BurmaNet News, February 18-21, 2006

[Editor]

February 18-21, 2006 Issue # 2904


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar arrests student group member over 2005 bombings
Xinhua: Myanmar speeds up implementation of development projects in new
capital
Japan Economic Newswire: Myanmar to lay gas pipeline to new capital, paper
says
Irrawaddy: NLD submits court appeal for sentenced Shan leaders

ON THE BORDER
Reuters: Myanmar refugees find comfort in rebel camp

HEALTH / AIDS
Financial Times: A chameleon enlists in war on Aids

DRUGS
AFP: Amphetamine seizures increase in Myanmar

ASEAN
AFP: ASEAN envoy may visit Myanmar by April: deputy FM

REGIONAL
AFP: UN rights envoy for Myanmar in Indonesia
Jakarta Post: Lawmakers urge SBY to cancel Myanmar visit

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: French president tells Myanmar to 'move towards democracy'

OPINION / OTHER
Statesmen: The Burma stalemate: India's policy of unwarranted appeasement

___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 21, Agence France Presse
Myanmar arrests student group member over 2005 bombings

Lashio: Myanmar's military rulers said Tuesday they had arrested a member
of an outlawed student group over the May 2005 fatal triple bombings in
the capital Yangon, but the suspect said he was innocent.

The junta paraded 27-year-old Aung Cho Oo before journalists and foreign
diplomats at this town about 650 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of
Yangon, and accused him of involvement in the bombings which killed 23
people.

He was arrested February 5 and belonged to the All Burma Students
Democratic Front (ABSDF), one of several groups blamed for the
near-simultaneous bombings on May 7 that hit two upscale shopping malls
and a convention hall, the junta said.

"Investigations... led to the arrest of the Network for Democracy and
Development group's leader Thein Win's hard core (colleague) Aung Cho Oo,
alias Aung Than alias Yunod, on his way to infiltrating the country,"
Information Minister Brigadier Kyaw Hsann said, reading from a statement.

"These bomb blasts killed 23 persons and 150 others were wounded."

Aung Cho Oo, who was not handcuffed, said he was innocent.

"I didn't involve myself in these bomb blasts," he said.

"I am sorry about that. I didn't expect they would (perform) this cruelty."

Aung Cho Oo said all he did was tell Thein Win about security details
around the bombed sites.

Kyaw Hsann did not say if Aung Cho Oo had been charged with any offence.

The usually reclusive junta allowed guests inside Lashio prison to see an
alleged associate commander of the Shan State Army, an ethnic rebel group
still battling the military government.

Sao Kyun Kyaw, who uses two aliases -- Myint Soe and Thangyaung -- was a
former member of the ABSDF and was arrested last month along with about 50
other rebels from the Shan State Army.

"As the person in charge of military affairs of ABSDF north, Thangyaung
committed a series of atrocities such as murders (and) torture," Kyaw
Hsann said.

Sao Kyun Kyaw was visited for about five minutes, but could not be heard
talking behind a glass wall.

The unlikely alliance of ethnic rebel groups, pro-democracy organisations
and student groups which the junta blamed for the May 2005 blasts have all
denied involvement.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

___________________________________

February 21, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar speeds up implementation of development projects in new capital

Yangon: Myanmar is speeding up the implementation of development projects
in the new capital of Pyinmana with increased supply of construction
materials as well as food stuff to the area, a local weekly reported
Tuesday.

A large amount of construction material and foodstuff including rice are
being continuously transported to Pyinmana since the government moved
there from Yangon in November last year, the Voice newspaper reported.

With the implementation of hotel projects, golf resort, stadium,
residential building and road, Pyinmana is packed with a great deal of
domestic job-seeking workers migrating from other parts of the country,
and business in Pyinmana is booming.

Meanwhile, the private banking sector is also expanding in the new capital
with a major private bank, the Myawaddy Bank, to open its branch for
services there by the end of this month. The opening of the bank branch is
bringing the number of private banks in Pyinmana to three. Before the
government moved to the new capital, there were only two such banks in
operation there, namely, the Yoma and the Cooperative.

The Myanmar government started on Nov. 6 last year moving its
administrative capital from Yangon to Pyinmana, a plain land in the
central part with mountain ranges in the west and the east and 390
kilometers north of Yangon, with an aim that the move will enable more
effective administration over the whole nation from the central part.

So far, almost all ministries have moved out from Yangon and office works
formally started in Pyinmana on Feb. 7. With the relocation of the
capital, expansion of the "Pyinmana special region development project" is
underway.

However, analysts said the relocation of Myanmar's capital to Pyinmana
would not change the status of Yangon as the country's commercial hub.

___________________________________

February 20, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar to lay gas pipeline to new capital, paper says

Yangon: The Myanmar military government will lay a pipeline to its new
administrative capital Pyinmana to supply natural gas to the city, a
weekly newspaper reported Monday.

The 170-kilometer-long pipeline will connect Mi-Gyaung-Ye, a small town in
the central Myanmar sedimentary basin, and Pyinmana, the Flower News
reported, quoting the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

The planned pipeline is part of the MOGE's network expansion plan, which
includes construction of several other pipelines across the country, with
the lengths ranging from 160 to 320 kilometers, the report said.

The Myanmar junta started moving its administrative functions in November
last year from Yangon to Pyinmana.

The relocation process is expected to finish by next month but it will
take about two more years to complete the whole government infrastructure,
according to official sources.

Foreign missions in Yangon were told in December last year that they can
start building new embassies in Pyinmana by the end of 2007.

Analysts and observers from business circles, however, said the relocation
of the capital will not change the status of Yangon as Myanmar's
commercial hub as it has the best facilities for shipping, air travel and
other business activities.

Yangon has a population of over 5.8 million according to official figures,
while the population of Pyinmana is estimated at 100,000.

____________________________________

February 21, Irrawaddy
NLD submits court appeal for sentenced Shan leaders - Shah Paung

A legal team from Burmese opposition group the National League for
Democracy today submitted an appeal to Rangoon Divisional Court on behalf
of detained Shan opposition leaders.

“Today we submitted appeals in the cases of four [Shan leaders] in Rangoon
Divisional Court,” Aung Thein, a lawyer from the NLD, told The Irrawaddy
today. The four ethnic leaders were given harsh sentences by a Rangoon
court in late November last year.

The leaders included the chairman and general-secretary of the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy, Hkun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin,
respectively, Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten, president of the Shan State Peace
Council, and Sai Hla Aung.

The court handed down a verdict of 53 years and two life sentences for
Hkun Htun Oo. Sai Nyunt Lwin received 25 years and two life sentences on
charges of high treason. Sao Hso Ten was given 46 years and three life
sentences. Sai Hla Aung received a sentence of 75 years. According to a
Democratic Voice of Burma report last week, a fifth detainee, Shwe Ohn,
was released on February 8 after serving nearly a year in prison.

Hkun Htun Oo is currently serving his sentence in Putao prison in Kachin
State, while Sai Nyunt Lwin and Sao Hso Ten reside in Kalay and Hkamti
prisons, respectively. Both are in Burma’s Sagaing Division.

The Shan leaders are thought to have been arrested for their involvement
in a meeting of opposition and ethnic leaders held in Shan State in early
February 2005. According to Aung Thein, the court is expected to respond
to the NLD appeals by March 15.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 21, Reuters
Myanmar refugees find comfort in rebel camp - Ed Cropley

Doi Tailang, Myanmar: For 37-year-old Sri Falung, pleasure is merely the
absence of pain.

A mother of three from eastern Myanmar's Shan ethnic minority, she has
eked out a meager existence for the last three years in a jungle guerrilla
camp on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Her children lack all but the most basic schooling and medical care. The
hillsides around her bamboo hut are networked with tunnels -- makeshift
shelters from the shells and mortar rounds which occasionally target the
village.

Despite this, she believes her life is on the up.

"I'm happy here because there is nobody to bully me," she said as her
children played at her feet on the dirt track which doubles as Doi
Tailang's main thoroughfare.

As with many others in the 15,000-strong refugee village that has sprung
up around the headquarters of the rebel Shan State Army (SSA), hers is a
tale of persecution at the hands of the Burmese-dominated military, which
has run Myanmar under various guises since 1962.

"The army came into our village and abused us, forcing us to work, making
us serve as porters," she said. "Then they asked us about the Shan
soldiers. If we didn't give the right answers, we were beaten. If we went
home, the army would come and beat us."

Doi Tailang's 230 orphans, aged from 5 to 22 and living in makeshift
wooden dormitories, serve as reminders that many did not escape the
soldiers of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the former
Burma's military junta is known.

"I have no idea where my parents are now," said Dang, an 18-year-old who
does not know his family name. He last saw his parents alive as he fled an
army raid on his village.

BLOODY CRACKDOWN

Since a bloody crackdown on protests in 1988, hundreds of pro-democracy
figures, including opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, have been incarcerated and hundreds of thousands more have fled as
refugees.

Human rights groups accuse the junta of detaining 1,100 political
prisoners and the army of abuses ranging from the forced recruitment of
child soldiers to rape and murder.

The junta routinely denies accusations of human rights abuses.

The ethnic minorities who make up around a third of Myanmar's 53 million
people have also been targeted, in a large part because they are seen as
the source of the various rebel militias pitted against Yangon -- some of
them for five decades or more.

The SSA -- a splinter group of the now-defunct Mong Tai Army of Golden
Triangle drug lord Khun Sa -- is one of the biggest militias, even though
analysts do not support claims by its leaders to have 10,000 men under
arms.

Less contentious is the growing number of Shan, who make up 10 percent of
the population, and other ethnic minorities such as the Karen, Karenni or
Mon, taking refuge in the mountainous border areas between eastern Myanmar
and western Thailand.

"It's getting bigger," said SSA supremo Yod Suk -- whose name translates
as Warlord -- with a broad sweep of his arm toward the strings of huts
perched on mountain ridges around Doi Tailang.

"When we started this camp, there were only about 250 people. In five
years, it's gone to 15,000. The SPDC is abusing people, taking them
captive and imposing forced labor, so they have no choice but to leave,"
he said.

FEARS OF EXODUS

With more than 120,000 official long-term refugees from Myanmar already
confined to camps in Thailand, diplomats worry that any increase in the
exodus could become a threat to regional stability.

Noting that there were an additional 500,000 internal refugees inside
Myanmar, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, told Congress this month the crisis would probably
worsen given the junta's "xenophobic, ever more irrational policies."

"If Rangoon's economy continues to stagnate, if the spread of infectious
diseases remains unchecked, and if the generals continue to brutalize its
people and ignore the country's smoldering ethnic insurgencies, the flow
of Burmese crossing into neighboring countries is likely to increase,"
Hill said.

Plans are afoot to refer the junta to the U.N. Security Council, but many
analysts believe it will simply shrug off the diplomatic pressure -- as it
has frequently in the past -- and sink further into isolation.

Given the state of the Thai refugee camps, which have been likened to
large-scale prisons, subsequent refugees will probably opt for informal
asylum under the aegis of rebel militias -- and with the chance of work as
an illegal laborer

in Thailand.

"Do you see how free we are? This place is very different from the refugee
camps," said Tern Sarng, one of Yod Suk's top advisers. "Here people can
come and go as they please. If they want to leave, they can leave."

___________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 20, Financial Times
A chameleon enlists in war on Aids – Amy Kamzin

Amy Kazmin hears how a US-based NGO has adapted marketing techniques to
local tastes to make condoms acceptable in Burma

Touting an exotic array of imported Chinese vibrators, sex toys and
potency medicines, Maung Maung, a wholesaler in Rangoon's traditional
Thein Gyi Zay market, is a big player in the Burmese capital's apparently
thriving trade for sexual aids. Yet from his small, packed stall, he also
does a roaring business peddling a more basic imported product: condoms.

"We don't need to push to sell the condoms," says the wholesaler, who
sells around 120,000 of them a month to retailers and consumers.

Condoms were rarely used in Burma just a decade ago. Today they are one of
the country's fastest growing consumer items - with more than 40m
purchased last year. The surging sales, up from just 2.6m in 1996, reflect
increased public awareness of HIV/Aids.

The sales boom is also the result of efforts by Population Services
International, the US-based non-governmental organisation that promotes
Aphaw, Burma's top-selling condom brand.

Apart from the fact that PSI's condoms are subsidised by western aid
money, the organisation operates like any other fast-moving consumer goods
company. Over the last decade, clever, culturally sensitive marketing has
helped it build its brand and generate public acceptance of a potentially
life­saving product.

This success is vindication of PSI's decision to set up shop in Burma a
decade ago in spite of criticism from pro-democracy groups that its could
help prop up the repressive military regime.

"We are demonstrating that a lot can be done without legitimising or
materially supporting the government," says Guy Stallworthy, PSI's Burma
country director. "We are especially proud of this huge growth in condom
consumption - it is the main thing that has been done over 10 years to
fight HIV/Aids in this country."

Burma - crippled by both long-term economic mismanagement and punitive
western sanctions, including a US ban on Burmese imports - has one of
south-east Asia's most serious HIV/Aids epidemics, with up to 2.2 per cent
of adults infected. PSI supplies about 75 per cent of all the condoms used
in Burma; heavy subsidies, which allow them to be sold at less than
one-third of their production cost, make them more affordable to the
cash-strapped population.

"Price is the number one issue here - you are not going to get a mass
market with an expensive product," says Mr Stallworthy. "Consumers don't
have much money but they are discerning and want to buy quality things . .
. if you can somehow make quality affordable, you are bound to be a winner
in this country, whether you are selling coffee or condoms."

Promoting condoms was initially a delicate proposition. The military
considered condom possession evidence of prostitution and worried that
marketing them would encourage promiscuity.

PSI identified a brand name and image acceptable in this conservative
milieu. It chose "Aphaw" - "trusted companion" in Burmese - and designed a
package with the silhouette of a couple at sunset under a palm tree. "It
is easy to use soft porn (to sell condoms) but that would be against our
policy and values," Mr Stallworthy says.

When the condoms - which are imported and repackaged in Burma - hit the
market in 1996, the brand name was written in Burmese letters. But PSI
found consumers associated Burmese-language packaging with shoddy
products. In 1988, PSI changed to Aphaw in English, with instructions
still in Burmese.

Marketing and distribution were the next hurdles. With most international
donors unwilling to support aid work in Burma in the late 1990s, PSI had
few resources for advertising, while shopkeepers were wary of openly
selling potentially incriminating items. Burma's military was still to
acknowledge HIV as a significant threat to its 52m people.

All that changed in 2001, when a top Burmese general publicly acknowledged
that the country had a big Aids problem, and western donors began
providing money to fight the epidemic. Buoyed by new funding, PSI started
advertising on billboards and in privately owned magazines. As condoms
became more visible in the media, shopkeepers grew relaxed about
displaying them.

Instead of relying on commercial distributors, PSI built its own national
network, which today has 28 full-time sales representatives and 50
wholesalers. The effort paid off: Aphaw condoms are available in every
town and big village in the country, and nearly 20 per cent of sales take
place at "non-traditional" outlets, including betel nut stalls, massage
parlours, barber shops and guest houses.

Three years ago, PSI developed its own advertising mascot: a chameleon -
or pothinnyo in Burmese - wearing a traditional man's sun hat. In Burma,
chameleons are common, and young boys who see one often watch for the
reptile to move its head, while chanting: "Pothinnyo, nod your head if you
want a girl".

PSI coined the slogan: "Pothinnyo, nod your head if you want an Aphaw".
The advertising campaign was a big success, striking a chord with
consumers and furthering the acceptability of condoms. Today, 82 per cent
of urban Burmese recognise PSI's pothinnyo and nearly all link it to
HIV/Aids.

"Our product is a little stigmatised, and humour defuses the situation,"
Mr Stallworthy says. "We also didn't want to simply import MTV-style
western advertising. We want to respect Myanmar culture, and capitalise on
this. This is something that is uniquely Myanmar - it only works here."

PSI has produced two television serials and two feature films with general
Aids awareness messages. In 2005, it was able to sponsor sports talk shows
and the broadcasting of English Premier League matches on state
television, allowing the pothinnyo to make its TV debut.

"Both the government and the culture have shifted enormously in nine
years; what is possible has changed dramatically," says Mr Stallworthy.
"People have had access to information about condoms and HIV/Aids from
many directions. Our growth has been driven by our ability to use journals
and mass TV to get the message out."

PSI has innovated on products to broaden their appeal. In 2001, it
introduced flavoured condoms - including banana and strawberry - which now
account for nearly 50 per cent of total sales. "Diversifying the product
mix is one of the strategies for growing the market," Mr Stallworthy says.

For all the progress, PSI still faces logistical and bureaucratic
challenges, particularly as the military regime seeks to exert greater
control over imports in a bid to conserve scarce foreign currency. Gaining
permission to import the duty-free condoms, which used to take two months,
can now take up to four, with each shipment approved by the trade council,
chaired by the regime's number two man.

"Before you get one permit, you apply for the next," Mr Stallworthy says.
PSI maintains buffer stocks to ensure no market shortages.

Burma's condom market still has room to grow. Condom use is just 0.8 per
capita per year, well below the 1.6 to 2.1 per person per year average in
neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia, which have successfully controlled
their Aids epidemics, largely through condom use.

Mr Stallworthy now aims to raise condom use to one per capita per year by
2008, a target that will continue to rely on marketing skills. "When you
ask people why they don't use condoms, access and affordability are not
issues."

___________________________________
DRUGS

February 20, Agence France Presse
Amphetamine seizures increase in Myanmar

Yangon: Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar seized 12 million
amphetamines tablets last month -- almost four times the total collected
for all of 2005, state media reported Monday.

Of some 203 drugs-related cases investigated in January, 68 involved
stimulant tablets and 79 involved heroin, the New Light of Myanmar said.

Last month state-run media said the government seized more than 3.65
million stimulant tablets during 2005.

Some 60 women were among the 261 people arrested in drugs cases in
January, the newspaper reported.

Police and customs department officers also seized 26 kilogrammes (57
pounds) of opium, 32 kilogrammes (70 pounds) of heroin and one tonne of
morphine (1.1 tons), it said.

China last week urged Myanmar to step up efforts to fight drug trafficking
and warned of the dangers of the "flood" of narcotics crossing their
common border.

Myanmar is among the world's largest producers and traffickers of
amphetamine-type stimulants. The government has said it plans to eradicate
production of opium poppies by 2014.

____________________________________
ASEAN

February 21, Agence France Presse
ASEAN envoy may visit Myanmar by April: deputy FM

Lashio: Military-ruled Myanmar will try to receive an Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) envoy by April after his trip was
cancelled last month, a senior diplomat said Tuesday.

"We haven't decided yet" when Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar
will visit, Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu told reporters
after a press conference here.

"We will try to plan this before (an ASEAN) meeting in Bali in April,"
Kyaw Thu said.

The military authorities in Myanmar had created some uneasiness among
members of the 10-member regional bloc when they announced in January they
were "too busy" to receive Syed Hamid as they were moving the capital to
Pyinmana.

Under pressure from the international community, ASEAN at its annual
meeting in December reached agreement with Yangon to allow Syed Hamid to
visit as an envoy to check on the progress of democracy.

Although no date was set, the visit was expected to occur in January, but
the junta announced the Myanmar government was moving to a logging town
about 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Yangon.

Syed Hamid said Monday he was still trying to firm a date for his visit
and remained in talks with Yangon, but added he would undertake the trip
under a veil of secrecy.

"We are quite busy managing the shift to Pyinmana," Kyaw Thu said.

"We already announced that we have our invited guests (the presidents of
India and Indonesia) so we are (all) staying in negotiations," he said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will visit Myanmar March
1-2, while India's President Abdul Kalam will visit from March 8-10.

Asked by reporters if the presidents would be received in Yangon or
Pyinmana, Kyaw Thaw replied: "We are still negotiating."

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Myanmar's junta, which has ruled the country since 1962, brutally crushed
pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years later rejected the
result of national elections won by the party of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

The Nobel Peace prizewinner has spent more than 10 of the last 16 years
under house arrest.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar
for its suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Washington has also demanded Myanmar be hauled before the UN Security
Council.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 21, Agence France Presse
UN rights envoy for Myanmar in Indonesia

Jakarta: UN rights envoy on Myanmar Paolo Serghio Pinheiro wrapped up a
visit to Indonesia Tuesday, ahead of a visit by the president to the
military-ruled nation in early March.

Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, met with
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, former foreign minister Ali Alatas as
well as parliamentarians, UN official Jonathan Gilman told AFP.

Alatas last made a visit to Myanmar in 2005 as special envoy of the
secretary general.

"It's consultations, not a fact-finding mission, to get an idea of what
the government is thinking on this issue, given that the president is
going to Myanmar," Gilman said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's office told AFP Tuesday
that the president would arrive in Myanmar on March 1 for a two-day visit,
during which he will sign an agreement aimed at improving bilateral
relations.

Indonesia has urged Myanmar to take tangible steps towards democracy and
make good on its promises to reform, and the foreign minister has said
Yudhoyono would recount to the junta how Indonesia underwent its
transition from authoritarianism under former autocratic president Suharto
to democracy.

Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said Jakarta welcomed
Pinheiro's input.

"Of course we really appreciate those inputs and points of view... Of
course in ASEAN as a family we will do our best in encouraging positive
development on the ground," he told AFP.

He said however the president considered the visit as part of "a
well-established tradition in which leaders pay visits to neighbouring
countries done with the aims of enhancing and promoting bilateral
relations."

Pinheiro met with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her
lakeside residence in Yangon in November 2003 but has since been denied
entry to Myanmar by the military government, which has ruled since 1962.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy won 1990 elections
in a landslide but the junta has never allowed it to govern.

In his latest report to the UN, Pinheiro said Myanmar had made no
transition towards democracy during his six-year mandate and that the
humanitarian situation there was worsening.

Pinheiro, who was also visiting Indonesia in his role as an author of a
special report on child violence, was due to leave Indonesia later
Tuesday.

Yudhoyono's visit would come as Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar is trying to agree a date to visit Myanmar.

Syed Hamid is supposed to visit as an envoy of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations to check on its progress towards democracy. ASEAN
signalled its impatience with member Myanmar at its annual meeting in
December.

____________________________________

February 20, The Jakarta Post
Lawmakers urge SBY to cancel Myanmar visit - Muninggar Sri Saraswati

Lawmakers have told President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cancel a visit
to Myanmar next month, that is, unless he plans to pressure the military
junta in Yangon to release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Members of the Indonesian Legislative Caucus for Democracy in Myanmar said
the visit should only go forward if Yudhoyono used the opportunity to
demonstrate the country's commitment to promoting democracy in its fellow
ASEAN member state.

"The President must convince the public his visit will contribute to the
development of democracy and human rights in Myanmar," legislator Djoko
Susilo, who heads the caucus, announced over the weekend.

The caucus also urged Yudhoyono to put pressure on the junta to implement
its "road map to democracy".

"If the President cannot convey this message during his visit, it would be
better for him to cancel. There is no use visiting Myanmar without this
message," Djoko said.

He said Myanmar had failed to take steps toward developing democracy and
human rights, despite explicit promises when joining the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The caucus said the junta must reconcile with Aung San Suu Kyi's
opposition party and release the Nobel peace laureate from house arrest.

The situation in Myanmar is no longer an internal issue because "the
political, social and economic consequences have passed regional and
international boundaries", particularly for Myanmar's fellow ASEAN
members, said a statement issued by the caucus.

"Indonesia must take a more active role in pushing for the establishment
of democracy in Southeast Asia, particularly in ASEAN member countries,"
Djoko said.

Indonesia has on several occasions criticized Myanmar for its failure to
move toward democracy, saying its intransigence has harmed stability in
Southeast Asia.

Yudhoyono will probably visit Myanmar in early March, an official source
said Friday as quoted by Reuters. The trip was originally expected in late
February.

The presidential office in Jakarta said Yudhoyono would go ahead with his
visit to Myanmar but gave no dates. The President is expected in Myanmar
after official visits to Brunei and Cambodia.

ASEAN has several times expressed its displeasure with Myanmar since Suu
Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy party, was placed under
house arrest in May 2003.

Last year, ASEAN pressured Myanmar to forgo its scheduled 2006
chairmanship of the organization.

The regional grouping has become increasingly frustrated with the junta's
slow progress on its seven-step "road map to democracy", which is
currently focused on a constitutional conference.

The last session of the conference, boycotted by the NLD and the third
since 2004, was adjourned in January and is not expected to reconvene
until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the UN's special rapporteur on Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
is expected to be in Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the
situation in Myanmar.

He is scheduled to meet with ministers, legislators, experts and
representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

Fellow caucus member Nursjahbani Katjasungkana said the visit would make a
great impact before the international community, thus talks about
democracy and release of Suu Kyi are a must.

"While ASEAN's non-interference policy remains a barrier, it's important
because the condition in Myanmar will affect the image of Indonesia and
ASEAN," she said.

The caucus will file a petition with the President later this week,
stressing democracy talks with Myanmar.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 18, Agence France Presse
French president tells Myanmar to 'move towards democracy'

Bangkok: French President Jacques Chirac Saturday urged military-run
Myanmar to move towards democracy and release all its prisoners, including
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Chirac, who was in Bangkok for his first visit as a head of state, said he
raised the issue of Myanmar during talks with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra earlier in the day.

"I did indeed raise this issue with the Thais. We are deeply concerned by
the continuing authoritarian nature of the Burmese regime," Chirac told a
news conference following talks at Government House.

"We've been calling for the release of all political prisoners. It seems
to us it is completely unacceptable. In particular, I'm thinking about
Aung San Suu Kyi," Chirac said.

Late last year the ruling junta extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest
by another six months. The Nobel peace prize winner has already spent more
than 10 of the past 16 years in some form of detention.

Last week the military government also extended by 12 months house arrest
for her deputy Tin Oo.

"We have called repeatedly for their and her release without meddling in
Burmese domestic affairs," Chirac said, referring to Myanmar by its former
name.

"We have called for the Burmese regime to move closer to democracy. There
is nothing new in our position."

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar
for its suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for
Democracy, which won 1990 elections in a landslide but was never allowed
to govern.

Washington has demanded Myanmar be hauled before the UN Security Council,
of which France is a permanent member.

US legislators said a UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar should
call for, among other things, the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a
timeline for compliance and punitive sanctions if the military junta
failed to comply.

Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated nations, has been ruled by the
military since 1962.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 18, The Statesmen
The Burma stalemate: India's policy of unwarranted appeasement - Bibhuti
Bhusan Nandy

Eighteen years after the brutal suppression of the 1988 pro-democracy
movement in Burma, the country remains hermetically sealed off from the
rest of world. The military junta has ignored the overwhelming mandate
obtained by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 1990 election,
refusing to transfer power to the elected representatives of the people.

Burma watchers cite four main reasons for the political stalemate that has
reduced prospects of restoration of democracy in the country to a distant
dream. One, caught in a "zero-some choice between human rights and trade",
the international community has not isolated the rogue regime sufficiently
enough. Two, the Asean policy of constructive engagement with Burma, while
protecting and promoting the business interests of the member states, has
entrenched the generals instead of advancing the cause of democracy.

Uncritical proximity

Three, the growing uncritical proximity of New Delhi to Rangoon has given
the junta respectability and significant clout in the region. Four, China
has never distanced, much less disengaged, from Burma, providing strength
and stability to the military junta. Admission of Burma to Asean in 1997
resulted in a low-key dialogue between opposition political leaders and
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, as the military regime
styles itself), but in 2003 the regime viciously attacked an NLD public
rally, placing Suu Kyi under indefinite house arrest and incarcerating
other opposition leaders and activists.

In October next year, the junta deposed and detained the Intelligence
Chief and Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt and later convicted him to
forty-year imprisonment on charges of corruption. Considered "more
pragmatic and less xenophobic than the country's paramount leader, General
Than Shwe", he had steered the country into the Asean, succeeded in
brokering cease-fire agreements with 17 of Burma's armed, rebellious
tribes and, after becoming prime minister in 2003, announced a "road map
to democracy", envisaging a new constitution and fresh national elections.
For all these, Suu Kyi thought Khin Nyunt was someone she could deal with.
Last year, as a sop to the Burmese people, the junta reconvened the
National Convention, ostensibly to resume the constitutional talks, but in
reality to scuttle international criticism. Only six ethnic groups are
represented in the National Convention and a majority of the political
parties that won the 1990 elections, including the NLD have stayed away
from the Convention.

Nonetheless, the Burmese Attorney General U Aye Maung has proposed to the
National Convention that the Tatmadaw (army) be enshrined in the
Constitution as an independent entity and be designated as the protector
of the Constitution and provider of the nation's leadership, and the Army
Chief be given the powers and status of Vice-President of the country.
This proposal has left no one in any doubt that the game plan of the junta
is to strengthen and legitimise military authoritarianism in the country's
Constitution and provides the army a licence to rule Burma freely and
permanently. Several other acts of intransigence by the SPDC lately have
confirmed that it has abandoned even the pretence of moving towards
transition to democracy. Shrugging off western pressure to release Suu Kyi
and stop human rights abuses, it resigned from the Asean chairmanship
scheduled for 2006.

Transitional strategy

It repeatedly refused permission to Razali Ismail, UN Rapporteur to visit
Burma, forcing him to resign, and cancelled the proposed trip of Malaysian
foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar as Asean interlocutor to Rangoon.
Clearly, the military regime's so-called transitional strategy is sham,
designed only to claim legitimacy without carrying out any real political
change. While sticking to Ne Win's isolation strategy, it has successfully
forged strong and unbreakable economic and security ties with China, Asean
and India, thereby rendering the US and EU sanctions ineffectual.

In the emerging new world order, it's a shame that the international
community has been a silent spectator of the ruination of a potentially
rich and vibrant country of over fifty million people by a ruthless
military regime. The only silver lining in the dreadful situation is that
lately the US administration has been showing renewed interest in Burma.
President Bush in his latest state of union message has mentioned Burma as
a troubled land. There are also indications that Burma may feature in the
agenda for discussion of the UN Security Council shortly.

As the first step towards concretising these likely initiatives, the US
and the EU should jointly convene an international conference on Burma,
which must take tough political decisions geared to restoring multi-party
representative government in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious Union of
Burma. As Burma's immediate neighbours, India, China and the Asean
countries have to play a consistently pro-active role in bringing this
about, by using all their collective political, economic and strategic
leverages towards accomplishing this aim within a definitive time-frame.

Between 1988 and mid-nineties India had strongly supported the Burmese
struggle for democracy, but in the period since then New Delhi has
completely overturned that policy and warmed up to the military regime to
enlist Rangoon's cooperation in containing the insurgencies in the
north-east region and reaping economic benefits, especially supply of gas.
The Indian military leadership has built close ties with its Burmese
counterpart and through frequent exchange of high-level visits seems to
have taken a lead over the ministry of external affairs in fixing New
Delhi's foreign policy priorities Burma.

Instead of following a measured and purposeful policy, South Block is
overly generous to the junta — far beyond the requirements of a correct
state-to-state relationship strictly based on reciprocity. Touting its
look-east policy, the government of India has undertaken significant
investments in road building, railway projects and telecommunication
infrastructure in Burma in recent years. Indications are that supply of
military hardware to the SPDC will soon add a crucial new dimension to
bilateral relations. In return, Rangoon has done precious little to help
meet India's energy and security needs. The military regime remains
focused on promoting all round cooperation with Beijing. The fact that for
the Burmese generals China is more important than forging a strategic
partnership with India became blindingly obvious last December when Yangon
backed away from a deal to supply this country natural gas, inking instead
an agreement to supply to the PRC 6.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the
next thirty years.

Tackling insurgency

The track record of the junta's cooperation in tackling the problem of
insurgency in the north-east is marked by deception and duplicity. The
Burmese security forces in western Burma have been concentrating against
the NSCN (Khaplang) rather than taking on other relatively more dangerous
Indian 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, Meiti
rebels captured with weapons inside Burma had been let off instead of
being handed them over to the Indian counterpart. At the same time,
trans-border narco-trade and smuggling of arms continue to thrive across
the Indo-Burma border with the active connivance of the Burmese security
forces.

Viewed against this backdrop, at a time when new international initiatives
on Burma seem to be on the anvil, the UPA government's decision that
President APJ Abdul Kalam would pay a visit to Burma — the first ever
state visit by an Indian head of state to that country — next month has
baffled many people. By this extraordinary gesture to the marauding
Burmese generals, New Delhi has demonstrated yet again that India is an
eminently expendable entity, and unwarranted appeasement is the keyword of
its foreign policy in our immediate neighbourhood.

The author is former Additional Secretary, Research and Analysis Wing