BurmaNet News, September 2-3, 2007

[Editor]

September 2-3, 2007 Issue # 3283

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Demonstrations in Lattputta and Kyaukse today [Breaking News
- Live]
Reuters: Myanmar halts "long march" protest, arrests leaders
AP: Myanmar ends constitution convention, marking step one of junta's
'road map to democracy'
Irrawaddy: Proposed new flag in Burma stirs controversy
AFP: Myanmar steps up manhunt for activists
Xinhua: Myanmar commits to combat cyber crime

ON THE BORDER
The Nation: Thai worker killed in bomb attack in Burma
Irrawaddy: Burmese migrants queue up for free rice in Mae Sot - Saw Yan Naing

BUSINESS / TRADE
FT: Backstreet bankers - How underground financial networks ease Burma's
burden
DPA: Myanmar's domestic airfares up 30 per cent for locals

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Burmese activists march to Sonia Gandhi for India's support
AFP: Singapore police probe Myanmar protest
Mizzima News: Democracy Award to honor SEAPA chair
Mizzima News: George urges Indian PM to support movement for democracy in
Burma

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Britain's Brown calls for release of Myanmar prisoners

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s constitutional time bomb

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: National Convention ends – Regime’s roadmap to instability

STATEMENT
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National): Burma: Prime Minister Statement

OBITUARY
KNF: Kachin leader Maran Zau Nan dies

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 3, Mizzima News
Demonstrations in Lattputta and Kyaukse today [Breaking News - Live]

- Indian Standard Time - 4:30 p.m - Demonstrations will continue in the
following days, and if the junta continues to brutally crackdown on
peaceful protestors, the junta will be held responsible for the
consequences, said a group named 'The best fertilizers,' who claim to be
'youth sacrificing for the people of Burma,' in a statement released
today.

3:20 p.m - Bus fares for the shortest bus trips in air-conditioned buses,
which however do not use air-conditioners, have decreased today in
Rangoon, sources say. The lowest fare for a single stop ride for such
buses has decreased to 50 kyat from the 100 kyat charged following fuel
price hikes. However for long distances, such as riding the length of the
line, the 200 kyat fare has yet to decrease.

3:00 p.m - USDA members are also civilians; they do not have to be killers
- Ma Nilar Thein speaks to Mizzima while running and hiding

"Since August 19th, we, the 88 generation student leaders, have been
protesting over fuel prices. And on August 21st at midnight, some of our
student leaders were arrested. However on August 22nd, we the 88
generation students, youth members of the NLD, and university students,
continued to demonstrate peacefully over the difficulties of the people.
While demonstrating peacefully, at Thamine traffic point, the authorities
used civilians to fight with civilians. Members of the Union Solidarity
and Development Associations (USDA) started pulling and pushing us. At
that time I offered my hand to them for a handshake and told them that
'you are also civilians, and you are fully aware of the difficulties faced
by the people. So come with us.' At that time a boy shook my hand and said
'please disperse your groups.' I shook hands with three of them."

"What I want to say is the government is using the people against the
people. The people against their desire are forcibly made to suppress the
people. This is deplorable and the government should not practice such a
tactic. I want to urge the members of USDA, Swan Arrshin, and Myanmar
Women's Affairs, not to allow themselves to be known in history as
killers, as U Ne Win is remembered. Rather, choose to be remembered as
students, monks and civilians trying to find a solution for the people of
Burma."

2:15 p.m -
Security Tightened in Pegu

"Security here is tight. There is a lot of security everywhere. For about
three days now there has been a rumor that monks are going to start a
demonstration in Pegu. Since then security has been placed everywhere,
including police and members of USDA and Swan Arrshin. Security is
especially visible at junctions and places where there could be a lot of
people," a Pegu resident told Mizzima.

"Security has been placed everywhere, market places, pagodas, street
junctions and intersections, and also at offices. The people are looking
for an opportunity and are willing to join if demonstrations break out. So
far there are no arrests," added the resident.

1:12 p.m
Interview with a member of NLD Mandalay Division on Protests at Kyaukse

"Last night at about 11 p.m. Ko Kyaw Thu Moe Myint was arrested. Among
those arresting him were the chairman of the District Peace and
Development Council along with ward level authorities and the police.
Though he was arrested, others continued with their work, and today at
about 10 a.m. (local time) there was a demonstration until about 11 a.m.
(local time). The protestors initially planned to start from Kyaukse's
Letpyah Taing but since there were 5 jail cars with at least 50 police and
USDA members waiting, the protestors had to change the course of their
march. They marched through the Kyaukse Hospital and through B.E.
(Bachelor of Engineering) military quarters to the GTC (Government
Technological College) campus. The protestors demanded lower fuel and food
prices and also demanded the immediate release of political prisoners,
including Ko Kyaw Thu Moe Myint, who were arrested last night."

1:00 p.m - Authorities force locals to sign for the arrest of 88
generation students

Authorities in Rangoon, over the weekend, widely campaigned among local
residents to surrender or report any of the eight members of the 88
generation students still at large, including Ko Htay Kywe and Ma Nilar
Thein, should they come to their houses for shelter. Authorities
reportedly forced locals to sign a document agreeing to this.

The authorities, members of ward peace and development councils, said they
were ordered from township level authorities and warned that locals not
abiding by the signed terms of the document would face severe action.
However, the authorities have not replied to the question of how they will
take action.

11:50 a.m - Over a thousand demonstrate in Laputta Town

Interview with Dr. Aye Kyi on the Demonstration

"They [demonstrators] started walking from Laputta Pagoda Street and,
after walking for about half a mile, they reached the junction with Awwbar
Street, where they stopped and gave speeches. And again at Thapeih Kyo
they gave speeches. While walking along Awwbar Street, in front of the
Yoma teashop, they again gave speeches, and continued walking along Awwbar
Street until they reached the outskirts of town. At the outskirts,
Township Peace and Development Council members and police were waiting for
them with vehicles. When they started the demonstration there were about
400 to 500 people, but during the march more people joined and the group
of demonstrators eventually grew to over one-thousand. Awwbar Street is
big and wide, but the demonstrators filled the street. Members of USDA and
Swan Arrshin blocked the street at the middle, but the people told them
the demonstration had nothing to do with them."

"Civilians and onlookers applauded the demonstrators and gave them food,
with some even giving money. The demonstration included former 88
students, members of the NLD, charity groups and other civilians."

11:30 a.m - Police in Kyaukse town, of Mandalay Division, arrested the
Kyaukse branch NLD chairman at 11 p.m. (local time) on Sunday.

11:45 a.m - At least 30 people in Burma's military supremo Sr. Gen Than
Shwe's native town of Kyuakse demonstrated this morning at about 10.00
a.m. (local time).

11:00 a.m - Interview with lawyer U Kyi Win, Member of Parliament – elect
from Laputta Township

"This morning at about 8:00 a.m. (local time), three people started
walking from Thapeit kyo Pagoda in Laputta Township. They said they were
marching 200 kilometers up to Rangoon. They were Aung Moe Win, U Kyi Than
and U Htay Win. But at about 8:30 a.m., at the entrance of Laputta town,
police and Township Peace and Development Council members arrested them
and took to them to Myaung Mya."

Unconfirmed reports said a crowd followed the three protestors.

____________________________________

September 3, Reuters
Myanmar halts "long march" protest, arrests leaders - Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's military junta halted a 170-mile (270-km) protest march in its
first few steps on Monday and arrested three of its organisers as one of
the harshest crackdowns on dissent in 20 years showed no signs of abating.

The planned "long march" from Labutta, deep in the Irrawaddy Delta, to the
former capital, Yangon, was the latest in a rare series of demonstrations
against soaring costs of living and falling standards in the former Burma.

Organiser Aung Moe Win had aired his plans on the Myanmar-language service
of Radio Free Asia (RFA), virtually guaranteeing police or pro-junta gangs
turn up to break it up.

"The march was stopped by the authorities outside the town this morning
and at least three leading activists, including Aung Moe Win, were
arrested," a source in Labutta told Reuters.

In an interview with U.S.-funded RFA, Aung Moe Win had predicted the march
-- an echo of Gandhi's 1930 "Salt March" against British rule in India --
would run into trouble.

"We are not inciting unrest, just peacefully demonstrating the plight of
the people," he said.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) says more than 100
people have been arrested in the 10-day crackdown, one of the harshest
since the army put down a mass uprising in 1988 with the loss of an
estimated 3,000 lives.

However, small protests at last month's doubling of diesel prices and
five-fold increase in the cost of gas, have continued.

Police in northern Rakhine state arrested a man on Sunday for waving a
placard denouncing the hikes, a local source said.

Some dissidents have gone on hunger strike at police refusal to treat a
protester with a broken leg, one activist said.

Most of the leaders of the 1988 protests, including Min Ko Naing, the most
influential dissident after detained Nobel laureate and NLD chief Aung San
Suu Kyi, have been picked up and the generals are tightening the net on
those still at large.

Buses are being stopped and searched on the road to Thailand, a major
escape route in 1988, and police have raided the homes of well-known
activists and distributed their photographs to hotels and guesthouses
around the city.

"DISCIPLINE-FLOURISHING DEMOCRACY"

Against this backdrop, the junta kept a tight lid on the formal completion
of its National Convention, a 1,000-strong, hand-picked assembly that has
taken 14 years to draw up the "detailed basic principles" of a new
constitution.

Diplomats and reporters for foreign media were barred from the ceremony,
at which acting Prime Minister Thein Sein promised that a constitution,
referendum, elections and parliament would ensue under a seven-stage
"roadmap to democracy".

He made no mention of any timescale, fuelling the suspicions of critics
who believe the convention and roadmap are just a smokescreen to try to
convince Myanmar's 53 million people the generals are serious about
restoring civilian rule one day.

Diplomats said the agreed framework for what the generals like to call
"discipline-flourishing democracy" was a blueprint for continuation of 45
years of Burmese military rule in a country of more than 100 different
ethnic groups.

"The National Convention cannot be seen in any way to be promoting
democracy or stability in a future Union of Myanmar," one Yangon-based
diplomat said.

"The needs of the ethnic groups have not been protected. Political
decisions are centralised in the hands of the President. Political
opposition will continue to be stifled."

____________________________________

September 3, Associated Press
Myanmar ends constitution convention, marking step one of junta's 'road
map to democracy'

Myanmar wrapped up a 14-year-old national convention to write guidelines
for a new constitution Monday, completing what military rulers call a
first step back to democracy but what critics dismiss as a sham.

The guidelines, yet to be published in full, would ensure the military a
prominent role in politics and would bar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi from holding elected office.

Observers expressed skepticism about the process.

"The completion of the first step can be seen as a positive development,
but we have to see how honestly the government will proceed with the
remaining steps of the road map," an Asian diplomat said on condition of
anonymity due to the matter's sensitivity.

Some 1,000 delegates returned to the Nyaung-Hna-Pin convention center,
about 45 kilometers (25 miles) north of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon,
for the closing ceremony of the convention.

The ceremony took place after two weeks of demonstrations against high
prices for fuel and consumer goods. Public protests against the government
are extremely rare in the tightly controlled country.

The demonstrations have cooled down in the past few days, largely because
the government has employed civilian toughs to quickly quash any
demonstrations and has jailed many top pro-democracy activists. But
security remained high Monday in Yangon.

Critics have denounced the constitutional process as a stage-managed farce
because the military hand-picked most delegates, and because Suu Kyi is
under house arrest and could not attend.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party has accused the junta of
drafting a constitution unilaterally, saying it doubts the new document
would guarantee human rights and democracy and that the junta is likely to
continue ruling the country.

NLD member Khun Myint Tun in July called the constitutional convention a
"sham" after briefly attending, saying it included only a handful of
people who had ever been elected in polls and that junta leaders "are just
trying to gain the upper hand so the army can continue ruling the
country."

Foreign media were not allowed at the closing ceremony, and few delegates
were willing to be quoted by name about the proceedings, fearful that any
criticism might offend the military.

The next stage in the seven-step road map is supposed to be drafting the
constitution, but it remains unclear who will do so.

The draft would then be voted on in a national referendum, and the process
would culminate in general elections, Myanmar's first since 1990, at a
still-unspecified date. The military refused to honor the results of that
poll after it was won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

Myanmar's ethnic minority groups, who have been seeking greater autonomy
for decades, have complained that the constitution would give the central
government greater powers even though their delegates have demanded equal
rights, as well as more administrative and judicial powers in their home
areas.

Others have criticized a clause in the draft that guarantees the military
25 percent of the seats in the country's parliament, with the
representatives nominated by the commander in chief.

Asked if the convention's work signals an improved political climate, an
executive of the New Mon State Party said, "I don't think the situation
will be any better. It will be just the same. It's only the military who
have power, while ethnic minorities don't have any power."

The party had representatives at the convention, but the executive spoke
to The Associated Press in Bangkok by telephone from the group's office in
Thailand, near the Myanmar border.

The new constitution also disqualifies presidential candidates who are
"entitled to the rights and privileges of a ... foreign country" thereby
barring Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, whose late husband was
British.

Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of the
past 18 years.

The current junta took power in 1988 after violently subduing mass
protests that sought an end to military rule, which began in 1962. It also
suspended a 1974 constitution.

The junta first convened the convention in 1993, but it was aborted in
1996 after NLD delegates walked out in protest, saying it was
undemocratic. The convention was resurrected in 2004 without NLD
representatives.

____________________________________

September 3, Irrawaddy
Proposed new flag in Burma stirs controversy - Aye Lae

A new Burmese flag that critics say signifies a unilateral government was
included in the document marking the end of the National Convention on
Monday.

The government-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Monday
that the final convention document designates the national flag, state
seal, national anthem and the capital.

The national seal was changed, the national anthem remains the same and
the new capital was designated as Naypyidaw.

"The State Flag shall be prescribed as follows: The Flag is marked with
yellow, green and red stripes in a proportionate ratio. on the green
stripe in the centre of the State Flag is a large white star covering all
the three stripes directing upwards," the document said.

“I felt very sad,” said Cin Sian Thang, a Rangoon-based ethnic leader and
chairman of the Zomi National Congress. "Only one star in the new flag
shows clearly that the military leaders want to drive the country as a
unilateral state."

Burma's current flag was adopted in the 1974 constitution. The flag has a
red field with a blue canton in the upper left corner. The canton pictures
14 white, five-pointed stars encircling a white cog-wheel and a white
stalk of rice.

The 14 stars in the flag represent the seven administrative divisions and
seven states of Burma, the cog-wheel symbolizes workers and the rice
symbolizes farmers. The red color signifies courage; the white color
represents purity and the blue color signifies peace.

One Burmese blogger wrote on his blog: "I don’t like the newly proposed
flag either. When I first saw the flag, it first reminded me of African
flags, because of its colors."

____________________________________

September 2, Agence France Presse
Myanmar steps up manhunt for activists

Myanmar's junta has stepped up a manhunt for pro-democracy activists after
a rare string of protests, raiding homes and subjecting citizens to
arbitrary searches, campaigners and residents say.

More than 10 plainclothes policemen have surrounded the home of
34-year-old labour rights campaigner Su Su Nway, who went into hiding
after leading a brief demonstration last week in Yangon over soaring fuel
costs.

Dozens of protesters were detained after that march, one of a series of
anti-junta rallies that began here two weeks ago after the generals
doubled key fuel prices, and later spread to other parts of the country.

The price hike has left many workers unable to even afford bus fare in the
impoverished nation formerly known as Burma, which has been under military
rule since 1962.

Su Su Nway, who managed to evade arrest by jumping into a taxi, told AFP
by telephone on Sunday that she was ready to stand up to the generals, who
tolerate little public dissent.

"I will not hide forever. I have to stand up for our people," said the
activist, who is a member of Myanmar's opposition party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD), headed by detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Amnesty International said Friday that more than 150 people have been
detained since the protests broke out on August 19.

Apart from Su Su Nway, the regime has targeted key activists including
Htay Kywe, who also went into hiding after the first rally in Yangon which
drew about 500 people -- the biggest anti-junta march here in at least
nine years.

Authorities have sent Htay Kywe's picture to every police station in the
country and raided his home in Yangon, along with the homes of other
protest leaders, confiscating computers, mobile phones and documents,
activists say.

Since the protests broke out, passengers on highway buses have been
required to get off at each checkpoint, show their ID cards and submit to
checks and searches by armed policemen.

"I had to get off my bus three times during my trip from Yangon to Bago,"
some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the country's commercial capital,
said one businessman in his 30s.

"Also I had to walk in front of policemen three times. It annoys me
because every time I get on a highway bus, I have to get off at
checkpoints," said the businessman, who declined to be named.

A housewife in her 50s said she had to get off her bus 10 times for police
checks during a bus trip last week from the eastern Karen state to Yangon.

"Police thoroughly searched the bus and each passenger," she said.

In Yangon, small teams of plainclothes security officers are now roaming
"every corner" of the city, residents say.

They can stop residents for identification checks and arrest any
suspicious people on the spot, they said.

"This never happened before" August 19, said one Yangon resident, who
declined to be named.

While the junta has banned citizens from riding motorcycles in Yangon, it
allows security forces and police to do so, and residents here said they
were seeing more "motorcycle riders" now than ever before.

Analysts say the intensified manhunt and search procedures are no surprise.

"The junta is very uncompromising," said Aung Thu Nyein, a Thailand-based
Myanmar analyst.

"The government does not tolerate any form of public dissent, and is
always ready to crush demonstrations. This is the nature of this regime,"
he said.

____________________________________

September 3, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar commits to combat cyber crime

Myanmar Police Force has formed an information technology (IT) unit to
combat probable cyber crime in the future along with the development of IT
in the country and increased use of internet, the local Flower News quoted
an anti- transnational crime official as reporting Monday.

Despite not much major cyber crime occurring in the country, the police
force formed the IT unit in preparation for fight against such
probability, the official said, calling on people, especially
commercially-operating cyber cafes, to cooperate with the police to expose
such crime by systematically registering internet users' contents without
simple ignorance.

In late 2004, the e(electronic)-National Task Force of Myanmar also formed
a special cyber security team separately to crack down on cyber crime and
launched a website to cooperate with foreign counterparts, according to
the task force.

The move of the team, known as the Myanmar Computer Emergency Response
Team (mm CERT), constitutes part of the efforts in securing the global
internet network.

Myanmar's then launching of the website represented the first step under
an agreement reached at a meeting of telecommunications ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore in 2003.

That meeting called for establishing in each member country to share
information with regard to cyber crime and to provide technical aid to any
internet user victimized by the crime.

Myanmar, one of the five ASEAN members to have established such team so
far, would seek for joining the Asia-Pacific CERT in which the country has
held an observer status.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is nearing completion of the draft of a cyber law,
signaling a step closer to completing legislation on the use of computer
and information.

Myanmar enacted the Computer Science Development Law in 1996 and the
Electronic Transaction Law in April 2004, becoming the 4th ASEAN member to
have introduced such legislation after Singapore, Malaysia and the
Philippines.

Myanmar established its e-NTF to support information technology
development after it joined in signing the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement
initiated at the regional summit in Singapore in 2000.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong company, the SS8 Networks Inc., agreed with the
Ahaed Co. Ltd. of Myanmar in October 2005 to run security services for
internet service providers (ISP) in the country, according earlier report
of the Voice. Under the agreement, security services are to be provided
for information data of domestic internet subscribers against uncovering
and interruption of them. The HK company has links with over 200 customer
ISP in the world, providing security services for them, it said.

Besides, the Myanmar company also reached a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with a Canadian ICT company, the Teleglobe, in September 2005 to run
an ISP in Myanmar as part of the country's bid to expand such services.

That ISP is becoming the second in the country and the internet- based
telephone system will be extensively used after the establishment. The
current private ISP in Myanmar went to Myanmar Teleport (previously known
as Bagan Cybertech Co.), which had initiated the internet and the
internet-based telephone system in 2001 in cooperation with the Shin
Satellite Co. of Thailand.

Myanmar has been launching an ICT development master plan under the
Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and detailed programs to link
international networks are also being carried out in accordance with the
master plan drafted by the Myanmar Computer Federation.

Besides, the country has also signed a series of memorandums of
understanding since 2003 with such companies as from Malaysia, Thailand,
China and South Korea on ICT development.

According to the telecommunications authorities, the number of internet
users in Myanmar has reached nearly 300,000, up from merely 12 in four
years ago.

So far, Myanmar has launched some e-government systems including e-visa,
e-passport, e-procurement and e-D (departure) form to effect management of
government bodies.

Meanwhile, the authorities have projected to introduce 400 public internet
service centers in 324 townships in the country within three years to
facilitate communication links.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 3, The Nation
Thai worker killed in bomb attack in Burma

A Thai worker for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat)
at the construction site of the Hat Gyi dam in Burma died in a grenade
attack on Sunday, a security source said on Monday.

At about 7pm Sunday evening, two men on a motorbike threw two grenades
into the Egat camp where some 40 workers lived, the source said. The bomb
killed Saman (family name unknown) instantly and injured others but the
number of injuries remains unclear.

The Hat Gyi dam is part of a series of dams which Thailand and Burma have
planned to build on the Salween River since 2005 in order to generate
10,000 megawatts of electricity. The Hat Gyi will be the first to be
completed in five or six years, with a capacity of 1,200 MW.

The remaining Thai workers at the construction site are reportedly on
their way home due to fears for their safety.

The dam has been opposed by a number of people, notably armed groups along
the border between Thailand and Burma. Sunday's bomb was not the first. 
In May, a bomb exploded at the site when workers were washing up after
work. Two bombs were planted but only one exploded.

The Burmese junta State Peace and Development Council accused the rebel
group Karen National Union of being responsible for the explosion.

____________________________________

September 3, Irrawaddy
Burmese migrants queue up for free rice in Mae Sot - Saw Yan Naing

An estimated 20,000 people, mostly Burmese, in Mae Sot in northern
Thailand lined up on Sunday to receive free rice from Chinese donors.

Nang Htay, a Burmese migrant who received a donation, told The Irrawaddy
that she didn't have enough rice for her family. Although her husband
works, she said she takes care of her baby at home and it is hard to
survive.

Nang Htay said Burmese residents living in Myawaddy, opposite Mae Sot,
crossed the border to receive the free rice. “Some came with all their
family members,” she said.

Because of the economic crisis in Burma, Nang Htay said she saw very young
children queuing up to receive rice to help their parents.

Moe Swe, the director of the Mae Sot-based Yaung Chi Oo Workers
Association, said more residents of Myawaddy participated each year. An
estimated 10,000 people took part in the rice distribution in Mae Sot last
year.

“It highlights how the Burmese military regime raises the price of basic
commodities, making the economic crisis in Burma worse," he said.

Traditionally, Chinese business people living in Mae Sot annually donate
rice to the needy to make merit for the death of relatives.

During the past two weeks, many Burmese citizens have taken part in
demonstrations inside the country following sharp increases in the price
of fuel and basic commodity goods imposed by the military regime.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 31, The Financial Times
Backstreet bankers - How underground financial networks ease Burma's
burden - Amy Kazmin

For Burmese migrants living in Singapore, the small grocery shops in the
Peninsula Plaza are the place to go for the tastes, sounds and sense of
home. Shelves are laden with traditional Burmese staples such as pickled
tea-leaf salad, pungent spices, felt-and-leather flip-flops and ladies'
batik sarongs. Those hankering for their military-ruled country's
tightly-controlled pop culture can buy Burmese astrology and celebrity
magazines, books, movies, music CDs and - astonishingly - the
privately-run but heavily-censored weekly news journals now in vogue in
Rangoon.

But while clearly a powerful magnet, the Peninsula Plaza's Burmese shops
are not primarily in the business of fulfilling migrants' nostalgic
longings. Instead, those who flock to the tatty downtown mall each weekend
have another important purpose: to transfer a portion of their Singaporean
earnings to needy families back home.

In a steady flow, young workers - from electricians to engineers - hand
over wads of Singaporean dollars and leave, not with bagfuls of groceries
but with anonymous-looking receipts recording sums deposited, and names
and addresses of intended recipients in Burma. Indeed, these seemingly
humble businesses - working through counterparts inside Burma - will
deliver the equivalent amount of Burmese kyat, the local currency, to the
designated recipients, usually
within a day or two and sometimes right to the beneficiary's front door.

For many of Burma's 52m people, funds from relatives working overseas are
crucial for their basic survival. In an economy crippled by the junta's
mismanagement and western sanctions, jobs are scarce and neither salaries
nor pensions keep pace with spiralling inflation. "My parents live on
this," says a 30-something engineer as she entrusts a small shop with
Sing$200 ($131) for her parents in Rangoon.

Migrants have no real guarantee that these tiny unregulated operators and
will send the money to its intended destination. "You trust, you send,"
one moneyman, operating from a store selling Burmese books and CDs, told
the Financial Times. "You don't trust, you don't send."

But send they do - with each individual remittance a small act of defiance
against an authoritarian regime that seeks to control every aspect of the
economy - and especially access to, and use of, foreign currency. Money
sent via this underground system helps finance the purchase of essential
goods for Burma's population, bypassing import restrictions intended to
conserve foreign exchange for the junta's priority items, such as military
hardware.

"It allows people a degree of freedom from the state," says Sean Turnell,
a Macquarie University economics professor. "If this money had gone
through the formal banks, there would be all sorts of restrictions about
the timing, the amounts, and in what form people could withdraw it."

Dependence on migrant remittances is a common theme among the world's most
crippled, tightly controlled economies. Pyongyang, for example, exports
labourers and keeps their salaries to fill its own coffers, though some
North Koreans are working illegally in China and sending money home to
families. Zimbabwean migrant workers in South Africa earn money that
allows them to bypass currency controls and send much-needed goods back
home, where everything from
food to fuel is in desperately short supply.

Burmese migrants generally steer clear of state banks, which technically
are supposed to monopolise international banking services, and instead get
their money home through a system known as hondi - derived from a Sanskrit
word meaning "to collect". Operating all over Thailand and Malaysia, as
well as in Singapore, Australia, the US and, indeed, any place where
people from Burma live, hondi brokers handle transfers ranging from small
sums handed over by workers in Thailand's seafood processing industry to
tens of thousands of dollars sent by professionals in Singapore.

"The Burmese just don't trust state financial institutions in any form,"
says Prof Turnell, who edits the journal Burma Economic Watch. "No one
sends anything through the official banks."

Entrusting money to an underground financial network may seem risky. Yet
hondi dealers have a powerful incentive to keep their customers' faith:
the money they collect from migrants is an integral part of the country's
trading system, which is always in danger of paralysis due to the regime's
stifling red tape.

Traders use migrant payments to buy foreign consumer goods to send to
Burma for sale - a highly lucrative enterprise given both import
restrictions and limited domestic production capacity. This money is also
sometimes sought by Burmese exporters to meet the onerous foreign-currency
working capital requirements generated by regime demands. "Without this
foreign currency in the system, everything will be stuck," said a
Singapore-based Burmese trader.

Burma's current trade restrictions are a legacy of nearly total state
control of the economy from 1962 to 1988, when Gen Ne Win was pursuing his
quixotic "Burmese way to Socialism". While the junta that took power after
that has
presided over tentative economic reform, it remains deeply wary of private
entrepreneurs. The generals' deep-rooted impulse to control the market –
mocked by some as a true "command economy" - has been exacerbated by
western sanctions, including a US ban on all imports from Burma.

In theory, every shipment in or out of Burma must be sanctioned by a
high-level trade council overseen by a top general, and transactions can
only go ahead if every detail - including the price - meets regime
approval. But requests to import goods that would compete with products
from Burma's creaky state industries are generally denied. Traders
complain that they face regular demands from officials to obtain higher
selling prices for exports, or pay less for imports, irrespective of real
market prices. Burmese traders also confront onerous paperwork and working
capital requirements to trade.

Unsurprisingly, Burma's official foreign trade figures are anaemic. In
2006, the country's total exports were recorded at $5bn, 43 per cent of
which comes from natural gas exports, with much of the rest generated by
timber and gem sales. Official imports were just $2.9bn, of which $676m
was accounted for by diesel and petrol. Yet with undocumented migrant
earnings, resourceful Burmese businessmen can work around the crippling
restrictions, bringing in supplies ranging from foodstuffs to medicine to
spare auto parts, and cushioning the population from the full force of
state controls. "It allows the people some consumption space outside the
control of the government," said Mr Turnell.

It is impossible to estimate accurately the value of oversees remittances
to Burma's economy, given that it flows through decentralised, informal
channels, and often never actually enters the country as cash. Even
reliable data on the numbers of Burmese workers overseas are unavailable.
Yet even the roughest calculations suggest that the value of remittances
to Burma's long-suffering population far exceeds the paltry $200m, or $3.8
per capita, the country receives in foreign aid. It also suggests that the
quantity of "black" imports financed by migrant money is quite substantial
when compared to officially sanctioned imports.

The public face of the hondi system varies dramatically depending on the
locale. In Singapore, business is conducted from the well-known Peninsula
Plaza; in the Thai province of Samut Sakhon - where an estimated 160,000
Burmese are employed in seafood processing plants - sisters Ma Aye, 32,
and Thaw Da Htwe, 28, operate as agents from a tiny room where they also
live and sell paan, the betel nut commonly chewed around Asia.

The sisters, who say they are agents for a big businesswoman from their
hometown in Burma, earn a Bt20 commission for every Bt1,000 ($31) they
collect, then wire the money to a bank account, usually in locations near
the Thai border. On the other side, their boss arranges payouts for the
families. The sisters say they handle around Bt100,000 in transfers each
month, adding Bt2,000 to their own earnings from paan sales. A Macquarie
University survey of 2,500 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand - which has
an estimated 1.5m legal and illegal migrants from its neighbour - found
each sending home an average of $380-$400 annually.

Burma's ruling generals do periodically try to crack down, arresting and
harassing those involved in illegal financial transactions and trade. Yet
these crackdowns have merely driven the informal financial system deeper
underground, businesspeople say, while also encouraging the fragmentation
and decentralisation of the business. With Burma's urban population
already seething at spiralling inflation, frequent power shortages and now
rising fuel prices, the regime may well be reluctant genuinely to choke
off what has become a crucial safety valve for the public.

"It's the survival margin," Mr Turnell says of the remittances. "It's not
going to turn Burma into Thailand, but it does seem key to survival for an
awful lot of people. It underlies the extent to which the country can just
motor on at a low level of development, and the people, no matter how
desperate, can just sort of survive."


____________________________________

September 3, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar's domestic airfares up 30 per cent for locals

Yangon - Myanmar's domestic airfares for local passengers rose 30 per cent
over the weekend after a doubling of local fuel prices last month, The
Myanmar Times reported Monday.

The new airfares went into effect Saturday, the weekly paper said.
Passengers confirmed that the airfares had increased over the weekend.

The airfare hikes came in the wake of a spate of street protests against
the more than doubling of fuel prices on August 19. Authorities have
arrested more than 100 people involved in the protests, which are
forbidden under Myanmar's military rule.

'Fares for locals have been raised by 30 per cent,' a representative for a
domestic airline confirmed.

The price increase was implemented for all domestic airlines, including
Air Mandalay, Air Bagan and Yangon Airways.

A similar price hike is to be put in place in October for foreign
passengers, who must pay for their tickets in foreign currencies.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 3, Mizzima News
Burmese activists march to Sonia Gandhi for India's support - Mungpi

In an expression of solidarity with the peaceful protesters in Burma, 12
Burmese activists in New Delhi today walked a 25-kilometer stretch
demanding that India voice its concern over the brutal crackdown on
pro-democracy groups in Burma.

The activists, marched from New Delhi's suburban Vikaspuri to the Congress
party President Sonia Gandhi's residence on 10 Janpath, seeking India's
support for the ongoing peoples' movement in Burma. The Congress is
leading the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government in
India.

"We are not demanding much. All we want is Sonia Gandhi and India to say
just a single word in support of the movement for democracy in Burma and
condemn the junta for its inhuman treatment of the people of Burma,"
Khaing Aung Kyaw, a protester told Mizzima.

The 12 activists said India, being the largest democracy in the world
should be ashamed of its silence over the ongoing crackdown on peaceful
demonstrators by the military junta in Burma.

"It is unacceptable to us that India is silent over what is happening in
Burma now," said another protester, U Nyunt Hla.

A series of protests were staged in Rangoon and other parts of Burma since
August 19, over the government's decision to increase prices of petroleum
products. The junta deployed gangs and plainclothes officials to beat,
arrest and detain peaceful protesters demanding a roll back of fuel and
essential commodity prices.

On August 15, the junta hiked the prices of diesel and petrol to hundred
percent and Compressed Natural Gas by used by buses by 500 percent. The
fuel price rise triggered an increase in bus fares. Many daily wage
earners in Rangoon could not afford the fares to go to their work places.

More than 100 protesters, including prominent student leader Min Ko Naing,
who has served long prison terms, were arrested during the recent spate of
protests.

Despite mounting international outcry and condemnation of the junta's
actions on protesters, India, once a strong supporter of the Burmese
democracy movement, remains conspicuous by its silence.

"All I want is Sonia Gandhi and India to condemn the junta for its action
on pro-democracy activists," said Khaing Aung Kyaw.

The protesters said, they submitted a petition to Sonia Gandhi, demanding
she issue a statement regarding the ongoing protests and the brutal
crackdown by the military regime.

____________________________________

September 3, Agence France Presse
Singapore police probe Myanmar protest

Singapore police said Monday that 23 Myanmar nationals were "assisting"
investigations after they held a rare public protest in the city-state.

Any public protest of five or more people without a police permit in
Singapore is deemed illegal.

Earlier the police said that a group of Myanmar natives gathered on August
25, all dressed in white, around a shopping and tourism area.

"The intent of the assembly, which did not have a police permit, was to
show support for fellow Myanmarese who had been protesting back in
Myanmar," the police said.

Myanmar's junta has stepped up a manhunt for pro-democracy activists after
a rare string of protests in the country, campaigners and residents there
said.

A series of anti-junta rallies began after the generals doubled key fuel
prices on August 15, leaving many workers unable to afford bus fare to
work in the impoverished nation, formerly known as Burma.

Myanmar's military regime, which for 45 years has ruled the impoverished
nation with an iron fist, deals harshly with even the slightest show of
dissent.

____________________________________

September 3, Mizzima News
Democracy Award to honor SEAPA chair

Kavi Chongkittavorn, Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) Chairman, has
been named co-recipient of the 2007 Democracy Award.

Awarded by the National Endowment for Democracy, a private, U.S.-based
organization seeking to strengthen democratic institutions around the
world, this year's Democracy Award carries a theme of "Defending Free
Media in Difficult Environments."

SEAPA is described by the National Endowment for Democracy as "the only
regional organization with the specific mandate of promoting and
protecting press freedom in Southeast Asia."

Believing that democracy and a free press are inexorably linked to one
another,

National Endowment for Democracy Chairman Vin Weber states, "In countries
with little or limited press freedom, independent journalists and
activists committed to providing citizens with honest news and information
often find themselves in the vanguard of the struggle for democracy."

Recognition of the importance of those striving for free expression and a
vibrant independent media in Southeast Asia comes at a time when
journalists and media groups inside Burma are reporting ever increasing
barricades and intimidation in their quest to cover recent events
unfolding in the country.

In 1998, Kavi Chongkittavorn was named the Human Rights Journalist of the
year by Amnesty International, Thailand, in commemoration of the 50th
Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

He is also assistant editor of the Bangkok-based Nation Media Group.

The 2007 award ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C. on the 18th of
September.

Awarded annually since 1991, the Democracy Award has its origins in the
events surrounding Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, in 1989.

Mizzima works in alliance with SEAPA in providing and disseminating
information regarding Burma and Burma-related issues.

____________________________________

September 3, Mizzima News
George urges Indian PM to support movement for democracy in Burma - Mungpi

The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh has been urged by George
Fernandes, former Indian Defence Minister and Member of Parliament, to
take a stronger stand in supporting the movement for democracy in Burma.

In a letter to Dr. Singh, a copy of which is with Mizzima, Fernandes said
the Burmese people have been looking at India hoping that their
neighbouring and friendly nation would help them restore democracy and
free them from military dictatorship.

Fernandes, who on August 18 organized a special conference for the release
of Burmese veteran journalist U Win Tin, detained by the Burmese military
junta for 18 years, urged the Prime Minister to support, recognize and to
foster the cause of Burmese democracy movement with other democratic
nations.

"My proposal is that all those Burmese who have taken shelter in India be
allowed to form a government in exile with India's support and of all
democratic countries of the world," the former Defence Minister said.

India, once a fervent supporter of the quest for democracy in Burma,
however, changed its stance in the early 1990s and since then has
warmed-up to the junta to the extent of supplying arms and military
hardware.

But an analyst at India's Centre for Policy Research, Brahma Chellaney
said while India continues to engage with the junta, it has been playing
an active role in trying to persuade Burma the need for reconciliation in
the country.

George's letter, dated August 31, reiterates that Burmese people are being
arrested at random, detained and tortured for their pro-democracy stance.
The people are being victimized and terrorized and women are subjected to
rape and humiliation.

At least 100 pro-democracy protesters including 13 prominent student
leaders have been arrested and detained during a series of protests that
began on August 19 in Rangoon and spread to other parts of Burma over the
sudden fuel price hike on August 15.

George Fernandes, a leader of India's Samata party, has been a strong
supporter of the Burmese democracy movement and has organized a series of
conference on the restoration of democracy in the military-ruled Southeast
Asian nation.

While understanding the current Indian government policy on Burma, George
in the letter said, "I am aware there will be some objections from certain
quarters. But we owe it to our democracy to help the people of Burma to
restore their democracy."

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 2, Agence France Presse
Britain's Brown calls for release of Myanmar prisoners

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticised Sunday the repression of
demonstrations in Myanmar and called for the immediate release of all
those who have been arrested.

"I deeply deplore the Burmese government's violent suppression of peaceful
demonstrations," Brown said in a statement.

In the last two weeks, there has been a rare string of demonstrations in
Myanmar over soaring fuel costs which have been spearheaded by
pro-democracy activists.

The price hike has left many workers unable to even afford bus fare in the
impoverished nation formerly known as Burma, which has been under military
rule since 1962.

Amnesty International said Friday that more than 150 people have been
detained since the protests broke out on August 19.

"I call upon the Burmese authorities to release immediately all those
detained merely for protesting at the hardship imposed on them by the
government's economic mismanagement and failure to uphold fundamental
human rights," Brown added.

He also reiterated the British government's call for the release of all
political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Brown added that he supported calls for the United Nations Security
Council and General Assembly to consider the issue.

"It is time for the UN human rights bodies to give this alarming situation
the attention it deserves," he said.

Brown said that he was asking Foreign Secretary David Miliband to raise
the issue at the meeting of European Union foreign affairs ministers next
Friday and Saturday in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 3, Irrawaddy
Burma’s constitutional time bomb

Any constitution is, of course, better than none. The fight for democratic
rights is more effective within a constitutional framework than under a
military regime ruling without any such guidelines. Also, history tells us
that no country can build a democracy within just a few years.

These are some of the reasons why Burmese ethnic ceasefire groups have
been participating in Burma’s National Convention. They also encapsulate
the dreams of many Burmese politicians and scholars, both within and
outside the country, for one last chance to win their constitutional
rights.

But can they really fight for their rights within the constitutional
framework being drawn up by the National Convention? The answer is “no,”
if the basic principles for the new constitution that have now been
adopted are anything to go by.

As the National Convention comes to a close, the Burmese generals are
leading the country to a military-dominated “command democracy” against
the will of all parties, including the 1990 election victors and the
ethnic minority groups.

The new constitutional guidelines adopted by the National Convention
reveal that the generals have carefully maneuvered themselves into the
position of possessing “double rights” under the terms of the
constitution.

First, the military is guaranteed 110 seats in a future parliament—25
percent of the 440 seats in the new assembly. Second, an estimated 450,000
members of the armed forces, who also have the vote, will be called upon
to elect pro-military representatives in the constituencies where the
military deploys its battalions.  The regime won’t make the same mistake
as it did in the 1990 election, when most members of the armed forces
voted for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy.

In such a situation, even a democratic party that wins a majority of 330
seats in future elections will be unable to amend the constitution to
adopt laws guaranteeing more civil and political rights for the people,
because the parliament will need “the prior approval of more than 75
percent of all the members of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (people’s assembly).”

In order to cement their power even more strongly, the generals inserted a
clause in Section 4 (a) of the chapter “Amendment of the Constitution”
stipulating that after adopting the amended law with the approval of more
than 75 percent of the parliament, the proposed amendment would have to be
approved by more than 50 percent of voters in a national referendum.

Even at this stage, the generals can’t feel certain of their grip on
power. They make this clear again in the chapter entitled “Provisions on
State of Emergency,” which allows the commander-in-chief of the armed
forces “to declare a state of emergency” and to exercise countrywide
“legislative, executive and judicial powers.”

The provision gives the generals the power to dissolve not only the
elected parliament but also the state cabinet if they try to amend or
enact a law against the will of the military.

In the face of such undemocratic principles adopted by the military to
legitimate their power in accordance with the constitution, the NLD and
other ethnic parties have consistently opposed the National Convention.

Now it’s the turn of the ethnic ceasefire groups attending the convention.
Because of their economic interests, they have been coerced by the regime
to accept the constitutional right of military rule.

In the final session of the National Convention, for instance, the Kachin
Independence Organization submitted a proposal for more ethnic rights,
fueling the generals’ anger and leading to immense pressure on the KIO’s
business interests in Kachin State.

In addition, soldiers of the United Wa State Army have begun preparation
for possible future battles with the military regime after the group’s
leaders refused to follow an official order to move their units deployed
near the Thai-Burmese border to the group’s headquarters in Panghsang.

Burma is now sitting on a time bomb. The regime’s uncompromising
insistence on holding onto power is the fuse. The explosion can occur
whenever the ethnic ceasefire groups lose their place in a future union
that holds the promise of equal rights and representation under the law.

[The above editorial appeared in the September issue of The Irrawaddy.]

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 3, Burma Campaign UK
National Convention ends – Regime’s roadmap to instability

The Burma Campaign UK today warned that the end of the National
Convention, the first stage of the Burmese military dictatorship’s
so-called roadmap to democracy, could lead to a human rights and
humanitarian crisis in the country. One that could also have consequences
for Burma’s neighbours.

The Burma Campaign UK is calling on the international community to reject
the outcome of the Convention and insist on the regime obeying UN General
Assembly resolutions, which call for genuine tri-partite dialogue between
the regime, the democracy movement led by the National League for
Democracy, and representatives of Burma’s ethnic groups.

“This entire process is a sham,” said Mark Farmaner, Acting Director of
the Burma Campaign UK. “Democratic groups were excluded, and the outcome
is a proposed constitution that enshrines military rule. As far as
democratic reform is concerned, the big change will be that the generals
will wear suits instead of uniforms.”

The Burma Campaign UK is concerned not only about the fact that the
process is designed to keep the generals in power, but also about the
impact on ceasefire agreements with armed ethnic groups. Their aspirations
for a federal state that would provide a degree of autonomy from central
government, and protect their culture, have all been rejected.
Furthermore, demands by the regime that the ceasefire groups lay down
their arms are causing increasing concern. Many view the regime’s demands
to lay down arms as a complete surrender of everything they fought for.

Debates are now raging within and between ceasefire groups on how to
respond. There appears to be a real possibility that many ceasefire
organisations could return to arms, or split, with factions once again
taking up their guns. If this were to happen on a large scale, it would
not only completely change the current political situation within the
country, but also threaten a new human rights and humanitarian crisis, as
the regime ruthlessly targets civilians in conflict areas.

There seems to be little understanding or recognition by the international
community about this potential new crisis. While it is by no means certain
that Burma will be plunged into a new round of conflict, the danger is
real. Resistance may peter out and groups compromise, there could be a
return to large-scale conflict, or the regime may be content to force some
of the smaller ceasefire groups to give up their arms, and ignore the more
powerful groups such as the Kachin Independence Organisation and United Wa
State Army.

“Some governments seem to support the current process arguing ‘some change
is better than no change,’ said Mark Farmaner, “but this is a naïve and
dangerous approach that could not only lead to greater conflict, but also
leave in place a government with no respect for human rights and no
interest in tackling Burma’s humanitarian crisis.”

The National Convention started in 1993. The constitution drafting process
is step one of a seven stage roadmap to democracy. It has only been
drafting guidelines for a draft constitution. The next step is for what
the regime calls “step-by-step implementation of the process necessary for
the emergence of a genuine and disciplined democratic system”. This would
be followed by a commission to draft a constitution, which will then go to
a referendum, which could then be followed by elections. Legislative
bodies would then convene, and finally there would be the “building of a
modern and democratic nation.” If the next six steps each take as long as
the first, it will be at least 2091 before the roadmap to democracy is
completed.

“For 14 years the international community has let itself be taken for a
ride by the regime on its so-called roadmap to democracy,” said Mark
Farmaner, “but this is not a roadmap, it’s a roundabout, and it is going
nowhere. It is time for the international community to get into the
driving seat.”

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 07941239640.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

September 2, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National)
Burma: Prime Minister Statement

I deeply deplore the Burmese government's violent supression of peaceful
demonstrations. I call upon the Burmese authorities to release immediately
all those detained merely for protesting at the hardship imposed on them
by the government's economic mismanagement and failure to uphold
fundamental human rights. I also reiterate the British Government's call
for the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Prize winner,
Aung San Suu Kyi who has now spent almost 12 years of her life under house
arrest.

As the lives of ordinary Burmese people continue to deteriorate, it is all
the more important that all countries and organisations with an influence
over the regime impress upon the generals the need for an early transition
to democratic rule, full respect for human rights and genuine national
reconciliation.

I support calls for the grave situation in Burma to be considered by the
UN Security Council at the earliest opportunity. I also call for the UN
General Assembly to address this issue. We give our full support to the
efforts of the UN Secretary-General's good offices mission. It is time for
the UN human rights bodies to give this alarming situation the attention
it so patently deserves.

I am asking the Foreign Secretary to discuss this issue with our European
partners next week.

I will seek an early opportunity to raise the situation in Burma with my
counterparts in the key regional countries and with our partners in the EU
and the US.

Press Office, Downing Street (West), London SW1A 2AL
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=311466&NewsAreaID=2

____________________________________
OBITUARY

September 3, Kachin News Group
Kachin leader Maran Zau Nan dies

Maran Zau Nan, Chairman of the Kachin Nationals Consultative Assembly
(KNCA) died of cancer on Friday at a private clinic in Rangoon, former
capital of Burma.

Maran Zau died at 4:30 p.m. Burma Standard Time when he was being operated
upon. He has been suffering from colon cancer for a long time, a KNCA
spokesman told KNG today.

He joined to KNCA in 2002 as a member of the Executive Committee (EC) and
became a KNCA leader in April last year, KNCA sources said.

After taking charge he brought about a halt to clashes among Kachin
ceasefire groups-- the two rival groups in the New Democratic Army-Kachin
(NDA-K) led by Zahkung Ting Ying and Layawk Zelum, and the NDA-K and its
mother organization, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Maran Zau Nan also set up a special National Convention advisory
sub-committee in the KNCA and gave technical advice to KIO and NDA-K
delegates attending the Burmese military junta's National Convention in
the context of Kachin politics, added KNCA sources.

He also led the KNCA on the submission of a special people's request to
the ruling junta last May in order to stop the junta's Myitsone
Hydroelectric Power project at the confluence of the Mali-N'mai Rivers,
one of the most beautiful tourist sites in Northern Burma, local sources
said.

Recognizing Maran Zau Nan's leadership role in the KNCA, the KDA-K leader,
Zahkung Ting Ying said, "During his leadership the KNCA made the greatest
strides for the Kachin Community and prevented possible mass-killing in
the NDA-K's rival groups."

The leaders of KIO, the main associate founders of the KNCA also expressed
their sorrow on the death of the KNCA leader Maran Zau Nan.

Maran Zau Nan was a lecturer in Rangoon University, a youth leader and a
member of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) under in the General
Ne Win era.

He was a good Kachin leader and he had the ability to create a rapport
with other Kachin organizations as well as the junta, KNCA sources added.