BurmaNet News, February 10, 2006

[Editor]

February 10, 2006 Issue # 2898


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Shan leader Shwe Ohn released from house arrest in Burma
DVB: Former Burma FM Win Aung on trial
AFP: Myanmar cracks down on media sources: watchdog
IMNA: Two hundred students beat up traffic police
SHAN: Wa chief associate has a near miss
DVB: Mobile telephones reportedly banned in new Burmese capital
Narinjara: Study and drilling tests on Arakan gas resource to end in May 2006
DVB: Emperor's new clothes: Burma new capital named Royal City

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Rights groups urge end to Salween dam projects

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Two state-owned enterprises to be privatized in Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: Russia, unlike U.S., supports Asia for top U.N. post

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: India's bankrupt foreign policy - Bibhuti Bhusan Nandy

___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Shan leader Shwe Ohn released from house arrest in Burma

A prominent Shan leader, Shwe Ohn who was arrested around the same time as
Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo and other
renowned Shan leaders in February 2005, was released from house arrest
almost a year later.

84-year old Shwe Ohn told DVB that he had been put under house arrest at
his brother’s house in Shan State capital Taunggyi since 9 February 2005
and released on the 8th of February.

He said that the authorities told him he was detained under the notorious
political Act – 10, but he insisted that he didn’t commit any crime and
neither did nine other Shan leaders including Shan National League for
Democracy (SNLD) chairman who were given lengthy jail terms.

___________________________________

February 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Former Burma FM Win Aung on trial

DVB had already reported during the previous week that Burma’s military
junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) former Foreign
Minister Win Aung was arrested and likely to be tried.

According to a recent report by Reuters, Win Aung has been tried secretly
at a special tribunal inside Rangoon Insein jail with charges related to
corruption and if found guilty he is likely to face a 7 years jail term, a
legal staff told Reuters.

According to information obtained separately by DVB, Win Aung was arrested
in January and his case is related to that of the ousted Prime Minster Gen
Khin Nyunt. Although it is not known exactly how the cases are related, he
could be implicated in helping former SPDC ministers and intelligence
officers connected to Khin Nyunt flee the country, according to sources
close to former intelligence agents’ circles.

According to the sources, Win Aung helped his cabinet colleague and a
close associate of Gen Khin Nyunt, Maj-Gen David Abel flee to Israel and
other intelligence agents to other countries. We have been trying to
contact the minister’s family members and Israeli authorities, but still
unsuccessful.

___________________________________

February 10, Agence France Presse
Myanmar cracks down on media sources: watchdog

Bangkok: Myanmar's military rulers are cracking down on people who speak
to international media outlets by tapping phones and carrying out
interrogations of suspected sources, media watchdog groups said Friday.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres - RSF) and the
Burmese Media Association said the regime's campaign was particularly
focused on those who gave information to Burmese-language radio stations.

They said intelligence officials had interrogated journalists, civil
servants and businessmen by playing recordings from US-backed Radio Free
Asia and other broadcasts to try to get them to admit they spoke to
foreign media.

"The paranoia and violence of the Burmese military, especially Than Shwe,
the head of the military junta, could have dramatic consequences for
Burmese who dare to give information to journalists based abroad," the
media watchdog groups said.

"International radio stations are often the only source of independent
information for millions of Burmese, and it would do great harm if people
were afraid to talk to them."

RSF said that several Myanmar journalists based in the capital Yangon were
recently summoned by the information ministry and asked to provide a list
of their contacts.

And the rights watchdog said it had learned from exiled Myanmar
journalists that their sources inside the country, formerly known as
Burma, often had their telephone lines cut after interviews.

Two people had been arrested in the southern city of Moulmein for having
received "suspicious" international calls on their mobile phones, RSF
said.

Myanmar's military government, shunned by many in the international
community, has ruled the impoverished country since 1962.

____________________________________

February 9, Independent Mon News Agency
Two hundred students beat up traffic police

About 200 Moulmein University students got together and went on the
rampage beating up traffic policeman in the city yesterday after the
police seized four motorcycles. The Chief Professor of the university
dealt with the situation and the traffic police gave the students back
their motorcycles, a student said.

Students of the Computer College in Set-Hmu-Zone and Moulmein University
joined hands and scoured the whole town in search of traffic policemen.
The students beat up some traffic policemen and hurled stones at the
police checkpoints around midday yesterday.

The students also destroyed all the posters regarding traffic rules for
motorbikes in the city and traffic checkpoints in the Zaykyo quarter.
Students then tried to beat up policemen in Die-Won-Kwin near the city
market.

“We will not abide by what the police has to say. We have been cautioning
them for a long time,” a student said.

The trouble began when the traffic policemen threw a stick at two girl
students who tried to avoid checking. The girls fell off the motorbike.
Both girls were brought to hospital for treatment and their motorbike was
seized.

In the second incident, the traffic police seized four motorcycles from
students for use in Pyinmana, the new capital in Mandalay division.

In 2003, students had clashed with the traffic police when they seized
their unlicensed motorbikes. In 1996 Moulmein University students had
demonstrated for political change and demanded their rights.

____________________________________

February 10, Shan Herald Agency for News
Wa chief associate has a near miss

The United Wa State Army leader Bao Youxiang has recovered from his year
long illness but his deputy chief of staff narrowly escaped from an
assassination attempt on Tuesday, 7 February, according to sources from
the border.



Zhao Guo-ang, 50, could count himself lucky when the parcel bomb failed to
explode, when he opened it up sometime between 06:30  07:00. Somehow the
small explosion from the detonator did not ignite the TNT and he got off
only with a few scratches, said sources.

According to sources, a young man arrived at his home in Nalawt, outside
the Wa capital of Panghsang, about six in the morning, and being told that
Zhao was still in bed, left a small parcel with the instruction to open it
up and call the number enclosed inside.

Zhao Guo-ang
Zhao Guo-ang, a veteran of the war against Khun Sa, 1989-96, is also chief
of logistics for the Wa army and has accumulated enemies "while doing his
job," according to a source.

Security has been tightened in Panghsang as a result, especially with
regards to newcomers. "There were no more than 40-Burma Army men who were
permitted by the UWSA to be stationed in Panghsang," says one Shan
businessman." But now we are seeing hundreds of Burman civilians within
the town limits."

Bao Youxiang meanwhile appears to have been cured of his indisposition
caused by eating improperly cooked meat. He was said to have spent 3
months in China to rid himself of worms infesting his brain. "He often has
memory lapses, headaches and can't walk straight. Sometimes he doesn't
remember what you have told him," reported Bangkok Post, 27 November 2005,
quoting one of his aides.

A Thai businessman in Chiangrai's Chiangsaen district also confirmed this
morning Bao is back in Panghsang after spending a month at his hometown of
Kunma, north of Panghsang, on his return from China. "He called me up on
29 January to send his Chinese New Year greetings," he said. "He said he
was still weak, but otherwise healthy and sound."

His home-coming has been welcomed by his colleagues as well as allies who,
since their staunchest backer Gen Khin Nyunt was ousted late 2004, have
been reeling under pressure to renounce their arms by the Burma Army.

____________________________________

February 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Mobile telephones reportedly banned in new Burmese capital

It has been learned that Vice Sr Gen Maung Aye, SPDC [State Peace and
Development Council] vice chairman, made a secret inspection of Kyatpye,
the new capital, yesterday [7 February]. An employee from the new capital
who does not want to be identified told the DVB [Democratic Voice of
Burma] that he [Maung Aye] came to inspect the relocated ministries at the
new place.

It has been learned that Gen Maung Aye gave instructions not to use mobile
phones in the new capital for security reasons and that all ministries are
to complete relocation and begin duties before the end of the month.

The same employee told the DVB that although instructions were given to
employees to complete the move to the new capital, none of the SPDC top
level generals have moved yet to the new capital. He said none of the SPDC
top level leaders and their families will move to the Kyatpye region,
where there is nothing to enjoy.

____________________________________

February 10, Narinjara News
Study and drilling tests on Arakan gas resource to end in May 2006

The study and drilling tests being done on gas resources in Arakan State
will be completed in May 2006. It is being conducted under the aegis of
the Burma Energy Ministry and Daewoo Corporation, said a report in the
Inside Weekly Journal.

According to a report of the Burmese Energy Ministry, the drilling test
conducted by Galaxy Driller on the Shwe Nila well at A-1 Block on the
Arakan coast was completed in December 2005. In A-3 Block, the drilling
test on the Mra well was concluded in January 2006.

They are into continuous test drilling on at least five gas wells and if
gas reserves are discovered from two out five of the wells, they will
carry out a 3D Seismic measure in February 2006.

After completion of these activities, they will conclude the study and
drilling tests in the Arakan gas fields in May 2006, said the report.

According to the report, in A-3 Block they discovered 300 trillion cubic
feet of gas and in the A-1 Block they discovered 93 meters density of gas
during the study and drilling tests.

The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise under Myanmar Energy Ministry and
Daewoo began their study and drilling tests in the Shwe Gas fields off the
Arakan coast in November 2005.

____________________________________

February 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Emperor's new clothes: Burma new capital named Royal City

All senior officials from most of the Burmese military government
departmental headquarters in Rangoon refer to the country’s new capital as
“Naypyidaw”, meaning the royal city, and have instructed their
subordinates to follow suit, a civil servant told.

When DVB inquired about the condition at the ‘royal city’, known to the
local people simply as ‘Kyetpyay’ (‘Running/Fleeing/Runaway Chicken’ or
Chicken Run’ in English), a telecommunications employee from Rangoon, who
has been slaving away day and night there explained as follows:

“It is not busy but when people from Rangoon started to arrive, it has
become a bustling place. They came here as a duty not because they are
happy. I call the capital Kyetpyay. When the locals and everyone say
Kyetpyay, I too say Kyetpyay.”

Telecom employees from Rangoon have been working for over nine months
anxiously setting up telephone lines for various ministries. Since almost
all the ministries were relocated there on 4 and 5 February, they have
been urgently installing 150 telephone lines per ministry. The same
telecom employee said:

“We have to work from sunrise to sunset and we don't know which group
comes from where. We have to fix the cable lines from the mountains to the
valleys and we have just returned from there. We have to draw the cable
line from Pyinmana telephone exchange. We have to set up 150 cable lines,
supply 150 telephones, and also lay fibre optic lines. Our department gave
us this job order and it is to be rotated every three months but we have
been here for nine months now.”

Agency news reported that since almost all the ministries of Burma’s
military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) have been
relocated to Kyetpyay, they start functioning from there on 6 February.

Since the relocation of government ministries to Kyetpyay, the price of
basic commodities has skyrocketed in Pyinmana a local resident said, and
he added that the houses that were blocking the construction of
Pyinmana-Kyetpyay six-lane road were previously told to dismantle
immediately but now they were told the move has been suspended for three
months.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 10, Mizzima News
Rights groups urge end to Salween dam projects - Kanyamaw

Rights groups opposed to the planned construction of dams on the Salween
River have urged Thailand not to invest in the projects.

Pianporn Deetes from the South East Asia River Network said the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, in charge of the project,
should immediately make public information on the dams and their potential
impact on surrounding areas.

"The Thai citizens have the rights to access to the information and to
participate in the decision making of the projects because the electricity
will be exported to Thailand and it's a huge investment this time,"
Pianporn said.

EGAT and Burmese authorities have agreed on the construction of six dams
on the Salween River in Burma and signed a MoU on the construction of a
1400 to 2000 megawatt dam in Hatgyi, Karen State in December.

Rights groups say the dams will force thousands of people to leave their
homes and land. They said 10,000 refugees from Karen, Karenni and Shan
States had already fled to Thailand because of the projects.

"If more dams are built, it is certain that more refugees will flow into
Thailand due to the floods, utilisation and persecution from military,"
Pianporn said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 10, Xinhua General News Service
Two state-owned enterprises to be privatized in Myanmar

Yangon: Two more state-owned enterprises, a marble slab factory and a
textile mill, will be auctioned off as a continuation of the government's
privatization program, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar
reported Friday.

The privatization of the two factories in Kayah state's Loikaw and Yangon
came a week after the government's Privatization Commission announced the
same for 30 rice mills and edible oil mills on Feb. 2.

In July last year, Myanmar auctioned eight state-owned factories including
five garment, two towel and one thread factories as part of its
privatization program of the state-run industrial enterprises

Myanmar has, since January 1995, been implementing the privatization plan
for its state-owned economic enterprises including those nationalized in
the 1960s in an effort to systematically turn them into more effective
enterprises.

The plan, which has been implemented by the commission, is carried out by
auctioning and leasing or establishing joint ventures with local and
foreign investors. These enterprises also include saw mills, cinemas and
hotels.

It is estimated that since the privatization program started, over 100
such state-owned enterprises have been reportedly privatized.

According to reports, there are over 55,000 factories in Myanmar, of which
over 53,000 are private-run. In Yangon, more than 5,500 factories are
under operation in 10 industrial zones out of 19 across the country.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 10, Reuters
Russia, unlike U.S., supports Asia for top U.N. post - Evelyn Leopold

United Nations: Russia said a successor to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan should be an Asian and threw cold water on U.S. suggestions that the
next top U.N. diplomat could come from any region in the world.

"We prefer to follow the traditional way of tackling the issue, of
handling the matter of election of new secretary general," Russia's U.N.
Ambassador Andrei Denisov said on Thursday. He added that it was Asia's
turn for job.

Denisov also disagreed with U.S. Ambassador John Bolton's proposal that
the selection process be completed by midyear, saying it might sideline
Annan, who completes 10 years in office on Dec. 31.

"We don't consider Mr. Annan as somebody considering retirement, "Denisov
told a news conference. "He is active and working effectively and must
work until the end of his term."

"Some items of the (U.N.) reform agenda have been delayed, like
enlargement of the Security Council," Denisov said.

"We are fed up with aggravations by starting discussions on a
secretary-general right now. It will only bring a mess to the reform
process," he added.

Some envoys have suggested a job description but Denisov said that too was
unnecessary. Past office holders have been drawn from the diplomatic corps
or, in Annan's case, from the U.N. bureaucracy.

The U.N. Charter states that a secretary-general is to be appointed by the
General Assembly at the recommendation of the 15-nation Security Council,
which means Russia as well as the United States, Britain, France and China
have veto power.

In the past, the five permanent council members have waited until the last
moment to make a choice, blackballing each other's candidate to see who is
left standing.

This year Bolton has made clear that "we are looking for candidates to
declare themselves from all over the world so we can have the broadest
possible field to follow up on."

Bolton has also said that Eastern Europeans should be eligible for the
post since they had not held the job before.

But Denisov said only that he had not heard "practical proposals" from the
eastern Europeans.

But he said that "those who support the Asian option would like to have
one candidate supported by all (of) Asia."

Asians who have expressed interest in the job include Jayantha Dhanapala,
advisor to the president of Sri Lanka and a former U.N.
undersecretary-general for disarmament; South Korean Foreign Minister Ban
Ki-moon and Surakiart Sathirathai, the deputy prime minister of Thailand.

The only Asian to have been U.N. secretary-general was U Thant of Burma,
now Myanmar, who served from 1961 until 1971.

But there are no candidates from such nations as China, India, Pakistan or
Japan for a variety of political reasons.


>From eastern Europe, the names mentioned most frequently are former Polish

President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Latvian President Vaira
Vike-Freiberga.

Vike-Freiberga, Dhanapala and Ban appeared on the same stage at last
month's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the audience
assuming all were candidates.

The Latvian president has not spoken about the post but one senior council
envoy commented that "she's probably interested but knows Russia would not
approve."

Annan, a U.N. career diplomat from Ghana won the Nobel Peace Prize and was
easily elected to a second five-year term.

But after the $64 billion Iraq oil-for-food scandal and the current
struggle to reform the organization, Bolton said the United States was
looking for a strong administrator outside of the U.N. system "who has
strong management experience."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 10, Mizzima News
India's bankrupt foreign policy - Bibhuti Bhusan Nandy

At a time when the United States, the United Nations, the European Union
and ASEAN are trying to work out a new and coordinated strategy on Burma,
New Delhi has decided that Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam should pay a
state visit to the country in March.

Exposing the depths of the southern block's bankrupt foreign policy, the
decision is likely to attract interest and concern from among Burma
watchers and activists around the world.

It is nearly two decades since the Burmese military brutally suppressed
the 'second struggle for independence' and, two years later, rejected the
National League for Democracy's overwhelming 1990 election win.

Hopes for the restoration of democracy have been dashed and Burma remains
a deeply troubled and hermetically isolated country. The creation of a
cohesive, democratic national identity or an era of growth and progress in
Burma remain distant dreams.

The partial opening of the economy in the '90s has boosted international
trade and bolstered the junta. ASEAN's 'constructive engagement' policy
facilitated Burma's entrance into the grouping and earmarked Rangoon for
its chairmanship in 2006.

But under pressure from ASEAN, the junta announced a seven-point roadmap
for a gradual transition to democracy and reconvened the National
Convention to write a constitution for the country.

Then, when ASEAN had been placated, the generals made a habit of ignoring
international and regional efforts to encourage national reconciliation.

Acts including the unprovoked attack on Aung San Suu Kyi in May 2003, her
subsequent arrest and the ongoing detention of political activists and
ethnic leaders, are testament to the junta's increasing intransigence.

At the end of last year, Rangoon relinquished the ASEAN chairmanship,
after intense pressure from the EU and US.

After consistent military refusals for a visa, UN envoy Razali Ismail
chose not to continue in the position. The junta has also cancelled a
scheduled visit by Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

Burmese Attorney General U Aye Maung has proposed at the National
Convention that the Tatmadaw be enshrined in the constitution as an
independent entity and that the army chief be given the powers and status
of Burma's vice-president.

Clearly, the junta wants to strengthen and legitimise military
authoritarianism through the country's constitution and provide the army
with a license to rule Burma freely and permanently.

It is obvious to everyone that the military regime's so-called
transitional strategy is sham.

Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has been less
inclined to watch what should be wealthy and vibrant country held captive
by a military regime.

The only positive part of the current situation is that the Bush
administration is showing more interest in what happens in the country.
There are also signs that Burma may feature on the UN Security Council
agenda.

As the first step toward progress, the US and the EU should jointly
convene an international conference on Burma, which must make tough
political decisions aimed at restoring multi-party democracy and a
representative government in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Burma.

The country's immediate neighbours have to play a consistently pro-active
role in bringing this about, by using all their collective political,
economic and strategic power.

Between 1988 and the mid '90s, India strongly supported the Burmese
struggle for democracy, but since then New Delhi has completely overturned
that policy and warmed up to the military regime in the hope of securing
Rangoon's strategic cooperation.

The Indian military leadership has built cosy ties with its Burmese
counterpart and through the frequent exchange of high-level visits seems
to have taken a lead over the Ministry of External Affairs in shaping the
country's policy priorities in relation to Burma.

Instead of following a measured and purposeful policy, New Delhi is overly
generous to the junta – far beyond the requirements of a correct
state-to-state relationship based on reciprocity. Touting its Look-East
policy, India has justified making significant investments in road
building, railway projects and telecommunication
infrastructure in Burma in the past few years.

There are indications that defense supplies from India to the military
regime will add a crucial new dimension to bilateral relations. In return,
the State Peace and
Development Council has done precious little to meet India's energy and
security needs. Rangoon remains focused on promoting cooperation with
Beijing.

For the Burmese generals, the fact that China is more important than India
became blindingly obvious last December when Rangoon backed away from a
deal to supply this country natural gas and inked instead an agreement
with Hong Kong-based Petro China.

The junta's track record for tackling insurgency issues in its northeast
is marked by deception and duplicity. Burmese security forces in western
Burma have been concentrated against the NSCN (Khaplang) instead of more
dangerous rebel groups like the ULFA and PLA of Manipur who continue to
operate at ease from the other side of the border.

In the past, the Burmese army has been known to have let off Meiti rebels
captured with weapons inside Burma, instead of handing them over to
Indian. Viewed against Rangoon's record of deceptive policy towards India,
New Delhi's excessive support to the Burmese generals makes neither
diplomatic nor political sense and is a cause of deep disquiet among many
people.

The first ever state visit of an Indian president to Burma will surely not
allay their concerns.