BurmaNet News, October 20-22, 2007

[Editor]

October 20-22, 2007 Issue # 3325

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Generals sending mixed messages in the media
Reuters: Public anger against Myanmar military grows-expert
New York Sun: Burmese are watching next protest: Joseph Goldstein
DVB: LD members allege torture during interrogation
KNG: Dam to displace thousands: Report - "Damming the Irrawaddy"
Irrawaddy: Ethnic ceasefire group welcomes UN as mediator
IMNA: Residents refuse to attend rally denouncing protests

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Dissident women speak about why they fled Rangoon

USINESS / TRADE
AFP: Tay Za: tycoon behind Singapore-linked firms under Myanmar sanctions

DRUGS
Asia Times: Myanmar drugs fuel Thai gangs

ASEAN
DPA: Roundup: Problems in Myanmar won't stop ASEAN from signing charter

REGIONAL
AP: India pressed to take a more public role in pressuring Myanmar junta
Mizzima News: Gambari should question Indian PM on Burma policy: IPFDB
AFP: Singapore counters concerns over links to Myanmar
VOA News: UN Burma envoy meets Singapore officials

INTERNATIONAL
TASS: Russia welcomes moves towards democratization in Myanmar
Asia Times: UN fiddles while Myanmar burns - Bertil Lintner
Mizzima News: Broad U.S. political support for increased sanctions,
pressure on junta

OPINION / OTHER
New Straits Times: Time for Asean, China to act on Myanmar - Michael
Vatikiotis
Moscow Times: No longer the generals' Myanmar -Tom Malinowski
Irrawaddy: Targets of new US sanctions feeling the heat [Editorial]

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 22, Irrawaddy
Generals sending mixed messages in the media -Wai Moe

The Burmese junta has taken a typically hard-line stance in the state-run
media following US president George W Bush putting additional sanctions on
Burma, specifically targeting the junta’s officials and their cronies.

Instead of dwelling on the country’s political isolation, the headlines of
various government newspapers on Saturday, Sunday and Monday were occupied
with news of the staging of the drama Suvannasama, an old Buddhist epic
with a “win-win” solution sewn into the plot.

On Saturday, The New Light of Myanmar ran with the riveting news headlines
that a member of the State Peace and Development Council, Lt-Gen Khin
Maung Than, and the commander of the Naypyidaw command, Maj-Gen Wai Lwin,
watched the drama Suvannasama in Naypyidaw.

On Sunday, The New Light of Myanmar carried an almost identical piece on
the front page noting that acting Prime Minister and Secretary 1 of the
SPDC, Lt-Gen Thein Sein, along with other high ranking military officials,
enjoyed the Buddhist drama with the win-win solution, Suvannasama.

And today the state media carried the groundbreaking news that Lt-Gen
Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is expected to succeed as Prime
Minister, went to see the drama production yesterday.

The state media also published a rambling article running on both Saturday
and Sunday which was headlined “Aunty Suu, we are living in hope or Our
only wish is to see a win-win situation.” [sic]

Concluding the article, author Chan Mya Aye wrote: “In the finale of
Suvannasama, both parents regained their sight. Suvannasama, the
Buddha-to-be, recovered from the poisoned arrow wound and came back home
carrying a pot of gold on his shoulder. It is a story with a happy ending
in Myanmar culture, and a model for all of us to follow and take lessons
from.”

But in the articles, the author also blamed Aung San Suu Kyi and her
party, the National League for Democracy, for Burma’s political deadlock.

However, not all news headlines were so superficial. Today the Burmese
public woke up to a considerably more toned-down language with regard to
negotiations between the generals and UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
The Myanmar Times weekly journal (Burmese version) and other private
Burmese journals, such as Weekly Eleven News and The Yangon Times carried
Gambari’s suggestions for dialogue toward national reconciliation as front
page news.

The Myanmar Times published photos of Snr-Gen Than Shwe, Gambari and Suu
Kyi on the front page. It was the first time the media in Burma had run
with a photo of Suu Kyi alongside that of Than Shwe.

Also this week, Weekly Eleven News ran with an editorial entitled
“Dialogue, the National Reconciliation and to Real New Democratic State.”
[sic]  The editorial column suggests dialogue between Snr-Gen Than Shwe
and Suu Kyi is the first step to the national reconciliation; and national
reconciliation is the first step to a real democratic state.

The Snap Shot News Journal and The Yangon Times also ran with the news
about Gambari’s trip and the appointment of a liaison officer, ex Maj-Gen
Aung Kyi. Both journals are run by people well connected with the ruling
generals.

In the past, the generals have used this kind of “toned down” voice in the
state media when they were facing pressure internally and externally. At
such times, the state media will refer to Suu Kyi with her full name, Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, usually the state media refer to Aung San Suu Kyi simply as “Daw
Suu Kyi,” excluding the name of her father, Aung San, the founder of the
Burmese armed forces and independence hero. In a Burmese context, the
omission of her full name is a pointed insult.

At other times, the military mouthpieces will simply call her “Kala Mayar”
(wife of Kala). “Kala” is derogatory term for South Asians, Indians and
Muslims in Burma, but it is also used as an insult for Westerners. The
Burmese military government has repeatedly used this term in the past to
deride Suu Kyi for her marriage to British academic, Michael Aris, who
died in March 1999.

____________________________________

October 22, Reuters
Public anger against Myanmar military grows-expert

Anger among people in Myanmar against the military government has reached
a new level and that could be a precursor to more unrest, a U.S.-based
academic said on Monday following a six-day visit to the country.

"For the first time in my trips to that country, people say to me 'we hate
the military'. They've never used that term before," said David Steinberg,
a professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, and one of the few
Western academics to have been given access to the military junta.

Steinberg, speaking at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asia Studies to
an audience that included Singapore-based foreign diplomats, said the
crisis "is going to get worse until the government realises the
seriousness of the problem".

Myanmar's military government has said 10 people were killed when it
crushed a monk-led revolt last month, but Western governments say that the
toll was likely to be far higher.

Steinberg, who said he met and spoke with more than 40 government
officials and private individuals on his trip, cited one source who said
up to 40 people were killed on the streets and another 60 while in
detention.

While the military has appeared to have relaxed its security presence in
former capital Yangon, where the bulk of demonstrations took place,
Steinberg said there continued to be reports of nightly raids on suspected
participants.

"The people who talked to me had a great fear about the raids. This was
really something that they were really upset about," Steinberg said.

Myanmar's ambassador to Singapore, Win Myint, who was in the audience,
declined to comment.

Steinberg, who is on a visiting fellowship to the Institute of Southeast
Asia Studies until December, said he had met a senior junta official and
told him of sentiments on the ground.

Steinberg also spoke out against further sanctions, which he maintained do
not work on an isolationist government.

U.S. President George Bush on Friday expanded sanctions against Myanmar's
rulers, adding more military leaders to a list under existing sanctions
that include a freeze on U.S. assets. "These are inconsequential. This is
theatre, not policy," Steinberg said. "Any economic development aid to
Myanmar would not be useful either because the government will not be able
to use it efficiently. But humanitarian aid is very badly needed,
especially in the rural areas," he added.

____________________________________

October 22, New York Sun
Burmese are watching next protest: Joseph Goldstein

The Burmese are watching the calendar with apprehension.

Friday marks the beginning of a monthlong festival, Kahtein, on whose
central ritual, giving monks gifts of new red robes, some democratic
activists are pinning their hopes for further street demonstrations
against the junta that rules the country.

As monks across Burma go about their morning begging rounds, they are
reportedly refusing to accept alms from military personnel. Within the
country, this boycott persists as the most organized and visible sign of
opposition to the Burmese government since the junta ended mass street
demonstrations last month with gunfire and nighttime arrests.

This quiet act by the monks is a potential source of unease for Burma's
soldiers, as the giving of alms to monks is one way Buddhists accumulate
merit for the afterlife. It is a rebuke against the junta, whose efforts
to publicize the devoutness of the country's rulers is evidenced in the
state-controlled press, where news items painstakingly catalog the
donations of individual generals.

With the coming of Kahtein, Burmese activists are waiting to see how the
junta will try to crack the boycott and force monks to allow the military
to participate in this largest of Buddhist donation rituals. Recent
refugees from Burma are bringing to Thailand rumors that the junta may
outlaw the festival this year. Such restrictions or further arrests at
monasteries could become the catalyst for future monk demonstrations, half
a dozen Burmese politicians in exile and recent refugees who participated
in last month's demonstrations told The New York Sun last week.

"Something will happen surely by 30 days after the full moon," a monk from
Rangoon said, referring to the period of the festival, which is timed to
the lunar calendar. The monk, 31, who asked that his name be withheld
because of fear of Burmese authorities, said through an interpreter that
he crossed to Thailand after leading protests last month among the 450
monks studying with him at the Kabaye Sangha University. Of the
possibility that Kahtein will prompt further civil unrest, the monk said:
"Monks and civilians are aware of this, and not only them, but the SPDC
too," calling the ruling party, the State Peace and Development Council,
by its acronym.

The interviews with this monk and other recent refugees were conducted in
a house along the Thailand-Burma border belonging to an exile chapter of
Burma's main opposition group, the National League for Democracy. On
Saturday the junta lifted a temporary ban in the capital city of Rangoon
on gatherings of more than five people, according to news reports. Also
lifted was a curfew, under cover of which security forces had been
searching homes for activists in hiding. These moves signal that the junta
no longer considers further demonstrations imminent.

In contrast, many Burmese now in Thailand said they believed that the
uprising would resume in a matter of months. Some said they believe
Kahtein will provoke further unrest, while others said the next
demonstrations would start with workers and students, not monks. The next
few months will tell whether these expectations are more than the
desperate hope of a suffering people.

Kahtein, which comes at the conclusion of a three-month period during
which tradition dictates that monks stay near their monasteries, is the
main time for giving gifts to monks. In addition to the distinctive red
robes Burmese monks wear, monasteries receive donations of slippers,
umbrellas, and other items on the short list of possessions a monk
requires. These gifts are tagged with the names of donors and gathered in
public places around the country.

"This could become the spark," a Burmese politician who was imprisoned for
five years for participating in demonstrations in 1974 said. The
politician, Bo Kyaw Nyein, said in a telephone interview from Chiang Mai,
Thailand: "The monks' denial in accepting religious offerings can be a
very effective and potent political defiance tool."

A chain reaction would be needed for the coinciding of the boycott and the
festival to trigger further protests against the junta. Activists
speculate that the boycott will prompt reprisals against the monks, which
might then lead monks to demonstrate. But events could also peter out
before resulting in a single demonstration.

Monks formed the core of the last round of street protests, which grew
into the largest popular challenge to the junta's rule in nearly 20 years.
The involvement of the monasteries nationwide began in response to news of
the brutality that the military meted out to monks in Pakokku to the west
of Mandalay.

The monks there had been protesting the junta's decision to raise fuel
costs sharply, when state security forces assaulted several of the monks
and fired warning shots, according to news reports. The boycott on alms
began as a response to the events at Pakokku, monks have said.

The widespread arrests of the last month may have depleted the monasteries
of the monks who led the last protests, raising questions of whether
monasteries will organize more marches against the junta anytime soon. One
monk who crossed into Thailand on Wednesday said through an interpreter
that the junta has ordered novice monks to return home, in a bid to empty
the monasteries.

The monk, Ven Sawbana, said he stood for about 10 minutes with one
demonstration last month Burma's southern Mon state. He said he came
across the demonstration accidentally while on a shopping trip on behalf
of his monastery. A onetime prisoner in Burma, sentenced for serving with
an opposition army largely composed of the Karen minority group, Ven
Sawbana, 45, said he decided to flee after he learned that many other
former prisoners he knew were being re-arrested.

Of the prospects of further street demonstrations soon, he said: "I don't
have any hope. Monks all over the country were separated. No one can
move."

But a student leader said that even in hiding, student activists were
planning details of the next round of demonstrations. Ye Htun Kyaw, 33,
who served seven years of a 21-year sentence for demonstrating in 1998
said that student leaders would lead future demonstrations along more
circuitous routes, away from military barricades and government buildings,
in an effort to sustain them for longer periods and allow them to grow
before the inevitable clash with security forces.

"The activists in hiding are waiting for an opportunity," Ye Htun Kyaw
said. "Next time we will march for a longer time, for as long as
possible."

____________________________________

October 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
LD members allege torture during interrogation

Members of the National League for Democracy in Taungup have claimed they
were tortured at an interrogation centre before being given prison
sentences, according to sources close to the detainees’ families.

U Than Pe, Vice Chairman of NLD in Taungup, and U Tun Kyi, both aged
around 50, were reportedly tortured at an interrogation centre in An, said
a person close to their families.

“While they were being interrogated in An, they were tortured by having
their faces covered with wet cloths. A health worker stood nearby
measuring their blood pressure. When the reading dropped to 90 over 60,
the worker said the detainees could still take more torture and were not
about to die yet,” he said.

The source said that the interrogation was carried out by members of the
army.

____________________________________

October 22, Kachin News Group
Dam to displace thousands: Report - "Damming the Irrawaddy"

A proposed dam project on the Irrawaddy River by China and the Burmese
military junta threatens to displace ten of thousands of people in the
project area, Kachin environmental activist groups said.

The observation was made in a new report "Damming the Irrawaddy" by the
Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) released today at a press
conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The report noted in its executive summary that an estimated 47 villages
will be washed away following the damming and approximately 10,000 people
will be displaced. Villagers affected by the dam project will be cut off
by widespread flooding which will also impact their livelihoods,
communication, transportation, and trade.

There will be more human rights abuses, more sexual violence on women
around the dam project area by the military regime, said Naw La, a
coordinator for the Kachin Environmental Organization (KEO) and a member
of KDNG.

 "We shouldn't dam the river without the approval of the villagers in the
area where the dam will be built," said Sai Sai, a spokesperson for the
Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization.

The Ministry of Electric Power No 1 and China Power Investment Cooperation
(CPI) held an inauguration ceremony on May 1, 2007 to build a dam on the
confluence (or Myitsone in Burmese) in Kachin State, northern Burma. The
dam will generate 3,600 MW of electricity.

Elders, community leaders and villagers from across Kachin State have sent
protest letters on May 21, 2007 directly to Senior General Than Shwe and
the military's Northern Commander to stop the project. There has been no
response yet from the military brass.

"For the Kachin people Mali-N'Mai confluence is a historic place. If we
lose that we will feel like we have lost our Kachin people because we come
from there and we should oppose building of the dam on the Mali-N'Mai
River," said Naw La.

KDNG has asked China to stop the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam project and to go
for a small-scale alterative (mini-dam). It felt that China abide by its
own standards in Burma and heed the voice of the people to be affected.

The new report said: "Kachin people have a responsibility to step up and
demand an end to the project. If they don't, they will have a huge
historical debt to pay because the confluence area is an important part to
Kachin heritage."

____________________________________

October 22, Irrawaddy
Ethnic ceasefire group welcomes UN as mediator - Violet Cho

Four ethnic ceasefire groups, including the United State Wa Army, have
issued a statement criticizing the Burmese military government’s crackdown
on peaceful protesters, but welcoming the United Nations’ role as mediator
in helping to find a solution to the conflict in Burma. However, they
condemned the international community’s response in imposing sanctions on
Burma and said they  strongly disagreed with the proposed boycott of the
Olympic Games due to be held in China in August 2008.

According to the very first statement of the Peace and Democratic Front, a
combination of ethnic ceasefire groups based on the Burma-China border,
the Burmese military government should reconsider the people’s demands as
expressed during the recent demonstrations on the streets of Burma’s
cities.

The Peace and Development Front confirmed that this was a joint statement
by the United Wa State Army, the Myanmar National Democracy Alliance, the
National Democratic Army (Kachin State) and the National Democracy
Alliance Army.

The groups also condemned the use of brutal force against protesters
during a time when they should have been searching for a solution to the
conflict.

However, according to an ethnic and military analyst, the statement was
laced with a hidden political agenda.

Htay Aung, a Burmese researcher for the exiled Network for Democracy and
Development, called the statement “unacceptable” and said that the ethnic
ceasefire groups had been quiet when the regime began its deadly crackdown
on monks and civilians.

“As a revolutionary group that claims to stand side by side with the
people, their action is inappropriate; their statement will not change
things because the people and monks have already been arrested and are in
detention,” said Htay Aung.

According to the statement, the Peace and Democratic Front is strongly
against the civil plan to disrupt the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

The condemnation of the Olympic boycott clearly shows that the ethnic
ceasefire groups operating along the Burma -China border hope to make a
good impression and improve relations with the Chinese government,
according to Htay Aung.

He claimed that if the ceasefire groups were to resolve their conflict
with the Burmese junta, then they will definitely need assistance from
China and that’s the reason they were against the Olympic boycott.

According to sources close to the Peace and Development Front, during the
demonstrations in September, the military government put pressure on the
ethnic ceasefire groups to give up their arms.

In parallel with the Peace and Development Front, the Kachin Independence
Organization, a ceasefire group that is also based along the Burma-China
border, simultaneously released a statement conveying their support for
the United Nations as a mediator in the conflict.

____________________________________

October 22, Independent Mon News Agency
Residents refuse to attend rally denouncing protests

Though residents were being forced to denounce the recent protests led by
monks and NLD members by the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC)
in Mon state of Burma, they did not support the move.

"Most of the residents didn't go to denounce the recent demonstrations.
Our household also didn't go there," a resident in Mudon Town Mon State
said.

TPDC authorities in Mudon Township held a rally to denounce the recent
demonstrations at the football playground in Mudon Town . The rally
concluded at about 8 a.m. today.

"I saw a crowd of people around the playground this morning. The people
who went there were from rural areas in the township. Residents in Mudon
did not attend," he said.

A young woman in Mudon said she did not know about the rally.

"The local authorities told the villagers to attend the rally. They took
1,000 Kyat from each household which did not attend," a villager near
Mudon Township said.

According to villagers from southern Mudon Township , the villagers had
been brought there by force even though they were busy with farming and
their day to day jobs.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 22, Irrawaddy
Dissident women speak about why they fled Rangoon - Saw Yan Naing

Five women who recently arrived at the Thai border town of Mae Sot have
spoken to The Irrawaddy about why they had to flee Burma in fear of their
lives.

A 47 year-old woman, who is also a member of the National League for
Democracy in Sanchaung Township in Rangoon, said she had been constantly
hunted by the authorities right up to Sunday, the day she arrived at
Thailand —the same day the Burmese regime lifted its nightly curfew

She said, “It is very restricted. The authorities came and asked about me
all the time. I dared not sleep in my own house.”

After weeks of hiding in different places, the woman said that she
narrowly escaped during a raid on her home by security forces on September
28. After that, she left for Thailand.

She said that she had been hiding in Rangoon since September 26, the day
when soldiers opened fire on protesters. “I can’t hide in Rangoon any
longer,” she told The Irrawaddy on Monday. “So I decided to leave for
Thailand.” The woman requested anonymity for her family’s safety.

She added that her daughter had been arrested and that she didn’t know
where she was being detained. Other members of her family had also been
threatened and are now being closely watched by authorities.

A 28-year-old arrival in Mae Sot said that she had been tracked by the
security forces since September 25, the day she decided to participate in
a Buddhist monk-led demonstration in Rangoon.

“My brother and I couldn’t sleep at home,” the woman said, adding that her
elder brother has a baby and is currently in hiding, unable to properly
care for his child nor meet with his wife.

On September 27 she witnessed Burmese troops open fire on the crowd, an
event she says she will never forget. “While the soldiers were shooting at
the demonstrators, I saw a boy lying in the street covered in blood, but
nobody could help him. I could only stand there watching him,” she said.
“People were running in different directions and couldn’t help each
other.”

The woman recalls that she indicated to the injured teenager to hide under
an army truck, which he did. After that, she ran away to escape the brutal
crackdown.

The woman said that she couldn’t foresee any freedom or pro-democracy
activities in Burma in the near future. “The authorities have guns and we
don’t. If we get arrested, it’s like we have lost,” she said, adding that
she would continue fighting for democratic reform in Burma from her new
base in Thailand.

According to exiled dissidents, the woman and her brother are among
hundreds of protesters, including monks, who took part in recent
demonstrations and are currently being hunted down by the authorities and
living in constant fear. Dozens have recently fled to Thailand.

Similarly, the other three women who arrived in Mae Sot left Burma in fear
after being tracked and hunted by the security forces.

Meanwhile, despite the lifting of the curfew, several army trucks are
still patrolling the downtown area of Rangoon and plain clothes officials
are always lurking, said a resident of the city on Monday.

A source said that although the number of arrests has decreased, the
situation at Sule and Shwedagon pagodas is not normal. “Visitors to those
pagodas are checked by the authorities,” she said. “So, people are afraid
to go there.

“People who go out at night are still questioned and checked by
authorities,” she added.

However, the NLD member said that she would carry on working for
democratic reform in Burma. She believed that the Burmese people were
ready to fight for democracy.

“People in Burma think that international pressure is important,” she
said. “They want the international community to put more pressure on
Burma.” She said that they would sacrifice what they needed to sacrifice
to achieve change in Burma.

She confirmed that members of the pro-government Union Solidarity and
Development Association and the paramilitary thugs known as “Swan Arr
Shin” were the main groups responsible for gathering information for the
authorities.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military government released some members of
dissident groups from detention in Mandalay Division and Kachin state, but
it is not clear whether a ban on the assembly of more than five people has
also been relaxed, said dissidents.

A curfew was imposed last month when the military began its crackdown on
protests. Although some residents in Rangoon had expressed relief at the
lifting of the curfew—which had lasted from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. each
night—many residents voiced their concerns that life hadn’t yet returned
to normal.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 22, Agence France Presse
Tay Za: tycoon behind Singapore-linked firms under Myanmar sanctions - Ian
Timberlake

Tay Za, the tycoon behind three Singapore-linked firms placed under fresh
US sanctions against Myanmar, is a charismatic close associate of the
ruling junta, observers say.

Tay Za's Htoo Trading Co Ltd, which exports teak logs, was Myanmar's
fifth-top exporter, earning 65.1 million US dollars in the fiscal year
ended in March, according to the Myanmar Times, a semi-official weekly.

The firm made its money "simply because of its proximity to the regime,"
said Sean Turnell, an economics professor who specialises in Myanmar at
Australia's Macquarie University.

"He has a very close relationship with (Senior) General Than Shwe's
family," Turnell said, referring to the junta leader.

The three firms with offices in Singapore are among seven named by
President George W. Bush's order under the sanctions designed to target
organisations with ties to Myanmar's ruling junta, in the hope it will
pile more pressure on the regime after its deadly suppression of
pro-democracy protests.

According to Bush's order the companies which are either based in or
linked to Singapore are: Pavo Trading Pte Ltd, Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd
and Htoo Wood Products Pte Ltd, which is also listed as being from
Myanmar's main city, Yangon.

The website for Pavo Trading said it is a sister company of Htoo Group of
Companies and was established in 1999.

"The company's main interest lies in export of timber and timber products
from Myanmar," said the website, which was monitored on Saturday but could
no longer be accessed on Monday.

It said the group's flagship company, Htoo Trading Co Ltd, is a logging
firm established 17 years ago.

"He's one of the few businessmen who's thrived under this particular
regime," said Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a
human rights group.

"Ten years ago he was an unknown businessman."

Turnell said that a son of key junta member General Thura Shwe Mann serves
on the board of Htoo Trading.

Myanmar-watchers say Tay Za, 43, is also involved in tourism,
infrastructure projects, mobile telephone service, and was involved in the
government's purchase of helicopters from Russia.

"The charismatic Tay Za is known to have a silver tongue and considerable
experience dealing with Burma's notoriously testy rulers," the Irrawaddy,
an opposition publication based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, wrote last year.

Dave Mathieson, a consultant on Myanmar to Human Rights Watch in Bangkok,
called him "the richest man in Burma."

Attempts to reach Tay Za for comment were unsuccessful.

Tay Za was sighted in Singapore last month when he arrived on the first
flight to Singapore of Air Bagan Ltd, which is also among the firms
targeted under new US sanctions.

He is a large man who wore purple flowers around his neck as part of the
welcoming ceremony. In a speech, Tay Za said the airline's service to
Singapore "will promote the relationship between the two countries."

His companies in Singapore work from a 24th-floor suite of offices
panelled in light-coloured wood, with no name-plate outside the opaque
door.

"The person in charge has gone back to Myanmar," the receptionist said,
referring to Tay Za, when a reporter arrived seeking comment on Monday.

He is on a 2006 list of junta members and others whose assets were frozen
under European Union sanctions.

"The problem with Tay Za is there's so many rumours about him," Turnell
said. "He's easily the most flamboyant of the tycoons that Burma has
produced."

____________________________________
DRUGS

She's affectionately known as Yai Elle or Yai Aew - or Grandmother Aew -
among this city's rough and tumble, narcotics-peddling youth gangs. For
more than a decade, Laddawan Chaininpun, 62, has worked to help
rehabilitate Chiang Mai's gangs and in the process has won many of their
trust.

She got involved with the gangs initially because her nephew had joined
one of Chiang Mai's most vicious gangs: the Samurais. They earned that
nickname because they were often seen wielding long swords while riding
motorcycles at high speed through the city at night.

Yai Aew estimates that that there are about 50 youth gangs in Chiang Mai,
varying in size from a handful to several hundred. The total number of
members would be around 3,500, or perhaps even more, she says. Of those,
26 gangs with a total membership of about 1,500 are taking part in her
programs, which lately have won the support of the Swedish section of the
teetotaler nongovernmental organization, the International Organization of
Good Templars.

"I realize that I cannot change their behavior completely," Yai Aew says.
"But by bringing the different gangs together, they can become friends and
no one would want to fight someone who is a friend, would he? Then,
there'll be less violence and even ordinary people will feel safer in the
city."

Violence and turf wars between rival gangs have been a social scourge in
Chiang Mai for decades, running alongside a city plagued by prostitution,
HIV/AIDS and drugs. Gang members are often both distributors and users.
Both boys and girls, some barely in their teens, sell sexual services for
as little as 300 baht (US$8.50) to buy drugs, alcohol and glue.

The gangs operate in different parts of the city, and it is when their
interests clash that fights often break out. The Samurai gang, which now
has about 300 members aged between 13 and 20, was formed in 1996, and its
actual name is Na Dara, which means "in front of Dara." The founders of
the gang used to meet at a food stall in front of Dara Vidhyalai School
near Chiang Mai's central bus station.

Another prominent gang is called Ya Kha, named after a thatched-roof
motorcycle repair shed, while the Set Den got their name because they were
"left over", or social outcasts. Among those formed more recently, the Bin
Laden gang gained notoriety a few years ago when it was actually involved
in the murder of members of rival gangs. The name Bin Laden was taken to
evoke an image of violence and daring attacks.

In addition, Yai Aew says there are four all-girl gangs, of which the
Vampires count around 180 members. "They like to sleep with as many boys
as they can, and I can't prevent them from doing that, but, at the very
least, and I can teach them about safe sex," says Yai Aew, who distributes
condoms to the youngsters.

Blood brothers and sisters
It is difficult to say why young people join the gangs. Pu, an 18-year-old
boy from Mae Taeng north of the city, hangs out at night around Tha Phae
gate in downtown Chiang Mai, and simply says that "it's fun, I get many
friends here". Daeng, a 16-year-old mixed French-Thai boy from San
Kamphaeng - more famous among foreigners for its local silk and handicraft
industry - says he has nothing else to do at night.

Being a member of a gang gives him, and presumably also Pu, a sense of
belonging. Various gangs may clash, but there is a strong feeling of
brotherhood - or, as in the case of the Vampires, sisterhood - among the
members of the same group.

It is also no coincidence that Chiang Mai has a long history of youth
gangs and juvenile delinquency. It is a frontier town that always has had
a large transient population as many young people have migrated to or
through Chiang Mai from the surrounding countryside and neighboring
Myanmar, Laos and China. There is also a large hill-tribe population in
the area, people who are still basically stateless. And Chiang Mai is
close to the Golden Triangle, one of the world's oldest and biggest
drug-producing areas.

Lieutenant Colonel Anu Nuernhad, an officer at Mae Rim police station just
north of the city and a renowned local historian, recalls gang-fights as
early as in the 1950s. In one of his 17 books about Chiang Mai history,
Anu describes a melee in March 1958, involving a youth gang called Sri
Ping - named after a cinema where they used to meet - and rivals from the
outlying district of Sarapee.

They carried guns and came on bicycles. The smoking of opium was common in
those days and in around 1963-64, the derivative heroin began to be
produced in the Golden Triangle. The Sri Ping and others were soon selling
it in the streets of Chiang Mai.

In many ways Chiang Mai's street gangs are on the lowest level in the drug
hierarchy that begins with the warlords in the Golden Triangle. And today
it is yaa baa, or methamphetamines, rather than heroin that is the drug of
choice for the city's juvenile delinquents. Yaa baa now sells in the
streets of Chiang Mai for 200-250 baht a pill, of which very little is
actual profit for the young dealers.

And as street dealers they are also the most vulnerable in the
distribution chain. During the "war on drugs", which was launched in 2003
during the former Thai government of Thaksin Shinawatra, several youth
gang leaders in Chiang Mai simply disappeared, never to be heard of again.

For unlike the druglords of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Myanmar,
they do not enjoy the protection of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, nor are they connected with seemingly untouchable "influential
persons" on both sides of the frontier. Some of the youth gang members
survive because they are doubling as police informers, and therefore left
alone.

But their only real hope is Yai Aew, and in many ways she has done
wonders. Gang members come to see her regularly and she has organized
football tournaments and weekend leadership courses to get them off drugs,
and to minimize their usually violent behavior. "In the beginning, the
police were suspicious of me," she told Asia Times Online in Chiang Mai.
"They thought I was some kind of 'Godmother' for the gangs, not a
volunteer social worker."

But, gradually, the police came to trust her too, as they could see the
benefits of her work. The northern branch of the Office of Narcotics
Control Board, a Thai government agency, even helped her finance her
activities.

She is proud to point out that the Bin Laden gang now has some of the best
footballers in the city. "And some of them have even joined the army," she
says. Her greatest achievement is perhaps with the Samurai, or Na Dara,
which is often abbreviated "NDR". But in Yai Aew's parlance NDR now stands
for "No Drug Rulers" - and she assured Asia Times Online that drug use
today is minimal among its members.

So can the gangs be tamed, and drug pushers and notorious killers, become
footballers and soldiers? The level of street violence in Chiang Mai has
no doubt subsided over the past few years in part due to Yai Aew's
matronly influence. There are perhaps also somewhat fewer youngsters using
drugs. But their behavior is still risky, and it would need many more
dedicated volunteers like Yai Aew to eliminate the problem for good.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic
Review and is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services.
Jantrapa Ganthawong in Chiang Mai contributed to this story.

____________________________________
ASEAN

October 22, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Roundup: Problems in Myanmar won't stop ASEAN from signing charter

Myanmar resolution must come from Asia Singapore Problems in Myanmar will
not stop the Association of South-East Asian Nations from signing the
ASEAN Charter, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said Monday.

The charter, which Yeo described as a "milestone," is to include an
agreement to establish an ASEAN human rights body and a system of
compulsory dispute settlement among the group's 10 members, which include
Myanmar.

The planned signing is to take place during the ASEAN leaders summit next
month in Singapore, which now holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship.

Speaking at the Asian Globalization Conference in Singapore, Yeo said the
leaders would also discuss how the summit could support UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari's mission to end violence in Myanmar.

The country's military junta has come under international condemnation for
its brutal treatment of pro-democracy activists, most recently during its
crackdown on peaceful demonstrations at the end of September.

For South-East Asia, ASEAN is the "best hope" for the future, Yeo said.

While everyone in South-East Asia is powering forward, Myanmar has moved
into reverse gear, Yeo added.

Former Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said a resolution must come
from the region.

"We are rather grateful for the role of the special envoy," said Surin.
"But in the end, Asian ways of solving the problem would most likely be a
regional one and that would mean countries neighbouring Myanmar will have
to be playing more important roles."

"It will not be immediate," he said. "It will take time because the issue
has been with us for so long and it needs a lot of consultation, a lot of
cooperation and a lot of support," said Surin, the ASEAN secretary-general
designate.

ASEAN consists of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The signing of the charter could be delayed if Myanmar's leader does not
attend, ASEAN secretary general Ong Keng Yong said earlier.

He added such a delay would be a worst-case scenario and the charter was
expected to be finalized during the summit November 18-22.

ASEAN expected Senior General Than Shwe, leader of Myanmar's military
junta, to attend.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 22, Associated Press
India pressed to take a more public role in pressuring Myanmar junta -
Gavin Rabinowitz

A United Nations envoy visited India on Monday, hoping to rouse the
world's largest democracy from its relative silence over the violent
crackdown on pro-democracy protests by the military government in
neighboring Myanmar.

U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari is on a six-nation tour to press Asian nations
in particular China and India to take the lead in resolving the crisis as
the European Union and the United States press for expanded sanctions
against Myanmar. He met with India's foreign secretary, Shivshankar Menon,
on Monday and was to meet other officials before departing Tuesday.

India, which has established deep economic and military ties with the
junta over the last decade, says it's talking quietly to its neighbor, an
approach that has galled critics who argue New Delhi's inaction makes it
complicit in the brutal repression taking place in Myanmar.

"We feel that India should stop protecting and strengthening the military
butchers of Burma," said Thin Thin Aung of the Women's League of Burma,
while protesting recently outside the home of Sonia Gandhi, the head of
India's ruling Congress party.

On Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush announced new measures targeting
the assets of Myanmar's leaders. He also tightened controls on U.S.
exports to the country, also known as Burma. In addition, he urged China
and India to do more to pressure the junta that has ruled the Southeast
Asian nation since 1962.

While China has taken some action Beijing is credited with pressuring
Myanmar's generals to meet with Gambari earlier in the month India has
done little publicly. In fact, as the protests gathered steam last month,
India's petroleum minister, Murali Deora, was in Myanmar signing a US$150
million gas exploration deal.

Days later, the Myanmar's rulers ordered a crackdown that saw soldiers
open fire on the tens of thousands peaceful protesters pressing for a
return to democracy and thousands of people, many of them Buddhist monks,
arrested.

The junta claims that 10 people were killed in the crackdown, but
diplomats and dissidents say the death toll was much higher.

Apart from several mild statements expressing "concern" over the situation
in Myanmar and suggestions that it would be "helpful" to release detained
democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, India has said
little else, even as pressure has grown on New Delhi to act.

India insists that quietly working behind the scenes is more effective.

"Violence and suppression of human rights is something that hurts us,"
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters last week on the way
home from a visit to South Africa.

"Having said that we have to recognize that Myanmar is our next door
neighbor and sometimes it does not serve the objective you have in mind by
going public with condemnations," he said.

Critics dismiss India's quiet diplomacy, saying New Delhi is simply loathe
to give up access to Myanmar's copious natural resources, such as timber
and natural gas.

"As a democracy one expects more from India," Brad Adams, the Asia
director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"We would like India to speak publicly. They do their diplomacy in private
but there is no doubt that public diplomacy is necessary" said Adams,
adding that India needs to make it clear to the junta that there will be
consequences for its actions.

India shifted its policy from one of support for Suu Kyi to engaging the
generals in the early 1990s in part because of a desire to access
Myanmar's large, close-by natural gas reserves.

As India's economy began to boom it became desperate to lay its hands on
the energy resources necessary to fuel its rapid economic growth and
provide power to its 1.1 billion people. Myanmar's reserves proved too
tempting.

As India's economic clout expanded it has also sought a diplomatic
standing to match. That, in part, has meant trying to counter China, which
was making deep inroads into Myanmar, becoming their principle ally.

India has also been keen to secure the cooperation of the Myanmar military
to help contain several separatist groups fighting New Delhi rule in
India's northeast, a region that borders Myanmar. Several of the groups
have set up bases over the border used to launch attacks against India.

"In dealing with this, we need to cooperate with the government in Myanmar
regardless of its color," Singh said.

Opponents say not only has India abandoned Myanmar's democrats but they
have largely failed to secure their goals in Myanmar where China remains
the major player.

"India has not achieved any of these goals in reality," said Myanmar exile
Soe Myint the editor-in-chief of the New Delhi-based Mizzima newspaper.

"But it is quite encouraging that there is huge international pressure on
India to re-examine its policies on Burma," he said.

___________________________________

October 22, Mizzima News
Gambari should question Indian PM on Burma policy: IPFDB - Mungpi

Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, UN Secretary General's special envoy, should demand
that India alter its foreign policy on Burma and adopt a proactive stance
to push for democratic reforms in the Southeast Asian country, an Indian
Parliamentary forum urged today.

The Indian Parliamentary Forum for Democracy in Burma (IPFDB) on Monday
said, Gambari, who is visiting India on a six-nation consultation tour on
Burma, should ask India about its stance as a democratic nation and should
urge ot to take a proactive role in Burma's democratization.

Robert Kharshiing, convener of the IPFDB, said, "Gambari should question
the effectiveness of Indian engagement policy with the Burmese military
junta to the Prime Minister of India, when they meet."

According to the UN information centre in New Delhi, Gambari, who arrived
in the Indian capital on Sunday, will meet Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan
Singh and Minister of External Affairs Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.

Kharshiing said, the PM should take the opportunity to tell the
international community of its commitment for democracy and tell Gambari
of its support on the UN initiative on Burma.

"Besides, India should come up with a concrete plan of its own to bring
about changes in Burma," Kharshiing added.

Gambari, who is in New Delhi after his visit to Indonesia, will be heading
for China and Japan for further consultations as a part of the United
Nations initiative to push for changes Burma.

Gambari said that he will be re-visiting the Southeast Asian nation in
mid-November to further facilitate talks between the junta and detained
pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma attracted international condemnation after the junta's brutally
crushed peaceful protests monks and common people last month. And with
India maintaining a neutral stance it has drawn considerable criticism
against its policy on Burma.

India, in response to international calls, has issued a statement calling
on a broad based dialogue for national reconciliation but avoided harsh
criticism against the junta saying it is engaged in 'non-condemnatory' and
'silent diplomacy'.

However, Abani Roy, a Member of Parliament of the upper house [Rajya
Sabha], said India, being a democratic country, is making a serious
mistake in abandoning its ideals and engaging with the Burmese junta.

"We are really sorry that our government has taken the side of the
generals, but I can assure that most parliamentarians are with the Burmese
people," Kharshiing said.

"If today there is a vote in parliament on Burma, I am sure most
parliamentarians will support the Burmese people and not the generals
 it
is sad that the country where Lord Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi were born is
not supporting eternal values but is going for temporal gas and oil," he
added.

However, he expressed optimism about the meeting on Tuesday between
Gambari and the Prime Minister of India, and appreciate the UN initiative
to engage regional countries for changes in Burma.

"I am on the positive side, I am very happy that UN now is putting
pressure on both China and India to put more pressure on Burma. We cannot
afford to see another Sudan or Darfur in Burma," added Kharshiing.

____________________________________

October 22, Agence France Presse
Singapore counters concerns over links to Myanmar - Martin Abbugao

Singapore's foreign minister has countered concerns over the country's
ties to Myanmar, saying Monday that there have been no recent defence
sales and that economic links are limited.

George Yeo, responding to questions in parliament, also said the country
has strict rules against money laundering.

His comments followed the arrest on October 8 of four Singapore Democratic
Party members who held a protest to demand official clarification of
whether government-linked firms, including defence suppliers, do business
with military-run Myanmar.

"I can say that over the years, defence sales to Myanmar have not been
substantial and have always been linked to items that are not suitable for
countering civilian unrest," Yeo told parliament.

"There have not been any defence sales to Myanmar in recent years, and
going forward we will continue to behave in a responsible manner."

Singapore is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), and has led regional criticism of the Myanmar junta's
crackdown against anti-government demonstrators led by Buddhist monks last
month.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 3,000 detained in the
crackdown which sparked global outrage.

Yeo said he could not provide details about defence matters but he noted
that Myanmar is not subject to a United Nations arms embargo.

"If there's any UN sanctions against Myanmar, Singapore will of course
abide," he added.

The United States and Europe have strengthened their economic sanctions
against Myanmar since the crackdown.

As part of the stepped-up US action announced Friday, three
Singapore-linked firms are among seven cut off from the US financial
system, the US Treasury Department said.

There was no mention in parliament of the sanctions against the
Singapore-linked firms which Myanmar-watchers say are tied to Tay Za, a
businessman with close ties to the junta.

International Monetary Fund figures show Singapore was the third-largest
supplier of imports to Myanmar last year, behind China and Thailand.

But Yeo told parliament that the city-state's economic links with Myanmar
are limited.

"Before the Asian financial crisis we did encourage our businessmen to
invest and to do more in Myanmar," he said referring to a regional
financial meltdown that struck 10 years ago.

At that time, he said, there was hope the government would take a path
toward constitutional democracy. But such hopes were dashed after 1998,
when the Myanmar government "froze" and the economy slid backwards, he
said.

Yeo said Myanmar ranked 50th among Singapore's trading partners.

Government figures show total trade between the two nations was one
billion Singapore dollars (683 million US) -- 0.12 percent of the
city-state's total trade last year.

This was slightly less than the 742 million Singapore dollars directly
invested in Myanmar in 2005, according to figures from the city-state.

"On our own, our economic influence is not significant. If we in ASEAN
boycott Myanmar we would lose our moral influence which is not
insignificant," Yeo told parliament.

Human rights activists and other experts on Myanmar disagree, saying
Singapore could take economic action against the regime.

They allege -- without providing direct evidence -- that junta funds have
flowed into, or at least through Singapore, a regional financial centre.

Yeo told parliament that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) does
not keep track of remittances from Myanmar but he stressed the city-state
requires financial institutions to follow strict procedures which include
the reporting of suspicious transactions.

"Our rules are vigorously enforced," he said.

"Should there be links to illicit activities, MAS will not hesitate to
take necessary action."

___________________________________

October 22, VOA News
UN Burma envoy meets Singapore officials

The United Nations' special envoy to Burma has met with government
officials in Singapore on his six-nation tour of Asia, meant to help find
a peaceful solution to Burma's political conflict.

The government of Singapore said Sunday that officials from the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs met with Ibrahim Gambari in Singapore between his
visits to Jakarta in Indonesia and New Delhi in India. In a statement, the
government said Gambari was assured that Singapore will do all it can to
support national reconciliation and a political solution in Burma.

Singapore says it hopes Burma will cooperate with Gambari and allow him
access to opposition representatives, in particular the detained democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

President Bush announced new economic restrictions against Burma's
military government last week and urged Burma's neighbors, including China
and India, to put more pressure on the military government. The European
Union decided last
week to impose an import embargo on timber, gems, and precious metals from
Burma.

Gambari has suggested an alternate strategy -- offering the military
government incentives in exchange for democratic reforms, to show Burma's
rulers that the international community is not trying to punish them.

Burmese authorities have cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators in
recent weeks, including Buddhist monks who led the protests. The
government says it is holding hundreds of protesters for interrogation,
but opposition activists say the number may be far higher. Authorities say
troops killed 10 protesters, but that figure also is disputed.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 22, TASS
Russia welcomes moves towards democratization in Myanmar

Moscow expects that progress will be reached in the democratization
process in Myanmar, and that stability will be maintained inside the
country, sources from the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday,
commenting on a decision by the Myanmar government to set up a commission
to prepare a draft constitution.

"We welcome a decision of the Myanmar government to set up a special
commission to prepare a draft constitution," the sources said. "We believe
this step testifies to the readiness of the Myanmar government to carry
out political transformations in accordance with the 'road map' of
democratic reforms it has approved," they added.

Moscow expects that "the process of democratization in Myanmar will
progress, and that internal stability, civil peace as well as public law
and order will be maintained there," they stressed.

____________________________________

October 22, Asia Times
UN fiddles while Myanmar burns - Bertil Lintner

Are the United Nations and its agencies becoming part of the problem
rather than the solution in Myanmar? That is what many Myanmar people are
asking themselves as UN Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari appears to be a lame
duck, unable to persuade the ruling generals to agree to anything more
than appointing a deputy labor minister, Brigadier-General Khin Kyi, to
"liaise" with detained pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Myanmar government has blatantly rejected an urging by the UN Security
Council for restraint and continues to arrest people who took part in
street demonstrations last month. At the same time, critics have also
begun to question the activities of various UN agencies in Myanmar.

On October 4, the Irrawaddy, an independent magazine and website run by
Burmese exiles in Thailand, published an online commentary highly critical
of the head of the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP's) resident
representative in Yangon, Charles Petrie. He was accused of making
interviews during the turmoil to international TV networks, which were
"meaningless" and "outraged educated and politically active" people in
Myanmar.

Earlier this year, the UNDP was forced to dismiss four of its staff in
Yangon. According to Petrie himself, two had "borrowed" project money,
which had been deposited for "village micro projects", while one had
"failed to report the misuse of funds" and the fourth was dismissed
because of "non-performance", Petrie stated in a reply to questions
submitted from Asia Times Online by e-mail.

Now, in October 2007, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC,
has presented a report on poppy cultivation in Myanmar, which, according
to critics, contains a number of shortcomings and dubious assertions,
which also run contrary to several reports compiled by the independent
Shan Herald Agency for News, SHAN, which is run by ethnic Shan living on
the Thai-Myanmar border.

While the UNODC report admits that poppy cultivation has actually
increased since 2006, it talks about progress and, in the words of UNODC's
Myanmar representative, Shariq Bin Raza, "impressive achievements". SHAN
accuses the ruling military of collusion in the drug trade, and "show
business" to appease the international community and that UNODC projects
to start tea plantations in areas formerly used for opium cultivation near
the Chinese border "failed with a big loss".

What has been achieved, both UNODC and SHAN seem to agree, is that poppy
cultivation inside areas along the Chinese border, which are controlled by
local armies and until 1989 by units of the now defunct Communist Party of
Burma, CPB, has diminished. In that year, the hill-tribe rank-and-file of
the CPB's army mutinied against the party's mainly Burman Maoist
leadership and drove them into exile in China.

The CPB subsequently split up along ethnic lines into four different
armies, of which the United Wa State Army, UWSA, is now the most powerful.
The ex-CPB mutineers also entered into cease-fire agreements with the
government in Yangon, according to which they were allowed to retain their
arms and control of their respective areas.

They were also allowed to trade in whatever they wanted, which led to a
dramatic surge in opium production in the 1990s. The derivative heroin was
also manufactured in the UWSA-controlled area, and the group soon began to
protect the production of methamphetamines as well. According to official
statistics from the United States State Department, the 1987 harvest for
Myanmar - before the CPB mutiny - yielded 836 tons of raw opium; by 1995
production had increased to 2,340 tons.

Enter the UN
The United Nations was around then invited to start crop substitution and
other development programs in the former CPB-controlled area. As a result,
and because of vigorous enforcement by the UWSA leadership, a virtually
opium-free zone has been created along the Chinese border.

But, as SHAN director Khuensai Jaiyen said at a presentation at the
Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok in September this year:
"Myanmar's war on drugs has targeted only certain 'token' areas, only in
the north and not in the south and central Shan State." Shan State for
years has been Myanmar's main opium producing area, and that remains the
case also today.

Further, Khuensai said, "eradication efforts have had a 'balloon effect',
pushing cultivation in the north to the south and central. There is also
opium cultivation in western Shan State, where opium has never been grown
before." He also said that the Myanmar military "has an interest in
maintaining opium production" because the number of government battalions
in Shan State since 1988 to present has increased from 33 to 141. "The
government policy of 'self-sufficiency' for soldiers has deepened the
military's involvement in the trade," Khuensai said.

The recent UNODC report does not mention official complicity in the trade.
In fact, the report's only reference to the collection of "tax" on drug
production in Shan State is a claim that Shan State Army-South, SSA-S, an
anti-government rebel army, has encouraged local farmers "to cultivate
opium in their area, so they (SSA-S) can gain tax." When contacted by
e-mail by AToL, the Yangon-based UNODC researcher Xavier Bouan conceded
that all armies in the area, including the government's, "are taxing this
crop" - which the UNODC did not mention in the actual report.

SHAN has produced two main reports on drugs in Myanmar, "Show Business:
Rangoon's 'War on Drugs' in Shan State" in December 2003, and "Hand in
Glove: The Burma Army and the Drug Trade in Shan State" in August 2005.
Both reports name Myanmar army officers who are directly involved in the
trade, and have maps showing how the poppy cultivation has shifted from
the Chinese border areas further inland in Shan State.

SHAN reports also deal in great detail with the skyrocketing production of
methamphetamines in Shan State, mainly in areas controlled by the UWSA. By
contrast, the UNODC report does not even mention the manufacture of such
synthetic drugs, which appears to be how drug lords affiliated with the
UWSA have "substituted" their loss of income from the opium and heroin
trade along the Chinese frontier. Millions of pills, known as yaa baa, or
Thai for "madness medicine", are flooding into Thailand, causing severe
social problems especially in the north, close to the production areas
across the border in Myanmar.

Flimsy research
UNODC defends its stance by saying that their concern is only opium, not
synthetic drugs - but that seems a strange strategy for the elimination of
drugs in Myanmar. And by concentrating on the "project areas" along the
Chinese frontier, UNODC also seems to be neglecting the production of
opium in other parts of Myanmar, which even the UN agency admits is
increasing.

According to the UNODC's recently released report, opium poppy cultivation
in Myanmar increased by 29% from 2006 to 2007, or from 315 to 460 tons.
But it is reasonable to believe that the increase has been more dramatic
than that; the UNODC report admits that its surveyors were not permitted
to assess the situation to Sagaing Division adjacent to India - where
other sources have reported an increase in opium production.

Perhaps even more telling of government interference, the UNODC report
states that their researchers did not find any poppies during a trip in
February this year to "northern Chin State", another part of Myanmar
bordering India. However, reports by India-based organizations - for
instance the Mizzima News Group based in New Delhi - state that poppies
are being grown in other areas, to which the UNODC team was not taken to
by the authorities.

Equally puzzling is the UNODC's silence on the UWSA, the authority that
controls and governs the agency's main project area along the Chinese
frontier. In January 2005, eight major leaders of the UWSA, including its
commander Bao Yuxiang and his two brothers, were indicted in absentia by a
federal court in the US on charges of heroin and methamphetamine
trafficking. Another prominent UWSA leader, Wei Xuegang, an ethnic Han
Chinese who is one of the eight, already had a US$2 million reward on his
head after being convicted of heroin trafficking 10 years ago. In
addition, US authorities are believed to have unsealed indictments against
another dozen or so drug lords, who are operating under the UWSA umbrella.

Since the indictment was issued, Bao's younger brother Bao Youhua, has
died while Wei has built a heavily fortified, luxury mansion near
Panghsang, the UWSA's headquarters. On July 4, 2006, Wei, twice a fugitive
from justice was appointed "finance minister" in the Wa "government", thus
becoming the most powerful of the UWSA's leaders.

He and his comrades have used the millions they have earned from the drug
trade to buy up real estate in China and Myanmar, and, especially in
Myanmar, to invest in perfectly legitimate businesses such as plastic
factories, agro-industrial enterprises, mineral smelting, retail trading,
import-export, and the tourist industry. One international drug
enforcement official based in Thailand called Wei's business empire "one
of the biggest money-laundering operations in Southeast Asia today".

So, it may, after all, be just "show business" in Yangon's and the UNODC's
campaigns against drugs. At the heart of the problem is the lack of
openness, transparency and accountability in Myanmar as a whole. Without a
fundamental change in Myanmar's rigid military-run system, and real drug
enforcement efforts, the opium derivative heroin and methamphetamines will
continue to flow across Myanmar's borders. In the meantime, it seems that
the UN indeed is part of the problem rather than the solution.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic
Review. He is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services.

____________________________________

October 22, Mizzima News
Broad U.S. political support for increased sanctions, pressure on junta

Following the recent announcement by President Bush of heightened
sanctions against the Burmese junta and their supporters, United States
politicians from across the political spectrum have been quick to voice
their support for increased pressure on the generals.

On Friday, speaking in Washington, Bush announced additional sanctions
against the Burmese regime and its financial and material supporters
through both the Departments of Commerce and Treasury.

Stating that "ultimately, reconciliation requires that Burmese authorities
release all political prisoners -- and begin negotiations with the
democratic opposition under the auspices of the United Nations," Bush said
that the White House was adding 11 names of junta leaders and 12 names of
those termed supporters of the regime, to a Treasury Department sanctions
list which already contains over 250 names. The list of additions includes
Tay Za, managing director of Htoo Trading Company Limited and Chairman of
Air Bagan.

The President urged China and India to join in a common stance with the
United States, Europe and Australia in imposing sanctions against the
regime, while calling on the junta to allow the International Committee of
the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to function inside of
Burma.

Leading politicians from both sides of the political theater were eager to
voice their support for the United States continued hard line policy
vis-à-vis Burma, as spearheaded by the White House.

Richard Durbin, the Democratic Majority Whip of the Senate, asked Congress
to follow the President's lead on Burma, as a reaffirmation to the people
of Burma that United States stands with them.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., a
Democratic presidential candidate, also offered approval for a policy of
widening sanctions. "The thugs responsible for suppressing Burma's
democracy movement should find no safe haven for the riches they have
plundered from the Burmese people," stated Biden.

Meanwhile Republican Presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain, during a
debate on Sunday night, said that the actions of Russia and China, with
respect to the situation in places such as Burma, may force a League of
Democracies into existence due to the obstructionist measures of both
Russia and China in the United Nations.

In his speech on Friday, and accompanied by First Lady Laura Bush and
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush warned that further sanctions
were possible as the people of Burma continue to "appeal for our help." A
spokesperson for the President also stated that the White House views the
recent lift of curfew and the ban on assembly as purely "cosmetic"
gestures, the generals having already detained much of the leadership from
recent protests.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER


October 22, New Straits Times
Time for Asean, China to act on Myanmar - Michael Vatikiotis

Unanimity of purpose across the region, argues Michael Vatikiotis, is the
best way forward towards the future of Myanmar

THE announcement of a Constitutional Drafting Committee in Myanmar may
look like another step along the military junta's seven-step road map, but
in fact it is more bad news for the international community's determined
effort to encourage a peaceful political transition to democracy in the
country.

The appointment of the 54-member committee appears to close off the
possibility of making the process more inclusive, and denies the fledgling
dialogue process between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
of a major area of compromise.

The junta appears to be doing just what everyone feared; closing ranks and
resisting pressure to make concessions to the domestic opposition and
concerned members of the international community. This makes it all the
more important for Myanmar's neighbours, big and small, to agree on a
strategy involving political and economic aid and assistance.

The military regime may now be talking to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, but
the absence of regional accord on the way forward ensures that Myanmar's
generals can play divide and rule, however loud the calls for change,
however strong the threat of sanctions.
There have been calls for Myanmar's powerful neighbours, China and India,
to take the lead, but a paucity of constructive advice about how to change
the status quo. One idea gaining currency is a core group based on the
Permanent Five members of the United Nations Security Council, plus
Norway, Japan and Singapore as Asean standing chairman.

While such a configuration may send the right message in terms of global
concern, it may be the wrong way to persuade China and India to change
their views as it smacks of great power arm-twisting. Myanmar's military
rulers will also be able to spout the usual rhetoric of neocolonial
conspiracy.

Far more effective would be a core group or mechanism anchored in the
region, rather than in New York. China, in particular, needs cover from
regional neighbours before breaking with the long and now outdated
tradition of non-interference. Therefore, support from the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian nations, of which Myanmar is a member, is
critical.

If Asean can agree to support a peaceful transition, with appropriate
measures of carrots and sticks, there is no question that major powers
like India, China and Japan, upon which the Myanmar authorities depend for
vital trade and aid, will have to follow.

The question is how. Asean's track record on Myanmar isn't all that
consistent. For years since admitting Myanmar as a member in 1997, the
regional grouping has made ineffectual attempts to influence the regime,
never quite able to confront the repression and isolation that has kept
the country one of the poorest in the region, with close to 60 per cent of
the population living on an average income of below US$100 (RM350) a year.

The screws started to turn after the latest outburst of protests and the
brutal crackdown that followed. Singapore, the current chairman of Asean,
wrote to the government expressing the group's "revulsion" at the violent
repression of demonstrators. There followed a chorus of disapproving
comments from other Asean capitals. But alas, almost a month after the
crackdown began, no one can agree on a plan.

Time is running out. If nothing concrete is proposed once Asean heads of
government gather in Singapore for a summit towards the end of November,
the generals in Myanmar will correctly conclude that they have been given
a pass again.

Most Asean leaders have expressed full and unqualified support for Ibrahim
Gambari's mediating mission in Myanmar. But they should go further and
seek a high-level consultation with China and India. Such a move would
indicate an emerging regional consensus for political reconciliation and
transition in Myanmar and further strengthen Gambari's hand.

Next, Asean and China should agree on a mechanism to facilitate aid and
assistance to Myanmar. For all of its strategic clout, China will not want
to take the lead. Such a working group might be composed of Asean's
immediate past chairman (the Philippines), the current chairman
(Singapore) and the incoming chair (Thailand) as well as China and
possibly India. Indonesia will ask for a role and should be given one in
the form of a high-profile convenor or envoy to lead this group, which
might be dubbed "Friends of Myanmar".

Once established, the working group could be placed at the disposal of the
United Nations and support internal dialogue brokered by Ibrahim Gambari.
It is not enough for Asean to simply support Gambari's mission with words;
there must be action and a plan to contribute aid, investment and
technical assistance to help the Myanmars achieve comparable levels of
prosperity in the region.

As usual, however, Asean is divided. Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk
Seri Syed Hamid Albar sees no need for Asean's active involvement.
Thailand is in favour of a working-group mechanism. Indonesia appears to
place trust in its own ties to the junta in a vain hope that Myanmar's
generals will follow the example of Indonesia's generals a decade ago and
go quietly into political retirement.

There is an urgent need for Asean to end its disagreements and dithering,
and work as one with China to shape a regional consensus. Myanmar has made
it known that it will only speak to Gambari, so Gambari must go with the
full backing of the region. Other major powers may want a role, but
experience suggests that interventionist diplomacy is best managed within
the region.

In the 1980s, Asean broke all its rules and backed a mechanism for
bringing the warring Cambodian factions to the table. Cambodia was
subjected to more than a decade of interference and intervention; it has
emerged a strong, sovereign state. Its democracy may be imperfect, but a
robust civil society keeps its strong leadership playing by basic
democratic rules.

No one in Asean wants to see Myanmar destabilised, but Asean, in concert
with China, must send a strong signal of concern about the road map since
it is now becoming clear that there is no willingness to include the
opposition in the process and there is no intention to start a real
dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Constructive change and stability will only flow from a more inclusive
political process; only Myanmar's regional friends and neighbours can
effectively deliver this message.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Columns/2064928/Article/index_html

____________________________________

October 22, Moscow Times
No longer the generals' Myanmar -Tom Malinowski

In 1988, the people of Burma, now called Myanmar, began a nonviolent
struggle for democracy and were met with gunfire. I was working for U.S.
Senator Pat Moynihan, about the only prominent American to notice then
what was happening in that isolated country. One day, after the Senate
passed its first-ever resolution on Burma, a photo arrived in our office
showing a column of Burmese marching with a banner reading, "Thank you
Senator Moynihan." The United States was proud but profoundly sad. It knew
that its meager words could not keep those brave people from being killed
or their movement from being crushed.

Today, Myanmar's military dictators have again met demands for human
rights -- this time from Buddhist monks --with force. Some believe that
another Myanmar Spring has been extinguished and that the United States
can do little to help. I disagree. The most recent peaceful uprising
reflects fundamental changes within the country and the wider world. Its
implications won't be felt for some time but can be guided by the right
international response.

The United States should have no illusions about what is going on in
Myanmar. Soldiers are hunting down leaders of the protest movement and
torturing them. Revered Buddhist monasteries are being occupied. The monks
are being defrocked, beaten and sometimes killed. Government newspapers
demand unity against "neocolonialist stooges" and "killers in the
airwaves" -- the Western radio stations that people depend on for news.
People are afraid.

But the government also has reason to worry. By attacking monasteries, it
has created a problem it cannot solve: These sacred spaces cannot be shut
forever (any more than Poland's Communist government could have closed its
Catholic churches); when they reopen, dissent will re-emerge. Through the
Internet, the country's dissidents are more connected to one another and
the world than ever before. The leadership is more disconnected from its
people and from reality, holed up in a bizarre new capital in the jungle.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's neighbors in the Association of South East Asian
Nations no longer stand by the generals; they have expressed "revulsion"
over the violence. The United Nations Security Council, where China vetoed
a resolution on Myanmar nine months ago, has demanded, with China's
consent, that the country release political prisoners. It has sent an
envoy to mediate the only solution that appears realistic -- a negotiated
political transition in which the military saves some of its status and
face.

What will induce Myanmar's generals to listen? Sanctions, imposed by only
a few countries, have not convinced them before. Skeptics point out that
if Western oil companies leave the country, Asian companies will vie to
take their place. If the United States and Europe stop buying gems and
hardwood from the country, others will fill the gap. Yet the generals are
vulnerable. Whether they get rich from gas, gems, timber or narcotics
deals, the revenue is usually deposited in hard currency (since the local
currency is worthless) in accounts in such places as Singapore and Dubai.
That cash generally can't be used internationally without passing through
the U.S. or European banking systems, where it can be blocked, as
President George W. Bush announced Friday that his administration would
try to do. The United States and Europe can persuade, or compel, the banks
themselves to freeze the junta's accounts.

Diplomats and foreign policy experts sometimes discount sanctions because
--like most of us -- they don't understand the arcane world of global
finance. But targeted financial sanctions have become highly
sophisticated. For example, decades of generalized trade restrictions
against North Korea had little impact. But when the United States, acting
alone, caused one foreign bank to freeze one account belonging to North
Korea's leaders, Kim Jong Il came to the nuclear negotiating table pretty
fast. Even hermit kings can't afford to have their credit cards frozen, as
Myanmar's rulers may soon learn.

The alternative some suggest is to flood Myanmar with aid to raise living
standards. But the country's rulers are not like those in South Korea,
where growing prosperity contributed to political opening; they have
deliberately neglected the country's schools and health care. They have
squashed private initiative while building a system that works splendidly
for them: No one can prosper without their permission. Outside aid might
help some survive. But to think it can bring prosperity (much less spur
political change) is naive.

There is one problem with smart sanctions: The only policy that can work
with Myanmar requires sustained attention that no administration has yet
been willing to provide. Senior people in Washington will have to work
seven days a week tracking money originating from Myanmar around the world
while simultaneously managing complex, multiparty diplomacy.

But here is something else that is new: The U.S. president cares about
Myanmar and is energizing his administration to act. And he should:
Myanmar is one place where the United States remains largely admired,
where the administration doesn't have to choose between the best of bad
options and where it can still leave a legacy of nurturing democracy.
Those who legitimately mistrust Bush's approach to the world should not be
cynical about his efforts on Myanmar or the possibility of success if
other nations do their part.

The main obstacle to a successful policy toward Myanmar is the belief that
the United States is as powerless today as it was 20 years ago. Let the
generals hiding in their jungle fortress believe that nothing in the world
has changed. And let the United States prove them wrong.

Tom Malinowski is Washington advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. This
comment appeared in The Washington Post.

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2007/10/22/007.html

____________________________________

October 22, Irrawaddy
Targets of new US sanctions feeling the heat [Editorial]

US President George Bush has imposed additional sanctions on Burma,
requiring the US Treasury Department to freeze the assets held in the US
by 11 more high-ranking members of the military regime.

The new sanctions target the mayor of Rangoon and the ministers of
electric power, health, education, industry, labor, science and
technology, commerce, national planning and economic development, finance
and revenue, telecommunications and construction.

The sanctions also target 12 businessmen and business entities close to
Snr-Gen Than Shwe and other hard-line military leaders.

One of the wealthiest businessmen one the list is Tay Za, the CEO of Htoo
Trading Company and the owner of Air Bagan, which recently launched
flights to Singapore.

Two other prominent businessmen, Htay Myint and Khin Shwe, have had
friendly relationships with the regime for years.

Htay Myint is the chairman of the Yuzana Company, involved in agricultural
projects and has been accused of confiscating land from farmers and ethnic
groups.

Khin Shwe, the CEO of Zaykabar Company, hired a US PR firm, Bain and
Associates Inc., in Virginia, in 1997 to promote a favorable international
image of Burma.

He was also a member of the junta’s National Convention who actively
supported the regime’s seven-step “Road Map to Democracy.” Khin Shwe’s
daughter is married to a son of Gen Thura Shwe Mann, the No. 3 man in the
junta.

Individual business entities named in the new US sanctions list include
Singapore-based Pavo Trading Pte Ltd and Air Bagan Holdings Pte Ltd.

While the new US sanctions are a positive step, other countries should
also target sanctions aimed at the same individuals and businesses.

In addition, other businessmen should be added to the sanction lists,
including Tun Myint Naing, Chit Khaing, Zaw Zaw and Aung Ko Win. (See:
"The Top 10 Businessmen in Burma," The Irrawaddy, September 2005.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=5010)

Tun Myint Naing, aka Steven Law, is the managing director of Asia World
Co. and the son of former drug kingpin Lo Hsing Han. Founded in 1992, the
company is involved in construction projects, runs an express bus line
from Rangoon to Northern Shan State and operates a shipping enterprise out
of Rangoon, which has been linked in some reports to drug smuggling.

Chit Khaing, the founder of Eden Group Co, was also involved in building
the new capital and his company runs several hotel and constructions
projects throughout Burma.

Zaw Zaw, the director of Max Myanmar, is considered very close to the
grandson of Than Shwe. He chairs the Myanmar Football Federation. His
company was involved in building the new capital, Naypyidaw.

Aung Ko Win, a former school teacher is closely connected to Gen Maung
Aye, the No. 2 man in the junta. He is president of Kanbawza Bank and
involved in agricultural businesses. He has headed several enterprises,
including Myanmar Billion Group and  Kanbawza Hospital in Shan State.

Other countries, especially Singapore, a favorite destination of the junta
leaders and their friends, should also put more pressure on the junta by
closely monitoring the bank transactions carried out by individuals named
on the US sanction's list. Among the top priorities would be to monitor
for possible money laundering.

There is a saying among journalists: "Follow the money."

By carefully targeting economic sanctions and increasing banking
surveillance on the leaders of the junta and their cronies it will be
harder for the generals and their friends to do business as usual.