BurmaNet News, March 4, 2008

[Editor]

March 4, 2008 Issue # 3415


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Shooting in Yangon near Suu Kyi's home: police
Los Angeles Times: Laughing through the junta's gag
VOA: UN Special Envoy heading to Burma
Irrawaddy: Mandalay monks launch anti-referendum poster campaign
Irrawaddy: Crackdown on Rangoon’s street vendors
Mizzima News: Junta begin registering ceasefire groups
Mizzima News: Detained 88 student activist sealed-off in dark cell
Mizzima News: Junta to hold top brass meeting in Nay Pyi Taw
DVB: 88 Students charged under anti-subversion law
DVB: Artharwaddy monks and nuns appear in court

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Mae Hong Son businessmen unhappy with border closure

BUSINESS / TRADE
Subsea World: Aban Offshore get contract for offshore Myanmar drilling

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Cholera outbreak in Mon State

REGIONAL
BBC News: India's diplomatic offensive with Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: ‘Rambo’ muddies Burma’s media message
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific: Interview – Burmese opposition radio
interviews ILO official on forced labour situation

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 4, Agence-France Press
Shooting in Yangon near Suu Kyi's home: police

A rare shooting incident has taken place late Monday in the leafy Yangon
neighbourhood where Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is under
house arrest, police said.

Police said the shooting happened near the State Guesthouse, a military
facility that has been the venue for recent talks between the Nobel peace
prize winner and a liaison officer for the military government.

The facility is in the same neighbourhood as Aung San Suu Kyi's home on
University Avenue, which is under constant guard.

One resident near the guesthouse, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
five people at a neighbouring home had been killed. Police declined to
comment on casualties.

"Five people were killed by the gun shots -- a couple, their two
daughters, and a maid," the resident told AFP.

Although Myanmar has been at civil war for about six decades, shootings in
the nation's commercial hub are extremely rare.

Ordinary citizens are not allowed to own weapons, and firearms are
strictly controlled by the regime.

Any sort of violence near Aung San Suu Kyi's home or the guesthouse is
unusual because the area is under constant surveillance by authorities.

____________________________________

March 4, Los Angeles Times
Laughing through the junta's gag – Paul Watson

The Moustache Brothers are Lu Zaw, left, Par Par Lay and Lu Maw. Their act
banned, the three continue to perform political satire at home, in
English.  Myanmar's famous comedy troupe, unable to publicly stage its
satirical routines, still pokes fun at the ruling generals nightly at
home. "Joking shares the suffering," says one member.

The generals, to put it mildly, can't take a joke.  But the Moustache
Brothers make their living mocking fools, including those who wear
military uniforms. So they have drawn a battle line in this country's long
struggle for democracy with a small stage that cuts across their cramped
living room, site of the three-man comedy troupe's nightly performance.

The military regime silenced street protests last fall by arresting and,
in some cases, shooting peaceful demonstrators. That has left dissidents
such as comedians Lu Zaw, Lu Maw and the lead satirist of the family, Par
Par Lay, to tend the embers of opposition by poking fun at the regime.

In the past, the junta that rules Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- has
tried to shut them up too, hoping to intimidate them with prison terms,
hard labor and torture. But the comedians are exploiting a loophole in a
ban on their act by staying on the attack at home, in English, with biting
humor that ridicules the junta as a bunch of bumbling thugs, thieves and
spies.

The Moustache Brothers, one of Myanmar's most famous comedic acts, are
determined to get the last laugh.

"Joking shares the suffering," said Lu Maw. "That's what the government is
afraid of because jokes are like wildfire. They want to hide deep problems
under the covers, and jokes spread the word, mouth to mouth, door to door
and outside the country. Then they are disgraced. They are ashamed."

Lu Maw, 58, is the middle brother, and since his fractured English is the
closest to fluent, he warms up the small groups of tourists who fill the
plastic lawn chairs in the brothers' living room each night.

He cracks jokes rapid-fire, like a comic machine gun, under the harsh
white light of six bare fluorescent tubes. Often he riffs on expressions
he's picked up from the folks who buy tickets or while listening to
foreign broadcasts on shortwave radio, like "Bite the dust," "New bottle,
same wine," and "My brothers and I, we're skating on thin ice!"

He laughs louder than most at his best lines, and many times in an
interview pauses to tell the reporter: "That's a good one. Write that one
down."

The living room theater is on Mandalay's 39th Street, the Broadway of
a-nyient, a centuries-old tradition that combines stand-up comedy,
puppetry, traditional music and dance with subtle political satire.

The stage, covered in red all-weather carpet, is half a step up from a
brick floor. The wall behind it is strung with marionettes, and two
rattling fans hang from the low ceiling. Audience members come by
rickshaw, cab or tour bus, and pay by donation.

On a recent night, about a dozen people, mostly young backpackers and a
few journalists who had posed as tourists to get into the country, helped
out when Lu Maw's English failed him. A few gladly got into the act when
the comedians needed more hands to hold up painted wooden signs naming the
world's biggest spy agencies, and declaring, "Moustache Brothers are under
surveillance."

After warming up with safe jokes about wives and backdoor men, Par Par Lay
changed out of his fan dance costume, white robe and glittering gold
pillbox hat, and leaped on stage in a black robber's mask, wielding a toy
pistol, while his brother declared that civil servants behaved like Jesse
James.

"So much corruption," Lu Maw explained through an old-fashioned microphone
to the audience. "That's why this guy has been three times in the clink,
up the river -- in the big house!"

Myanmar's military holds itself up as the indispensable defender of a
great culture, so gagging one of the biggest acts still performing in an
ancient art form isn't simple. When the generals were in a slightly better
mood in 1996, they decided they could stand a little ribbing from popular
comedians.

But the junta did a squeeze and release that same year. It barred the
Moustache Brothers from taking their show on the road, and refuses to
issue permits to anyone who might want to hire them. But the regime
tolerates the comedians' home theater, so long as they perform in English,
for foreign visitors whose opinions the generals happily ignore.

Locals are turned back at the doors, but the doors stay wide open, so they
often gather on the street and watch the whole act clearly, along with
spies who keep an eye on the Moustache Brothers to see if they're becoming
a threat to stability. The generals are easily riled.

As the act's headliner, Par Par Lay takes most of the heat for the jokes.
He has been arrested three times, most recently on Sept. 25 as he was
giving alms to Buddhist monks, who helped lead the strongest wave of
anti-junta protests in two decades.

He was released from prison five weeks later, although many others
arrested are still in jail, including some 25 Mandalay members of jailed
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy,
local activists say.

Par Par Lay, 60, learned comedy from his father, who picked it up from his
own father. Par Par Lay started out professionally in the mid-1960s and
soon headed a traveling road show of three comedians, 10 female dancers,
eight musicians and five roadies.

His first arrest was in 1990, when he performed at Suu Kyi's birthday
party. In a comedy bit about farmers' hats, Par Par Lay boasted, "My hat
is so large it protects all of Myanmar."

Since Suu Kyi's party symbol was a star-topped hat, the crack could be
seen as a subtle jab at the junta, delivered in the tradition of a-nyient.
The audience got it, but so did the generals, who weren't amused. They
threw Par Par Lay in a Mandalay jail for six months.

In 1996, Par Par Lay and his youngest brother, Lu Zaw, 56, went to Suu
Kyi's house in Yangon to entertain at an Independence Day party attended
by some 2,000 people, including the American and British ambassadors.

Lu Maw stayed at home, ready to shoot his mouth off if his brothers landed
in the hoosegow. Knowing their script for the two-hour show, that was an
easy call.

The comedians took aim at the country's corrupt education system, mocking
teachers for idly reading magazines, knitting or skipping class altogether
in the daytime and then charging their students for night classes at the
teachers' homes.

As junta spies listened in, Par Par Lay dug a deeper hole with jokes about
constant power shortages, money problems and desperate women turning to
prostitution, only to spread HIV and AIDS.

The two brothers and their troupe returned to Mandalay on the next
morning's train. That night, around midnight, government agents knocked at
the door, rousted Lu Zaw, Par Par Lay and his wife, Win Mar, a dancer in
the group, and hauled them off to the city's military intelligence
headquarters. There they joined the troupe's other dancers, musicians and
roadies.

Interrogators ordered them to sit straight in chairs, with their feet off
the ground, and then stood behind the prisoners to pepper them with
questions. If they weren't satisfied with the answers, the agents beat the
entertainers' ears or forced them to do 500 squat-ups at a time, according
to Lu Maw.

"It was like torture," he said.

After two weeks of interrogation, everyone was released except the
comedians, who were put on trial under an emergency law the generals had
enacted when they seized power in 1962. The two Moustache Brothers were
convicted and sentenced to seven years' hard labor, deep in the jungle.

Hooded, with their hands cuffed to their seats, they were transported by
train, the first political prisoners to be thrown in with hardened
criminals such as murderers and drug dealers at the Kyein Kran Ka labor
camp, said Lu Maw.

The comedians say they spent their days shackled in chain gangs, pounding
sledgehammers against huge rocks to make gravel for roads, which are often
built by forced labor in Myanmar. Razor-sharp stone chips sliced their
skin.

News of their imprisonment spread, and Hollywood stars including Rob
Reiner, Ted Danson and Bill Maher added their signatures to a
1.6-million-name petition, 18 feet long, which demanded the release of Par
Par Lay and Lu Zaw.

While behind bars, the brothers kept sharpening their act, performing for
their fellow convicts.

The generals moved the comedians to separate prisons after two months'
hard labor and freed them July 13, 2001.

Par Par Lay's wife says she didn't recognize the thin, wasted man that
hard time had made of her husband. " 'He had no hair -- and no moustache,'
" Lu Maw quoted her as saying, laughing at the thought.

"They are very tough, good comedians. They never gave up -- never.

"We're still not afraid," he added. "We're comedians. This is our job!"

____________________________________

March 4, Voice of America
UN Special Envoy heading to Burma

The U.N. special envoy for Burma will leave New York Wednesday on his
third trip to the military-ruled country.

Ibrahim Gambari is expected to arrive in Rangoon Thursday to resume
mediation between the government and the country's opposition.

U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas has said Gambari expects to stay in the
country "as long as necessary."

Gambari met last week with leaders in Beijing, Jakarta, Singapore and
Tokyo as part of his efforts to promote democratization and national
reconciliation in Burma.

The U.N. envoy has said that Burma's recent announcement of a timetable
for a constitutional referendum and elections was a positive sign.

Burma's military leaders announced in early February, plans to hold the
referendum in May and general elections in 2010.

The draft constitution would bar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from the elections, a move that has triggered criticism from regional
leaders and the United States.

Burmese officials say she is not eligible because she was once married to
a foreigner, a British citizen who died of cancer in 1999.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won Burma's last
general elections in 1990.

The country's ruling generals have refused to recognize the results of
those elections and have kept the Nobel laureate under house arrest for 12
of the past 18 years.

____________________________________

March 4, Irrawaddy
Mandalay monks launch anti-referendum poster campaign – Wai Moe

Buddhist monks in Mandalay in upper Burma on Monday launched a harshly
worded poster campaign urging a “Vote No” against the government’s
referendum on a draft constitution, said sources close to the campaign.

Meanwhile, the All Burma Monks Alliance earlier issued a hard-hitting
statement ridiculing the referendum, the election and the regime.

Teams of volunteers have put up anti-regime posters in Amarapura Township
in Mandalay, a monk who asked not to be identified told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday.

“The posters say the current situation is more important than ‘a fire on
your head,’” he said. “If your head is on fire, only you will die. If you
endorse the constitution, the next generation will also die.”

The posters warn people not to endorse the draft constitution for the sake
of children, he said. The posters were put up in at least six locations in
Amarapura Township, including several monasteries and Yadanapon
University.

The posters call the junta’s leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, “Killer Than Shwe”
and say the draft constitution is a plan to colonize citizens under
military rule. The posters also say, “Free Burma!” and “Free Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi!” said the source.

“We don’t accept a colonizing constitution,” the posters proclaim. “We
should reject the constitution in the referendum. We should bury our
fear.”

In a separate poster campaign in other townships in Mandalay, posters
urged monks to boycott the official examinations held by the government.

“Monk activists called on other monks not to participant in the
government-organized monk examinations which are scheduled to be held this
month,” said a monk in downtown Mandalay. He said only about 20 percent of
the eligible monks have registered for the examinations.

Earlier, the All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA), a group of anonymous monks
who played a leading role in the September pro-democracy uprising,
released a statement on February 11 condemning the junta’s decrees (1/2008
and 2/2008) calling for a referendum on the draft constitution in May and
a general election in 2010.

The ABMA said the decrees were unjust because the regime has failed to
honor the 1990 election results. A tripartite dialogue between the junta,
the main opposition parties and ethnic groups is the only way to achieve
true national reconciliation, said the statement.

“We condemn the junta decrees because they wipe out people’s desires and
prolong the military rule in the country,” the statement said.

Another influential group of monks, the Sasana Moli International Burmese
Monks Organization, also issued a statement criticizing the referendum and
election, and calling for national dialogue. All political prisoners,
including the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released, the
statement said.

____________________________________

March 4, Irrawaddy
Crackdown on Rangoon’s street vendors – Violet Cho

Street vendors and the people who rely on them in central Rangoon are
experiencing great difficulties following Rangoon municipality’s decision
to order vendors to stop selling products, especially food, on the
streets.

According to Rangoon sources, the authorities ordered vendors to stop
selling on the street last month. The city’s civil servants, including
policemen, firefighters and security guards, as well as members of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association, are in charge of enforcing
the crackdown on violators of the order.

The Rangoon authorities also announced that street vendors who are caught
selling their wares in prohibited areas would be harshly beaten and would
face arrest. Repeat offenders would be sentenced for at least one month in
jail.

An office clerk who is working in downtown Rangoon said that he had to
spend more time and money getting food since the vendors were banned from
the streets. “I have to walk further to get my lunch,” he said. “Now I am
spending 1,200 kyat (US $1) for lunch, whereas I used to spend only 700
kyat.”

The suppression of street vendors by Rangoon’s governor has created
problems not only for the sellers, but for those people who earn less than
50,000 kyat (about $40) per month, he added.

Many workers in Rangoon with low-income jobs mainly purchase food and
other materials from street vendors because it is usually cheaper.

Since the order to restrict vendors from selling their wares on the
street, Rangoon municipality has provided local police, firefighters and
members of the USDA with equipment, such as rubber batons, bamboo canes
and shields, to crackdown on street vendors, according to an employee at
Rangoon municipality.

The local authorities have been deploying these makeshift security forces
around streets in Latha Township, Kyauktada Township, Pabedan Township and
other main areas in central Rangoon since mid-February.

According to Rangoon municipal data, there are more than 200,000 street
vendors throughout Rangoon whose livelihoods depend on selling produce on
the streets.

____________________________________

March 4, Mizzima News
Junta begin registering ceasefire groups – Mungpi

In preparation for the upcoming May referendum, Burmese authorities have
begun issuing identity cards to ethnic ceasefire groups, according to
officials from Burma's insurgent groups.

An official with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an ethnic
Kachin rebel organization which has a ceasefire pact with the junta and
one of the oldest running insurgent groups, said authorities have begun
registering several of their members and issuing them with temporary
cards, which they call a 'White Card'.

"Most of us have finished registering and received the White Card," said
the KIO official, who did not want to be named because he is not
authorized to speak to the press.

The official told Mizzima the 'White Card' is issued mainly to enable
members of ceasefire groups to cast their votes during the junta's planned
referendum in May.

"The authorities said they will complete registering and issuing the cards
by the end of March," the official added.

He went on to mention that members of the KIO, who have never had any form
of identity cards due to their involvement in an armed rebellion, are
happy to receive the cards as it will enable them to travel.

"Our members are happy to get the cards as it will help them in traveling,
so they don't care for what purpose it is and just register themselves,"
the official remarked.

In Burma, traveling or any form of office-related work requires proof of a
National Identity card, possessed by all citizens.

While KIO officials declined to comment on the junta's planned referendum
to be conducted in May, and the election in 2010, the armed rebels say
they do not object to Burmese authorities registering their cadres.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of another major ethnic armed ceasefire group,
the United Wa State Army (UWSA), said Burmese officials have also begun
registering their cadres and issuing temporary cards.

"The authorities said they need to register people who don't have any
identity card, to enable them to cast their votes in the upcoming
referendum polling," said the official, who requested to remain anonymous.

While the UWSA has no objection to its cadres being registered and issued
White Cards, the official did not comment on whether its cadres will be
permitted to cast their votes.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst along the Sino-Burmese border, said the
junta's plan is to gain the support of the ceasefire groups and ensure
their casting their votes in favor of the junta's draft constitution.

"The junta is targeting an easy vote from the ceasefire groups, whom they
think will support them," Aung Kyaw Zaw, who maintains a close
relationship with the ceasefire groups, said.

He added that the likelihood of members of the ceasefire armed groups
casting votes will largely depend on the leaders of the individual groups.

"If their leaders are close with the junta then we can expect that all
personnel will cast a vote in favor of the junta," conjectured Aung Kyaw
Zaw.

According to an inside source, the KIO, one of Burma's longest running
insurgencies, is currently holding meetings on the junta's planned
referendum and election.

____________________________________

March 4, Mizzima News
Detained 88 student activist sealed-off in dark cell – Maung Dee

Four political prisoners, including prominent 88 generation student,
Markee have been locked away in dark cells in the notorious Insein prison
in Rangoon by prison authorities, activists sources said.

The prison authorities have sealed off an 88 generation student Markee,
Kyi Phyu and Myo Thant from the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
(HRDP) network, and Htin Kyaw, who led protests last year against the
rising commodity prices, for various charges, the source, who is also on
the run from the ruling junta, said.

Markee was locked away for sending a letter to relatives visiting him in
the prison and Kyi Phyu was put away about a month ago on charges of
violating prison rules, said the source. However, the reason for confining
the other two – Htin Kyaw and Myo Thant – is unknown.

Thi Thi Soe, sister of Myo Thant, who visited the prison, said, "I can't
meet my brother and I can't even send parcels. And when I asked the
reason, a prison guard said he has violated prison rules. But he did not
say anything when I asked how he had violated the rules."

She added that she is worried about her brother Myo Thant, who in his 40s
and is suffering from lung and cardiac problems.

Sealing off prisoners in cells is one of the worst punishments given to
prisoners by authorities. The prisoners, who violate prison rules and
regulations, are locked up in a small cell of about 12 ft square, which
has no other openings but a small window of about six by 12 inches. The
rooms, which are also called dark cells, have no bathroom or toilet and
prisoners are forced to defecate in the room.

A former political prisoner in Rangoon retold Mizzima of his experience in
the dark-cell saying, "we had no access to a bathroom or toilet and
defecated in the room. We remained without taking a bath. It is inhuman to
be kept in such a room."

"Since we did not get fresh air and we had to stay with our own excreta,
people are likely to develop mental problems, not to say physical
problems," added the former political prisoner.

Sources in the activist community said, authorities on February 28,
arrested Kenneth, brother of Markee, Thandar Win, wife of detained 88
generation student Mya Aye, Hla Myo, husband of detained 88 generation
student Mie Mie.

____________________________________

March 4, Mizzima News
Junta to hold top brass meeting in Nay Pyi Taw – Nay Thwin

A meeting cloaked in secrecy by the secretive Burmese military junta is to
be held in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday.

The regional command commanders left for the new capital on Monday to
attend what is being described as an important policy meeting, analysts
and sources close to the military establishment said.

The secret meeting is likely to be held on Wednesday and will be attended
by commanders from all 13 military regions and the top brass of the
military hierarchy.

Though details of the meeting's agenda are not available, analysts
speculated that the meet will focus on the referendum to be held in May
this year.

"I think it will be the usual quarterly meeting and it is likely that
civilian officers might be appointed to take charge of the Eastern Command
region temporarily during the referendum. This way, they can resort to
camouflage that the regime and its administration are being run by
civilians and not by military personnel," Aung Kyaw Zaw, a military
analyst based on the Sino-Burma border, said.

"It is likely that the regional Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) or retired and ousted army personnel will hold the
posts temporarily," he added.

"Their plans in May are yet be coordinated and discussed officially. Most
of the time things are done by four or five people in the junta and nobody
is really aware of the plans. So it is necessary for them to meet," he
added, referring to the forthcoming referendum.

The junta replaced most of the Secretaries of the Division and District
level 'Peace and Development Councils' with civilians in 2007, and it is
likely that the replacement will continue in the remaining divisions and
districts this year.

However, Win Min, another analyst on Civil-Military Relations based in
Thailand, viewed this meeting as a forum for probable deliberations on Mr.
Gambari's visit to Burma, the referendum in May and the Armed Forces Day
which falls on March 27.

The United Nations on Monday announced that Ibrahim Gambari, special envoy
on Burma, who has visited the Southeast Asian nation twice since the
ruling junta brutally cracked down on protesters in September, is
scheduled to arrive in Burma on March 6.

Aung Naing Oo, another Thailand based Burmese analyst, said this meeting
cannot be the usual quarterly meeting but will focus on the spadework for
the ensuing referendum.

"I heard that this meeting is not the usual quarterly meet. I think it is
regarding the referendum. They will be briefed and given instructions on
security issues for the forthcoming referendum. Army officers were
surprised with the announcements about the referendum and fresh elections.
So in this situation, the higher authorities will brief their subordinates
on their new plan," Aung Naing Oo said.

It is unlikely that the current regional commanders will be replaced with
new civilians as the regime believes that security issues can only be
tackled by military personnel and there is no need to do so urgently as
there is a provision in the new constitution regarding this. There is no
need to revise the current governance until the new government is
installed, Aung Naing Oo added.

These plenary meetings are usually held regularly in January, May and
September and attended by regional command commanders, Light Infantry
Division commanders and strategic command commanders. But sometimes these
meetings are held late. There has been no such meeting for this year till
now.

These quarterly meetings are crucial and important policy decisions have
been taken after the current regime seized power by staging a coup from
one party dictatorship rule in 1988. The reshuffle in the cabinet and
military hierarchy usually takes place after these meetings.

____________________________________

March 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
88 Students charged under anti-subversion law – Yee May Aung

Members of the 88 Generation Students group have been charged under
anti-subversion legislation and could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment,
their lawyer said.

Central court lawyer U Aung Thein told DVB that the activists were charged
under the anti-subversion law 5/96 on 16 February.

“I was told about this by family members, who recently visited the 88
generation students,” U Aung Thein said.

“It’s not clear whether the new charges have been added to the existing
ones or have replaced them – we will only find that out at the court
hearing.”

88 Generation Students leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and eight others
were charged with offences under the press law at the end of January,
which led to strong criticism from the US government.

It is not clear how many of the activists will now face anti-subversion
charges.

The anti-subversion law forbids any actions intended to undermine national
stability, community peace or law and order, and disrupting the national
convention.

A violation of 5/96 carries a penalty of between five and 20 years’
imprisonment and the possibility of a fine.

U Aung Thein said he had asked the authorities’ permission to act as the
defence lawyer for the activists, alongside the National League for
Democracy’s U Nyan Win and a third lawyer, U Kyi Win.
____________________________________

March 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Artharwaddy monks and nuns appear in court – Yee May Aung

Eight monks and seven nuns from Artharwaddy monastery in North Okkalapa
township, who were arrested in Rangoon after last year’s September
protests, appeared in court on 27 February.

The eight monks included abbot U Arnanda, and were from the Thitsa Tharapu
monastery within the Artharwaddy compound, while the nuns lived separately
in another building on the premises.

North Okkalapa township Peace and Development Council officials appeared
as witnesses for the prosecution, defence lawyer U Nyi Nyi Hlaing said.

“The nuns have been accused of making money by charging people to stay at
the monastery, and U Arnanda has also been accused of making false birth
certificates,” Nyi Nyi Hlaing said.

The next court hearing for the group will be on 11 March.

Another monk from a different monastery in the same compound is being held
in Insein prison.

This monk, U Yaywada, is facing charges of selling two-digit lottery cards
and disgracing the Sasana.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 4, Irrawaddy
Mae Hong Son businessmen unhappy with border closure – Saw Yan Naing

Border trade in a small village in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province has
been halted for the past two weeks, after Karen rebels attacked a group of
Burmese soldiers who were being transported across the Salween River.

The incident, which occurred February 24, involved a group of armed
soldiers in full uniform who were being carried across the river
separating Thailand and Burma. The soldiers, under the command of Maj Min
Thu, were in a boat owned by a local businessman when ethnic Karen
guerrillas opened fire on them.

At least ten Burmese soldiers were injured in the attack, although none
were killed, according to sources in the area.

A trader based in the village of Mae Sam Laep said local Thai authorities
closed a border crossing in the area in response to the attack. He added
that local businessmen, who were unhappy with the move, had been given no
indication as to when normal border trade could be resumed.

“We haven’t been able to sell merchandise for two weeks,” said one
businessman in Mae Sam Laep. “I was very angry when they closed the
border, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We are just villagers. We
have no authority to speak out.”

Border trade in Mae Sam Laep is estimated to be worth up to 100,000 baht
per day, according local business sources.

“Since the border closure, I have been able to make only a few thousand
baht a day because our costumers are staying away,” said one businessman
who requested anonymity.

“Some shops can earn just a few hundred per day,” the businessman added.

Food and consumer goods are traded at many points along the border between
Thailand and Burma. In Mae Sam Laep, cows and buffalos from Burma are also
imported into Thailand.

The village is also famous for boat trips for tourists who wish to see a
scenic stretch of the Salween River.

Although there many Burmese and Karen soldiers in the area, the presence
of Thai border troops and checkpoints usually prevents outbreaks of
hostilities between the two adversaries.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 4, Subsea World
Aban Offshore get contract for offshore Myanmar drilling

“A subsidiary of the Company has received a Letter of Award from PTTEP
International Limited for a 3 well contract offshore Myanmar, for the
jack-up drilling rig Deep Driller 5, with an estimated duration of 4
months.

This contract will be in direct continuation of the current contract with
Cairn Energy Sangu Field Limited. The estimated contract value is
approximately USD 25 million."

Aban Offshore Ltd. also annonced that it has received Letter of Intent
from ONGC for deployment of Drillship- Aban Ice for a period of 3 years.
The operating Day Rate for the contract is INR 61.85 Lacs and the total
value of the contract is approximately INR 657 Crores.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

March 4, Irrawaddy
Cholera outbreak in Mon State – Lawi Weng

Sixty-one Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Mon ethnicity have
contracted cholera in Ananbon village in eastern Burma, an area controlled
by the New Mon State Party (NMSP).

According to an NMSP health program coordinator in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand,
45 Mon persons were diagnosed with cholera this morning, while the other
16 contracted the virus over the past two days. Two cholera patients died
last week in the village, according to a local resident.

The clinic in Ananbon village has been so overcrowded that patients have
had to be moved to Jagatrao village, one hour’s walk from their homes.

Infected persons are being treated by medics at NMSP-funded clinics in the
two villages. Mon health care authorities in Sangkhlaburi yesterday sent
200 bottles of glucose to the clinics to try to prevent the outbreak
spreading.

According to a Mon health worker, today they will send another 200 bottles
of glucose injections. He said that the clinics do not have enough
medicine, but that he would ask the Thai government hospital in
Sangkhlaburi for emergency aid.

The cholera virus spread so quickly because villagers do not cover the
toilet after they use, he added. This is the first time cholera has been
so widespread in the area.

Many people in Mon State lack information about health care. The
international medical organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) left
the area in December 2005 due to a dispute with Burmese authorities over
travel restrictions. However, MSF opened a malaria clinic in Sangkhlaburi
in mid-2007 to treat and diagnose Mon patients.

Mon refugees first crossed into Thailand in 1990 following fighting
between the Burmese army and the NMSP. Initially, local Thai authorities
allowed the Mon people to stay in refugee camps. Then, with the help of
international aid agencies, the refugees were able to establish their own
camps near Sangkhlaburi.

The NMSP reached a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government in
1995. According to a 2004 Burmese Border Consortium report, there are some
40,000 Mon refugees internally displaced or in temporary settlements
inside Burma.

___________________________________
REGIONAL

March 4, BBC News
India's diplomatic offensive with Burma – Jyoti Malhotra

India is quietly preparing a new diplomatic offensive with the military
junta in Burma. Recently India's Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon was
in Nay Pyi Taw, the new Burmese capital.

And Gen Maung Aye, the second-highest member of Burma's military
government, is expected to visit India in April.

Mr Menon's visit coincided with the announcement from the military junta
that it will hold a referendum on the constitution in May this year, as
well as elections in 2010.

Indian officials were silent about the timing of Mr Menon's visit, and
unwilling to confirm or deny whether he helped persuade the Burmese junta
to offer the referendum olive branch to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy party.

But what is clear is that India and Burma are engaging in new diplomatic
initiatives.

Recently, Burma awarded India the right to "build, operate and use" the
port of Sittwe, strategically located in the Bay of Bengal. It is a $120m
project.

Symbolism

The money is not the point, of course.

The reason Mr Menon, also a consummate Sinologist, has kept his joy under
control these last days is because he knows it's far too easy to express
happiness at the fact that India had put one over China.

In fact, the journey to Burma is all about reiterating the symbolism of
power and responsibility.

When the monks came out in the streets of Rangoon [Yangon] last September
to protest at the brutality of the military regime, they had their begging
bowls turned downwards.

That was such a powerful symbol of self-denial and abnegation, the likes
of which the world has rarely seen, on par with the fasts Mahatma Gandhi
often undertook.

Their gesture of protest sent a collective shudder through India. The
government came out with more than one statement of criticism of the
military action.

So what does one make of the diplomatic billing and cooing that has since
returned?  In the new year, Burmese Foreign minister Nyan Win turned up to
meet Indian leaders.

Days later, India's commerce ministry announced it had won the right to
develop the Sittwe port. By the end of January, UN secretary general's
special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was making a special trip to Delhi to meet
the Indian establishment.

In a conversation with this reporter, Mr Gambari said he hoped "India
would do more than what it had been doing so far. (India) should work on
Burma to make the diplomatic process more inclusive and dialogue with the
Opposition parties more dialogue-oriented".

Growing influence

Adding that he was impressed with India's "growing influence" on Burma, Mr
Gambari said India should use this leverage to become a trustworthy and
effective conduit to both source information as well as send messages to
the Burmese government.

And so, the penny dropped.

Like China, India would not support the imposition of sanctions against
Burma, just as the US and the European Union wanted.

Like the US and the EU, however, India would invoke its democratic
credentials to put out that political reconciliation between the military
and Aung San Suu Kyi's party was the only alternative to pressure-cooker
outbursts within a divided population.

Above all, India must maintain a fine balance on Burma. China has already
unveiled its "string of pearls" strategy across the Indian Ocean.

This envisages a series of bases and ports in friendly countries like
Pakistan and Burma - Gwadar, off the Balochistan coast, and the Coco
Islands, Hianggyi, Khaukhphyu, respectively - to protect its energy flows.

When India begins using the Sittwe port, it would help make Burma's
Kaladan river navigable all the way up to neighbouring India's
north-eastern Mizoram state.

This would, in turn, lead to India upgrading highways connecting Mizoram
with the rest of the country to boost trade.

Last August, the Burmese junta withdrew the state-owned Gas Authority of
India's "preferential buyer" status on certain offshore gas field blocks
and declared it would instead sell gas to Chinese oil firm PetroChina.

But the Sittwe award indicates that Burma also wants to expand ties beyond
China.

And the world seems to be happy with India carving out a bigger role in
Burma, especially if it balances the other influential power, China.

Jyoti Malhotra is the Diplomatic Editor of NewsX.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 4, Irrawaddy
‘Rambo’ muddies Burma’s media message – James Rose

When Burma’s brave monks took to the streets last September, they knew
full well they were creating a media event. As the world’s media turned to
Burma, in a spotlight cast by the pall of smoke, cracks of gunfire and
amid stories of widespread atrocities, a communications bridge to the
world was being built. Here, an opportunity was created to spread the word
on Burma and the plight of its people under a brutal dictatorship.

Yet, maintaining a good media profile on a global scale is a delicate
balance, one that can go horribly wrong very quickly. Even seemingly
favorable “news hooks” can prove damaging if handled poorly. The release
of the latest Rambo offering presents such a case in point.

The high levels of excitement over an aging Hollywood star, hacking and
mumbling his way through Burma, may be odd to some, but it attests to the
power of American cultural hegemony. This is a reality that even diehard
anti-American hotheads must accept.

So, given the news spreading globally over the lavish red carpet openings
and the musings of Rambo’s hulking front man, Burmese activists are given
an opportunity to focus that spotlight so blurrily cast by Rambo.

Doing so is no easy task. The reasons are both generic and specific to
Burma’s current media profile.

First, the generic problems.

Rambo is, of course, a product of the Hollywood entertainment machine.
That word “entertainment” should not be forgotten. Most of those in the
West who may turn out to view Rambo’s blood-spattered Burmese Days will be
entering a sort of “switch-off-and-escape” mindset that makes movie-going
such a popular phenomenon the world over.

Few would approach the Rambo experience as an opportunity to really learn
much about Burma. Sly Stallone is not noted for his documentaries.
Whatever is learnt will be of little real value, other than perhaps making
people similarly seek the kind of cartoonish vengeance characteristic of
the Rambo franchise.

As such, for the all the arguments that Rambo in Burma shows it how it is
and depicts the savage reality of life under a heinous regime, such
messages will be largely lost to the largely switched-off viewers and
wasted on the smattering of earnest movie-goers eager to “feel” Burma’s
tragedy.

Another angle on the generic shortfalls of a pro-Rambo media strategy is
that this movie, like any other out of Hollywood, is about making money.
More the point, it’s about making a small minority of rich people richer.

The extent to which this dynamic aids the cause of a free Burma is
questionable. As soon as a cause is identified as “commercial” as appears
to be the case with Burma, it tends to lose its shape and those who may
have previously been able to influence the strategic culture will be
marginalized as new profit-oriented methodologies are introduced.

Now to the specific problems related to Burma media strategies and Rambo.

The nature of the Burma demonstrations, to date via the world’s media, has
been one of peaceful protest. The cry of metta (“loving kindness”) sent
out into the Burmese air by the marching monks has become the banner under
which the world has tended to view the current situation in Burma.

As such, introducing a snarling, blood-soaked, murderous Rambo into the
media landscape and you have a classical case of what is known, in media
terms, as a “mixed message”. The combination of two such diametrically
opposed approaches to dealing with Burma’s dire circumstances tangles the
whole Burma issue and removes some of the pillars of the bridge of clear
communication to the world.

“Is Burma about peaceful change or is it about civil war?” once media
consumers begin asking such questions, the answer is already more or less
unimportant. By now, many tracking Burma via the world’s media coverage
have already expressed their confusion and have begun the fatal process of
moving on.

Media consumers in advanced economies like their causes simple and
clear-cut. Few are inclined to take the time to assess and analyze a given
situation. They want clean lines of entry. Confusion is the death-knell
for any campaign seeking to gain public attention and support.

The latest Rambo movie does indeed offer opportunities for Burma
activists. But, it must be along the lines of providing clarity to Rambo’s
murky and simplistic critique of contemporary Burma and must make clear
where Rambo sits in the overall anti-military movement. Wherever that
position may be, it should not be on top or all-encompassing. For media
purposes, the Burma democracy movement must ensure that it is a case of
Burma using Rambo, rather than Rambo using Burma.

James Rose is an Australia-based media and policy advisor currently
assisting various Burmese pro-democracy groups in Asia and the US.

____________________________________

March 4, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
Interview: Burmese opposition radio interviews ILO official on forced
labour situation


Dear listeners, a high-level official of the International Labour
Organization who left Nay Pyi Taw just yesterday said although the
cooperation agreement on forced labour between his organization and the
military junta could be extended, force labour practices particularly by
the military are continuing atrociously in the country.

Kari Tapiola, executive director of the ILO's Standards and Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work Sector, and his team had talks in Rangoon
and Nay Pyi Taw from Monday to Thursday [ 25-28 February] and returned to
Bangkok, Thailand, today.

When asked about the report that the bilateral memorandum of understanding
was extended during his talks with the military regime, Mr Kari Tapiola
said:

[Begin recording] [Tapiola] [Recordings in English fading into Burmese
translation] Yes, we agreed to an extension of the trial period for
another year.

[DVB] Our understanding about the memorandum of understanding is that it
contains a stipulation that the government would not interfere with or
arrest people who inform the ILO about forced labour practices or collect
data about the practices.

[Tapiola] Yes, that's correct. Correct.

[DVB] But we understand that U Thet Way who was preparing to file a
complaint with the ILO was arrested in Rangoon just before Mr Tapiola's
mission visited Rangoon. What do you have to say about that?

[Tapiola] There is one arrest which took place just shortly before this
mission. The government said that the charges are not related to forced
labour but we have learned that he had information for the ILO at the time
of his arrest. That is why we have demanded in the strongest possible
terms the government seriously reconsider the matter and release that
person as soon as possible.

[DVB] In addition to U Thet Way, there are six other young people arrested
because they had attended a function held on May Day. How did the
government respond to their case?

[Tapiola] Yes, we know about the six who were given long prison sentences
in September. They were arrested on the 1st of May last year. The ILO has
demanded that they be released immediately. We also demanded for a meeting
with them in prison. We did not succeed in that regard. We only met their
family members and asked about their situation. We have asked the
government to review their cases and to release them immediately.

[DVB] We understand that forced labour practices are continuing,
particularly the forceful recruitment of porters. Did you discuss about
the matter and how did the government respond?

[Tapiola] Well, I do not think that the government can deny about the
existence of forced labour. And, we know many forced labour cases are
taking place. Forced labour by civilian authorities might decline but the
use of forced labour by the military is getting worse. We did not discuss
the matter with the government. We focused our discussions on what it
could do and what we should be doing.

[DVB] Does the ILO continue to receive complaint letters about forced
labour? Can the ILO branch office in Rangoon operate freely?

[Tapiola] We have received over 70 complaints within one year and we
continue to receive them. Our liaison officer in Rangoon could travel far
and wide in the country. Although restrictions are there, he accomplished
a lot. Although it did not go as far as we would want it to, he
accomplished quite a lot.

[DVB] Overall, can you describe your mission as a success?

[Tapiola] There is some progress but also many things to be concerned
about. [End recording]

That was an interview with ILO mission head Kari Tapiola who came back
from Rangoon yesterday. He is currently in Bangkok and preparing a report
for the Governing Council which will be holding a meeting at the ILO
Headquarters in Geneva next week. The situation about Burma will be
discussed at that meeting from 18 to 21 March. [Passage omitted]

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma website, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 29
Feb 08