BurmaNet News, June 4-6, 2005

[Editor]

June 4-6, 2005 Issue # 2733


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Bomb rumors spark pandemonium at Myanmar schools nearly a month after
deadly blasts
DVB via BBC: More Burmese try to view opposition satellite TV station
DVB via BBC: Democratic Voice of Burma says military power struggle "obvious"

ON THE BORDER
Nation: 50 Burmese held in illegal alien sweep
Narinjara: Nasaka starts begins operation to check registry of Burmese
Muslim family members along border area

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: 500 Malaria cases found in southern Thai province
AP: Myanmar receives US$9 million from Global Fund to fight malaria

DRUGS
Nation via BBC: Drugs stored along Burmese border for smuggling

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar, Thailand to cooperate in money laundering suppression
AFP: Norway sells Kerr-McGee stake to protest against ethics violation

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma among Asia’s worst human trafficking violators

OPINION / OTHER
IHT: India coddles its despotic neighbors
 Hindustan Times: Burma comes out of its shell
Mizzima: Thailand, ASEAN and the "Burma Problem” Eight Long Years of
Disgrace (excepted)

ANNOUNCEMENT
US Campaign for Burma: Irish Musician Damien Rice launches a website
dedicated to Free Aung San Suu Kyi at www.actionburma.com

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 6, Associated Press
Bomb rumors spark pandemonium at Myanmar schools nearly a month after
deadly blasts

Rumors of a bomb blast at a school in Myanmar's capital sparked
pandemonium across the city Monday, nearly a month after a string of
explosions left at least 20 people dead and more than 160 wounded.

Parents rushed to schools pick up their children, causing traffic jams and
minor accidents, while telephone lines were overloaded with calls.

Meanwhile, teachers tried to assure parents that there had been no
explosion, and soldiers and police told them to go home.

It was unclear how the rumors started, but many parents expressed concern
because no suspects have been arrested for three bombings in Yangon on May
7 that killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 160.

The junta has accused ethnic rebel groups and other dissident
organizations for the blasts.

San San Maw, a mother who was running toward the gate of a school on one
of Yangon's main roads, said she had received a phone call from a friend
who'd heard reports about an explosion.

Though authorities insisted there was no blast, another mother said she
was still scared.

"I will not send my children to school tomorrow," she said on condition of
anonymity.

There have been rumors of blasts and several bomb scares in Yangon since
last month's explosions, and schools reopened for the new academic year on
June 1 under tight security.

Separately, authorities have been going door to door in Yangon to ask
heads of families to sign pledges saying they will not harbor bombing
suspects, keep explosives or allow strangers to spend the night at their
houses, according to residents.

____________________________________

June 4, Democratic Voice of Burma via BBC
More Burmese try to view opposition satellite TV station

A growing number of people in Rangoon are expected to try to tune in to
the Democratic Voice of Burma's (DVB's) new television service this
weekend, 4-5 June, as they attempt to overcome technical difficulties in
receiving the new channel.

Despite making its debut on Saturday, 28 May, many of Burma's residents
are unable to receive this service. The Oslo-based DVB, operated by
Burmese exiles, claims that the signal is as strong as that of BBC World's
satellite TV transmission, and that anyone can access it in Burma. Sources
in Rangoon say the biggest obstacle for viewers trying to watch this
channel is lack of technical know-how.

A satellite-television service provider in Rangoon said a small number of
people had asked for the channel to be tuned in. The owner of the business
said he is now pre-programming all new satellite TV equipment to receive
DVB's programmes as part of the service he provides to his customers.

"I can't find the setting for the PAS 10 satellite (at 68.5 degrees east)
that transmits DVB television. Other people may be in a similar
situation," said one Rangoon-based journalist.

The military government has not tried to block this station and does not
have the capability to do so, he added.

Another journalist said he has not watched the programme but two friends
had watched it. Although he is not able to give his opinion on the
programme, the journalist has warned that Burmese media groups in exile,
such as the DVB, should be careful and avoid biased reporting. "But we
welcome new media in Burma," he said.

Rangoon's foreign community is increasingly talking about this new
channel. An expatriate living in Burma confirmed that word was beginning
to spread about this service and more people are trying to access it. "I
think it will be seen very soon," he said.

DVB claims that 2-4 million viewers will watch the TV station to start
with, before more find out how to tune in, though evidence suggests that
far fewer have been able to watch this channel so far.

The service, which is broadcast on Saturdays between 8.00-9.00 p.m. [local
time, 1330-1430 gmt] and on Sundays from 12.00-1.00 p.m. [0530-0630 gmt],
made its debut last weekend with a news programme on the mid-May Rangoon
bombings, a piece on Burmese migrants in Thailand, and the first part of a
documentary titled "A force more powerful," which features information on
the Burmese opposition movement. This weekend's programming will feature
part two of the documentary.

The channel said it had received positive feedback about its service this
week, with many viewers asking to see more about the famous exiled Burmese
rocker Mun Awng. Living in Oslo since 1988, the pop star has since
released two albums featuring overtly political content, which were
subsequently banned by the Burmese authorities.

The exiled group is confident that the channel's popularity will
eventually spread to the Burmese Government. "If the (ruling) State Peace
and Development Council are willing to watch our news, they will become
part of the DVB's audience," said Deputy Director Khin Maung Win.

DVB's service can be received via PAS 10, located at 68.5 degrees east on
3940 MHz, Horizontal polarization, symbol rate 3000.

____________________________________

June 4, Democratic Voice of Burma via BBC
Democratic Voice of Burma says military power struggle "obvious"

Some generals who have disappeared from the media highlight after the end
of last week's meeting of the top SPDC [State Peace and Development
Council] leaders have re-emerged on 3 June. The Myanmar Alin newspaper
today carried a news report on SPDC Vice-Chairman Vice Sr Gen Maung Aye
and Joint Chief of Staff Gen Thura Shwe Mann greeting the outgoing US
Military Attache.

So far Lt-Gen Khin Maung Than, Lt-Gen Maung Bo, Lt-Gen Aung Htwe, and
Lt-Gen Ye Myint, who were always on the front page of the dailies, have
remained unseen. The four generals are all chiefs of Bureau of Special
Operations and each oversees three military commands. Military observers
have begun to question the need for these chiefs of Bureau of Special
Operations in the wake of the transfer of six regional commanders,
granting more rights to the regional commanders, and condition to relocate
the War Office to Pyinmana region.

According to earlier reports, SPDC Chairman Sr Gen Than Shwe has
strengthened his control over the military and the government through a
major shake-up of the army and promoted Joint Chief of Staff Gen Thura
Shwe Mann to vice senior general to balance the power of SPDC Vice
Chairman Vice Sr Gen Maung Aye. But, as the newspaper report carried today
cited Thura Shwe Mann in his previous rank as an army general, military
observers say Vice Sr Gen Maung Aye has maintained his position and power.

Regardless, military observers told DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] the
power struggle that originated in the military hierarchy since the
dismissal of former prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt and the abolishment of
the military intelligence apparatus is slowly becoming more and more
obvious.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 5, Nation
50 Burmese held in illegal alien sweep

Nearly 50 illegal immigrants from Burma and one trafficker were arrested
yesterday in two separate incidents in Mae Hong Son and Phrae provinces,
police said.

Forty-one Burmese were arrested in Mae Hong Son in four pickup trucks en
route to construction sites in Chiang Mai's Mae Chaem district.

One trafficker, Saksin Thitinanapatcharakun, 27, was arrested, while three
others fled the scene.

During police questioning, Saksin said he was paid Bt20,000 to transport
the Burmese to Chiang Mai.

The Burmese - who were from Ban Hua Muang and Ban Na Mon - held entry
passes issued by Mae Hong Son immigration that restricted then from
travelling more than 12 kilometres from their border villages.

However, immigration officials apparently allowed them to travel beyond
the restricted area on their way to Chiang Mai.

In Phrae province, five Burmese women were arrested at a border checkpoint
across from Burma's Tha Chi Lek.

Police said they were driving a car belonging to Pol Sergeant Sithi Wanna,
24, from Bang Len district in Nakhon Pathom.

He is wanted for questioning, they said.The women said they each paid
Bt10,000 for the transport to Nakhon Pathom.

____________________________________

June 4, Narinjara News
Nasaka starts begins operation to check registry of Burmese Muslim family
members along border area

Cox’s bazar: Nasaka, the border security force of Burma, started an
operation to check the list
of registered Muslim family members in Maungdaw  Township, a western
border town near Bangladesh, on 1st 2005.

The operation is a regular quarterly occurrence in border areas. The
previous operation was carried out in December last year, said an official
from the immigration department.

 It is a one month long operation which began on the 1st of June and will
be finished by the end of this month, he said.

Several Nasaka officials are taking part in the operation and are now
going to Muslim households one after another to check for extra family
members and absent family members from each family accordance with the
list.

 During previous operations a few Muslim people who did not have valid
documents issued by the Burmese authorities fled to the neighboring
country of Bangladesh to avoid repercussions.

But some families gave bribes to Nasaka officers for their absent
relatives, who are working in the Middle East and in other Muslim
countries, to register their names on the family member lists.

Though the Muslim families were previously able to solve the problem of
absent relatives by giving bribes from 1 million to 2 million Burmese Kyat
to Nasaka officials, this time around officers have refused to accept
bribes from the Muslim families.

According to a local source, some families are now worried about their
relatives who are working at abroad because officials are able to cancel
the name of anyone who is not present when they visit the house.

 Maungdaw has the highest Muslim population along the border area with
Bangladesh.  At least 10 per cent of Muslims are now working across the
border in Bangladesh but it is not legal because permission and legal
documents have not been issued by Burmese authorities, says one trader
from Maungdaw.   According to immigration officials, Nasaka carries out
this operation at least four times a year because of a fear of illegal
migration into Burma from neighboring countries.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

June 6, Xinhua
500 Malaria cases found in southern Thai province

Bangkok: Some 500 cases of malaria have been detected in Thailand's
southern Chumphon province with about 50 people already hospitalized,
local newspaper said Monday.

In a fresh outbreak of the disease, 456 people were tested positive to
malaria, Theves Naluan, head of the Vector-borne Disease Control Center in
Chumphon province, was quoted by The Nation as saying.

Half of the cases were reported in the province's Muang Chumphon district,
where almost the entire village has infected with the disease, while the
rest were spread around other areas.

At least 54 malaria patients were being treated in hospital, said the
director of Chumphon Khet Udomsak Hospital.

Local health officials were trying to get the situation under control by
spraying mosquito-killing chemicals in affected villages.

However, containing the disease was not easy since villagers regularly
travel deep into the jungle along the Myanmar-Thai border to collect wild
plants, which made the follow-up and the check on all cases more
difficult, said Theves.

____________________________________

June 5, Associated Press
Myanmar receives US$9 million from Global Fund to fight malaria

Myanmar has received a US$9 million ([euro]6.97 million) grant from the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to support the
country's campaign against malaria, a semiofficial newspaper reported.

The National Malaria Control Program will use the grant to fund a range of
activities aimed at fighting the mosquito-borne disease until March 2007,
the Myanmar Times reported Sunday, quoting the department's manager, Dr.
San Lwin.

The effort is expected to halve the incidence of malaria by 2010 by
providing expanded treatment for the public and training courses for
health workers and volunteers, he said.

About 700,000 of Myanmar's 42 million people seek treatment for malaria at
government hospitals each year, including about 2,000 who eventually die
from the disease, San Lwin said.

The grant is part of a US$35.6 million ([euro]27.59 million) package for
Myanmar from the Geneva-based Global Fund, which includes US$19.2 million
earmarked for efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and about US$7 million for
anti-tuberculosis programs.

The Global Fund is a public-private partnership that receives most of its
funding from donor governments.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 5, Bangkok Post via BBC
Drugs stored along Burmese border for smuggling

Large quantities of amphetamines have been stashed along the Thai-Burmese
border ready for being smuggled into Thailand via northern border
provinces, a senior government official said yesterday.

Narcotics Control Board [NCB] secretary-general Krisana Pol-anand said
severe crackdowns on drug traffickers had forced producers to store their
drugs at locations along the border, particularly in areas opposite Tak's
Mae Sot district and Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.

There was a strong likelihood the drugs would be smuggled into Thailand,
despite the fact that the number of drug users has reportedly decreased.

He said traffickers were seeking new transit routes for their products in
order to evade detection. Phayao and Nan provinces have emerged as new
transit routes for traffickers, said the NCB secretary-general, adding
that police and soldiers have been placed on full alert along the border
to prevent an influx of drugs. Pol Lt-Gen Krisana said he would leave for
Burma next month to hold talks on cooperation in the area of drug
suppression.

Justice Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said 5,000 of the 70,000 villages
nationwide would be closely monitored for links to the drug trade. The
ministry will set up a network of village volunteers to take part, he
said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

June 6, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar, Thailand to cooperate in money laundering suppression

Myanmar and Thailand are due to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
here later this month to cooperate in suppressing money laundering
especially against laundering of funds obtained from transnational crimes,
a local weekly journal reported Monday.

The MoU, to be inked between the Central Control Board (CCB) of Myanmar
and the Anti-Money Laundering Office of Thailand, would provide for the
two countries in information sharing on money laundering control, the
Department Against Transnational Crimes was quoted by the Myanmar Times as
saying.

According to the journal's earlier report, Myanmar is introducing a plan
to fight money laundering in the country and the draft of the plan, once
finalized and approved by the CCB, will be submitted to the Paris-based
Financial Action Task Force ( FATF) which had listed Myanmar as among
non-cooperative countries and territories in dealing with money
laundering.

The FATF move partly hindered Myanmar's chance to obtain aid from
international financial institutions, the Myanmar police force blamed,
saying that although the task force withdrew other measures against the
country after it enacted the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Law in
2004, Myanmar still remains on the said list until it fully implements the
necessary laws.

Myanmar promulgated a law in June 2002 to control money laundering and
financial institutions such as banks are required to report to the CCB
their clients' fiscal activities and report any cashes exceeding 100
million kyats (100,000 US dollars) and any other suspicious account
activities.

However, no suspected laundering has so far been reported although the
board had monitored over 2,000 reports on cash and property transactions,
according to the International Relations Department of the Home Ministry.

Meanwhile, the CCB has provided trainings to some dozens of officials from
more than 20 state and private banks in Yangon and Mandalay on countering
money laundering and financing terrorism.

To step up fight against money laundering, Myanmar has set up an
eight-member investigation body under the CCB to launch probe into matters
legalizing money and property obtained by illegal means.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar authorities revoked in the end of March the
business licenses of two local private banks -- the Myanmar Mayflower Bank
(MMB) and the Asia Wealth Bank (AWB)-- which had been under government
investigation for allegedly linking with money laundering since December
2003.

As part of its increased international cooperation in the aspects, Myanmar
joined in signing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime
in April 2004.

_____________________________________

June 6, Agence France Presse
Norway sells Kerr-McGee stake to protest against ethics violation

The Norwegian government said on Monday it would sell its shares in US oil
group Kerr-McGee to protest against alleged ethics violations by the
company in the Western Sahara.

Norway's state investments are governed by ethics guidelines and French
oil giant Total, whose policy in Myanmar is currently being investigated
by Norway, could be next.

The withdrawal of Norway's 42.8-million-euro (53-million-dollar)
investment in Karr-McGee was decided by the finance ministry following a
recommendation by the country's Advisory Council on Ethics, which was
formed last year to oversee the ethics of Norwegian petro-dollar
investments.

The council has criticized the US company for undertaking exploration in
the Western Sahara on behalf of Morocco's state-owned company Onarep.

The Western Sahara, a desert territory south of Morocco and bordering on
the Atlantic, has been the focus of a conflict over sovereignty pitting
Morocco against the pro-independence movement Polisario, which gets
support from Algeria.

"The Council found that Kerr-McGee through its exploration activities most
likely will enable Morocco to exploit petroleum resources in the area,"
the finance ministry said.

This was regarded as "a particularly serious violation of fundamental
ethical norms" because it may strengthen Moroccos sovereignty claims and
"thus contribute to undermining the UN peace process".

The ministry had also asked the council to assess whether it is in
violation of the guidelines to invest in Total because of the companys
activity in Myanmar, which is ruled by a military regime.

Total has recently said that "we won't help democracy by leaving that
country".

The five-member ethics council was created on December 1 last year to
ensure the government's ethics guidelines are respected in the country's
public investments.

Norway is the world's third-largest oil exporter, and its gigantic oil
investment fund, which receives almost all of the country's oil earnings,
is worth more than 140 billion euros.

According to the guidelines, no funds can be invested in companies
producing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, anti-personnel mines or
cluster bombs, or violating human rights or degrading the environment.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 6, Irrawaddy
Burma among Asia’s worst human trafficking violators - Yeni

Burma was grouped together with North Korea and Cambodia as Asia’s worst
human trafficking violators in the US State Department’s annual
“Trafficking in Persons Report.”

The report lists Burma in a negative “Tier 3” assessment, which includes
countries that have failed to take important steps to fulfill the minimum
standards for the elimination of human trafficking.

“Burma is a source country for women and men trafficked for the purposes
of forced labor and sexual exploitation,” the report read. “Burmese men,
women, and children (primarily from the country’s ethnic minority
populations) are trafficked to Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, India,
Malaysia, Korea, Macau and Japan for forced labor—including commercial
labor—involuntary domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation.”

The Burmese government, however, has claimed it prosecuted 474 cases
related to trafficking for sexual exploitation and smuggling since July
2002. It has also claimed to have instituted new anti-trafficking laws and
to have organized a special police unit in 2004.

But corruption has continued to be a major problem. “Although local and
regional officials were suspected of complicity in trafficking,” the
report said, “the Burmese Government reported no prosecutions of corrupt
government officials related to trafficking. The Burmese military
continued to carry out trafficking abuses including forced portering and
other forced labor.”

The US State Department also cited the Cambodian government for its
involvement in  trafficking, as well as North Korea—for its “involuntary
return” of North Korean refugees from China, who often faced “serious
abuses” by the Pyongyang government—in its review of 150 countries and
their efforts at combating human trafficking.

“Wherever the trafficking trade flourishes, the rule of law erodes,
corruption thrives, public health suffers and organized crime threatens
the security of entire communities,” said US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice on her press release.

Rice has estimated that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across
international borders every year, and millions more are trafficked
internally.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 3, International Herald Tribune
India coddles its despotic neighbors - Michael Vatikiotis

Singapore: Isn't it time that the world's largest democracy started
behaving like one? Much as India deserves plaudits for ensuring that more
than a billion people enjoy the rights and liberty that democracy endows,
it could surely do more to promote these values in its own neighborhood.

To the north there is Nepal, where a reactionary monarchy battles a
protracted Maoist insurgency and freedom is the loser. To the east there
is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where an entrenched military junta
refuses to yield to elected democratic forces and, according to human
rights organizations, harshly suppresses ethnic minorities.

The rest of the free world is hammering on the Burmese generals to free
the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - who was educated in India - from
house arrest and speed the transition to civilian rule. But little if
anything is heard from New Delhi on this score. Instead, India is courting
the Burmese generals, offering to help build roads and pipelines. India,
which now accounts for more than a quarter of all Myanmar's exports, is
one of the few major free markets that does not impose trade sanctions on
the country.

It's a similar story in Nepal, where King Gyanendra recently sacked the
government and imposed martial law. India at first suspended arms
supplies, but quickly resumed them, citing concerns about growing Chinese
influence in the kingdom.

India is influential in both countries but chooses not to apply pressure
for political change because it puts strategic interests before
principles. "It's a difficult choice, but we have decided to engage the
junta in Yangon," says Sudhir Devare, a former Indian diplomat now a
fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. On a
purely geopolitical level this approach is logical and pragmatic. India's
competitor in the region is China, which has no agenda for political
change in Myanmar and is helping to build naval bases on the Andaman Sea
coast facing India. Beijing is also actively courting Nepal.

Like America during the cold war, India has determined that coddling
despots is the best way to avoid losing strategic ground. Myanmar's
military leader, Than Shwe, was invited on an official visit to India in
October 2004. In order not to offend the visiting general, the Indian
government refused entry to a number of speakers invited to a
pro-democracy conference on Myanmar timed to coincide with Than Shwe's
visit.

But some question whether it is so wise for India to allow narrow
strategic interests to determine the complexion of its foreign policy. A
former Indian defense minister, George Fernandes, has said India must play
a bigger role in helping to establish a democratic government in Myanmar.

Now that India is being considered for a permanent seat on the United
Nations Security Council, it might be wise for the government in New Delhi
to consider how its democratic credentials play. Japan, which is also
seeking a seat on the Security Council, appears to have reconsidered its
engagement policy; after Aung San Suu Kyi's latest detention, in mid-2003,
Tokyo froze all financial aid to Myanmar.

The world tends to place on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations the
burden of pressuring Myanmar, which was admitted as a member state in
1997. Asean is under fire for allowing Myanmar to assume the chairmanship
of Asean this year. Yet it could be argued that rather than Asean it is
China and India, Myanmar's two biggest neighbors and trading partners,
that could bring the most effective influence to bear.

China's position is pretty clear, and also inexcusable. Beijing frequently
reminds the military leadership in Yangon that constructive political
reform is important, but insists that reform must be executed at a pace
that the generals are comfortable with, in the interests of adhering to
principles of noninterference. In other words, don't embarrass us, but
don't move so fast. But then China is no democracy.

India's economic emergence is sure to be accompanied by claims to join the
global team. The United States considers India a strategic partner and
often cites the two countries' shared democratic values as a basis for
this partnership. India, as the world's largest democracy, should join
other democracies in the struggle to promote liberty. Myanmar would be a
good place to start.

(Michael Vatikiotis is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.)

_____________________________________

June 3, Hindustan Times
Burma comes out of its shell - Sridhar Kumaraswami

'I wish to reassure my Myanmar friends that while India is proud to be a
democracy, we are not in the business of exporting it.' These words of the
Indian ambassador to Myanmar, R.K. Bhatia, to a group of visiting Indian
and Myanmar journalists sum up India's foreign policy with regard to that
country. It's no wonder then that relations between the two countries have
improved considerably in the past five years. Myanmar now backs India's
bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Ties between the two nations had soured in the Nineties over the detention
of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Given that
the Burmese Tatmadaw (army) is comfortably ensconced in power with no real
threat to it, India has chosen to adopt a more pragmatic approach while
dealing with its north-eastern neighbour. Contrast this with India-Nepal
ties where India has chosen to insist on Kathmandu's immediate return to
democracy after the recent palace coup.

India has chosen, instead, to focus on several other factors in its ties
with Yangon. Myanmar is one of two neighbours that isn't part of the South
Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc). It is instead part of
the vibrant Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) that includes
some of Asia's rapidly growing tiger economies. India, currently a
dialogue partner with Asean, hopes to further economic ties with Asean
nations, including mineral-rich Myanmar.

Myanmar is also in the process of opening itself to the world. After the
social upheaval of 1988 - following 26 years of failed socialism under
General Ne Win - the Tatmadaw rulers adopted free-market policies aimed at
strengthening the economy. Joining Asean in 1997 was another step in this
direction.

Cultural and historical ties, too, have assumed a major role. "Senior
General Than Shwe [Myanmar's head of State] himself has pointed out on
numerous occasions that India is the land of the Buddha and that Buddhism
reached Myanmar from India," points out Bhatia. As far as official figures
go, Myanmar's population is nearly 90 per cent Buddhist and Buddhism is an
important part of national life. The majesty of Yangon's magnificent
Shwedagon Pagoda attests to this.

There are also historical ties that are more recent. A proud kingdom,
Myanmar was annexed by the British in three stages in the 19th century and
made part of India. The two neighbours secured independence within a year
of each other.

Over the years, India has realised the immense benefits of a cordial
relationship with Yangon. Even geo-politically, Myanmar is no pushover. In
Bhatia's words, "It's one-fourth the size of India with just one-twentieth
its population". Both countries are also battling insurgencies. Myanmar is
combating an insurgency in its Shan state. A bomb explosion in Yangon in
May this year killed several people, shaking the peace and tranquillity of
the city. Myanmar also borders several of India's volatile
insurgency-ridden north-eastern states. When it comes to democracy, the
Myanmar government has expressed the desire to usher in a
'discipline-flourishing' democratic system in future. Yangon's position is
that this will happen after a 'national convention' finalises a new
constitution.

India's understanding of the situation in Myanmar is also based on ground
realities. The New Light of Myanmar, a State-owned English newspaper, in
an article on March 29 this year, made it clear that "the Tatmadaw [army]
will always stand as a national political force to serve and protect the
national interest". It added that the "Tatmadaw will also shoulder its
future national responsibilities above and beyond the call of duty".

The military government in Myanmar has also taken the position that it is
"impossible for the nation to copy western democracy directly". The 1990
elections that resulted in an overwhelming victory for Aung San Suu Kyi's
NLD has been dismissed by the government "as an election merely for the
framing of the State constitution for which the nation was desperate". The
NLD recently observed the 15th anniversary of the ill-fated 1990 elections
and it's clear that the party stands no chance of coming to power in
Yangon.

"Relations between the two countries are good, now that India has ceased
to put any pressure on the democracy issue," confided a Myanmar official.
It's realpolitik practised by New Delhi in the true sense of the word.

_____________________________________

June 3, Mizzima
Thailand, ASEAN and the "Burma Problem” Eight Long Years of Disgrace -
Ambassador Surapong Jayanama

"To cope with the Burma problem, ASEAN accepted and adopted the Thai
proposal calling for “constructive engagement.” As with many other
political lexicons, "constructive engagement" is Orwellian: it is neither
constructive nor a form of engagement." (Mr. Surapong Jayanama, a former
spokesperson of the Thailand's Foreign Ministry.)

[Please visit:
http://www.mizzima.com/mizzima/archives/news-in-2005/News-in-June/4-Jun-05-1.htm
for full text - Ed]

_____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

June 5, US Campaign for Burma News Update:
Irish Musician Damien Rice launches a website dedicated to Aung San Suu
Kyi at www.actionburma.com.

Quote of the day:

"I prefer not to interfere too much with what is going on in the world,
but when someone has been thrown into a hole and they ask you to throw
down a rope, I am happy to look for a rope, especially for a woman of such
grace."

Damien Rice, Irish Musician
==========================
June 5th, 2005

Free Aung San Suu Kyi (http://www.actionburma.com/)

Join the global campaign by Damien Rice, Burma Campaign UK and US Campaign
for Burma to free Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, now in her
tenth year of house arrest in Burma.

On June 19th 2005, Aung San Suu Kyi will be 60 years old. To coincide with
her birthday, Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan will release a new single -
'Unplayed Piano'. The song was written for Suu Kyi following a visit by
Damien Rice to Burma in July 2004.

Damien Rice said, "I prefer not to interfere too much with what is going
on in the world, but when someone has been thrown into a hole and they ask
you to throw down a rope, I am happy to look for a rope, especially for a
woman of such grace."

Support Burma - Buy the new single!
'Unplayed Piano' is released on 20 June. Proceeds from the single will go
to the Burma Campaign UK and US Campaign for Burma

Find out more: www.burmacampaign.org.uk
www.uscampaignforburma.org
http://.nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html

A Concert for Burma: For concert info visit damienrice.com

Damien Rice is giving 2 concerts in support of Burma:

London Palladium on June 20 2005
Paris La Trianon June 30 2005