BurmaNet News: July 24 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

July 24 2003 Issue #2291

INSIDE BURMA

Xinhua: Myanmar media warn against foreign sanctions
Business Week: Burma’s junta starts to sweat
AP: Myanmar sends mixed signals on sanctions and drug fight
AP: Myanmar government denies journalists’ arrests related to their reporting
Narinjara: Burmese junta’s development: sans electricity
Irrawaddy: Released prisoners given a silence order

DRUGS

AP: China, India, 3 others agree on cross-border cooperation to fight drugs
Nation: War on drugs set to escalate

REGIONAL

AFX.com: Megawati formally opens ASEM meet; says Asia, Europe must respect
differences
AP: Thailand proposes road map for Suu Kyi release
AFP: Thailand seeks international forum to push Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

INTERNATIONAL

Nation: ‘Thailand siding with hated regime’

STATEMENTS

Arakan Independence Alliance: Statement of AIA on the ASEM meeting

INSIDE BURMA

Xinhua News Agency July 24 2003

Myanmar media warn against foreign sanctions

Government-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar warned on Thursday that
foreign sanctions against the country will produce counter-effects on
those who impose them.

The warning came amid tightening of sanctions against Myanmar by the
United States over the issue of the May 30 incident with a bill awaiting
for endorsement by President George W. Bush. The bill bans the imports
from the country and freezes the military government's assets in the US
banks after the US Congress voted recently in favor of such ban
legislation. The bill was approved with the vote in the Senate being 94-1
and the vote in the House of Representatives 418-2.

"Do they not also suffer losses if the investors withdraw their capital?"
the paper questioned in an article about the impact on foreign investors
in Myanmar if the sanctions could be legalized.

The paper, however, was optimistic about the future aftermath of the
sanctions, saying that at present, entrepreneurs from many countries are
waiting for the opportunity to take over the business of the investors who
had withdrawn their capitals. The paper also cited a new oil company which
had taken over the business of the one that had done so in the past.

"If some one does not buy from us, we will not sell him. And if someone
does not sell to us, we will buy from others. There is no problem in this
respect," the paper said.

The paper urged the people not to be bolstered whenever flattered, not be
frightened whenever intimidated and not to be softened whenever appeased,
stressing the only need to lay down a firm policy and to continue to march
toward the future in unity.

The US stepping of sanctions against Myanmar came after the military
government arrested opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ( ASSK) and put her
in a secret location on account of the May 30 incident, in which a convoy
of ASSK was reportedly ambushed by government supporters when she was
making a political trip in the north of the country. The government
claimed that four people were killed and 48 others injured in the bloody
clashes between supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and
pro-government protesters.

Over the issue, the international community, including the United Nations,
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States, the
European Union (EU), Canada and Japan, has urged the military regime to
immediately release ASSK. Of them, the EU, along with the United States,
has also tightened sanctions against Myanmar, while Japan suspended its
economic aid to the country to press for ASSK's release.

In the latest development, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has
warned that Myanmar might face expulsion from ASEAN if the military
government continues to defy world pressure to release ASSK.

However, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called for giving
Myanmar more time to achieve national reconciliation.

In response to these developments, the Myanmar military government
criticized that the proposed ban on its export to the United States will
deteriorate the country's economic situation with the creation of mass
unemployment and directly hurt its health care and education.

Meanwhile, some 350,000 garment industry workers in Myanmar, organized by
the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, sent petition on July
2 to President Bush, appealing to him not to endorse legislation of the
ban. They said the ban will result in the loss of their jobs and threaten
the livelihood of 1.5 million of their dependents.
________

Business Week July 24 2003

Burma's Junta Starts to Sweat
By  Michael Shari

As foreign business flees and pressure grows to restore elected President
Suu Kyi, the generals may now get booted from ASEAN

Pressure is growing on Burma's military government to once again release
Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's democratically elected leader, from
detention in Rangoon. On July 23, under threat of Burma being kicked out
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the junta announced
it was releasing 91 Suu Kyi supporters who were arrested along with her
last March -- the latest in a string of incarcerations that go back to
1990.

The next step, many Burma watchers believe, could be for the generals to
reopen a dialogue with Suu Kyi, 58, whose landslide election 13 years ago
has never been acknowledged as legitimate by the junta. "They don't have a
choice [but to deal with her again]," says Kyaw Yin Hlaing, assistant
professor of political science at National University of Singapore and a
Burmese. "They have to find a way to work with Suu Kyi."

In late July, the Japanese government cut off economic aid and debt relief
worth $224 million over the last five years. And President George Bush is
expected soon to sign the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003, banning
Burmese exports to the U.S. and freezing the junta's assets at American
banks worldwide. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is leading the
effort to have Burma expelled from ASEAN, which it joined in the mid-1990s
in its boldest effort yet to seek international legitimacy.

LOSING FACE.  The junta generals who first seized power in 1988 have never
been able to shake Suu Kyi. She's the Oxford-educated daughter of Burmese
General Aung San, a founder of the modern nation-state the junta now calls
Myanmar. Her efforts to restore democracy to the country have won her the
Nobel Peace prize. She was released briefly last year, under a deal
brokered with Razali Ismail, Malaysia's envoy to the U.N. But when a
national economic swoon and financial crisis in early 2003 reignited
popular support for her presidency, the generals incarcerated her again on
May 30.

Western diplomats in Rangoon think the generals are most worried about
being kicked out of ASEAN. The foreign ministers of the 10 ASEAN member
states, including Burma, called an emergency meeting on the Indonesian
resort island of Bali on July 23 to discuss what appears to be a brewing
regional diplomatic crisis.

Never before have Burma's neighbors threatened to punish Rangoon for
human-rights abuses. Such a sanction, if carried out, would constitute a
loss of face for the junta's three leaders -- generals Than Shwe, Maung
Aye, and Khin Nyunt. And diplomats who follow Burma note that a loss of
face is the only risk to which they have ever responded in the past. "It
matters to the Burmese government more than the loss of jobs and a bad
economy," notes one.

Adds political scientist Kyaw: "I'm not saying [Western] sanctions won't
have any impact, but it won't make them change their mind. The Western
governments have to understand that."

BARBED-WIRE BRIEFS.  New U.S. sanctions would shut off $350 million of
Burmese garment imports into the U.S. annually, which could result in the
loss of about 100,000 jobs, according to some estimates. That makes up the
bulk of the $367 million in bilateral trade with the U.S., but it will be
only one more pinprick in the economic pain Burmese have endured since the
beginning of the year. Prices for rice, cooking oil, and other basic
commodities soared in January due to distribution problems in a country
where power plants and telephone switching stations aren't connected to a
power grid or a national phone network.

In February, a run on commercial banks forced most of them to close down,
unable to collect loans or pay depositors. In March, the kyat, Burma's
currency, plummeted 30% against the U.S. dollar on the black market -- the
only exchange rate considered relevant in Rangoon.

Hundreds of foreign investors -- drawn in by low wages and the junta's
promises of open-market reforms -- have now mostly withdrawn, put off by
repeated, sudden changes in rules governing foreign direct investment
under the junta and tired of pressure from human-rights groups. Case in
point: British underwear manufacturer Triumph International pulled out
after a Democracy-in-Burma group published a mock advertisement depicting
its underwear made of barbed wire and calling for a boycott. The only
manufacturers left in Burma today are those that haven't found a buyer to
take their multimillion-dollar factories, many with sparkling new
equipment.

STALLING DEMOCRACY.  While the government keeps issuing statistics showing
the economy growing at double-digit rates every year, economists say no
reliable estimates of the size of Burma's gross domestic product exist.
"There is no means for the government to collect accurate statistics,"
says one economist in Rangoon. "They don't want to. They want to have
statistics that meet objectives for 30-year plans."

The Burmese Embassy in Singapore declined a request from BusinessWeek to
set up interviews with junta officials or the Finance or Trade Ministries
for this story. It also rejected an application for a visa for this
correspondent to visit Rangoon.

The junta's next move will be hard to plot. The generals first put Suu Kyi
under house arrest from 1990 to 1995, vilifying her in the government
newspapers with cartoons depicting her as a nymphomaniac. They could
release her again, but they continue to drag their feet on certifying the
results of the 1990 election victory.

QUIET NEIGHBORS.  Any way you look at it, however, "the government has
miscalculated," says Aung Zaw, editor-in-chief of Irawaddy, a political
monthly magazine published in the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
"People rally around a person whom they feel can bring them out of misery.
The government thought that if they could cut her off from the people,
they would forget her. But she's hugely popular."

While the U.S., Japan, and Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors turn up the
heat, two larger neighbors that enjoy a bustling border trade with Burma
-- China and India -- have been noticeably silent. Indian commerce
officials visited Rangoon in late July to sign an agreement to boost
bilateral trade, while China has responded to the current political flap
with not a peep.

With dish antennas cropping up across the rooftops of Rangoon, however,
Burmese houses and restaurants are tuned into satellite-TV news broadcasts
of the Iraq war aftermath and the U.S. considering military intervention
in the war-torn African nation of Liberia. "People ask, 'When is the U.S.
going to come in and fix this?'" says one diplomat in Rangoon. "They say,
'Time for a regime change.'"

It's highly unlikely that Burma will fall into President Bush's
crosshairs, apart from the weapon of economic sanctions. Nor will the
silence of India and China matter much in the larger scheme of things. For
now, the generals seem genuinely worried about being evicted from their
neighborhood-community association, and that pressure could still lead to
additional concessions. This regime change, if it eventually comes, will
have to be homegrown
_________

Associated Press July 24 2003

Myanmar Sends Mixed Signals On Sanctions And Drug Fight

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (AP)--Myanmar's top drug fighter said Thursday that 
Western sanctions against his country over the detention of pro-democracy 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi could make it poorer and less able to wage its war
 on the illegal drug trade.
Myanmar's interior minister later denied that the campaign against drug
traffickers in his country - a top opium producer - would be affected. But
his comments appeared to be political bluster.
The U.S. has passed legislation to impose severe economic sanctions on
Myanmar over its refusal to release San Suu Kyi, who was arrested on May
30. The European Union also has imposed sanctions.Brig. Kyaw Thein of
Myanmar's state Central Committee for Drug Abuse said fighting the drug
trade was a priority but that it could suffer under the sanctions.
"If they want to really impoverish our country, then it will hurt because
we are using our own limited resources to counter this (drug) problem,"
Kyaw Thein said in an interview. "I think if we become poorer, it will
become much more difficult for us to achieve our goals."
Kyaw Thein was speaking at a conference in this northern Thai town of
ministers from China, India, Laos and Thailand on regional cooperation to
combat illegal drugs.
Myanmar's Home Minister Tin Hlaing, also attending the confernce, gave a
different line, saying his country's drug-fighting efforts would be
unaffected.
"These (anti-drug measures) are a different issue, so this cannot be
directly affected by the political sanctions," he said at a news
conference.
      The U.S. and the United Nations acknowledge that Myanmar is making
greater efforts to crack down on opium trade and poppy cultivation.
Over the past year, areas under poppy cultivation declined by 26%.
Opium production was less than one quarter of its 1996 level.
      But Myanmar remains the world's second largest source of illicit
opium after Afghanistan. Myanmar produced 630 metric tons of opium
in 2002, according to U.S. figures. U.N. officials put the total for
the same period at 825 tons.
      The U.S. has provided little assistance to Myanmar since 1988, when
the military government crushed a pro-democracy movement. U.S.
officials have said relations won't improve until Myanmar makes
democratic reforms and does more to fight drugs.
___________

Associated Press July 24 2003

Myanmar government denies journalists' arrests related to their reporting

Myanmar's military government said Thursday that it detained journalists
from a local sports magazine, but denied an international press watchdog's
claim that they were held for writing negative articles about the nation's
soccer program.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday that four
journalists from the sports magazine First Eleven were arrested July 17,
apparently because of an article about a Myanmar soccer team that was
fined for failing to show up at a regional tournament.

Two of the journalists were later released but the other two were still
being held at an undisclosed location, the group said in a statement. It
also accused police of beating the magazine's chief editor, U Zaw Thet
Htwe, a former political prisoner.

A statement from the government spokesman's office said that "certain
people" working for the magazine were called in for questioning but didn't
say whether any of the journalists were still in custody. It said none of
the journalists were beaten.

"The reason for their detention is not because of what they wrote in the
journal. It has nothing to do with their profession but (is) on a totally
different subject," a statement from the government spokesman's office
said without elaborating.

The magazine was previously warned for publishing a story questioning what
happened to an international donation of US$4 million earmarked for
promoting soccer in Myanmar, the group said in a statement.
________

Narinjara News July 24 2003

Burmese Junta’s development: sans electricity!

Sittwe, 24th July 03: The Burmese State Peace and Development Council
junta has recently formed an Electricity Committee in Sittwe, the capital
of the western Burmese Rakhine State.  Headed by General Maung Oo, the
western commander, and consisting of the Sittwe District Peace and
Development Council chairman and other township officials, the committee
has been entrusted with the responsibility of what it said as ‘lightening
up the township.’

Sources told our correspondent that though a lot has been touted about the
formation of the electricity committee, only three hours in the evenings
and that too every other day is what power the townspeople have been
getting.  The monthly bill of electricity has been fixed at a rate between
kyat 3,000 and 4,000, which is about the same as the monthly salary of an
ordinary state employee.

Last year the military regime handed over the power generation and
marketing to a private company, Inn-bauk-wa, which after collecting kyat
7,000 from each household as electrical connection fees, failed to run the
enterprise due to the SPDC’s cancellation of the company’s licence to
market fuel oils in the state and entrusting it to Ubaing Limited, a
company owned by the regime.  “The marketing of fuel oils by the Ubaing
Ltd goes through a channel of corruption, making diesel and gasoline fuels
including lubricants many times more costlier than the actual price, and
rendering the supply chain miserable,” said an owner of a transport
company.  In the aftermath the Inn-bauk-wa returned all the money they
collected as power connection fees to the depositors.

The situation created a power crisis in the state capital, compelling the
townspeople to opt for their own supply of power generation through
smaller generator sets.  “Our situation now is such that our development
has retarded to even to the pre-British colony days, because during the
colonial rule we used to get a 24-hour supply of electricity in Sittwe. 
Without electricity the education of our children and the growth of the
business and industries is suffering.  Our computers are idle and many
householders are using their fridges as cupboards!  Our life is so
miserable that we cannot even use the basic household appliances,” said a
doctor in the State hospital.

He also said that for an emergency operation the generator of the hospital
is run by the money collected from patients because of the lack of
electricity and scarcity of diesel fuel.  As a result the patients blame
the doctors as ‘extortionists’.  “We don’t have any other option, either. 
The SPDC regime without developing the electricity sector has off and on
been bragging about the development of border areas including Rakhine
State.  But look at our power situation.  Is it development?” he said.
_______

Irrawaddy July 24 2003

Released Prisoners Given a Silence Order
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

Officials freed a batch of political prisoners only after giving them a
strict set of conditions, sources say. According to junta claims, the 91
recently released prisoners were arrested in connection to the May 30
clash in Depayin.

Burma’s military government said in a statement to foreign embassies and
news agencies in Rangoon that officials had been releasing supporters of
the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) since June 26. The
statement said in total 91 people have been released and sent home.

But sources said that authorities released the pro-democracy supporters
with strict conditions, warning them not to speak about the incident on
May 30, when dozens were believed to have been killed and when opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken into custody. Former detainees were also
told not to speak about their time in interrogation centers.

"My friend who is a member of the NLD was released last week. Until now,
he never left his home and avoided meeting people and answering
questions," a resident in Mandalay told The Irrawaddy. The source in
Mandalay said his friend promised officials he would keep quiet about his
ordeal and that military intelligence officers are monitoring the man’s
entire family.

 The source in Mandalay said his friend promised officials he would keep
quiet about his ordeal and that military intelligence officers are
monitoring the man’s entire family

Dissidents in Rangoon and Mandalay have been unable to confirm whether 91
people were actually released. A Member of Parliament from the NLD in
Rangoon, who wanted to remain anonymous, said today: "We heard news of the
release on foreign broadcasters, but we don’t know if they [the junta]
released that number."

Moreover, the MP sees the latest release of political prisoners as an
attempt to ease the international pressure that has been mounting since
the arrest of Suu Kyi.

Joint secretary of the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) Bo Kyi agreed, suggesting the timing of the
release—just before Asian and European leaders were preparing to meet in
Bali—was no coincidence. "That’s how the junta usually plays politics," Bo
Kyi said.

AAPP’s sources inside the country were also unable to confirm whether 91
was a true count of those released. Bo Kyi added that this time, the
junta’s statement didn’t include any names, which put further doubt on the
truth of the government statement.

Analysts are skeptical because Burmese authorities have a poor reputation
for telling the truth when it releases political prisoners. In November
last year, officials claimed they released 115 prisoners, but later
reports confirmed that only about 60 people were freed.

DRUGS

Associated Press July 24 2003

China, India, 3 others agree on cross-border cooperation to fight drugs
By ALISA TANG

Five countries including China and India agreed Thursday on cross-border
cooperation to fight drugs, including promotion of market access for goods
produced by reformed drug traffickers, producers and farmers.

The commitment was made in a formal declaration by ministers of China,
India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand who held a one-day meeting in Chiang
Rai, a northern Thai city in Southeast Asia's opium-growing heartland -
the Golden Triangle.

"We ... agree to work toward an effective and integrated cross-border
cooperation" to combat drugs, the declaration said.

The five countries also agreed that their officials should meet regularly
to discuss measures to control the smuggling of essential chemicals needed
for production of heroin and amphetamine stimulants.

The chemicals have legitimate uses in medicine manufacture, making them
more difficult to regulate. Many come from India through its porous
northeastern border into Myanmar, the main center for amphetamine
production.

Millions of amphetamines are smuggled every year from Myanmar to China,
Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Myanmar forms the key part of the Golden Triangle - the mountainous region
where its borders meet Thailand and Laos. Myanmar is the second-largest
opium producer in the world after Afghanistan.

Thailand has nearly eliminated opium production by providing impoverished
farmers - who enjoy few of the huge profits accrued by drug traffickers -
with alternative crops to grow.

Poppy cultivation area and opium production have declined significantly as
a result of similar projects in Myanmar and Laos also, according to U.N.
and U.S. documents.

The ministers' declaration said the five countries agreed to "promote
market access for products from alternative development ... and invite the
international community to facilitate alternative development efforts."

Laotian officials say the country has turned to asparagus, soybeans,
coffee and mangos as part of its effort to eliminate opium by 2005, a
five-year effort that is estimated to cost US$80 million.

Alternative development is a "prime opportunity for our people ... if we
have the markets," said Linthong Phetsavan, of the Lao National Commission
for Drug Control and Supervision.

The ministerial meeting, which followed two-day talks by their senior
officials, is the first time India has joined a drug control meeting for
this region.

The ministers agreed that cooperation will be strengthened at operational
and expert level, and the five partners will provide mutual help in drug
preventive education, law enforcement, information exchange, treatment and
rehabilitation.

"This is a menace not just for one country or two countries or for one
region, it is a global problem, it creates social problems," I.D. Swami,
India's deputy minister for home affairs, told The Associated Press.
______

Nation July 24 2003

CHIANG RAI DRUG FORUM: War on drugs set to escalate
By Piyanart Srivalo, Don Pathan

Ministers from Thailand, India, Laos, Burma and China are poised to
announce a Chiang Rai Declaration outlining their political commitment to
curbing the flow of narcotics and precursor chemicals within the region.

The ministers, including Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana, will meet
today in Chiang Rai as part of a regional drug forum.

Yesterday's meeting of senior official focused on formulating a common
strategy on how to contain precursor chemicals, legally produced in many
countries in the region but sold on the black market to producers of
illicit drugs like heroin and methamphetamines.

The forum, which for the first time includes India, was expected to
green-light the establishment of a network that would bypass bureaucratic
red tape by linking the respective counter-narcotics agencies of each
country, said Pol Lt-General Chidchai Vanasatidya, secretary-general of
the Office of the Narcotic Control Board (ONCB).

Burma suggested a working group be established to follow up on the agreed
plan, said Pitaya Jinawat, director of the ONCB's northern branch.

Market access in foreign countries, including the US and in Europe, for
farmers who have switched from opium cultivation to legitimate crops would
be high on today's agenda when ministers meet, Chidchai said.

The border areas of Thailand, Laos and Burma, known as the Golden
Triangle, continue to be the world's largest producer of opium and the
main supplier of heroin.

In spite of millions of dollars being spent over the past three decades to
try to curb the drug trade, narcotics production in the region continues
to grow steadily, while Thailand's western neighbour, Burma, has become
Asia's biggest producer of methamphetamines, known locally as ya ba.

One ONCB report said Burma produced about 828 tonnes of opium last year -
a close second to Afghanistan, which has emerged in recent years as the
key producer of the grade-four heroin currently flooding Southeast Asia
and Australia.

Another ONCB report estimated that about 700-million methamphetamine
tablets, cheaply produced in clandestine labs in Burma's Shan State, had
flooded Thailand in the past year alone.

Pol Lt-General Prung Boonphadung, Police Fifth Region commissioner and the
man responsible for law enforcement in the five northern-most provinces,
said police were keeping a close watch on the synthetic drug crystal
methamphetamine, or ice, after the recent overdose deaths of two Taiwanese
traffickers.

"We believed they were testing out the product," Prung said.

One kilogram of ice, a very potent and deadly precursor chemical, could
produce anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 methamphetamine tablets, he said.

Thailand has singled out the pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army, Kokang
Chinese and Kachin Independent Army, all of which are remnants of the
now-defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and situated in Burma's section
of the Golden Triangle, as being responsible for much of the opium and
heroin flowing through the region.

But Burma, in its report presented at the meeting yesterday, said the
three bodies had made great efforts to turn their respective autonomous
areas into drug-free zones.

Analysts say the region's drug problem will continue until a real
political solution to Burma's political and ethnic problems can be found.

Thailand has stepped up security along the northern border over the past
five years, resulting in a "balloon effect" on the trafficking route.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Wang Qian-rong, China's Narcotic Control
Bureau deputy secretary general, said the "balloon effect" had resulted in
more drugs entering China's Yunnan province.

REGIONAL

AFX.com July 24 2003

Megawati formally opens ASEM meet; says Asia, Europe must respect differences

  President Megawati Sukarnoputri formally opened a meeting of Asian and
European foreign ministers today, urging the two sides to respect
differences and not impose their will on each other.
    Megawati made the call at the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Bali,
where there are divisions on how to handle the Myanmar issue.
    The Europeans have imposed political and economic sanctions to
pressure military-ruled Myanmar to release democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi while the Asians prefer the problem to be resolved through
diplomacy.
    The Asians have rejected a European proposal to have a special agenda
on Myanmar at the ministerial meeting although the Nobel peace
prizewinner's detention is a key topic along the conference corridors.
    Megawati did not refer to Myanmar in her opening remarks but warned
that much time and resources would be lost unless the two continents
are realistic in accepting and respecting their differences.
    She said that based on experience "it is essential to build mutual
understanding, refrain from the imposition of will, and respect each
other when we are determined to engage in cooperation, especially
between different groupings.
    "This is particularly true when cooperation involved countries which
are different in culture, level of socio-economy, and in many other
aspects of their lives," she said.
    Megawati said Indonesia's experience, where "differences and diversity
have no comparison in many places, not even Europe," had enabled the
people to build tolerance and to respect differences.
    "It is within the Asia-Europe partnership that I would like to
underline that we need to be really sincere, honest and earnest to
accept and respect differences.
    "Admittedly, we have wasted (much time) without really accomplishing
substantive and concrete benefit to our peoples in our joint efforts
to carry out our vision into the 21st century," she said.
    The ministers began meeting informally Wednesday evening. Aside from
Myanmar, they will discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis, the spread
of weapons of mass destruction, the terrorism threat and the recent
outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
    At the end of their talks Thursday, they are expected to demand the
immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, issue a strong warning about
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their possible use by
terrorists, and back multilateral talks led by China to tackle the
North Korean nuclear crisis.
    ASEM's Asian side is made up of seven of the 10 ASEAN members --
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam -- plus China, Japan and South Korea.
    ASEAN members Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are not members of ASEM.
    The European delegation is made up of the 15 countries in the European
Union.
________-

Associated Press July 24 2003

Thailand proposes road map for Suu Kyi release
By YEOH EN-LAI

Thailand says it has drafted a "road map" for the release of Myanmar's
dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi - a plan that would also aim to
establish democracy in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the proposal would bring
together "like-minded" countries, organizations and groups within Myanmar,
also known as Burma. He spoke on the sidelines of the fifth Asia-Europe
Meeting here, which ends Thursday.

He said Thailand planned to invite China, Britain, Austria, the European
Union and two or three members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations.

"It should also include the National League for Democracy and all
concerned parties, especially (Myanmar's) armed minority groups," said
Surakiart.

The league is Suu Kyi's party which won 1990 elections in Myanmar but was
barred by the military from taking power.

In an effort to win Suu Kyi's release, members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have already asked Myanmar to receive a
delegation led by Ali Alatas, Indonesia's former foreign minister.

"It is time we (ASEAN) get our act together," Surakiart said.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung is scheduled to be in Bangkok for talks
at the end of the month but it is not known whether his visit is part of
the Thai "road map."

S. Jayakumar, Singapore's foreign minister, said Thursday ASEAN will
consider a variety of approaches in seeking the release of Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi's arrest - following a May 30 clash between her followers and a
junta-backed mob in which an unknown number of people were killed - has
been dominating the annual Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, which brings
together foreign ministers and senior officials from 26 Asian and European
countries.

A ministerial declaration later Thursday is expected to demand that the
junta release Suu Kyi immediately. Myanmar is not part of ASEM.

European delegates have been putting pressure on the senior officials from
the seven of 10 ASEAN countries represented here to act on the Suu Kyi
issue.

The regional grouping has had a long tradition of nonintervention in its
members' affairs but Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia's foreign minister, said
Thursday it was time Myanmar's military rulers listen to the ASEAN voices
speaking out against the arrest.
____________

Agence France Presse July 24 2003

Thailand seeks international forum to push Myanmar to free Suu Kyi
By AHMAD PATHONI

Thailand on Thursday proposed an international forum to prod Myanmar to
free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as Asian and European foreign
ministers stepped up the pressure on Yangon's military rulers.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai floated the idea of a forum
during the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Officials said he proposed
involving, among others, Southeast Asian nations, the European Union,
China and Japan.

Surakiart told reporters that Thailand had prepared a "road map" for
Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and introduce democracy and had
already discussed it with the junta.

"What we are thinking now is that we would like to have a small forum and
invite Myanmar and some like-minded countries to brainstorm and comment on
our road map so that it will be something that is practical," he said.

He said Thailand had proposed the road map to "five or six countries" but
declined to divulge details, which were still being fleshed out.

Surakiart is believed to have met EU Commissioner Chris Patten as well as
his Chinese and Indonesian counterparts here on the proposal.

"In our view, we think that ours (road map) is practical but we would like
to hear views from others and help develop it further with the involvement
of Myanmar -- not only the government but other parties in Myanmar to see
that it can be practical and acceptable to all sides," he added.

"They are practical steps -- from releasing Aung San Suu Kyi to
(achieving) the objective of establishing democracy."

It is unclear how the Thai proposal would be different from the efforts
made by the United Nations to induce reforms in Myanmar.

Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra is due this weekend to meet his Malaysian
counterpart Mahathir Mohamad, who had warned Myanmar it could be expelled
from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a last resort
unless it heeds international calls to release the democracy icon.

The Myanmar issue has sparked intense debate at the ASEM ministerial talks.

The Europeans have imposed political and economic sanctions to pressure
the Myanmar junta while the Asians prefer the problem resolved through
diplomatic channels.

The Asians rejected a European proposal to have a special agenda on
Myanmar at the meeting.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri in her formal opening remarks
Thursday said, without referring to Myanmar, that the two sides should
respect differences and not impose their will on each other.

EU Commissioner Patten downplayed the differences.

"There is no difference of opinion about the importance of Burma (Myanmar)
releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and (her party's) activists, who have been
locked up, and getting back to the process of reconciliation," he told
reporters.

"There are occasional differences of tactics but I don't think they are
going to divide people today," he said.

European nations have made it clear that they would not allow Myanmar to
become a member of ASEM unless it releases Aung San Suu Kyi and allows
democracy.

"Myanmar should enter ASEM. But in view of the current situation it is not
possible. So together, we have to find the means to allow it to be a
member," French junior minister of foreign affairs Renaud Muselier told
reporters.

At the end of their talks Thursday, they are expected to demand Suu Kyi's
immediate release, issue a strong warning about the spread of weapons of
mass destruction and their possible use by terrorists, and support
multilateral talks led by China to tackle the North Korean nuclear crisis.

ASEM's Asian side is made up of seven of the 10 ASEAN members -- Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam --
plus China, Japan and South Korea.

Aside from Myanmar, ASEAN members Cambodia and Laos are also not members
of ASEM.

The European delegation is made up of the 15 countries in the European Union.

INTERNATIONAL

Nation July 25 2003

BURMA: 'Thailand siding with hated regime'

US senator says PM should be trying to get Suu Kyi freed, warns aid may be
cut
The second most powerful member of the US Senate has criticised Thailand's
handling of Burma, saying the government's "business-as-usual" stance
aligns the country with one of the world's most condemned regimes.
In his statement to the US Senate on Tuesday, Senator Mitch McConnell said
he was "becoming increasingly convinced that Thailand is on the side of
the repressive junta in Rangoon".
"Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra must defend democracy in Burma and
should join with Malaysia and other Asean members in holding the SPDC [the
military junta State Peace and Development Council] accountable for their
actions," McConnell said.
His comment came as Asean foreign ministers gathered in Bali to discuss
their relations with European countries under the Asia Europe Meeting
framework. Asean foreign ministers had an informal discussion about Burma
yesterday.
"Instead of trying to find an 'exit' for the repressive State Peace and
Development Council, SPDC, Thailand should be trying to secure the release
of democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other democrats jailed in the
wake of the brutal May 30 attack on the National League for Democracy
(NLD)," McConnell said.
"Given the SPDC's refusal to release Suu Kyi and other Burmese democrats,
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir rightly commented that Burma could be
expelled from Asean 'as a last resort'," the Deputy Senate Majority Leader
added. He said Thailand should take note of the provision he included in
Senate Resolution 1426 - the fiscal year 2004 Foreign Operations
appropriations bill. It "conditions United States assistance to Thailand
on a determination by the Secretary of State that: one, it supports the
advancement of democracy in Burma and is taking action to sanction the
military junta in Rangoon; two, is not hampering the delivery of
humanitarian assistance to people in Thailand who have fled Burma; and
three, is not forcibly repatriating Burmese to Burma''.
McConnell led the successful Senate move to pass the Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act of 2003, which seeks to ban Burmese exports to the United
States and freeze assets of the regime in the US.
The EU and Japan toughened their sanctions against Burma after the May 30
attack, after which Suu Kyi was thrown into jail.
There has been growing criticism, both locally and internationally, that
the government has been acting as the junta's "spokesperson".
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Thailand did not
take the side of Burma, nor did it act as the junta's "mouthpiece".
Thailand was helping push Burma towards national conciliation and
eventually democracy, he said. Thailand, as an immediate neighbour of
Burma, needed to have its own stance in accordance with the reality in
Burma.
"We cannot criticise Burma and demand democracy without taking any
action," he said.

STATEMENTS

Arakan Independence Alliance (AIA) July 23 2003

Statement of AIA on the ASEM Meeting

The Arakan Independence Alliance (AIA), an umbrella organization of the
National United Party of Arakan (NUPA) and Arakan Rohingya National
Organisation (ARNO), welcomes the Asia-European (ASEM) meeting to be held
on 23-24 July 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. It is heartening that the meeting
will discuss, among other things, about the current political situation in
Burma.

Despite international efforts the SPDC (State Peace and Development
Council) is heedless to the mandate of the UN and persistent demand of the
world leaders for national reconciliation and tripartite dialogue to bring
about political solution in Burma. The SPDC continues to jackboot the
hopes and aspiration of the people of Burma by clinging to power and by
use of force.

It is our understanding that the reason behind the recent arrest of
pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by SPDC is nothing but to
frustrate any efforts towards achieving resolution to the longstanding
political problem in Burma.

The AIA urges upon the ASEAN and all other countries participating the
meeting to review their policies on SPDC and to put effective pressure for
the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political
leaders and activists to help implement national reconciliation and
tripartite dialogue without further delay.