BurmaNet News: October 11-13, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

October 11-13, 2003 Issue #2346

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar junta says Suu Kyi in custody under 'mutually agreed arrangement'
SHAN: USDA rises again
DVB: SPDC training civilians to ‘defend’ Burma against foreign aggression
AP: Myanmar government says its forests are safe
WP: Burma's Iron 'Aunty'; Aung San Suu Kyi's Steely Will Keeps a Country's
Hopes Alive
DVB: The youngest political prisoner in Burma

ON THE BORDERS
Kao Wao: Illegal Trade and Corruption on Thai-Burma Border
SHAN: IDPs allowed to regroup
Mizzima: Tension in Manipur affects Indo-Burma border trade at Moreh
Kaladan: A Refugee Woman Missing from Refugee Camp
AP: Often conquered, now suppressed, a once great race clings to tradition

DRUGS
BP: More Drugs Seized Near 10m Pill Haul

REGIONAL
IHT: “Lack of political change in Myanmar has seriously damaged Asean's
credibility” –ASEAN Sec-Gen
Xinhua: Myanmar-ASEAN relations open new page: official
FT: Thaksin Downplays Myanmar Controversy
Irrawaddy: Thais to Expel Burmese Monks
SHAN: Activists protest Tasang dam

INTERNATIONAL
Nation: 'US Campaign for Burma’: Crackdown slammed
AFP: EU ministers "encouraged Chinese engagement” in resolving political
situation in Burma
Ft. Wayne News Sentinel: Burmese finding solidarity; Conference
participants worked out several key resolutions

EDITORIALS
Washington Post: The Soul of a Nation by Vaclav Havel
Contra Costa Times: Myanmar a growing threat to world peace by U.S.
Sen.Richard Lugar
Boston Globe: A tough stand on Burma
BP: United Front A Distant Dream


----INSIDE BURMA----

Associated Press Worldstream   October 13, 2003
Myanmar junta says Suu Kyi in custody under 'mutually agreed arrangement'

Myanmar's military government said Monday that pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi is being held at home under a "mutually agreed security
arrangement," but gave no indication when she would be free.

"There is no need for concern over Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She is
convalescing because of her health condition. This is a mutually agreed
security arrangement," Brig. Gen. Than Tun, a defense ministry spokesman,
told a news conference. He refused to elaborate.

Suu Kyi, 58, was detained following a bloody May 30 clash between her
supporters and a pro-government mob while she was touring northern
Myanmar.

She was brought home Sept. 26, after spending a week in hospital for an
operation for a gynecological condition. Before her hospitalization she
was held incommunicado at an undisclosed location.

Her detention caused an international outcry, with world leaders such as
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling for her release, and the United
States, Europe and Japan applying economic and political pressures.

In a bid to deflect criticism, the junta has announced a "road map" for
restoring democracy in Myanmar. It outlined a path to national elections
and a new government but provided no details or timeline.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told the news conference that
government leaders have "a timeframe of their own, but they will not
divulge the time yet. It will be made known at an appropriate time."

"The government has no desire to delay the implementation of the road
map," he said.

The 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is
a member, called the plan to restore democracy a positive development
during its summit on Indonesia's Bali island this month.

But the United States has said there is no need for a road map unless it
has the full participation of the opposition, which appears unlikely given
Suu Kyi's situation.

The junta first said that Suu Kyi was being held for her own safety, but
later said her detention was intended to safeguard public security. When
the military announced her return home from hospital, it did not mention
what restrictions she faced.

On Friday, authorities stopped followers of Suu Kyi from paying their
respects at her home on the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut marking the end of
Buddhist lent. Homage traditionally is paid to elders and teachers on the
holiday. Most of Myanmar's 42 million people are Buddhists.

The current junta 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 party won.


Shan Herald Agency for News   October 11, 2003
USDA rises again
Reporter: Zerng Tai

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association that had
been keeping a low profile since the 30 May massacre is up and about again
in eastern Shan State, said sources coming to the border.

Residents from Kengtung, Mongyawng, Monghpyak and Tachilek told S.H.A.N.
beginning this month each village was required to "appoint" 5 of its
villagers as USDA members. (Before it was two per village.) Each village
is also required to support food for the families of the members. In
addition, the members are exempted from taxes and other obligations
imposed by the authorities.

As for high school and university students who join the association, they
are entitled to extra marks, from 20 upwards, according to a village
committee member in Tachilek.

Sources also supported a report by IMNA, 6 October, that the Association
is grooming itself to enter future elections as a full-fledged political
party. "Dr Hsaykaw, Chairman of Kengtung USDA, himself disclosed it to his
township executive committee members last week," said a businesswoman who
returned from Kengtung recently.

The USDA was formed on 15 September 1993 and boasts 18 million members,
according to NCGUB News Desk. Its chief patron is Senior General Than
Shwe.


Democratic Voice of Burma   October 14, 2003
SPDC training civilians to ‘defend’ Burma against foreign aggression

The SPDC is giving civilians military trainings for ‘the defence against
foreign aggression’.

Factory workers in Ahlone Township, Rangoon have been forced to take part
in the trainings from the 7 October.

U Maung Maung Hein reports:

U Maung Maung Hein : The trainings for 200 civilians from the assorted
wards are being given at four separate locations mainly at school
playgrounds. They are being trained from 4 to 6pm everyday and the
trainings are to last a month. A speaker said at the opening ceremony in
the town hall insisted that the trainings are given so that the people
could defend the mother country from foreign aggressions and people might
be armed if necessary. A trainee who has been forced to attend the
trainings despite his daily struggle for survival gave his reaction as
follows:

A trainee : The local authorities summoned us for the trainings. One
person from each work unit is forced to attend the trainings. We have to
work the whole day and attend the trainings in the evenings. We have no
time to do other things.

U Kyaw Htet, the chairman of People Defence Force (PDF) based on the
Thai-Burma border said that these are the desperate acts of dictators to
divert people’s attention away from the dire situation in the country. He
also added that the trainings could be used against the regime one day
when the people of Burma want to get rid of the regime.


Associated Press Worldstream   October 13, 2003
Myanmar government says its forests are safe

Myanmar's military government on Monday acknowledged that illegal logging
goes on in its forest but denied they are in danger of disappearing.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told a news conference that
allegation by some groups that Myanmar forests are vanishing due to
extensive felling of timber "is a false statement."

Khin Maung Win did not name the group but was apparently referring to a
report by an environmental group, Global Witness, which said that the
cash-strapped military regime and rebel groups in border areas are cutting
down trees "at an unsustainable rate with disastrous consequences for the
environment."

"Such allegations are not true as the forest department fell timber
systematically and there is no danger of deforestation," Khin Maung Win
said.

The United Nations has "recognized that Myanmar has a forest covered area
of 52 percent of the country's total land area, one of the highest in the
Asia Pacific region," he said.

Khin Maung Win said Myanmar has 150 years of experience with forest
management and never clear-cuts forest, as alleged by Global Witness, the
London-based group.

The Global Witness report, released last Tuesday, said Myanmar is
suffering the fastest deforestation in Southeast Asia, itself the worst
affected region in the world.

Khin Maung Win said timber extraction is permitted only to the state-owned
Myanmar Timber enterprise and neither local nor foreign companies are
currently granted concessions.

"As other developing countries, Myanmar is faced with illegal logging to
some extent. However, government is taking all possible measures to curb
and eliminate illegal logging," Khin Maung Win added.

Global Witness, which conducted its investigation in 2001 on the
Chinese-Myanmar border along the northern Kachin State, said logging
activity increased after Myanmar's junta signed cease-fire agreements with
various ethnic guerrilla groups in 1989 and gave them logging concessions.

At the same time Myanmar' military also is heavily involved in logging as
are guerrilla groups who remained hostile to the regime, Global Witness
said.


The Washington Post   October 13, 2003
Burma's Iron 'Aunty'; Aung San Suu Kyi's Steely Will Keeps a Country's
Hopes Alive (excerpt)
By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post Foreign Service

Aunty, run! Run!

The horrified young bodyguards screamed for the slender woman they were
escorting through the Burmese night to make a break for it. Hundreds of
angry assailants were swarming her motorcade of democracy activists,
smashing her truck's window and jabbing sharpened bamboo sticks inside.

But the beloved leader of Burma's democracy movement -- Aung San Suu Kyi,
affectionately called "Aunty" -- refused to budge that day, May 30, on
what has become known as Black Friday.

The mob, recruited by Burma's military regime, dragged off Suu Kyi's
elderly deputy. They jerked women out of the trucks, stripping several
naked and bashing one's head on the road. Scores of activists, maybe more
than 100, were killed or injured.

"They are killing our mother!" the activists shouted, referring again to
Suu Kyi.

"She refused to run," recalls Wunna Maung, a 26-year-old bodyguard. Her
driver finally floored the gas pedal and rocketed them out of the fray.

But Suu Kyi was captured less than two miles away. For almost four months,
she was held incommunicado in an undisclosed location. She was returned
home Sept. 26, to house arrest yet again -- she has spent almost eight of
the last 14 years detained.

The international community demands her freedom. The United States has
imposed economic sanctions on Burma. This petite, fragile-looking
58-year-old woman with blossoms woven in her hair, a "prettier version of
Mahatma Gandhi," one friend calls her, has become the sole repository for
the Burmese people's hopes.

She chose this burden, this unimaginable weight. She once had a
comfortable intellectual life in Europe, but a remarkable confluence of
events, of people, led her back to a harder path.

FULL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18107-2003Oct12.html


Democratic Voice of Burma   October 14, 2003
The youngest political prisoner in Burma

A newly born baby was sent to prison with his mother, a NLD member, Ma San
San Maw who was arrested by the military intelligence (MI) agents and
sentenced to prison for complaining about the dire economic situation and
arguing with the authorities while queuing for rice in Rangoon at the end
of last year.

She was hospitalised in Insein hospital on the 4th of October and she gave
birth to a son on the next morning and named him Aung San Oh Wei in honour
of Burma’s national hero, Bogyoke Aung San, the father of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi. But both the mother and baby were sent back to the prison the next
day and Aung San Oh Wei became the youngest political prisoner in Burma.

The previous youngest political prisoner was the three year old Ma Thein
Wunna Khin, the daughter of Ko Kyaw Wunna of Pegu. She was taken hostage
by the authorities because her father fled to Thailand after he was
accused of distributing leaflets.

At the same time, it is reported that women and children are suffering
from various difficulties and diseases in Burmese prisons. Daw Khin San
Nwe who was arrested and imprisoned in 1989 while she was pregnant and
gave birth in the prison told DVB about her experiences as follows:

Daw Khin San Nwe : After I gave birth to my baby, they didn’t give me
enough water. It was very difficult to wash my baby and the nappies. If I
used clean water, they beat me up. I could have used dirty bath water but
I didn’t like to do it. I had to let them beat me up so that I could wash
my baby. I was not allowed to dry my baby clothing for three consecutive
days when the official came to visit the prison. There were TB sufferers
in the prison. The children were affected badly. Babies suffered from TB
and skin diseases. The food was very poor for the mothers. They only gave
us small boiled eggs sometimes.

She also said that children are taken away from their mothers and kept in
orphanages when they reach the age if five causing great distress to both
the mothers and children. Some children died from sorrow and some are sent
to military training camps and forced to be child soldiers.


----ON THE BORDERS----

Kao Wao News Group   October, 2003
Illegal Trade and Corruption on Thai-Burma Border
News report by Banya Hongsar

Measot—Illegal trade, migrants and other activities seem just part of
ordinary life of local people along the Thai Burma border areas.
Myawaddy-Moulmein transportation is one of the most practical roads for
traders during raining season. During the raining season, Three Pagodas
Pass - Moulmein road is closed for over 3 to 4 months due to inaccessible
road conditions.  Local people from the Mon and Karen States who rely on
the border trades are weary of illegal tax collection at a number of
border checkpoints.

Most truck owners didn’t make much of a profit during the last raining
season as they are imposed with heavy illegal cash collection by Burma
Army troops and other armed forces on the border route.

"We must always pay a fee to all border checkpoints and to our drivers, we
net only a few thousand Kyat," complained a track owner from Moulmein. If
there were more checkpoints, we would make no money, and sometimes we make
only a small amount," he added.
According to the truck owner, all vehicles pay at least Kyat 18,000 to
various checkpoints on the route to Myawaddy from Moulmein, the capital
city of Mon State. They pay the Burmese troops, traffic police, local
police force, Immigration Police (lawaka), Guards to bridges, troop of
DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) and local security forces. The truck
owners pay sometimes as much as Kyat 30,000 including a gas fee for one
trip including return. They charge Kyat 2,500 per passenger and if they
bring no goods to Moulmein the owner makes no profit. All illegal goods
from Thailand are sold on Burmese soil at Myawaddy because the truck
owners bringing goods to Moulmein will be punished by the authority if
goods from Thailand are found in the truck.

The local traders say that recently security forces are searching through
all packages and boxes.  The security officers rip open the boxes with a
small knife looking for explosives and other related materials. The
authorities are suspecting everyone and searching for anti-government arms
forces that often use the road via local traders bringing weapons inside
the country.

Traffic Control Board managed by U Kyi Win, Director of the Board,
monitors all trucks entering into and departing Myawaddy town, the other
side of Measot, Thailand with track records. All vehicles are photographed
including license number plates for security. The Board charges Kyat 200
to every vehicle for this procedure.

Recently, the Royal Thai Government and Burmese authority led by State
Peace and Development Council agreed to deport illegal migrants to return
home and a "Temporary Holding Centre" was set up in Myawady town.

According to Ko Soe, the truck driver, despite Myawaddy- Measot is
officially opened for border trade between the two countries; local
traders cannot buy and sell goods. However, members of the pro Rangoon
armed group, the DKBA, ignore the order and bring in whatever they like in
their trucks.

"They (DKBA) travel armed while driving their vehicles, so the government
troops dare not give them trouble," says the local trader. “A few vehicles
with registration by the DKBA have a better opportunity because the DKBA
soldiers sit in their cars for protection”, he added.

Both the New Mon State Party and the DKBA are members of cease-fire
agreement camps to SPDC in Burma. They have access to border trade and
other local business in the country. According to traders, truck owners
who are members of DKBA have more of a chance to deal with various
checkpoints than do the members of NMSP’s.

Local Immigration Officers ban all girls and young women crossing to the
border towns without accompanying male siblings.  Two young girls who
planned to visit their siblings at Myawaddy were turned back to ThanPhyu
Zayat on the second week of September. Authorities assume young girls are
illegal migrants to Thailand. Despite the Royal Thai Government
declaration of no further legal employment status for new arrivals to
Thailand, many migrants are seeking to enter Bangkok.

"They earn only Baht 50-60 a day here in Measot, but in Bangkok they can
double their wage." Nai Soe Than, a Mon business based in Measot said.

Most local traders and businessmen have joined hands with the cease-fire
camps to boost border trade though illegal activities. Motor vehicles
crossing the border are the biggest supporters of revenue for the
cease-fire camps and the Burmese troops during the dry season. Local car
dealers sell used cars to Burmese traders with a common agreement on the
border cross points.


Shan Herald Agency for News   October 11, 2003
IDPs allowed to regroup
Reporter: Hawkeye

More than 400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) opposite Chiangmai had
recently been authorized by Thai authorities to relocate near another Shan
rebel stronghold across the border, according to a local social worker who
just returned from a Shan border base that was "shown the exit" by the
Thai army last week.

The relief worker said all the 84 people including children taking refuge
near Loimon base, opposite the village of Laktaeng in Wianghaeng district,
and another 174 near Loikham base, opposite the village of Kaenoi in
Chiangdao district, would join the 182 people who are already at Loilam,
another Shan State Army base opposite Wianghaeng district. The base is
under the command of Maj Khieofah.

The social worker also told S.H.A.N. that the SSA had finally decided to
abandon Loikham (called Doikham by Thais) altogether after the Thai army
demanded on 3 October that they withdraw from outposts projecting inside
Thai territory. No reason was given as to why they elected to leave.

The latest development left only five border bases fro the Shans, she
said. (Re: Map, Shan rebels deny dealing in drugs, 6 October)

"The good news is that we will be allowed to deliver relief assistance to
this new IDP camp which is 3 km inside Shan State, after all have been
transferred there," she added.


Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)   October 13, 2003
Tension in Manipur affects Indo-Burma border trade at Moreh

Guwahati: Indo-Burma border trade across Moreh town has suffered a serious
setback following protests in Manipur, India's northeastern state
bordering with Burma. The border trade through Moreh in Manipur State and
Tamu in Sagaing Division of Burma has come to a grinding halt for the last
five days after protests and bandhs by the local Manipur organizations.

The protests began with the decision of Manipur government to release 13
National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) cadres who were arrested last
week after their intrusion into the state's territory.

The powerful United Committee of Manipur (UCM) had also called for a mass
sit-in-protest in Manipur to press for its demand on clarification over
the controversial issue of the state's boundaries.

Recent media reports that Indian Government's emissary Mr. K. Padmanabhaih
during the course of the peace talks had suggested setting up of a
Boundary Committee to include Ukhrul and Senapati districts of Manipur and
Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh had inflamed the anger of the
Manipuries.

Talking to Mizzima correspondent in Guwahati, the General Secretary of the
Indo-Myanmar Traders Union Mr. Y Kapoor appealed to the people in Manipur
to restore border trade in the greater interest of the traders of both
countries.

"We should explore the trade potential with Burma but if the situation
remains tense, the entire trade will come to a standstill", he added.

Considering the gravity of the situation, the Manipur Government is learnt
to have requested the Indian Home Ministry to step up security in the
region.


Kaladan News   October 13, 2003
A Refugee Woman Missing from Refugee Camp

Cox’s Bazar, October 13: A Burmese Rohingya refugee woman has been missing
from refugee camp since September 21, after being clashed between refugee
women and police, according to a victim’s parents.

On September 21, 2003, in Kutopalong refugee camp of Cox’s Bazar District,
Bangladesh, there was a clash between Rohingya refugee women and policemen
as the refugees’ defense against forced repatriation. In the clash, 7-
Rohingya women and two other elderly men were severely beaten up by the
police. Among them Miss. Sajeda Begum, 22, and Ms. Dil Bahar, 25, a
pregnant woman were seriously wounded, they further added.

All 7- wounded women were arrested and taken to Ukhiya police station and
six of them were released on their agreements with authorities for
repatriation excluding Sajeda Begum. The health conditions of the wounded
women are awful because of lacking of proper medical treatments. Hussain
Ali, husband of Dil Bahar, seeing of his wife’s serious condition, he
became crazy and wandering here and there. One of the camp officials gave
some money to console him, said a refugee leader.

Besides, the parents of Sajeda Begum are living out of the camp to avoid
arrest and harassment of police. “Though Sajeda Begum was sent to Cox’s
Bazar jail after the incident, she is not found in the jail now. While
asked the UNHCR about their daughter, they got dissatisfactory answers
from them,” said the victim’s parents.

While UNHCR visits the refugee camp, the wounded victims are carried to
the Cox’s Bazar Medical Hospital for medical treatment ‘only to show the
UNHCR as they take care of the wounded refugees.’ But, the refugees only
got some tablets from the hospital and did not get proper treatment, said
a victim.

Rohingya refugees are barred from listening to the radio and meeting
together even two refugees after the incident, said a refugee teacher.

The camp-in-charge Mohamed Yasin told to refugees that the present ruling
Government of Burma is the best handling for the Rohingya people. So, we
have to imitate the methods of the Burmese government to squash the
Rohingya refugees, he added.

In fact, the incident was broken out while the camp-in-charge accompanied
by police and workers, forcibly picked up the refugees from their sheds to
sign on affidavits as Declaration of Voluntary Repatriation (DVR), which
made refugees angry and then the women refugees resisted the police,
believing less repercussion from them.


Associated Press Worldstream   October 12, 2003
Often conquered, now suppressed, a once great race clings to tradition
By Denis Gray; Associated Press Writer

SANGKHLABURI, Thailand: You won't find it on any maps or road signs, but
on full moon nights like this, with a thousand lanterns flickering,
Buddhist monks in prayer and sarong-clad women bringing offerings, one can
almost believe that Monland lives in more than dreams.

The scene comes to life during the Bor Kamot-Kaban festival, one of many
celebrated by some 6,000 Mon people clinging to a hillside that has proved
a haven from the harsh military regime of nearby Myanmar and the not
always welcoming Thai hosts around them.

Here, above a spectacular lake ringed by craggy limestone mountains, the
heirs of one of Southeast Asia's great civilizations strive to preserve
their language, traditions and even the dream of an independent homeland -
something they last possessed 250 years ago.

Within Myanmar today, about 1 million Mon live on uneasy terms with the
junta which in 1995 concluded a cease-fire with Mon insurgents who were
among several ethnic movements waging independence struggles against the
central government.

"People were tired after 40 years of fighting. Homes were burned, fields
destroyed, people were killed or disappeared. Now they are trying to
re-establish their lives," says Kasauh Mon of the Human Rights Foundation
of Monland.

An estimated 100,000 Mon are settled in Thailand, having fled upheavals
over the centuries and become assimilated. The most recent diaspora
scattered them from Australia to Ft. Wayne, Indiana - in sizable numbers -
to Thai frontier areas where their existence remains precarious.

Authorities forced some 10,000 refugees back into Myanmar during the
1990s, and most allowed to remain have been refused Thai citizenship. They
need special permission to leave Sangkhlaburi district, limiting chances
for higher education. The Mon make do as fishermen, farmers and small
traders.

But they have a home, thanks to a revered 94-year-old monk. When the old
town of Sanghklaburi was flooded in the 1980s by the rising waters behind
the Khao Laem dam, Abbot Uttama obtained land for his people on a hillside
near the new town.

At the crown of the hill, the abbot constructed the resplendent Wang
Wiwekaram Monastery as a repository of Mon civilization. Donations poured
in from many Thais who also regard him with great reverence.

"He's a good and intelligent leader for the Mon people. We don't see
anybody to replace him. It's very sad," said Kasauh Mon.

Through Uttama's efforts, youngsters learn the Mon language. Each year he
invites monks from Myanmar for examinations in Mon and Buddhist
scriptures, giving prizes to the best.

Activists in Sangkhlaburi have started a Mon Culture and Literature
Survival Project, a news agency and Web site - www.monland.org - and are
conducting investigations into human rights abuses by Myanmar's ruling
military.

Although the junta denies the accusations, the exiles have detailed
arrests and torture, confiscation of land by the military, forced labor
and attempts to suppress the Mon language and traditions.

This comes as splinter groups keep battling the government - despite the
cease-fire - while the New Mon State Party, which made the peace deal, is
allowed some authority over small areas in Mon State of southern Myanmar.

In Thailand, Mon cultural expression is allowed free rein, and festivals
such as the Bor-Kamot Kaban are like ancient murals come to life.

At night, to the shimmering tones of strings, cymbals and xylophones,
mothers turn pre-teen daughters into little princesses of old, combing
their long, shiny hair into garlanded topknots and rouging their lips.

The next morning 16 of them dance in the vast monastery courtyard. The
faithful fill a 15-meter-long (45-foot) canoe from stem to stern with
rice, fruit and sweets, preparing to float it on the lake in memory of an
ancient monk who needed sustenance while meditating on a boat far out at
sea.

Hundreds offer mounds of food to monks and prostrate themselves at the
feet of Uttama, who sits patriarch-like at the top of a long stairway,
using a whisk to spray holy water on all who approach him in rituals the
Mon introduced to Southeast Asia more than 1,000 years ago.

It was the Mon who spread the still dominant Theravada Buddhism into
Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, along with their own culture.

Politically, they flourished in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Although
their capital was sacked by the Burmese in the 11th century, captive Mon
monks, craftsmen and architects shaped the wondrous capital of Pagan.
Power was regained, lost and finally broken in the mid-18th century when
the Mon became a people without a home.

Jack Dunford, who heads a group of nongovernmental organizations called
the Burma Border Consortium, says the most optimistic scenario is that Mon
rights and culture will be protected within a federal union in Myanmar.
But at least for now, he says, the military regime is going for total
control.

"To be realistic," Dunford says. "The Mon are not going to have their own
kingdom or sovereign state."


----DRUGS----

Bangkok Post    October 13, 2003
More Drugs Seized Near 10m Pill Haul
By Supamart Kasem

The military seized 200,000 methamphetamine pills believed to have been
produced by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army in a raid near the border
with Burma on Saturday. Units of the 4th Infantry Regiment task force
found the pills just 800 metres from the spot where nearly 10 million
pills were found the day before, at Ban Mae Kon Kane in Mae Sot district.

There were clear indications the pills had been brought over the border,
officials said. They were believed to belong to the DKBA's 555th division,
which is based opposite.

Extra troops had been moved into the area and the search for more drugs
would continue in Mae Sot and Phop Phra districts, officials said.


----REGIONAL----

The International Herald Tribune   October 13, 2003
Asean sees an Islam politicized by Iraq war (excerpt)
By Thomas Crampton

SINGAPORE: A dangerous trend toward the politicization of Islam in
Southeast Asia, with development of homegrown political violence, has
emerged partly because of the war in Iraq, a Southeast Asian official
warned Sunday.

The trend has also brought a sharp shift in awareness of Middle Eastern
politics among Southeast Asians, raising the prominence of discussions
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in all levels of society, said Ong
Keng Yong, the secretary general of the Association of South East Asian
Nations.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's
East Asia Summit, Ong also said the lack of political change in Myanmar
had seriously damaged Asean's credibility.

"While Southeast Asia has the world's largest concentration of Muslims,
there has never been a willingness here to do things like suicide
bombings," Ong said. "The war in Iraq has created a dangerous trend toward
using violence to put forward Islamic political goals." Ong, speaking as
memorial services took place for victims of the suicide bombings last year
at Bali nightclubs, drew a distinction between the political roots of
those attacks, which killed more than 200 people, and the sea change of
perception now under way.

Turning to politics within Southeast Asia, Ong said that although
Myanmar's lack of political progress had damaged the standing of the
Association of South East Asian Nations, the country, run by a military
regime, would not be expelled from the group.

"Leaders tell Myanmar that their lack of action destroys the credibility
and standing of Asean internationally," Ong said.

"We hope that the leaders of Myanmar would understand this and make changes."

Critics have scorned Asean for its inability to press for the release from
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader
of the opposition. Expulsion of Myanmar from Asean would accomplish
little, Ong said, apart from further isolating the country and its
leaders.

"We may not be able to get the Myanmar government to do everything," Ong
said. "But we do see membership to Asean as something that may encourage
them to do better things."

While Myanmar has not responded to pressure for political changes, it has
been actively taking part in other discussions, Ong said.

The deeper involvement of Myanmar in Asean reflects the recently increased
pace and enthusiasm for regional integration, he said.

"In my nine months of doing this job the urgency for integration has
noticeably increased," Ong said. "Nobody is lagging behind, even among
those countries who were formerly more skeptical."

The largest factors driving this urgency are the economic challenges posed
by China and India, Ong added.

"Everywhere you go now, China turns up," he said.

"Chinese businessmen are in every office, Chinese media are at every
conference and Chinese businesses are challenging almost every market," he
added.


Xinhua General News Service   October 13, 2003
Myanmar-ASEAN relations open new page: official

YANGON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The relations between Myanmar and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have consolidated and
opened a new page, said Myanmar government spokesman U Khin Maung Win on
Monday.

Myanmar will continue to actively develop such relations, U Khin Maung
Win, who is deputy foreign minister, told a press briefing here.

He described the support and understanding over Myanmar expressed by
regional members at the recent 9th ASEAN Summit as a victory for his
country.

When asked about the time frame for the implementation of Myanmar's
roadmap announced at the end of August, U Khin Maung Win said the time
frame is under deliberation and the government has no intention of
delaying the move.

"It cannot be hasty nor delayed," he said, adding that the detail of the
time frame can only be set after the reconvening of the national
convention starts.

When asked about if the opposition party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), is allowed to take part in the convention, another
government spokesman Brigadier-General Than Tun replied that it is too
early to say.

On the eve of the 9th ASEAN Summit, Myanmar new Prime Minister General
Khin Nyunt announced a seven-point political roadmap, aiming at breaking
the political deadlock which has existed for over 10 years and realizing
the national reconciliation.

The roadmap covers reconvening the national convention which began in 1993
and has been adjourned since 1996, drawing up a new constitution,
formation of a new government after holding a general election.


Financial Times Information/fnWeb.com    October 13, 2003
Prime Minister Downplays Myanmar Controversy

fnWEB - Bangkok - October 13, 2003 - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
sought to downplay the differences between the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States on the issue of Myanmar,
saying that such differences were normal, while warning that the main
people to suffer from too much international pressure on Myanmar were the
citizens of Myanmar themselves.

Speaking in response to US denials that Myanmar had made democratic
improvements, Mr. Thaksin said that this difference of opinion was normal
given that the US had imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

However, ASEAN had received reports that Myanmar had made considerable
progress, and thus would not put undue pressure on Myanmar, he said. He
also noted that ASEAN's policy was not to intervene in the domestic
concerns of other states, but rather to take a creative approach to
engagement.

Myanmar's reports to ASEAN, as an ASEAN member, should be respected, and
Myanmar should be given more time to bring about national reconciliation,
he said.

Asked if opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently under house arrest,
would be freed in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit later this month, Mr. Thaksin brushed aside the question, saying
only that he believed all developments to be positive.

However, he said that he had seen a recent picture of Suu Kyi, and
believed that she was being cared for well by the Myanmar regime, while
warning that too much pressure would impact on the already
poverty-stricken Myanmar people.

The prime minister also cautioned that Myanmar had to be ready to make
developments before international pressure could have any effect.

"I'm ready to liaise", he said "but Myanmar needs to be whole-hearted in
developing democracy in a postitive direction, and also in developing
national reconciliation as a whole. We are engaging in close talks, and I
believe that positive developments will continue", he said, adding that
the issue of Myanmar was unlikely to come up for discussion at the APEC
meeting, as Myanmar was not an APEC member.


The Irrawaddy   October 13, 2003
Thais to Expel Burmese Monks
By Aung Su Shin/Mae Sot

Burmese monks will no longer be allowed to reside in Thai temples, says a
resolution passed by Thailand’s main Buddhist council.

Thailand’s religious department and the Thai Sangha Council have sent
letters to the provincial Sangha outlining the new resolution, said Tak
monastic office chief Phra Ratchavirakorn. His group held a meeting
yesterday to discuss the future of Burmese temples in Mae Sot after the
order is carried out.

"I would like to request that the Thai government allow short and long
term stays by Burmese monks in the future," he said. "If the Burmese monks
go back home, all the Burmese temples will be deserted."

About 100 Karen, Mon and Shan monks from the Thai-Burma border area have
already left Thai temples and returned to Burma, said Phra Ratchavirakorn.
"Though their examination is drawing near, they left without taking the
exam, fearing they would be deported," he said. They also did not want
their Thai abbots to be punished, said one of the Burmese monks.

There are five Burmese temples in Mae Sot district, including Wat Luang,
which was donated by King Rama V almost a century ago. Although the abbots
at these temples were traditionally Burmese, the Thai government replaced
them with Thai monks three years ago, said the monk.

Monks from the five Burmese temples remain on the temple grounds while
they wait for further action by the Thai authorities. The repatriation is
due to begin when alms-giving ceremonies marking the end of Buddhist Lent
finish this week.

A Thai labor official told the Bangkok Post that more than 500 Burmese
monks live at temples in five districts along the Thai-Burma border.


Shan Herald Agency for News   October 13, 2003
Activists protest Tasang dam

Four advocate groups have requested that the Asian Development Bank
refrain from providing support for Southeast Asia's largest dam project on
the Salween in Shan State "until democracy is restored and the rights of
local people are respected."

The same demand was sent to the Thai government in December 2002 by 69
Thai and Burma organizations.

The letter, a copy of which was received by S.H.A.N. yesterday, dated 9
October, is addressed to Mr Khaled Rahman, Director of Infrastructure
Division, Mekong Department. It rejects the ADB claim that development of
power resource "will improve the living standard of the people there" by
pointing out "people there" have already suffered from forced relocations,
forced labor, extrajudicial killings and intimidation by the Burmese
military.

It also draws attention to the fact that the area surrounding the Tasarng
dam site that used to be one of the best teak forests in Burma is being
destroyed on a large scale.

The letter warns both the ADB and Thailand's MDX Group would be made
complicit in the ongoing human rights abuses in the area.

Tasang hydropower project, according to the groups, namely, Shan Sapawa,
Chiangmai; Bank Information Center, Washington D.C; International Rivers
Network, Berkeley and Norwegian Burma Committee, Oslo, is included in the
ADB-financed Indicative Master Plan on Power Interconnection in GMS
countries and the Master Plan's endorsement of large-scale hydropower
development in Burma.

The ADB has been derisively dubbed by activists as "Asian Dams and Bridges."


----INTERNATIONAL----

The Nation, Thailand   October 15, 2003
'US CAMPAIGN FOR BURMA': Crackdown slammed

A leading US activist group yesterday called for a halt to the massive
crackdown on Thailand-based supporters of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
and the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma.

The appeal from the US Campaign for Burma comes just days after 35 United
States senators, including powerful Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, signed
a letter to US President George W Bush criticising Thailand's support of
Burma's military regime.

The group noted that the government was actually working against the
country's own interest.

"The organisations targeted by the Thai authorities have been promoting
peaceful means to achieve a political solution to Burma's problems -
serious problems that have spilled over into Thailand and the rest of the
region.

"They are working for a solution that will also bring immense benefits to
Thailand. They should be supported, not suppressed," said Jeremy Woodrum,
campaign director for the US Campaign for Burma.

Thai press reports and firsthand interviews over the past year have
indicated a disturbing trend towards zero tolerance of Burmese and Thai
groups agitating for democratic reform in Burma. The persecution appears
to have been stepped up in the wake of the regime's brutal assault on Suu
Kyi's motorcade on May 30, which led to her detention and prompted the US
and European Union to impose a raft of sanctions against the Rangoon
regime.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for Suu Kyi's release while he
was on a visit to Washington after May 30, yet he subsequently ordered a
serious offensive on her supporters in Thailand. This includes the
reported blacklisting of 500 people who will be barred from entering
Thailand, including supporters of Burma's democracy movement.

The letter from the 35 US senators bluntly stated that "Burma is becoming
a serious threat to regional security". The senators urged President Bush
to speak forcefully on the Burma issue during his official visit to
Bangkok for the Apec leaders' summit next week.


Agence France Presse   October 13, 2003
EU to press China over human rights

The European Union called Monday for continuing high-level talks with
China on human rights, saying the issue is crucial to its ties with
Beijing.

The 15-member Union, which is to hold a summit with China in Beijing on
October 30, welcomed the country's economic progress and growing role on
the world stage, for example in setting the stage for talks on North
Korea.

"The role that China thus has assumed illustrates how its perception of
the world is changing as it gets further integrated into the global
community," a statement from EU foreign ministers said.

The ministers "encouraged Chinese engagement in resolving further regional
issues," in particular the current political situation in the military-run
state of Myanmar, formerly Burma.

They also underlined that "supporting the transition to an open society
based upon the rule of law and respect for human rights is an essential
element of the EU's policy towards China."

They called for the launch of an "EU-China dialogue on human rights at the
appropriate political level.. while preserving the existing contacts at
working level."

The ministers said they wanted Beijing to continue dialogue with the Dalai
Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.


Fort Wayne News Sentinel   October 13, 2003
Burmese finding solidarity; Conference participants worked out several key
resolutions.
By Kevin Kilbane; of The News-Sentinel

T hey agreed any transition to democracy in Burma would begin with leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, whom the ruling military dictatorship has kept under
virtual house arrest for more than a decade.

Members of the various ethnic groups making up the Burmese refugee
community agreed they all must be given political equality and the right
of self-determination.

Most importantly, however, Burmese attending the two-day Road Map for
Democracy in Burma conference this weekend in Fort Wayne agreed to work
together.

"All arguments are settled," said U Peter Limbin of Bluffton, who was
elected to the Burmese parliament in 1990. He and other pro-democracy
officials elected then had to flee to escape government persecution.

About 300 Burmese gathered for the conference Saturday and Sunday at Neff
Hall on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Organizers held the event here because the 1,500 Burmese in Fort Wayne
make up the largest Burmese community in the United States.

The conference drew representatives from Burmese pro-democracy groups
around the world. People flew in from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and
Thailand, said Zar Wint, 30, of Fort Wayne, who attended the conference.

"I feel like I am home again," Wint said as many different conversations
swirled around him, all in Burmese.

Guests also included Sein Win, acting prime minister of the exiled
democratic government.

Burmese pro-democracy groups have enjoyed support from the United States
and European Union, Win said during a break Sunday. Trade sanctions and
travel restrictions those nations have placed on the Burmese government
apply pressure for change. But Burmese refugees must network more to
increase the pressure on the regime to step down.

"We need more push," he said.

To develop such strategies, people attending the conference broke into six
panels to discuss key topics and propose future action. Discussion topics
included how to replace the ruling military dictatorship and how to build
solidarity among Burma's ethnic groups. Panels also debated how to fund
the democratic movement and how to increase international and United
Nations pressure on the ruling regime to step aside.

Some of the key resolutions passed included:

* To lobby leaders of conference goers' current country of residence to
increase pressure on Burma's military rulers to relinquish control.

* To follow Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Ahn Sahn Sue She) once military
dictators leave power. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate largely has
been kept under house arrest since the government cracked down in 1988 on
a student pro-democracy movement.

* To unify pro-democracy groups' power by working through the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, the exile government based in
Washington, D.C.

* To more actively support pro-democracy movements inside Burma, which the
current rulers have renamed Myanmar.

* To recognize the equality and right to self-determination of all Burmese
ethnic groups. Members of the Mon, Karen, Shan and Chin ethnic groups
exhibited unprecedented cooperation when planning the conference.

The resolutions how to replace the ruling government and on ethnic
solidarity generated the most emotional debate. All of the discussion took
place in Burmese peppered with occasional English words or phrases --
"U.S.-China dialogue," for example -- when no Burmese equivalent existed.

The room where the presentation's took place, Neff Hall's auditorium,
resembled an international hearing room. The red, gold and white flag of
the Democratic Burmese Students Association and letters spelling out "Road
Map for Democracy in Burma Conference" hung on a velvet curtain behind the
long tables set up on stage for panel members. Portraits and posters of
Aung San Suu Kyi hung on the sides and front of the stage.

Men in blue jeans, suits and ties or traditional skirtlike longis -- and,
occasionally, women in business or traditional attire -- would stand to
make a comment or propose an amendment. Listeners often clapped or cheered
in response.

The proposed resolutions for following Aung San Suu Kyi and working for
replacement of Burma's dictatorship drew the most enthusiastic cheers and
applause.

The conference closed with an appearance by area U.S. Rep. Mark Souder,
who pledged to get resolutions "in the hands of the right people" in
Washington.


----EDITORIALS----

The Soul of a Nation
Washington Post   October 12, 2003
By Vaclav Havel

Just recently friends of mine sent me a couple of photographs of Aung San
Suu Kyi. The nonviolent struggle of this woman for her fellow citizens'
freedom dwells in my soul as a stark reminder of our struggles against
totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Our nation, the Czech Republic, together with the entire free world, has
observed with great concern the Burmese junta's refusal to cede power and
the subsequent brutal intervention to quell the protest of its citizens
after the victory of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in Burma's
1990 elections.

The Burmese authorities began to allow her to move around her own country
only a year ago. It was then that the photos that have so captured my
interest were taken. Despite the ban on information about her and despite
the junta's intimidation, the Burmese people have always learned quickly
by word of mouth of her presence, and thousands upon thousands of citizens
overcame their fear and gathered upon this occasion to listen to her.

I have seen other photos from Burma as well, showing men in uniforms who
demand to be celebrated as if they were ancient kings, appearing before
staged audiences that betray the motivations of fear and resignation.
These men -- armed to the teeth -- shudder at the sight of unarmed people
who are able to overcome their own fear and stand as examples to others.
They were so terrified to see the photos of the crowds hailing Suu Kyi
that they blocked the road, slaughtered many of her fellow travelers and
detained her in May. Perhaps they have foolishly convinced themselves, as
many of their fellow dictators have, that their ungrateful nation cannot
see the good they do.

I recall that my friends and I for decades were asked by people visiting
from democratic Western countries, "How can you, a mere handful of
powerless individuals, change the regime, when the regime has at hand all
the tools of
power: the army, the police and the media, when it can convene gigantic
rallies to reflect its people's 'support' to the world, when pictures of
the leaders are everywhere and any effort to resist seems hopeless and
quixotic?"

My answer was that it was impossible to see the inside clearly, to witness
the true spirit of the society and its potential -- impossible because
everything was forged. In such circumstances, no one can perceive the
internal, underground movements and processes that are occurring. No one
can determine the size of the snowball needed to initiate the avalanche
leading to the disintegration of the regime.

There are many politicians in the free world who favor seemingly pragmatic
cooperation with repressive regimes. During the time of communism, some
Western politicians preferred to appease the Czechoslovak thugs propped up
by Soviet tanks rather than sustain contacts with a bunch of dissidents.
These status-quo Western leaders behaved, voluntarily, much like those
unfortunate people who were forced to participate in the massive
government
rallies: They allowed a totalitarian regime to dictate to them whom to
meet and what to say. At that time, people such as the French president,
Francois Mitterrand, and the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Max van
der Stoel, saved the face of the Western democracies by speaking and
acting clearly. By the same token, politicians such as Japan's Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople
redeem the Asian reputation by not hesitating to speak the truth. The
regime in Burma is, as a matter of fact, the disgrace of Asia, just as
Alexander Lukashenko's regime in Belarus is the disgrace of Europe and
Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba of Latin America.

In Burma, thousands of human lives have been destroyed, scores of gifted
people have been exiled or incarcerated and deep mistrust has been sown
among the various ethnic groups. Human society is, however, a mysterious
creature, and it serves no good to trust its public face at any one
moment. Thousands of people welcomed Suu Kyi on her tours, proving that
the Burmese nation is neither subjugated nor pessimistic and faithless.
Hidden beneath the mask of apathy, there is an unsuspected energy and a
great human, moral and spiritual charge. Detaining and repressing people
cannot change the soul of a nation. It may dampen it and disguise the
reality outwardly, but history has repeatedly taught us the lesson that
change often arrives unexpectedly.

"To talk about change is not enough, change must happen," said Suu Kyi
during a tour among her people. The Burmese do not require education for
democracy; they are and have always been ready for it. It is not necessary
to draft a "road map" for establishing freedom of the press or for
releasing political prisoners. The will to act now would be sufficient to
fulfill both. But that is apparently what is missing in Burma. Aren't
there obvious flaws in a road map if the road for those who set forth on
the journey to democracy is blocked and if they are slaughtered or
inevitably end up in prison?

The writer is former president of the Czech Republic


Contra Costa Times (California)   October 12, 2003
Myanmar a growing threat to world peace
By Richard G. Lugar; COMMENTARY

THE MILITARY junta that rules Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has long
been known as a group committed to retaining power at any cost. The price
has been paid mainly by Burmese citizens, but the consequences may now
spread well beyond Myanmar's borders.

The generals have killed thousands of democracy supporters since the
student protests in 1988 and waged war on ethnic insurgents. To tighten
their grip on the population, over the past 15 years they have doubled the
size of the military, which now consumes 40 percent of the budget, at the
expense of spending on health and education.

Consequently, hundreds of thousands of their citizens have died as a
result of the broken-down health care system. The generals who run the
country are notorious for their widespread use of forced labor, which the
International Labor Organization calls "a contemporary form of slavery."

The junta has maintained these abhorrent policies despite sanctions, aid
cutoffs and repeated denunciations by many Western countries, including
the United States.

Yet it makes the headlines only when it commits an especially acute
outrage, such as that of last May 30, when pro-government militia crashed
a political rally near Mandalay and murdered several bodyguards and
supporters of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the fearless democracy
crusader who had been freed last year.

The junta rearrested Suu Kyi, shut down offices of her political party and
detained her at a secret location. She returned home earlier this month
for a new stint of indefinite house arrest.

I am pleased that the Senate reacted quickly in June to put pressure on
the junta by voting for a ban on all Burmese imports.

Strategically situated between regional rivals India and China, Myanmar is
seeking to leverage the two powers' battle for influence.

China is the regime's major arms supplier and has assumed significant
economic power over the country, recently extending debt relief and a $200
million loan to Myanmar, which has been cut off from most other external
funding. China, reports indicate, has built a port and shipyard south of
Rangoon to help export products from China's landlocked western provinces.

India, concerned about China's rising dominance, has stepped up its
relations with Myanmar. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met
with the Myanmar foreign minister earlier this year, and India is also
reportedly building a port on Myanmar's coast.

Improving ties with regional powers is not necessarily a bad thing,
especially if they would push Myanmar toward more civilized behavior.

But neither Beijing nor New Delhi has shown any such inclination. Instead
the two huge neighbors are using Myanmar as a pawn in their rivalry,
making it a potential source of friction, not a buffer. Japan is
increasingly concerned about China's penetration of Myanmar, and it was to
counter China's influence with the regional grouping of smaller countries,
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which decided to admit
Myanmar as a member several years ago. These countries see now that the
junta was using them to try to gain legitimacy.

More troubling is the news that Myanmar has contracted with Russia for a
nuclear reactor. Both sides insist it is for medical research purposes,
but even if that's true, it would add an unnecessary proliferation risk to
a world where terrorists are on the prowl for nuclear material. Some 300
Burmese have been in Russia receiving training to operate the facility,
and Myanmar has also bought 10 MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia.

Most disturbing, Myanmar is renewing ties with North Korea that were cut
after North Korean agents in 1983 set off a bomb in Rangoon that killed 21
people, including four visiting South Korean cabinet members. Besides
possibly re-establishing formal diplomatic relations, the two have held
discussions on military cooperation.

The link-up of these two pariah states can only spell trouble. North
Korea's main export is dangerous weapons technology, and there have been
reports that Myanmar is getting missiles and other arms from Pyongyang.

These developments have been largely overlooked as we concentrated on
Iraq, challenges in the Middle East and unpredictable developments on the
Korean peninsula. But they are the seeds of a major threat to Asian
security and stability.

Lugar, R-Ind., is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.


Boston Globe   October 12, 2003
A tough stand on Burma

DURING HIS upcoming trip to Asia President Bush will have an ideal
opportunity to take a stand against the brutality of the military junta
now ruling Burma and in defense of the sequestered Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues in Burma's National League
for Democracy. In his one-on-one meetings with Asian leaders at the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Oct. 21 in Bangkok and in his public
statements, Bush should leave no doubt that the United States will persist
in its use of sanctions and diplomatic pressure until the junta frees Suu
Kyi and 1,400 other political prisoners. The junta must also enter a
genuine political dialogue with Suu Kyi's party, which won 80 percent of
seats in Parliament in a 1990 election that the junta continues to
disregard.

Some of the junta's crimes were described in a sage letter to Bush
authored by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and signed by 33 other senators
from across the political spectrum.

Warning that Burma is "becoming a serious threat to regional security,"
the letter said the junta's refusal to confront a national AIDS crisis is
"devastating the health systems of neighboring countries. Heroin and
methamphetamines, trafficked from Burma by drug lords tolerated and in
some cases allied with the Burmese military, have created an epidemic of
addiction and violent crime in the region. The regime has forcibly
recruited an astounding 70,000 child soldiers, far more than any other
country in the world, while saddling its neighbors with millions of
refugees."

The senators' letter also decried the fact that "thousands of Burmese
women are trafficked over borders into prostitution under the watchful eye
of the regime's brutal military apparatus." Not mentioned were the junta's
widespread use of forced labor, a practice condemned by the International
Labor Organization, and the tragic way in which resource-rich Burma has
been impoverished by the junta.

Despite the immense suffering caused by the junta, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, meeting earlier this week in Indonesia, reacted
with gullible, or cynical, acceptance to the regime's talk about a road
map to democracy that has no place for Suu Kyi. Japan's Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi and the Philippine government were honorable exceptions
to this code of silence, demanding Suu Kyi's freedom and a democratic
transition.

Bush in Bangkok should do the same. Like John F. Kennedy declaring himself
"ein Berliner" or Ronald Reagan telling Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the
Berlin Wall, Bush should seize his chance to do what the letter-writing
senators advised him to do: Express democratic solidarity with the people
of Burma and tell the junta that it must release Suu Kyi and make way for
a legitimate democratic government.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company


Bangkok Post    October 12, 2003
United Front A Distant Dream (excerpt)
By Maxmillian Wechsler

Had there been a contest for the biggest number of opposition
organisations in one nation, Burma would be the winner by a large margin.

Over one hundred alliances, associations, armies, committees, fronts,
leagues, parties and unions based inside Burma, and along its
5,641-km-long borders with Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand, have
been allegedly opposing the current Burmese government.

Many other groups are also active in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan and
the United States. However, no one really knows the exact number of all
the organisations as they are frequently formed and disbanded.

All these are playing into the hands of the governing State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), which doesn't need to make an additional
effort to divide the resistance: they are doing it themselves. Even the
toughest opponents of the SPDC admit that to unite everyone under one
banner is a very difficult task, if not merely wishful thinking. Burmese
analysts agree that the sheer number of organisations hampers the
formation of a real united front. The only point where they all agree is
that the SPDC must be displaced by a democratic government.

The mass uprising against the military regime that began in March 1988 and
ended bloodily in September that year dispersed activists within Burma and
abroad. Then began the outbreak of several democratic organisations which
were periodically formed nd disbanded.

Meanwhile, some large opposition groups such as the Karen National Union
(KNU) and its armed wing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which
have been battling against different Burmese regimes since 1949, continued
to fight and also support smaller groups.

The opposition groups are a spectrum of political orientations, ranging
from the Marxist-Leninists to the right-wingers and the religious faiths.
The ordinary Burmese is relatively tolerant of all religions, so is the
resistance movement. Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and others
stand side-by-side.

A recent survey in Rangoon and smaller towns throughout the country showed
that the Burmese people knew little of any dissident groups. And they were
very much surprised when told of the number of these groups.

Due to technological difficulties and distance and terrain, dissident
organisations cannot communicate and coordinate with each other well.
However, alliances such as the Democratic Alliance of Burma, the National
Democratic Front, the National Council of the Union of Burma and others,
has greatly improved cooperation, with regular meetings, the costs of
projects shared, political and military activities organised, and
assistance given to people in Burma.

FULL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/121003_Perspective/12Oct2003_pers11.html