BurmaNet News, January 3, 2007

[Editor]

January 3, 2007 Issue # 3113


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: At least 27 political prisoners among 2,800 released in Myanmar
Xinhua: Myanmar constitutional national convention to be completed soon:
state leader
DVB: Opposition MP dies
Irrawaddy: Activists in Burma start new campaign
Irrawaddy: KNU distances itself from Rangoon mission
DVB: Unexploded bomb found in USDA compound

BUSINESS / TRADE
World Politics Watch: Myanmar finds willing arms suppliers in
energy-hungry neighbors
DVB: Chinese said boycotting border trade after national held over Burma
drug bust

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 3, Agence France Presse
At least 27 political prisoners among 2,800 released in Myanmar

Yangon:  Myanmar's military government Wednesday granted an Independence
Day amnesty to more than 2,800 prisoners, including at least 27
pro-democracy campaigners, state media and activists said.

The official New Light of Myanmar said 2,831 prisoners were to be freed
from prisons ahead of the 59th anniversary on Thursday of the country's
independence.

Myanmar's detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was not among them, but
student activists loosely aligned with her National League for Democracy
(NLD) party said at least 27 political prisoners had been released.

Kyaw Min Yu, a former student leader who served more than a decade in
prison for his role in a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, said 27 political
prisoners had been released from five prisons around Myanmar.

So far, there was no news of senior pro-democracy leaders being released
from prison, he said.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based group
that monitors Myanmar's prisons, said it believed 30 political prisoners
had been freed, mostly low-level members of the NLD.

Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won 1990 elections in a landslide, but the
military -- which has ruled Myanmar since 1962 -- has never recognized the
result. The junta has given no indication of when she might freed.

Kyaw Min Yu said student activists plan to launch a letter-writing
campaign on Thursday, providing paper and envelopes for ordinary people to
write the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, about the dire
humanitarian conditions in the country.
"We believe that he is the person most responsible for the country's
situation going from good to bad. We want to show him the feeling of the
people, that's why we started this campaign," he said.

The United Nations estimates that Myanmar has more than 1,100 political
prisoners behind bars in often grim conditions.

The junta has refused to allow the Red Cross access to its prisons for
more than a year.
In October, Amnesty International reported that a detained pro-democracy
activist had been tortured to death in a prison outside the central city
of Mandalay. The junta insisted he died of natural causes.

Separately, the New Light of Myanmar said the junta on Saturday had handed
over to China some 31 Chinese prisoners who had been jailed here.

____________________________________

January 3, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar constitutional national convention to be completed soon: state leader

Yangon: Myanmar's constitutional national convention, which forms the
first step of the country's seven-step political roadmap, will be
completed soon, official media quoted Myanmar's second top leader Vice
Senior-General Maung Aye as saying Wednesday.

Maung Aye, who is vice-chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), made the remarks when addressing a closing ceremony of the
4th Intake of the Defense Services Institute of Nursing and Paramedical
Science Tuesday in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw, the New Light of
Myanmar reported.

Maung Aye called on the people to participate in the successful
implementation of the roadmap.

Maung Aye's remarks came five days after the on-going session of the
national convention adjourned once again on Dec. 29 and according to SPDC
First Secretary Lieutenant-General Thein Sein who closed the last session,
the convention will adjourn until a time within this year that is
appropriate to all to resume.

Maung Aye's remarks implied that when the next session resumes this year,
detailed basic principles dealing with all of the seven remaining chapters
to be included in constitution drawing will be adopted to mark the end of
the whole process of the national convention.

It was disclosed that a commission will be formed to draw up a new state
constitution after the end of the whole process of the national convention
and when the new constitution draft emerges, it will be followed by a
national referendum on the constitution drafted.

The just-ended session, which resumed on Oct. 10 at the Nyaunghnapin Camp,
about 40 kilometers north of Yangon, has approved the detailed basic
principles on Legislation of the Region or State Hluttaw (Parliament),
Role of the Tatmataw (Armed Forces), Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and
Duties of Citizens.

The national convention started in 1993 but first adjourned for eight
years from April. 1, 1996 to May 16, 2004 and formally resumed on May 17,
2004.

According to the seven-step political roadmap to democracy announced by
the government in 2003, the referendum on draft of  the new constitution
will be followed by a new general election to produce parliament
representatives and forming a new democratic government.

____________________________________

January 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Opposition MP dies

U Tun Win, a National League for Democracy elected member of parliament
from Mindon township in Magwe division, was buried yesterday after dying
from heart disease.

NLD spokesman U Myint Thein told DVB U Tun Win died on Sunday and was
buried in Ye-way cemetery.

". . . all available MPs and officials concerned in Rangoon and his family
members were able to bury him . . . He is survived by his wife Daw Thet
and six children," U Myint Thein said.

A memorial service will be held for U Tun Win at the Damma Thukkha
Monastery in Padamya Myothit township on Sunday from seven to 10am.

“[U Tun Win] had been carrying out his duties as the chairman of Mindon
township NLD since the NLD was formed in 1988. He is an MP who carried out
his duties without losing his flag to this day. The NLD greatly regret the
death of U Tun Win,” U Myint Thein said.

____________________________________

January 3, Irrawaddy
Activists in Burma start new campaign - Yeni

A pro-democracy activist group in Rangoon has initiated a new campaign to
urge the people of Burma to speak up about the political and social
problems facing the nation.

The campaign, called “Open Heart,” was started by the 88 Generation
Students group in advance of the country’s 59th anniversary of
independence from Britain, achieved on January 4, 1948 after more than 120
years of colonial rule.

The Open Heart campaign, scheduled to run from January 4 to February 4,
will call on all Burmese to write letters to their government leaders
urging reform in politics, the economy and social affairs.

“You will never be free from suffering unless the world can hear your
cry,” the 88 Generation Students group said in a report announcing the
campaign.

“Our aim is to have the Burmese military authorities hear the feelings of
the people,” one of the group’s leaders, known as Jimmy, told The
Irrawaddy on Wednesday by telephone from Rangoon.

The letters will be collected by the group and sent to Snr-Gen Than Shwe,
the head of Burma’s ruling junta.

This latest campaign follows several successful efforts by the group late
last year. Five leaders of the 88 Generation Students—comprising former
political prisoners and student leaders—were arrested in September of last
year by security officials.

In response, the group initiated a petition campaign to call for their
release. A total of 535,580 signed the petition, which called for
democratic reform in Burma and the release of all the estimated 1,100
political prisoners in the country, including detained pro-democracy icon
Aung San Suu Kyi. The signatures were later sent to UN headquarters in New
York.

Last month, the US vowed to renew its efforts early this year to pass a UN
Security Council resolution calling on Burma to “take concrete steps
toward greater freedom and improved humanitarian conditions for the
Burmese people,” the US State Department said. A UN General Assembly
resolution on Burma also called on Burma to “end the systematic violations
of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The five leaders of the 88 Generation Students—Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi,
Htay Kywe, Min Zeya and Pyone Cho—remain in detention.

Legal sources in Rangoon say government officials have applied for a fifth
detention order against the leaders for further investigation of their
activities. The five are thought to be detained at the Aung Thapyay police
holding center in Rangoon.

The detained activists were initially arrested on the basis of alleged
links to illegal organizations and terrorist groups, according to Burma’s
police chief, Brig-Gen Khin Yi. Lawyers for the five activists have
countered that seeking further detention orders without producing the
detainees in court—as junta officials are said to have done—is a violation
of Burmese law.

____________________________________

January 3, Irrawaddy
KNU distances itself from Rangoon mission - Shah Paung

A delegation of the Karen National Liberation Army, led by its Seventh
Brigade commander, Brig-Gen Htain Maung, is reported to be on its way to
Rangoon for a meeting with regime representatives, against the wishes of
the Karen National Union.

The KNLA is the military wing of the KNU. Relations between the two groups
worsened following a meeting last July between the late KNU leader Gen Bo
Mya, who was a close friend of Htain Maung, and a regime intelligence
officer, Col Myat Htun Oo. Bo Mya died on December 24, and Myat Htun Oo
attended his funeral, while KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha failed to turn
up.

In a statement following the death of Bo Mya, the veteran general’s son,
Col Ner Dah Mya, and Htain Maung disavowed all orders from the KNU,
accusing its present leaders of abandoning Karen national interests,
clinging by all means to power and appointing corrupt officials to the
central committee.

Sources at the Thailand-Burma border confirmed that Htain Maung and his
group had arrived in Myawaddy, opposite the Thai border town Mae Sot, on
Wednesday. Htain Maung’s group included Col Paw Doh, head of the KNLA
Battalion 101, Maj Shwe Ro, second-in-command of Battalion 203, Htain
Maung’s bodyguard, Mar Ner, and the former head of the First Brigade
District, Say Plow Poe.

David Taw, head of the KNU foreign affairs committee, told The Irrawaddy
Htain Maung had said he was on his way to meet regime officials whether
the KNU liked it or not. The journey was out of order, David Taw said.

David Taw denied there was any split over the issue, however. “He [Htain
Maung] is a sincere person and what he is trying to do is for the Karen
people.”

Sources say the mission to Rangoon, nevertheless, is being followed by the
KNU with concern about is purpose and consequences.

____________________________________

January 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Unexploded bomb found in USDA compound

An explosive device was found in the compound of Pegu township's Union
Solidarity and Development Association office on January 1, according to
sources in the area.

"It's been said they found an unexploded bomb in the USDA compound on Pegu
pagoda road at about 5pm . . . reports said it was a high-powered device
made up of white gun powder and a battery timer," a local resident told
DVB.

Police in the area have refused to confirm the reports, with a deputy
police chief from Pegu township's Police Department 1 saying, "We don't
know for sure yet . . . We can't say whether it is a real bomb or not".

While no official statements about the device have been released by local
authorities, residents living close to the USDA office said security had
been tightened in the area.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 3, World Politics Watch
Myanmar finds willing arms suppliers in energy-hungry neighbors - Michael
Black and William Couchaux |

Bangkok: In an effort to bolster its armed forces, Myanmar's ruling junta
continues to diversify the sources of its military hardware, finding
willing suppliers in countries that are eager to gain access to the
Southeast Asian nation's abundant energy resources. Although China remains
the principal dealer of military equipment to Myanmar, India has recently
offered a multi-million dollar military assistance package to the junta's
leaders.

According to the New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, the
assistance package, presented by Indian air force chief S.P. Tyagi on a
visit to Myanmar's new administrative capitol at Naypyidaw in late
November, would include light helicopters capable of being modified to
launch aerial assaults, avionics upgrades for the regime's fighter jets
and naval surveillance aircraft. The assistance, which is likely to be
provided through "soft loans" or other very favorable terms, has drawn
international condemnation and sparked concerns from human rights groups
that the weapons will be used to attack civilians in the government's
continued assaults against the country's minority ethnic groups.

Arms for Gas

Weapons and military equipment purchases by Myanmar's ruling junta, the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), have substantially increased
in recent years as the generals have gained significant earnings from the
sale of natural resources to energy-hungry countries in the region.
Claiming to have the world's 10th largest gas reserves, with an estimated
90 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Myanmar is strategically situated
between two of the world's fastest growing economies. In efforts to meet
their growing energy needs, India and China are vying for leverage with
Myanmar's generals. It comes as no surprise that both countries have been
offering attractive military assistance packages to the junta.

India is simultaneously stepping up both military assistance and energy
deals with the junta, signaling its intent to counter China's influence in
Myanmar. In December, the day after the release of Human Rights Watch's
report critical of India's proposed military assistance to the junta,
Myanmar Military Chief of Staff Gen. Thura Shwe Mann reportedly met with
the leader of the Indian Armies Eastern Command, Lt. Gen. Arvind Sharma,
to discuss joint counterinsurgency training exercises. The meeting
coincided with the announcement that India had signed yet another deal to
acquire exploration rights to Myanmar's offshore gas fields.

The state-run Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), in partnership with
Singaporean company Silver Wave Energy, signed a deal with Myanmar last
year to explore a natural gas block off the coast of Arakan State. GAIL,
having secured shared agreements to develop other blocks in past years, is
now involved in the exploration of more than10,000 square kilometers in
the Bay of Bengal. Other partners in Burma's natural gas blocks include
the Korean Gas Corporation, India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and
South Korea's leading export trading company, Daewoo International.
Articles on this Issue

    * Putin Inspects Russia's New, Less Vulnerable Mobile Missile
    * African Peacekeeping Force Development Continues Despite Funding
Challenges

More on Defense and Military

The recent indictment in South Korea of 14 Daewoo officials illustrates
how close the relationship between arms deals and natural gas concessions
can be in Myanmar. The executives are being charged for illegally
transferring weapons technology to Myanmar, technology that is reportedly
being used to build an artillery shell production facility. Daewoo is now
facing pressure on multiple fronts. Months before the recent legal
proceedings against Daewoo executives, demonstrators were active around
the globe denouncing the corporation's projects in Myanmar's gas fields,
claiming that proceeds from Daewoo's ventures will only bolster Myanmar's
oppressive military regime and further degrade the country's vulnerable
environment. Even stronger public criticism and outcry has followed the
allegations of Daewoo's direct support of Myanmar's military machine.

For years, the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions
on Myanmar's military regime, but the sanctions' effects have been
minimized with the willingness of neighboring countries to cooperate with
the junta. For both China and India, energy security is of primary
concern, and both countries claim that discouraging human rights abuses
and encouraging democratization are better done through engagement than
through punitive sanctions. Furthermore, the energy-hungry rivals seem
content to see potential European and American competitors sidelined by
the sanctions.

Nonetheless, the United States is pushing ahead with efforts in the United
Nations to adopt a resolution condemning Myanmar's junta. But it appears
unlikely that the U.N. will be able impose sanctions against the military
regime; China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, likely
would use its veto power to thwart sanctions. Beyond its energy interests,
the Chinese government does not want to condemn the SPDC's human rights
record for fear of inviting criticism against its own abuses.

Myanmar's Military

Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw, is Southeast Asia's second largest
conventional force, estimated at over 400,000 troops. It has more than
doubled in size since the SPDC took power in 1989. Outside of guerilla
warfare proficiency honed over the past half-century in battling various
domestic insurgencies, the Tatmadaw remains largely inexperienced as a
conventional fighting force, according to security analysts. Despite its
already large size, Myanmar's regime continues an aggressive recruiting
campaign, which has been widely criticized for targeting child soldiers.

Sources within the Tatmadaw suggest morale is low. "It's a matter of the
haves who are a small minority and the have-nots who are the masses. The
haves can afford to buy the loyalty of the few around them while the
majority is at best discontented," noted one source.

Other obstacles faced by the Tatmadaw are lack of experience and a regime
that has chronically ignored the importance of weapons maintenance. The
Tatmadaw's arsenal is "thoroughly dysfunctional and a logistical
nightmare," a Rangoon-based military analyst told World Politics Watch.
"Their inventory is a complete mess. They thought it was a good idea to
diversify and rely on numerous sources [for military supplies] in case one
or another would cut them off. But they didn't take into account the
adverse effects this would have on their ability to acquire spare parts."

At the moment, China provides 90 percent of Myanmar's military hardware,
according to a National Endowment for Democracy report. China's total
military aid to the SPDC since the junta came to power in 1989 is
estimated at $1.6 billion. But the Chinese equipment is said to be of poor
quality. "Even the Burmese don't like it. That's why they continue to look
to Russia and North Korea for superior weapons systems," noted a
Bangkok-based diplomat. Other sources that supply Myanmar's military
include Serbia, the Ukraine, Israel and Pakistan.

Myanmar's weapons production capabilities remain limited. While the
country can manufacture small arms ammunition of low quality, for example,
it lacks the means to produce fuses for artillery rounds. While the
Tatmadaw does have a handful of more advanced weapons systems, it rarely
trains with them due to the expense of ammunition and, as such, is largely
inept in their use. Moreover, some of the larger guns in the Tatmadaw's
inventory are impractical for deployment in the rugged, mountainous
terrain that characterizes much of where it fights in Myanmar.

While the specific components of India's military package to the SPDC have
yet to be verified, it is unlikely it will significantly boost the
Tatmadaw's overall military capability. "The Indian package will include
outdated technologies from the 1960's, expired ammo and the likes.
Basically junk," observed an Asia-based diplomat who spoke to World
Politics Watch. He argued the package is a means for India to offload old
supplies during a reorganization of its equipment warehouses. Regardless,
the recent arms package likely will sweeten India's bids for energy
exploration permits.

Although official figures on Myanmar's military spending are not
available, the last report compiled by the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, in
1996, estimates military spending makes up as much as 40 percent of
"overall government expenditures." Most estimates agree this amount has
increased in recent years. Given Myanmar's poverty, the huge proportion of
national revenue dedicated to bolstering defenses reflects the paranoia of
its ruling generals. Beyond the legitimate fear of a popular uprising, the
SPDC's leaders, who reportedly often rely on astrologers' advice to guide
policy decisions, have long been wary of a U.S.-led invasion of Myanmar.
However unlikely the prospects of U.S. intervention in the country seems
from the outside, all indicators point toward a continued drive by the
junta to bolster the Tatmadaw.

____________________________________

January 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Chinese said boycotting border trade after national held over Burma drug bust

We have learned from traders at the border that Chinese businessmen are
boycotting Mu-se and refusing to come to the border to buy their wares
following the arrest of a Chinese fruit trader instead of the real drug
dealers by the Mu-se Special Narcotics Unit.

A Burmese trader told the Democratic Voice of Burma that the Mu-se Special
Narcotics Unit had taken into custody two Chinese nationals, who are
residents of Kutkai, with Yaba stimulant tablets on 21 December but both
of them were released later. Instead, the unit arrested an honest Chinese
trader named, Acharn, and is interrogating him, according to that Burmese
trader.

Fearing for their security, other Chinese traders started a boycott,
refusing to come to the Mu-se 105-mile border station to buy their wares,
said traders in Ruili who did not wish to be identified.

Major Chinese fruit traders in Mu-se and Burmese residents in the town
have written a letter of complaint to the Chinese External Affairs
Department in Ruili seeking the release of Chinese trader Acharn. A copy
of the letter was also sent to the Burmese Border Trade Office in Mu-se,
according to the Burmese traders in that town.

We tried to contact the Mu-se Special Narcotics Unit and the Mu-se Border
Trade Office about the matter but to no avail.