BurmaNet News: Sept 29, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Sept 29, 2003, Issue # 2336

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: UN envoy visits Myanmar to see Suu Kyi, revive
reform dialogue Reuters: Myanmar's Suu Kyi Returns Home, Security Tight
AP: Myanmar foreign minister says international sanctions unfair,
insists country is committed to democracy
Xinhua: Work for Myanmar's reconciliation: Thai FM

REGIONAL
Nation: Suu Kyi to be key topic at Bali
AFP: Thailand calls for easing of pressure on Myanmar
junta over Suu Kyi
Thai Press Reports: Thai , Myanmar Officials Hold Talks On Border Health
Cooperation In Kengtung
Nation: Million Thai condoms are bound for Burma

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Burma: Democracy party youth leader sentenced to three years in
jail

__________________ INSIDE BURMA ___________________

Agence France Presse, Sept 29
UN envoy visits Myanmar to see Suu Kyi, revive reform dialogue

UN envoy Razali Ismail arrives in Myanmar Tuesday on a mission to revive
a dialogue between the ruling junta and democracy campagner Aung San Suu
Kyi, and to push for her release from house arrest. There are fears that
Aung San Suu Kyi's continuing detention could overshadow a summit of
Southeast Asian leaders in Bali next week, leading to blunt calls from
host nation Indonesia for the regime to make its plans clear. "The
Myanmar government should state specifically whether it will keep Suu
Kyi under house arrest or free her immediately," Indonesian President
Megawati Sukarnoputri reportedly said on the weekend. UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, who appointed Razali as his personal envoy, has also
called for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release and expressed concern
for her wellbeing after she was underwent major surgery on September 19.
 Political analysts said Myanmar's neighbours in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were becoming increasingly annoyed about
the junta's intransigence which has drawn the ire of the US and the
European Union. "Some of the ASEAN members are losing patience with
Myanmar, particularly with regards to the coming summit," said
Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs from the international relations department at
Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "But I doubt if this kind of
pressure being put on them from every direction will make them
accommodate these wishes." Aung San Suu Kyi spent nearly four months in
detention at a secret location before being returned to her home Friday
to recuperate. Razali, on his 11th visit to Myanmar, is expected to be
one of her first visitors. The Malaysian diplomat is credited with
brokering landmark talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta which
began in October 2000 but collapsed earlier this year. Observers said he
now faced the difficult task of bringing the two sides back to the table
and advancing a seven-point "roadmap" for democratic reform unveiled by
the regime in August. "He has to play the intermediary to find the best
solution for the beginning of the roadmap," said one western diplomat in
Yangon, noting that the process should begin with a convention to draft
a constitution. "The key question is -- who will participate and how
will it work?" The roadmap provides for free and fair elections under
the new constitution, but the government has given no timeframe for the
process to begin, leading to scepticism that it is serious about
introducing reforms. "Razali is coming to get the dialogue started
again," the diplomat said. "Both sides should be aware that they have a
part to play and it's obvious they have to soften their positions
because at the moment they are so far apart." The diplomat said Suu
Kyi's release would be contingent on success in getting the national
reconciliation process back on track, and that Razali hoped to shuttle
between the two parties to get it off the ground. "The condition of Suu
Kyi will be automatically settled if the dialogue begins," he said. "We
cannot see how she could participate in a national convention if she was
confined to her home." Analysts agreed there was little chance of a
release before the ASEAN summit despite the pressure being brought to
bear, raising the prospect that Myanmar's Prime Minister Khin Nyunt
might elect not to attend. Tensions from May 30 clashes between Suu
Kyi's supporters and a pro-junta gang, which triggered her arrest and
detention, are still running high and the regime is fearful she will
reveal details of the incident once she is freed. "It would be opening a
pandora's box if they released her. She's going to talk and they can't
restrict her," said Aung Zaw, editor of the Thailand-based Myanmar
affairs magazine Irrawaddy. Razali's trip is important because it will
give the regime an opportunity to try to smooth its path ahead of the
Bali meeting, he said. "ASEAN leaders want to see a meaningful package
if Khin Nyunt is to go, and the government sees that as an important
obstacle. If they can overcome it, it will be bad news for Suu Kyi, they
could keep her for quite some time," he added. Malaysian premier
Mahathir Mohamad has suggested Myanmar could be kicked out of ASEAN if
it defies international calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi. "I doubt if they
would eject them as Mahathir said, but they might leave the association
by themselves," said Chayachoke. "If everybody turns against Burma the
only thing they can do is resign from ASEAN and that would not achieve
anything at all... I would like to see Burma come to the table, that
would be better than letting them go on their own path."
___________________________________
Sept 27, Reuters
Myanmar's Suu Kyi Returns Home, Security Tight

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar clamped tight security around the home of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and turned away foreign diplomats on
Saturday as Western governments and opposition groups demanded her
release from house arrest.

Myanmar's Southeast Asian partners in a 10-country regional grouping
said Suu Kyi's return home after nearly four months in detention was a
positive gesture by the military government.

The Nobel laureate, who had major surgery a week ago, was driven from a
Yangon hospital on Friday to the house where she has been confined for
more than seven of the past 14 years.  Police manned security roadblocks
and checked cars near the famed lakeside home and rallying point for
opposition to the junta.

A group of U.S. and European diplomats were turned away when they tried
to visit Suu Kyi.

"She is recovering from her illness and not in a position to receive
anyone at the moment," a security official told Reuters.

Indonesia and Thailand, among the regional neighbors embarrassed by Suu
Kyi's detention and pushing for her release before a summit of Southeast
Asian leaders next month, said the decision to move her should not be
ignored.

"Allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to return home is a step in the right
direction for democracy, which involves listening to the opinion of
various sides," said Thai spokesman Sita Divari.

Britain and the United States called for her unconditional and immediate
release.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is again a prisoner in her own home and the military
regime flagrantly continues to disregard the Burmese people's demands
for democracy and human rights," British Foreign Office Minister Mike
O'Brien said.

The United States, which along with the European Union (news - web
sites) has tightened sanctions against the junta, echoed that view and
called for the immediate lifting of restrictions on Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, won the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize during her first spell of house arrest between 1989 and
1995. She was detained on May 30 after a clash between her followers and
government supporters.

In the crackdown that followed, many members of Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) were picked up and the party's offices
padlocked.

Myanmar's military rulers said Suu Kyi, held in isolation at a secret
location before entering the hospital, had returned home, but did not
say whether she was under house arrest.

"She will continue to rest at home under the supervision of her doctors
while the government stands ready to provide and assist her with medical
and humanitarian needs," a government statement said on Friday.

Officials were unavailable for comment on Saturday.  Her doctor said she
would not be free to come and go and visitors would have to seek
permission from the authorities.

Indonesia, which chairs the 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations, wants Myanmar, also known as Burma, to free Suu Kyi before
ASEAN leaders meet in Bali on October 7 and 8.

ASEAN, one of the few groups to allow Myanmar as a member, gave an
unprecedented rebuke of Yangon in June --fearing Myanmar's actions hurt
ASEAN's credibility and caused problems in its relations with other
countries.

"The military did the bare minimum on Suu Kyi to allow everyone to save
face so ASEAN did not have to confront the issue next month," a
Bangkok-based Western diplomat told Reuters.

An Indonesian spokesman said Suu Kyi's return home was a positive
development, but exiled dissidents want ASEAN to get tough with their
neighbor.

"They allowed the military to become a member of ASEAN. If they care for
the Burmese people they should give proper thought to solving the
problems in Burma," said Sann Aung of the exiled National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma.

ASEAN's secretary general said last week he did not expect any serious
moves at the Bali meeting to try to expel Myanmar.

U.N. envoy Razali Ismail visits Myanmar on Tuesday for talks with the
military, who have ruled since 1962. He played a key role in efforts to
free Suu Kyi from house arrest in May 2002.

He is keen to revive talks between the military and the NLD.
___________________________________
AP: Sept 29
Myanmar foreign minister says international sanctions unfair, insists
country is committed to democracy Myanmar's foreign minister insisted
Monday that his country is committed to democracy, even though the
government continues to keep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under
house arrest. Addressing the annual U.N. General Assembly ministerial
meeting, Foreign Minister Win Aung also criticized the international
community for imposing punishing sanctions over the Asian country's
human rights record. "It is disconcerting that some countries have
chosen to turn a blind eye to the reality and have subjected Myanmar to
a wide array of unfair economic sanctions for their political ends," he
said. Myanmar's military seized power in 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy uprising. It held elections in 1990, but refused to
recognize the results after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
party won. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is currently under house
arrest for the third time since 1989. The junta detained the popular
pro-democracy leader in May after a clash between some of her supporters
and a pro-government mob in northern Myanmar. She was released from a
hospital to her house last week, where she will remain under house
arrest, her doctor said. Suu Kyi's arrest disrupted a reconciliation
process between Myanmar's military junta and the opposition, increasing
the country's international isolation. Win Aung did not mention Suu Kyi
in his address, but said the country is "firmly committed to bringing
about a systematic transformation to democracy." "Some have accused us
of deliberately creating a political impasse in order to delay the
transfer of power," he said. In fact, the country is "firmly committed
to bringing about a systematic transformation to democracy." "If one
takes a close and objective look at the situation in the country, one
will see that what needs to be done to effect a smooth transition to
democracy is first and foremost to have the political will," he said.
"Let me assure you that we have the political will."
___________________________________

Xinhua, Sept 29
Work for Myanmar's reconciliation: Thai FM
BANGKOK, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) --Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai
hoped that the return to her home of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi was a positive step that would speed up the process towards
national reconciliation, the Thai News Agency reported Monday.
Surakiart, who paid a one-day visit to Myanmar last week to discuss
Rangoon's road map for national conciliation, said that Suu Kyi's return
would improve the political atmosphere in Myanmar, and would help pave
the way for meetings to draft a new national constitution. He also
voiced confidence that Rangoon would ease restrictions on the Suu Kyi,
and said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) still
hoped that both sides would be able to engage in talks. He revealed that
during the ASEAN leadership summit in Bali from Oct. 7 to Oct. 8, Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would have a chance to engage in talks
with his Myanmar counterpart Khin Nyunt. The "road map plan," initially
proposed by Thailand to resolve the political deadlock of Myanmar,
includes immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, resumption of national
reconciliatory talks, and the establishment of a constitutional drafting
committee comprised of all parties. The 7-point "road map to national
conciliation" for Myanmar, announced by Khin Nyunt on Aug. 30, shortly
after he took up his new post, is different from Thailand's proposal.
The first step of the Myanmar' road map would be the resumption of a
national convention to establish a new constitution, the Myanmar
government said, but did not gave any time frame for the project.

_____________ REGIONAL ______________

The Nation: Sept 29
Suu Kyi to be key topic at Bali

Asean members remain divided over how to secure the freedom of detained
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, indicating the issue could
become a hot topic during the grouping's Bali summit next month.

Thailand and Indonesia consider continued dialogue with the ruling
Burmese junta as the best way to secure Suu Kyi's release from house
arrest. But the Philippines says it has run out of patience with Rangoon
and wants the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) released
from house arrest immediately.

Representatives of the 10-member regional grouping gathered in New York
on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly annual debate to exchange
views over the political deadlock in Burma ahead of the Asean summit in
Bali on October 7 and 8.

'The fact that the government of [Burma] allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to go
home is a significant move,' said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan
Wirajuda.

Wirajuda said that Indonesia, which is currently holds the chairmanship
of Asean, was satisfied with the progress that the junta had made.

'Think of it as a process, not a result today,' he said.

Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri has called on Rangoon to
spell out what it will do with Suu Kyi.

'The [Burmese] government should state specifically whether it will keep
Suu Kyi under house arrest or free her immediately,' the Jakarta Post
quoted Megawati as saying during a visit to Libya.

'The road map over whether it will free Suu Kyi should be made clear,'
she said.

Suu Kyi recently underwent surgery, before being taken to her lakeside
residence in Rangoon and placed under house arrest. Security has been
tightened around her house, and permission from the authorities is
required for visitors.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai's views reflect those of his
Indonesian counterpart, saying that allowing Suu Kyi's to return to her
residence was 'a major step forward'.

'I believe that Aung San Suu Kyi's return home will improve the climate
for negotiation between the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council]
and the NLD and the constitution-drafting process,' he said.

Surakiart said that he hoped visitors would be allowed to meet Suu Kyi
and that she was eventually permitted to travel and engage in political
activities as before.

However, Philippine Foreign Minister Blas Ople, a staunch critic of
Burma, said that he wanted to see Burma release Suu Kyi immediately,
saying: 'Patience is running out, especially for Asean."There will be an
external force from Asean against Myanmar [Burma] if Suu Kyi is not
released,' he said.Asked if UN envoy Razali Ismail will be allowed to
see Suu Kyi when he visits Rangoon tomorrow, Win Aung said: 'It will be
as usual.'

In July, Asean broke a long-held principle of non-interference in the
affairs of member countries and called for Burma to release Aung San Suu
Kyi.

At the Bali Asean summit, it will be the first time that the newly
appointed leader of the Burmese junta, Khin Nyunt, meets with leaders of
the 10-nation regional grouping, and the political deadlock in Burma is
expected to be discussed. ______________________________________

Sept 29
Agence France Presse : Thailand calls for easing of pressure on Myanmar
junta over Suu Kyi

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Monday that foreign
governments should ease pressure on Myanmar's ruling junta to release
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and allow it act in its own time.

"The solving of this problem should be step by step. One country should
not force another country to do something," Thaksin told reporters.

"They should give Myanmar time. Myanmar has dignity and they have their
own process of retraction" of the restrictions against the 58-year-old
democracy campaigner, he said.

Thaksin said Myanmar had already responded to international concerns by
returning Aung San Suu Kyi to her Yangon home last week after she
underwent major surgery, ending nearly four months of detention at a
secret location.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who will host an Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bali next week, has urged
the junta to make its plans for the opposition leader clear before the
meeting.

"The Myanmar government should state specifically whether it will keep
Suu Kyi under house arrest or free her immediately," she told the
Jakarta Post Sunday, warning the issue could cast a shadow over the
summit.

The United States, which tightened sanctions against the military regime
as punishment for Aung San Suu Kyi's latest detention and a wider
crackdown on her National League for Democracy (NLD), has also called
for more action.

And in Malaysia, an opposition party Saturday urged ASEAN leaders to ban
Myanmar from the ASEAN summit unless Aung San Suu Kyi is released
unconditionally.

But Thaksin said Thailand will use a different style with Myanmar than
other nations in ASEAN, a grouping which officially bans interference in
other members' affairs.

"We are neighbours who share a common border, and we have our own
tactics with them," he said when asked whether Thailand supported
Indonesia's pressure on Yangon.

Thaksin dispatched Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to Yangon
Friday for a one-day visit to discuss Myanmar's "roadmap" to democracy
which it announced August 30.

Surakiart returned saying he was confident the plan would be implemented
eventually but that he had been given no timeframe by the ruling
generals.

Thaksin said Thailand would host an international meeting on the
democracy roadmap, which provides for free and fair elections under a
new constitution, but he did not provide further details.

Myanmar has been mired in a stalemate since 1990 when the NLD won a
landslide election victory which the military regime refused to
recognise. ______________________________________


Thai Press Reports: Thai , Myanmar Officials Hold Talks On Border Health
Cooperation In Kengtung

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan visited Kengtung in Myanmar's
Shan State on Saturday (September 27) where she opened an exhibition on
health cooperation and engaged in a conference on border health issues.

The Thai - Myanmar health cooperation follows an agreement signed
between the two countries in 2000, under which the Ministries of Public
Health of both sides will campaign against three major diseases, namely
malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.

The project requires a budget of 105 million baht, of which 39 million
baht has been jointly contributed by both sides and the rest by
international organizations.

Director - General of the Department of Disease Control Charan
Trinwuthipong said that talks between the Thai delegation and Myanmar
officials focussed not only on the control of AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, but also on food safety and elephantiasis.

According to him, Thailand used to put elephantiasis under control but
the influx of Myanmar labour had led to a return of the disease. As a
result, the Ministry of Public Health has required Myanmar workers to
register with the Ministry of Labour and take a precautionary course of
medication.

Thailand and Myanmar share a common border of 2,400 kilometres, with
millions of both nationals exchanging visits each year. The mountainous
and forest terrain along the border has made malaria the major health
risk to their people.

The 3rd Thai-Myanmar border health conference was running in the town of
Kengtung from September 27 to 28. ______________________________________

Sept 28
Nation: Million Thai condoms are bound for Burma

CHIANG RAI - Thailand will donate one million condoms and anti-HIV/Aids
medicines to Burma in an effort to fight the increasing levels of the
disease in that country, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said
yesterday.

The donation is part of a joint project to prevent the outbreak of
dangerous diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis, along the
2,400-kilometre frontier, she said.

Sudarat was in the northern province of Chiang Rai with her Burmese
counterpart Dr Kyaw Myint to preside over an exhibition of Thai-Burmese
health cooperation.

Sudarat did not say when the condoms and medicine would be handed to
Burma.

HIV/Aids is a serious problem in Burma as people lack knowledge about
transmission of the virus through sexual intercourse, said Dr Thien
Sein, the chief of the Kengtung Aids Prevention Department in Burma's
Shan State.

The population in Kengtung is suffering from increasing rates of HIV
infection due to the low use of condoms, he said.

HIV in Burma is fuelled by population mobility, poverty and frustration
that breeds risky sexual activity and drug-taking.

The United Nations estimates that more than 400,000 people are infected
with HIV in Burma.

Dr Thongchai Tawechachart, director of the Government Pharmaceutical
Organisation (GPO), said the organisation was ready to supply Thai-made
anti-HIV/Aids drug cocktails to Burma The GPO could produce a low-cost
cocktail for some 150,000 HIV carriers a year, he said.

__________________ INTERNATIONAL ____________________

Sept 26
DVB: Burma: Democracy party youth leader sentenced to three years in
jail

It has been learned that the SPDC State Peace and Development Council
has sentenced Ko Myo Khin, NLD National League for Democracy youth in
charge from Yankin Township who was detained on 3 June, to three years
imprisonment on 17 September.

Ko Myo Khin and three NLD youth members wrote a letter urging the SPDC
to reopen the NLD Headquarters a day after the 30 May Tabayin incident.
He was detained by the military intelligence on 3 June.

Daw Khin Khin Win, wife of Ko Myo Khin, said since the authorities did
not inform them about the location of his detention centre family
members were unable to meet him for a whole three months. Daw Khin Khin
Win said she was given permission to meet him only after he was
sentenced to three years imprisonment by the judicial court at Insein
Jail. Regarding the matter Ko Myo Khin's wife Daw Khin Khin Win said the
following to DVB Democratic Voice of Burma . passage omitted on
interview

___________________________________