BurmaNet News: September 9, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

September 9, 2003 Issue #2322

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar says "too early" to come up with democracy roadmap timetable
FT: Burma begins to draft constitution
IPS: Hints of change in Myanmar
SHAN: Red Cross visits Shan area 4th time
Narinjara: Arakan SPDC Chairman in deep trouble after demolition of a
mosque in Arakan
Xinhua: Myanmar to conduct agricultural census

DRUGS
Nation: Drug lord's kin killed in sting
SHAN: More labs move deep, scores still around

MONEY
AFP: Private Thai airline to launch flights to Myanmar's ancient Bagan

REGIONAL
NST: Razali to discuss Myanmar road map with the new PM

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Myanmar one of two countries to use landmines on a regular basis

EDITORIALS
BP: International road map needed
Newsweek: On the Road to Nowhere


----INSIDE BURMA----

Agence France Presse   September 9, 2003
Myanmar says "too early" to come up with democracy roadmap timetable

Myanmar's junta said Tuesday it was "too early" to commit to a time frame
for its new democracy "roadmap" and was unable to say whether Aung San Suu
Kyi's opposition party could take part in drafting a new constitution.

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt detailed on August 30 a seven-point
roadmap aimed at shifting the isolated regime to democracy, including
"free and fair" elections under a constitution to be drafted by a national
convention.

But he did not divulge any time frame for the execution of the plan, which
has been dismissed by analysts in Yangon as a sham and a reworking of
previous promises to shift towards democracy.

"It's still too early to come up with a time frame at this point because
there are numerous steps that are needed to be taken even before the
national constitution convention can be reconvened," Labour Minister and
government spokesman Tin Win told reporters.

"But the government is committed to turning Myanmar into a peaceful and
developed nation where genuine and disciplined democracy prevails," he
said.

"We will let you know as soon as things become clear."

Tin Win also said it was too early to say whether the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD) would be permitted to participate in the
national convention.

"It is still too early to come up with any definite answers on whether the
NLD can join the national convention," he said.

Khin Nyunt said the first step of the roadmap would be the reconvening of
the constitution convention suspended in 1996 following a boycott by the
NLD, which deemed it unrepresentative.

During his speech announcing the plan the prime minister did not mention
any role for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who has been
detained by the junta for more than three months after violence between a
junta-backed mob and her supporters.

"The NLD was not expelled from the national convention in the first place.
They themselves opted to withdraw their delegates," Tin Win said.

"According to the existing convention regulations any group which absents
itself from the convention for more than 48 hours can be deemed to have
forfeited their participation," he said, leaving open but not committing
to the possibility that the regulations may change.

The junta, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, on
Sunday named new members to a commission charged with overseeing the
drafting of its new constitution in an initial step towards implementing
the roadmap.

Lieutenant General Thein Sein will take the helm as the commission's new
chairman while Chief Justice Aung Toe and Minister of Electric Power Major
General Tin Htut were named joint vice chairmen.

Thailand, which earlier presented its own roadmap for democracy in Myanmar
in a bid to ease enormous international pressure on the country to release
Aung San Suu Kyi and democratize, welcomed the formation of the commission
Monday.

But it said the NLD should participate in the process along with the
country's minority groups.

Tin Win said some other of the "numerous steps" needed to be taken before
the reconvening of the convention would be replacing those of the 702
delegates involved in the suspended convention who have died, retired or
decided to no longer participate.

Myanmar has been ruled for the past four decades by the military, which in
1990 annulled election results that gave an easy victory to Aung San Suu
Kyi's NLD.


Financial Times (London)   September 9, 2003
Burma begins to draft constitution
By AMY KAZMIN

BANGKOK: Burma's military junta has appointed four senior military
officials and a judge to oversee the drafting of a new constitution, part
of its campaign to demonstrate that the country is on a path to "free and
fair" elections.

Razali Ismail, the UN special envoy to Burma, said the junta should be
given "a chance" to fulfil its promise to establish what the generals have
called "disciplined democracy". But critics say the regime's talk of
restoring democracy has little credibility as long as Aung San Suu Kyi,
the pro-democracy opposition leader, remains locked up and her National
League for Democracy shut down.


Inter Press Service   September 10, 2003
Hints of change in Myanmar
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - The coming weeks will show whether new, though modest, signs of
possible moves toward some reform by the Myanmar military government will
indeed come to fruition.

Interviews with Myanmar leaders, diplomats and analysts show that they are
closely following reports that Yangon is under increased pressure from
Southeast Asian governments to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
before a regional summit next month - and that new Prime Minister General
Khin Nyunt may take some new steps to restart the dialogue with her.

The United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail had been trying to visit
Myanmar in the next few weeks, but has been refused entry, according to
government sources. On Monday, he dropped plans to go this time. Still, he
tried to encourage efforts toward a roadmap to reform in Myanmar, calling
on foreign governments to give Khin Nyunt, who spoke about it at a press
conference last month, "a chance to try to get it done".

"We hope that this proposal is the precursor, the beginning of a healing
process that will bring about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other
parties," he said. Khin Nyunt promised to negotiate with Suu Kyi's party
on stalled efforts to draft a new constitution, and later hold free and
fair elections, but did not spell out what role there was for Suu Kyi.
There is also given growing speculation in Yangon that the Myanmar
government is planning to meet directly with Suu Kyi.

"A meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's military rulers was
scheduled," an Asian diplomat in Bangkok who regularly deals with Myanmar
said in an interview. "It was to be with the members of the SPDC [State
Peace and Development Council, as the junta is called] and the regional
commanders," he said.

Diplomats in Yangon believe there has already been a meeting several weeks
ago between Suu Kyi and a senior member of the regime, probably Khin
Nyunt.

The military intelligence liaison officer General Than Thun has been
seeing the opposition leader regularly over the last two months, according
to Myanmar military sources.

"The question now is where will the national reconciliation process go
from here," a Yangon-based Asian diplomat said in an interview. "Is Khin
Nyunt going to include Aung San Suu Kyi in the dialogue process?"

Khin Nyunt in his newly appointed capacity as prime minister obviously
plans to reconvene the National Convention, which was established more
than 10 years ago to draw up a new constitution. It has not met now for
nearly five years since Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy
(NLD) walked out in protest at the lack of free debate and discussion
within the convention and its unrepresentative nature.

A new convening committee has been named and the process of drafting a new
constitution likely to restart soon. It is all part of Khin Nyunt's
seven-stage roadmap to democracy. But unless the NLD is involved, the
national convention is likely to remain ineffectual.

In recent days, too, the Indonesian government, host of the summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), called on Yangon to free
Suu Kyi before that gets under way.

Officially, Suu Kyi is still being held in a secret location somewhere in
Yangon, and the government says it is for her own protection. She was put
under "protective custody" on May 30, after a violent attack on her convoy
blamed on the Myanmar military junta.

Originally she was incarcerated in the capital's notorious Insein prison.
She has since been moved from there, according to Myanmar government
officials. "We believe she is being held in a State Guest House not far
from her own residence," said a senior Asian diplomat who asked not to be
named.

Observers in Yangon believe that Suu Kyi's release will be a staged affair
and that she is likely to be moved to her home and put under house arrest
in the near future.

"It is likely to be a return to the situation prior to her release last
year," said a Yangon-based diplomat. "She'll be allowed to meet some of
the other senior NLD party leaders who are currently under house arrest,
but not diplomats," he added.

The government has denied her access to visitors except Razali and
representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who saw
her on Saturday.

International concern about Suu Kyi was complicated by allegations that
the opposition leader was on a hunger strike in protest against her
continued detention. Despite widespread skepticism, the US State
Department insisted that it knew better than anyone.

The Myanmar government reacted angrily and dismissed the US claims. When
the Red Cross saw Suu Kyi over the weekend for half an hour, it endorsed
the government's position that she was not on hunger strike. Myanmar's
military rulers smugly called the US government "irresponsible".

It was a public relations coup for Yangon and seemed to give weight to its
allegations of interference by the West. But it is not going to affect the
key issue in Myanmar's political future what role Suu Kyi and her NLD will
play in the process of reform.


Shan Herald Agency for News   September 9, 2003
Red Cross visits Shan area 4th time

Apparently determined to prove repeated visits would create what is termed
by its Burma representative Michel Ducraux as "a preventive protection
effect", a 7 person International Committee of Red Cross crew has arrived
in a Shan township, notorious for its poor human rights situation, for the
4th time yesterday, reported both rebel and border sources.

According to Lt-Col Mongzuen, Commander of Brigade 758, Shan State Army,
that operates north of the Taunggyi-Namzang highway, villages lying north
and east of Laikha, 79 miles northeast of Taunggyi, the state capital,
have already been warned by the local authorities not to welcome the
"World Red Cross". "Villagers known to be approachable were already told
to go 'on leave' from their homes," he said on the phone.

According to Shan refugees reaching Thailand's Chiangmai border areas,
they were threatened with dire consequences "to speak the truth" about the
military's excesses. Two were reported to be beaten until they were
"bathed in blood" from head to toes after the ICRC's second visit in
January. At least another two were taken away from their homes by "Shan
rebels who spoken fluent Burmese but pidgin Shan" never to be seen again
after its third visit in June. These had led to several families
abandoning their homes and fields to start a new life along the border.
(The first visit was in November 2002.)

According to border sources, the Burmese military has already alerted all
units in the area to closely keep track of the visitors, the local people
who might talk to them and the Shan State Army "South" of Col Yawdserk.

"Moengzuen is said to be away from Laikha," said a source who is
monitoring the event. "But he has assigned Captain Htoi, a close aide, to
look after the Red Cross team."


Narinjara news   September 9, 2003
Arakan State Peace and Development Council Chairman in deep trouble after
demolition of a mosque in Arakan

Akyab: Arakan State Peace and Development Council Chairman, Major General
Maung Oo is in deep trouble right now, after ordering the demolition of a
mosque in Akyab (Sittwe), the capital of Arakan state, according to a
reliable source.

On 21 July, Major General Maung Oo gave an order to local police personnel
to demolish the alleged mosque, which was built in front of Akyab
University without permission from the Religious Ministry of Burma. The
order came from MG Maung Oo after the Muslim leaders denied the State
level high court’s verdict to demolish the mosque.

During the demolition of the mosque, members of the muslim community
started a riot, which resulted in a skirmish with police in which several
people were injured including police and Muslim women. The mosque was
completely demolished by the police.

Just after the demolition of the mosque, the Muslim leader of that area
informed the accident to a powerful Muslim businessman, Shafi Aullar, from
Singapore. The Muslim businessman is a business partner of Re Naing Win,
the son of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, and they all own a large amount of
ventures (businesses) in Singapore and Burma. Furthermore, the muslim
businessman is very close with Khin Nyunt, he has a lot of investments in
Burma.

As soon as the message was reached the hands of the Muslim businessman, he
complained and informed the demolition of mosque to Khin Nyunt. Khin Nyunt
was dissatisfied about the accident and later ordered the Chairman of
Arakan state to rebuild this mosque immediately under the supervision of
the Chairman of Arakan Peace and Development council.

At the present, the mosques is being reconstructed under the scrutinous
supervision of Major General Maung Oo.  A local businessman said that
Major General Maung Oo’s image and dignity was affected by the accident
and people are still interested in the accident, eagerly awaiting the
future outcome.


Xinhua General News Service   September 8, 2003
Myanmar to conduct agricultural census

YANGON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) --Myanmar will carry out its third agricultural
census beginning October under the guidelines adopted by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2000, the local Myanmar
Times reported Monday.

Quoting the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the report said the
45-day census, which will be the largest and most comprehensive one of its
kind, will involve more than 8,000 personnel from the ministry and the
data collection will cover 272 of the country's 324 townships.

The information gathered would be used by the government to plan a number
of projects, the report said.

Myanmar's first agricultural census was conducted in 1953 without data
being released, while the second was done in 1993, based on the sampling
method. Data compiled in that census was made available within Myanmar
three years later but not internationally. The forthcoming third census is
expected to get people informed within six months.

Myanmar is an agricultural country with a population reaching 52 million,
of whom 65 percent of the labor force are engaged in agricultural
production.

Agriculture is also the mainstay of the country's economy with its output
value accounting for 42 percent of its gross domestic product and its
export value representing 28.3 percent of the total.

Myanmar has a cultivable land stretching 18.225 million hectares and the
lands utilized or cultivated are 10.12 million hectares, of which over 6
million hectares or 65 percent are covered by paddy.


----DRUGS----

The Nation (Thailand)   September 9, 2003
Drug lord's kin killed in sting

A drug trafficker believed to be the nephew of notorious drug lord Wei
Hsueh-kang was killed yesterday during a pre-dawn sting operation in the
North.

Yutachai Sae-sim, 39, the nephew of Wei, was shot dead in the border town
of Mae Sai during the joint Army-police operation, narcotics officials
said.

Three of his associates fled across the Burmese border on foot, the
officials said. A total of 100,000 methamphetamine tablets were
confiscated.

Yutachai was confronted when he tried to sell two million methamphetamine
pills to undercover narcotics officials. Wei, a senior commander of the
pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army (UWSA), was convicted in absentia by a US
Federal Court for heroin trafficking. There is a US$2-million
(Bt81.5-million) reward for information leading to his capture.

But Yutachai's relationship with the Wei family has yet to be confirmed,
said a senior officer at the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB).
He is believed to be the adopted son of Wei's younger brother, Wei
Hsueh-long,

The officer said the authorities were looking into the suspect's business
dealings and his connections to other drug lords in Burma.

Army sources said Yutachai has extensive business connections with the
20,000-strong UWSA and members of the Kokang-Chinese drug lords, including
Pheung Kya-shin and Kya-fu.

The Pheung brothers founded the Kokang People's Liberation Army in 1968
and, shortly afterwards, merged with the now defunct Communist Party of
Burma. They established an extensive heroin trafficking network to finance
their operation and feed their army.

Thai Army sources said Yutachai owned a number of companies that acted as
fronts to import precursor chemicals from China used to manufacture
methamphetamines and heroin in labs around Burma's Shan State.


Shan Herald Agency for News   September 9, 2003
More labs move deep, scores still around

Tipped off by the Burmese military, Wei Hsuehkang, Commander of the Wa's
171st Military Region, has dismantled some of his drug factories and moved
them further from the Thai border, said an informed source returning from
the border areas.

The 50 year old "retired" trafficker said, "One, I know for sure, was
transferred from Wanhong (in Monghsat township, opposite Chiangmai's Mae
Ai district) to Tangyan (in northern Shan State) on 25 August. Another in
Hopang-Hoyawd (in Mongton township, opposite Chiangmai's Fang district)
has already been packed waiting to be removed."

He added that Wei had another factory built underground near Wanhong.
"That, to my knowledge, is still there," he said. "Even in Hopang-Hoyawd,
only Wei's factory, managed by Chao Ching, was to move out. But the one
run by Ta Rong's 214th Brigade (another Wa unit) is still there."

Two other refineries, located in Loi Khamlong, northwest of Monghsat, one
owned by a Wa and another by a Lahu militia, are under the protection of
Light Infantry Battalion 333, according to him.

Lahu militiamen who recently deserted from Monghsat's Mongtoom tract also
confirmed the existence of drug factories in the area. "One we know is
located at Hwe Hpakant, northwest of Mongtoom near Punako village" said
one.

The militia leader is Ja-Ngoi, who also owned a "hand-generated"
compressor that produces 3 speed pills each time and another "electricity
generated" compressor that produces 12 pills each time. Their factory is
under the protection of Light Infantry Battalion 553.

East of Mongtoom is Mongkarn tract where the Nampoong militia leader
Yishay, under the protection of Light Infantry Battalion 331, has another
refinery.

Between the two is the Yawngkha drug-free project site opposite Chiangrai
province that is being sponsored by Thailand.

"Some people are pushing for our removal instead of demanding the Burmese
military to do away with these refineries," complained a Shan commander in
Loi Kawwan, a Shan State Army base that is placed along the border between
the project site and Thailand, without elaboration.


----MONEY----

Agence France Presse   September 9, 2003
Private Thai airline to launch flights to Myanmar's ancient Bagan

Privately-owned Thai airline PB Air will launch three return flights per
week from Bangkok to the ancient Myanmar city of Bagan, an airline
spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"We will operate three flights a week and our inaugural flight will be on
October 27 with a 50-seat aircraft," chief of PB Air's public relations
Waraporn Srisatjakul told AFP.

The 90-minute return flights will run Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, she
added.

Bagan will be the third international destination for the 13-year-old
airline, which has five aircraft. The carrier already flies to Vietnam's
Danang and Luang Prabang in Laos, as well as seven domestic destinations.

Bagan, a historic collection of thousands of 11th and 12th century
Buddhist monuments covering some 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) in
remote central Myanmar, is the military-ruled nation's second most visited
tourist attraction after the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon.


----REGIONAL----
New Straits Times (Malaysia)   September 9, 2003
Razali to discuss Myanmar road map with the new PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. - The United Nations Secretary-General's special envoy
to Myanmar, Tan Sri Razali Ismail, said he is arranging to meet Myanmar's
new Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt and Opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi
during his next visit to the country.

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has been detained at an
undisclosed location following a clash between her supporters and a
pro-government group in northern Myanmar on May 30.

Razali said he would also discuss the new road map for Myanmar's
development with Khin Nyunt.

"It would be natural to discuss every aspect of my work, including the
road map that has been been articulated, with Myanmar's new Prime
Minister," he said after launching the UN's Global Compact in Malaysia at
a hotel here today.

Khin Nyunt, who is head of the country's military intelligence, took over
as Prime Minister last month from Gen Than Shwe.

Asked when he planned to visit Myanmar, Razali said:

"I am waiting to go in as soon as I can. I am in touch with the officials.
As soon as both sides can decide on a date, I will make my trip.

"But so far I have not got an answer yet."

Razali said he returned from Myanmar in June and was trying to get back
there to continue his work.

Asked about reports that Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike, Razali said it
had been clarified that she was not on a hunger strike.

On the assassination attempts on Suu Kyi which were reported by a radio
channel recently, Razali said he did not work on radio reports but dealt
with specific things on the ground.

Asked to comment on the road map for Myanmar to follow the module of the
Thailand road map, Razali said there had been some suggestions which could
be strung together.

"The experience of Thailand could also be used," he said.

Razali, a veteran diplomat who was appointed to his UN post in April 2000,
has visited Myanmar 10 times with the mandate to work for democracy and
national reconciliation.

Khin Nyunt announced his road map on Aug 30, but made no offer to hold
talks with Suu Kyi.

He also gave no timetable for the promised "free and fair" elections.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has established an association, recognised by the
United Nations, to further promote caring corporate society in the
country.

The association takes the form of Corporations with Environmental and
Social Awareness (CESA), jointly established by the UN Development
Programme with the country's business community.

CESA is Malaysia's version of the UN-initiated Global Compact, an
international voluntary framework that promotes good corporate
citizenship.

Companies within the network are committed to nine principles in the areas
of basic rights, environmental protection and employee equitability, which
are adopted in their overall business strategy and operations.

Global Compact, proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the World
Economic Forum in 1999, was launched in 2000 in New York.

Razali, who spoke at the launch of Global Compact, said more Malaysian
companies should join the network.

Global Compact has attracted about 1,240 companies worldwide and Malaysian
companies have to respond more assertively to the network.

To date, 12 companies in Malaysia are voluntarily engaged in CESA,
including Nestle, Ford, BASF and Cisco Systems.

However, most of the companies that have joined the network are
multinational companies.

Razali said that by supporting and advancing Global Compact, the private
sector could share best practices and create an environment for the
promotion of good corporate values.


----INTERNATIONAL----

Associated Press   September 9, 2003
Breakaway Russian region Chechnya is deadliest for mines
By JONATHAN D. SALANT

More people were killed by land mines during the continuing conflict in
Chechnya last year than anywhere else in the world, a watchdog group said
Tuesday.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the 1997 Nobel
Peace Prize, reported that 5,695 people were killed by land mines in
Chechnya in 2002, more than double the 2,140 casualties a year earlier.
The group said Russian troops and Chechen rebels both use mines in the
breakaway Russian region.

"Fighting, replete with massive violations of human rights and laws of
war, including widespread use of mines by both sides, continues," the
group said.

Overall, the group reported progress in its campaign. For example, 69
countries have destroyed 52 million mines in recent years.

"Progress on the land mine issue remains firm," said Jody Williams, who
shared the Nobel prize with the group she helped create. "Use is down
dramatically. The amount of money given for mine clearance is up."

A massive mine-clearing effort in Afghanistan is having the desired
effect, lowering the toll from mines from 1,445 in 2001 to 1,286 last
year, still the world's second-deadliest toll.

About $64 million was spent last year on mine-clearing operations, four
times greater than in 2001, after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban
government.

The group said 136 countries, including Afghanistan, had ratified a treaty
to ban land mines. The agreement awaits ratification in another 12. The
United States, Russia and China are among the 47 countries that have yet
to sign the treaty.

The Bush administration is reviewing the U.S. policy toward land mines.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines said the administration had
stockpiled mines to use in the recent Iraq war but did not deploy them.

Still, the number of reported deaths from mines in Iraq, which continued
to deploy them until the U.S. invasion earlier this year, rose from 360 in
2001 to 457 in 2002.

Six governments used land mines in 2002, down from nine in 2001 and 13 in
2000, the group said. This year, only two countries - Myanmar and Russia -
continued to use mines on a regular basis, the group said.

An official in Chechnya's Moscow-backed government disputed the casualty
figures, though he said authorities do not have their own numbers, the
Interfax news agency reported.

"I think that the organization's data are extremely exaggerated," Interfax
quoted Chechnya's Deputy Interior Minister Akhmed Dakayev as saying. "We
do not have any separate statistics related to land-mine victims, but
official data indicate that far less people were killed or injured (by
land mines) in 2002, as compared with the figure provided in the report."

The number of deaths in Myanmar, also known as Burma, doubled from 57 in
2001 to 114 in 2002. The Burmese military has been accused of forcing
people to walk in front of patrols in suspected minefields, so-called
atrocity de-mining.

Another country that experienced a sharp increase in deaths was Colombia,
where both rebel forces and paramilitary troops use mines. The number of
casualties rose from 216 in 2001 to 530 in 2002.

The report found that 11,700 people around the world were reported killed
by mines last year, including 2,649 children and 192 women. The advocacy
group said the total is higher because civilians are killed in areas with
no help and no way to communicate, so their deaths are not reported.

Nine of the world's 15 current land mine producers are in Asia: China,
India, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore and
Vietnam. Nepal was added to the list this year after the government in
Katmandu acknowledged producing mines.


----EDITORIALS----

Bangkok Post   September 7, 2003
International road map needed
From the Mon's point of view, a peace plan with UN backing should lead to
a real Union of Burma
By Sunthorn Sripanngern

The current political impasse in Burma is a constitutional crisis, rooted
in a desire to create a Federal Union of Burma which was first conceived
in 1948. But the Burman ultra-nationalists never wanted to be on an equal
footing with the ethnic nationalities.

On the full-moon day of Khadosoi (5th Mon lunar month) 55 years ago, the
Mon political community in Burma transformed overnight into an armed
resistance movement and took up arms against the Burmese regime.

On August 19, 1948, 27 young men led by Nai Pan Tha and Bo Thein looted a
police station near Moulmein and made off with three machine guns. The
event paved the way for the Mon armed struggle, an event well-remembered
within the collective consciousness of the Mon.

The Mon people have resisted and fought back Burman rule for centuries,
and today remain as determined as ever to achieve independence within a
united Burma.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Mon urban-based political party,
Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), have sought a new political
revolution based on peace rather than armed resistance.

THE ROOTS OF CONFLICT

The cultural, social and political problems in Burma today were years in
the making. In 1947, before the British granted independence to Burma,
there was a liberation movement that split the Burmese Army and bred
nationalism. Gen Aung San, the visionary of the Panglong Spirit, forged a
constitution in February 1947 in an attempt to bring stability. It was the
framework for a power-sharing relationship among ethnic nationalities,
based on equality and full internal autonomy. The constitution also gave
the right to secede to each ethnic national group. However, the United Mon
Association and the Karen Nation Union were excluded from this agreement.

Competing power interests among the Communist Party and the Pyithu-Yebaw
(People's Comrade Party) led by Gen Aung San destabilised the country.

Despite the setbacks, the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL)
successfully called for the First Parliament Assembly and adopted a
constitution for the first time in Burma's history. Galon U Saw, an
educated lawyer earlier appointed by the British as interim prime
minister, was succeeded by Gen Aung San.

Shortly thereafter, U Saw was shot while driving his car in Rangoon and
escaped with minor injuries. He suspected that Gen Aung San was behind it.
Three months after the election, on July 19, 1947, Prime Minister Aung San
was assassinated together with half of his cabinet members. U Nu succeeded
as the AFPFL leader, became the prime minister- designate and formed a
government.

Under U Nu, Burma did not become a genuine federal union as envisioned by
Gen Aung San. U Nu imposed a land reform law and confiscated thousands of
acres of land from the Mon and gave it to AFPFL members.

Later on, the Pyithu-Yebaw party split into two groups _ the Yebaw Byu
(White Flag) and the Yebaw Waa (Yellow Flag). The Yebaw Byu were fervent
nationalists who had been outlawed by the Burmese government, but were
dead set against the ethnic nationalities having a share of power in
Burma. The Mon formed political organisations supported by thousands of
farmers to counter the Burmese nationalistic fervour, which in turn
triggered violence.

For the Burman nationalists there could only be one tiger in the forest.
When U Nu reversed the principles of the Panglong Agreement, he condemned
the country to civil war. The major ethnic groups, comprised of the Mon,
Karen, Chin, Kachin, Karenni, Arakan and Shan, have since become like
vassal states to the ethnic Burman majority and have fought back for over
five decades to regain their independence.

The Mon's armed struggle, which began in 1948, culminated in the
establishment of the Mon People's Front (MPF) in 1954. When the MPF
entered the legal fold with the U Nu government, Nai Shwe Kyin (known as
one man, one flag) founded the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in 1958.

The NMSP sees the Mon Revolution as the personal cause of every single man
and woman. The Mon armed struggle has never been isolated from current
internal and international affairs, and though it sometimes faces internal
conflict among warlords, extreme nationalists and anarchists, it also
contains a vanguard of intellectuals and moderate leaders.

A turning point for the Mon occurred when the NMSP reached a ceasefire
agreement with the Burmese junta in 1995. The NMSP was pressured by Thai
authorities to sign the agreement, but Mon leaders were optimistic that
the gentlemen's agreement would lead to a political settlement in the
future.

However, the ceasefire led to limited improvement in the quality of life
for the majority of Mon people. Thousands of them came to Thailand as
migrant labourers.

A NEW ROAD MAP

The May 30 assassination attempt on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi not only
illustrated the Burmese autocracy to be as backward as they were in 1947,
but international condemnation has shocked the junta out of its boots.
They cannot get away with murdering innocent people anymore.

Not surprisingly, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) spoke
out against the Burmese junta. China, India, Thailand and Malaysia must
realise that a strong and free economic neighbour will be a benefit to
them all.

Gen Khin Nyunt's ``road map'' follows a depressingly familiar pattern of
empty rhetoric.

On August 30, when he spoke of paving the way to democracy based on a
spirit of national unity for the perpetuation of the Union, Gen Khin Nyunt
was talking about the Burman State. Not a word about the ethnic
nationalities was mentioned.

This is a repeat of the past _ the Burmese nationalists do not want to be
on an equal footing with the ethnic nationalities.

Gen Khin Nyunt's proposed road map ensures that the military will be voted
into power.

Furthermore, he is not trusted by the ethnic nationalities. Like all
dictatorships, the junta says one thing and means another.

Unless the SPDC releases political prisoners and agrees to a peace plan,
pro-democracy activities will remain under persistent threat from various
state-sponsored persecutions in the country.

There must be an internationalised road map, with specific goals
implemented and with full UN backing, With China and/or Thailand acting as
observers the democratisation plan should focus on disarmament, building
institutions and infrastructure and restoring economic viability.

- Sunthorn Sripanngern writes for the Mon's Kao Wao News Group.


Newsweek International   Sept. 15 issue
On the Road to Nowhere
As Washington eases up on Pyongyang, it’s pushing blunt, untargeted
sanctions against Rangoon. Bad move
By Joe Cochrane

Now that George W. Bush is discovering the shades of gray between good and
evil, he might want to rethink his black-and-white approach to Burma.

LAST WEEK THE U.S. administration backed off its zero-carrot approach to
North Korea, allowing that it would consider easing sanctions as Pyongyang
begins to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. At the same time,
Washington is moving in an opposite direction against Burmaimposing
all-or-nothing sanctions that will be lifted only after the military junta
frees democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, holds free elections and cedes
power to a civilian government.

The Burma policy is a dead end. In North Korea, Bush has come to recognize
that even a superpower can’t bargain by sheer force and offer nothing in
return for something, even when dealing with a crude dictator. In Burma,
however, “they’re saying give up power and then we’ll talk. It doesn’t
make sense,” says Georgetown University Asia expert David Steinberg.
General Khin Nyunt became prime minister amid growing international
pressure over the detention of Suu Kyi, whom the United States claims was
on a hunger strike last week. So far, the pressure has only inspired the
generals to dig in deeper.

They can live in a bunker and defy the West indefinitely. The most famous
case of sanctions that helped bring down a ruthless government was South
Africa, but the apartheid regime was deeply engaged in trade before the
world united to cut it off completely. Many expected North Korea, too, to
collapse under sanctions, but it has not. And, like North Korea, Burma has
an agrarian, subsistence economy so backward that tougher Western
sanctions don’t present a significantly greater threat, yet it still
produces enough to keep the narrow ruling elite in great comfort. “They
will continue to survive,” says Steinberg. “When you talk about a country
collapsing economically, you’re thinking about an industrialized country.
In Burma, forget it.”

Bush says new American sanctions send a “clear signal” for the junta to
release Suu Kyi and jailed leaders of her movement, hand over power to
civilians and return to the barracks. The new Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act freezes assets of the generals in U.S. banks and bans all
imports from Burma, which will cost it $356 million in garment sales to
the United States. But that’s only a fraction of Burma’s total exports,
and the threat hasn’t moved the generals. Nyunt responded by offering his
own “road map to democracy,” but with no clear signposts or deadlines.
Washington dismissed it as a joke.

So where to go from here? Since the apartheid era, there has been an
effort to rethink sanctions as a more precise weapon that targets rulers,
not the ruled. Saddam Hussein was allowed to sell oil on the condition
that proceeds went to help Iraqis, which at least softened the sanctions
blow. Yet in Burma, the new U.S. import ban has thrown at least 80,000
Burmese out of work, and the European Union is poised to impose a similar
ban. Washington is trying to get China, India and Southeast Asian nations
to follow suit. At the least, new sanctions need to be redrawn to ease the
impact on ordinary people.

The United States also needs to give the generals a way to cede power
gradually without fear of popular retribution. Some Asians suggest the
model of Cambodia, where another brutal military regime proved impervious
to sanctions but eventually agreed to lay down arms, form an interim
government with the opposition and then hold elections in a peace deal
brokered by the United Nations. Steinberg, who has contacts in Rangoon,
says the junta may be open to power sharing, as long as it retains at
least 25 percent of the seats in Parliament. That would be a small
concession to make for democracy in Burma.