BurmaNet News, April 10, 2007

[Editor]

April 10, 2007 Issue # 3180


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burma’s junta steps up attacks on ethnic rebels
Irrawaddy: Burma civil servants to remain in Naypyidaw for water festival
Mizzima: Arts exhibition in Rangoon for youth training
Xinhua: Feature: Myanmar people's preparation for water festival in full
swing

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Karen State artillery fire spills across Thai border

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Australian: India snubbed in Burmese gas deal - Bruce Loudon

REGIONAL
DPA: Millions face floods, hunger in Asia due to climate change

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation: Avoiding 'illiberal' pitfalls is key to new Asean charter -
Kavi Chongkittavorn

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 10, Irrawaddy
Burma’s junta steps up attacks on ethnic rebels - Shah Paung

Burma’s ethnic armed opposition groups say the Burma army’s
counterinsurgency campaign has increased its attacks since the beginning
of April.

Sai Lao Hseng, the spokesperson for the Shan State Army, said the group
has fought more than 10 skirmishes with Burmese troops since April 2007.

“Small clashes happen all the time in Shan State,” Sai Lao Hseng said.
“Since the beginning of the dry season, we have prepared for them. We are
not a ceasefire group, so we always have to be ready to fight government
troops.”

The most recent clash, on Saturday in central Shan State near the villages
of Kye-thi and Manli, involved SSA troops and the junta’s Battalion 131. A
Burmese army major was reportedly killed and four others injured.

In Karen State, fighting has broken out between the Karen National Union
and the breakaway Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which signed a ceasefire
agreement with the Burmese junta in 1995.

The DKBA, Burmese soldiers and members of a recent splinter group known as
the KNU/KNLA Peace Council launched an attack on the Karen National
Liberation Army’s 101st and 24th battalions.

Three KNLA camps—including the headquarters of Battalion 101—have been
overrun and occupied by the joint junta-splinter group force, according to
the head of Pa-an District in Karen State’s Brigade 7, just opposite the
Thai village of Mae Ramat in Tak Province.

“They have captured our bases, and our soldiers are now moving to other
locations,” Col Paw Doh, head of Battalion 101, told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday. “We don’t know how long this will last or when the situation will
return to normal.”

The attacks killed one KNLA soldier and wounded another, while on the
junta side, one soldier was killed and four others were wounded.

The Thai language daily newspaper Komchadleuk reported on Tuesday that
Thailand’s 17th Regiment Infantry Task Force is on alert near the border
in Tak Province after as many as five mortar shells landed on Thai soil
during the attacks. In response, Thai soldiers reportedly fired smoke
shells to warn DKBA and KNU forces fighting across the border.

Meanwhile, residents who fled the fighting have not been able to return to
their homes. According to a recent field report from the aid group Free
Burma Rangers, nearly 130 families fled Brigade 7 for Thai soil, and that
number is expected to increase.

Refugees in the Mae La camp in Tak Province fear that junta and splinter
group soldiers will attack the camp. Some have already begun packing their
belongings, according to sources in Mae La, which is located near Mae
Ramat.

General Secretary Raymond Htoo of the Karenni National Progressive Party
says that Karenni troops have also come under fire by junta soldiers on
numerous occasions since the beginning of April.

The latest attack occurred on Saturday near the Thai-Burmese border
opposite Mae Hong Son. One Karenni soldier and three Burmese were wounded.

____________________________________

April 10, Irrawaddy
Burma civil servants to remain in Naypyidaw for water festival - Aung Lwin Oo

Burmese authorities have ordered civil servants to stay in the new capital
Napyidaw during the traditional New Year, while entertainers were urged to
join them, according to sources in the administrative city.

The traditional Thingyan, or water festival, falls in April and usually
lasts up to four or five days. Civil servants in the capital have been
forced to cancel their travel plans following the order to remain in
Naypyidaw.

“We all feel frustrated as we’ve planned to spend the holiday with our
families,” said a senior civil servant from the Ministry of Construction.

People in the entertainment industry were also required to attend
celebrations in the capital. Singers and actors have been instructed to
arrive in Naypyidaw by April 13, the first day of the festival.

“We are disappointed [with the order] as we’ve arranged for shows in
Rangoon,” a Rangoon-based singer told The Irrawaddy on condition of
anonymity for fear of reprisal.

In February, the Burma’s military government announced that the
traditional New Year festival in April would be extended to 10 days. State
media reported that the extension aimed to create opportunities for
Burmese to enjoy the event and to perform religious activities and for
“government personnel to be able to take a vacation for rest and
recreation after a long work of the whole year.”

In the former capital Rangoon, several private companies have set up
entertainment centers for the water festival. But the cost may be
prohibitive for most residents. “It’s very unlikely people can join
because they are charging a minimum of 10,000 kyat (about US $8),”a
Rangoon resident told The Irrawaddy.

____________________________________

April 10, Mizzima News
Arts exhibition in Rangoon for youth training

An arts exhibition to raise funds for managerial skills training was held
in Rangoon last week.

Jointly sponsored by the Myanmar Egress , a non-profit social welfare
organization, and the Thamada Gallary, the arts exhibition to raise funds
for youth training was held on April 1-5 on the first floor of the Thamada
Hotel.

"There are five members, or founders," referring to Myanmar Egress, "but
they do not have enough money to operate through their own contributions.
So we are trying to raise money to support the long-term success of their
programs", said an exhibition organizer who wished to remain anonymous.

"Training programs are almost always free and therefore in need of
funding. Profits from the gallery will go toward managerial skills
training," he went on to say.

According to well-informed sources in Rangoon, Myanmar Egress is the
brain-child of none other than Dr. Nay Win Maung, owner of Living Colour
Magazine.

"It is a good idea", commented a journalist who visited the exhibition and
spoke of Myanmar Egress's Human Resources Development Program.

However not all concur with Nay Win Maung's political ideas and some are
leery of his motivation.

"Though the idea is good, we have to wait to see his political motivation.
He is a controversial man", one writer told Mizzima.

Nay Win Maung is known for his different political perspectives and some
see him creating a third force, an alternative to Nobel Laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy. At a conference
in Singapore he told opposition representatives they should consider "How
to rule the country instead of who should rule the country."

Eyewitnesses also saw eminent Burmese scholar Prof Robert Taylor at the
exhibition. Taylor is another confrontational figure, who once said the
1990 election victory of the National League for Democracy was no longer
valid and could be ignored.

Sources told Mizzima that short-term Human Resources Development Programs
are expected to commence in July and that trainers will come from aboard.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Karen State artillery fire spills across Thai border

Stray artillery fire from the ongoing clashes between the Karen National
Union, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the Burmese military has
reportedly spilled across the Thai border into Mae Ramat.

The Thai government released a statement late yesterday saying the
fighting between the three groups, which has caused more than 200 Karen
people to flee to Thailand, posed a security threat to Thai people along
the border.

“Thailand’s Border Patrol Police Unit 345 has launched smoke shells to
warn DKBA and KNU forced currently fighting inside [Burmese] territory,
after five artillery rounds of undetermined origin had landed at Huay bong
village in Mae Ramat district,” the Thai government statement said.

The KNU was reportedly forced to abandon its battalion 101 yesterday after
three days of fighting with the military-backed DKBA and Burmese forces.
Also targeted were the group’s battalion 24 and the headquarters of the
Karen Youth Organization. It is unclear how many casualties have been
caused by the clashes.

The DKBA told DVB on Sunday they launched the attacks because they were
tired of the KNU allegations of incompetence.

“They’ve insulted us to our faces too many times and we can’t tolerate it
anymore. So we fight . . . they always say we are not united, can’t fight
and are defectors . . . We follow our own religion that we believe in and
they have disturbed us,” the DKBA’s colonel Moat Thone.

KNU general secretary Padoh Mahn Shar said that the rebel group had no
choice but to retaliate against the DKBA and State Peace and Development
Council troops. People displaced by the fighting who have fled to Thailand
are reportedly being assisted by the Karen Refugee Committee and the
Thai-Burma Border Consortium.

____________________________________

April 10, Xinhua General News Service
Feature: Myanmar people's preparation for water festival in full swing

Apart from the mayor's water throwing pandal in Yangon, other established
outstanding private company pandals include those of Alpine Drinking
Water, Cherry Oo Watches, Myanmar Beer, Premier Coffee, Tiger Beer,
Myanmar Whisky, Petronas Oil Company of Malaysia, Euro Continent, Air
Bagan, Sedona Hotel, Summit Park View Hotel, Great Wall Shan Yoma
Ointment, Tun Electric and Valiant Cigarette among others.

Competitions of songs and dances were also staged in some pandals with
prize money arranged to be presented on the last day of the four-day
festival.

During the festival, people used to hand out snacks such as mont-lon-yebaw
(balls of dough boiled with palm sugar inside) and mont-lat-saung (bits of
sticky rice in jaggery syrup and coconut milk). Almost every household
makes these snacks and share them with each other and with friends or
strangers who walk by to encourage goodwill and prosperity as explained by
elders.

In old days, Myanmar people used to sprinkle water gently with leaves to
one another as a traditional way of holding the festival, but it has
developed for a long time into a way that people throw water by splashing
with water-gun and even with plastic pipes being joined to water pumps to
create throwing force to increase pleasure.

As in the past years, the Yangon municipal authority is calling on
revelers to celebrate the festival in a civilized manner with polite
approach by people in water throwing to prevent undesirable accidents out
of drink and quarrel.

The authorities cited cases of car accidents in Yangon which occurred
during last year's water festival, saying that 55 such accidents took
place with five being killed during that festival. The authorities also
reminded people to build strong-enough water throwing pandals to withstand
weight of revelers by taking a lesson from a tragedy during the last
festival in which more than 30 people were injured due to the collapse of
a pandal on Inya Road near the Yangon University campus out of weak
structure of the pandal which used old wood for the building.

Other local reports said Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay was
highlighted by similar activities taking place at the pandal of Mandalay
Mayor's Office at the south moat of the Royal Palace as well as dozens of
other private pandals along the canal of the palace where live shows and
performances were staged with a large number of top vocalists in the
country especially from Yangon.

Besides, procession of decorated floats in the evening has long been a
feature of the water festival in Mandalay, which boasts the cultural
center of Myanmar and the business center in the north.

After the four-day water festival, there will come the new year day and
Myanmar people used to greet the new calendar year by doing deeds of merit
according to Myanmar traditions and customs, beginning with the dawn
feasting of monks, followed by freeing of bird and fish and other
wildlife, shampooing and bathing of the old-aged and offering natural
fragrant bark scents and manicuring.

However, as bird flu is striking Myanmar, captured wild birds are banned
for setting free again according to preventive measures taken.

The centuries-old heritage of Myanmar people, who are mostly Buddhists,
includes visiting pagodas, paying obeisance and bathing the Buddha
statues.

It is acknowledged that among the 12 traditional seasonable festivals of
Myanmar, the water festival is known as the merriest one.

With the rare first official extension of the public holidays to as long
as 10 days from traditional four days this year to mark the seasonal
festive event, service personnel as well as company staff find better ways
to flee the stress and irritation of work all year round, making it a
special time for them to have the chance to relax and have fun.

Making use of the granted long holidays, some people are proffering to go
on touring to heritage sites, coastal beaches and plateau in the country,
thus making travel agents, airlines and hotels a booming business.

Water is a symbol of cleanliness and auspiciousness. Myanmar people
believe that celebration of the water festival can wash away evils and
sins accumulated in the old days and prepare for the new one, bringing the
people into a happy new year.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 10, The Australian
India snubbed in Burmese gas deal - Bruce Loudon

Energy-starved India has lost out to China for the supply of natural gas
from huge new offshore fields in Burma, despite ''pampering'' the
country's military junta and promising to provide it with weapons.

It is a major setback to India, which produces only half the natural gas
it requires to fuel its booming economy and is desperately seeking new
sources of supply to meet projections that it will need to more than
double its intake over the next 15 years.

As well as the economic implications of the loss, the decision indicates a
setback to New Delhi's careful attempts to curry favour with Burma, and a
significant victory for Beijing in its constant quest for expanded
regional influence.

Analysts believe that China's opposition to a US-led push at the UN to
restore democracy and human rights in Burma played a major part in the
ruling generals' decision and that Beijing has further improved its
position as the primary foreign influence on the junta.

The deal also underlines the importance of India's nuclear deal with the
US, which India hopes will boost nuclear energy production and loosen its
reliance on gas supplies.

India had high hopes of securing the Burma gas deal, since its flagship
overseas oil and gas explorer ONGC Videsh and its gas utility GAIL have a
3O per cent stake in the A-1 and A-3 blocks in the Rakhine area off
Burma's western coast.

In a January visit to the new Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, Indian Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee also promised a ''favourable response'' to the
generals' request for military equipment -- though this was more an
attempt to persuade the junta to block insurgents from launching attack's
on India's northeast from Burmese bases.

At the time, Mr Mukherjee dismissed criticism of India's willingness to
supply weapons to the generals, in the face of the international embargo
against Burma, and shrugged off questions about the ''denial of
democracy'' in Burma by saying: ''It is an internal matter.''

Now that New Delhi has lost out to China over the gas supply deal, new
questions will be raised about its willingness to provide weapons
shipments.

But South Asia analysts believe that even if India did retreat from its
previous readiness to send arms, China would probably step in as an
alternate supply source.

A memorandum of understanding between Burma and China means that ''the
entire natural gas'' supply from the Rakhine area would be sold to China
and delivered through a 2380km pipeline connecting Kyakphyu in the Bay of
Bengal to Rili in China's Yunan province, Indian newspapers reported
yesterday. In return, China would pay Burma an annual transit fee of $150
million for 30 years for the pipeline's 990km stretch within Burma.

Had Burma opted for the Indian bid, it would have taken only 290km of
pipeline to deliver the gas to India.

In another sign of Indo-Chinese regional rivalry, New Delhi is reportedly
exploring five options for a railway to neighbouring Nepal, speeding up
its plans following the opening of China's rail track to Tibet last year.

Indian newspapers said that surveys on the viability of the rail projects
were being given top priority because of growing concerns that Beijing was
planning to extend the Tibetan line to the Nepal border.

Indian nervousness about Chinese intentions has been further heightened by
reports that Beijing has plans to build a railway to the Tibetan town of
Chomo, near a Himalayan border pass to the Indian state of Sikkim, in the
next 10 years.

India and China last year agreed to open the border pass -- which has been
closed for the past 44 years following a brief war between the two
countries -- in an attempt to expand trade.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 10, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Millions face floods, hunger in Asia due to climate change

Briefing reporters in New Delhi about the recent report of the
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Pachauri said 50
million people would be exposed to hunger by 2020 as global warming would
result in less rainfall in Asia affecting agricultural yields and leading
to food and water scarcity.

Pachauri said populations living in coastal and low-lying areas of South,
South-East and East Asia such as in Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and China
were particularly vulnerable with a projected rise in sea level.

"Even under the most conservative scenario, sea level will be about 40
centimetres higher than today by the end of the 21st century and projected
to increase the annual number of people flooded in coastal populations
from 13 million to 94 million," Pachauri said.

Almost 60 million people will be affected in South Asia, along coasts from
Pakistan, through India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Pachauri
also the director of the New Delhi-based environmental think-tank Energy
and Resources Institute told reporters.

Besides flooding, Asians also face risks of hunger and disease at the
present rate of global warming.

"Substantial losses are likely in rain-fed wheat growing regions in South
and South-East Asia," he said.

For instance, a 0.5 degree rise in winter temperature will reduce wheat
yield by 0.45 tonnes per hectare in India. The average yield of wheat per
hectare was 2.6 tonnes

Food insecurity and loss of livelihood would be further exacerbated by
loss of cultivated land and nursery areas for fisheries by inundation and
coastal erosion in low-lying areas of
Asia.

About 750 million people who rely on the glacier melt from the Himalayan
Hindukush mountains for water supplies would also be "seriously affected,"
he said.

The report, "Climate Change 2007: Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability"
released in Brussels on April 6, blamed human interference as the main
reason for global warming.

A joint effort by over 100 countries, the report projected increase of
disease and mortality from diarrheal illnesses associated with floods and
droughts in East, South and South-East Asia.

The report also revealed that in future, climate change would impact
forest expansions, migrations and would create an exacerbated threat to
bio-diversity.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 9, The Nation
Avoiding 'illiberal' pitfalls is key to new Asean charter - Kavi
Chongkittavorn

The drafting of the Asean charter is progressing exceedingly well as its
drafters race against time to complete the document by November, ahead of
the summit in Singapore.

The first draft will be completed for vetting by Asean foreign ministers
in July, before their annual conference in Manila.

Whatever the drafters intend to accomplish, they must not produce an
illiberal charter.

The 10-member drafting panel comprises five senior officials, two Asean
directors-general, two ambassadors at large and one retired ambassador. It
is natural that one should not expect any bold initiatives from them,
unless clear instructions have been given from their capitals to push
certain viewpoints and issues. After all, these drafters are products of
their societies, reflecting the values and norms practised in their daily
lives. They also have to take into account the views and interests of
other ministries.

Sometimes, in the absence of directives from the top, the drafters have to
rely on personal rapport and relationships - the so-called "Asean
camaraderie" - to work out differences or find the appropriate wording.
This kind of rapport characterised the discussion focusing on the concept
of human security in the preamble. It is no secret that for years Asean
policy-makers have avoided using this term altogether, even though it is
used officially the world over in UN-related documents.

While the drafters from Laos, Vietnam and Burma were not supportive of
using the term human security, they backed its general principles and
intention to protect the well-being of their citizens. Their fear,
imaginary or real, is that the protective and preventive measures to
ensure human security could clash with domestic policies and practices,
leading to outside intervention. No wonder that concepts such as freedom
from fear and freedom from want - widely discussed under UN auspices over
the past few years - have yet to make inroads into Asean's mindset. To
some members, these concepts are too radical to adopt or embed in the
charter.

The charter drafters, who begin their second meeting on economic
integration in Rangoon today, have already sidelined some of the
recommendations in the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report. They feel that
building Asean community, rather than working towards a union as proposed
by the EPG, should remain the top priority. The drafters are also true
believers in the principles of consensus and non-interference, which
remain sacrosanct as decision-making tools.

Even so, during the first drafting session last month it took time to
convince Asean members of the necessity of sustained and enhanced
consultation on issues of common concern. This is almost a decade after a
Thai initiative for flexible engagement in an open Asean that would be
willing to frankly discuss transnational issues affecting the region was
shot down.

When it comes to change, Asean prefers the slow-but-sure approach.

In Manila, the charter drafters were flabbergasted by the proposal from
representatives of Asean-based civil society organisations (CSOs) to add
environment protection as an additional pillar. Asean adopted security,
economic and socio-cultural matters as the three pillars of the community
at the Bali summit in 2003. Environmental community in Asean would entail
cross-border engagement and collective sovereignty - something Asean
members refuse to discuss or even mention. Asean's failure to cope with
the recent haze problem in Indonesia is a case in point. When it comes to
issues of sovereignty, Asean members guard theirs like Rottweilers.

When retired ambassador Rosario Manalo, chairperson of the drafting
committee, met representatives of Asean CSOs at the end of March, she
reminded them repeatedly that only "bold and pragmatic" proposals would be
considered. Obviously, the drafters have the prerogative to determine
which initiatives are acceptable.

To ensure that there is sufficient input from the CSOs, Asean members that
respect non-government actors are conducting their own brainstorming
sessions to come up with more initiatives as part of their nation's input.
The Philippines and Thailand are among them. The Surayud government is
trying extremely hard to ensure that the Asean charter is really
people-centred and people-friendly. Coming as it does now, the Thai
enthusiasm has not escaped scepticism.

Some view the Thai initiatives as a sign that the Kingdom has an extra axe
to grind. As a government installed by a military coup, Bangkok's moral
authority to push for liberal or universal values in the charter has been
greatly undermined. It was already quite awkward for Thailand to back the
EPG report's recommendation for the rejection of unconstitutional and
undemocratic changes of government.

In private, others even point to Thailand's current constitution drafting,
which has generated widespread debate. Media reports of hypocrisy and
trickery in the process have been cited to weaken Bangkok's effort to
promote an open and outward-looking Asean charter. At this juncture,
support from Indonesia, the Philippines and especially Cambodia, which has
become a new liberal force, are imperative to push through Thai
initiatives.

Ultimately, the Asean charter will be the sum total of all views, some
stronger than others, which are the least objectionable to the 10 member
countries. Therefore, directives from Asean's top leaders, particularly
from the core members, are essential to push the envelope and avoid the
"illiberal" trap.