BurmaNet News, February 2, 2007

[Editor]

February 2, 2007 Issue # 3134

INSIDE BURMA
Associated Press: Myanmar junta says Western allegations of child soldiers
are untrue
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Opposition calls on junta to arrest
pro-government demonstrators
Irrawaddy: Karen split group formed a new group
Mizzima: Burma continues its iron grip on media: RSF
DVB: Burmese students pressured to join USDA to win scholarships
Xinhua: Anti-govt organizations to step up terrorist attacks in Myanmar:
official media

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: More Rohingya boat people arrested in Thai waters
Kaladan: 25-Rohingya held in Teknaf, Bangladesh Border

HEALTH / AIDS
IRIN News: Myanmar: Uphill struggle to contain HIV/AIDS

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima: India loans Burma $10 million for Kaladan project
AFP: India to invest in Myanmar port

REGIONAL
Xinhua: Chinese Defense Minister meets Myanmar military leader
Japan Economic Newswire: Myanmar man's win in deportation suit finalized
New Straits Times: UNHCR's role comes under fire

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: A new blow to the KNU

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 2, Associated Press
Myanmar junta says Western allegations of child soldiers are untrue

Myanmar's ruling junta has denied allegations that the army uses forcible
conscription and recruits children, calling the charges by Western
governments unwarranted interference, state-run media reported Friday.

"No forced recruitment is carried out and all the soldiers have joined the
army of their own accord," Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, a top junta member and
chairman of the Committee for Prevention against Recruitment of Minors was
quoted saying by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Thein Sein spoke Thursday at the 6th meeting of the committee, the
newspaper said.

It quoted him saying that the United States and Britain continue to put
pressure on Myanmar in the name of democracy and human rights, and that
they interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs with "slanderous accusations"
about its military and the use of child soldiers.

The U.S. and other Western countries severely criticize the junta for its
poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a
democratically elected government.

Following criticism by the international community, the junta in 2004 set
up the Committee for Prevention against Recruitment of Minors to curb the
practice, and Myanmar law prohibits recruitment of individuals under 18
into the armed forces.

However, human rights groups charge the military regime continues to
recruit large numbers of children into its army, sending boys as young as
12 to fight against ethnic minority rebels.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962, with the current junta
coming into power after violently crushing widespread pro-democracy
demonstrations in 1988.
In his speech, Thein Sein insisted that recruits "are allowed to join the
army only when they follow the prescribed laws, rules and regulations."
They join because they are motivated by patriotism, he said.

According to the newspaper, from 2004 through 2006, some 122 underage
recruits tried to join the army by lying about their age, 268 recruits did
not meet other qualification and 177 recruits failed their medical
examinations.

____________________________________

February 2, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Opposition calls on junta to arrest pro-government demonstrators

Myanmar's leading opposition party on Friday chided the ruling junta to
arrest pro-government demonstrators who gathered outside the US and
British embassies in Yangon earlier this week to protest their
interference in domestic affairs.

"No person is above law, lawmakers shall not violate their own law, else
such activities can depreciate the image in the international relations,"
said a mocking statement issued by the
National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by Nobel peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi who has been under house arrest for the past three and a half
years.

The NLD pointed out that Myanmar's ruling junta had banned all political
gatherings of more than five persons since September 18, 1988, the day
Myanmar's military launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators that left an estimated 3,000 people dead.

Myanmar has been under the equivalent of martial law ever since, with all
political gatherings required to get government permits or be subject to
arrest.

The ban on demonstrations, however, was not applied to two protests held
outside the US and British embassies on Tuesday, in which gatherings of 30
to 40 people protested the two countries recent efforts to put Myanmar on
the United Nations Security Council agenda this year, much to the
embarrassment of the junta.

The "demonstrations" were assumed to be junta-sponsored, prompting the NLD
to chide them for putting their own protestors above the law. The junta,
despite its notoriety for human rights abuses and political backwardness,
prides itself on being law abiding.

____________________________________

February 2, Irrawaddy
Karen split group formed a new group - Shah Paung

The break-away commander of the Karen National Union's 7th Brigade,
Brig-Gen Htain Maung, has formed a new Karen organization, the Karen
National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council. The
announcement came on January 31, the 58th anniversary of the Karen
revolution.

Htain Maung, promoted to major general, was named chairman of the new
group. Lah Poe, the wife of the late Karen leader Gen Bo Mya, was named
vice chairperson.  She currently holds the position of chairperson of the
Karen Women’s Organization.

Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union said, “We are
not recognizing the groups." He said he could not say anything more until
the KNU Central Committee meets. The KNU dismissed Htain Maung from his
position on January 30 for his failure to follow KNU policies.

Col Ner Dah Mya, son of Bo Mya, tactical commander of the Karen National
Libration Army and commander of KNLA Battalion 201, was appointed
secretary-1 of the group. He was promoted to brigadier general.

His brother, Col Nay Kaw Mya, also known as “Saw Nay Kaw” has also joined
the new group.

Pastor Timothy, a humanitarian worker who participated in ceasefire
meetings between the Karen and the Burmese junta in 2003 and who was
dismissed by the KNU’s foreign affairs department in June, 2005, was
appointed joint-secretary-1.

The National Democratic Front, an ethnic alliance group, will continue to
support the KNU main organization, said Hkun Okker, general secretary of
the NDF, which was founded in 1976 by 11 armed ethnic groups, including
the KNU.

Htain Maung, who has been involved in the Karen revolution since 1949, has
been a KNU central committee member and commander of the 7th Brigade since
1970. He held separate meetings with the Burmese military government
without approval of the KNU leadership, which led to a separate "peace"
agreement in January.

Aye Tha Aung, secretary of the Arakan National League for Democracy said,
“We are sad because of what's happening between the KNU and the 7th
Brigade." It can create problems for other ethic groups, he said.

The KNU/KNLAPC group was not available for comment on Friday.

Karen representatives from inside and outside Burma are now gathering for
a “Karen Unity Seminar” from Feb. 1-4 in a KNU control area along the
Thai-Burma border.

According to general secretary Mahn Sha, four main issues will be
discussed: The unity of Karen people, the current political situation in
Burma and preparation for a new generation of Karen leadership.

“Karen unity is our principle goal,” he said.

More than 50 representatives are expected at the conference. Other issues
to be discussed will include Karen resettlement to third countries, Karen
views on regime, KNU ceasefire talks and the Salween River dam project.
The Karen Unity Seminar began in 1999.

____________________________________

February 2, Mizzima News
Burma continues its iron grip on media: RSF - Mungpi

With the continued incarceration, of veteran journalist U Win Tin, the
Burmese military regime continues its iron grip on the media, the Paris
based press freedom group said in its 2007 annual report.

Vincent Brossel, Asia Pacific in-charge of Reporters San Frontiers, said
the Burmese junta continues with arbitrary arrest and detention of
journalists, applies random but strict censorship laws and bars foreign
journalists from visiting Burma.

"The fact that people are in jail for their writing is a clear expression
that there is a trend in the junta's policy that if you go against the
rule you can be jailed," Brossel told Mizzima.

The report said, the junta, in what seems to be a new sign of openness,
granted titles to new publications in 2006 and in October, foreign
journalists, some of whom had been banned from the country for years, were
invited to cover the resumption of the national convention, tasked with
drawing up a new constitution.

However, the security services, reorganized within the Military Security
Force, have stepped up surveillance of the press. Reportedly, civilians
have also been trained to identify international media "informers", the
report said.

"The junta's way of handling the media in 2006 is contradictory... the
junta wants to please some Burmese journalists and they want to look like
more modern and media friendly. It is an interesting intention but
unfortunately the situation is not improving because they have their old
habits," said Brossel.

In June last year, two journalists, Thaung Sein and Moe Htun, were
sentenced to three years in prison for taking photographs of the new
capital Naypyitaw, And in the same month a Pegu university student and a
youth member of the National League for Democracy were sentenced to 19
years in prison for distributing a collection of poems named "Daung Man",
meaning the spirit of the fighting peacock, which refers to the NLD.

Apart from arbitrarily arresting journalists, the junta also stepped up
its telephone tapping capacity. It targets internet telephony by banning
Google's Gtalk, said the report.

In a bid to counter criticism by the foreign media, the junta in February
2006 told a group of Burmese journalists and local correspondents for the
foreign press in Rangoon, to respond to criticism carried out by the
foreign press, the report said.
Following the instruction, identical articles regularly appeared in most
of the country's media attacking Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, the United States and opposition figures.

"They are written by agents of the junta's propaganda body, the Office of
Strategic Studies," said the report.

In January 26, 2007, a pro-democracy activist Naw Ohn Hla filed a
defamation case against over 123 editors and publishers of 30 weekly
journals in Rangoon for running an identical article written under a
pseudonym "Yan Yan", which attacked her by linking her to a widely known
pimp from an area in Rangoon where she lives.

A journalist against whom a case was filed by Naw Ohn Hla said, "We are
being told to publish this kind of articles in our journal by the Ministry
of Information." Naw Ohn Hla will appear in court on February 13.

"Attacking someone without any right to defend herself or without any
choice for the editors to produce the article is completely against
journalistic standards," said Brossel.

"And it is also a clear example that the latitude and the freedom of the
editors are very limited," he added.

____________________________________

February 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese students pressured to join USDA to win scholarships

An announcement recently released by Burma’s Ministry of Education has
caused anger among students because it insists that applicants for
scholarships overseas must be active members of the ruling
junta-affiliated Union and Solidarity Development Association.

The announcement, which was released on 15 January, states that students
who wish to enroll in a scholarship program must provide strong evidence
that they are active members of the USDA in order to meet the main
criteria for qualifications, a student from University of Economy in
Rangoon told DVB,

"In application forms for scholarships in Singapore and Japan, it is
stated that the applicant must be a member of the USDA,” said the student
who was speaking on condition of anonymity. “And they have to submit a
summary of facts purporting any activity done for the organization.”

An employee from the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of
Education confirmed the claim of the student.

"(Applicants) must be members of the USDA. A brief list of activities done
actively for the USDA must be included. If not, they would not be
accepted," she said.

____________________________________

February 2, Xinhua General News Service
Anti-govt organizations to step up terrorist attacks in Myanmar: official
media

A state-owned newspaper said Friday that internal and external
anti-government organizations are planning to accelerate terrorist attacks
in the country following the turning down of a United States-Britain draft
resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Some members of the Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors (VBSW),  Democratic
Party for a New Society (DPNS) and All Burma Students'  Democratic Front
(ABSDF) met in Maipa village in Maesot of  Thai-land last weekend and
discussed matters on accelerating  terrorist acts to keep pace with their
political movements in  Myanmar, said the New Light of Myanmar in its
report.

The meeting involved a U.S. citizen named Jame Base Inbat, who along with
the organizations, will provide explosive devices, the report said, adding
that seven operatives have been sent to Yangon in three groups by the
ABSDF.

The paper urged keeping vigilant against possible terrorist attacks and
exposure of them.

The VBSW has claimed the responsibility of last Jan. 15 letter bomb
explosion inside a Yangon town-ship post office which injured a
58-year-old postman.

Since Jan. 12, a number of mine explosions in Kyaukkyi, the country's Bago
division, have killed one man and injured six  people, according to
earlier official reports.

Meanwhile, in late last month following UNSC's turning down of  the draft
resolution presented by the two western nations, all  Myanmar official
newspapers carried a number of statements issued by different
organizations in the country condemning the draft  resolution for meddling
in the internal affairs of Myanmar.

In the latest development, some 30 to 40 people staged a surprise and
short-duration demonstrations in the last three consecutive days in front
of the U.S. and British embassies here,  holding placards with words
against the two western nations and  blaming them for raising Myanmar
issue to the UNSC.

Myanmar official newspapers described the demonstrations as being staged
with "nationalistic fervor."

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 2, Irrawaddy
More Rohingya boat people arrested in Thai waters - Khun Sam

A boatload of 92 Rohingya men from Burma were arrested on Thursday in
southern coastal waters by Thai authorities who said the men were trying
to enter Thailand illegally.

The group included four boys under 18 years old. They were the latest in a
series of Rohingya groups arrested in southern waters in the past three
months. They were arrested by the local coastal guard as they approached
Ranong, a port city on Thailand's western coast.

The men came from Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships in Burma’s Arakan
State, which borders Bangladesh, members of the group said.

NGOs based in southern Thailand, including Grassroots Human Rights
Education, are assisting the arrested Rohingyas with food, clothing and
medicine.

About ten boats carrying an estimated 1,000 Rohingyas have attempted to
land on Thailand’s southern border since November of last year, according
to Htoo Chit, director of the GHRE. The last boat, with 37 people, arrived
on January 15.

Htoo Chit said police will investigate the reasons for the illegal entry
into Thailand. If the cases involve political persecution, the men could
avoid deportation.

The Rohingyas are a Muslim ethnic minority, mostly concentrated in
northern Arakan State. According to Htoo Chit, the men said they left
Burma because of the difficulties of earning a livelihood due to human
rights violations, such as confiscation of land, forced labor and
discrimination by Burmese authorities because of their race and religion.
Many of men said they were denied their right to citizenship in Burma,
Htoo Chit said.

In previous cases, Thai authorities have sent Rohingyas back to Burma
through the border town of Myawaddy, said Htoo Chit, where some of them
return to Thailand to live illegally while others continue their journey
to Malaysia.

“They said they suffered from various types of human rights violation in
their hometown," he said. "I think more will be coming unless the Burmese
regime stops human right abuses there.”

____________________________________

February 1, Kaladan News
25-Rohingya held in Teknaf, Bangladesh Border

Bangladesh: Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and police in separate drives arrested
25 Rohingya intruders from border areas of Teknaf   in two days until
January 30, 2007.

According to Teknaf police, a patrol team of 23 Rifles Battalion arrested
5- Rohingya from Sarbang village of Teknaf upazila on January 29 while
they were entering Bangladesh by crossing the Naf River, which separates
Burma and Bangladesh .

Another team of BDR intercepted 5-Rohingya trespassers at Dum Dum Miah
check post on Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway on the same day. All the arrested
Rohingyas are from Buthidaung Township of Arakan State, Burma, police
further added.

Besides, Teknaf police arrested 15 Rohingya intruders from Teknaf border
area on 30th January 2007.

Usually Rohingyas slip into Bangladesh in small groups through the hilly
and porous borders and such intrusions have been a normal phenomenon for
over the last some years ago.

Earlier, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has intensified patrols along the hilly
Bangladesh-Burma border to prevent any attempts by Rohingya refugees to
cross into the country.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

January 3, IRIN News
Myanmar: Uphill struggle to contain HIV/AIDS

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Isolated Myanmar is grappling with one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in
Asia - a struggle made all the harder by the tiny amounts of international
aid received by the military government.

Although condom use has more than tripled since 1999, and access to
antiretroviral treatment has increased markedly, HIV/AIDS services need to
be significantly scaled up, according to Brian Williams, UNAIDS Country
Director in Myanmar.

"The government is now taking the epidemic seriously here, but much more
needs to be done nationally to have real impact on containing the virus,"
he said.

UNAIDS estimated that 360,000 people were living with the virus in 2005,
and national adult HIV prevalence stood at 1.3 percent. The official
HIV/AIDS programme has a budget of US$200,000 - just 60 US cents per
person in a population of 30 million.

The populations most at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS are sex workers,
their clients, injecting drug users, migrant workers and men who have sex
with men (MSM). There have been problems in accessing these groups, but
UNAIDS points out that more support has been forthcoming from the
authorities.

An internal police directive issued several years ago said carrying
condoms could not be used as evidence of prostitution, but some anecdotes
suggest this policy has not been fully internalised at all levels.
"There's still an urgent needed to explain the importance of safe and
trusting outreach activities to so-called 'decriminalised' populations,"
Williams said.

At one of the very few drop-in centres for sex workers and MSM, outreach
staff make sure they have plenty of leaflets and condoms as they prepare
to visit three local brothels.

"There has been a definite increase in condom use over the past five years
- we have seen it, and we are working to increase it further," said one of
the workers, who asked to remain anonymous.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been working to help
combat HIV/AIDS since the early 90s. In the last five years it has
significantly expanded one project aimed at reducing mother-to-child
transmission of the virus. "But such services are still only available in
less than one-third of the country," said Yasuda Tadashi, an HIV/AIDS
project officer in the capital, Yangon. "There is an urgent need to scale
up."

A relatively new UNICEF project in Myanmar, long-established in
neighbouring countries, involves working with Buddhist leaders to promote
HIV prevention and reduce stigma.

"It is not uncommon for villagers ... to shun a family where a member is
believed to be HIV positive," said Tadashi. "But when a monk demonstrates
that he is happy to visit the family, and to accept food and rice from
them ... this one act does an enormous amount to reduce stigma and
discrimination in that community."

Observers say the political situation complicates the fight against the
disease. Epidemiologist Chris Beyrer of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health in Baltimore, in the US, points out that in countries
such as Myanmar "political and human rights considerations limit both what
we know about HIV and what a UN agency can say".

A group of foreign and local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) is now
offering a range of care and prevention services. "Well over a million
people will be assisted by the programme. We're going to work in disease
hot-spots, like the northern states, where there is high migration and
high vulnerability," said Andrew Kirkwood, head of Save the Children
Myanmar, one of the NGOs spearheading the initiative.

Stigma and discrimination are serious impediments to fighting the
epidemic. The self-help groups that confront prejudice, common in many
other countries where HIV/AIDS is prevalent, are rarely seen in Myanmar -
mainly due to the government's dislike of any organised activity outside
their control.

But the number of such groups is growing and there are now more than 30 in
the country. "The government remains suspicious of the few informal
[HIV/AIDS support] groups that do exist," said Choo Phuah, Myanmar country
director of the International HIV Alliance. "But we are working to bring
them together to form a body that can influence the response and reassure
the state that we just want to help those with the virus."

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 2, Mizzima News
India loans Burma $10 million for Kaladan project - Syed Ali Mujtaba

India has extended to Burma a soft loan of 10 million US dollars at an
annual interest of 2.5 percent to cover the expenses of its share of the
Kaladan multi-modal transport project connecting its Sittwe and Kaletwa
ports with Mizoram.

A meeting was held in the Prime Minister's office on January 19 to study
the detailed project report prepared by the Rail India Technical and
Engineering Services (Rites). It was attended by the principal secretary
to the Prime Minister and the foreign secretary.

"The total estimated amount for the Kaladan project is pegged at Rs 860.95
crore. Myanmar had to provide 10 million US dollars as its share. Since
Myanmar was unwilling to invest the money, India agreed to provide a soft
loan at about 2.5 per cent annual interest," sources in the PMO said.

"The Ministry of Finance has confirmed the amount being sanctioned,"
sources said adding, "The Centre is keen to have an alternative route to
the sea from the Northeast."

The Kaladan multi-purpose project will link Mizoram with Burma. It begins
from Burma's Sittwe port up the Kaladan or Kolodyne River that flows
through Mizoram to the small port of Paletwa in Burma, covering a distance
of 222 km.

India has to spend US $ 103 million on developing the Sittwe Port under
the Kaladan project which will take three years to complete. Mizoram will
emerge as the hub and development of the port would be of significant
strategic value.

Sittwe Port is 160-kilomteres from Mizoram, and is located in West Burma,
on the mouth of the Kaladan River and on Bay of Bengal.

____________________________________

February 2, Agence France Presse
India to invest in Myanmar port

New Delhi will invest 130 million dollars to develop Myanmar's Sittwe port
that will give India's landlocked northeast access to a new trade route to
South East Asia, an Indian official said Friday.

"We signed an initial agreement recently and we will begin the project as
soon as the (Indian) cabinet gives approval," said the senior official who
declined to be named.

"The proposal will be put up to the cabinet this month. Once cleared it
will take about three to four years for the project to be completed," he
said.

The port project would mark the latest cooperation venture between New
Delhi and military-ruled Myanmar.

India has been keen to develop closer links with Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma, because of its huge reserves of gas and proximity to South East
Asia.

The port will allow cargo vessels from India's landlocked northeastern
Mizoram state to navigate the Kaladan River to Sittwe, which sits on the
edge of the Bay of Bengal.

"The project involves the development of roads, waterways and the Sittwe
port," the official said.

"The aim is to obtain an alternate transit route for products from India's
northeast to South East Asian markets, as Bangladesh has not yet allowed
India transit facilities."

New Delhi has repeatedly asked Bangladesh for an overland route but many
rounds of talks between the two neighbours have yielded no results.

Energy-starved India is seeking new sources of fuel to propel its booming
economy.

Developing Sittwe will also enhance the "feasibility of transporting gas
from the offshore fields of Myanmar through a deep sea pipeline" to the
port of Kolkata, the Indian Express newspaper said Friday.

____________________________________
REGIONAL


February 2, Xinhua General News Service
Chinese Defense Minister meets Myanmar military leader

Vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and Minister of
Defense Cao Gang-chuan met here Friday with Thura Shwe Mann, member of the
ruling Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Myanmar
military's chief of general staff.

Shwe Mann is here on a good-will visit as guest of Liang Guanglie, chief
of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Cao, also State Councilor, said a profound friendship between the two
nations and two armed forces is not only in the fundamental interests of
the two peoples, but also conducive to regional and world peace and
stability.

He pledged to promote bilateral relations to a new height.

Shwe Mann said the relations between Myanmar and China withstood tests of
time and history, adding he hoped bilateral friendship be furthered in the
future.

He expressed appreciation for China's long-term support to his country and
reaffirmed Myanmar's adherence to the one China policy.

____________________________________

February 2, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar man's win in deportation suit finalized

A high court ruling has been finalized in favor of a political activist
from Myanmar seeking asylum in Japan, with the Justice Ministry deciding
not to file an appeal against the ruling last month that voided a
government order to deport him, the man said Friday.

Khin Maung Hla, 40, who had filed the suit fearing he would face
persecution in the military-ruled country due to his pro-democracy
activities, said he was informed by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau
of the state's decision but was not told whether he will be given new
status allowing him to remain in Japan.

"I was happy to have won the suit, but I still feel insecure. I want the
immigration bureau to certify me as a refugee," said Khin Maung Hla, who
is now a company employee living in Aichi Prefecture.

The Nagoya High Court on Jan. 18 upheld a Nagoya District Court ruling
that a decision by the justice minister to deport the man was not illegal
due to the man's failure to apply for refugee status before the deadline,
but voided the order in acknowledging that he is a refugee under the 1951
U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Khin Maung Hla is from the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. In fear of being
detained by the junta, he fled to Japan in June 1992 using a fake
passport.

_____________________________________

February 2, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
UNHCR's role comes under fire

Kuala Lumpur: Government agencies going after illegal immigrants are
sometimes at loggerheads with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees office here, and the Home Affairs Ministry has brought the matter
before the Cabinet.

Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad is finding that agencies under the
ministry, such as Rela and the Immigration Department faced difficulties
exercising their duties.

"I have spoken to the Cabinet about UNHCR because they really get in our
way. Even though we do not recognise refugees, we are a UN member country
and accept them on humanitarian grounds," he said.

Radzi, who raised the issue at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, is now
preparing a working paper requesting guidance.

He was asked to comment on 176 Myanmar nationals who were picked up during
an operation by Rela and the Sepang Municipal Council's enforcement unit
at an abandoned orchard in Sungai Merab, Dengkil, after the owner lodged a
complaint and his plight was highlighted by TV3.
The 176 claimed they were refugees under the protection of the UNHCR.

A check by Berita Harian and TV3 earlier this week found more than 50
squatter houses, a coffee-shop, a tent for religious ceremonies, a
volleyball court and a sepak takraw court in the orchard.

"Malaysia, like other United Nations member countries, accepts UNHCR's
presence but not their powers," he told reporters yesterday.

Malaysia, he said, was not a signatory to any agreement concerning
refugees "which means that we do not recognise UNHCR refugees".

"Even if the UNHCR says (most) are under their care, how can we let them
all go?

"They (the Myanmar nationals) are still being detained and we are
conducting our investigations," said Radzi.

Earlier, Radzi, in his capacity as Umno secretary-general, presented
RM100,000 worth of aid from the party to Information Minister Datuk Seri
Zainuddin Maidin, who is also deputy chairman of the Aid Management and
Disaster Committee, for flood victims at Angkasapuri.

Zainuddin said he had received reports that the Chinese community in Johor
had complained that
they had not received aid.

"We heard complaints that help had not reached areas where there are
mainly Chinese but we will go (to these places) and similar aid will be
given to them," he said.

As at Jan 20, the government's National Disaster Relief Trust Fund had
collected RM7.9 million, while the NSTP Flood Victims Assistance Fund
stood at RM8.12 million.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 2, Irrawaddy
A new blow to the KNU

Burma’s ethnic army, the Karen National Union, has split up
again—confirmed rumors of an imminent split within the fragile Karen
leadership. And more bad news may be on the way.

The split is a new blow to Southeast Asia’s longest serving insurgency,
following closely on the loss of one of its leaders, Gen Bo Mya, who died
in late December.

Last Tuesday, the Karen National Union announced that it had dismissed
Brig-Gen Htain Maung, head of the Karen National Liberation Army’s 7th
Brigade, for his attempts to negotiate with the military regime without
the approval of the KNU’s central leadership. The following day, Htain
Maung and some KNU military officials formed a “Peace Council.” Although
the new body was established under the auspices of the KNU, it is clearly
a splinter group—and recognized as such by the KNU itself.

The new council announced that it would proceed to build up peaceful areas
in Karen State and promised to improve the life of the Karen people. Its
founder members include Bo Mya’s widow and two sons.

Bo Mya also broke ranks with the KNU leadership in 2003 when, like Htain
Maung, he made an unauthorized trip to Rangoon for talks with military
intelligence officers, at their invitation. Although Bo Mya’s decision to
take a delegation to Rangoon created cracks within the KNU leadership, it
wasn’t until his death that the rift widened dangerously.

Htain Maung and some Karen leaders accompanied Bo Mya during his surprise
visit to Rangoon, where he held talks with the then Prime Minister Gen
Khin Nyunt and leading military intelligence officers. After the talks,
the KNU announced it had reached a “gentleman’s ceasefire agreement” with
the junta.

In October 2004, Khin Nyunt was toppled and is now under house arrest, but
the lines of communication between Rangoon and the KNU’s Bo Mya and Htain
Maung remained intact. Following Bo Mya’s death, Htain Maung may have
thought he would continue with the peace initiative, but not many KNU
leaders are following his leadership.

Several Karen sources close to the KNU say that Htain Maung and his
relatives have business interest in the 7th Brigade area. The KNU and its
military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, depend heavily on
taxation and the logging business, in which several Karen leaders are
involved in selling timber on the Thai market. Htain Maung was repeatedly
warned by the KNU leadership about these activities, but ignored them.

Karen leaders, both civilian and military, have been closely watching
Htain Maung and his group’s “peace initiative” with the regime. After
meeting the junta’s Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Thein Sein, Htain Maung claimed the
delegation had reached a “peace” agreement.

Such an agreement has, however, to be between the KNU and the Burmese
military government—not with just one faction within the KNU. Knowing that
Htain Maung’s “peace initiative” did not carry much weight within the KNLA
and could not even influence several Karen leaders who also wanted to open
talks with Burma, the KNU finally made a decision to dismiss Htain Maung.

The Irrawaddy has learned that in recent years Thai officials were
involved in initiating peace talks between the KNU and the junta. During
Bo Mya’s trip to Rangoon in 2003, Thailand’s supreme commander and top
army generals were observed seeing off the Karen delegation at the airport
on its departure for Rangoon.

It was evident that Thais also wanted to see a permanent ceasefire
agreement that would guarantee stability and security along the often
volatile border. Previously, Thailand welcomed Karen and ethnic forces
along the border as a convenient buffer zone. But these days, Thai
military and civilian leaders are in favor of seeing peace restored on the
border.

Hence it’s quite unlikely that Thailand approves of  Htain Maung’s “go it
alone” approach to the Burmese regime, since it could create problems and
confrontation among KNU members living along the border.

Adding to the crisis is the possibility of a breakup within the KNLA with
the appointment of Brig-Gen Nerdah Mya, KNLA tactical commander and son of
Bo Mya, as Secretary-1 of the new council.

The problem isn’t the KNU’s alone—it is a blow to the weakened democracy
movement of the country.

The KNU, Burma’s biggest rebel group, has fought for Karen autonomy and
democracy since 1949. Moreover, many pro-democracy groups in exile along
the Thai-Burmese border have been helped by the KNU, especially after the
1988 pro-democracy uprising.

This is not the first time KNU has faced crisis, however. It lost its
headquarters to Burmese troops in 1995, and then saw the emergence of a
splinter group known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which is now
allied with the regime. Other smaller Karen groups have surrendered to the
regime and have become involved in a number of business and “development
projects.”

But all Karen leaders should realize that any kind of breakup won’t help
their revolution. Without unity within itself, no victory will come.
Instead, such a breakup simply hands a victory to the military regime.