BurmaNet News, October 14-15, 2007

[Editor]

October 14-15, 2007 Issue # 3320

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Dissident groups want Gambari to be tougher on Junta
DVB: Hospitalised activists transferred to interrogation centre
Irrawaddy: Pagodas have a historic place in the fight for democracy
Mizzima News: Junta restarts internet for 24 hours, reduces security
Narinjara News: Prominent Arakanese monk arrested in Rangoon
Irrawaddy: Anti-junta protest photo appears in state newspaper
Mizzima News: Burma bans write ups of several writers using pseudonyms
NYT: Word for word | Burmese whispers: A few voices from the deepening
silence
Sunday Times: Fear reigns in Burma’s city under siege

ON THE BORDER
KNG: Burmese migrants in Thailand donate two million Kyats

BUSINESS / TRADE
South China Morning Post: Myanmar's border towns gasp for economic life
Wall Street Journal Online: Cnooc won't close taps on Myanmar gas supplies
AFP: SilkAir reduces flights to Myanmar

ASEAN
AFP: Myanmar regime change could 'create another Iraq': ASEAN chief

REGIONAL
AP: Gambari says arrests of dissidents "extremely disturbing"
AFP: Thailand proposes UN-backed multiparty talks on Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: EU to step up sanctions on Myanmar, ban timber, gems
Washington Post: First Lady's influence goes global: Speaking out on
Burma, Bush takes her highest-profile international role
Reuters: UK's Brown says may offer economic help to Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
IHT: Keeping the momentum on Burma - Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband
Irrawaddy: Burma needs tangible UN intervention now - Nathan Maung

ANNOUNCEMENT
National League for Democracy: Special Announcement
GSU: To 2007 generation, let's join hands, students and people, to bring
out the truth!
NED: Fellowships at the National Endowment for Democracy

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 15, Irrawaddy
Dissident groups want Gambari to be tougher on Junta - Wai Moe

UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari said on Monday that recent reports of
more arrests of dissidents in Burma were "extremely disturbing" and called
on the junta to halt its crackdown immediately.

Meanwhile, the European Union is now discussing more sanctions targeted at
members of the Burmese junta.

Burmese dissidents welcomed Gambari’s return to the region but called for
Gambari to talk with dissident group leaders and for the UN to take
tougher action to stop the junta’s brutal crackdown on dissidents.

Soe Tun, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group who is hiding from
security forces, told The Irrawaddy they welcome the UN envoy's return to
Burma.

“We would like to request that after his trips in the region, he should go
to Burma as soon as possible," he said. "And he should attempt to meet
with dissent leaders who were arrested recently. He should try to get
dissidents in prisons released as soon as possible.

“We also hope that Gambari will be a good negotiator for dialogue between
the junta and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said.

Soe Tun said Gambari also should work to get permission for the
International Committee of the Red Cross to visit prisons and detention
centers, where prisoners are reportedly living without sufficient water,
food and medical treatment.

The secretary of the exiled Democratic Party for New Society, Ngwe Linn, 
said, the party supports the UN Security Council’s presidential statement,
which was passed unanimously last week.

“It is reasonable,” he said. “We also agree with Mr Gambari's trips in the
region—it is a good plan before he leaves for Burma.”

He said Gambari should not trust the junta's expressions of willingness to
talk to Aung San Suu Kyi and opposition groups.

“We cannot see the junta’s political will for a national reconciliation of
the nation so far,” said Ngwe Linn. “We think the UN should know the
junta’s mentality, and its ways. They (the generals) are good magicians. A
better way to stop the junta’s brutal acts is a binding resolution passed
by the UN Security Council.”

The coordinator of the foreign affairs department of The National League
for Democracy (Liberated Area),
Nyo Ohn Myint, said Gambari must be a negotiator, not a facilitator. He
said Gambari should negotiate with the generals so that he takes specific,
well-defined proposals to Suu Kyi.

“So the UN envoy should change its strategy on Burma to the carrot and the
stick. If the junta does nothing, then the international community must
think of the next step. We can now see that a statement without action by
the security council means nothing to the junta,” he said.

The joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners,
Bo Kyi, told The Irrawaddy the group welcomes Gambari’s visit. The junta
must release all political prisoners and stop the ongoing crackdown, said.

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss tougher sanctions
in Luxembourg. Denmark will seek an EU ban on imports of timber, minerals
and precious stones from Burma and on investments in the Myanmar Oil
company, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said on October 5.

The Danish government said it will try to target the sanctions on members
of the regime, which it says controls much of Burma's industry and pockets
the profits.

The 27 EU member states have agreed in principle to step up sanctions, the
EU president said. The EU already has broad sanctions in place against
Burma's military, and officials have stressed the importance of putting
pressure on neighboring countries, in particular China and India.

Although the EU applied sanctions and an arms embargo on the junta after
the brutal crackdown on protestors in 1988, European companies still
import goods, particular oil and gas, timber and gems from Burma,
according to a report by Burma Campaign UK.

____________________________________

October 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Hospitalised activists transferred to interrogation centre

Six patients being treated for gunshot wounds at Rangoon general hospital
have been transferred to an unknown interrogation camp, according to
family members.

The six had been hospitalised after being shot by soldiers during protests
in the former capital on 27 September.

Ko Mya Than Htike, a youth member of the National League for Democracy in
Thingangyun township, was shot and injured by soldiers during the
crackdown and sent to Rangoon general hospital along with five other
patients who had also suffered gunshot wounds.
A family member of Ko Mya Than Htike told DVB on Friday that all six
patients, who were still recovering from their wounds, were taken from the
hospital by government officials on Wednesday to an unknown interrogation
centre.

"We arrived at the hospital on Wednesday to visit Ko Mya Than Htike but
doctors there told us government officials had come to the hospital that
morning and taken all six patients to an interrogation centre," said the
family member.

"His family is under close watch by the authorities as well. His wife
can't even go outside the house."

He added that Ko Mya Than Htike had not fully recovered from the gunshot
wound to his leg when he was taken from the hospital.

____________________________________

October 15, Irrawaddy
Pagodas have a historic place in the fight for democracy - Shah Paung

Burma’s pagodas have always served as a safe haven for Burmese people to
gather. Until now, that is.

The troops who raided Rangoon’s most sacred monasteries, tramping through
them in heavy boots, beating and arresting the monks, are now firmly in
control. Pilgrims and other visitors are staying away, silence reigns.

Residents report that troops are stationed at Rangoon’s two most famous
pagodas and rallying centers during the recent demonstrations, the
Shwedagon Pagoda in Bahan Township, and Sule Pagoda, in the city center.
There is also a strong troop presence at Kyaikkasan Pagoda in Thingangyun
Township, where many monks were rounded up in the crackdown and several
were reported to have died.

Local people say that about 15 military trucks packed with soldiers
recently drove up to Kyaikkasan Pagoda and sealed it off, leaving only one
entrance still open.

Residents said most of the troops stationed at the Sule Pagoda had been
redeployed at the Kyaikkasan Pagoda. Troops had also been stationed at the
Damayones religious hall, where pilgrims gather for Buddhist rites.

“The troops are taking over the pagodas,” a woman resident said, “It is as
if they are guarding them like internment camps.”

Residents pointed out that even during the colonial era, political
gatherings had been allowed at Rangoon’s Shwedagon Pagoda.

In 1920, university students gathered at a pavilion at the southwest
corner of the Shwedagon Pagoda and planned the strike against the new
University Act which grew into a mass protest movement.  The strike
resulted in the establishment of a national education system financed and
run by the Burmese.

A second strike by university students in 1936 was centered at the
Shwedagon Pagoda.

In 1938, striking workers from the oilfields of Chauk and Yenangyaung
Townships, Magwe Division, set up camp at the Shwedagon Pagoda. The strike
grew into what became known as the “1300 Revolution.”

____________________________________

October 15, Mizzima News
Junta restarts internet for 24 hours, reduces security - Ko Dee

The Burmese military junta restarted Internet lines for 24-hour access on
Sunday, after it was totally cut-off and then partially reopened earlier
this month, sources in Rangoon said.

"Yes the net is accessible 24 hours since yesterday. But like my café a
few are still closed. But users can begin using the net," said a youth,
who owns an internet café in Rangoon.

Observers said the junta by reopening the internet, which was shut-down in
late September during the week of protests in Burma , wants to show that
it has successfully cracked down on the recent protests.

However, the junta has not totally left internet usage unguarded but put
in place policemen, who are trained on Information Technology, to monitor
users in cyber cafés, local net surfers said.

Besides, the internet cafés are required to install a screen-shot system
that will automatically take a screen-shot of the computers every five
minutes, in order to make sure users do not surf political sites and other
banned sites.

"We were told to install the screen-shot system. But I have not installed
it yet in my shop. Some have done it and some have not," said the youth.

Meanwhile, authorities in Rangoon and Mandalay have reduced the curfew
hours to 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. The curfew, which was imposed on September 25,
as part of the measures to crackdown on protesters, has been for the
second time reduced from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. initially and then to 10 p.m. –
4 a.m.

However, local residents said, though security has been significantly
reduced, plainclothes policemen and intelligence officers are spotted in
several places in localities.

"In our locality, we still see military trucks patrolling at night. They
come almost every one hour," said a local resident in Hlaing Tharyar
Township .

Similarly, security has been reduced in Mandalay with soldiers out of
sight and roads, which were closed reopening, local residents said.

"But I don't think they [the junta] believe that the situation is now
returning to normal. But they feel that they have successfully suppressed
the protests, so they don't need too many security personnel now. But if
anything happens they are ready," a businessman in Mandalay told Mizzima.

____________________________________

October 15, Narinjara News
Prominent Arakanese monk arrested in Rangoon

Rangoon:   A prominent Arakanese monk was arrested by the Burmese Army in
Rangoon, Burma on October 1, for leading the recent protests by monk in
Rangoon, a source said.

U Kawwidda (48), abbot of Thatka Thila Zaya Thidi Pati Pahtan monastery in
North Okklapa Township in Rangoon, was arrested by the army at night, but
no one knows his whereabouts.

U Kawwidda is the former president of the Rakhine Young Monk Union which
was formed by Arakanese monks in Rangoon during the 1988 democracy
uprising in Burma. He was very active during the uprising.

U Kawwidda hails from Pauktaw Township in Arakan State and has been living
in his own monastery in Rangoon since 2000, a source said.

U Kawwidda is also a member of the 15-monk committee of the Monks'
Alliance, known as Thinga Thetpoundsu, which led the recent peaceful
protests by monks in Burma.

____________________________________

October 15, Irrawaddy
Anti-junta protest photo appears in state newspaper - Violet Cho

It was not a shocking picture, but perhaps somewhat amusing for Burmese
readers to see the very first picture of the recent demonstrations in the
state-owned newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar published on Wednesday,
October 10.

Since the beginning of the massive street protests—sparked by a fuel and
commodities price hike in mid August—the state media has barely
acknowledged the uprising. However, on Wednesday, the New Light of Myanmar
ran with a photograph on the third page that showed police apparently
pushing against a wire fence with anti-government protesters on the other
side.


>From the details of the black and white picture it is not clear who was

protesting or where it took place; however, among the many posters hanging
on the fence, one clearly shows a peacock logo and others read “Support
the Monks!” and “Free Burma!”

In contrast with what appears in the photograph, the caption reads
farcically: “Police try to prevent protesters from pulling down a fence in
Parliament Square during an anti-Iraq demonstration in London on 8
October, 2007.”

According to Burmese dissidents and international media watchers, the New
Light of Myanmar has occasionally made such blunders before, confusing
photos and captions.

However, based on experiences of the past, several exiled media agencies
are debating whether the publishing of this anti-government photograph was
an unintentional mistake.

In 1988, almost all the state-run news agencies reported the nationwide
protests. They played a major role by standing side by side with the
people of Burma in supporting the demonstrations against the Ne Win
government.

Although the exiled Burmese media and international news agencies have
been reporting extensively on the protests that were led by Buddhist monks
and activists, the military mouth-piece, the New Light of Myanmar has
stuck to its infamously proud guns by supporting the military regime and
putting a positive spin on the daily news.

____________________________________

October 15, Mizzima News
Burma bans write ups of several writers using pseudonyms - Nem Davies

The Burmese military junta has banned the use of pseudonyms of several
writers and authors, who were involved in Swan offerings to monks during
last month's protests.

Burmese writers and authors including Mar-J, Than Myint Aung, Soe Win
Nyien, Oo Swe, Zaw Thet Htwe, Poe Phyu, Awpikye and prominent writer Ludu
Daw Amar, have been barred from using their pen-names, after several
involved themselves in the Swan offerings led by veteran politician U Win
Naing on September 24.

"As for Mar-J, they said they found his picture among the people offering
Swan and that's why he was banned," a Burmese writer in Rangoon said.

Though the Burmese writers have not been officially informed, any writing
in their pen-names have been rejected by the Burmese censorship board
without any reason being cited.

"Even stories on football, which are not even domestic but fall in the
international sports news category, are being rejected. The writers were
just analyzing how international players are performing. These write ups
were not returned by the censorship board," a weekly sports journal editor
told Mizzima.

An editor of a Rangoon based Magazine said banning the writers using
pen-names does not only affect their writing skills but is like murdering
the writers.

"In order to get make a pen-name acceptable, we have to work really hard
and it is not an easy. By banning the pen-names the writer is as good as
murdered," added the magazine editor.

____________________________________

October 14, New York Times
Word for word | Burmese whispers: A few voices from the deepening silence
- Seth Mydans

THE world saw them flooding the streets in Myanmar last month, Burmese
citizens emboldened by tens of thousands of red-robed monks to cast aside
the fear that had held them down for two decades. For a few buoyant days,
the streets of Yangon, the main city, belonged to them, and they were
free.

But few outsiders have heard their individual voices. The ruling junta
crushed the protests at the end of the month, and since then has carried
out a campaign of nighttime arrests, cleansing monasteries and
neighborhoods of people they say rose up against them. The fear has
returned, people say, and is sharper than before.

And so it was an act of courage for a few Burmese to share their thoughts
with a long-time foreign resident of Yangon who knows them well and is
known to this reporter. The foreigner recorded and transcribed the words
of a dozen people and translated the accounts of those who did not speak
English. The texts were then sent out through a private channel, evading a
government clampdown on the Internet.

The anonymity of these people is part of their story. Neither the
foreigner nor the speakers can be identified for fear of retribution
against those who speak out. Two teachers, a young man, a housewife, an
abbot, a businessman — all tell the same story in their different ways. It
is the story of a people ruled by terror, stripped of freedom, who do not
know when their suffering will end.

A housewife recalled the brutality she saw while shopping for food Sept. 28:

I saw people in the street just beaten up for no reason — just walking
along the road, not even part of the protests. There was this young boy,
he was alone and not shouting with the crowd or clapping. This captain
came up to him, just started beating him and the boy fell on the street.
Then the police pushed him into one of those trucks that were lined up to
take demonstrators.

As they pushed him, he fell again. Then the police took out a big stick
and gave him a huge blow on the back. After that, the captain told
everyone in the street that they had 10 minutes to clear off. People were
running for their lives. The vendors started to grab their things. There
was one lady selling fritters and she had a big vat of hot oil — she had
to walk with this oil and they came after her and beat her to make her
move faster. I saw two boys at that moment walking up with cellphones. The
captain grabbed the boys, took their cellphones and pushed them into the
truck.

Someone who was with me at a previous job lost her son in these protests.
He might have been on his way home, but we don’t know. This mother had a
friend in the army and she asked him for help. He told her to stay home
and — no questions. The son, her only child, is still missing.

A young man described how the junta has clamped down on social exchange,
destroying trust among people:

There is no more connection between people. It’s been broken. In our own
neighborhood, the security groups will arrest anyone who is heard talking
about these events. Even at tea shops we can’t talk about these things.
These thugs will remember who you are and come to arrest you later. We can
only talk to people we know on the street and never to strangers now. No
one says anything at the market and everything has to be in secret. The
bars have emptied out both because no one has any more money and what fun
is it to get drunk when you can’t talk?

Even now we don’t dare take our transistor radios to listen to foreign
broadcasts outside. Just in the last few days, we have been threatened
with arrest by local authorities for doing this in our ward. Anyone with a
cellphone or camera will have it confiscated.

This is not the end. This is just a stopping point and we are not
satisfied. We don’t know the future but we will keep our anger burning
inside.

A teacher talked about the pain of seeing Buddhism desecrated and the fear
of the military that spread among the monks.

It is almost coming on 50 years that we have clung to our culture by
tolerating this military government. But something we revered was
insulted.

I cannot continue to tolerate this. We only hope that bad karma will fall
upon them but there’s nothing else we can do now.

I know dozens of monks. One monk is very old. He is 78. It never occurred
to him that in his lifetime he would have to hide. The day after the
shootings started, I went to this monastery and the faces that I saw on
those monks was something I had never seen. It is not fear. It was a
sadness so unbelievable.

Now the young monks that I talked to — who weren’t rounded up — they want
to disrobe. They don’t have the moral courage to go on. “Better to be a
layman,” they said.

I told them that this would be a terrible loss for our Buddhism. “No,”
they say, “What’s the use of meditation? The power of meditation can’t
stop them from beating us.”

The worst thing now is that no amount of persuasion from the abbots will
stop the young monks from disrobing.

An abbot of a monastery where hundreds of children are taught said
three-quarters of the monks had fled:

How difficult this is. ...They ran away for their security. ... We have
students studying English but our English-teaching monks have left us. We
are very unhappy now. I would like to invite guests to see this, but I am
afraid.

A teacher who organizes the curriculum for the monks added:

When the soldiers raided the monastery, they came into the school and tore
down pictures of some tourists with whom the monks had been practicing
English at Shwedagon Pagoda. The soldiers would circle the monastery at
night to see if these monks would come back so they could be arrested.

A businessman whose company lost an enormous amount of business during the
upheaval lamented Myanmar’s isolation:

I joined the peaceful demonstrations to show my support. I would do it
again. I don’t agree with sanctions on Myanmar. Of course, I may be biased
because I’m a businessman. My own experience of traveling to other
countries opened my mind and changed my life. I loved the freedom I found
in the United States. It was something I had never experienced. If I
hadn’t spent time abroad, I would have ended up as a military man. Or else
I could have been an informer exposing the conversation we’re having right
now.

____________________________________

October 14, The Sunday Times
Fear reigns in Burma’s city under siege - Our staff correspondent, Mandalay

Every night the curfew falls like a cloak across Mandalay, Burma’s second
city and the heartland of its monkhood, hiding a reign of terror unseen by
the outside world.

The trishaws vanish from the streets. The lamps of temples and mosques
dim. People lurk in pools of light on their doorsteps, some brazenly
cradling radios to their ears, but soon retreat indoors. Then come the
sounds of dread.

Sitting on the roof of a deserted $15-a-night hotel, you can hear the
growl of engines carried by an easterly breeze that sighs out of the Shan
hills. Doors slam in the distance. There are shouts as motors rev up and
recede. A hush descends.

Thousands of people are incarcerated in four detention centres around
Mandalay controlled by the 33rd division of the Burmese army. Its
commanders have broken the political power of the 200 monasteries here and
shattered the Buddhist clergy as an organised force.

They have instituted the severest repression inflicted upon this city for
two decades.

These are the conclusions of a covert visit to Mandalay in which students,
intellectuals, monks and local business people took the risk of speaking
to a foreign reporter, sometimes in whispers, to tell of their ordeal.

They did so because almost no details of what is happening in the city
have yet become known to the international community.

“Three organisations are looking for journalists: the special branch,
military intelligence and the USDA,” said the first informant, referring
to the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a violent militia
group which is employed to intimidate the junta’s opponents.

“If you are caught by the last one, that’s the worst for you and for
anybody you are talking to,” he added.

The nightly sweeps of raids and arrests are reinforced by daytime
roadblocks and identity checks. Troops drag dozens of people, most of them
young, off the streets at gunpoint.

Using counter-terrorist technology supplied by China, the security forces
check the registrations of motorcycles against numbers captured from
digital images of the huge protests that unfolded from September 23 for
five tumultuous days.

In front of a foreign witness, they hustled a youthful couple and half a
dozen teenagers into an olive green truck with smacks and prods from the
barrels of their automatic rifles. “I wish there were hundreds of foreign
tourists here to see this,” said a Burmese man watching.

The greatest monasteries in Burma, clustered in the southwest of the city,
lie under siege. They appear to be all but devoid of monks.

To find out why, it was necessary to get past approximately 50 troops of
the 33rd Division who occupied a key bridge linking the city centre to the
monastery district.

Barbed wire and wooden barricades blocked off roads to pagodas right and
left. Sentries poked their rifles into the windows of cars crawling past
the checkpoint. They looked hard at a foreign passenger but let the car
pass.

Down a muddy road running west stood the Mahamuni Paya, the shrine of a
gigantic Buddha image covered in gold leaf by the devout. It is one of the
most revered places in Burma.

Instead of the normal bustle of pilgrims and hawkers, the area was an
armed camp. Soldiers lolled under the bodhi trees. A scattering of
children played around the gilded pavilions. One or two monks in robes
averted their eyes from the foreigner and scurried away.

Fortunately, a courageous Burmese guide sought out answers to the obvious
questions. He persuaded monks and traders to explain how the army had
arrived in force on Friday, September 28.

The military had ordered everybody, from venerable abbots to adolescent
novices and nuns, into trucks. They were taken off to one of the four
detention centres.

One is a grim prison built by the British colonial administration west of
Mandalay hill. Another is a barracks inside the walled palace which was
the home of Burma’s last king and later the occupation headquarters of the
Japanese army from 1942 to 1945.

“The young monks were told to strip off their robes, they were hit and
kicked and then sent home to their villages,” said a witness.

“The older monks are kept in captivity. They are forcing the sayadaws
[elders] to write confessions and promises to obey the government. Just a
few monks have been allowed back to Mahamuni Paya. Most of the other
monasteries are empty.”

Within days the monastic movement was decimated. Thus did the Burmese
military defeat the only institution in this land of 51m that had dared to
pose as an alternative to its authority.

More than 60% of Burma’s 400,000 monks were thought to reside in the
Mandalay area. It became the fulcrum of protests against fuel price rises
and poverty that brought the holy men out onto the streets in gradually
increasing numbers from August through September.

According to informants in Mandalay, the critical juncture came on Sunday,
September 23. The monastic leadership assembled at Sagaing, a fairy-tale
landscape of whitewashed stupas and religious houses arising on the banks
of the Irrawaddy River west of Mandalay.

“The leaders rejected pleas and offerings from the local military
commanders. They were planning a boycott of Chinese businesses. The next
day I saw thousands and thousands of monks come out of the monasteries and
process around Mandalay,” said a witness.
Ordinary folk prostrated themselves, stood on their balconies to clap
their hands and gave drinking water to the monks as they passed.

Then came two ominous signs, for the military, that the Buddhist protest
was spreading. First the monks were applauded when they walked through
Muslim districts, prompting some of Mandalay’s young Muslims to join the
protests.

Then students at Mandalay University and other academic institutions
started their own demonstrations; scattered, small and ineffective, but
all captured on video by the security forces.

Only the Chinese community, merchants whose families have prospered for
generations, plus newly arrived traders from China, stayed aloof.

The crackdown, when it came on the 27th and 28th, was swift and efficient.
Soldiers shot in the air and riot squads fired teargas and made baton
charges, dispersing the monks and chasing them back to the temples.

“I saw them shooting guns in the air but not at the people,” said a
trishaw driver. It is generally agreed that nobody was killed at this
stage.

“There are other ways of death in beatings and shooting that we fear took
place after the raids,” explained an intellectual.

“Our deepest worry is for the fate of people in detention who are
definitely abused and get no treatment.”

There is desperate concern about five students from Mandalay’s medical
university. The five, two girls and three boys, were arrested by soldiers
after demonstrations at the campus. All are from well known, respectable
families and several are popular figures among their peers.

“Their families are fearful because they have heard these kids will be
charged with narcotics offences,” said an informant who has spoken to the
youths’ relatives.

This will mean that instead of serving 40 days in detention for public
order offences, the students could be sent to a notorious penal labour
camp in the Hsu Kuang valley, northern Burma.

“It is hard to come out of there alive,” said the informant.

“We are appealing to the international community to raise these cases to
see if we can save them from this.”

The Sunday Times subsequently passed on that appeal to officials from the
British embassy and the United Nations in Rangoon.

There are no reasons to expect clemency from the military in Mandalay. The
33rd division was transferred from Burma’s eastern border area where it
campaigned against rebels from a minority ethnic group called the Karen.
It has gained a reputation for rape, murder, looting and other unlawful
violence against civilians.

The division is on a list of Burmese army units whose conduct is being
investigated by several foreign governments. They have agreed to cooperate
informally to document crimes against the population with a view to
eventual prosecutions under international law.

For the foreseeable future, the 33rd’s commanders are free to run amok
among the citizens of Mandalay. Their soldiers look seasoned,
hatchet-faced and unemotional. Their uniforms are smart and their weapons
are polished. They deploy in new Chinese military trucks and all-purpose
vehicles.

Last Sunday night, local people heard shots ring out around the Chinese
consulate, setting off speculation that simmering resentment against the
Chinese had turned into action.

The next night, said residents, soldiers swooped on curfew breakers on
78th Street, which runs from north to south past the railway station and a
district of Chinese shops.

They arrested about 65 people. All were given six-month prison sentences
at a military hearing the next morning. “It was a warning,” said a
student.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 15, Kachin News Group
Burmese migrants in Thailand donate two million Kyats

In a major expression of solidarity over 2,000 Burmese migrant workers in
Surat Thani in southern Thailand donated 2 million Kyats (about US $
1,504) to the All-Burmese Monks Alliance (ABMA) yesterday.  The funds were
raised to support the peaceful demonstrations led by Buddhist monks for
restoration of democracy in the military ruled country.

"We donated the money to support the monks who led the demonstrations
peacefully and have been striving for democracy," one of the organizers in
the fund raising campaign said.

"We want to help the people of Burma who are fighting so bravely for
democracy in such a peaceful manner," said a migrant worker in Surat
Thani.

The donation was organized by six or seven workers in Surat Thani. There
are around 3,000 migrant workers from Burma including ethnic – Kayin,
Arakan and Shan.

Meanwhile, Burmese people in exile have been demonstrating wherever they
are, against the Burmese military junta for its ruthless and violent
suppression of peaceful protesters in Burma.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 15, South China Morning Post
Myanmar's border towns gasp for economic life - Christopher Johnson

Western leaders proposing sanctions against Myanmar need to examine the
nuts and bolts of the Myanmese economy in order to avoid harming ordinary
people. They are already suffering from exorbitant living costs, a
plummeting currency and isolation since the latest military crackdown on
peaceful protesters.

A recent visit to Myanmar's southernmost port town, Kaw Thaung, shows how
reliant the locals have become on trade with neighbouring countries. Over
the past decade, increasing numbers of Thai traders and gamblers have
ventured to a casino on so-called Rich Island and the bustling markets of
the town. Many Bangkok-based expatriates and tourists came on "visa runs".
However, I saw no other foreign visitors during my two-day stay. Many
Myanmese say that, even without sanctions, they already feel isolated,
because the crackdown is scaring away valuable traders and visitors.

Boat drivers, shop owners, a doctor and even government officers - who
won't discuss politics for fear of joining an estimated 2,000 political
prisoners - speak openly about their economic hardships. They say border
towns are suffering more than the commercial capital, Yangon.

Since most merchandise comes from outside Myanmar, the cost of living in
border towns is often higher than in Thailand. Yet workers in Myanmar make
only US$1 or US$2 a day - about a third of what thousands of Myanmese
exiles and illegal labourers earn in Thailand toiling in rubber
plantations, fisheries and factories. The local currency, the kyat, has
dwindled from a rate of 200 to the US dollar in 1997 to 900 last year, and
now 1,500.

"We don't know where it's going to stop," said a local shop owner who
depends on rice and other foodstuffs from Thailand. "The lower it goes,
the more we have to pay for goods. It's becoming difficult to do things
like eat or buy fuel."

It's also difficult to finish building a market complex to replace one
burned down two years ago, or build a road beyond the town. Students and
others must travel 12 hours by boat to the nearest college in Dawei, and
then 12 hours by road to Yangon.

With no public transport, many Myanmese have to either walk or whiz around
traffic circles on made-in-Thailand motorbikes.

Even senior Myanmese monks, who would normally be meditating in the forest
during the rainy season, worry about the economy. Inside a leafy
monastery, they eat Thai rice from a made-in-Thailand rice cooker, call
friends on mobile phones with Thai numbers, and watch TV news about
Myanmar on Al-Jazeera, Germany's DW-TV or other networks on Thailand's UBC
Cable TV.

They say economic conditions spurred their local protests last month, when
many people joined about 50 monks in peaceful marches. "We need freedom,
and we need help from outside," said one monk in his 60s. "The government
is trying to close the mind of the people. But now we need to open our
minds. We need more trade, and more visitors to help us."

Rather than isolation, Myanmar needs carefully targeted investment that
would empower the motorcycle-riding middle class to challenge the junta's
monopoly on wealth and power. An increase of tourists from the 192,000
reported so far this year by Reuters - compared with the 13 million
expected in Thailand - would help travel agents, hotel and restaurant
workers and others outside the junta circle.

On a grander scale, key players like China, India, Russia and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations need to form a united front to
convince the junta of the benefits of joining Asia's economic boom by
adopting a more palatable form of government. Any unilateral sanctions by
one player would only push the junta closer to other players, and harm
border towns hooked on trade.

Tokyo-based author and journalist Christopher Johnsonhas covered Myanmar
since the 1988 protest movement, and lived in Yangon in 1996-97

____________________________________

October 15, Wall Street Journal Online
Cnooc won't close taps on Myanmar gas supplies - David Winning

Cnooc Ltd. won't pull out of Myanmar and may increase its footprint in the
gas-rich country, a top executive said, despite criticism that China's
thirst for energy is leading it to undermine international efforts to
isolate Myanmar's military government.

The U.S. and other Western countries want to tighten already tough
sanctions on the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, following a
bloody crackdown by the Southeast Asian nation's government on protesters
that began last month. The U.S. is also targeting companies that do
business in Myanmar.

But the plans by one of China's top oil producers show why the success of
such efforts may be limited. Yang Hua, Cnooc's chief financial officer,
said Cnooc's presence in Myanmar is "making people's lives better" by
developing resources that would otherwise go untapped. He also pointed to
simple commercial reasons to stay.

"If we pull out, then we can't successfully invest our money in terms of
exploration success," Mr. Yang said in an interview.

Mr. Yang's explanation echoes the justifications given by other big oil
companies operating in a country that BP PLC says has proven natural-gas
reserves of 18.99 trillion cubic feet. Among the energy giants with a
presence in Myanmar are Total SA and Chevron Corp., which each have
invested more than $300 million in a project to develop the Yadana gas
field and build a pipeline.

Cnooc, majority owned by China's government, and other big Chinese energy
companies, such as PetroChina Co., have been targeting Myanmar not only
for its natural-gas reserves but also because of its potential to host oil
and gas pipelines running to China's landlocked southwestern provinces.
Beijing wants the pipelines so that some of its future crude oil and gas
imports can bypass the congested and sometimes dangerous Strait of Malacca
near Singapore, thereby boosting China's energy security.

Mr. Yang also confirmed, for the first time, that Cnooc is in talks with
Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production PCL, or PTTEP, about potentially
swapping stakes in a string of offshore natural-gas blocks in Myanmar in
order to share the investment risks and exploration costs. "These
transactions are very normal in the oil business. We don't have any
concrete things, but discussions are going on," he said.

A person familiar with the situation said PTTEP and Cnooc were discussing
swapping as much as 20% in their Myanmar blocks and a deal could be sealed
by the end of this year. PTTEP President Maroot Mrigadat declined requests
for an interview last week.

Indian companies, too, have targeted Myanmar's gas reserves, overlooking
reports of human-rights abuses to secure access to gas supplies.

Myanmar's ruling military junta has long been criticized and subjected to
sanctions for human-rights abuses. Late last month, government soldiers
opened fire on crowds protesting against the junta, and imposed a curfew
in major cities. The bloodshed prompted the U.S. to impose tighter
financial restrictions aimed in part at choking off foreign investment
into the country.

The United Nations Security Council issued its first statement on the
Myanmar crackdown last week, saying it "strongly deplores" the
government's actions and calling for it to talk to the pro-democracy
opposition. China, a permanent member of the council, approved the
statement, although previously it had said little to criticize the
country's leadership.

It isn't clear whether such sanctions will work based on experiences with
other resource-rich nations where the Chinese are involved in developing
energy supplies. Despite U.S. sanctions against the government of Sudan,
which is accused abetting mass killings in its Darfur region, China has
been ramping up investments in the East African country in its pursuit of
crude oil. Its state oil titans are also engaging Iran on possible energy
deals.

Write to David Winning at david.winning at dowjones.com

____________________________________

October 15, Agence France Presse
SilkAir reduces flights to Myanmar

SilkAir, the regional unit of Singapore Airlines, said Monday it has
reduced service to Myanmar because of uncertainty in leisure travel to the
military-ruled state.

Two flights a week from Singapore to Yangon, Myanmar's main city, have
been cut from the schedule since the first week of October, said SilkAir
spokeswoman Renu Nair.

In late September the Myanmar junta began cracking down on the biggest
wave of dissent in nearly 20 years, leaving at least 13 people dead and
more than 2,000 detained.

"Because of the uncertainty right now, you might see a bit of a lag in
demand in terms of inbound leisure travel," Nair told AFP.


>From 14 flights a week, SilkAir is now operating 12 -- with plans to cut

that to 10 a week for November. Nair said the situation is assessed every
two weeks.

Jetstar, the budget offshoot of Australian flag carrier Qantas, also flies
between Singapore and Yangon.

____________________________________
ASEAN

October 15, Agence France Presse
Myanmar regime change could 'create another Iraq': ASEAN chief - Martin
Abbugao

Pushing through a sudden regime change in Myanmar could "create another
Iraq" and leave the country engulfed in violence, the head of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) warned Monday.

ASEAN secretary general Ong Keng Yong said regime change in Myanmar would
have dire regional implications and that the best outcome was to thrash
out a consensus between the military and the opposition led by Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Ong said sudden change was not a realistic solution for Myanmar, one of
the bloc's 10 members.

"Whether you are in ASEAN or not, if you sit back and understand the
constitution and make-up of Myanmar and you say you want to have a regime
change, you are going to create another Iraq," he told AFP.

"It's an Iraqi situation because there are at least 17 different major
factions making up the population of Myanmar.

"Just look at Iraq. They (US-led forces) removed the former Iraqi army,
the former Iraqi police and now what is happening? I think regime change
is a very fashionable buzzword in certain quarters but it is not
realistic."

Myanmar's ruling generals sparked global outrage when soldiers and riot
police used weapons to disperse anti-government demonstrations last month,
killing at least 13 people.

More than 2,000 people were arrested following the protests -- the biggest
against the military government in almost 20 years.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari -- currently on a swing through Southeast
Asia to push nations in the region to pressure the regime -- met Monday in
Bangkok with Thai leaders.

Ong said regime change should not be part of the solution.

"If we look at the next step as a regime change, that is not really
realistic. Even if you can force it onto the situation in Myanmar, that is
very, very dangerous," he said.

Singapore, which currently holds ASEAN's rotating chair, has said the
generals must be part of any peaceful solution.

ASEAN admitted Myanmar to its ranks in 1997, and the group has long had a
policy of non-interference in the country's affairs.

However, using unusually sharp language, ASEAN foreign ministers voiced
their "revulsion" at the junta's crackdown last month.

Ong also said pushing Myanmar too hard might drive the junta towards
China, which could gain strategic access to the Indian Ocean, a move which
would have geopolitical implications for countries bordering the ocean and
Western navies.

"At this moment, China is not a littoral state of the Indian Ocean. But if
the Myanmar government decides to throw caution to the wind and go with
the Chinese, China will become a littoral component of the Indian Ocean,"
he said.

"So if you sit back and look at the real politics of it, I think you will
have to accept the inevitable conclusion that the position of Myanmar is
not something that anybody can just take for granted."

As well as Myanmar and Singapore, ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 15, Associated Press
Gambari says arrests of dissidents "extremely disturbing"

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari said Monday that recent reports of dissidents
arrested in Burma were "extremely disturbing" and called on the junta to
halt its crackdown immediately.

"It runs counter to the spirit of mutual engagement between the UN and
Myanmar [Burma]," Gambari said after meeting with Thailand's foreign
minister, at the start of a six-nation tour to seek Asia's help in
resolving the Burma crisis.

Rights groups have said that four of the country's most prominent
political activists were arrested over the weekend.

Gambari said the reports were "extremely disturbing and these actions must
stop at once."

Ahead of Gambari's arrival in Bangkok, Burma's military rulers partially
eased restrictions imposed after massive protests last month, restoring
Internet access over the weekend but keeping foreign news sites blocked.

The junta cut Internet access September 28, two days after troops opened
fire on peaceful protesters and images of the crackdown were plastered on
Web sites.

In Thailand, Gambari met with Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram and was
to meet later in the day with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

Gambari travels next to Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, India and China before
returning to Burma. India and China are two of the Burmese junta's biggest
allies.

"The UN is committed to do everything it can to promote a peaceful
resolution of the crisis," he said. Gambari said he had an invitation
confirmed by high-level authorities to visit Burma in mid-November but
hoped to go back "sooner rather than later."

Gambari called for the release of all political detainees including those
who were arrested during the recent protests, and asked for access by the
International Red Cross to those in detention. The work of the
Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross has been severely
restricted by the Burmese regime in recent years.

When asked if Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors and the international
community have done enough to resolve the crisis, he said: "I believe so
but we can all do better. We could do more. Not just Thailand ... India,
China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Nations, we could do more."

Earlier this month Gambari met with Burma's junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe
during a four-day visit, urging the government to end its crackdown on
protesters. He also met twice with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

His negotiating efforts, however, have failed so far to bring about a
dialogue between the government and the democratic opposition.

Meanwhile Burma's military authorities relaxed a nighttime curfew,
shortening it by four hours starting Saturday night.

____________________________________

October 15, Agence France Presse
Thailand proposes UN-backed multiparty talks on Myanmar

Thailand on Monday proposed that the United Nations organise multiparty
talks to bring together Myanmar's neighbours for discussions with the
military junta on resolving the nation's crisis.

Thailand's army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he made
the recommendation during his talks with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who is
on an Asian tour aimed at winning support among Myanmar's neighbours for
tougher action against the junta.

Surayud said the talks would bring together officials from the military
regime and its neighbours China and India as well as the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which counts Thailand and Myanmar as
members.

"We suggested the United Nations should set up talks with ASEAN, China and
India to end the unrest in Myanmar unconditionally... in the same way that
the UN did for the North Korean (nuclear) talks," Surayud told reporters.

He urged Gambari to bring up the proposal with Chinese and Indian leaders
as one way to search for practical solutions to Myanmar's troubles.

The military has ruled for 45 years in Myanmar, which is also known as
Burma, but last month Buddhist monks led up to 100,000 people in the
streets of Yangon in the biggest challenge to the regime for nearly two
decades.

The regime responded violently, ordering soldiers into the streets in a
crackdown that left at least 13 dead and more than 2,000 locked up.

Amid international outrage at the violence, the United Nations sent
Gambari to Myanmar last month to meet with junta chief Than Shwe and
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Gambari is set to return to Myanmar in mid-November, but Surayud said he
would send a letter to the junta asking that the envoy be allowed to visit
before the end of October.

"We will ask that he be allowed to stay there long enough for him to
complete his mission," he added.

About 20 protesters gathered outside Surayud's offices as he met with
Gambari.

Dressed in red, the colour of the student movement that led a 1988
pro-democracy uprising, they shouted, "Gambari, Free Burma!"

Some held pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the last 18
years under house arrest, and waved placards saying "UN act now."

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 15, Agence France Presse
EU to step up sanctions on Myanmar, ban timber, gems

European foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday were set to
beef up the EU's sanctions against Myanmar, introducing an embargo on
timber, gems and metals.

"In view of the seriousness of the current situation and in solidarity
with the people of Burma/Myanmar, the EU deems it necessary to increase
direct pressure on the regime through stronger measures," said the
ministers' draft agreement.

"The situation in Burma (Myanmar) is of huge concern to the people of te
UK and across the European Union," said British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband as he arrived for the talks.

The import bans, for which no implementation date was specified in the
draft text, will notably affect Myanmar's teak and jade trade.

The measure was to be addressed on a full day for the foreign ministers
who will also notably discuss the EU reform treaty and Iran's nuclear
ambitions.

The Myanmar sanctions will cover the import of Myanmar timber, metals,
minerals and precious and semi-precious stones, according to the draft
text, which adds that the measures are designed to "do no harm to the
general population."

The European Union would at the same time confirm the continuation of
"substantial humanitarian aid programmes aimed at the most vulnerable
populations."

If the Myanmar regime creates "a political process involving all the
parties in Burma... then there will be economic incentives and economic
support for the people of Burma," Miliband said.

"If the regime refuses then obviously there will be further sanctions," he
added.

The EU ministers will also express their support for the UN special envoy
to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, and back "further UN engagement, including by
the Security Council."

"Our measures aim to reinforce the message of Mr Gambari... Indeed he is
the only one who has a chance for leverage at this moment," said EU
External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner

"I support a delayed entering into force of additional restrictive
measures to show our resolve to act, on the one hand, but also to give to
give the mission of UN special envoy Gambari the necessary leeway.

"I think he should have sticks and carrots in order to be able to work,"
she added.

The EU already has broad sanctions in place against Myanmar's leadership
and their families -- with 375 people on a visa-ban, asset-freeze list --
and officials have stressed the importance of putting pressure on
neighbouring countries and in particular China and India.

The statement drawn up for the foreign ministers also "strongly condemns
the brutal crackdown on demonstrators" led by Buddhist monks in Myanmar
and urges the regime to exercise restraint.

The EU measures will spare the energy sector and therefore the activities
of the French group Total in the country.

The foreign ministers' draft text stipulates that the EU "stands ready to
review, amend or reinforce the measures" in view of Gambari's progress.

The clear message to the regime is "that they must engage with the process
being led by Ambassador Gambari," said Miliband.

Gambari demanded on Monday that Myanmar's ruling junta immediately stop
arresting pro-democracy activists and targeting dissidents, saying the
crackdown was "extremely disturbing."

While flagging their intentions to boost sanctions in recent weeks, EU
officials have stressed that they have a limited effect on a regime
already greatly isolated by the West.

More than 90 percent of Myanmar's business is done with Asian nations,
especially China and India.

____________________________________

October 15, Washington Post
First Lady's influence goes global: Speaking out on Burma, Bush takes her
highest-profile international role - Peter Baker

It's a long way from the broad expanse of Texas to the lush forests of
Burma, from the boots-and-broncos rodeo in nearby Waco to the bloody
crackdown against barefoot monks in Rangoon. Yet that troubled faraway
land somehow has gotten under the skin of a former librarian from the Lone
Star State and vaulted toward the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda.

Laura Bush, while vacationing at the family ranch here in August, was
going through news clippings sent by her staff back in Washington when she
read about the burgeoning protests and arrests in Burma. She grew alarmed
enough that, as soon as she got back to Washington, she picked up the
telephone and called the U.N. secretary general. And ever since, she has
waged a campaign to rally world pressure on Burma's military junta.

The first lady has taken an interest in Burma ever since a family member
told her about the Asian nation's plight five years ago, but she has taken
a higher-profile leadership role on this in recent weeks than she has on
any international issue during nearly seven years in the East Wing. She
has lobbied officials and diplomats, issued public statements, given
multiple interviews, supported new sanctions against the junta, and
written an op-ed column speaking out on behalf of the repressed population
in the country that some call Myanmar.

"It's the one foreign policy issue she's really spoken out on, and that
makes it significant," said Victor D. Cha, who managed Asian affairs at
the White House until earlier this year and now teaches at Georgetown
University. "She was always very careful about the issues she would be
involved in and would pick them very selectively."

Activists and analysts credit Bush with helping to focus international
attention on the conflict in Burma in a unifying way that her husband
could not. With virtually every other major figure in the administration
compromised on the world stage to one degree or another, she does not
bring the baggage of Iraq to the table. And yet everyone understands that
if she speaks out, she has the force of the administration behind her.

"Laura Bush is one of the few people in the administration who has
maintained her popularity and credibility both at home and abroad," said
Nancy E. Soderberg, a former senior U.S. diplomat at the United Nations
under President Bill Clinton who is now at the University of North
Florida. "So when she says something on an issue, it has an impact.
There's no question when a first lady takes on an issue, it's at the top
of everybody's inbox."

Her outspokenness on Burma reflects a growing confidence. Bush has mapped
out an ambitious agenda in recent years that extends beyond issues such as
literacy. She traveled abroad on her own just five times during President
Bush's first term, but later this week she will leave on her ninth solo
overseas trip since his reelection, destined this time for the United Arab
Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

"You know, this is not new for me," the first lady said in an interview
last month, noting her travels to Africa and elsewhere. "But as I've lived
here longer, I realize -- I became more aware that I have more of a chance
to speak out about these sorts of issues that especially concern me. And I
want to take advantage of that."

All told, she has visited 68 countries so far, either with the president
or on her own, just shy of the 82 visited by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Unlike her predecessor, Laura Bush tends to steer clear of controversial
issues on such trips. But she has tripped up before. During a visit to
Egypt in 2005, she praised President Hosni Mubarak for democratic reforms
that turned out to be little more than a sham, and her statements were
deeply disillusioning for opposition activists.

She is not an independent actor and generally coordinates closely with the
National Security Council and the State Department before speaking out.
"There's no lone-ranger action on the part of the East Wing," said Anita
McBride, the first lady's chief of staff. "It just doesn't happen that
way."

When it comes to Burma, Bush confers with her friend Condoleezza Rice, the
secretary of state, as well as with national security adviser Stephen J.
Hadley and other senior officials. McBride is routinely included in
e-mails and staff meetings on the situation there, and activists have put
the first lady's office in their mailing lists for regular updates from
the field.

The first lady traces her interest to Burma to Elsie Walker, a cousin of
her husband who takes an interest in human rights issues. Walker told Bush
about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader
whose party won free elections in 1990, only to have the Burmese military
nullify the vote and keep her under arrest for most of the years since.
The first lady became captivated by Suu Kyi's story when she read her book
"Freedom >From Fear," which led to her interest in the broader Burmese
situation.

"She represents to me, really, the hopes of everyone in Burma, of all the
Burmese who long for a day of democracy there, a day without an oppressive
regime like the military regime is," Bush said in the interview. "I know
what she wants, and she wants political reconciliation. She wants the
government to start responding to the needs of the people. And she wants
the chance to be able to build a democracy."

The first lady has never been to Burma, nor met Suu Kyi, but over the past
year in particular she has inserted herself increasingly into the cause.
She hosted a roundtable on Burma at the United Nations last fall and
talked about Burma during a graduation address at Pepperdine University
this spring.

In April, she invited officials from State and the National Security
Council to join her in watching a BBC documentary on Burma in the White
House theater. The next month, she participated in a Burma event sponsored
by the Senate women's caucus and wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon. Over the summer, she hosted Burmese dissidents at the White
House, met with U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to discuss Burma, wrote
a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece marking Suu Kyi's birthday and went on
CNN to talk about it.

But the beginning of protests in Burma in August, in response to a
crippling fuel price increase, intensified her efforts. Aside from her
phone call to Ban, she gave more than a half-dozen interviews, issued
increasingly tough statements, sent written testimony to the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and last week penned another Wall Street
Journal op-ed, this time calling on the junta to begin democratic reforms
"or get out of the way." Asked his opinion of the op-ed as he walked
across the South Lawn, the president gave a thumbs-up.

More tellingly, Ban called Laura Bush last week to update her on his
actions, underscoring how she has become the U.S. government's main
interlocutor on Burma. The soft-spoken first lady told USA Today that the
Burmese government should move toward democracy "within the next couple
days" or face additional sanctions from her husband's government.

"People understand she was speaking not just for herself but for the
president," said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. "The U.N. hears
from the U.S. on 50 different issues a day, but when they hear in this
very special way, it has an effect. . . . I'm a big critic of her husband
on a lot of issues, but I think he cares about this too and they're doing
the right thing."

Having said that, he noted that Burma is an easy issue for an
administration that faces so many harder ones. "It is one of the places in
the world where it appears that pure good is at war with pure evil," he
said. "The universe of other problems that the administration faces is far
more morally ambiguous. Burma is refreshingly simple."

For the first lady, Burma is providing a way to make her voice heard as
she looks for ways to make her mark in her last 15 months in the White
House. "When you step into the second term, you leave campaigns behind you
. . . so it does free up your time," said McBride, her chief aide. "And
you begin to see how fast the time moves, and you want to use it as much
as possible."

And as Bush does, analysts said, she will redefine her legacy. "She's not
quite as faint-hearted and removed from public policy as her current image
would suggest," said Bruce Buchanan, who has followed her as a political
scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. "This is the biggest
example of it so far and, if it makes any difference, it might not be the
last."

____________________________________

October 15, Reuters
UK's Brown says may offer economic help to Myanmar

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he was prepared to
offer economic help to Myanmar if it began moves towards democracy.

"We are prepared to draw up a package of measures for the improvement of
the Burmese economy, with other world leaders, that would be available if
Burma is prepared to move towards democracy and reconciliation," Brown
told reporters after accepting a petition from Myanmar pro-democracy
campaigners.

Brown said he would be writing to world leaders on Monday to canvass
support for such a proposal.

"I believe the gaze of the whole world will remain on the Burmese regime
as long as people know about the violence being practiced against Burmese
citizens," he said.

European Union foreign ministers meeting on Monday are due to consider
widening EU sanctions from the existing asset freezes, travel bans and
limited commercial embargoes to include trade in timber, gems and precious
metals -- all major sources of revenue for the junta.

Two weeks ago pro-democracy protests in Myanmar, formerly Burma, were
crushed by the military junta. Many protestors were arrested and some
killed.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his British counterpart David
Miliband said in an article published on Monday it was important to offer
incentives as well as threats.

"The EU needs to consider a package of positive measures to the Burmese
people should the regime show its willingness to genuinely work for
reconciliation," they wrote in the International Herald Tribune.

Brown was handed a petition at his London office signed by 750,000 people
expressing outrage at events in Myanmar.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 14, International Herald Tribune
Keeping the momentum on Burma - Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband

The world has reacted with horror to the Burmese regime's brutal crackdown
against its own people. Monks, nuns and ordinary citizens took to the
streets peacefully in protest at the deterioration of the economic
situation in the country. They were met with guns and batons.

We cannot know for sure the number of those who were killed, but it is
likely to be many more than the regime is willing to admit. The
whereabouts and welfare of many who have been detained remain uncertain.
Meanwhile, the persecution continues: The security forces carry out new
raids and new arrests every night.

It is vital that international pressure on the Burmese regime is
maintained. The generals may have hoped that by shutting off the Internet
and targeting the media they could hide their crimes from the eyes of the
world. If so, they have failed. This horrific repression has provoked
disgust and anger across the globe.

The immediate priority is to end the violence and secure the release of
all of the political detainees. At the same time, it is vital that the
regime works urgently with the UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, to
establish a genuine process of national reconciliation.

That process will need to be very different from the widely discredited
"National Convention Process" over which the regime has labored for many
years without winning the confidence of Burma's population. It must
involve Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of all Burma's political
opposition and ethnic groups. And it must have international legitimacy,
with the United Nations and Burma's neighbors closely engaged.

Everyone who has influence on the Burmese regime must now use it to
convince them of this new reality. The generals have now seen a very
strong statement by the UN Security Council deploring the violence,
calling for the release of all political prisoners and supporting genuine
dialogue with all concerned parties and ethnic groups in Burma.

The junta will have heard members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations express their revulsion at the recent violence by the security
forces. China, as well as joining the Security Council statement, directly
supported Gambari's recent visit to Burma.

Other neighbors - India and Thailand, for example - can also play a vital
role in helping to build a better future for the people of Burma. It is
clear that for Asean in particular turning a blind eye to such a
repressive government would damage its credibility and jeopardize the
whole process of democratization and development of the region.

Last month, as the demonstrations grew in intensity, the European Union
made it plain that it would not hesitate to impose tougher measures
against the regime if it resorted to force against peaceful demonstrators.
Sadly, the regime failed to heed this, and many similar, warnings. So
Europe's foreign ministers will be meeting on Monday to discuss how to
toughen up sanctions against the Burmese regime.

EU sanctions currently include a travel ban and asset freeze on specific
individuals and a ban on commercial dealings with specific state companies
with close ties to the regime. On Monday, the European Union will target
those sectors from which the regime draws much of its revenue, including
timber, precious metals and gems, and will make clear that whether further
measures are imposed will depend entirely on the regime's willingness to
allow genuine political progress.

All the signs point to a regime that feels the pressure. These new
measures will help to maintain that pressure by focusing on the business
interests of the regime rather than the wider population.

The EU must also offer positive incentives for progress. The EU needs to
consider a package of positive measures to the Burmese people should the
regime show its willingness to genuinely work for reconciliation. In the
meantime, we will continue to provide vital humanitarian assistance to the
Burmese people in order to alleviate the suffering of the population.

EU sanctions, of course, can only be part of a wider process aimed at
creating genuine reconciliation in Burma.

The key role must be played by the Burmese people themselves, in all their
diversity. This will be demanding; Burma, as some scholars have said, is a
fragile "unfinished mosaic," with dozens of ethnic minorities, idioms and
cultures. Burma's regional partners have understandable concerns that the
necessary political changes should not endanger regional stability. So the
process must be broad-based and inclusive. And, as Aung San Suu Kyi has
said, the military must play an important part in a future democratic
Burma. But the military dictatorship must end.

The Burmese people have been denied democracy and economic development for
45 years. They have taken to the streets once again and, in the face of
horrific violence, demanded a better future. It's high time their leaders
responded.

Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband are foreign ministers, respectively,
of France and Britain.

____________________________________

October 15, Irrawaddy
Burma needs tangible UN intervention now - Nathan Maung

The idea of pushing the Burma issue to the top of the United Nations
Security Council's agenda is to allow a peaceful political transition and
to assure that the international community will help Burma to emerge from
a military dictatorship.

However, Burma's state-sponsored terrorism against it own people
continues, and innocent people are dying on the streets and in the
detention centers.   Those who are arrested and kept at the interrogation
centers are facing unthinkable tortures and living in horrible conditions
without food and proper medical treatment.

Crises from prisons, detention centers and homes in Burma are considered
as the internal affairs of Burma by its neighbors, particularly China and
India. China and India, Asia's powerhouses, still believe the Burma
military government has the ability to create a stable political
environment and has serious intentions to establish a dialogue with the
opposition to promote democracy in Burma. Time will tell if that
assessment is right or wrong.

Last Friday, the junta rejected the UN Security Council's statement, which
called for a genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and concerned
political parties in Burma.

The junta continued to arrest the people who participated in the peaceful
demonstrations asking for national reconciliation and it continued to
ignore the calls for the release of all political prisoners. Raids were
carried out by the government's special police forces and pro-government
thugs on the homes of democracy activists at night. At times, when they
couldn't find the activities, they detain family members with the
intention that the activists would surrender voluntarily later.

The junta said it regrets the Security Council's decision to "strongly
deplore" the junta's brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests over the
past weeks all across Burma.  Though as many as 100,000 people took to the
street to ask for political reconciliation, the junta denies the protests
reflect the people's desire for change.

Of course, the world should remember the junta's propaganda that the
"people desire" to "crush all internal and external elements as a common
enemy" who interferes with the internal affairs of the state.

Clearly, Burma's paramount leader Snr-Gen. Than Shwe has refused to engage
the opposition in talks and has signaled the crack down on dissidents will
continue in order to prevent future demonstrations in Burma.

Under the name of the "Three-Sons Cleaning" project, the Burmese junta has
escalated the arrests of the students, monks and activists, and soldiers
who refused to shoot.

According to some reports, in one week at least 50 people were beaten to
death and thousands of detainees were sent to labor camps.

There is no doubt that the failed state is heading toward a dangerous,
massive purging of opponents and large-scale killings.

The Burmese people are asking for outside help because they fear mass
extermination of the opposition on the scale of the Sudan, Rwanda, Congo
and Cambodia. Like Rwanda's Intrahamwe militia that led the ethnic
cleaning with machetes, the government backed thugs of Swan-Arr-Shin are
killing monks and students now in detention centers. They attacked Burma's
pro-democracy leader and her convoy in 2003 in upper Burma where at least
300 democracy activists were beaten to death.

The junta's supremo, Than Shwe, offer to meet with Suu Kyi and appoint a
liaison minister simply a tactic to buy time.

The United States, Britain, and France will undoubtedly be back at the
table of the Security Council for an arms embargo against Burma's
repressive regime. And it will be another chance for China and Russia to
use their power to block the decision.

Remarkably, the Chinese UN deputy ambassador wished the Burmese people
"good luck" after Beijing joined other security council members in the
first unanimous statement on Burma. The Burmese people, however, will
never experience "good luck" until China abandons its support of the
junta's state-sponsored terrorism.

Now, it is a time got China to change its policy toward Burma.
International intervention to stop human rights violations against
civilians is an essential task for civilized nations. Burma needs
tangible, effective actions from the United Nations.

The Burma situation is a time bomb.

The call for help is also a plea for moral responsibility. The Burmese
people can survive without food, but not without dignity.

Nathan Maung is a former editor and writer in Thailand and is currently a
media studies major in the United States at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

October 9, National League for Democracy
Special Announcement

National League for Democracy (NLD) General Secretary was put under house
arrest by the authority for the first time from 20th July 1989 to 10th
July 1995. On the next day after being released from her house arrest, she
said at press conference attended by foreign reporters in English, "We
have to choose either dialogue or utter devastation". She just compared
'dialogue' and 'utter devastation' to choose.

At another press conference held at NLD HQ on 6th May 2002, she said, "I
see 'sanction' is the tool imposed by a democratic country on another
country to achieve democracy. In fact, it must stress on the long term
interest of the people rather than short term interest. Face to face and
friendly dialogue can resolve all problems. We never asked for sanctions."

Moreover, she said, "I've never wavered on my stand to achieve democracy
only by peaceful means, because it is very important for the future of
Burma. If we cannot achieve democracy by peaceful means, the people must
suffer a lot of woes and troubles in future. We've never emphasized only
on confrontation."

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (DASSK) made her tour on the prescribed dates and
places in
consultation with the authority concerned. On her Upper Burma tour, she
had a chance to see projects being undertaken with the permission of the
authority. Upon her arrival from the trip, she even tried to get the
equipments and tools required in a project.

She called for convening Parliament in 1998 with the consensus of all the
delegates of States, Divisions and Townships NLD Organizing Committees.
Then the authority detained MPs for a long period in the pretext of
discussing with them. Calling for convening Parliament is absolutely not
the confrontation. It is made in accordance with the 'Pyithuhluttaw
(Parliament) Act' enacted by the authority themselves.

NLD delegates attending NC sent an official letter to the concerned
authority to discuss on NC Procedural Codes while they were attending NC
from 1993 to 1995. But the authority ignored our letter and at last NLD
delegates left NC by consensus, sent another official letter to the
authority concerned informing them that the NLD delegates will wait until
the discussion on said procedural code possible and have been waiting for
their reply. It has nothing to do with DASSK.

DASSK said on 'dialogue' at the press conference held on 6th May 2002 held
at NLD HQ,
"Our NLD has frequently said we are flexible to enter into dialogue to
achieve good result from it for the entire people."

Similarly on 4th January 2003, at the 55th Anniversary Independence Day
celebration, she said, "Our reconciliation spirit, dialogue spirit, unity
and amity spirit for the entire country have never been dwindled. We have
no personal grudge against anyone. Resolving problems is the most
important thing. We never hesitate to join hands with any organization,
any institution, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) or Tatmadaw
(Army). We can join hands with anyone for the country."

Seeking solution by dialogue to resolve the problems for the sake of
country and the people is the normal phenomenon. The success of dialogue
depends on the sincerity, give and take attitude on win-win situation, of
all the parties concerned. The commitment and motivation for success of
the dialogue is also very much important. Moreover, if one wishes to
resolve the problems really and sincerely, there will not be
pre-conditions for the dialogue. The main necessity to resolve the current
and immediate problems is
the will to enter into dialogue.

We hereby announce that we intend all these true facts and points known by
the entire people.

By resolution reached at CEC meeting held at Party HQ on 8th October 2007
Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
No. 97/B, West Shwegondaing Road,
Bahan Township, Yangon
Dated: 9th October 2007
13th Waning day of Tawthalin, 1396 BE

_____________________________________

October 13, 2007 Generation Students' Union
To 2007 generation, let's join hands, students and people, to bring out
the truth!

The truth is that the people are constantly hearing profuse grumbles about
encountering unprecedented troubles in the country.

The truth is that people are seeing with anguish soldiers raiding
monasteries as in battlefield, razing the temples, arresting, beating and
forcibly defrocking hundreds of monks, coercing simple persons to testify
as witnesses, and arresting and beating young people (assets of future) on
all kinds of pretexts.

The truth not printed in dailies is that monks, students, youth and people
are fleeing or hiding from all these unsanctioned distresses day and
night, not daring to live, sleep or eat in their own country, on their own
soil, in their own home or monastery.

The realistic truth is that, in order to see the country's future shining
gloriously in the world, students and people should not let this abusive
tyranny and evil system of laws continue to exist.

The truth not aired on TV news is that the current situation and suffering
of the people is such that lives of people could not survive or improve
under the abusive administration and that a day's earnings are not
sufficient for a morning's meal.

The events encountered by us new generations and the people bears proof to
the absolute justification of demands for human rights, sacrifices and
struggles by previous successive elder generations.

We 2007 Generation would completely smash the evil regime by consciously
sharing the historical traditions of elder student brothers who have
served their duty. The resolve of youth and people has been invigorated.

"Though we students have been positioned to be far-flung from our parental
people and not to congregate with each other, we must strive for assembly
so as to speedily remove the evil regime with uniform minds and unity of
strength. We urge all to implement in practice 'prosperity of entire
people of all ethnicity regardless of class or strata and reject
enrichment of a handful of despots'".

_____________________________________

October 15, National Endowment for Democracy
Fellowships at the National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) invites applications to its
Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program. Established in 2001 to enable
democracy practitio-ners and scholars from around the world to deepen
their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote
democratic change, the program is based at NED’s International Forum for
Democratic Studies, in Washington, D.C.

Program: The program offers five-month fellowships for practitioners to
improve strategies and techniques for building democracy abroad and five-
to ten-month fellowships for scholars to conduct original research for
publication. Practitioners may include activists, lawyers, journalists,
and other civil society professionals; scholars may include professors,
research analysts, and other writers. Projects may focus on the political,
social, economic, legal, and cultural aspects of democratic development
and may include a range of methodologies and approaches.

Eligibility: The fellows program is intended primarily to support
practitioners and scholars from new and aspiring democracies.
Distinguished scholars from the United States and other established
democracies are also eligible to apply. Practitioners are expected to have
substantial experience working to promote democracy. Scholars are expected
to have a doctorate, or academic equivalent, at the time of application.
The program is not designed to pay for professional training or to support
students working toward a degree. A working knowledge of English is an
important prerequisite for participation in the program.

Support: The fellowship year begins October 1 and runs through July 31,
with major entry dates in October and March. All fellows receive a monthly
stipend, health insurance, travel assistance, and research support through
the Forum’s Democracy Resource Center and the Reagan-Fascell Research
Associates Program.

Application: For further details, please visit us online at www.ned.org.
For instructions on how to apply, please download our most recent
Information and Application Forms Booklet, available at
www.ned.org/forum/R-FApplication.pdf or visit us online at
www.ned.org/forum/reagan-fascell.html. All application materials must be
type-written and in English.

Deadline: Applications for fellowships in 2008–2009 must be received no
later than November 1, 2007. Notification of the competition outcome is in
April 2008.

For more information please contact:
Program Assistant, Fellowship Programs	        Tel: (202) 378-9700
International Forum for Democratic Studies	Fax: (202) 378-9407
National Endowment for Democracy		E-mail: fellowships at ned.org
1025 F Street, N.W., Suite 800			Internet: www.ned.org
Washington, D.C. 20004