WPP is the likeliest winner of the Cordiant battle, although it remains to
be seen exactly how keen chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is for his
company to attract the sort of publicity that money just can't buy... on a
blacklist.