BurmaNet News, November 3, 2005

[Editor]

November 3, 2005 Issue # 2837


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe discusses security with Indian Army Chief
Kaladan: Burmese army continues to confiscate crop land in Northern Arakan
DVB: Su Su Nway not allowed to receive medications

HEALTH / AIDS
AP: Flu pandemic could cost Asia hundreds of billions, Asian Development
Bank warns

DRUGS
AFP: US freezes assets of 16 Thai firms linked to drug trade in Myanmar

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai PM says Myanmar not leaving ILO

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: UN rights envoy for Burma Pinheiro to visit Thailand

PRESS RELEASE
U.S. Department of Treasury: Treasury action targets Southeast Asian
narcotics traffickers

INTERVIEW
New Era: DKBA Colonel breaks silence


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 3, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe discusses security with Indian Army Chief - Clive Parker

Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the head of the Burmese government, discussed
cooperation on security with Joginder Jaswant Singh, chief-of-staff of the
Indian Army, in Rangoon yesterday afternoon.

The meeting marked the end of a five-day visit to Burma for Singh, his
first to the Burmese capital since being appointed to the top position in
the Indian Army in February.

Manika Singh, a representative of India’s embassy in Rangoon, confirmed
that the talks at Zeyathiri Beikman—the usual meeting place for foreign
dignitaries visiting senior junta officials—focused on cooperation on
security along Burma’s border with India but could not give further
details.

India’s ambassador to Burma, Bhaskar Kumar Mitra, declined the invitation
to talk to The Irrawaddy today, while Military Attaché Jasvinder Singh
Chopra was unavailable for comment. Both attended the meeting with the
respective heads of the Burmese and Indian armies, along with senior junta
officials including Deputy Snr-Gen Maung Aye, Gen Shwe Mann and Secretary
1 of the ruling State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Thein Sein,
according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar.

Singh returned to India yesterday evening having also visited Burma’s
Defense Services Academy in Maymyo and nearby Mandalay.

The visit is the second in as many weeks by a high-level Indian delegation
following the visit of Home Secretary Shri VK Duggal to Rangoon for the
11th round of talks between the home secretaries of the two countries.

“Both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in tackling the
activities of insurgents, arms smugglers, drug traffickers and other
hostile elements along the India-Myanmar border,” a statement from India’s
Ministry of Home Affairs said following last month’s meeting.

India has stepped up cooperation with neighboring Burma as part of its
“Look East” policy in recent years. A series of agreements made between
both sides this year focusing on security include a pledge made by both
sides to cooperate on interrogating Indian insurgents found on the wrong
side of the 1,640 km Burma-India border.

The two Asian neighbors are keen to secure their shared border in the hope
of increasing trade ties and, in India’s case, to further secure a
frontier that has previously served as a haven for insurgents. Admiral
Arun Prakash, the head of India’s Navy, is also tipped to visit Rangoon at
the beginning of 2006, according to India’s press.

____________________________________

November 3, Kaladan News
Burmese army continues to confiscate crop land in Northern Arakan

Buthidaung: Land where paddy is being grown by Rohingya farmers is being
forcibly confiscated by the Burmese Army. No compensation whatsoever is
being paid to the families in Buthidaung Township in northern Arakan
State, according to a Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) member.

About 35.2 acres were confiscated, of which 16 acres were taken away from
Mohammad Toyoub (30), son of Abul Hasim and 19.2 acres from Eman Hossain
45, son of NurAhamed of Maugbill village under the Buthidaung Township,
the VPDC member added.

On October 4, the Burmese Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) unit No.564based
in Magh Bill village of Buthidaung Township confiscated the paddy farms,
the member added.The Army arrested one of the landowners, Mohammed Toyoub
when he asked Army personnel to leave some paddy fields for his family. He
was taken to the Army camp and detained. He was however, released after
11days, after he was made to give in writing that he would never claim his
land, a relative of Mohammed Toyoub said.

With their land forcibly taken away, the two farmers are not in a position
to provide for their families because they have no alternative sources of
income. Overnight they have become landless and reduced to abject poverty,
the relative added.

Most of Rohingya farmers have been rendered landless. Whatever farmland
remains is gradually being confiscated. Having become landless and jobless
and with no opportunity to work, the Rohingya farmers are facing acute
problems and are in a miserable condition, a local elder said.

This is felt to be a planned policy of the ruling junta to push the people
of Arakan into a severe famine like situation, the elder added. Again as
part of a policy the junta has begun to settle Burman Buddhists in
northern Arakan They are being sporadically brought in from Burma proper
to settle there.

For new settlers, the Army authorities have been systematically grabbing
more and more land from the local people and thereby gradually pushing the
Rohingyas either into internally displaced people or refugees, said a
retired government official.

____________________________________

November 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Su Su Nway not allowed to receive medications

Prison authorities at the notorious Rangoon Insein Jail, have been barring
human rights activist Su Su Nway from receiving proper medicines and
medical treatments for her heart condition. Su Su Nway from Htan Manaing
Village in Rangoon Kawmoo Township, was sentenced to a total of 20 months
in prison on 13 October for allegedly hurling abuses at the local
authorities, against whom she successfully sued over the imposition of
forced labour practices on villagers earlier on.

Su Su Nway had been taking medicines for her heart condition before she
was sent to the prison and her condition is said to be bad because the
medicines she needs have not been allowed to be taken into the prison,
according sources close the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD
reported her situation to Rangoon-based International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) office, but there has been no response from the organisation,
the party members told DVB. Moreover, the prison doctor has been reluctant
to treat Su Su Nway and give her medicines, causing serious concerns over
her health condition.

_____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

November 3, Associated Press
Flu pandemic could cost Asia hundreds of billions, Asian Development Bank
warns - Teresa Cerojano

A flu pandemic could kill 3 million people in Asia, trigger economic
carnage in the region worth almost US$300 billion (euro248 billion) and
push the world into a recession, the Asian Development Bank warned
Thursday.

The warning was among several dire scenarios pictured by the bank in a
report that examined the likely effects on the region if bird flu produces
a human pandemic that slashes consumer demand and sickens millions of
workers.

In its grimmest scenario, in which the psychological impact of a pandemic
lasts one year, the bank said Asia could loss almost US$282.7 billion
(euro235.6 billion) - or 6.5 percent of gross domestic product - in
consumption, trade and investment and another US$14.2 billion (euro11.8
billion) due to workers' incapacity and death.

"... Growth in Asia would virtually stop," the report said.

The economic impact would likely force the world into a recession, it said.

The scenario assumes about 20 percent of Asia's population would fall ill,
and 0.5 percent of them would die.

In a less pessimistic scenario, the bank said that if the psychological
impact of an outbreak lasted 6 months, the cost to Asia in lost
consumption, trade and investment would be about US$99 billion (euro82.6
billion).

China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would likely be hit
hardest by the pandemic, the bank predicted.

In a separate report, also released Thursday, the World Bank said bird flu
was already harming several East Asian economies. Costs so far have been
limited - around 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent of gross domestic product in
Vietnam - but could rise significantly, the bank said.

Milan Brahmbhatt, author of the report, said a human pandemic caused by
bird flu could cost the world economy as much as US$800 billion (euro663
billion).

The reports came as governments stepped up cooperation to prepare a global
response to the risk that the bird flu virus that has swept through Asia
and entered Europe could mutate into a form transmissible between people
and produce a pandemic that could kill millions.

Vietnamese scientists said they were ready to begin testing a new flu
vaccine on human volunteers when they receive permission from the
government, following an US$18 million (euro15 million) allocation from
Washington this week as part of U.S. preparations for a pandemic.

"Our funds are limited, so the funds from the U.S. are very significant,"
said Doan Thi Thuy, deputy director of the National Institute of Health
and Epidemiology's Vaccine and Biological Products No. 1 Company, where
the vaccine is being developed. "We need more money to buy equipment."

Thuy said her company began working on a vaccine last year and tests on
chickens and monkeys produced promising results. Scientists are waiting
for permission from the Ministry of Health to begin testing on human
volunteers.

China and Vietnam have banned poultry imports from countries with
outbreaks. Vietnam has suffered more than 40 of the 62 confirmed human
deaths from bird flu in Asia since 2003, while China has had three
outbreaks in birds in recent weeks but no human cases.

Most of the deaths from bird flu have been linked to close contact with
infected birds, but experts fear the deadly H5N1 virus devastating flocks
in Asia and pockets of eastern Europe could mutate into a form easily
spread from person to person and have called for increased prevention
worldwide.

At a meeting in Bangkok of officials from five Southeast Asian countries,
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pledged to give US$2.5 million
(euro2.1 million) to start a regional fund to combat bird flu in his
country, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In southern China, officials from Hong Kong and the mainland province of
Guangdong agreed to share information about outbreaks and deaths from
infectious diseases as part of new cooperation measures aimed at
combatting bird flu.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday threatened punishment for anyone
who fails to report a bird flu outbreak and ordered tighter monitoring.

Senior U.S. and Chinese officials met in Beijing on Wednesday and said the
two governments would increase technical cooperation and information
exchanges.

In an apparent attempt to underscore China's determination to fight bird
flu, authorities took reporters to a farm where thousands of birds were
destroyed in what they said was a successful operation to contain an
outbreak.

Reporters wearing protective suits and masks were shown the empty chicken
barns of farmer Qin Zhijun, who said health officials arrived 30 minutes
after he reported finding hundreds of dead birds on Oct. 14. He said 7,000
birds were destroyed within 15 hours.

____________________________________
DRUGS

November 3, Agence France Presse
US freezes assets of 16 Thai firms linked to drug trade in Myanmar

The United States froze the assets Thursday of 11 people and 16 companies
based in Thailand for alleged links with a Myanmar heroin-producing and
trafficking group operating in Southeast Asia's notorious Golden Triangle.

They are "part of the financial and commercial network of designated
significant foreign narcotics trafficker Wei Hsueh-kang and the United Wa
State Army (UWSA)," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

Wei is a senior commander of the 20,000-strong UWSA, which styles itself
as an independence movement fighting for an ethnic Wa state in
military-ruled Myanmar.

He and seven others were charged in absentia earlier this year in a US
court with the cultivation of opium in Eastern Myanmar as well as the
manufacture and distribution of heroin and methamphetamine to the United
States and around the world.

Wei, who has a two-million-dollar bounty on his head, and his associates
were also accused of laundering narcotics proceeds through seemingly
legitimate businesses.

The US Treasury's office of foreign assets control (OFAC) has added the 11
individuals and 16 companies to its "specially designated nationals and
blocked persons list pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation
Act," the statement said.

"Wei and the UWSA's opium trafficking plagues the society and economy of
Southeast Asia," said Robert Werner, OFAC Director.

"We're acting to protect the US financial sector from this network's
tainted drug profits, as well as ensure Wei and his cohorts can't use the
American financial system to move or launder their opium proceeds."

The UWSA controls large segments of Eastern Myanmar in the heart of the
infamous Golden Triangle of heroin production straddling Myanmar, Laos and
Thailand.

Among the key individuals blacklisted Thursday are Warin Chaichamrunphan,
one of Wei's wives, and her brother Winai Phitchaiyot.

"They act for or on behalf of Wei and the UWSA in various front companies,
as well as materially assist in their narcotics trafficking activities,"
the statement said.

Several relatives of Warin and Winai are also in the blacklist.

The 16 companies named, all of which are located in Thailand, were
designated for their alleged role in the financial network of Warin,
Winai, Wei and the UWSA, accoreding to the US Treasury.

It added that many of the designated companies had been raided in the past
by Thai authorities in connection with an investigation into Wei's
money-laundering network.

"Today's action freezes any assets found in the United States and
prohibits all financial and commercial transactions between the designated
persons and entities and any US person," the statement said.

Myanmar is the worlds second largest producer of illicit opium and is
among the worlds largest producers and traffickers of amphetamine-type
stimulants.

The country's military rulers have "failed demonstrably to make sufficient
efforts" to meet obligations under international counternarcotics
agreements, according to the US State Department.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 3, Agence France Presse
Thai PM says Myanmar not leaving ILO

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thursday his Myanmar
counterpart had denied that the junta was pulling out of the International
Labour Organization.

Thaksin told a press conference he had asked Myanmar Prime Minister Soe
Win about the UN labor agency's report last week that the military-ruled
country was ready to withdraw from the ILO.

"He said no, no, no, it's just the opinion of one person. They are not
leaving," Thaksin said after meeting his counterparts from Myanmar,
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at an economic summit.

The nine-page report released October 28 said that Myanmar Labor Minister
Thaung had told an ILO delegation that the junta had already made the
decision to withdraw, but had not yet formally notified the Geneva-based
body.

The ILO had warned that such a move could cause "far-reaching and
extremely serious consequences" for the country.

The ILO is allowed to maintain a liaison office in Yangon but the junta
has sharply limited its activities. In August and September, the ILO
office said it had received 21 death threats warning it not to interfere
in internal affairs.

Myanmar's military rulers are accused by rights groups and western nations
of a series of abuses, including forced labor, torture, extrajudicial
killings and massive forced displacements of civilians.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
UN rights envoy for Burma Pinheiro to visit Thailand

United Nations human rights rapporteur for Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
is planning to visit Thailand in the coming week and meet Burmese refugees
living in camps on the Thai-Burmese border. During the visit, he is mainly
meeting the Thai authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
officials. But he is also meeting the refugees separately during the trip
lasting from 8 to 20 November.

Pinheiro studied and investigated human rights situation in Burma for two
years under the direction of the UN and published a report recently for
the international community, and he has been critical of the ruling junta,
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for its gross human rights
violations. He has also been urging Burma’s neighbouring countries
including Thailand to help improve the situation in Burma. As a result,
the generals in Rangoon repeatedly rejected his applications for visa to
visit the country, according to a report from Geneva.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 3, U.S. Department of Treasury
Treasury action targets Southeast Asian narcotics traffickers

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) today identified 11 individuals and 16 companies that are part of
the financial and commercial network of designated significant foreign
narcotics trafficker Wei Hsueh-kang and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
The names were added to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons (SDN) list pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation
Act (Kingpin Act).

"Wei and the UWSA's opium trafficking plagues the society and economy of
Southeast Asia. We're acting to protect the U.S. financial sector from
this network's tainted drug profits, as well as ensure Wei and his cohorts
can't use the American financial system to move or launder their opium
proceeds," said Robert Werner, OFAC Director.

Wei Hsueh-kang (Wei) was designated as a significant foreign narcotics
trafficker pursuant to the Kingpin Act on June 1, 2000. Wei serves as a
senior commander of the UWSA, which was subsequently designated as a drug
kingpin on May 29, 2003. Wei is the subject of a U.S. federal indictment,
unsealed in January 2005, from the Eastern District of New York on
narcotics-related charges. The U.S. Department of State has offered a
$2,000,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

The UWSA, with as many as 20,000 armed fighters located in Burma, is the
largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in Southeast Asia
and was responsible for the production of more than 180 metric tons of
opium in 2004. Many of its senior leaders are also the subject of an
indictment unsealed by the Eastern District of New York in January 2005.

Among the key financial individuals designated by OFAC today are Warin
Chaichamrunphan, who is one of Wei's wives, and her brother Winai
Phitchaiyot. They act for or on behalf of Wei and the UWSA in various
front companies, as well as materially assist in their narcotics
trafficking activities. Several relatives of Warin and Winai are among
those designated today. The 16 companies named, all of which are located
in Thailand, were designated for their role in the financial network of
Warin, Winai, Wei and the UWSA. Many of the designated companies have been
raided in the past by Thai authorities in connection with an investigation
into Wei's money laundering network.

Today's action freezes any assets found in the United States and prohibits
all financial and commercial transactions between the designated persons
and entities and any U.S. person.

The 27 new names collectively bring the total number of Tier I and Tier II
designees under the Kingpin Act to 224: 57 drug kingpins worldwide, 11
individuals and 16 companies in Thailand and 140 companies and other
individuals in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and the Caribbean.

This action is part of the ongoing interagency effort of the Treasury,
Justice, State, Defense, and Homeland Security Departments, the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug
Enforcement Administration to carry out the Kingpin Act, which was signed
into law on December 3, 1999, and which applies economic sanctions against
narcotics traffickers on a worldwide basis. The Kingpin Act was modeled
after Executive Order 12978 which applies economic sanctions against
narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia, and which is also administered
by OFAC.

_____________________________________
INTERVIEW

November 2, New Era Journal
DKBA Colonel breaks silence - Maxmilian Wechsler

Since the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) was established in
December 1994, it has been consistently accused by the Karen National
Union (KNU) and other organizations of committing offenses against the
Karen people and being involved in drug trafficking and other crimes.

The DKBA was formed after the defection by Buddhist commanders from the
Christian-dominated KNU due to religious disputes, especially the row over
the building of Myit Zone Zedi Buddhist pagoda near the KNU's headquarters
at Manaplaw.

One of the top DKBA commanders, 52-year-old Colonel Na Kam Mui, who
defected from the KNU in 1995, agreed to an interview which might be the
first-ever by an officer of this group:

Under what circumstances was the DKBA established?

The DKBA was formed as a result of injustices that had occurred to our
people. We began to realize in 1994 that we did not even have the right to
our own religious beliefs. We asked the KNU leadership to provide justice
for our people whenever their freedom was abused, but there was no
response.

What are the aims of your organization?

To protect our Karen people from oppression and to uphold their rights, so
that they can live freely in their motherland. We will fight anyone who
tends to disturb their way of life. It is our duty to look after their
security. We will punish severely and without delay anyone, even our own
officials.

What are the present activities of your group?

We build roads, bridges, schools, dams, houses, as well as help farmers.
We also make sure that everyone in our motherland is guaranteed religious
freedom. We are trying to improve the living conditions of our people.

Give some details of the DKBA's policies, membership, etc.

Anyone can join the DKBA, whether they have a military background or
civilian. But they must pledge to follow our rules, work hard and support
freedom of religious beliefs. They must not be involved in any activities
that could harm civilians.

How is the DKBA financed?

We do trading between Thailand and Burma, and receive income from the
natural resources of our country.

Do the Karen people support the DKBA?

If we do good things for our people, they will surely support us. We must
serve them and not act like their bosses while doing nothing for them. You
should come to interview the people yourself and hear what they say about
us. I can't speak for them. Let the people decide what kind of leadership
they want.

What is the present relationship between the DKBA and the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC)?

We support peace and the development of our country based on mutual
respect. We support the government to bring peace and stability to our
people.

Does the DKBA communicate with the KNU? If yes, give details.

We are all Karen living together in the motherland. Therefore, we can't
avoid communicating with each other. Every time we meet, we discuss how to
keep peace. Instead of fighting, causing confusion and misunderstandings,
we should live and work together. Moreover, we must not harm innocent
lives. We believe in the unity of our people, so that we can live in
harmony and peace. Without peace, we can't develop our country.

Would it be possible for you and the KNU to join and work together?

The KNU should unite all Karen people, but under the current
administration there's no justice or even sincerity to protect the
interests of the people. If they did so, we would not have had to move
out! The current top KNU leadership misrepresents the people and looks
only after its own interests and glory, instead of helping people. I
really regret this very much.

The KNU has accused the DKBA of being involved in drug trafficking and
other criminal activities. Is this true?

This is not true. The DKBA have rules that prohibit the drinking of
alcohol or the use of addictive drugs, because both harm our people. We
are very strict about this! We do not want to see the Karen people suffer
because of drugs. Yes, there are some people in our ranks who are not
following the rules, but we do our utmost to punish them according to our
laws. We don't want to see our people being destroyed.

There are rumors that the SPDC is pressuring the DKBA to give up weapons.
How would you react to such a request?

In reality, we don't want to carry guns, but we have no choice.
We need the guns to maintain peace for our people. The weapons we possess
aren’t meant to attack anyone. There is no way for the SPDC to take the
guns from our hands. If they pressure us and attempt to disarm us then we
will have no choice but to stand up and fight to the end.
The weapons we have are for peaceful purposes and not to fight with the SPDC.

What is the future for the DKBA?

We wish to keep our freedom and to develop our own state. Not only human
beings, but also the animals in the jungle must be well protected. We
want to see equal rights for all religions that will allow our people to
live in a secure environment without fear. We want to see everyone in our
own land to be free. This applies not just for to Karen State but for
everyone in our country.

Lots of people, including many in the opposition, regard the DKBA as a
criminal organization. Do you have any explanation for this?

The world today is full of propaganda and accusations. People without
access to the media can't defend themselves. Some corrupted Thai officers
are involved in the drug business but make us as the scapegoat, so that
they can be promoted.

(The translation of the interview from the Karen language into English was
made By Mrs. Wann Sochiarun).