BurmaNet News, October 7-8, 2007

[Editor]

October 7-8, 2007 Issue # 3314

INSIDE BURMA
Sunday Times: Secret cremations hide Burma killings
DVB: Monk responds to government accusations
Irrawaddy: The Drama behind the decision to use deadly force
AP: Junta crushed 'Saffron Revolt,' but what next?
Irrawaddy: Witnesses say September 27 was the worst
Mizzima News: Despite claims of release junta's arrest list rises
KNG: Kachin youth protest KIO support to NC at Mai Ja Yang
Xinhua: Myanmar bans outbound package tour

ON THE BORDER
The Jakarta Post: Millions of Myanmar refugees flee to neighboring countries

BUSINESS / TRADE
Asia Pulse: Thailand's PTT to continue buying natural gas from Myanmar

ASEAN
BBC Burmese Service: Malaysia says Burma crisis undermining ASEAN

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: India favours release of Suu Kyi: Dr. Singh to Arroyo

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi wants “proper dialogue”
AFP: Protests around world against Myanmar crackdown

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s diplomatic offensive - Aung Zaw
Washington Post: The trouble with sanctions - Fareed Zakaria
Irrawaddy: Economic sanctions: why do they matter? - Htet Aung

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 7, Sunday Times
Secret cremations hide Burma killings - Our staff correspondent, Rangoon

The Burmese army has burnt an undetermined number of bodies at a
crematorium sealed off by armed guards northeast of Rangoon over the past
seven days, ensuring that the exact death toll in the recent pro-democracy
protests will never be known.

The secret cremations have been reported by local people who have seen
olive green trucks covered with tarpaulins rumbling through the area at
night and watched smoke rising continuously from the furnace chimneys.

They say they have watched soldiers in steel helmets blocking off roads to
the municipal crematorium and threatening people who poke their heads out
of windows overlooking the roads after the 10pm curfew.

Their accounts have been volunteered to international officials and aid
workers in Rangoon, Burma’s main city. The consensus in the foreign
community is that the consistency of the stories makes them credible.
Related Links

“There has been no attempt to identify the dead, to return the bodies to
their families or to give them even the minimum Buddhist religious rites,”
said a foreign official who has collated information on the toll of dead
and injured from a wide variety of sources.

Horrifying rumours are sweeping the city that some of those cremated were
severely injured people thrust into the ovens alive, but these have been
treated with extreme caution by independent observers and have not been
verified.

However, it is widely accepted that the cremations began on the night of
Friday, September 28, more than 24 hours after soldiers opened fire on
unarmed Buddhist monks and civilians demonstrating on the streets of
Rangoon.

They have continued at intervals right up to the end of last week,
according to local people. Taxi drivers refused to take a foreigner to the
area, saying they were too frightened and that the army moved bodies after
the shoot-on-sight curfew.

The best estimate among foreign diplomats here is that between 100 and 200
people lost their lives in the Rangoon disturbances. The number of
Buddhist monks arrested is put at about 1,000, while about 3,000 civilians
have also been detained. The regime’s own statement is that 2,093 people
are in custody.

The Chinese army carried out a similar practice of anonymous cremations in
Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when many unidentified
bodies were disposed of at the city’s Babaoshan crematorium. The true
number of dead has never been established.

A more disturbing aspect of the Burmese regime’s conduct is the apparently
continuous stream of deaths days after the guns fell silent.

“We have first-hand evidence from respected Burmese doctors that hospitals
and clinics were ordered not to give any treatment to the wounded,” said a
foreign medical expert, “so it’s not possible to assess the victims by
those treated in public hospitals.
“We do know that some injured people were treated in hiding in people’s
homes. We assume that beaten, injured or wounded people taken into custody
have got no treatment and may have died.”

This evidence has given rise to grave concern for the wellbeing of elderly
monks and very young novices rounded up, by all accounts, with brutality.

There has been a drumbeat of allegations that soldiers and militiamen
unleashed crazed violence against these holy men when they crashed into
monasteries in the small hours of the night over the past week.
Blood-stained robes, shattered statues and defaced holy pictures have been
caught on digital images smuggled out of the country.

Some of the worst violence appears to have occurred at the Mwe Kya Jan
monastery in northwest Rangoon. According to graphic testimony published
in yesterday’s Thai newspapers, the soldiers lined the monks up against a
wall and smashed each of their shaven heads against the wall in
succession. The monks were roughed up and thrown into trucks, but the
abbot was so severely beaten that he died on the spot, the reports
claimed.

It was not possible to corroborate these reports yesterday owing to a
heavy security presence at the monastery. But two boy monks asking for
alms on a street in a nearby area appealed for help in their limited
English.

“We are very frightened,” said the elder, who was about 14, while the
younger, about 10, said: “I want to go home to see my mother and father
again.”

Foreign observers experienced in monitoring human rights here say the
stories of beatings, abuse and starvation in custody are likely to be
accurate.

The regime has refused to grant access for the International Committee of
the Red Cross to inspect the conditions of those in detention.
Humanitarian workers said they hoped the British, French and American
governments would take the lead in pressing the case for access at the UN
security council and in private talks with the Burmese leaders and with
China.

An attempt to observe an alleged detention centre at the Rangoon Institute
of Technology was halted by soldiers who waved away a car at gunpoint.
Through sheets of monsoon rain, trucks could be seen parked outside what
appeared to be an administration block, but there was no sign of activity.

The United Nations special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, said on Friday in New
York that he feared “mass relocations” of monks and protesters had taken
place.

The systematic arrests have continued at night – a convoy of lorries and
other vehicles rumbled past my hotel windows long after midnight –
initially puzzling diplomats and activists, who wondered how military
intelligence drew up its lists of those to be arrested.

The answer, it seems, was a grimly paradoxical use of the internet, whose
liberating role in disseminating images and sound of the protests was
prematurely celebrated by many as marking the world’s first globalised
on-line revolt, instantly dubbed the Saffron revolution.

It is now clear that the regime was techno-savvy, patient and thorough. It
kept the internet open long enough to allow its own cyber-operatives to
down-load the images and recordings of street protests to identify the
protesters. The internet is now shut down.

“Every Burmese street has a block registration with photographs of each
resident on the wall of the local administration office,” said an
international aid official, whose agency used the system to help track
recipients of aid. Burmese have given accounts of soldiers and
plain-clothes men arriving to make arrests with computer-generated
photographs of their targets pulled off the internet.

On Friday government security agents raided the offices of Japan’s
international aid agency, attempting to seize e-mail records and
computers, several foreign sources said. After protests, the agents backed
off. The news caused staff at other aid agencies to take steps to secure
their own computer records.

The one ray of optimism in Rangoon this weekend has come on the political
front. On Friday night a Burmese crowd in a teashop gasped to see the
first pictures for many years of Aung San Suu Kyi on television.

The news programme showed the world’s most famous political prisoner
meeting Gambari at her home at 54 University Avenue.

The junta’s leader, Than Shwe, told Gambari he would meet her under
certain conditions, an offer that was reported to have been rejected but
which, in local political terms, was remarkable.

But among the deeply superstitious Burmese there was a murmuring of hope
after another piece of inauspicious news for the generals. There was
delight in the teashops at the reported death from cancer of Soe Win, the
junta’s “prime minister”.

Unlike his fellow countrymen, Soe Win had benefited from the best therapy
that local doctors, aided by specialists in Singa-pore, could provide. The
“tea-shop telegraph” also flashed the news that Soe Win’s brother had died
in a failed attempt to donate marrow to fight the illness.

In a land where portents, stars and horoscopes are revered, it was a
dreadful omen.

____________________________________

October 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Monk responds to government accusations

State-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar has published its own account
of raids on monasteries by government security forces, including
allegations of items recovered in the raids.

Burmese authorities blamed some monks, along with 88 generation students
and “bogus monks”, for fomenting unrest and threatening monks who did not
participate in the recent mass demonstrations in Burma. The paper also
denounced foreign media, which it accused of misinformation and
fabricating stories about the deaths of monks during the protests.

The article defended security officers who had rounded up all the monks
during the monastery raids, claiming that they were unable to distinguish
between the real monks and imposters and so had to arrest everyone.

Among the items that had reportedly been found during the raids were
alcohol, pornographic and sexual materials, women’s clothing,
anti-government literature and a variety of weapons.

U Gambira, a spokesperson for the People's Movement Leader Committee,
dismissed the claims.

"People of Burma and the whole world know whether these accusations being
made about monks by the junta are really true or not. Monks are peaceful
people and we don't need to give any answer to the government's claims as
everyone knows the truth. But still, I would like to say this is a very
bad thing the [Burmese government] has done," he said.

____________________________________

October 8, Irrawaddy
The Drama behind the decision to use deadly force

The decision to use deadly force—to shoot Buddhist monks and activists in
Rangoon—was made by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but there were moments
when the army—senior and junior officers—appear to have disagreed on how
to handle the protests.

A source in Rangoon, who has since left the city, told The Irrawaddy that
there was a time when the possibility of a coup seemed real, there were
some top commanders who did not want to use deadly force and there was
real tension within the junta.

The drama, which began prior to the bloodiest days of the protests,
involved Than Shwe and his core of hardliners versus Vice Snr-Gen Maung
Aye, the military commander in chief, who, in a strategy meeting in
Naypyidaw prior to the bloodshed, argued against using the military to put
down the street demonstrations.

Instead, Maung Aye proposed using police and paramilitary forces, said a
source close to Maung Aye, the No. 2 man in the junta. Than Shwe, who
presided at the meeting, decided to use the army.

Also at the meeting were Joint Chief of Staff Gen Thura Shwe Mann;
Quartermaster General Lt-Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo; Military
Affairs Security head Lt-Gen Ye Myint; and Secretary one Lt-Gen Thein
Sein.

Perhaps reflecting Than Shwe's distrust of placing too much authority in
the hands of any one commander, he authorized the suppression to be
carried out by various commanders, including Maung Aye, Thura Shwe Mann,
Ye Myint, the Home Affairs Minister, Maung Oo; the Head of Bureau of
Special Operations-5, Lt-Gen Myint Swe; and the Minister of Industry, Aung
Thaung.

When the monk-led protests in Rangoon gained momentum, Maung Aye went to
the former capital on September 27 to meet with battalion commanders.
Seven battalions were deployed in Rangoon to control the street
demonstrations, each with about 500 soldiers.

Some army officers reportedly were in hopes of avoiding the use of deadly
force against monks and civilians.

Indeed, sources close to the army said Maung Aye issued an order not to
shoot monks and activists.

However, the junta's No. 3 man, Thura Shwe Mann, backed by Than Shwe,
bypassed Maung Aye's order, and issued a shoot-to-kill order.

Perhaps illustrating the confusion in the ranks, Maj-Gen Ko Ko, the
regional commander of the Southern Command, reportedly received the order
to use deadly force from Thura Shwe Mann. Ko Ko reportedly told Shwe Mann
he would like the order to come from Maung Aye.

Tensions in the ranks increased during the peak of the crisis, sources
said, and some regional commanders sent clear signals to Maung Aye that
they were ready to obey any order he gave them, but the army chief did not
make any move against Than Shwe.

Some battalion commanders and regional commanders reportedly wanted Maung
Aye to meet Aung San Suu Kyi during the crisis, especially after she
appeared in front of her residence to speak with protesting monks. Suu Kyi
and Maung Aye reportedly got along well during a dinner with Than Shwe and
then intelligence chief Khin Nyunt several years ago.

The sources said Maung Aye ordered additional soldiers stationed in front
of Suu Kyi's house to protect her in case of plots against her by
hardliners.

After UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s visit to Naypyidaw, it was
reportedly Maung Aye who encouraged Than Shwe to offer to meet with Suu
Kyi. Faced with growing pressure from inside and outside Burma, Than Shwe
made an offer to meet but with conditions that almost guaranteed Suu Kyi
would not accept, such as an end to economic sanctions, no public
confrontations and other meausres. Surprisingly, none of the conditions
have been rejected out of hand and some observers are leaving the door
open to a future meeting between the two.

While speculation increased—perhaps wishful thinking—that the nationwide
civil unrest might prompt more forward thinking elements in the military
to stage a coup, it was simply not to be.

Maung Aye's critics say he's proved himself to be too soft to challenge
Than Shwe. Pragmatic observers, say, in fact, Maung Aye has his own
particular weaknesses, and he's clearly been out maneuvered by Than Shwe.
He has few close colleagues, is relatively isolated in Naypyidaw, and
doesn’t have a well established power base. In the 2006 army reshuffle,
Than Shwe put even more of his men in key positions in the armed forces.

When Khin Nyunt was in power as army intelligence chief, rumors swirled
around Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt, saying they had agreed to remove Than
Shwe if an opportunity arose.

But Than Shwe took action against Khin Nyunt first, placing him under
house arrest in October 2004.

But for some, hope springs eternal. The army commander in chief is still
believed to have enough backing among elements of the army to make a
challenge, if he ever decided to stage a coup against Than Shwe.

“He has all the cards, but he didn't want to play,” complained the source.

The question now is—if all the reports are true—for how much longer will
Maung Aye have a seat at the table?

____________________________________

October 8, Associated Presss
Junta crushed 'Saffron Revolt,' but what next? - Denis D Gray

Burma's "saffron revolt" has been crushed by an entrenched junta, but the
brutality inflicted on Buddhist monks who braved its guns may be the only
thing that could splinter the ranks of its fiercely loyal military.

As Burma's prisons fill with monks and other demonstrators and the
bloodstains of revolt are expunged from the streets, many in Burma fear
they might never see the return of democracy.

The Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma has witnessed British
colonial domination, a fleeting era of democracy and 45 years of
iron-fisted military rule.

Yet the monks are deeply revered in this mostly Buddhist nation, and
imprisoning them upsets the faithful, no matter what their occupation or
political bent.

"The crackdown by the military against the monks may be a major element in
the destruction of the very military unity they seek. Many may be
profoundly disturbed by the actions of their colleagues," says David
Steinberg of Georgetown University, an author of several books on Burma.

The beating and mass arrests of the monks, who led pro-democracy
demonstrations last month across the country, struck at the junta's
greatest fear—that factions within its ranks may side with those seeking
change.

And that side showed unexpected strength. The world was caught by surprise
at the determined, organized and wide-ranging opposition that sprang up in
the last two months.

Drawn in by graphic images of the crackdown, governments around the world
responded with unprecedented condemnation, some sanctions and calls for
neighboring China and India, major trading partners of Burma, to use their
leverage on the junta.

Given the past record, however, neither outside pressure nor possible
talks between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are likely
to have significant effect on the intransigent leaders.

But the military, in trying to woo a hostile people, has constantly
trumpeted an image as Buddhism's protector, building new pagodas,
repairing monasteries and offering alms to monks.

"Buddhism has been a critical element in this legitimacy process. But all
of a sudden you have delegitimization of a lot of that effort," Steinberg
said.

One faithful Buddhist summed up common sentiment after emerging from a
pagoda in Rangoon last week.

"If the military kill monks, merciful monks, they are not Buddhists, they
are savages," the retired teacher said, speaking on condition of anonymity
because of fear.

Others unleashed their hatred of the regime by screaming abuse and even
exposing their genitals to soldiers.

"Terror reigns in Rangoon now, but anger is there also and it's not going
away," said Monique Skidmore, a Burma expert at Australian National
University. "The pro-democracy movement sees this as the beginning of the
end (of the junta), even if it takes 10 years."

Red-robed monks, university students, labor activists, ordinary people and
remnants of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party all took part in
the protests.

"A new generation has emerged of people we have never heard of before.
Even if this new movement has been suppressed now, it's not been
decapitated, so it may rise again," says Donald M Seekins, a Burma expert
at Meio University in Japan.

However the movement shapes up, activists may again have to face the
army's guns alone.

Experts, including some Chinese academics, say even Beijing has limited
influence over the generals, never mind the United Nations.

"China's soft spot would be a boycott of the Olympics next year. That's
something they definitely don't want," says Seekins. "I don't see the
American team not going to Beijing, but if there is a boycott movement it
would be very embarrassing to China."

Chinese security experts tasked with studying risks to the 2008 Beijing
Olympics believe chances of a boycott over Burma, Darfur, Tibet or other
issues are slim because governments and world leaders are resistant to the
idea. US President George W Bush, for one, has already accepted the
Chinese president's invitation to attend the games.

World pressure on the junta to hold talks with Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace
Prize winner under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, also shows
little promise.

Following last week's trip by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma,
the junta chief, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, said Thursday that he would be willing
to meet with Suu Kyi, but only if she stops calling for sanctions and
fulfills other demands.

However, the two already met five years ago and those talks broke down in
acrimony.

"I don't believe there is one shred of evidence that they [the junta] are
sincere," says Josef Silverstein, a retired Rutgers University professor
who has studied Burma for more than half a century. "[Than Shwe] is still
the commander and she's expected to come crawling to him on her belly."

____________________________________

October 8, Mizzima News
Despite claims of release junta's arrest list rises

Even as the Burmese military junta continues its crack down, the number of
Burma's opposition political party members who are being arrested has
risen to over 400, an activist group said today.

The Thailand based Assistant Association for political Prisoners - Burma
(AAPP-B) said despite the regime's announcement that it had released
several protesters, rampant midnight raids on the residence of activists
and opposition party members – the National League for Democracy –
continues.

K Bo Kyi, Secretary of the AAPP-B said the junta has categorized those
arrested into three groups – activists, those joining in the protests and
bystanders or onlookers applauding the protesters.

"Those released are mainly bystanders or onlookers who had cheered the
demonstrators," Bo Kyi said.

The junta last week said it had released 1,215 protesters and arrested
2,093, figures activists and diplomats disagree with.

"At least 4,000 people including more than 1,000 monks have been arrested
by the junta during the protests," Ko Bo Kyi said and added that the exact
number of deaths and those arrested remain unconfirmed.

The junta on Sunday announced that it had arrested 78 more people and
continues to detain 135 monks.

The presence of the Burmese Army in the city continues to be felt as
convoys of the military keep making the rounds of the city, sources in
Rangoon said.

Meanwhile, family members of those arrested remain unaware of their
whereabouts and are terribly worried.

"We are extremely worried about his [U Myint Thein's] health, because he
has to go for his regular medical check up, but we don't know where he is
and what his health condition is," wife of U Myint Thein, NLD spokesperson
who was also arrested, said.

____________________________________

October 8, Irrawaddy
Witnesses say September 27 was the worst - Saw Yan Naing

The violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrations in Tamwe Township and
Sule Pagoda in Rangoon on September 27 was the most brutal of all,
according to witnesses.

The crackdown took place near State High School No 3 a witness recalled to
The Irrawaddy. “They [the security forces] rammed into the middle of the
crowd in a truck. Two women were killed immediately. At least 30 people
died in the incident.”

The witness added that the two women were mothers of students and they had
just come to pick up their children from school.

“It was disgusting,” said the witness, adding that security forces used
rubber bullets when they opened fire into the crowds, as well as teargas
and batons.

Another witness said that the truck was full of troops and they opened
fire at the protesters. One student who held the flag at the front of the
rally was the first to be shot, he said.

A resident who was involved in the protest on September 27 said that
soldiers blockaded the demonstrators from both ends of the street and then
opened fire into the crowd. Protesters ran in different directions. Some
climbed on the buildings and some jumped into doorways.

Several monks were killed in a separate crackdown near Sule Pagoda, said
the resident, adding that the authorities detained about 200 protesters in
the Government Technical Institute after the crackdown.

Afterward, the authorities tightened restrictions on Buddhist monks,
demanding them to sign a register if they were going out for morning alms.
Junior monks were ordered to return their homes, said the witness, who
asked not to be identified.

Brig-Gen Win Myint, head of Light Infantry Division 77 and Lt-Gen Myint
Swe, chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 5, were among the
perpetrators of the crackdown, said sources, who added that Brig-Gen Win
Myint appeared the most brutal of his peers.

Dissident groups are speculating that Hla Htay Win, Chairman of the
Rangoon Division Peace and Development Council could have been directly
responsible for the death of Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, who was
shot on September 27 near Sule Pagoda, in central Rangoon.

Other hardliners suspected of involvement in the violent crackdown were
Industry Minister Aung Thaung and Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo, said an
exiled Burma watcher.

According to the 88 Generation Students group, about 130 deaths occurred
nationwide during the demonstrations in September. The group said that
about 3,000 demonstrators were arrested, over 1,200 of who were monks.

However, the Burmese government has officially reported that 10 protesters
were killed and 2,093 were arrested, 692 of who have now been released.

____________________________________

October 8, Kachin News Group
Kachin youth protest KIO support to NC at Mai Ja Yang

Ethnic Kachins are terribly upset with the Kachin Independent Organization
(KIO) which participated in the rally supporting the outcome of the
Burmese military junta's National Convention (NC) and lavished praise.

Over 200 youth from various places held a meeting last Saturday evening in
Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State, in KIO controlled area on the Sino-Burma
border against the outcome of NC and the KIO's unabashed support for it.

"We are not saying that we don't love and depend on the KIO, but we are
protesting against what they are doing," said one of the organizers. Over
180 youths signed in support of the meeting, he added.

The meeting was held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. and it released a
statement "Voice from the Kachin youth in Mai Ja Yang". The statement
listed seven demands including immediate action on Burma by the United
Nations, the release of political prisoners, recent detainees, monks, and
supporters of the demonstrations. It also called for the protests to
continue and urged participation of all citizens of Burma to end military
rule once and forever.

"The reason for holding the meeting was that we did not like the response
of the KIO leaders at the Laiza meeting," said an organizer of the Mai Ja
Yang meet.

Before the Mai Ja Yang meeting was held, KIO senior leaders and 26 Kachin
youths representing
various places met at Laiza Muklung Laiza Hotel. At the meeting, the
youths asked several questions to the KIO leaders, including about its
support to the NC. But there was no credible response from the KIO
leaders, said one of the participants at that meeting.

Meanwhile, KIO plans to change its nomenclature. It is in the process of
doing it and is holding meetings on the issue at the KIO headquarter.

____________________________________

October 8, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar bans outbound package tour

Myanmar has banned outbound package tour arranged by domestic travel and
tour companies, the local Voice journal reported Monday.

Meeting with hoteliers and businessmen from travel agencies in Nay Pyi Taw
recently, Director of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism U Hlaing Win said
that domestic travel agencies are allowed only to arrange inbound package
tour services within the country for domestic and foreign travelers but
not for outbound package tour services for them.

The official warned of taking action against companies which break the
tourism-related rules and regulations.

However, whether the package tours such as pilgrimage, Singapore and
Bangkok ones being introduced by some companies are covered by the ban or
not, remained unclear, the report said.

According to the ministry figures, there are 733 registered travel and
tour companies in Myanmar.

Tourist arrivals in the country through Yangon entry checkpoint alone hit
over 47,000 in the first four months (April-July) of the fiscal year
2007-08, up 20 percent from 2006-07 correspondingly, other local reports
said.

These tourists came in the form of free independent traveler and package
tour.

During the period, visitors with other visas reached over 26, 000, up 5
percent correspondingly, the report added.

According to local statistics, in 2006-07, a total of 654,602 foreign
tourists visited Myanmar, gaining 198.48 million U.S. dollars, an increase
of 11.4 percent compared with the previous year.

Of the 654,602 tourists visiting Myanmar in 2006-07, 276,613 entered
through Yangon checkpoint, 5,763 through Mandalay and Bagan checkpoints
and 372,226 through border checkpoints, the figures show.

Of the types of tours, package tour accounted for 25 percent, while free
independent traveler 47 percent and the rest with other visas 28 percent.

The tourists visiting Myanmar mostly came from Thailand, China, South
Korea and Japan in Asia, Germany, France and Italy in West Europe and some
countries in North America.

Myanmar so far has over 600 hotels with 23,000 rooms, in addition to the
733 travel companies.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 8, The Jakarta Post
Millions of Myanmar refugees flee to neighboring countries

A group of four women, one carrying her baby daughter, stopped by in front
of a restaurant near the "Friendship Bridge" that links Myawadi in Myanmar
and Mae Sot in Thailand on Saturday morning

Myawadi is located around 400 kilometers east of Yangon while Mae Sot is
Thailand's westernmost city, some 400 kilometers northwest of Bangkok

Looking exhausted and frightened, one of the women said that they had come
from Shan State, hundreds of kilometers north of Myawadi, and wanted to
cross the bridge to go to Thailand

"Our village was burned down by soldiers, and the men were killed or taken
away by them. We can't go back," the woman, who said her name was Naw
Ester, said through an interpreter

"But we heard that there is a place across the bridge that can give us
free medication and shelter. My sister was wounded in her leg from a
soldier's bullets during the attack," she said, pointing at another young
woman who was wearing a bandage on her leg

Ester was referring to the Mae Tao clinic run by Dr Cynthia Maung on the
outskirts of Mae Sot

The clinic, established in 1989 by Dr. Cynthia, a Karen tribal member who
took part in the 1988 student uprising that led to the killings of more
3,000 people by the military, has treated hundreds of patients from
Myanmar recently

The clinic provides inpatient and outpatient medicines free, basic
surgical services, voluntary counseling and HIV/AIDS tests

"We give free medication, surgery and drugs to them because we know that
most of them are displaced people. They have traveled far, and have
nothing left. After all, we built this clinic for people who are forced to
run by the Burmese military junta," she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday
at her clinic

Cynthia said that the clinic has seen patient numbers increase by around
35 percent every year as more and more people flee Myanmar

"Beside medication we have also trained people to become paramedics to be
sent inside Burma as a backpack health worker team. They have found that
millions of Burmese are displaced internally while millions others have
fled to neighboring countries or stay along the border to avoid military
attacks and abuse," she said

According to the Thai government, around 2 million Myanmarese people are
living in Thailand, both legally and illegally, with 150,000 of them in
dozens of refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border

International human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch reported recently
that millions of Myanmarese have fled to Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, and
has even gone as far as Malaysia and Indonesia

The recent monk-led wave of protests that saw over 100,000 people march
the streets of Yangon and many other big cities, has increased the number
of internally displaced people and refugees fleeing to other countries

Bangkok-based Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma coordinator Debbie
Stothard said that with the millions of refugees, Myanmar's problems have
become a threat to regional and international security and peace

"The problems have been getting worse and worse in recent years. So it's
time that the UN Security Council issues a resolution to force the
military junta to negotiate and stop attacking and forcing their own
people to flee. Myanmar's military junta is only afraid of the UN Security
Council," she told the Post by phone from Bangkok

Stothard said that as ASEAN's biggest member and a non-permanent member of
the UN Security Council, Indonesia should push for the resolution

"It's not time to beg the military junta anymore as they will not listen.
It's time that Indonesia shows some strength if it wants to make a
difference," she added

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Myawadi, Myanmar Copyright 2007 The
Jakarta Post

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 8, Asia Pulse
Thailand's PTT to continue buying natural gas from Myanmar

Thailand's largest oil and gas conglomerate PTT PUBLIC CO. LTD. will
continue procuring natural gas from Myanmar despite an outcry from the
international community and calls for foreign companies to switch
investments elsewhere following the Myanmar junta's crackdown on the
country's pro-democracy citizens and monks. Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith,
senior executive vice-president for PTT's Exploration & Production and Gas
Business Group, said he was confident that the company would sign a
purchase agreement for natural gas from the M9 petroleum field in the Gulf
of Martaban with concerned Myanmar authorities before the end of the year.

* Under the initial agreement, PTT will buy between 300-400 million cubic
feet per day (mmcfd) and the volume could be increased if the exact amount
of natural gas of the M9 field is known, Mr. Chitrapongse said.

* Despite calls by the international community for foreign firms to
boycott business dealings with military-ruled Myanmar, he said that PTT
would continue purchasing natural gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields
which now supply about 1,000 mmcfd to Thailand.

____________________________________
ASEAN

October 8, BBC Burmese Service
Malaysia says Burma crisis undermining ASEAN

Malaysia says the crisis in Burma is affecting the credibility of the
regional grouping, ASEAN, which has opposed Western calls for sanctions.

The Malaysian foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, told the BBC that ASEAN
had to encourage Burma's military government to face realities and stop
setting conditions for talks with the leader of the country's democratic
movement, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

He urged the junta to start negotiations and form a government that would
fulfil the expectations of the Burmese people.


Reports say many of the barricades in Rangoon have been removed

Ko Aung Naing, Campaigner of NLD-LA (Malaysia) doubts the influence of
Malaysia on Burma.

He told the BBC Burmese that Burmese government might listen if ASEAN as a
whole gives pressure on Burma.

Reports from Rangoon say barricades have been removed from some of the
city's main temples, although soldiers are still stationed at key
junctions.

State media says more than half of the people and nearly all monks
arrested have been released.

According to AAPPB, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma), the figure of the people arrested could be much higher and many
people are still missing.

There were prayers for peace in London, Italy, Demark, Tokyo, South Korea,
Thailand and Malaysia.

___________________________________
REGIONAL

October 7, Mizzima News
India favours release of Suu Kyi: Dr. Singh to Arroyo - Syed Ali Mujtaba

The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh has told the Philippines
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that India favours an early release of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and desires a fast return to peace
in Burma.

"The release of Aung San Suu Kyi would be helpful in terms of the process
of democratisation of Burma," Prime Minister Singh told the visiting
President of Philippines while dwelling on the on going crisis in Burma.

The Philippines President who called on Dr. Singh on Friday held a brief
discussion on the current political imbroglio in Burma, PMO sources said.

Philippines and Burma are both members of the Association of South-East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) where India has an observer status.

India has always stood for the release of Suu Kyi and had awarded her the
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for international understanding in 1993.

After which, India had refrained from making the issue of the release of
Suu Kyi central to its diplomatic relations with the military junta in
view of its growing economic ties with Burma.

However, India has finally publicly appealed for the release of Suu Kyi at
the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) debate on Myanmar on October 2.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 8, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi wants “proper dialogue” - Lalit K Jha

The UN Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, last week said that the popular
Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house
arrest for more than 11 of the last 18 years, is anxious to engage in
dialogue with the ruling military junta.
UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari posing for a picture with detained democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi during discussions in Rangoon. [Photo:
AFP/UNIC-HO]

Gambari, who met the iconic Suu Kyi twice during his four-day stay in
Burma last week, told reporters at the UN headquarters that from his own
observations, “She (Aung San Suu Kyi) appears to want proper dialogue.”

He was responding to a question on whether Suu Kyi has shown any
flexibility on the four conditions set by the Burmese general for any
dialogue with her.

In response to a question, Gambari said, “The Secretary General has
characterized it (dialogue) as being without preconditions, because that
would be the best way to move forward. You just start talking. Because
there is so much distrust between her and the senior general, the bridge
has to be built; and the best way in our view is to start.

“I think there is an opening for dialogue. From this, the expectation is
not a dialogue for the sake of it, not an open-ended dialogue, but
dialogue that is targeted at achieving national reconciliation in an
all-inclusive manner; a constitution that reflects the will of the
majority of the people, and also a government that is responsive to the
needs of their own people.”

When asked about the health of Suu Kyi, Gambari said, “
 You saw her
picture; some people say she looked frail, but actually I thought she
looked better than last November, when I saw her last. She herself said
she is in fairly good health, under the circumstances of her continued
detention.”

Gambari added that the important thing is to have her restrictions eased.

“In terms of her own position on sanctions, I think we have to find ways
to get her own point of view on record, rather than me interpreting her
position,” Gambari said.

Gambari said the UN is waiting for a concrete response from the Burmese
government on the issues raised by him. These include: release of
political prisoners; humanitarian access to those in need; cessation of
hostilities against ethnic minorities; health and educational issues; and
co-operation with the ILO.

“Then we have added some new ideas; for example, how to deal with the
underlying process of discontent of an economic and political nature, and
also possible ideas about constitution review. Now we are just waiting for
the response. We will judge by what they actually do,” Gambari said in
response to a question.

After his third briefing before the Security Council in ten days, Gambari
said five points of consensus have emerged.

“One is that unity among Council members is the key to really getting
Myanmar and the authorities to move along the lines that we all want,
which is peaceful, democratic Myanmar, with full respect for human
rights,” he said.

“Secondly, there is strong support among all Council members for the role
of the good offices of the Secretary General.

“Third, there is a consensus
 that the status quo ante is unacceptable and
unsustainable and is probably unrealistic. We cannot go back to the
situation before the recent crisis. The underlining factors—socio-economic
and political—must be addressed,” he said.

Fourth is the critical role of Asean, the neighboring countries and
regional powers.

“The fifth point that emerged by consensus in the discussions is that a
return visit to Myanmar and to the region would be useful in order to keep
the momentum, which we must not allow to slip,” Gambari said.

____________________________________

October 7, Agence France Presse
Protests around world against Myanmar crackdown

Protesters across the world demonstrated against Myanmar's bloody
crackdown on dissent Saturday, with thousands gathering in London and
smaller actions in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere.

The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent
crackdown by Myanmar's junta on thousands of activists in late September.
At least 13 people were killed and 2,000 detained in the clampdown.

In Britain, Myanmar's former colonial power, thousands crowded through
streets behind saffron-robed Buddhist monks who threw petals into the
River Thames.

Police said 3,000 people took part. Organisers put the figure at 10,000.

After stopping at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street
offices to tie red headbands to the gates, the demonstrators went on to
Trafalgar Square to hear MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles
exhort the United Nations to take action against Yangon's junta.

"Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month.
It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the
last 20 years," said Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan.

Brown issued a message of support to the people of Myanmar, telling them:
"The world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of
Burma."

In Sydney, hundreds rallied outside the landmark Opera House. Another
1,000 marched through Melbourne, some carrying red banners that read "no
more bloodshed."

Other protests took place in Perth, and in Brisbane, where organiser
Natasha Lutes said: "This is about getting a message to the people in
Burma.

"They've been struggling to get the message out about the atrocities that
are happening in Burma, putting their lives on the line. We want them to
know the world has been listening and ordinary people everywhere support
them."

Dozens also gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, shouting
"Free Burma" and brandishing pictures of Myanmar's pro-democracy activist
Aung San Suu Kyi.

Campaigners in India were to hold a candle-lit vigil outside a war
memorial in the heart of New Delhi.

In Singapore, a vigil outside the Myanmar embassy involving an opposition
political party and members of the Myanmar community entered its seventh
day on Saturday.

Amnesty International Korea said some 200 protestors, including immigrant
workers from Myanmar, would stage a protest outside the country's embassy
in central Seoul on Sunday to press for the release of prisoners of
conscience.

In Paris, 200 people gathered at a Buddhist temple where they placed
yellow roses at the feet of a giant Buddha statue.

A similarly sized demonstration occurred in Vienna, where participants
wore saffron as a sign of solidarity. A union leader, Rudolf Hundstorfer,
said "we can fear the worst" for those detained in Myanmar.

Brussels, the Belgian city home to the main institutions of the European
Union, saw 400 demonstrators gather.

"We have to know where are the people who have been arrested, and they
must be freed -- you are their last hope," one of the organisers told the
crowd, which included Belgian MPs.

A union tract calling for a boycott of the French oil group Total for
continuing to do business with Myanmar was widely applauded.

In the Netherlands, activists announced they had sabotaged a Total petrol
station in Oosterbeek, in the centre of the country, and demanded the oil
company's immediate withdrawal from Myanmar.

Some 150 people demonstrated in central Stockholm and held three minutes
of silence "out of respect for all those who are suffering in Myanmar,"
said Fredrik Korn, a spokesman for the Swedish branch of Amnesty
International.

In the United States, 100 people gathered in front of Myanmar's Washington
embassy and then marched to China's. They bore signs criticising the
holding of the Olympics next year in Beijing, in the light of China's
reluctance to pressure the Myanmar junta over its repression.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of McGill University in
Montreal, Canada, carrying "Solidarity with Burma" placards and pictures
of Aung San Suu Kyi and demanding an end to violence.

The non-government group Canadian Friends of Burma has been holding almost
daily vigils for the country for the past two weeks in Ottawa and
scheduled a dozen protest rallies in other Canadian cities for the
weekend.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 8, Irrawaddy
Burma’s diplomatic offensive - Aung Zaw

Is Than Shwe’s offer to meet detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi a sign of weakness or a diplomatic offensive?

According to state-run television, Snr-Gen Than Shwe set conditions for
talks with Suu Kyi, demanding that she must abandon “confrontation” and
“utter devastation,” give up “obstructive measures” and her support for
sanctions.

The general, according to the state-run press, said that he would meet
directly with her for dialogue, if she agrees to these four conditions.

A sign of weakness?

Probably not. More probable is that this is a clever and calculated
diplomatic offensive launched by Than Shwe and his experienced diplomats.
The former psychological warfare officer was indeed manipulating in order
to deflect external and internal opinion and criticism with the aim of
buying time.

Than Shwe has had two face-to-face meetings in the past with Suu Kyi and
reportedly holds a grudge toward the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

He and his hardliners masterminded a plot to kill Suu Kyi and her
supporters in Depayin, a remote area in central Burma where no
journalists, film crew or photographers were able to witness the carnage
in May 2003.

Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo (former army chief in the 1970s) narrowly
escaped the thuggish attack and were taken in custody to a safe location
by intelligence officers belonging to Gen Khin Nyunt, who was then still
in power.

Although no film footage or photographs of the attacks reached the outside
world, the incident prompted international condemnation. Than Shwe,
however, launched a clever counteroffensive.

Shortly after the attack, the regime surprised the world by releasing
dozens of photographs of meetings between Suu Kyi and top leaders,
including Than Shwe, to demonstrate that the regime had conducted dialogue
with her, while accusing her of destabilizing the regime.

Now, after crushing the street demonstrations in Burma, the regime has
stepped up its damage-control campaign, with the blessing of China and
neighboring countries.

At the UN, Burma's UN ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, said his country was
committed to forging ahead with national reconciliation and asked for
“patience, time and space” for his regime. He opposed Security Council
action on Burma.

Asking for patience, time and space? The regime showed no patience when it
brutally crushed the monks and innocent people who demonstrated peacefully
in city streets last month.

The bad news is that Burma’s diplomatic offensive and Burmese deception
might work at some level. Some diplomats and officials at the UN, far from
the scene of the recent bloody events, may be ready to swallow Burmese
diplomats’ statements.

At home, the regime stepped up its offensive against monks. The New Light
of Myanmar reported today that during raids on monasteries, “42 uncensored
pornographic VCDs, one uncensored pornographic DVD, 10 condoms, sexual
tonic medicine sachet, dildo (with belt), one statuette of woman and a man
hugging each other, 13 women’s wear longyis (sarongs), eight panties and a
love letter and perfume/glycerin bottles, men’s wear longyis, two cordless
phones and 18 different kinds of swords, 10 alcohol bottles, 9 mm round of
ammunition, and leaflets” were confiscated.

Burmese Buddhists maintain that this slur campaign against the Sangha will
only add salt to the wounds and will prove counterproductive. It’s a
further provocation in the propaganda war, they say.

The regime has no shortage of contingency plans to overcome obstacles to
its aim to prolong military rule. Whenever it faced crisis, the regime
leaders made strategic decisions to counter domestic dissent, growing
international criticism and possible UN actions.

After crushing the 1988 uprising, the regime promised elections in 1990,
giving itself plenty of time to rebuild the army and consolidate its
position of power.

Then, after ignoring the election outcome, it called in 1993 for a
National Convention to draft a new constitution, a strategy to buy still
more time.

After the Depayin attack of 2003, the regime introduced a seven-point
“road map,” another delaying tactic. The first step, drafting guidelines
for a new constitution, has just been completed.

The offer by Than Shwe to meet Suu Kyi is thus nothing more than farce,
but a well- calculated diplomatic offensive, nonetheless.

Some foreign visitors who recently met Than Shwe in Naypyidaw said the old
man’s hands shook as he greeted them, perhaps a sign that he is not well.
Now in his late 70s, he might indeed not have long to live, but the former
psychological warfare officer isn’t giving up easily—his craftiness and
his psychosomatic functions are still working.

____________________________________

October 8, The Washington Post
The trouble with sanctions - Fareed Zakaria

The Burmese government's grotesque crackdown on pro-democracy protests
will have one certain effect. The United States and the European Union
will place more sanctions on Burma. Its economy will suffer, its isolation
will deepen. And what will this achieve? Sanctions are the Energizer Bunny
of foreign policy. Despite a dismal record, they just keep on ticking.
With countries such as Burma, sanctions have become a substitute for an
actual policy.

One of the lessons of Iraq surely is that decades of sanctions destroy
civil society and empower the worst elements of the country, those who
thrive in a gangland atmosphere. If the intention here is to help bring
about a better system for a country, devastating its society is a strange
path to the new order. Burma is a particularly complicated place for such
an experiment because it is riven with ethnic divisions and conflict. The
Burmese government has been fighting 17 ethnic rebel groups for more than
50 years. Many of the rebels control territory and run their own drug and
resource cartels. Bringing liberal democracy to Burma would be a challenge
anyhow, and it is being made more difficult by the evisceration of its
society.

By design, sanctions shrink a country's economy. But "the state gains
greater control of a smaller pie." says Robert Pape, a University of
Chicago professor who has authored a wide-ranging study on the topic, "and
[the state] shifts resources in the country toward groups that support it
and away from those that oppose it." In other words, the government gets
stronger. We can see this at work from Cuba to Iran. "Even in Iraq," says
Pape, "there were far fewer coup attempts in the era of sanctions than in
the previous decades."

In Burma, one effect of Western sanctions was to shut down the country's
textile exports during the late 1990s, forcing hundreds of thousands of
people out of jobs. There is evidence that many of the women ended up in
the sex trade, enough evidence that in 2003 State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher acknowledged it but expressed the hope that over time
sanctions would change Burma. In addition, as legitimate businesses dry
up, black markets spring up, and the thugs and gangs who can handle these
new rules flourish. Burmese gems are now traded actively in this manner.
Then there are drugs, whose production and supply multiply. In all of
this, the military, which controls border crossings, ports and
checkpoints, prospers.

In the early 1990s, after refusing to accept the results of an election
won by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese regime began -- very haltingly -- to
open up the economy. But those Western sanctions helped end this
flirtation. Thant Myint-U, a former senior U.N. official and the author of
"The River of Lost Footsteps," a wonderful and affectionate portrait of
Burma, argues that had that process of trade, travel and investment been
encouraged, "Burma today would look more like Vietnam. It would have many
more connections with the world, much more economic and social activity,
and the regime would be far more constrained and reluctant to use force or
engage in crackdowns."

The other effect of sanctions has been that American firms have mostly
been replaced by Chinese companies. (This is precisely what's happened on
a larger scale in Sudan, where American firms discovered and built the
country's oilfields, then had to abandon them because of the worsening
human-rights situation, and now find that the fields have been picked up
by Chinese state oil companies.) And while it is perfectly fair to blame
Beijing for supporting a dictatorial regime, the Indians, Thais,
Malaysians and others have also been happy to step into the vacuum in
Burma. Is this a net gain for America, for Burma and for human rights?

Thant, who has a celebrated pedigree in Burma -- he is the only grandson
of U Thant, the third secretary general of the United Nations -- hopes for
sustained diplomatic pressure, involving the United States, China and
India, to get the regime to begin a process of real reform. "If the three
countries can reach some consensus, that's the only outside pressure that
is likely to matter," he says. "America can still play a crucial role.
What the Burmese really want -- if they had a choice -- is not to be
another province of China. They aspire to be a proud, independent country.
There are many people there, even in the regime, who want to have good
relations with America and the West. But my fear is that the West,
momentarily aroused, will reflexively impose new sanctions and then move
on. The result will be that the West's role in Burma will decline even
more, China's will rise, and Burma will be further away from a liberal
democratic future."

The writer is editor of Newsweek International and co-host of PostGlobal,
an online discussion of international issues. His e-mail address is
comments at fareedzakaria.com

____________________________________

October 8, Irrawaddy
Economic sanctions: why do they matter? - Htet Aung

Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s offer of a conditional dialogue with democracy icon
Aung San Suu Kyi following a visit by UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim
Gambari, has set off a new political debate not only in the international
community, but also amongst exiled Burmese opposition groups.

The junta’s hard-line leader has insisted that before he will speak with
Suu Kyi, she must give up her “confrontation” with the regime and end her
longstanding calls for economic sanctions.

While the international community may be wondering if the general’s
demands are indeed a reasonable precondition for talks, the debate among
exiles and other long-time observers of the Burmese situation revolves
more around the junta’s motives for setting such conditions.

It is, of course, entirely up to Suu Kyi herself to decide how she will
respond to the general’s call. But it is worth considering why the regime
has raised the issue of sanctions at this time, when the world’s attention
is on the military’s brutal suppression of peaceful protests against
growing economic hardship. Is the regime merely trying to scuttle any
potential dialogue by setting unacceptable conditions? Or is it trying to
scapegoat Suu Kyi for the country’s deepening economic crisis, which is
due far more to the junta’s corruption and gross mismanagement of
resources than to the impact of sanctions?

The regime has always claimed that it is impervious to Western sanctions,
and constantly boasts in the state-run media that the country’s economy is
on the right track, achieving double-digit annual growth and drastically
rising per capita income since it seized power in 1988. It cites
statistics that show budget surpluses for the past three years and a US
$20 million trade surplus last year as evidence of its effective handling
of the economy.

Meanwhile, economic and other sanctions, especially those imposed by the
United States, have grown more stringent since they were first put in
place by the Clinton Administration in 1997. Under the Democracy and
Freedom Act of 2003, US President George W. Bush added further punitive
measures against the regime, including a ban on visas for members of the
regime and its supporters, in response to the Depayin massacre of May
2003. But given the small scale of US investment in Burma, the impact of
these sanctions has been limited.

The European Union, which has a bigger stake in the Burmese economy
through large-scale investment by France’s Total Oil Company, has been
more reluctant to impose harsh sanctions, which must be based upon a
consensus among member states. To date, it has confined itself to banning
sales of arms to the Burmese junta, and a visa blacklist of prominent
members of the regime.

Despite the limited effect of Western sanctions, and despite the country’s
putative economic gains, it is clear that the situation for the average
Burmese citizen has gone from bad to worse under the country’s current
masters. The fruits of the market-oriented economy introduced in 1988 are
now clearly seen only in the hands of the ruling elite, as the gap between
the rulers and the ruled continues to widen to new extremes.

According to a report released by the International Monetary Fund in
September 2006, Burma has the lowest per capita GDP in the region. In
2005, the average Burmese citizen had an annual income of $170, compared
to $350 and $400 in Cambodia and Laos, respectively¬, even though these
two countries introduced market-oriented reforms later than Burma. The
difference, it seems, is that Cambodia and Laos, unlike Burma, have both
implemented policies that have won the support of international
development agencies such as the Asia Development Bank.

Burma’s problem is that the current regime has failed to demonstrate to
the ADB, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, that it is
capable of good governance—an essential precondition for the sort of
large-scale package of development assistance needed to rebuild Burma’s
economic and social infrastructure.

It is in this area that the US has exercised its greatest influence over
Burma. The US, which plays a key role in these major world organizations,
has blocked the flow of development assistance into Burma by insisting
that all assistance must be contingent upon evidence of good governance.

The recent protests throughout Burma occurred in the wake of a dramatic
increase in fuel prices in August, which had an immediate and devastating
impact on the livelihoods of countless ordinary Burmese. The reaction to
the regime’s attempt to pass on the costs of its unsustainable economic
policies to the general public has made it absolutely clear that Burma’s
economy is heading for disaster, and cannot be saved without a huge and
comprehensive package of international development assistance. But the
generals, who said when they seized power in 1988 that they alone could
lead the country out its economic misery, cannot accept this reality.

While Cambodia and Laos have made the concessions required to receive
much-needed international aid, the Burmese regime still punishes those who
have the temerity to groan under the weight of its ill-considered economic
decisions. Then, when the world witnesses how unfit they are to govern,
the generals blame Suu Kyi for their image problems, and suggest, by
bringing up the issue of sanctions, that she has somehow single-handedly
undermined their otherwise flawless policies.