BurmaNet News, November 1, 2007

[Editor]

November 1, 2007 Issue # 3333

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Gambari to arrive in Burma on Saturday; will meet with "all
parties"
Mizzima News: Internet once again out in Burma
DVB: Burmese regime rejects UN criticism
Irrawaddy: Junta allows three families to send supplies to prisoners
DVB: Monks warned against protesting
Irrawaddy: Rangoon man arrested for talking to foreign media
Irrawaddy: Ethnic armies prepare for dry season offensive

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Monk who led marchers to Suu Kyi's house escapes to Thailand

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: New sanctions missing the target, say critics
Asia Times: Myanmar's generals hit where it hurts

DRUGS
Narinjara News: Sergeant sentenced to prison for Yaba smuggling

ASEAN
Irrawaddy: Student activists urge Asean to suspend junta

REGIONAL
Asia Sentinel: India’s Burma problem - Nava Thakuria

INTERNATIONAL
International Herald Tribune: UN envoy's visit seen as Myanmar flash point
AP: Nelson Mandela Children's Fund withdraws name from Gary Player's golf
tournament
Reuters: Pressure can move Myanmar junta - exiled leader
Irrawaddy: Burmese seamen on tanker held by Somali pirates
Mizzima News: 'Burma' most corrupt in the world: CPI

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK welcomes DFID’s decision to double aid to Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 1, Irrawaddy
Gambari to arrive in Burma on Saturday; will meet with "all parties" -
Lalit K Jha

Special UN Envoy on Burma Ibrahim Gambari will arrive in Burma on Saturday
to meet with top junta leaders and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
in an effort to open a path to reconciliation between the military-led
government and pro-democracy groups.

Gambari is scheduled to stay through Thursday. However, before he arrives
in Burma, he will meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Istanbul
on Friday.

“During his forthcoming visit to Myanmar, Gambari will follow up on his
offer to facilitate implementation of the recommendations made to the
government during his last mission, including immediate steps to address
the human rights concerns in the wake of the recent crisis and a framework
for meaningful and time-bound dialogue between the government and Aung San
Suu Kyi as a necessary part of an inclusive national reconciliation
process,” said the secretary-general’s spokesperson, Michele Montas.

Montas said Gambari will also follow up on implementation of
confidence-building measures, including a proposal to create a
constitutional review mechanism and a poverty alleviation commission.

“Gambari will consult with a broad range of representatives of Myanmar
society, including all the groups which he was not able to see last time,”
Montas said.

Critics are highly skeptical of the success of Gambari’s second visit to
Burma in a month. The trip follows nearly a week of consultations with
some of the key players in the region. Beginning in mid-October, Gambari
visited, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, New Delhi, Beijing and
Tokyo, where he met with leaders to discuss the Burma issue.

Gambari visited Burma in the first week of October, during which he met
junta officials and met twice with Aung San Suu Kyi. However, he did not
meet with other leaders of pro-democracy groups or with leaders of ethnic
political parties.

US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, urged the Burmese government to
cooperate with Gambari during his visit to the country.

In a statement, Khalilzad said the 45-year-old military dictatorship has
curtailed basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

Before the recent crackdown against peaceful demonstrators, there were an
estimated 1,200 political prisoners in Burma's prisons, he said. Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose political party was elected by an
overwhelming majority in 1990, has been under house arrest for more than a
decade. The election was nullified by the junta.

According to the military government, the latest crackdown resulted in ten
deaths and the imprisonment of about 4,000 people, Khalilzad said.

“However, non-official sources estimate the numbers killed, injured and
imprisoned to be much higher. Despite recent releases, the government
continues to arrest and detain more activists,” Khalilzad said.

____________________________________

November 1, Mizzima News
Internet once again out in Burma

After about two weeks of slow speed Internet line recovery, users in
Rangoon today said access to the World Wide Web has been once again
cut-off.

Internet users in Rangoon said, the internet lines, which have been made
accessible for 24 hours since mid October, once again went off at about 8
a.m (local time).

Officials at the Myanmar Teleport, one of the only two Internet Service
Providers in Burma, said the lines face interruption due to technical
problems and it remain uncertain when normal lines could be re-install.

'The Oversea Gateway is down. And we don't know when the problem would
solve. It went off since this morning,' an official at the Myanmar
Teleport, the ISP which mostly provides services for civilian use and
commercial activities, told Mizzima.

However, some believes that the internet might have been cut-off with a
purpose and as a precautionary step to prevent the flow of information as
it did in the recent August and September protests.

During the recent protests, tech savvy youths in Burma made utmost utility
of the internet to post pictures and video clips of the authority's brutal
crackdown on peaceful protestors. The junta, in its response, cut off the
internet lines and also disconnected phone lines of key politicians and
activist.

'What I think is that they [the junta] have a plan in cutting off the
internet lines. Like in the recent protests, a lot of photos and video
clips were spread through the internet because the lines were not cut,' an
internet savvy youth in Rangoon told Mizzima.

He added that with a protest yesterday in Pakokku, the authorities might
be prompted to crackdown if it continues today.

'May be that's why they want to first cut-off the internet in order to
prevent information flowing out,' he added.

Another youth in Rangoon said, with the internet lines down, people
particularly those jobs that rely on the internet are facing extreme
difficulties.

'The problem is that, people who has family members in abroad loose
contacts, but that's not severe. What is severe is that for people
traveling abroad have to fill their online departure forms, so when
internet is down, they cannot do it,' added the youth.

____________________________________

November 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese regime rejects UN criticism

The Burmese government has complained to the United Nations resident and
humanitarian coordinator in Rangoon about a statement issued by the UN
country team in Burma.

The country team’s statement was released on 24 October to mark United
Nations Day.

A press release issued by the Burmese Permanent Mission to the UN in
Geneva yesterday said the Burmese government was “extremely disappointed”
by the statement, which it said ignored the government’s successes in
concluding the National Convention, economic development and gains made in
the areas of education, health and transportation.

“The Country Team should realize that there could be much better gains
without the sanctions imposed upon Myanmar by some countries,” the Burmese
statement added.

The country team’s statement called for urgent government action to
address the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Burma, and said that
the protests in the country in August and September stemmed from “the
everyday struggle to meet basic needs”.

The country team did acknowledge some government efforts to improve
education, health and infrastructure, but said that the country was still
failing to provide basic services.

The statement highlighted high levels of childhood malnutrition, less than
50 percent completion of primary education, high malaria and tuberculosis
rates, and lack of treatment for people with HIV.

The country team reaffirmed its commitment to work with the Burmese
government to address the root causes of discontent in the country.

“The concerns of the people have been clearly expressed through the recent
peaceful demonstrations, and it is beholden on all to listen,” their
statement said.

The Burmese government statement questioned the country team’s findings,
complaining that the relevant government agencies had not been consulted,
and said the statement could damage the country’s reputation.

“The Statement harms Myanmar's image despite its all-out cooperation with
UN, and gives wrong message to the international community," the regime’s
statement concludes.

____________________________________

November 1, Irrawaddy
Junta allows three families to send supplies to prisoners - Shah Paung

The Burmese military government has allowed three families of imprisoned
members of the 88 Generation Students group to sent personal supplies to
the detainees, according to members of the student group.

A student group member who is in hiding told The Irrawaddy on Thursday
that three families were allowed to send clothes, food and medicine but
they were refused permission to visit relatives.

He said Burmese intelligence officials came to the home of the three
families to pick up the personal supplies.

The families of Zaw Htet Ko Ko, Ye Myint Hein and Si Thu Maung sent
supplies to their loved ones. They were arrested during the September
pro-democracy demonstrations.

The family members of prominent student leaders such as Min Ko Naing, Ko
Ko Gyi, Htay Win Aung, Min Zeya, Mya Aye and Kyaw Min Yu, Zeya, Kyaw Kyaw
Htwe, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Panneik Tun, Zaw Zaw Min, Thet Zaw and Nyan Lin Tun
were not allow to send personal supplies, according to a family member of
a student leader. They are all detained in Insein prison.

Myint Thein, a spokesman of the National League for Democracy who was
released from Insein prison early this week, said, “These student leaders
are brave and show no fear even when they are in prison.”

“Even the young leaders, we respect them,” he added.

“It was only two and three families that could send the supplies, but
there are thousands detained,” said the 88 Student Generation group member
in hiding. “The reason that they [Burmese authorities] are doing it is
because they do not want to allow the ICRC [International Committee of the
Red Cross] into prisons.”

The ICRC was the only organization allowed access to political prisoners,
but the Burmese military government banned them from visiting prisons in
December 2005. In November 2006, the military regime ordered the ICRC to
close five offices in Mandalay, Moulmein, Pa-an, Taunggyi and Kengtung.

The Burmese military government killed more than 200 peaceful
demonstrators during the civil uprising, according to some opposition
groups, and arrested more than 3,000 monks and supporters. Government
media claim that more than 2,000 detainees have been released.

____________________________________

November 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Monks warned against protesting

Following yesterday’s peaceful demonstration in Pakokku, local authorities
have urged monks not to go ahead with any further protests, according to a
local monk.

Township authorities summoned the monastery administrators from about five
high-profile monasteries and told them to urge the monks not to not to
continue with their protests, according to an unnamed monk.

The monks themselves were not invited to attend the meeting.

“The meeting lasted about an hour and the township authorities told the
monastery administrators to tell us not to continue with the protests,”
said the monk.

The local authorities did not say if any action would be taken against the
monks if they continued to demonstrate.

Around 200 monks from several monasteries in Pakokku joined the
demonstration yesterday, which they said was a continuation of the
protests held in August and September.

Security forces did not intervene in yesterday’s demonstration, and those
involved have not so far faced any repercussions from the authorities.

One monk who took part in the march told DVB yesterday that there would be
more and larger protests in the future, as their demands for lower
commodity prices, national reconciliation and the release of political
prisoners had still not been met.

“We did not have much time to organise the protest as we did not actually
plan for it, so there weren’t a lot of monks. But there will be bigger and
more organised protests soon,” the monk said.

____________________________________

November 1, Irrawaddy
Rangoon man arrested for talking to foreign media - Wai Moe

A Rangoon resident has been arrested for talking to foreign news media,
according to a family member.

A family member told The Irrawaddy on Friday that authorities came to the
home of Tin Yu in Hlaing Tharyar Township in Rangoon on Wednesday evening
and took him away for interrogation.

“They (authorities) told us that he was arrested because he talked to
foreign media. But they did not say which specific news media,” said a
relative. “They also did not tell us where they took him.”

A spokesperson of the main opposition party, the National League for
Democracy, Nyan Win, who is also a lawyer, said that talking to the media
is not illegal in Burma. However, there is also no real rule of law in
Burma so people sometimes are sentenced to prison for talking to the
media.

“The media gives information to people," said Nyan Win. "Giving
information to media means you are contributing to the good of society. If
he was arrested for talking to the media, it is a big mistake.”

However, in Burma there are frequent reports of people arrested and
sentenced to prison for giving information to foreign media and even for
listening to foreign language news media, such as the BBC, VOA and Radio
Free Asia.

In 1989, a lawyer, Nay Min, was arrested and sentenced to life
imprisonment for giving information to the BBC  Burmese Service.

In the early 1990s, Ba Myint and others from Sanchaung Township were
arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for listening to foreign
language broadcasts and for passing the information on to friends at a
teashop.

In 1996, a 70-year-old villager in Taungtha Township in central Burma was
sentenced to three years imprisonment for listening to the BBC Burmese
Service.

According to a Burmese journalist familiar with the Ministry for
Information, the authorities frequently warn citizens not to talk to
foreign news media. He said people can be sentenced up to 40 years
imprisonment.

Burmese state-run newspapers run stories almost daily that attack the
foreign media, especially the BBC, VOA, and RFA. One newspaper called such
radio stations “the murders on air.”

____________________________________

November 1, Irrawaddy
Ethnic armies prepare for dry season offensive - Saw Yan Naing

The increase in frontline confrontations between the Burmese army and
ethnic groups is an indication that the military government is planning a
major offensive, according to sources from ethnic groups.

Maj Hla Ngwe, secretary of the Karen National Union’s information
department, told The Irrawaddy o¬n Wednesday that fighting has increased
between Burmese and Karen soldiers in recent weeks, especially in
Kawkareik Township in Karen State’s Brigade 6.

He said, “It is most likely that they [the Burmese army, or Tatmadaw] will
conduct military operations during the dry season as they used to do. They
are trying to clean the way for the Asia highway in Karen state.”

In Kawkareik Township, the Tatmadaw has reinforced its troop numbers and
set up armed camps in areas where the road is due to be built, he said.

In previous years the Burmese army would launch military operations in the
ethnic areas only during the dry season months (usually January to May).

Meanwhile, vice-secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, Khu
Oo Reh, said that the Karenni army has clashed with Burmese troops an
estimated six times since early October. He said that Karenni soldiers are
preparing for conflict in the months ahead.

Khu Oo Reh added that two Burmese soldiers die for every one Karenni
soldier killed in hand to hand combat.

Regular clashes are also occurring in the middle and western regions of
Shan State, according to a spokesperson for the Shan State Army (South),
Sai Lao Hseng. He added that his troops were always on the alert.

On 23—24 October, a skirmish occurred between the Karen National
Liberation Army, the regular army of the KNU, and the breakaway Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army, the DKBA. One soldier from the DKBA was seriously
injured, said Maj Hla Ngwe of the KNU.

Then on October 27, there was a clash between the KNLA and Burmese
soldiers in Kawkareik Township in Karen State. Six Burmese soldiers were
killed, but no Karen soldiers died, Maj Hla Ngwe claimed.

Meanwhile, from 24 to 29 October, Burmese army troops from Division 88 and
Military Operations Command, MOC 1 sacked two Karen villages—Ler Mu Plaw
and Yeh Mu Plaw, in Papun District—and destroyed the villagers' rice
harvest, according to a report by the Free Burma Rangers relief team.

The report stated that two villagers were killed and nine villagers were
wounded, including two teenage girls. The Tatmadaw forcibly relocates
villagers, chases people from their homes, disrupts their planting and
harvesting, and kills anyone who resists, the report concluded.

The largest Burmese army offensive in recent years against the Karen
people was in February 2006 when 30,000 Karen villagers from the northern
three districts of Karen State were displaced from their homes and an
estimated 370 people were killed. Since then, 52 new Burmese army bases
have been built in the area.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 1, Irrawaddy
Monk who led marchers to Suu Kyi's house escapes to Thailand - Yeni

Sitting in a small, dark apartment in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border,
a 24-year-old monk speaks in a soft, quiet voice, "I am an ordinary monk."

But, Ashin Kawvida, is far from ordinary. He was among the leaders of the
first column of monks who marched through the streets of Rangoon on
September 18.

But September 22 is the day Ashin Kawvida will remember forever. It will
go down in Burmese history books.

As the leader of a marching column of monks, he decided to turn a corner
and enter University Avenue, the street where Aung San Suu Kyi lives.

"I wanted our beloved national leader to meet the people and the monks she
cares for," he said slowly. After he and his fellow monks successfully
negotiated with security police at a barricade, they marched through a
checkpoint to the sounds of clapping hands spreading through the
accompanying crowd of laypeople.
.
In a few moments, the column arrived in front of Suu Kyi's house, and the
monks stopped and turned, facing her home. Behind the monks, laypeople
stood with hands joined.

"Before us, the police security personnel stood rigid with metal shields
held in front of their bodies," Ashin Kawvida said, his breath rising. "We
began chanting the 'Metta Sutta.' I think Daw Aung San Suu Kyi heard our
chanting because she appeared at the gate in front of her home to meet us.
As that moment, many people began crying and shouting erupted."

"We hope you are free soon." "Live in good health."

It was an exhilarating moment. Only weeks before, Ashin Kawvida could
never have imagined that his ordinary life as a monk would take such
dramatic turns in the coming days and weeks.

On October 18, the day he arrived in Mae Sot, the regime's newspaper, The
New Light of Myanmar publicly named him as the monk responsible for hiding
48 TNT explosive cartridges in Rangoon's Nan Oo monastery, where he was
studying to become a teacher of Buddhist scripture.

"I have no idea what you call this explosive stuff," he said, gently. "For
my whole life, I have been practicing only the peaceful ways taught by
Lord Buddha."

Ashin Kawvida was lucky to have gone into hiding when he did and to have
successfully made the journey to the Thai border.

Until the monk-led uprising, his life as a monk had been ordinary. He
entered the Sangha as a 12-year-old novice in a monastery in his native
town of Ann in western Arakan (Rakhine) State. As a novice, he studied
Buddhist scriptures at the city's renowned Pannitayama monastery. By age
20, he had passed the high-level Pahtamaji examination, and he moved to
Rangoon to complete studies to become a teacher of Buddhist scripture.

In early September, when security forces violently beat and arrested monks
engaged in peaceful demonstrations in Pakokku in central Burma, Ashin
Kawvida said, "It was hard to believe that it happen in this Buddhist
country."

Then he heard reports on the BBC's Burmese-language news service about the
underground monks who called themselves the “Alliance of All Burma
Buddhist Monks.” They had called on the regime to apologize for its
brutality or monks would hold a patam nikkujjana kamma—a boycott of alms
from members of the military government.

"I am not a member of this underground network, and I had never met the
monks who gave the interview with the BBC," said Ashin Kawvida, but he
agreed with their call for relief of the people's suffering, the release
of political prisoners and the start of a process of national
reconciliation.

"There is interdependence between the public and the monks," he said. "How
can the monks survive when people are starving?"

On September 19, the second day of the marches in Rangoon, the monks were
quickly joined by about 1,500 laypeople, mostly university students, and
Ashin Kawvida said it was clear they needed to form a committee to ensure
the demonstrations continued peacefully.

Ashin Kawvida and a group of monks met on the tile floor in Sule Pagoda, a
focal point of the protests, and they formed the Sangha Kosahlal Aphwe, or
"Monks Representative Group," with 15 members.

By September 27, the junta's crackdown had turned bloody and dangerous and
to escape arrests, many monks began to flee Rangoon. Ashin Kawvida took
off his robe, put on civilian clothes, and went to a village about 40
miles away where he hid in room for two weeks.

Had he not gone into hiding, he said, "You wouldn't see me here alive."

Friends and supporters brought him food occasionally, but it wasn't easy.

"I used a plastic bucket as my daily toilet," he said. "I was so
scared
anything could get the attention of the neighbors."

A short while later, he heard the news that a woman he calls his adoptive
mother had been arrested, and he decided it was not safe to stay in his
hideout.

"I ran into the night barefooted," he said. "I ran down the highway to
Rangoon."

In Rangoon, he colored his short hair, now grown out for two weeks, blond,
and he purchased black sunglasses in a local market. He met up with
friends who had worked as migrant laborers in Mae Sot and finally got a
telephone number of a labor rights activist who promised to help. Several
days later, he boarded a bus heading east toward the Thai border.

Using a false identity card, he made it through about eight government
checkpoints and reached the border town of Myawaddy on October 17. The
next morning he crossed the Moei River to enter Mae Sot, Thailand.

His mind is no longer filled with fear, said Ashin Kawvida. He knows he
has been lucky. Pointing at the cover of The Irrawaddy magazine's October
issue, he said: "I heard the news that eight members of my group are still
missing, and six others are in hiding."

Also, he knows it's possible that he could still be arrested or forcibly
taken back into Burma from Thailand.

Ashin Kawvida said he plans to seek refugee status in Thailand and
eventually seek political asylum in a third country.

"If I am deported back to Burma, I definitely face torture and prison," he
said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 1, Irrawaddy
New sanctions missing the target, say critics - William Boot

New sanctions supposedly aimed at hurting the military regime and its
business associates in Burma will achieve little, warn some international
Burma watchers and analysts.

One regime expert described the latest sanctions by several Western
governments as little more than “theater.”

For instance, a list of financial restrictions recently imposed by the
Australian government looks good at a glance, but on closer inspection is
merely cosmetic.
The restrictions do not affect the one area where Naypyidaw earns the most
money— gas and oil concessions and sales.

Although Australia says it has imposed financial curbs on more than 400
members of the Burmese military leadership or business affiliates,
Australians and Australian companies engaged in oil and gas exploration on
the regime’s behalf are not affected.

Burma Campaign UK names the Australia-based Danford Equities Corporation
among five companies, mostly in tourism, on its “dirty list” for doing
business in Burma.

Danford signed up last November for a joint venture with the
junta-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in the Yetagun offshore
gas reserve in the Andaman Sea.

Major US oil company Chevron also continues to operate in Burma unaffected
by Washington’s latest sanctions. And France’s Total petroleum company
seems untouched by European Union sanctions.

A Burma specialist at Georgetown University in the US, David Steinberg,
told a seminar in Singapore that sanctions by several countries in the
wake of the junta crackdown in street protesters would be inconsequential
to a regime which has specialized in being isolationist.

Steinberg, a visiting professor at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies was quoted in the city-state’s media saying, “This is
theater, not policy.”

He had criticized Western sanctions before as “emotionally satisfying” but
ineffective. He advocates engagement with the junta rather than isolation
to try to bring the generals to the negotiating table.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo meanwhile re-enforced the
no-sanctions view of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which
Burma is a member. He told a French government delegation touring East
Asia that isolating the junta would solve nothing and possibly lead to
greater repression.

Critics of Asean however have said it would be folly to allow Burma to
take part in the organization’s historic charter signing in Singapore in
November, which is aimed at closer economic ties among the ten member
countries—and introduces a human rights advocacy agency.

The Alternative Asean Network on Burma, a Bangkok-based NGO of academics
and activists campaigning for greater social justice in Asean, has
produced a five-point argument in favor of Burma’s neighbors using their
economic muscle to bring about change in the impoverished country.

“Asean countries must exercise their substantial influence on Burma’s
military leaders to secure the delivery of genuine political and economic
reforms, instead of using China as an excuse for inaction,” a Network
statement suggests.

The NGO points out that Burma:
• relies on petrol and diesel from Malaysia and Singapore to keep
businesses running and military vehicles on the road;
• relies on trade with Asean for 51 percent of foreign exchange revenue,
with gas sales to Thailand alone accounting for 48 percent in 2005/06;
• relies on Thailand and Singapore as their biggest sources of new Foreign
Direct Investment, constituting a total of 98 percent of FDI in the past
two years;
• relies on Singapore’s financial services to store and move the wealth
that they drain away from Burma.

Among other things, the AANB urges “a temporary freeze on large
Burmese-held bank accounts and other financial assets in Singapore as part
of a money-laundering review.”

The military regime in Burma has been showing signs of panic about its
dependency on banking in Singapore for most of its foreign business
transactions. Junta leaders have reportedly been reviewing Burma’s banking
arrangements with the friendly city-state in the wake of international
condemnation and calls for action following the recent violent army
crackdown in Rangoon and other cities.

But some analysts say the angst seems misplaced given the Singaporean
government’s opposition to sanctions against Burma.

____________________________________

November 1, Asia Times
Myanmar's generals hit where it hurts - Bertil Lintner

For Htet Tay Za, a 19-year-old member of Myanmar's elite who attends an
exclusive and expensive international school in Singapore, life is often a
party. A picture recently obtained by the Chiang Mai-based publication The
Irrawaddy shows the young man being kissed on the cheek by a bikini clad
Caucasian woman.

In another portrait, the partying youngster is seen in festive mood beside
a male friend puffing on a water pipe. But the party may be over soon for
Htet Tay Za, as his father who pays the bills for his lavish lifestyle,
Tay Za, figures prominently in an October 19 executive order from the US
Treasury Department that aims to block his assets and make it illegal for
US citizens to have any business dealings with him and his private
companies.

Earlier US sanctions, first imposed in 1997 and increased following an
attack on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers in May
2003, were often criticized because they broadly banned all new investment
into and imports from Myanmar. The latter measures forced textile
factories to close down or to move across the border to Thailand.
Thousands of workers lost their jobs, while the economic impact on members
of the ruling junta was minimal.

This time, however, the US has imposed what it is referring to as "smart
sanctions" that target specific individuals and companies. The punitive
tactic is similar to the one the US applied in September 2005 against
Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which the Treasury Department referred to in a
statement at the time as "a willing pawn for the North Korean government
to engage in corrupt financial activities".

The move froze US$24 million in assets belonging to companies controlled
by the North Korean government and as a result the entire bank almost
collapsed. In the end, the money was released and moved to a bank in
Russia. But it forced the North Korean government back to the negotiating
table to resume the then stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's
controversial nuclear program.

The recent action against the Myanmar government and corporate entities
still may not force the junta to embark on a serious dialogue with the
country's hobbled pro-democracy movement. Unlike previous US sanctions,
however, this time they will certainly hurt the ruling generals and their
business cronies more than ordinary Myanmar workers and citizens.

Tay Za is the 42-year-old manager of the Myanmar-based Htoo Trading
Company, which among other subsidiaries controls the Singapore-registered
Htoo Wood Products, Pavo Trading, and Air Bagan. Through the new
sanctions, all of those companies are now blacklisted by the US
government. The businessman is known to be very close to junta leader
General Than Shwe and when he first launched into business he made a point
of employing the children of powerful generals - which presumably paved
the way for him to land lucrative government contracts.

Among those currently or formerly on his payroll are Aung Thet Mann, the
son of General Shwe Mann, the junta's third ranking official after Than
Shwe and army chief General Maung Aye. According to a 2005 report in The
Irrawaddy, Tay Za is also close to Than Shwe's son, Kyaing San Shwe, whom
Tay Za presented with a US-made Hummer, for undisclosed reasons.

Htoo Trading, which is engaged in timber exports, property development,
palm oil production, arms deals and aviation, was one of two construction
companies granted lucrative contracts to build the new national capital at
Naypyidaw, to which the government moved from Yangon in November 2005.
Also included on the new US sanctions list is Tay Za's wife, Thidar Zaw,
and another son, Pye Phyo Za, who spends most of his time in a luxury
apartment in Singapore.

Junta who's who
The US Treasury Department's two new lists, one of which mentions by name
14 generals and government ministers, and the second an additional 11, are
all now barred from entering the US and will have any assets they may hold
in US financial institutions frozen. Those measures may be mainly
symbolic, as few if any of the military officials have assets held in US
banks or were likely planning to spend their next holiday in Hawaii or
Florida.

But there are other important businessmen affiliated with the junta who
could be adversely affected. The US sanction list notably includes Khin
Shwe, president of Zaygabar and one of Myanmar's leading real estate
moguls, and Htay Myint, chief executive officer of the Yuzana Company, a
large property developer.

Khin Shwe first attracted international attention in 1997 when he hired a
US public relations firm, Bain and Associates Inc, in what turned out to
be a futile attempt to improve the junta's image and standing in
Washington. Bain and Associates now appears to have washed its hands of
Myanmar's junta. The firm's homepage (http://www.bainpr.com/), perhaps for
good reason, omits Zaygabar among its list of "clients with whom we've
worked".

In Yangon, Zaygabar owns industrial parks, a golf and country club
frequented by army officers, a hotel and the city's tallest residential
condominium. The fact that Khin Shwe's daughter, Zay Zin Latt, is married
to another of General Shwe Mann's sons, Toe Naing Mann, some analysts
believe may have helped him secure lucrative government contracts and
concessions. Outside Myanmar, Khin Shwe is known to have business
relations with companies in Japan, South Korea and Thailand. He is
currently chairman of the Myanmar-Japan and Myanmar-Korean Friendship
Associations and also chairs the Myanmar-Thai Development Corporation.

Htay Myint's Yuzana is a somewhat smaller company, but has substantial
investments in property as well as agricultural and fishery ventures.
According to The Irrawaddy, he serves as president of the Construction
Owners Association, the Fishing Vessel Owners Association and the Myanmar
Project Association, and is the owner of one of Myanmar's biggest
supermarket chains. Htay Myint's contacts with the junta were strongest
with former prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt, who was ousted in a purge in
October 2004. But the fact that Yuzana is still doing booming business in
Myanmar indicates that he must have other high-level contacts as well.

Not on the US new sanctions list is Tun Myint Naing, also known as Steven
Law, managing director of Asia World Company, the country's biggest and
most diversified conglomerate. Asia World was the other main contractor
involved in the building of Naypyidaw.

Whether Law and his Asia World will be added to the list remains to be
seen, but according to an e-mail received by Asia Times Online from the US
State Department, what has been announced so far "is not meant as the
final word". Meanwhile, Asia World maintains close relations with the
junta and it recently has been involved in road construction in
northeastern Shan State, the renovation of Yangon's international airport,
and the construction of a deepwater port near the old capital. Law is also
known to have had business interests in Singapore, including the recently
dissolved Kokang Singapore Pte Ltd, and others through his wife, Cecilia
Ng, who is a Singaporean citizen.

The effects of the new sanctions were felt within days of their
announcement. Tay Za's Air Bagan has cancelled its international flights
to both Bangkok and Singapore and remains basically grounded. Banks in
Singapore, the financial center of choice for Myanmar's generals and
junta-affiliated business tycoons, have reportedly become slow in
processing any transactions to and from Myanmar.

The reason, some observers suggest, is that Singapore's banks want to
check whether any of their clients are on the US sanctions list - in which
case they could face a similar situation to that of Macau's Banco Delta
Asia. Singapore is not legally obliged to uphold the new US sanctions, but
its banks are evidently nervous about the adverse publicity the punitive
measures could have on their global reputations. Air Bagan's bank accounts
in Singapore have already reportedly been blocked, though it's unclear if
this is a permanent or temporary intervention.

What is clear is that it will be much more difficult for Myanmar's
generals and their business associates to deposit both their legitimate
and ill-gotten gains in Singaporean banks. Myanmar workers based abroad,
many of whom send remittances to their relatives back home, will notably
be less affected by the new measures as they tend to use informal
underground banking systems such as "hawala" to avoid unfavorable exchange
rates and excessive government taxes.

The new sanctions also likely mean less partying in Singapore for the
generals, their cronies and siblings. And because most international bank
transfers pass through either the US or Europe, whatever funds the junta
already has parked in Singapore will likely need to stay there or risk
being frozen or confiscated. The medium-term efficacy of the US's smarter
sanctions is more difficult to ascertain, as the junta will likely seek
out new destinations for its funds. But suddenly life just got
considerably harder for Myanmar's ruling generals.

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

____________________________________
DRUGS

November 1, Narinjara News
Sergeant sentenced to prison for Yaba smuggling

Maungdaw:  For the first time a police sergeant was sentenced to 18 years
in prison for his involvement in Yaba smuggling to Bangladesh on
Wednesday. The sergeant belonged to Maungdaw police station in western
Burma , said a senior official in the Maungdaw district court.

"Maungdaw district court passed the verdict on police sergeant Thein Win
yesterday," he said.

Thein Win was arrested in Shwe Zar Ward in Maungdaw five months ago while
he was smuggling out 300 Yaba tablets at the export and import gate in
Maungdaw, to Bangladesh.

Although Thein Win received a lengthy prison term, constable Hla Thein,
who was arrested along with the sergeant, was found innocent and released
unconditionally.

This is the first time a police sergeant has been punished in Maungdaw
Township for involvement in Yaba smuggling.

Burma's neighbour Bangladesh is now facing a serious challenge as many
youth and students in Dhaka are reportedly addicted to Yaba from Burma.

Bangladesh authorities have been conducting an operation to crack down on
smuggling of drugs, including Yaba, throughout Bangladesh, since October
18.

It was learnt that during the operation, at least 50 people were arrested
and over 200,000 Yaba tablets, have been seized by the authorities.

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 1, Irrawaddy
Student activists urge Asean to suspend junta - Shah Paung

A Burmese students’ activist group called Thursday for the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations to suspend the Burmese military government from
membership of Asean while the government continues to ignore international
demands to initiate a meaningful dialogue toward national reconciliation.

In an open letter to Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsein Loong and
Foreign Minister George Yeo, the 88 Generation Students group urged Asean
to “consider suspending the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council]”
and enter into meaningful dialogue with all opposition groups. The group
also demanded that Asean countries refrain from selling arms and
intelligence technology to the junta, as they are frequently employed in
suppressing peaceful demonstrations.

The students’ association also called on Asean to immediately announce and
clarify that the Southeast Asian body will not accept the Burmese military
government’s draft constitution which forms the basis of the junta’s
“Seven-step Roadmap to Democracy” while, at the same time, denies the
participation of the1990 election-wining party, the NLD, and ethnic
political parties.

Singapore currently holds the chair at Asean—a geopolitical economic
organization that represents 10 member states—and will hold an annual
summit on November 17-23. Burma became a member of Asean in 1997 despite
deep concerns over its human rights record.

The 88 Generation Students group also urged Asean to apply greater
pressure on the Burmese regime to implement recommendations made by the UN
general secretary Ban Ki-moon and special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for
releasing all detainees, and initiate talks with Burma’s democracy icon,
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18
years.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Gambari is to make his fourth visit to Burma on
Saturday and is due to stay for five days. Gambari made his latest visit
to Burma on September 29, a few days after the Burmese military government
had brutally cracked down on peaceful demonstrators and monks.

On his previous visit, Gambari met with Aung San Suu Kyi and top military
leaders, including Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

According to the 88 Generation Students group, Burmese soldiers and
security forces killed more than 200 monks and their supporters in the
September crackdown, including children as young as 10 years old. More
than 3,000 demonstrators are alleged to have been arrested and detained.

The government claimed that it has released more than 2,000 detainees.
However, it is estimated that more than 1,000 people remain in custody,
including more than 40 members of the 88 Generation Students group, such
as well-known student leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya and Htay
Kywe.

Those members of the 88 Generation Students group who sent the letter to
Asean are in hiding from the security forces and fear that they could be
arrested at any time.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 1, Asia Sentinel
India’s Burma problem - Nava Thakuria

The carnage in Burma after the junta cracked down on widespread protests
in September and October appears to be stirring unrest in India’s own
remote northeastern states.

Surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Burma and Bangladesh, the region is
only tenuously connected to India itself and has long been beset by
numerous insurgencies.

Bangladesh juts up to the north from the Indian Ocean, nearly severing the
region’s eight states from India itself.  Scores of rebel groups in the
area have been fighting the government virtually since India’s
independence from Great Britain.

Despite the fact that New Delhi has created a separate ministry for the
region and begun building a wide range of infrastructure projects, public
resentment against the central government remains high. Indigenous
activists complain that the government is only interested in exploiting
the region’s oil, coal, tea and timber resources while remaining deaf to
their needs. Armed groups also use the jungles of northern Burma as their
hideouts and training camps.

The northeast has a volatile stew of militant organizations, most of them
ethnically based and some so small that even the locals don’t know who
they are. According to some counts, there are as many as 35 such groups in
Manipur, with another 34 in Assam, many of them Islamist. Only the states
of Arunchal Pradesh and Mizoram are relatively free of rebel groups,
perhaps because of Indian infrastructure development efforts in the
latter.

The sudden uprising in Burma has changed the scenario. While New Delhi has
maintained a studied silence on the junta’s crackdown, public meetings and
rallies in the northeast have condemned Burma’s military rulers and
offered support to pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her National
League for Democracy, which overwhelmingly won 1991 parliamentary
elections whose results were thrown out by the generals.

In recent weeks the northeast has seen a growing number of pro-democracy
rallies and conferences, prayer meetings, candlelight vigils and other
events that have drawn tens of thousands of people.  Nearly 20,000
assembled at Mawphlang, near the Meghalaya capital of Shillong, for
instance, urging New Delhi to intervene in the Burmese crisis. Robert
Kharshing, a Member of Parliament elected from Meghalaya and one of the
organizers of the public meeting said, "We want the government to withdraw
its present policy on Burma and extend support to the democratic movement
led by Suu Kyi."

Officials are unsure how much the anti-Burma sentiment is being
transferred into anti-New Delhi sentiment, but the possibility is growing.
Some 40,000 Chin refugees from Burma have settled in the tiny state of
Mizoram since the 1988 democracy uprising was crushed.  Although the Chin
have not been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees, they lead a relatively comfortable existence in Mizoram, since
the Chin and India’s Mizo peoples share similar linguistic and religious
traditions.

New Delhi has responded to the restive region with ambitious efforts to
build infrastructure. The famed Stillwell Road, which passed through some
of the toughest terrain in the world during World War II as a vital link
between Burma and India, is being rescued from ruin and will be reopened
and repaved. In 2001, then-Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh inaugurated the
construction of a road connecting the Burmese towns of Kalewa and Tamu
with Moreh in Manipur, one of three historic trade routes linking the
northeast to Burma.

New Delhi, even after inviting criticism for its strategic ties with
Burma’s military rulers, justifies its stand, emphasizing engagement
rather than alienation. During a recent visit to the northeast, External
Affairs Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, reiterated that New Delhi had been
involved “in a variety of projects with Myanmar in diverse fields,” such
as roads, railways, telecommunications, IT, technology, and power.

"As a close and friendly neighbour, India hopes to see a peaceful, stable
and prosperous Myanmar [Burma], where all sections of people will be
included in a broad based process of national reconciliation and political
reform," Mukherjee said, using the junta’s name for the country.

The foreign minister's comments invited criticism from many. "India cannot
take a contradictory position on democracy in the region by advocating it
for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Bhutan and not
least for Nepal – and stay silent on its other large neighbour, Burma,"
Sanjoy Hazarika, an author and filmmaker, told Asia Sentinel. "We can no
longer say that Burma's turmoil is that country's internal politics. It
directly impacts our security and economic interests in the northeast, not
to speak of larger national concerns."

Certainly India, which was supportive of the pro-democracy movement in
Burma until 1993, has legitimate concerns on its eastern flank, given
growing Chinese influence in Burma. Burma, with proven reserves of about
2.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, is being pursued feverishly by
India and China, both of which are starved for energy. But an Indo-Burma
gas pipeline, projected to pass through Bangladesh and which was regarded
by New Delhi as an economic opportunity for the northeast, has been put on
hold.

A destabilized Burma is causing problems for the northeast on various
fronts, says Hiten Mahatna, a Guwahati-based political analyst. Not only
is the region bearing the brunt of Burmese refugees, its residents has
been exposed to illegal drugs and arms trafficked from the country. With
Burma’s proximity and high HIV/AIDS rates, Manipur has become one of the
highest HIV-infected states in India, and its youth are falling prey to
drugs illegally supplied from Burma’s Golden Triangle, says Mahatna.

"New Delhi cannot overlook these troubles. In fact, it is in the
northeast’s interest to have a stable regime in Burma. Being the largest
democracy in the globe, we obviously want a democratic government there,"
Mahatna said.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 1, International Herald Tribune
UN envoy's visit seen as Myanmar flash point - Thomas Fuller

Bangkok: The streets of major cities in Myanmar appeared quiet Thursday, a
day after a small group of monks led a protest march through the central
Burmese city of Pakokku. But the arrival of the United Nations special
envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, in Myanmar on Saturday may spur further protests,
analysts and dissidents said.

The protest march Wednesday by about 100 to 200 monks was the first sign
of defiance since the deadly crackdown on demonstrators in late September.

"It highlights the fact that there continues to be a lot of frustration,"
Charles Petrie, the most senior UN official in Myanmar, said by telephone
from Yangon on Thursday.

Clashes in Pakokku between monks and soldiers on Sept. 5 triggered the
broader protests around the country.

Gambari, who visited Myanmar shortly after the crackdown in September,
will meet with "a broad range of representatives of Myanmar society" from
Nov. 3 to Nov. 8, a UN statement said.

Gambari has been on a six-nation Asian tour, discussing the situation in
Myanmar and urging support for national reconciliation and a transition to
democracy in the country, which has been under military rule since 1962.

Ban Ki Moon, the United Nations secretary general, said Gambari would
promote "democratic measures by the Myanmar government, including the
release of all detained students and demonstrators."

"Our goal is that he will facilitate this dialogue between the government
and opposition leaders," Ban said Wednesday.

Aung Din, a Burmese dissident now living in Washington, said Gambari's
visit may embolden groups around the country to protest.

"I think we will see public challenges to the government in the coming
days," said Aung Din, who was a leader in the 1988 uprising that came
close but ultimately failed in unseating the military government. "They
would like to show that they are defiant against the junta when Mr.
Gambari is in Rangoon."

But analysts say that renewed protests on the scale of those in September
are unlikely.

"Given how fresh the violent crackdown was, I doubt that large numbers of
people, monks and civilians, will take to the streets again," said Zarni,
a dissident based in Oxford, England, who goes by one name.

The government has said that 10 people died in the suppression of the
protests, but dissidents and foreign diplomats say the death toll is
probably much higher.

In recent weeks the ruling generals have called on residents of large
towns and cities to take part, sometimes as early as 4 a.m., in
pro-government rallies.
The monks in Pakokku reportedly used the pro-government rallies as a
justification for their protest.

"The monks said, if you can organize a rally early in the morning we can
also have our own protest," Aung Din said.

____________________________________

November 1, Associated Press
Nelson Mandela Children's Fund withdraws name from Gary Player's golf
tournament

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund has withdrawn its name from an annual
golf tournament hosted by Gary Player because of concerns over the sports
star's involvement in Myanmar.

The charity said it did not want Mandela to be involved in an ongoing
controversy over Player having designed a golf course in Myanmar that is
used by the country's military leaders. Mandela's various foundations and
charities are fiercely protective of the use of the name and image of the
89-year-old anti-apartheid hero.

"As a result of our withdrawal, the tournament can no longer be called the
Nelson Mandela Invitational and should not be marketed as such in any form
whatsoever," the Fund said in a statement carried late Wednesday by the
South African Press Association.

Event spokesman Duncan Cruickshank said Thursday that the tournament would
still go ahead as planned at the end of this month at a golf complex just
outside Cape Town and would likely be called the Children's Charity
Invitational.

"We are obviously disappointed that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund has
chosen to distance itself from the event but we respect their decision,"
he said.

The golf tournament a popular fixture on South Africa's sporting calendar,
featuring professionals, celebrities and businessmen has raised 20 million
rands (US$3 million; euro2 million) for charity over the past seven years.
This was traditionally evenly split between the Gary Player Foundation,
which helps educate deprived children, and the Nelson Mandela Children's
Fund.

The children's fund said it would no longer accept money from Player,
according to SAPA. Fund officials were in meetings and not immediately
available for comment Thursday.

The controversy erupted in early October at the height of a brutal
crackdown by Myanmar's junta against peaceful protesters and Buddhist
monks. Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu called for sanctions against the regime
and criticized Player for building the Pun Hlaing golf course, urging
Mandela to withdraw from the golf tournament.

At the time, Player issued a statement on his Web site saying that the
golf course was designed during a political thaw in Myanmar in 2002, when
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been released and there were hopes
of greater democracy.

He went on condemn the wave of repression and said he backed Tutu's call
for sanctions.

However, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund was not convinced. It said it
wanted to remain involved in the golf tournament but asked Player to stand
down as guest of honor and host.

Cruickshank said this was not possible because the golf tournament was a
joint venture between Player's Black Knight International company and
event management company Octagon. The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund was a
beneficiary but did not own the event, he said.

Player, who turned 72 Thursday, is one of the game's greatest players. He
won 163 tournaments around the world, including the Masters in 1961, '74
and '78, the U.S. Open in '65 and the British Open in '59, '68 and '74.

All of his successes came during South Africa's apartheid era and he was
often criticized for supporting white racist rule.

Player's company designs golf courses around the world and is also
involved in real estate. He owns an internationally acclaimed stud farm in
South Africa. Player is also heavily involved in charitable work.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund last year distributed 41 million rands
(US$6 million; euro4 million) to organizations promoting children's
development.

____________________________________

November 1, Reuters
Pressure can move Myanmar junta - exiled leader - Paul Eckert

Myanmar's ruling junta is sensitive to world opinion despite its
isolationism, an exiled opposition leader said on Wednesday, urging more
international financial and political pressure to change the former Burma.

"The international pressure does mean something to the regime. They are
really worried about it," said Maung Maung, Thailand-based secretary
general of the exiled opposition National Council of the Union of Burma.

"Why would they let Gambari in right away if they did not care about the
outside world?" he asked, referring to U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari,
who will visit Myanmar from November 3-8 on a second mission to the
Southeast Asian country.

Buddhist monks in Myanmar staged on Wednesday their first protest march
since troops crushed a pro-democracy uprising last month.

Speaking on the eve of his appearance before a U.S. Congress human rights
panel, Maung Maung said the world must not settle for periodic visits by
Gambari.

"There needs to be an office that is mandated by (U.N.) Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon that can monitor events every day," he told Reuters.

A U.N. presence could stop atrocities and keep the junta from backing away
from political dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
Maung Maung added.

Myanmar state media say 10 people, including a Japanese video journalist,
were killed when soldiers were sent in to clear the streets of Yangon and
other cities, although Western governments said the real toll was likely
far higher.

Maung Maung said his group estimated the toll from last month's crackdown
at 40 dead, but was investigating reports of many instant cremations of
victims.

The former geologist and miners union organizer, who fled Myanmar after
the junta crushed a democracy movement in 1988, dismissed suggestions that
Western backing for Myanmar's democrats stopped at rhetorical and moral
support.

"The support has had an effect on the regime," he said, pointing to moves
by Singapore banks to curb some dealings with junta-owned businesses after
U.S. President George W. Bush drew up sanctions against Myanmar generals,
families and firms.

"We're calling for action to be taken on oil and energy companies that are
working in Burma, so that the money that goes to the regime is blocked,"
said Maung Maung. "If we can have actions that stop the money we will see
results."

Foreign tourists should also avoid supporting the junta, he said, a policy
that has been backed by Suu Kyi.

"You can wait and you can have your visit later when things change," he said.

____________________________________

November 1, Irrawaddy
Burmese seamen on tanker held by Somali pirates - Violet Cho

Twelve Burmese seamen are among the crew of a Japanese-registered tanker
hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in East Africa.

A US guided missile destroyer, the USS Porter, sped to the aid of the ship
and fired on it, destroying two pirate boats, but the head of the
Bangkok-based Seafarers Union of Burma, Ko Thura, told The Irrawaddy on
Thursday that the vessel was still in the hands of the hijackers.

“I’m very worried for the crew because their lives are in danger,” Ko
Thura said.

The Burmese seamen are among a crew of 23 of the Japanese-flagged tanker
Golden Nori. Nine of the crew, including the captain, are Filipinos and
two are South Korean.

A spokeswoman for the US Fifth Fleet, Cmdr Lydia Robertson, said US
warships were monitoring the Golden Nori.

The tanker contains highly inflammable benzene, an industrial solvent. The
USS Porter nevertheless fired on the ship, destroying two pirate skiffs
tied to the hull. Cmdr Robertson did not say whether further armed
intervention was planned.

The US navy is frequently called on to assist ships hijacked by pirates
off the coast of the Horn of Africa, the world’s most dangerous stretch of
water, where armed Somali robbers prey on passing vessels.

The pirates usually hold the ships and crews for ransom. Negotiations are
currently underway for the release of a South Korean ship, held since May
by pirates who are demanding $1.5 million ransom.

Ko Thura said Burmese crewmen had fallen prey before to pirates, but
complained that the Burmese government did little to help them. The
Seafarers Union of Burma works in exile on behalf of an estimated
20,000-30,000 Burmese seamen, many of them employed for little pay and
under poor working conditions on “flag of convenience” ships.

____________________________________

November 1, Mizzima News
'Burma' most corrupt in the world: CPI

Having tied for second to last in the 2006 survey of national corruption,
it seemed to ask a lot of Burma to put in a worse showing for 2007. But
Burma has done just that, sharing the title of world's most corrupt
country with war ravaged and impoverished Somalia.

The annual Corruptions Perception Index (CPI), a product of Transparency
International, paints a grim picture for the short-term prospect of
improvement inside Burma, stating from the outset that the existence of
strong and accountable public institutions is essential, and that "a
strong correlation between corruption and poverty continues to be
evident."

"Countries torn apart by conflict pay a huge toll in their capacity to
govern. With public institutions crippled or non-existent, mercenary
individuals help themselves to public resources and corruption thrives,"
Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International, went on to add.

Echoing calls for increased sanctions on the Burmese junta's financial
assets and ability to conduct financial transactions, the CPI report
argues that: "The first order of business is to improve transparency in
financial management, from revenue collection to expenditure, as well as
strengthening oversight and putting an end to the impunity of corrupt
officials."

"Criticism by rich countries of corruption in poor ones has little
credibility while their financial institutions sit on wealth stolen from
the world's poorest people," cautions Akere Muna, Vice Chair of
Transparency International.

Drawing attention to another gaping whole in Burma's current societal
composition, Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of Transparency
International, comments, "Civil society organisations play a vital
watchdog role, can help stimulate demand for reform and also bring in
expertise on technical issues."

The CPI warns that the lessening of corruption in a country can be a time
consuming and arduous task, as "in countries where public sector
institutions were historically based on patronage and nepotism rather than
merit, reform takes time and can require a substantial investment of
resources, as well as technical assistance."

For this reason Transparency International is quick to point out that rich
and less corrupt countries have a responsibility to assist those countries
less fortunate and facing higher degrees of corruption.

"Countries at both ends of the Corruption Perceptions Index have
responsibilities in fighting corruption. Poor countries can't fight this
battle alone. Helping to facilitate the recovery of assets stolen by
corrupt dictators is just one way developed countries can take an active
role," says Labelle.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand top the chart as the world's three least
corrupt countries, followed closely by Singapore. This, despite
Singapore's well documented and extensive financial holdings and business
with Burma's junta.

Looking forward, the generals have plenty of competition if they intend to
keep their title as most corrupt country for next year, as fully 40
percent of the world's countries are classified by the CPI as "very
corrupt."

Ironically the 2007 study was initially released on the same day, in late
September, as the military commenced a violent suppression of protestors
in Burma's major cities.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 1, Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK welcomes DFID’s decision to double aid to Burma

The Burma Campaign UK welcomes the announcement by The Secretary of State
for International Development, Douglas Alexander MP, to double British aid
to Burma from £8.8 million this year to £18 million by 2010. Douglas
Alexander made the announcement during the first debate on Burma in the
House of Commons on Monday.

The Burma Campaign had condemned DFID’s failure to take action on any of
the key recommendations made by the International Development Committee
and has been calling on DFID to implement the recommendations of the
Committee.

“We are delighted that DFID is finally listening and recognizes the urgent
need for more aid to Burma,” said Zoya Phan, Campaigns Officer at the
Burma Campaign UK. “However, this is just a first step. DFID now needs to
implement all of the recommendations made by the International Development
Committee, including funding for cross border aid, which is the only way
to reach some of the most vulnerable people in Burma, and projects
supporting human rights and democracy in Burma.”

The International Development Committee, a cross-party committee of MPs
which scrutinizes the work of DFID, has called for key changes in DFID’s
aid policy, including:

• A quadrupling of aid to Burma by 2013, taking aid from £8.8m to £35.3m a
year.

• Providing cross-border aid in addition to in-country aid, to ensure aid
reaches internally displaced people who cannot be reached through
in-country mechanisms because of restrictions imposed by the regime.

• Funding projects promoting human rights and democracy, including exile
based Burmese women’s groups and the trade union movement.

• Setting up alternative mechanisms to provide funding for HIV/AIDS,
malaria and TB in parts of the country that the 3D fund can’t reach
because of restrictions by the regime.

For more information contact Zoya Phan, Campaigns Manager, on 020 73244712.