BurmaNet News, March 21, 2007

[Editor]

March 21, 2007 Issue # 3166


INSIDE BURMA
IMNA: SPDC plans La Lay Lone operations
Irrawaddy: Eclipse holds no sunny sign for Burma

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Karen splinter group offered money to members

HEALTH / AIDS
AP: UN calls for stricter controls in Myanmar after new bird flu outbreak

BUSINESS / TRADE
PTI News Agency: Burma opts to sell gas to China not India
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Seoul concerned over future of imports from gas
wells in Myanmar
AFP: Myanmar wraps up million-dollar gem sale

REGIONAL
AP: Myanmar prime minister treated for 'serious' condition in Singapore
hospital
Mizzima: Court hears witnesses against 34 ethnic Burmese rebels

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INSIDE BURMA

March 20, IMNA
SPDC plans La Lay Lone operations

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in Naypyidaw (Pyinmana)
plans to implement La lay lone (in Burmese) operations in the whole
country, according to a source close to the Army.

La Lay Lone is to prevent corruption in government departments, to seize
vehicles without license, ensure discipline for travelers on roads, and
halt human trafficking.

"Now the administration in Naypyidaw has started seizing vehicles without
license. They (military informal) also don't know yet when the military
will start the other operations such as its drive against corruption in
government departments, disciplining travellers, and checking human
trafficking," the source said.

While seizing vehicles without license, about 30 personnel of the police
and the army from Southeast Command and Naypyidaw took gold and money from
residents. They were seizing motor cycles in An-khae village Thanpyuzayart
Township , Mon State on March 8, according to an eye witness.

Another witness Mi Dot said that more than 40 motor cycles were seized and
about Kyat 500 lakhs were collected by them. Earrings, rings, and
necklaces were taken away from residents who could not hide quickly during
the raid.

Mi Dots' friend said some people started crying when the soldiers snatched
necklaces and rings. Soldiers not only took away motor cycles from the
gambling dens beside the road, but quid of betel nuts from residents'
pocket.

"About 30 soldiers entered the gambling dens gun in hand and took away
loose change," the eye witness said.

They (soldiers) shouted at the people to pile up the money on the map
except for youth under 18 years. Then they interrogated people one by one
and took all belongings of the residents.

On March 9, they also seized three motor cycles and one vehicle with
equipment while returning to Mudon Town , Nai Naing Oo who saw the seizure
said.

According to a Young-doung villager, before the seizure in An-khae
village, they also took six motor cycles while entering the Kwan-hlar
village Mudon Township .

Following the seizure travelling in the area has decreased. So has the
sale of motor cycles.

The residents have dubbed the seizure where soldiers took their
belongings, as robbers from Naypyidaw. Now the entire Mon State is calling
the seizure in An-khae "Robbery by Naypyidaw".

____________________________________

March 21, Irrawaddy
Eclipse holds no sunny sign for Burma - Yeni

Soothsayers in Burma are interpreting Monday’s solar eclipse as a bad omen
for the country’s military rulers. The eclipse, visible throughout Burma
as the moon passed in front of the sun, is an astrological sign predicting
“the fall of the mighty,” said a well-known Rangoon astrologer.

Burma’s military rulers are indeed currently going through a difficult
spell. Prime Minister Soe Win is in Singapore General Hospital, undergoing
treatment for what some reports say is leukemia. Sources say he has asked
to be retired.

Burma’s three other top leaders are also in ill health. Snr-Gen Than Shwe
has sought treatment in Singapore for what sources say is a heart
condition. Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye is reported to be suffering from
prostate cancer, and Lt-Gen Thein Sein has a heart pacemaker.

Other ills currently suffered by Burma are attributed to bad omens. The
discovery in Rangoon in February of the H5N1 strain of bird flu is just
one example.

Burma is, of course, a country of soothsayers, and astrology rules
people’s lives. Monday’s eclipse is also being interpreted as a bad omen
for the country’s economy, although the traditional Thingyansar New Year
predictions foresaw good times ahead.

Soothsayers predicted a booming economy and trade, a thriving agricultural
sector and happy times for the Burmese people. On the other hand, another
official prediction foresees the arrival of the celestial king Thagyamin,
riding a man-eating giant and brandishing a flaming torch—a harbinger of
terror.

Despite the contradictions and superstitions, Burmese people cling to
their belief in the power of astrology, probably as a means of escaping
the stress and insecurity of their own lives. Magazines and books about
astrology sell well. And it’s pointed out, possibly with some truth, that
the astrologers’ predictions could turn out to be as accurate as any
others.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 21, Irrawaddy
Karen splinter group offered money to members - Shah Paung

Karen villagers and former soldiers from the Karen National Union who
recently joined a splinter group have returned to the group, claiming they
left only after they were promised money by the breakaway faction, members
of the group said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Seventeen Karen, comprising former residents of Mae La refugee camp and
three KNU soldiers, made the claim at a press conference in KNU’s 7th
Brigade near the Thai-Burmese border.

The villagers and soldiers left the KNU in February to join the splinter
group Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council,
led by former Commander of 7th Brigade Brig-Gen Htain Maung.

The splinter group settled in Toh Kaw Koe village in Burma Army-controlled
territory of Karen State, where it has since established its headquarters,
and has been officially welcomed by Burma’s military government.

According to Karen Information Center representative Nan Htoo Htoo, who
attended the press conference, the villagers and soldiers were persuaded
to follow the splinter group for at least a week by the offer of 500 baht
(about US $15). The group said they were paid less than the promised
amount and told they could not return to KNU-controlled territory.

KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha said that about 60 people, including
civilians, were asked to follow Htain Maung’s breakaway faction when it
left the KNU on February 11.

The group of seventeen Karen returned to the KNU in early March. More than
40 more are said to have fled the splinter group since February.

Sources close to the KNU and another splinter group, the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army, Burmese military officials have ordered Htain Maung to
dismiss any member whose political views differ from those of the KNU/KNLA
Peace Council.

_____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

March 21, Associated Press
UN calls for stricter controls in Myanmar after new bird flu outbreak

Yangon: The U.N. reported a new outbreak of bird flu in Myanmar on
Wednesday and called for more stringent measures to control the spread of
the deadly H5N1 virus.

About 1,600 chickens contracted the virus and died during the weekend at a
farm in Nyaunghnapin, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Yangon,
Myanmar's largest city, said Tang Zang Ping, the Myanmar representative
for the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.

Authorities slaughtered the farm's remaining 20,700 birds as a
precautionary measure, he said.

"We need to impose stricter control on the movement of poultry, poultry
products, chicken feed, eggs and even the trucks that carry these
materials," Tang told The Associated Press.

The Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department said in a statement that
the virus might have spread in the farm, located in Hmawyby township,
through contaminated trays used to carry eggs or small birds, the New
Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The statement said chickens, ducks and quails within a 1-kilometer
(0.6-mile) radius of the farm were being monitored and that authorities
imposed a ban on the sale and transport of fowl within 6 kilometers (4
miles) of the outbreak.

But authorities conceded that the measures might not be enough to control
the disease.

"Despite preparedness and designating restricted zones and controlled
zones, there can be more bird flu outbreaks in other regions," the paper
quoted the livestock department as saying.

Myanmar has reported two H5N1 outbreaks in recent weeks among poultry at
two farms on the outskirts of Yangon. Until the recent cases, Myanmar last
reported an H5N1 outbreak among poultry in March 2006. It has reported no
human H5N1 cases.

The disease has killed at least 169 people worldwide since it began
ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003, according to the World Health
Organization.

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BUSINESS / TRADE

March 21, PTI News Agency
Burma opts to sell gas to China not India

New Delhi: Myanmar [Burma] has refused to export gas to India and has
instead preferred a pipeline to China to export the gas found in its
off-shore area.

Myanmar last week told an Indian delegation that it wants to sell gas from
off-shore block A-1 and potential discoveries in A-3 block to China,
highly placed sources said.

India's ONGC Videsh Limited and GAIL have 30 per cent stake in A-1 and A-3
blocks, while South Korea's Daewoo is the operator with 60 per cent stake.

South Korea's KoGas has the remaining 10 per cent interest.

China has told Myanmar that it will lay about 900 km pipeline in Myanmar
to transport the gas from the off-shore area to Myanmar-China border.

The distance from the gas field to India-Myanmar border is just 290
kilometres, making it the most economical export option but Myanmar's
military leadership preferred to go with China.

Around 18 million standard cubic metres per day is likely to be produced
from block A-1, while volumes from A-3 block have not yet been finalised
pending an appraisal of the discovery.

Myanmar would use around about 6 million standard cubic metres of gas per
day of the volumes from A-1 and A-3 for its domestic consumption and
export the remaining 12 million standard cubic metres of gas from A-1 and
likely output from A-3 to China.

Independent certifiers have certified 4.8 trillion cubic feet gas reserves
in offshore block A-1 while in the adjacent block A-3 the reserves would
be established after the current appraisal drilling is completed in May.

____________________________________

March 21, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Seoul concerned over future of imports from gas wells in Myanmar

China is about to buy all natural gas in wells in Myanmar's offshore area,
which would deal a blow to South Korea's hopes of securing one more direct
energy import source, news reports said on Wednesday.

The wells in Myanmar's A1 and A3 gas fields were explored and developed by
an international consortium led by South Korean trading company Daewoo
International Corporation.

Daewoo holds a 60-per-cent stake in the consortium, while the Korea Gas
Corporation, India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the
Gas Authority of India share the rest.

The wells holds a gas reserve of 4.5 to 8.5 trillion cubic feet, the
largest among overseas gas reserves South Korean companies have developed.

The so called Shwe natural gas field was discovered by Daewoo on the
Western Arakan coast of the Bay of Bengal.

The Myanmar government recently decided to sell to China the right to
purchase natural gas developed in the A1 and A3 gas wells off its
north-western coast, the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said.

An unnamed senior government official was quoted by the paper as saying
that an official announcement was pending, but Myanmar accepted China's
offer to install pipelines linking the two countries for free.

But the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in Seoul said on
Wednesday that no decision has been made on whether Myanmar would sell its
natural gas to China via a pipeline or in form of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) by ship.

As part of its plan to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern energy, the
Seoul government had planned to import directly 2.7 million tons of
natural gas a year from the wells in Myanmar, more than 11 per cent of
last year's imports, the Chosun Ilbo said.

"Basically, the government's diplomatic efforts to consolidate the
nation's energy independence have failed," a ministry official was quoted
as saying.

In a related development, a group of regional and international
non-governmental organizations resisting the Shwe gas project, plans its
fourth "Global Day of Action" against the project next Monday.

The Shwe Gas Movement voices concern that the income from gas exports
would go directly to the Myanmar military regime and by-pass the people.

It says it expects thousands of activists from about 20 countries around
the world would participate in the day of action.

It wants to urge governments and corporations involved to halt the project
"until there is assurance that the people of the whole of Burma" can
participate in the decision-making process.

____________________________________

March 21, Agence France Presse
Myanmar wraps up million-dollar gem sale

Yangon: Impoverished Myanmar has sold 3,652 lots of jade, gems and pearls
at a government-run sale which is expected to earn millions of dollars for
the ruling junta, official media said Wednesday.

Myanmese-language newspaper The Mirror said a total of 3,508 jade lots, 47
gem lots and 97 pearl lots were sold at auction at the 44th Myanma Gems
Emporium, which ran from March 8-20.

A total of 3,421 gem merchants, including 2,069 foreigners, attended the
sale, the paper reported.

It said the quality of the wares and the high number of buyers could mean
March's emporium would be the most profitable yet, beating an October
auction which reportedly earned the military regime nearly 125 million
dollars.

However, the Myanma Gems Enterprise, which runs the sale, refused to
disclose how much the auction raised, and said only that it was the
"biggest ever".

A total of 6,548 lots -- the majority of which were jade -- were on sale,
a Myanma Gems Enterprise official said. One jade lot was worth 1.68
million euros (2.21 million dollars), but the official did not reveal if
this lot was sold.

Military-ruled Myanmar used to hold the auctions twice a year to curb the
flow of precious stones into the country's enormous black market, which
economists believe is at least half the size of the formal economy.
But in a bid to raise much-needed foreign currency, the junta has been
holding the auctions with increasing frequency -- four took place in 2006,
and the March emporium was the second this year.

Some rights groups have urged international buyers to boycott the auctions
because of alleged human rights abuses, including forced labour in the
country's jade and gem mines.

Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, is one of the world's poorest
nations and is subject to US and European economic sanctions because of
human rights abuses and the house arrest of democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 21, Associated Press
Myanmar prime minister treated for 'serious' condition in Singapore
hospital - Gillian Wong

Singapore: Myanmar's prime minister is being treated in one of Singapore's
public hospitals for a "serious" undisclosed illness, the military-ruled
country's embassy said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win arrived in Singapore late last month on a
private visit, an official from the Myanmar Embassy in Singapore said on
condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

The official said details on Soe Win's condition were not available, but
said it was a "serious health matter" that required a team of doctors.

"From our embassy's side, we give a lot of logistical support, but for the
medical side, it's being taken care of by the hospital, so we are not in
the position to comment," the official said, adding it was not clear when
Soe Win would be discharged.

The Irrawaddy, a respected online magazine put out by Myanmar journalists
exiled in Thailand, has cited unconfirmed reports that Soe Win may be
suffering from leukemia and has asked for retirement.

Soe Win replaced the relatively moderate former Prime Minister Gen. Khin
Nyunt, who was removed on charges of corruption and insubordination in
2004.

Soe Win is the second of Myanmar's ruling junta to seek medical care in
Singapore this year. In January, junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe, 73,
was treated at the same hospital after arriving in the city-state on Dec.
31. Than Shwe is believed to be suffering from diabetes, hypertension and
other ailments.

Myanmar's military seized power in 1988 after violently suppressing
pro-democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990, but refused to
recognize a landslide victory by democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

_____________________________________

March 21, Mizzima News
Court hears witnesses against 34 ethnic Burmese rebels - Mungpi

The hearing of witnesses of prosecutors in the trial of 34 ethnic Burmese
rebels began in the City Sessions Court, Kolkata today. The cross
examination of the first witness was completed on the day.

The first witness produced by the prosecutors, was R. S Dhankar an Indian
naval officer, who filed the First Information Report (FIR) on the
arrested Burmese ethnic Arakan and Karen rebels in February 1998. He was
cross examined today by the defence lawyers.

"The crux of his [R.S Dhankar] statement is that he had no personal
knowledge about the case and he filed the complaint only as per the
directions and details given by his senior officers," one of the defence
lawyers, Akshay Kumar Sharma told Mizzima.

R.S Dhankar, an officer if the Indian Navy posted at the fortress
headquarters in Andaman and Nicobar Island in 1998, was the first person
to file a complaint to the police on February 18, 1998 after the arrest of
the Arakan and Karen rebels.

"There were many contradictions in his [R.S. Dhankar] statement and during
cross examination," said Sharma adding that "the prosecution has not been
able to bring the important persons who were responsible in lodging this
FIR."

The rebels, identified as members of the National Unity Party of Arakan
and the Karen National Union, both ethnic armed rebel groups fighting
against the Burmese military dictators, were arrested in February 1998 in
Landfall Island of Nicobar.

The rebels were then detained and put on trial in a Port Blair court in
the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago but were later, on the basis of a Supreme
Court order, shifted to Kolkata. They are currently lodged in Presidency
jail in Kolkata.

The Supreme Court, following appeals from human rights activists, also
ordered the case to be tried at a Sessions Court in Kolkata on a day to
day basis.

The City Sessions Court, Kolkata on January 29 framed the charges against
the rebels under the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the
Foreigners Act and fixed the hearing of witnesses to be conducted on March
21, 22, and 23.

Sharma said, "The witness, who knows nothing [of the case] was sent
intentionally. And in my opinion the prosecution cannot prove the contents
of the first information report through this witness."

According to the Indian defence establishment, the rebels were gunrunners
allegedly supplying weapons to Indian insurgent groups in the northeast.
They were arrested along with a huge cache of arms, ammunitions and
explosives during a joint military exercise codenamed "Operation Leech"
comprising the Army, Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard.

But the rebels, who claimed to be 'Freedom Fighters' fighting against the
Burmese military dictators, said they were betrayed by Indian Military
Intelligence, who promised to allow the rebels to set up base in Landfall
Island in Nicobar. The rebels also accused the Indian Military
Intelligence of killing six of their leaders in cold blood.

Two police personnel of the rank of head constable and constable from the
police station in Andaman and Nicobar will be appearing in court as
witnesses tomorrow for cross examination by the defence lawyers, Sharma
said.