BurmaNet News, April 19, 2006

[Editor]

April 19, 2006 Issue # 2944


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: KIO expands administrative body
Xinhua: Myanmar extends int'l express mail services to 33 countries, regions
AFP: Doctor dreams of ski trails in Myanmar heat

BUSINESS / TRADE
AP: Prices of chicken and eggs rebound in Myanmar after government says
bird flu under control
The Gazette: McGill takes stand on Myanmar

ASEAN
AFP: China and India should use economic leverage to persuade Myanmar:
ASEAN chief

REGIONAL
AFP: Cyberspace allows Asians to evade media restrictions: proponents

OPINION / OTHER
Wall Street Journal: Asia's Axis of Evil

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 19, Irrawaddy
KIO expands administrative body - Khun Sam

The ethnic ceasefire group Kachin Independence Organization has expanded
its administrative body amid discontent over its leadership from the local
population and youth.

According to the KIO’s vice president, Gauri Zau Seng, the KIO has adopted
10 new leaders from lower positions. “We are allocating space for a new
generation into the central executive committee. Ten people have been
elected, and two of them are women.”

The new leaders were elected at the former insurgent group’s Central
Committee meeting held last week in Laiza, Kachin State, near the
China-Burma border. During the week-long meeting, KIO’s vice chief of
staff, Zawngbuk Htan, was also replaced with General Staff Officer
Hpunggan Zau Nan. Zawngbuk Htan will move to the department of agriculture
and forest preservation.

According to sources in the region and within the KIO, the organization
has suffered from serious internal conflicts that have weakened the
leadership as some senior leaders began acting on their own without
consulting other committee members.

In 2001, the group’s then chairman, Gen Zau Mai, was ousted and put under
house arrest on allegations that he was too generous in granting business
concessions to Chinese business leaders.

Gauri Zau Seng, however, denied that the recent leadership changes were
made merely to allow a new generation to come to power, saying that the
KIO also formed a new department called the Political Working Committee.

“While dealing with the Burmese government, we intend this department to
have responsibility for analyzing the ongoing political state as well as
serving as a discussion body for setting future policy,” said Gauri Zau
Seng.

Gumgrawng Awng Wa, the former leader of exiled All Kachin Student and
Youth Union, who now lives on the China-Burma border, sees the changes in
KIO leadership as a positive move.

“Such change is good. I think and hope these new generation leaders will
help maintain unity among Kachin groups and particularly enhance the
relationship between the group and exiled political organizations,” Awng
Wa said.

The KIO is the largest Kachin ceasefire group participating in the
junta-sponsored constitution drafting National Convention. The
relationship between the KIO and the Burmese regime has been tense in
recent months, following the death of five KIO soldiers killed by
government troops in January.


____________________________________

April 19, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar extends int'l express mail services to 33 countries, regions

Yangon: Myanmar has extended its international express mail services (EMS)
to 33 countries and regions in the past 10 years, facilitating the
country's prompt mail links with foreign countries, official sources said
Wednesday.

The countries and regions where Myanmar's international EMS is accessible
include Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, sources with the
Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs said.

The Myanmar international EMS, operating under the ministry, handles
prompt mailing of such parcels as documents, business papers, samples and
government-permitted goods, the sources added.

Myanmar initiated its international EMS with Singapore in January 1995 and
with Thailand in September 1996.

According to the ministry figures, Myanmar had over 1,330 post offices and
483 telegraph offices as of 2005.

____________________________________

April 19, Agence France Presse
Doctor dreams of ski trails in Myanmar heat

Yangon: In the sweltering heat of Yangon's nights, Paing Soe dreams of
skiing -- not in the Alps or the Rockies, but in a virtually inaccessible
stretch of rebel-held territory in northern Myanmar.

It's not for everyone, the 62-year-old dentist readily admits.

But with a bit of imagination and a lot of investment, he believes, the
snowy Himalayan peaks could become Southeast Asia's only ski resort --
even if Myanmar is one of the most secretive and isolated nations in the
world.

"If we develop these areas to ski, at least a few tourists and skiers
would come," he says.

His choice for a ski resort would be the 11,500-foot (3,500-meter) peak of
Phon Kan Razi in Kachin state, which will eventually be a bit easier to
reach thanks to a new highway now under construction.

Although he has scaled many of the mountains in northern Myanmar, he
hasn't tried skiing them yet.

But he proudly notes that the Myanmar Hiking and Mountaineering
Federation, which he heads, has some 200 members who have already hiked
throughout that area and could act as guides.

"Our mountaineers are always ready to help the tourism industry whenever
they need us," he says.

The federation's entry requirements are grueling, including a hike up a
mountain at least 10,000 feet high, and a 100-mile hike back to base camp.

Although the region is largely under the control of ethnic Kachin rebels,
he points out that most of the fighting ended with a ceasefire deal two
years ago.

The idea of luring tourists to a rarely seen part of Myanmar snowballed
among Yangon's elite after a local filmmaker, Sin Yaw Maung Maung, shot
his film "Mystery of Snow" on Phon Kan Razi in 2002.

In a country where foreign films are banned, "Mystery of Snow" was a
blockbuster of "Titanic" proportions.

Sin Yaw Maung Maung brought 300 people to the mountain to shoot the film
-- the most expensive movie ever shot here at 165,000 dollars. It has
since played at small screenings around the region.

"We have faced many difficulties at that time. But we succeeded together,"
says the director, who had never seen snow until he went to the mountain.

"I decided to show this film around the world to promote the mountain as a
tourist attraction," Sin Yaw Maung Maung says.

He says many people were surprised at the scenes of snow-capped mountains
in Myanmar when he showed the film during his presentation at a regional
tourism meeting in Malaysia.

"Many tourists wanted to come our country because of these ice mountains,"
he said.

But the military government is less enthusiastic.

"We have no plans for skiing there," a senior tourism ministry official
says. "The new road under construction to Phongan is only to improve
communication and transportation for local people."

The official says the government is worried about possible environmental
damage from developing a ski resort on the mountain.

Despite periodic efforts at luring tourists to Myanmar, the military
rulers have never had much luck.

The country's iconic pro-democracy leader, detained Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi, has urged tourists not to visit the country until the
government changes.

Even so, tourist arrivals have slowly increased, with some 660,200
foreigners visiting last year, bringing in about 153 million dollars,
according to the tourism ministry. Neighboring Thailand got 11 million
visitors.

Myanmar's military rulers tightly restrict travel around the country. Much
of the region around Phon Kan Razi is designated as wildlife refuges.

Environmentalists have accused Myanmar's government of a variety of
offenses, including widespread illegal logging along the border with
China.

For Thandar Aung, a 26-year-old tour operator, the bigger issue is the
lack of development in the region.

"There is nothing of interest except the ice mountains," Thandar Aung says.

"Only a few tourists are interested in seeing the snow-capped mountains.
Most tourists ask to see the ancient Bagan city," which is home to famous
ruins of temples and castles, she says.

"Basically we cannot have much hope for skiing there."

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 19, Associated Press
Prices of chicken and eggs rebound in Myanmar after government says bird
flu under control

Yangon: Prices of chicken and eggs rebounded in Myanmar, after the
government announced last week that bird flu outbreaks in the country were
under control.

Myanmar detected the country's first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of
bird flu in chickens and quails in Mandalay and Sagaing regions in central
Myanmar on March 13.

Since confirming the outbreaks, authorities banned transport of poultry
and barred the sale of chicken and eggs at markets in affected regions.
Prices of chicken and eggs tumbled, and chicken was off the menu in many
restaurants.

Broiler chickens had plummeted from 3,500 kyats (US$2.70, euro2.24) per
viss (1.6 kilograms, 3.5 pounds) before the outbreak to 1,000 kyats
(US$0.77, euro0.64). Chicken eggs dropped from 60 kyats (US$0.05,
euro0.04) per egg to 30 kyats (US$0.02, euro0.02). Many people refrained
from eating chicken.

Livestock authorities said last week that bird flu in Myanmar has been
brought under control, and restrictions will be lifted in two affected
regions by the end of the month.

On Wednesday in Yangon markets, the price of chicken shot back up to 2,500
kyats (US$1.92, euro1.59) per viss (1.6 kilograms, 3.5 pounds). Eggs
prices went from 300 kyats (US$0.23, euro0.19) for 10 eggs to 500 kyats
(US$0.38, euro0.32).

The World Health Organization will send a team to inspect the bird flu
situation in Myanmar at the end of this month.

Myanmar ranks as one of the world's poorest nations, with its military
rulers suspicious of foreign influence and reluctant to reveal the
seriousness of problems it faces, including the rampant spread of AIDS.

____________________________________

April 19, The Gazette (Montreal)
McGill takes stand on Myanmar - Peter Hadekel

McGill University's board of governors has voted to require managers of
its endowment fund to divest stocks of any companies doing harm in
Myanmar.

It is the first time McGill has taken such a stand since it divested
stocks of companies operating in South Africa in the mid-1990s.

The decision, in response to pressure from students and faculty members,
shows how the socially responsible investment movement is gaining traction
on university campuses.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has become one of the world's worst
human-rights abusers. Its military rulers have clung to power after
refusing to accept the results of a 1990 democratic election in which the
National League for Democracy won an overwhelming majority.

Since then, they've waged a campaign of systematic repression and have
kept NLD leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

McGill's decision won't change its endowment holdings for now,
acknowledges Ian Soutar, a Montreal investment manager who advises the
university on matters of social responsibility.

Soutar said the university reviewed the portfolios run by its investment
managers and determined it didn't own stocks in two companies that do
business with the military regime: French oil giant Total and
Canadian-owned company Ivanhoe Mines.

"As it turns out, to the best of our knowledge, none of (our) accounts own
shares in these two companies.

"But at the same time, if we identify other companies in Burma that are
aiding and abetting this quite illegitimate military regime that's taken
over from a democratically elected government, we might (take action) as
well.

"We think it's a bad place and we think it's important that McGill stands
up and makes a statement here."

The interesting question is whether the Myanmar decision will set a
precedent that's difficult to live with for those who manage the
university's more than $700-million endowment.

Everybody has a favourite crusade on a university campus, whether it's
tobacco, gambling, pharmaceuticals, Third World sweatshops or
clear-cutting.

Indeed, the next cause gaining support at McGill is for the university to
divest shares of companies operating in war-torn Sudan.

Soutar admits while this is the first time McGill has adopted a divestment
policy since the South Africa issue came to a head, it's unlikely to be
the last, given the growing strength of the corporate-responsibility
movement.

Portfolio managers, by and large, do a good job of investing in a
responsible manner, he says.

"But we've got to be careful in terms of tying the hands of our portfolio
managers.

"I know, being an investment manager myself, if your clients start to tell
you too much about how you're going to run your portfolios, it's not going
to help, because you can't run them all differently.

"We want to be realistic."

"The other question is whether divestiture really does anything in terms
of helping people in those countries," he says, and "there's two sides to
that story."

The presentation to the board by McGill's Myanmar group noted that several
universities in the U.S. have

already taken action on the issue.

Harvard and Stanford both cancelled contracts with Pepsi because of that
company's involvement in Myanmar.

The University of Minnesota divested from Total, and the University of
Virginia sold off shares in Unocal, another oil and gas company operating
in the country.

McGill's decision concerns two controversial projects under fire from
Myanmar activists: the Yadana gas pipeline and the Monywa copper mine.

Total is participating in the Yadana project in partnership with the
state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

"The Burmese Army provided security for this project, which resulted in
serious violations of human rights," stated the presentation by the McGill
activists.

Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines is a joint-venture partner with the Myanmar
regime in the Monywa copper mine, where "forced labour was used to
construct rail and power infrastructure," the McGill group says.

On Ivanhoe's website, the company claims the project is either
"misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented" and says it has many
supporters in Myanmar who want it to remain there.

____________________________________
ASEAN

April 19, Agence France Presse
China and India should use economic leverage to persuade Myanmar: ASEAN chief

Ubuc, Indonesia: ASEAN should work with China and India to persuade
army-ruled Myanmar to reform since the regional powerhouses have stronger
economic leverage, the bloc's chief Ong Keng Yong said Wednesday.

Ong said there was "certain impatience" among members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations with Myanmar's foot-dragging on democracy but
the grouping had limited leverage to pressure its fellow member.

"Most of ASEAN believe that Myanmar authorities can only move forward if
you have certain leverage applied on them," Ong told reporters as ASEAN
foreign ministers began arriving on Indonesia's Bali island before an
informal retreat Thursday.

"The best way is to work with our neighbors who have better leverage with
Myanmar. China and India have common borders with Myanmar," he said.

"They are also very involved in cross-border trade, in investment, in
tourism and in other things," he added.

Myanmar is expected to be a key agenda item at the retreat in the cultural
hill town of Ubud.

Ong chided the two regional giants late last month, saying ASEAN should
ask them to be more persuasive towards Myanmar and there was little point
in them being ASEAN's dialogue partners if they were not contributing on
the issue.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda also said the two nations
must help out.

"The Myanmar issue is difficult for ASEAN. We must admit that, but we
should not see it as solely the burden of ASEAN. There are also major key
players that have significant influence: China and India," he told
reporters.

"They can help by promoting democracy in Myanmar. They can help in any way
they can."

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo also said last month that China's
and India's open policy on Myanmar diluted the impact of Western
sanctions.

China is Myanmar's staunchest international ally and a major trading partner.

Ong said ASEAN was disappointed that Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed
Hamid Albar was unable to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and junta leader Than Shwe when he visited Yangon last month.

"There is a certain impatience because the people around the region as
well as around the world say, You keep talking, you keep going there --
and then what happened?" he said.

"People want to see some concrete steps forward."

Syed Hamid is due to brief the ministers about his Myanmar trip at a
working dinner later Wednesday. His Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win is also
to give a rundown on the visit.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Ubud, Syed Hamid said he was
"not totally happy" with progress in Myanmar.

"There are still more things to be done," he said. "Our intention was to
engage with everybody. So, since we were not able to, in that respect you
can see that."

But he said he was given an opportunity by the Myanmar junta "to express
our views quite openly on behalf of ASEAN."

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said he was also disappointed
with the results of Syed Hamid's visit.

"What we would like to do is to see movement in Myanmar toward national
reconciliation with a good and clear timeframe," he told reporters, adding
that the ministers would have a "good discussion" Wednesday night.

Myanmar agreed at last year's ASEAN summit to invite Syed Hamid in the
face of growing international pressure for evidence of its democratic
progress, as well as embarrassment among some members over its 1997
inclusion in the bloc.

ASEAN ministers are due to discuss a charter for the bloc which could give
it muscle to deal with wayward members like Myanmar.

Myanmar's military regime has spelt out a "road map" for democracy,
including talks on a new constitution. But Aung San Suu Kyi's party has
boycotted the process, which critics have called a sham.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 19, Agence France Presse
Cyberspace allows Asians to evade media restrictions: proponents

Manila: Internet media and personal journals known as "blogs" offer Asians
ways of getting around press restrictions under authoritarian governments,
proponents said Wednesday.

However, Asian governments will still try to crack down on new media, and
advances in technology may actually help them monitor the messages being
sent on the Internet, delegates at a Free Expression Asian Cyberspace
conference warned.

Ying Chan, a professor of journalism and communications at the University
of Hong Kong said that generally, advances in information technology
forced societies to open up. But the case of China showed that high
technology could also be used to stifle dissent.

"There's no automatic conclusion that techonology will lead to a more open
society," she warned.

Sein Win, a member of Mizzima.com, a news group of exiled journalists from
Myanmar, said the Internet had become a way of getting crucial information
for his country despite strict rules requiring the registration of modems
and even of fax machines.

Military-ruled Myanmar regulates Internet cafes and even requires them to
take screenshots of their monitors every five minutes -- just to make sure
no one is accessing banned websites, he said.

Steven Gan of the Malaysian online magazine Malaysiakini, said Kuala
Lumpur controlled the traditional media through "repressive laws" and
newspaper ownership by regime allies.

However, when then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad created Malaysia's
multimedia corridor, he had to promise not to censor it in order to
attract foreign investors, Gan said.

"Malaysiakini is exploring that loophole," he said. "The Internet is the
only democratic space left."

Despite this, the online magazine is still subject to government pressure.
Its offices were raided on January 2003 over a critical letter from a
reader which the magazine carried, he said.

Chi Dang, a member of the Free Journalists Association, an underground
group in Vietnam, said her country had about 10 million Internet users and
5,000 websites.

But all website content had to be submitted to the government for
approval, she said, adding that all five Internet service providers had to
go through the government system.

"Online discussion and reading banned webpages can result in harassment
and house arrest," she warned.

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OPINION / OTHER

April 18, Wall Street Journal
Asia's Axis of Evil

We knew North Korea was desperate for friends, but even we were taken
aback to hear of the isolated Stalinist state's new ally: Burma's brutal
military junta. Pyongyang hasn't officially confirmed the love-in yet, but
a Burmese foreign ministry official let it slip last week that the two
countries may soon restore diplomatic ties after a two-decade hiatus.

It's a desperate coupling, if it happens. U.S. financial sanctions are
crippling North Korea's economy and the value of the greenback is soaring
on the Pyongyang black market. Kim Jong Il's regime has to take its
friends where it can find them. Burma can't be picky either. It has
suffered bank runs and a collapsing economy since the U.S. imposed
sanctions three years ago in response to the junta's repression, including
the prolonged house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The similarities don't stop there. From drug smuggling to nuclear
ambitions, there's hardly an illicit activity the two don't share. But not
all's well with this bundle of fun. Many in Yangon have never forgiven
North Korea for the worst terrorist attack in Burma's history. In 1984,
bombers, who admitted to acting on Kim's orders, targeted South Korea's
visiting cabinet, and killed 21 people, including several ministers. That
attack was all the more offensive for its location: The memorial to the
country's founder Aung San, Ms. Suu Kyi's father.

That explains the long rupture in relations. But Burma's generals are
evidently in a forgiving mood when it comes to such atrocities, perhaps
because they are no strangers to terrorizing a civilian population
themselves. They can be just as brutal as Kim's agents -- just look at the
80 political prisoners killed in custody since 1989, according to recent
U.S. congressional testimony from an opposition activist.

If a regime is judged by its friends, then Burma is a worthy addition to
Pyongyang's diminishing list of allies. No doubt it won't now be long
before an opium pipe or some similar gift from the Burmese junta hangs
alongside the Sandinistas' stuffed crocodile and other offerings from the
likes of Stalin, Mugabe and Castro in Kim's shrine to the world's worst
dictators -- his friends.