BurmaNet News, October 24, 2007

[Editor]

October 24, 2007 Issue # 3327

INSIDE BURMA
New York Times: Uneasy days for monks in Myanmar
WP: Inside Burma: After the Crackdown: Citizens wait, worry in Junta's
climate of fear
Irrawaddy: Women activists call for rights, protection
Mizzima News: Junta showcases release of protesters, activists
Reuters: Myanmar junta names new senior official
INMA: TPDC fines people refusing to attend rally
Khonumthung News: UNDP sanctions Kyat 11 lakhs for suspension bridge

INTERNET
Mizzima News: Pulling the plug on the Internet in Burma

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Unanimous support claimed for increased pressure, sanctions

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: No more bank accounts for Burmese generals in Australia

INTERNATIONAL
PTI: India, China, Russia jointly oppose sanctions on Myanmar
AFP: Myanmar bows to world pressure over UN envoy visit
AP: Trade unionists call for boycott against businesses that work with
Myanmar regime
Irrawaddy: Chinese embassies targeted by “Free Burma” demonstrations
AFP: Myanmar's 'exiled PM' receives Irish award for Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: UN Security Council discusses gender-based violence
PR Newswire: Amnesty International demands release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
as she marks 12th year under house arrest
Mizzima News: US women senators urge India to pressurise Burmese junta

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Let us hear from Aung San Suu Kyi - Aung Zaw

MEDIA RELEASE
Reserve Bank of Australia: Banking (foreign exchange) regulations 1959
sanctions against Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 24, New York Times
Uneasy days for monks in Myanmar - Choe Sang-Hun

Mandalay, Myanmar — As the lunch gong chimed through a tree-shaded
monastery, several hundred monks in burgundy robes lined up on a
mid-October day, all holding alms bowls.

It is a common scene in Myanmar, formerly Burma, where one out of every
100 people, many of them children, are monks. But the lunch line at the
Mahagandhayon Monastery, the country’s largest, used to be much longer.

“We usually have 1,400 monks here,” said a senior monk. “Because of the
situation, parents took 1,000 of them home.”

For decades, two powerful institutions have shaped Burmese life: the
500,000-member Buddhist clergy, which commands a moral authority over the
population, and Senior Gen. Than Shwe’s junta, whose 450,000-strong
military controls the population through intimidation.

Their uneasy coexistence has shattered. After scattered demonstrations
erupted against sharp increases in fuel prices in August, thousands of
monks protested the junta’s economic mismanagement and political
repression. The military responded with batons and bullets.

The guns have prevailed over mantras, at least for now.

As of Oct. 6, the government said it had detained 533 monks, of whom 398
were released after sorting out what it called “real monks” from “bogus
ones.” Monks and dissidents contend that many more were detained.

“They took away truckloads of monks and laypeople,” said the deputy leader
of a monastery in Yangon, the country’s most populous city. “They had the
monks kneel down, with their hands on the back of their heads. Anyone who
raised his head was beaten.”

He said at Ngwe Kyayan, Yangon’s largest monastery, soldiers took food and
donation boxes, and beat the abbot and vandalized images of Buddha, as
some of its 300 monks fought back.

The monks, he said, began demonstrating against the economic deprivation
of the Burmese. “It’s a terrible situation,” he said, speaking on
condition of anonymity, like others interviewed, because he feared
government reprisals. “Monks took to the streets to draw attention to this
problem, pleading for loving kindness. But our government is worse than
Hitler’s Nazis. They have no respect for religion.” When it was over, The
New Light of Myanmar, a state-run English-language newspaper, said, monks
had been “defrocked” during interrogation so that they could be questioned
as laypeople, then “ordained” and sent “back to their monasteries.” Monks
denounced the process.

The junta also used divide-and-rule tactics, by persuading the
state-sanctioned Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which oversees the clergy,
to take its donations and to order monks to stop protesting or face
punishment.

“Some of these senior monks are bribed by the regime,” said an editor at a
Yangon magazine. “They have accepted so many good things in life — cars,
televisions, big houses, telephones and mobile phones — that they simply
have to listen to the regime.”

At the Mahagandhayon Monastery here in Mandalay, soldiers had pulled back
by mid-October after cordoning off the temple for weeks. But their trucks
continued to lurk in alleys nearby, as rumors circulated that, if the
monks rose up again, it would probably be in this city, the nation’s
second most populous. About 20,000 of its million residents are monks, one
of the highest concentrations in the country.

Young men from across the country train here as monks, and they have grown
more passionate about the poverty and injustice their nation has suffered
under the military government.

The fear was still palpable at Mahagandhayon, where monks chanted mantras
over their last meal of the day, a late-morning lunch of vegetable soup,
eggplants, rice and a treat from a donor — instant noodles. But they were
still reluctant to discuss the military’s crushing of the demonstrations
in late September.

“They are afraid of guns!” a senior monk said before vanishing into the
dining hall.

Long before the protests, monks were aware of people’s suffering. When
they went to receive alms, said the senior monk in Yangon, they saw “no
happiness in people’s faces, people whose minds are preoccupied with
finding food and surviving one day at a time.”

But the military’s use of force against the monks has unsettled
fundamental Burmese values.

“To Burmese, monks are like sons of the Buddha,” said Maung Aye, a taxi
driver, as he drove around Yangon’s Sule Pagoda, which is said to enshrine
a hair of the Buddha and was a focal point of the protests.

A shop owner in Yangon said his 5-year-old son, who had been reared with
Buddhist beliefs in karma, had cried out: “I don’t want to become a
soldier. If I have to kill a monk, the worst thing will happen to me in my
next life.”

At a Yangon temple, sitting before a golden Buddha figure, two middle-aged
monks spoke with resignation and anger.

“We learned a lesson from 1988,” one monk said of the large pro-democracy
uprising that the military put down, leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands,
dead. “If it changes nothing and only gets worse, why risk our lives?” The
other monk said: “We would like to love our government. We tried but
couldn’t. We want to like to go out and demonstrate again, but we know
they are out there with their guns.”

During the Buddhist Lent, which lasts three months, into late October,
monks focus on studying scripture and refrain from leaving their
monasteries, except for early outings to collect alms. The fact that monks
ventured out in protest during this period was widely seen here as a sign
of just how angry they were. But by mid-October, many monasteries in
Yangon were deserted, after military raids had driven thousands of monks
to flee.

In towns across Myanmar, monks have traditionally filed down streets at
dawn seeking alms, and laypeople have gained merit by donating rice and
other food. Families take pride in what is often seen as adopting monks,
providing them with food, clothing, books and other goods for a few months
or years.

As poverty has worsened in Myanmar, however, the alms processions have
increasingly turned into a sad exchange of apologies for having to beg and
for being unable to give. Now, with the monks scattered, the alms lines
have dwindled in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay.

For centuries, whoever seized power in this country sought legitimacy by
lavishing money on pagodas and monasteries. When the democracy leader Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi called for a “second struggle for national independence”
in 1988, she chose Yangon’s gold-spired Shwedagon Pagoda as the site to
deliver her watershed speech. So when monks marched in September to the
home where she is under house arrest, the act was a moral reproof to the
government.

But the monks are not immune to criticism. Although senior clerics are
elected by monks and revered by laypeople, “they form a small, closed
society which doesn’t know anything about the community at large,” the
magazine editor said. “Some of them do not know how poor people live in a
small village.”

Other laypeople defended the aging clerics who have taken gifts from the
government. Those monks, they said, are under a moral obligation to accept
donations, and fear that confrontation could cost more lives.

Still, witnesses said piles of rice donated by the government were left
uncollected at the gates of some monasteries, a rebuff of the government’s
effort to placate the clergy.

In mid-October at Mahagandhayon, the monks were going about their daily
routine. The senior monk said he hoped that the rest of the students would
return in a month or so. One young monk who had remained said, “Please go
out and tell the world exactly what really has happened in this country.”

He added, “I am scared just talking to you about this.”

____________________________________

October 24, Washington Post
Inside Burma: After the Crackdown: Citizens wait, worry in Junta's climate
of fear - Jill Drew

She does not know if the police have her picture. But that uncertainty has
not eased her fear.

Twice soldiers have entered this woman's Rangoon neighborhood. They came
at night, with photos taken during pro-democracy demonstrations. "They
look at everyone and then they take you," she said in a low voice,
speaking on condition she not be identified. "I don't sleep."

The nighttime raids began last month, after Burma's military junta
violently put down the country's largest protests in nearly 20 years, led
by Buddhist monks. At least 10 people were killed in the crackdown, the
government has acknowledged, and thousands were arrested. The arrests have
continued even after an 8 p.m. curfew was lifted last week. This woman
joined the protests, and now she waits to be taken next.

Those active in Burmese politics say the arrests have succeeded in
capturing many key organizers of the protests while injecting new fear
into people who have lived for more than 40 years under a military
dictatorship known for its brutality.

As U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari jets across Asia, pressing for an active
dialogue to bring democracy to Burma, people in the country's two largest
cities, Rangoon and Mandalay, watch and wait. Many private homes, no
matter how ramshackle, have satellite dishes to catch Western news. And
though few people can afford their own computers or even their own
telephones, logging in to international news sites is easy at Internet
cafes, so many here have access to the latest information.

But they talk about it only in whispers, looking over their shoulders to
see who might be listening. The government has blocked access to several
Internet chat and e-mail sites, and people assume their phone
conversations are not private, given that the government controls all the
country's telecommunications.

"The people, we all feel so cramped up inside," said a 66-year-old man in
Rangoon. "We cannot talk. We cannot do anything. This government, they are
killers. They have guns, but the people have nothing." He pulled out a
handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't have anyone to
talk to about these things."

Life's daily rhythms have returned to Rangoon, but reminders of the
violent crackdown linger. Piles of barbed wire lie at the entrance to Sule
Pagoda, in the heart of downtown, where a Japanese cameraman was shot dead
by a Burmese soldier as he photographed the protest. Although few
uniformed police officers and soldiers were visible this past week, even
fewer monks could be found on the streets or in the Buddhist pagodas. Many
monks have fled and some remain in jail. Others are being confined to
their monasteries, locals say.

Tourists have been staying away. Hotels are nearly empty. The driver of a
three-wheeled cycle rickshaw, or trishaw, said he waited all day for one
fare and got the equivalent of $3, not enough to feed his family.

Rangoon feels like a forgotten city. Although some of its Buddhist pagodas
gleam with golden spires, many of its once-grand colonial-era buildings
are crawling with mold and their facades are crumbling. Sidewalks in the
busiest parts of town are impassable jumbles of broken concrete. The
streets are pocked with holes. Decrepit buses and 30-year-old cars, their
engines wheezing, weave across roadways in search of a smooth path.
Electricity flickers on and off quite frequently.

"Fixing the roads is not on this government's list," said one man who
studied botany in college but now works as a tour guide. "Buying guns is
on their list."

In Mandalay, also a site of monk-led protests, the monks were more
visible, with several walking to shops and restaurants in the mornings,
collecting alms, rice and curries for their midday meals. "The monks who
demonstrated are all gone," said one monk. He did not participate because
he was afraid of the soldiers. "I want democracy," he said. He has a radio
and listens to Voice of America, but only when he is alone. Too many
plainclothes security officers, he said, "have put on the robes and it's
not safe to talk."

Hundreds of people, including monks, remain missing. Dissident groups say
as many as 200 people were killed.

One 60-year-old man, who was a bystander during the protests but has not
been arrested, said he spoke with a friend who spent five days in a
detention center. The man estimated there were 3,000 people in the
building, once a technical college in Insein Township, near the notorious
Insein Prison. People were put in former lecture halls, hundreds in a room
without toilets. Drinking water was scarce. "He said it was like a life in
hell for five days," he said.

A Rangoon taxi driver told of a friend detained for 10 days. "He was given
one egg to share with eight people, one bottle of water. No one was
allowed to sleep. They had to sit, and if they lay down, they were hit."

Foreign journalists have been denied visas to enter the country, which the
ruling generals call Myanmar. Those who do get in travel surreptitiously
on a tourist visa. And they are watched. A foreigner eating lunch at an
otherwise empty Thai restaurant soon found that she had company -- a man
sat at a nearby table, ordering nothing and staring at the same page of a
newspaper for the entire time it took to eat lunch. As she waited to pay
her bill, he left.

The junta uses its newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, to blame foreign
governments and media for inciting the protests, which erupted after the
government doubled the price of fuel in August.

But instead of indignation at foreign governments, Burmese interviewed
over the past week voiced anger only at the military junta. "All they know
is stealing," seethed one taxi driver as he took a passenger on a
circuitous route to the airport, slowing in front of the house of Tay Za,
the owner of a local airline who is close to Senior Gen. Than Shwe, leader
of the junta. The villa had an open garage, with two Ferraris inside, one
red and one yellow. "They want money, money, money. And we have nothing,"
he said.

The driver keeps a notebook hidden under newspapers on his dashboard. In
it he writes, in Japanese characters, how the government controls gasoline
sales to siphon money for themselves. He wants to smuggle the notebook out
of the country so foreign media can report on the system. The government
limits official gas sales to two gallons a day. To buy more, drivers must
purchase black-market gasoline -- obtained by sellers who pay kickbacks to
government-appointed filling station managers -- at nearly double the
official rate.

Another driver is even more pointed: "This government will never listen to
the U.N. They don't care. We must fight back. One bomb and they [the
military] would all run away."

Resistance continues, but for now it is subtle. At Shwedagon Pagoda,
beneath a gleaming gold spire decorated with diamonds provided by the
military government, a man guided a visitor to one of the many Buddha
images, this one covered with strings of fresh flowers and offerings of
fruit.

"This is where the people know to pray for the safety of our lady," he
said quietly, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who
has been under house arrest or in prison for 12 of the past 18 years. The
road to her home is now barricaded, with passersby blocked from walking or
driving on it by rows of barbed wire, sandbags and several soldiers.

At a Rangoon art gallery, a saleswoman pulls out a painting from a back
room. Called "Nine Novices," it shows nine young boys, their heads shaved
and bodies clothed in the robes of novice monks. They are crawling on top
of a statue of a lion, the symbol of the government.

"The artist wanted to paint nine monks, but he was scared," she explained.
"So he painted novices. But they're still on the lion."

____________________________________

October 24, Irrawaddy
Women activists call for rights, protection - Shah Paung

Women activists hiding in Burma have called for the safety of all women
living in fear and in hiding, by sending a report to the United Nations
Security Council on Tuesday, the same day the Security Council discussed
and expressed concern over gender-based violence.

Nilar Thein, a member of 88 Generation Students movement, told The
Irrawaddy on Wednesday that their report focused on the lives of women in
Burma and the discrimination, abuse and violence of the Burmese military
government during the recent political unrest.

The report said that women inside Burma, including opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, are facing a loss of civil and human rights and a lack of
physical security. It accuses the Burmese junta of using violence,
arresting and beating civilian women and nuns who were involved in the
recent peaceful demonstrations.

Nilar Thein, who had to leave her baby behind when she went into hiding,
said that the Burmese soldiers and their security forces were hunting down
various women and taking them to undisclosed locations. Those arrested
include women up to seven months pregnant.

“The military regime has been hunting down women activists women like
common criminals. Several women are subjected to sexual harassment,” Nilar
Thein said. “We fear for the lives of the women who were arrested by the
Burmese authorities.”

The report has signed by four women activists, including two well-known
women leaders who participated in the peaceful marches—Phyu Phyu Thin, a
member of the National League for Democracy who is also known as a
HIV/AIDS activist, and Nilar Thein.

For the sake of security the report was sent to the UN with only four
signatures, but Nilar Thein stressed that it was sent on behalf of all
women who are living in fear, hiding or facing violence in Burma.

“According to a cemetery caretaker, one pregnant woman was attacked by
soldiers, bayoneted and then burned alive in the Yayway Cemetery in
Rangoon,” Nilar Thein said.

In addition to the UN Security Council, the report was also sent to
members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, US first lady Laura
Bush, non-governmental organizations and women’s rights groups.

The women urged the international community to come and witness the crisis
in Burma with their own eyes as soon as possible, and to help the Burmese
women and who live under the constant threat of the Burmese junta.

The Security Council itself on Tuesday urged member countries, including
offices within the UN institution, to increase female participation in the
decision-making process and to take specific steps to protect women and
girls from gender-based violence during conflicts.

____________________________________

October 24, Mizzima News
Junta showcases release of protesters, activists

The Burmese military junta today released an aging dissident even as it
released several other activists who were arrested for participating in
last month's protests.

Kyaw Khaing (85), people's representative of the Taungup National League
for Democracy in western Burma's Arakan state, was released by authorities
from Thandwe jail, a local resident said.

Mr. Khaing, an elected member of parliament in the 1990 elections, was
arrested in the last week of September and was sentenced to seven and-
a-half years in prison along with the general secretary of Taungup NLD,
Min Aung, local residents said.

The local told Mizzima that Kyaw Khaing was released on Wednesday after
submitting an appeal to the court but Min Aung continues to be in
detention.

Surprisingly, the local, who closely monitored the case of the NLD leader,
said a township police official wrote the appeal and after making U Kyaw
Khaing sign it, submitted it to the Thandwe township court, which ordered
his release.

"On the day they were sentenced to seven and-a- half years, the township
police officer himself wrote an appeal and got U Kyaw Khaing to sign it
and send it to the township court," the local said.

Meanwhile, authorities in Pakhokku of Magwe division in central Burma on
Tuesday night released nine protesters, who were arrested for actively
participating in the recent monk-led protests.

"They were released last night at about 9 p.m. (local time). Authorities
brought them back to their respective residences," a local resident of
Pakhokku told Mizzima.

In a separate incident, authorities in Mingyan town of Mandalay division
released three members of the NLD on Sunday.

Local residents said, the Mingyan township NLD secretary Paw Thein and
party members Win Naing and Bo Win, were released from Palate prison,
where they had been kept under detention.

While the Burmese junta claims that it has released most protestors and
opposition party members, who were arrested and detained for actively
participated in the monk-led protests, observers said the junta's is doing
it to ease the mounting international pressure.

The recent release of several activists and opposition party members is
part of the junta's preparation for the visit by United Nations Human
Rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and the Secretary General's special
advisor to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, a local observer in Mingyan said.

"By showing to Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Gambari that it is releasing
activists, the junta wants to ease international pressure. And they want
to prove to the international community that Burma is back to normal and
stable now," the local observer, who wished to remain anonymous, told
Mizzima.

Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win in a letter addressed to the UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday formally invited UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to visit Burma as
requested earlier by the Human Rights Council.

Burmese junta's Foreign Minister requested the UN chief to make the rights
expert's trip earlier than November 17.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Gambari, who is currently in holding talks with Chinese
officials in Beijing as part of a six-nation tour to consult on Burma,
said he has been officially invited to re-visit Burma and expects to
return to the Southeast Asian country in early November.

____________________________________

October 24, Reuters
Myanmar junta names new senior official

Myanmar's ruling junta has named a new first secretary of the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) to replace Lieutenant-General Thein Sein
who has taken over as prime minister, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Xinhua quoted an SPDC announcement on Wednesday carried by state-run Radio
Myanmar as saying the new first secretary was to be Lieutenant-General
Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, current SPDC member and
Quartermaster-General.

The news comes in the aftermath of a turbulent few weeks in which the
junta crushed monk-led mass street protests against military rule, to a
chorus of angry denunciation from the international community.

Thein Sein, as acting premier, met U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in
early October on his mission to end the military crackdown.

China, the closest the generals have to an ally, has resisted imposition
of United Nations sanctions on its impoverished southern neighbor.

Thein Sein took over the premiership after the long-ailing Soe Win died on
October 12.

____________________________________

October 24, Independent Mon News Agency
TPDC fines people refusing to attend rally

The Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has been taking money
from the villagers who refuse to go the rally denouncing the monk-led
protests in Ye Township Mon State, Burma today.

The TDPC said they are taking money from families who were absent from the
rally.

"Officials in the quarters in Aung Myitta, Ye said they are taking four
bags of cement from each house hold that refuses to go to the rally," a
source in Ye township, Mon State said.

Some villages paid 4,000 Kyat while some paid 3,000 Kyat. A village
headman made fine 1000, an Andin villager said.

The rally to denounce the monk-led protests was held in the precincts of a
pagoda at the center of Ye Town. The authorities told rally participants
to leave their homes around 5:30 a.m.

 "The pagoda ground is used for festivals such as rice donation by
residents," the source said.

However the authorities banned the donation festival and held the rally at
the ground.

The authorities took signatures and the names of the people before they
went to the rally.

Yesterday the military regime held a rally to denounce the monk-led
protests last month in Thanpyuzayart town. Before that there was a rally
in Mudon town.

A majority of people from both townships refused to attend the rallies and
paid the fine.

____________________________________

October 24, Khonumthung News
UNDP sanctions Kyat 11 lakhs for suspension bridge

The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Burma has sanctioned
Kyat 1,100,000 (US $ 830) for construction of a mini suspension bridge to
give a leg up to the poor transportation network in rural areas of Chin
state, northwestern Burma.

UNDP officials transferred the fund to U Van Khum, headman of Thinghual
village in Thangtlang Township, Chin state for the suspension bridge over
a 30 feet wide 'Tihri' stream flowing between Thinghual and Tahtlang
village.

"The people in the areas face problems crossing the flooded stream during
monsoon," a villager in Thinghual village said.

Construction of the hanging bridge is likely to be started in the last
week of October and completed before the end of November.

 "Now, the people are happy as they expect the bridge will prevent risks
they take in crossing the stream," a villager said.

____________________________________
INTERNET

October 24, Mizzima News
Pulling the plug on the Internet in Burma - Christopher Smith

A new report chronicles the rare step, of completely turning off the
Internet, taken by the Burmese regime to try and stem the flow of
information leaving the country during the recent upheavals – and points
to a possible increase in government surveillance measures as a result of
the success enjoyed by Burmese netizens at the height of the crisis.

According to "Pulling the Plug: A Technical Review of the Internet
Shutdown in Burma," put out by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) and posted on
Monday, the junta became only the second government to ever completely
turn the Internet off; the other occurrence coming in Nepal in 2005.

The report states that the regime was consistent with other authoritarian
states, in attempting to stem the technological flow of information, in
that the junta also sought to minimize the potential for social
mobilization during political events, this despite the minimal portion of
the Burmese population that is believed to have Internet access.

"[I]t is quite remarkable how a small group of netizens, operating in a
country where Internet penetration is less that one percent, achieved a
disproportionate impact on how the crisis in Burma was understood or
received by the outside world," says Stephanie Wang, a research fellow
with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and
chief architect of the ONI report.

However, the case of Burma is described as unique in its "apparent goal of
also preventing information from reaching a wider international audience."

In fact, according to the report, the extreme measure of the regime in
"pulling the plug" on the Internet is directly attributable to the
evidence that was sent out to an international audience, especially
pictorial, of the violence perpetrated by the military during the course
of the crackdown; the first shots being fired around noon on September
26th. The report maintains that during the early days of the violent
crackdown there were still some 200 Internet cafes functioning in the
Rangoon area.

The impact of the information, visual and otherwise, emanating from Burma
to an international audience could not only be seen in the protests and
outcries from peoples and nations around the world, but Wang asserts also
facilitated the spread of information throughout Burma.

"[N]etizens feeding information to overseas bloggers and news outlets such
as Mizzima News had an impact by virtue of the fact that at least some of
the information they provided was being circulated back into Burma through
means other than the Internet," Wang told Mizzima.

The report identifies a two-week period, from the evening of September
29th to the afternoon of October 13th, during which the Internet was
either completely or largely turned off.

In the days following the crackdown, officials from BaganNet, one of
Burma's two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) along with Myanmar Posts and
Telecom (MPT), were summoned to Naypyidaw for consultation.

BaganNet, now known as Myanmar Teleport is said to service most individual
users, while MPT is government operated and rumored to be coming under the
control of the Ministry of Defense. The ONI report notes that MPT has
"peering" capabilities over the BaganNet ISP. It is unknown at this time
what was discussed between BaganNet executives and the government in
Naypyidaw.

With traditional media tightly controlled, the report states that prior to
the severance of Internet access the ability to utilize the Internet
allowed Burmese citizens a rare degree of freedom.

This being the case, the government is described as being "ill-prepared"
for the flood of outgoing information resulting from the protests and
government response, as its focus before the recent uprising was on the
prevention of incoming information.

However ONI cautions that the regime is already taking steps toward
assuring that the same window of freedom does not replicate itself in any
future scenario.

These steps are said to include the slowing of any already tortoise-like
Internet connection to 256 Kbps, in an attempt to mitigate the capacity of
users to upload photos and videos; while other measures listed by the
authors entail a further limitation to access, increased filtering of
sites such as those belonging to international news agencies, intimidation
and harassment.

Yet, at the time of writing, many Internet users in Burma are again able
bypass the regime's technological barricades, as access to formally banned
sites and online services remains a popular pastime for Burma's cyber
community and a vital means of interacting and interfacing with a wider
audience, both at home and abroad.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 24, Mizzima News
Unanimous support claimed for increased pressure, sanctions

A week-long fact-finding mission to the Thai-Burma border has reported
that every organization consulted has concurred in the need for the
international community to ratchet up the pressure on the Burmese regime,
while also standing in strong support of increased sanctions.

The mission, a combined endeavor of the International Federation for Human
Rights and the International Trade Unions Confederation, filed their
preliminary findings yesterday.

According to the delegates, they were repeatedly informed that "sanctions
hurt the regime and the crony elite, not the people, living from
agriculture or the informal economy".

Additionally, the delegation reports that European Union sanctions, even
if minimal in terms of economic significance, still succeed in sending a
strong and valuable moral signal to the generals.

Summarizing the feeling the mission received regarding the regime's
proposal to enter into a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, delegate and Secretary General of the International Federation
for Human Rights Olivier De Schutter stated: "The regime is trying to save
time in order for the media attention to phase down. This is the stalling
tactics the regime has played over the years. Than Shwe's proposal came
with unacceptable preconditions placed on Aung San Suu Kyi at a time when
large-scale arrests and other repressive measures are still on-going".

According to the preliminary findings, everyone talked to was in agreement
that an essential precursor to any dialogue must be the release of all
political prisoners, including both Aung San Suu Kin and Min Ko Naing.

In a variation on United Nations Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari's
recommendation that negative measures toward the regime be combined with
positive incentives in an attempt to facilitate a constructive dialogue,
the joint delegation recommends that punitive measures and increased
pressure be paired with positive signals to the people.

While in the region, the group also had the opportunity to interview 13
people who had recently fled the military's crackdown. The delegation was
thus informed that widespread and arbitrary arrests continue throughout
the country, with family members of wanted individuals being detained if
the whereabouts of the individuals themselves is unknown.

The briefing concludes by commenting: "The root causes of the protests
have not been addressed. The fuel price rise, the widespread violations of
economic and social rights as well as the severe restrictions on civil
liberties, the lack of rule of law and the impunity of the authorities are
fueling the desire for change more than ever."

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 24, Mizzima News
No more bank accounts for Burmese generals in Australia - Mungpi

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today announced the imposition of
financial sanctions against 418 Burmese military generals and their family
members, which will restrict the ability of the generals from conducting
financial transactions through Australian banks and financial
institutions.

The RBA, the central bank of Australia, has implemented sanctions against
"Burmese regime figures and supporters" as per the direction of the
Australian government and under the Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations
of 1959.

"Any transactions involving the transfer of funds or payments to, by the
order of, or on behalf of any person listed in the Annex are prohibited
without prior approval from the Reserve Bank," said the RBA in a media
statement release today.

Burmese activists welcomed the Australian government's sanctions but they
urged Australia to do more by imposing trade sanctions against the Burmese
junta.

"It will effect the generals and their cronies from doing business,
particularly import and export, as they will not be able to hold any bank
accounts through which transactions can be made," Zaw Naing, member of the
Burma Democratic Group (Australia), told Mizzima.

"We are pushing the (Australian) government to impose trade sanctions
against the Burmese junta," added Zaw Naing.

The 418 names on the list include Burma's top military brass, their
families and those who have benefited from the junta.

The RBA move comes after the junta's brutal crackdown on peaceful
protestors last month.

The Burmese junta in September killed several people and arrested
thousands of monks and activists in response to the largest public
demonstrations in nearly two decades, which posed a direct threat to over
45 years of unbroken military rule.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 24, PTI
India, China, Russia jointly oppose sanctions on Myanmar - Anil K Joseph

Harbin (China), India today opposed imposing sanctions on Myanmar and
called for encouraging all stakeholders to advance political reforms and
national reconciliation, a move jointly supported by China and Russia.

"We believe that the initiative taken by the UN Secretary General (Ban-Ki
Moon) to open dialogue amongst the various stakeholders in Myanmar should
be encouraged," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a joint
press conference after the end of the third standalone meeting of Foreign
Ministers of India, China and Russia here.

Mukherjee said India has also suggested that the process of political
reform and national reconciliation should be expedited on a broad base and
equally among all stakeholders.

"We believe that Myanmar authorities should be encouraged to engage in the
process of dialogue with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General
(Ibrahim Gambari), the initiative which he has taken should be encouraged
to take it to the logical conclusion and there should not be any sanctions
at this stage," the minister emphasised.

Mukherjee acknowledged that the Myanmar issue had figured prominently
during the trilateral meeting and they exchanged views on it.

Ultimately, the issue of Myanmar should be resolved by the Myanmarese
government and the country's people, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi
said.

He said China believes that the parties concerned will conduct dialogue to
help Myanmar restore stability and improve the life of the people and
promote democracy and development in Myanmar.

____________________________________

October 24, Agence France Presse
Myanmar bows to world pressure over UN envoy visit - Gerard Aziakou

Bowing to international pressure, Myanmar's rulers on Tuesday agreed to
bring forward to early November a return visit by UN mediator Ibrahim
Gambari.

The move came a day after the military junta cleared the first visit in
four years by a top United Nations human rights official.

Gambari, currently on a six-nation Asian tour, "expects to visit Myanmar
in the first week of November as the Myanmar government agreed to bring
forward his standing invitation to the country," UN spokeswoman Michele
Montas said.

Last week Gambari said that he had been invited to return to Myanmar in
the third week of November.

But the United States and its European allies made it clear that they
wanted the UN emissary back in Myanmar as soon as possible.

The UN Security Council earlier this month slammed the junta's crackdown
and called for the "early release of all political prisoners and remaining
detainees" to pave the way for national reconciliation and a transition to
democracy.

France and the United States then warned the military regime that failure
to comply with the council demands would lead to unspecified punitive
measures.

Last Friday, the United States tightened its sanctions on Myanmar's
military rulers and urged China and India to step up pressure on the junta
to relent.

EU foreign ministers earlier this month also approved new sanctions
against the Myanmar regime, including an embargo on the export of wood,
gems and metals, but not oil.

But the impact of Western sanctions has been weakened by the eagerness of
China, India and Thailand to tap Myanmar's rich natural wealth to fuel
their own growing economies.

With that in mind, a senior US official Tuesday called on China and India
to suspend arms or energy sales to Myanmar's military regime over its
political repression.

"Now is the time for Beijing and New Delhi to forgo energy deals that put
money in the pockets of the junta and suspend weapons sales to this
regime," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said in a speech in
Washington.

"We hope that China and India will urge the Burmese generals to work with
the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari," Negroponte told the American
Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning US think tank.

Meanwhile Myanmar's ruling junta gave its consent Monday for the first
visit by the UN's human rights rapporteur in four years.

It suggested that Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil pay the visit before the
summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
scheduled to begin in Singapore in the second half of November.

Myanmar has been in the world spotlight since pro-democracy protests
spearheaded by the country's revered Buddhist monks were violently put
down by the regime last month.

Gambari, a seasoned UN troubleshooter, was then sent to Myanmar to convey
international outrage over the violence that left at least 13 people dead.

But with the West wielding limited leverage, there was no sign that the
ruling junta was prepared to relinquish or even share the power its has
wielded since 1962.

Junta chief General Than Shwe has offered talks with opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, but only if she drops her support for sanctions against
the country.

The 62-year-old Nobel peace prize winner and democracy icon, who has spent
most of the past 18 years under house arrest in Yangon, has publicly
discouraged foreign investment in Myanmar.

Speaking from New Delhi earlier Tuesday, Gambari said he was "encouraged"
by Indian pledges to support efforts to resolve the crisis in neighboring
Myanmar.

Gambari headed from India to China late Tuesday on the next leg of his
regional tour after earlier visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore as he
tried to rally support for his mediation with Myanmar's autocratic rulers.

Wednesday a coalition of charities including human rights group Amnesty
International and the Burma Campaign are to organize rallies outside
Chinese embassies in 12 cities across the world in solidarity with Aung
San Suu Kyi.

Protests are planned in London, Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Vienna, Sydney,
Washington, Toronto, New York, Brasilia, Bangkok and Cape Town, with
demonstrators wearing masks of the National League for Democracy leader.

Myanmar's junta is facing the biggest challenge to its rule in 20 years
after its decision to double the price of fuel overnight in August sparked
protests that mushroomed into mass demonstrations.

____________________________________

October 24, Associated Press
Trade unionists call for boycott against businesses that work with Myanmar
regime

Trade unionists are calling for workers across the world to boycott
companies that do business with Myanmar's repressive military regime,
singling out French oil company Total SA.

Myanmar's junta has arrested thousands people in a crackdown on
pro-democracy protests in recent weeks, shooting dead at least 10 when
troops fired into crowds of peaceful demonstrators last month.

The inward-looking military elite has largely ignored world opinion and
pressure during its 45 years in power but makes money from allowing
foreign companies such as Total to pump out some of its vast reserves of
oil and natural gas.

Guy Ryder, secretary general of the International Trade Union
Confederation, said Tuesday he wanted to keep up the pressure on
corporations that help prop up the Myanmar regime.

He drew a parallel with trade union boycotts of South African goods to
force changes to the apartheid system of racial segregation.

"Our intent and our ambition is indeed to mobilize trade unions nationally
and public opinion to bring that type of pressure to bear," he told
reporters. "The parallels with what we did in the apartheid era are rather
persuasive."

He said the big business players had not yet addressed union demands to
back away from Myanmar.

"The Totals of this world have not yet answered. We are going to pursue
them," he said.

ITUC has just returned from a joint mission with the International
Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) to the Myanmar-Thai border where they
spoke with 13 witnesses of the political and military oppression
continuing in Myanmar.

In film it shot on Oct. 18 and shared with Associated Press Television,
Myanmar national Moe Swe a member of the Yaug Chi Oo Workers Association
alleged that Total's gas pipelines were linked to forced labor and human
rights violations.

"We want Total to withdraw from Burma," he said. It supports the junta in
buying weapons "to oppress our Burmese people and they violate the
workers' rights."

The European Union on Oct. 15 agreed to expand sanctions against Myanmar
to include imports of timber, gemstones and precious metals in response to
the junta's crackdown on pro-democracy groups. It held off applying them
to give U.N. mediators more time to sway the military leaders to start
talks with pro-democracy groups.

But the EU shied away from targeting Burmese oil and gas exports or
preventing European companies from operating in those sectors in Myanmar.

However, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Oct. 2 that
new sanctions France was drafting would not spare Total, which has been
producing 17.4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from its
Myanmar wells, according to the Total Web site.

Total, France's biggest company by market capitalization and revenue, has
said it has not made any capital expenditures in Myanmar since 1998. It
said any "forced withdrawal" would simply clear the way for another
company to step into its place.

EU sanctions against Myanmar in place since 1996 have banned arm sales to
Myanmar, frozen Myanmar government assets and forbidden senior government
officials from traveling to Europe.

____________________________________

October 24, Irrawaddy
Chinese embassies targeted by “Free Burma” demonstrations - Violet Cho

Demonstrations demanding democracy in Burma were held on Wednesday outside
a dozen Chinese embassies worldwide to mark the 12th year that Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has spent in house arrest.

Activists wearing masks of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
chained themselves together during a protest outside the Chinese embassy
in Bangkok on Wednesday [Photo: Reuters]

Suu Kyi is the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and the
other six women who have won the award wrote in a joint letter to the
British newspaper The Guardian: "The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is the
most visible manifestation of the regime's brutality, but it is only the
tip of the iceberg."

In Australia, where a demonstration was held outside the Chinese
diplomatic representation in Sydney, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
announced on Wednesday his government was applying sanctions against more
than 400 members of the regime, their families and business people.

In London, a demonstration was organized outside the Chinese embassy by
the Burma Campaign-UK. Demonstrators wore Aung San Suu Kyi masks.

“We urge the Chinese government to stop using their veto power [in the UN
Security Council],” said Zoya Phan, a Burma Campaign UK campaign officer.
China was being targeted in demonstrations because of its support for the
Burmese military regime.

“If the Chinese government cares about human rights, peace and democracy
in Burma, they should influence the generals and pressure the military
regime to cease their human rights violations and encourage political
dialogue with Burma’s opposition and ethnic representatives,” she said in
an interview with The Irrawaddy.

In January this year, China— along with Russia—used its veto to block a US
and British- sponsored resolution in the UN Security Council to bring the
Burma situation before the chamber. China maintained that the Security
Council was not the right forum to discuss Burma since the regime there
did not represent a threat to international peace.

Apart from London, protests were also being held outside Chinese embassies
and consulates in Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Vienna, Sydney, Washington,
Toronto, New York, Brasilia, Bangkok and Cape Town. Candle-lit vigils were
being organized in other cities.

____________________________________

October 24, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's 'exiled PM' receives Irish award for Suu Kyi

The head of the self-proclaimed Myanmar government in exile was to receive
an award in Dublin Wednesday on behalf of detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, campaigners said.

Sein Win, who is a cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi, also would meet Foreign
Minister Dermot Ahern and travel to British-ruled Northern Ireland for a
series of meetings there, said a spokeswoman for Burma Action Ireland.

Ahern has been a strong supporter of the Burmese democracy movement,
praising the courage of the recent protests led by Buddhist monks and
calling on the military regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners.

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded Dublin's highest accolade and was made a
freewoman of the city in 2000 but has not been able to collect it because
of her imprisonment in Yangon.

Burma Action Ireland co-ordinator Mary Montaut said Trinity College's
Historical Society was awarding a special medal to Aung San Suu Kyi and
Sein Win would receive it on her behalf.

"The award is for her outstanding contribution to public discourse,"
Montaut said.

Sein Win, whose father was the elder brother of Aung San Suu Kyi's father,
the late general Aung San, is "prime minister" of Myanmar's National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).

He entered politics after the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy forces. Two
years later he was among winning candidates of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) that swept May 1990 elections, which were ignored by the
junta.

Sein Win and other NLD members formed the NCGUB in December, 1990. The
junta outlawed the group in August 2005.
____________________________________

October 24, Irrawaddy
UN Security Council discusses gender-based violence - Lalit K Jha

The UN Security Council on Tuesday expressed concern over gender-based
violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse in conflict
zones, with some nations singling out the role of the military junta in
Burma.

The security council had an extensive discussion on gender-based violence,
including the use of rape as an instrument of state policy. The United
Kingdom representative mentioned Burma, which has been accused of using
rape as an instrument of state oppression and intimidation.

The Burmese representative, Maung Wai, refuted allegations that rape was
being used as an instrument of violence against ethnic groups and
political prisoners.

“Myanmar [Burma] takes exception to the unfounded allegations of sexual
violence leveled at its armed forces by the representative of the United
Kingdom,” Wai said.

Karen Pierce of Britain said the security council had a key role to play
in protecting women against violence, which was occurring in greater
proportion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur, Burma.

“Horrible sexual cruelty has been reported in those situations, and such
acts must be reported and followed up by concrete action on the ground,”
she said.

Wai said some false accusations of gang rape involving military personnel
originated in reports issued by organizations associated with ethnic
insurgent groups.

“Their reports had been found by the security council to be at variance
with reality,” he said.

The Burmese representative said government policies, traditional practices
and non-governmental organizations helped ensure that the needs and
priorities of women and girls were addressed, even as Burma has faced
challenges posed by 18 armed insurgent groups.

Akwasi Ose-Adjei, the foreign minister of Ghana, said gender-based
violence had become systematic in some countries, reaching “appalling
levels of atrocity.”

The council called on all parties engaged in armed conflicts to respect
international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and
girls, especially civilians, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions
of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.

Outside the UN headquarters, the Women’s League of Burma held a public
demonstration, charging that Burmese women were in prison were subjected
to harassment and sexual violence.

____________________________________

October 24, PR Newswire
Amnesty International demands release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she marks
12th year under house arrest

On the day the United Nations celebrates its 62nd birthday, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy, will mark her
12th year under house arrest in Myanmar. Amnesty International calls for
the immediate release of the thousands of people recently detained for
participating in peaceful protests, as well as long-standing prisoners of
conscience, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Tin. The organization
also urges government officials to free senior opposition figures from
ethnic minority groups, such as U Khun Htun Oo.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an iconic symbol of Myanmar's political
resistance. Her unconditional release would be a significant step
forward," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International secretary general.

"The international community must maintain pressure and vigilance to
ensure that the Myanmar authorities produce concrete actions and tangible
results, such as the release of all prisoners of conscience. Such releases
are also absolutely crucial in gauging how serious the Myanmar authorities
are in terms of cooperating with the United Nations."

The current secret detention of political prisoners, the widespread
reports of ill-treatment and torture, and sentences in closed and grossly
unfair trials behind prison walls make a mockery of the commitments made
by the Myanmar authorities to cooperate with the United Nations. The
United Nations Security Council has called for the early release of all
political detainees in Myanmar.

"Human rights improvements in Myanmar cannot wait for the conclusion of a
political process. The Myanmar authorities must immediately release all
prisoners of conscience, open detention centers to independent observers
and stop sentencing people who have only participated in peaceful
protests," said Khan.

Background

Human rights violations in Myanmar are widespread and systematic.
Demonstrations emerged against the backdrop of persistent and massive
human rights violations that have taken place before the current crisis.
Violations include the prolonged detention of over 1,150 political
prisoners held in deteriorating prison conditions; the continued detention
of senior opposition figures who are prisoners of conscience;
extrajudicial executions; and the widespread use of torture. There is also
endemic suppression of freedom of expression throughout the country. The
use of forced labor and child soldiers continue. There is evidence that
military operations in eastern Kayin (Karen) state have involved acts
against civilians that violate international humanitarian and human rights
law. Independent observers and international human rights organizations
continue to be denied access to many parts of the country.

CONTACT: Sharon Singh of Amnesty International, +1-202-544-0200 x289

____________________________________

October 24, Mizzima News
US women senators urge India to pressurise Burmese junta

Sixteen United States' women senators have urged the Prime Minister of
India, Dr. Manmohan Singh to join the chorus of international condemnation
of the Burmese military junta for the ruthless suppression of its
citizens.

In a letter to Dr. Singh, sixteen US women senators including presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton, urged India to use its influence to pressurise
the Burmese junta to release political prisoners including Burmese
democracy icon and Noble Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to
initiate a dialogue for national reconciliation.

The women Senators, members of the 'Senate Women's Caucus on Burma', in
the letter on Tuesday voiced concern over India's relationship with the
Burmese junta particularly highlighting the recent visit by Indian
Petroleum Minister at the height of protests in Burma.

In September last week, when protests led by Buddhist clergy was
snowballing, Indian Petroleum Minister, Murli Deora visited Burma to
discuss energy cooperation and deep-water exploration.

The senators said, while understanding India's concern for the threat
posed by insurgent groups in the northeastern states bordering Burma, the
current military regime will only aggravate the problem.

"We firmly believe that any support for Burma's current government will
only aggravate these problems. A stable, representative civilian
government in Burma will be the best ally in addressing these problems,"
the women senators said in the letter.

The women senators urged India to join the US, which has already extended
economic sanctions on the Burmese junta, in its effort to support the
Burmese people by pressuring the junta to implement democratic changes in
the country.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 24, Irrawaddy
Let us hear from Aung San Suu Kyi - Aung Zaw

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, has called for
the creation of "circumstances" that would allow detained Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to have direct contact with the outside world,
including the possibility of talking to the UN Security Council.

That’s not a bad idea. Whether or not before the Security Council, now is
an optimum time to hear from Suu Kyi—even if it’s just a three-minute
statement.

Many people inside and outside Burma would like to hear from Suu Kyi. The
Oxford University educated daughter of Burma’s national independence hero
Aung San would undoubtedly make a good impression and deliver an
articulate speech.

It’s important to know where she now stands, following the regime’s bloody
crackdown on the September demonstrations. Significantly, the
state-controlled media have been referring to her by her full name
(although not for the first time) and have asked her to agree to
conditions set by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Some publications run by
Burmese journalists have called for dialogue.

What Suu Kyi thinks about these developments remains unknown, however. She
should be allowed to make her stance publicly known.

There have been many rumors since her current term of house arrest began
in 2003. I was recently told that Suu Kyi was distressed to learn about
the deaths and brutal crackdown on monks. She felt sad and sorry to learn
the news.

The world witnessed with pleasure the sight of Suu Kyi greeting monks at
the gates of her home on September 21.

U Ohbasara, one of the monks who led the peaceful march to Suu Kyi’s
house, told The Irrawaddy over the phone last week that she had asked the
monks to carry on their peaceful march. “She was in tears,” the monk said.
“She told us she wanted to enjoy freedom.”

There were also rumors that she was taken from her house after the monks
had gathered there.

When UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Rangoon at the height of the
crisis, she met him twice but there was no public statement from her.
During her first term of house arrest, from 1989 to 1995, Suu Kyi managed
to send out occasional messages to the outside world through UN envoys and
her late husband Dr Michael Aris. Her many admirers were comforted to
learn that she remained healthy and that her spirit remained strong and
determined to continue her struggle.

Over the last four years, however, there has been little news from Suu
Kyi, let alone any indication of where she stands vis-à-vis this ongoing
political stalemate. In 2004, a diplomatic source disclosed that she had
sent a personal letter to Than Shwe, proposing a dialogue. It could have
been a sign that Suu Kyi was ready to forgive what had happened in Depayin
the year before, when government thugs attacked her convoy, killing some
of her supporters.

Despite the occasional signals emerging from her sealed-off Rangoon home,
and the rumors and speculation about her state of mind, health and
political stand, the regime has been able to cut her off from the outside
world, while stepping up its diplomatic offensive. With her aging “uncles”
now in ineffective control of the National League for Democracy, the need
to hear from Suu Kyi remains vital.

Suu Kyi, the politician, may not be perfect or shrewd enough to deal with
the manipulative generals, but she remains a beacon of hope in Burma.

Among the latest rumors surrounding Suu Kyi was a report that a black
sedan had driven up to University Avenue and had taken her to meet some
high ranking officials. Thura Shwe Mann, the regime’s number 3, was said
to have wanted to meet her to sound out her views and had asked his aides
to take her to government house.

Just after the crackdown, some western diplomats and sources in Rangoon
told me that Suu Kyi no longer wanted to participate in party politics,
but would be happy to be a figurehead and a force for national
reconciliation. No one would confirm that these ideas emanated directly
from Suu Kyi, however.

Rumor also has it that Suu Kyi has no interest in meeting Brig Gen Aung
Kyi, who was appointed “liaison minister” between her and the regime. She
has seen several “liaison officers” come and go in the past—handymen in
uniform who paid house calls to fix the air-conditioning or television
reception. She probably regards this latest appointment as a farce.

"It would be terrific for her to be in circumstances to come to the United
Nations and to address the Security Council or other organs of this
state," Mr Khalilzad told the New York Sun.

"We would like for her to be released, we would like for her to be able to
be in circumstances that she can consult with her party members, with her
leadership of the political movement, with experts, to be unencumbered and
able to travel."

The generals would certainly be delighted to allow her to leave the
country, for then they would be able to bar her from returning. When her
husband died in 1999, they asked her to leave but hinted that they would
not let her back in. Suu Kyi declined to leave the country for fear that
she would never be allowed to return.

However, it is not a bad idea to propose hearing from her at this time of
political crisis.
This is surely something that UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari could arrange on
his next visit to Burma, planned for early November. It is important that
we all hear her voice and learn where she stands. The one-sided story and
propaganda we get from the regime, and the unconfirmed rumors, are not
enough.

____________________________________
MEDIA RELEASE

October 24, Reserve Bank of Australia
Banking (foreign exchange) regulations 1959 sanctions against Burma

The Reserve Bank of Australia has been directed by the Australian
Government to take steps under the Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations
1959 to implement financial sanctions against Burmese regime figures and
supporters. Details of these individuals are contained in the Annex.

Annex URL http://www.rba.gov.au/MediaReleases/2007/mr_07_19_annex.html

Any transactions involving the transfer of funds or payments to, by the
order of, or on behalf of any person listed in the Annex are prohibited
without prior approval from the Reserve Bank.

Enquiries:
Manager, Media Office
Information Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY

Phone: +61 2 9551 9720
Fax:     +61 2 9221 5528
E-mail:  rbainfo at rba.gov.au

http://www.rba.gov.au/MediaReleases/2007/mr_07_19.html