BurmaNet News, April 4, 2008

[Editor]

April 4, 2008 Issue # 3437

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: 88 generation students call for tougher UN action
Irrawaddy: More opposition activists attacked by thugs
DVB: Censors restrict media reporting on referendum
DVB: NLD banned from visiting prisoners
Mizzima News: Government corruption fuels famine in Chin state

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Kachin and Muslim organizations urge 'NO' vote
Kaladan: Police file cases against 50 to 60 Rohingya refugees

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Burmese oil mills in crisis
AP: Norway's vast oil wealth fund barred from investing in arms suppliers
to Myanmar

HEALTH / AIDS
Reuters via Mediawatch: Junta crackdowns may trigger Myanmar HIV epidemic
Mizzima News: Fatal accident as health workers flee Burma army

INTERNATIONAL
DPA: Council members urges early end of military rule in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: US concerned over North Korea missile sales to Burma

OPINION / OTHER
The Straits Times (Singapore): UN's 'good offices' must be nurtured -
Thant Myint-U

OBITUARY
Irrawaddy: Journalist Kyemon U Thaung dies in US exile

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 4, Mizzima News
88 generation students call for tougher UN action - Nay Thwin

The activist group 88 generation students is urging the United Nations to
take forceful action against Burma's junta, instead of relying on
resolutions and statements.

88 generations' assessment came yesterday, ahead of an anticipated
statement from the United Nations Security Council. A draft of the
Security Council's position calls on the junta to permit pro-democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders to partake in public
debate and convene political meetings before the junta pushes ahead with
any constitutional referendum.

"Only words such as 'disappointed', 'strongly condemn' and 'concern over'
cannot resolve Burma's crisis. Forceful action is badly needed to resolve
the crisis and achieve real change in Burma", they said.

The 15 member countries of the Security Council is expected to soon take
up the draft resolution, which is jointly sponsored by the United States,
Britain and France. The draft statement, as per Security Council protocol,
can only be passed after receiving 9 votes in favor.

"If this non-binding statement draft is passed, it will also mean that
China agrees with the position. It is non-binding but maybe it can lead to
the release of some prisoners even if the junta won't allow Daw Aung San
Kyi free political movement", Burmese observer U Win Min remarked.

The draft statement demands the junta allow Aung San Suu Kyi and all other
political stakeholders to take part in all facets of the constitutional
referendum process.

The draft statement, expressing the Council's dismay at the lack of
progress on previous calls for reform, also reiterates demands made by the
Security Council last September, appealing to the junta to engage in a
genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and release all political
prisoners.

"They should say that the junta has failed to engage in dialogue and to
implement an all inclusive constitution drafting process. They should
demand the junta implement all these demands first. Otherwise the UN
should not and cannot recognize the junta's constitution, which doesn't
reflect the people's desire and does not represent the people. They should
say that the United Nations Security Council does not accept the
constitution. Only such an action and statement can be effective for
Burma's crisis", elaborated Ko Tun Myint Aung of the 88 generation
students.

He further suggests that there should be an international forum on Burma
if staunch supporters of the junta, such as Russia and China, continue to
obstruct the Security Council's decision making process.

____________________________________

April 4, Irrawaddy
More opposition activists attacked by thugs - Wai Moe

Pro-democracy activists continue to be attacked by thugs in Rangoon as
Burmese authorities tighten control on opposition groups ahead of the
constitutional referendum in May, according to National League for
Democracy (NLD) sources.

Tin Yu, a member of the NLD in Hlaing Tharyar Township, was attacked on
Thursday evening by thugs carrying batons as he walked home from a bus
stop. He was admitted to hospital where he received 50 stitches in the
face.

Tin Yu was arrested following the September demonstrations for talking to
Burmese shortwave radio operators in foreign countries. He was later
released.

“The current situation seems to be one in which pro-democracy activists
are being systematically attacked by thugs,” said a NLD youth leader in
the township. “The attacks are believed to be the work of the pro-junta
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and its militia, the
Swan Ah-shin.”

The USDA and Swan Ah-shin were behind the brutal attacks on Buddhist monks
in August and September 2007, as well as the ambush of Aung San Suu Kyi’s
convoy in Depayin in Sagaing Division in northern Burma in May 2003, in
which a score of people were killed.

The attack on Tin Yu was the third on pro-democracy activists in Rangoon
this week.

On Monday, Myint Hlaing, the NLD chairman in Hlaing Tharyar Township in
Rangoon, was assaulted near his home. A leading human rights activist,
Myint Aye, was attacked by thugs last week in Sanchaung Township in
Rangoon. Both men were hospitalized with head injuries following the
attacks.

“The junta’s use of thugs to attack pro-democracy and human rights
activists means it is driving the country down a dangerous road in the
future,” said Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the Committee Representing
the People’s Parliament. “We condemn these backward acts.”

He said special police and informers in civilian clothes are always around
his home, and his guests are photographed when they visit.

Meanwhile a NLD member from Thingangyun Township in Rangoon was arrested
on Thursday night at his home.  on Sunday, at least six NLD activists were
arrested in Rangoon.

____________________________________

April 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Censors restrict media reporting on referendum

The Burmese state censor board has issued strict instructions to the print
media on how the upcoming national referendum should be reported,
journalists said.

A journalist in Rangoon said some journals had decided not to write about
the referendum at all rather than comply with the restrictive guidelines.

“We cannot write anything about the national referendum by ourselves,” the
journalist said.

“We can publish articles about the national referendum written according
to the instructions given by the censor board but we can't write it in our
own way," he said.

“We are only allowed to write about the national referendum in the way it
is described in the [state-run] New Light of Myanmar. So we just decided
not to bother.”

Veteran journalist U Sein Hla Oo said the Burmese media has a
responsibility to publish stories on the national referendum.

"Journalists in Burma now have a huge responsibility to report news about
the national referendum,” he said.

“But it will be difficult for them as there is no press freedom in Burma."

Sein Hla Oo said the situation contrasted with the referendum in 1974,
when the media was allowed to publish news stories in the run-up to the
vote.

____________________________________

April 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD banned from visiting prisoners

An assistance programme run by the National League for Democracy providing
food and other necessities to inmates of Insein prison has been stopped by
new regulations, an NLD member said.

The NLD had been visiting about 50 people held at the prison, including
around 30 monks who were arrested after the September 2007 demonstrations,
to provide them with packages containing food and other items.

The NLD member said most of the monks were from the well-known Ngway Kyar
Yan, Shwe Taung and Maggin monasteries and the detained laypeople were
from Arakan State, Shan state and Magwe division and so their own families
found it difficult to visit them.

But now prison authorities have banned non-family members from visiting
the detainees or giving parcels.

“We have been doing this to give assistance to monks and detainees from
areas outside Rangoon as it was impossible for their families to come
visit them regularly,” the NLD member said.

“On Tuesday, the Insein prison authorities set out a new regulation
concerning prison visits, which says that only family members are now
allowed to visit the detainees.”

____________________________________

April 4, Mizzima News
Government corruption fuels famine in Chin state - Solomon

The ongoing acute food shortage in Chin state of western Burma is
exacerbated through the corruption of local authorities, a Chin human
rights group reports.

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) on Thursday said that the famine
in Chin state, resulting from a scarcity of food, is worsened by local
authorities who hinder and seize humanitarian aid intended for the local
people.

CHRO said local authorities in Paletwa Township of Chin state in January
seized more than 300 bags of rice donated by a Roman Catholic Church as
relief aid for famine victims.

Besides this confiscation, another 150 bags on February of rice donated by
the Church of the Province of Myanmar were also seized and sold for profit
by the same local authorities.

"A mandatory purchasing order was imposed on residents of Paletwa by the
authorities, instructing them to buy the seized rice at an overpriced
rate," CHRO said in a statement released on Thursday.

Tera, a representative of CHRO based in India's Mizoram state bordering
Burma, said, "The Chairman of the local township peace and development
council led the seizure of rice bags and later resold the confiscated rice
to local people at an overpriced rate."

While a bag of rice in a normal market costs approximately $16,
authorities ordered locals to buy the seized rice at a rate of
approximately $18 per bag, Tera added.

Since the beginning of 2008, people in Chin state have reportedly suffered
from a dire shortage of food. According to Chin folklore, the famine
occurs once every 50 years, when rats are released into the fields and
consume all food.

Tera related that there are about 100 villages in Paletwa Township and
about 600 villagers from more than 40 villages have fled to the Indian
border seeking relief from the famine.

Victor Biak Lian, a member of CHRO's Board of Directors said, "This is
very cruel action from the Burmese authority. Even if they refuse to help
the local villagers, they should not add to their grievances."

He added that CHRO plans to come up with an alternative way to help people
with food aid.

CHRO also called on the international community as well as humanitarian
aid groups to come to the assistance of the Chin people, who are currently
going hungry due to the confluence of famine and ongoing persecution from
authorities.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 4, Mizzima News
Kachin and Muslim organizations urge 'NO' vote - Phanida

Chiang Mai – The Myanmar Muslim Organization and the Kachin National
Organization (KNO) are urging the entire population of Burma to cast a
'NO' vote in the upcoming constitutional referendum.

The organizations argue that the new constitution does not represent the
ethnic people of Burma and will only perpetuate the rule of the military
regime.

"If you go through the draft constitution, you will see it cannot protect
Burmese people and Kachin people. And there are no democratic principles.
So we urge the people to cast a 'NO' vote in the forthcoming
constitutional referendum", said Duwar (Chieftain) Bawm Wam Layaw,
Chairman of the exile-based KNO.

KNO's appeal to the people says that the future and image of the entire
country depends on the constitution. Therefore, the letter continues, the
people should have a say in its drafting and the right to free criticism
and discussion.

The missive states that these rights currently do not exist due to the
junta oppressing and intimidating its own people. As it stands, the people
do not even know what is in the constitution.

"The provisions in the constitution represent only the junta. So we can't
accept the constitution and can't support it. We oppose this
constitution", commented a spokesperson of the Myanmar Muslim
Organization.

"One-hundred percent of our Muslim people in Burma do not support the
junta at all. Their activities are disgusting", he added.

____________________________________

April 4, Kaladan Press Network
Police file cases against 50 to 60 Rohingya refugees

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Police officer Sub-inspector (SI) Masood Uddin
Chowdhury of Teknaf police station filed cases against 50 to 60 Rohingyas
yesterday in connection with the violence in Nayapara refugee camp, said a
source close to the police.

The clash broke out when the Holland based medical service providing
agency terminated its operation in the refugee camp. Scores of refugees
obstructed MSF officials from leaving the camp. And when police and Ansar
came they attacked them leading to a clash.

Yesterday, Shamshul Alam Khan, the officer of Refugee Relief and
Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and Mr. Jim Worral, the officer of UNHCR
went to the refugee camp and held a meeting with the Camp-in-Charge
accompanied by other assistant workers and discussed the April 2 incident.

According to refugees, there were no arrests from the camp yesterday. But
male refugees are panic stricken for fear of further arrests. So, most of
the refugees slept in a jungle last night.

According to sources, the Camp-in-Charge Nizamuddin will file more cases
against the refugees who were involved in the clash. But, refugees fear
that those who were not involved will be arrested in place of the
culprits.

The refugees, who were arrested on April 2, have been sent to Cox's Bazaar
jail from Teknaf police Station.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 4, Irrawaddy
Burmese oil mills in crisis

An estimated 500 out of 700 small oil mills in Burma are on the verge of
going out of business and most are almost at a standstill because of the
rising cost of industrial lubricants and diesel, combined with a lack of
oilseeds, according to Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association.

According to sources from Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association, based in
Rangoon, one of the largest producers of palm oil in Burma, 150 of the 202
palm-oil mills in Mandalay are on the verge of closing down.

Win Myint, chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), said at a meeting in Mandalay on March 11
that a large number of oilseeds—mostly groundnut and sesame—were being
illegally exported from Burmese border town Muse to China. Win Myint said
that the Burmese authorities would take action against the smugglers.

An anonymous trader at the Sino-Burmese border said recently that
smugglers buy the oilseeds from Burmese farmers and sell the crops in
China at a much higher market price.

“Oilseed farmers want to sell their crops for a higher price and illegal
traders, or smugglers, have been offering an extra 200 kyat (US 0.18 cent)
per viss (1.53 kilograms),” the trader said. “Local oil millers can buy
crops at reasonable prices at harvest time, but they can’t pay more than
the smugglers who buy and sell the oilseeds in China.”

He said that smugglers are not only involved in the selling of groundnuts
in China; they also buy crops directly from the farmers.

The rising price of fuel to run the mill has affected the oil millers and
many mills have consequently ground to a halt.

“We pay 5,000 kyat (US $4.46) per imperial gallon for diesel on the black
market, but I still can’t buy as much as I need due to the scarcity,” an
oil miller in Rangoon said.

“If the price of diesel goes up, production costs go up,” the miller said.
“If the authorities stop smugglers from selling the oilseeds across the
[Chinese] border, the price of edible oils will decrease,” he added.

Burmese consumers currently pay 4,500 kyat ($4.02) for a viss of groundnut
oil and 3,000 kyat ($2.68) for a viss of palm oil. Each Burmese citizen
consumes on average 10 kilograms of edible oil a year, amounting to some
560 million kilograms for 56 million Burmese people, according to data
from Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association.

____________________________________

April 4, Associated Press
Norway's vast oil wealth fund barred from investing in arms suppliers to
Myanmar

Norway's vast fund for investing its oil wealth is now barred from owning
shares in companies that sell arms to Myanmar, expanding limits imposed
last year on direct investments in the Southeast Asia nation's government
bonds and 1,200 companies, the finance ministry announced Friday.

However, a statement said a preliminary review suggests there are
currently no such companies in the fund's portfolio, making the ban a
symbolic one.

Myanmar, also called Burma, has been ruled by a military dictatorship
since 1962, and last year staged a violent crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrations in which at least 31 people died and hundreds were
arrested.

Norway, a major exporter of oil and natural gas, sets aside surplus
central government revenue in the Government Pension Fund-Global formerly
the oil fund for foreign investment to avoid overheating the domestic
economy of the Nordic nation of 4.7 million people. It is currently worth
about 2 trillion kroner (US$388 billion, €250 billion).

In 2004, the government imposed ethical standards on the funds
investments, and created a national Council of Ethics to review company
records in such areas as labor rights, environmental issues and production
of nuclear weapons and cluster bombs.

In mid-2007, Norway imposed a ban on the fund owning Myanmar government
bonds and later on investments in government-controlled companies and
those engaged in the extraction of timber, metals, minerals and gemstones.
A news release said that ban covered about 1,200 companies.

"The government has now chosen to implement a prohibition on investing in
companies selling arms or weapons technology to a country whose sovereign
bonds are excluded from the investment universe. This means that the Fund
shall not invest in companies selling arms to the Burmese regime," a news
release said,

Since 2004, Norway has sold off its investments in 27 companies for
ethical reasons.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 4, Reuters Alertnet via Mediawatch
Junta crackdowns may trigger Myanmar HIV epidemic - Joanne Tomkinson

Government crackdowns following last year's pro-democracy demonstrations
in Myanmar are having unexpected - and potentially disastrous -
consequences, according to British newspaper The Times.

The country commonly known as Burma already has one of the highest
HIV/AIDS rates in Asia, and the chances of a HIV epidemic in the country
are now increasing due to restrictions on aid workers, the paper reports.

Hostility towards international organisations has intensified since mass
demonstrations by monks and democracy activists last year presented the
biggest threat to Myanmar's secretive military junta in two decades, The
Times says.

British agencies Save the Children and Marie Stopes International have
suspended programmes in the country's second largest city, Mandalay, after
local authorities said the groups had been issuing propaganda on behalf of
opposition organisations. They vehemently deny the accusation.

Authorities have banned foreign NGOs from taking part in work that takes
them outside their offices - stopping them from delivering food aid to
thousands of AIDS patients and making outreach programmes, like those that
promote safe sex messages and the use of clean needles, impossible to
continue, The Times says.

Doctors inside Myanmar believe the country's HIV rates are increasing,
though official statistics show a decline since the beginning of the
decade.

"People are suffering because the government is not doing enough but the
international community is also letting them down," Andrew Kirkwood,
programme director for Save the Children in Myanmar, told The Times.

The country receives the least international aid of the poorest 50
nations, according to the paper. Due to concern that aid indirectly helps
the military junta, governments like the United States have been reluctant
to give more.

Some aid agencies, however, believe that this lack of funding is an even
bigger threat to those in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar than
the government's restrictions.

http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/47985/2008/03/4-135026-1.htm

____________________________________

April 4, Mizzima News
Fatal accident as health workers flee Burma army

Five people are hospitalized with severe burns, and a seven year-old girl
is dead, as the vehicle they were riding in to escape army troops
overturned on a steep hillside in eastern Burma.

The incident resulted as members of a joint Displaced Persons Response
Network (DPRN) and Karen Department of Health & Welfare (KDHW) mission
procured transportation away from advancing Burmese army troops operating
in close proximity to where teams were providing education on and
vaccination against polio.

According to a DPRN report, a tractor and cart were taking two female KDHW
staff to their village inside Lu Pleh Township of Karen state when the
accident occurred. "While traveling to the village the tractor passed
through a large burn area. It is believed the driver became confused in
the heat and smoke, and overturned the tractor on the steep hillside,
spilling the occupants into the fire," states DPRN.

Those involved in the accident were part of a larger mission to vaccinate
internally displaced people in Burma from polio in Lu Pleh Township,
Paีan District. The endeavor was, however, brought to a halt only
two days into operations as word came to the teams of the presence of
Burmese army troops in the region.

Healthcare workers, after successfully vaccinating 82 children in one
village on March 28, were forced to conceal their medicine and health
records and flee to the jungle ahead of approaching Burmese army troops.
Three other teams were obligated to act likewise, as similar reports of
oncoming army units reached them.

The five burn victims, all taken to Mae Sot General Hospital just across
the border in Thailand, are listed as: the driver, age 33, burns to 100
percent of the body; his son, age 9, with burns to 60 percent of his body;
a village healthcare worker, 15 years old, with burns to 75 percent of the
body; and two female healthcare workers with KDHW, both age 18, with burns
to 90 percent and 75 percent of their bodies, respectively.

The driver's seven year-old daughter perished at the scene of the accident
from burns suffered.

Prior to the tragic episode, the joint undertaking was able to teach
village healthcare workers how to vaccinate against polio and fill out
polio vaccination records. In one village, a day before the accident, a
team successfully vaccinated nearly 200 children.

Each of the burn victims is expected to recover except for the driver,
whose condition is unknown prior to a scheduled operation.

This latest round of vaccinations was the second phase of a DPRN program,
the initial phase having commenced in Hpa-an District in December of last
year. That portion of the program was successfully completed in February,
vaccinating 1,200 internally displaced children.

In 2007, over a dozen cases of polio were reported in Burma, the first
such incidences in five years. If vaccinated, polio is preventable.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 4, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Council members urges early end of military rule in Myanmar

The United States, France and Britain called Friday on the Myanmar
government and people to carry out a political process that would bring an
early end to the military rule in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

The three countries, in a draft statement they hope will be adopted by the
UN Security Council, also said they supported top opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi's bid to run for president in 2010.

The military regime that has been ruling the country for decades had
decided that Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, would
not be allowed to run because she married a Briton, who has passed away.
The regime has put her under house arrest for more than 10 years.

The three countries, who are veto powers on the Security Council,
submitted a draft statement to be discussed next week in a move to counter
the military regime's intention to exclude the popular Suu Kyi, who won
the presidential elections in 1990 but was barred from taking office. She
is also Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

"The Security Council affirms its commitment to the territorial integrity
of Myanmar and, in that context, to helping the government and people of
Myanmar to bring an early end to military rule and begin a transition to
democracy," the draft says. "It reiterates that the future of Myanmar lies
in the hand of all of its people."

If adopted by the 15-nation council next week, the statement would be the
second the council has ever considered. Issues on Myanmar had been keep
off the council's agenda because of previous opposition from China.

The council adopted a statement in October, 2007, to support the
democratic process in Myanmar. The statement to be discussed next week
would express the council's "regrets" at the slow progress in reforms,
including the release of political prisoners and detainees.

UN special envoy for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has visited Myanmar at
least three times since last September to engage the military leaders in
discussion about the democratization process. But critics said the UN
failed to advance that process.

The draft asks the Myanmar government "to take, in a timely manner,
concrete, meaningful steps that result in genuine dialogue with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to
achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of
the United Nations."

It says the political process should be "inclusive and credible," allowing
full participation of all political actors, including Suu Kyi.

The draft says Myanmar's planned referendum on a draft constitution in
2008 should be free and fair before general elections in 2010. It said
political candidates should be treated on "equal terms" and that the
government must guarantee freedoms of expression, association and assembly
during the process before the referendum.

____________________________________

April 4, Irrawaddy
US concerned over North Korea missile sales to Burma - Lalit K Jha and Wai
Moe

The United States said Thursday it would take the matter seriously if
there are any indications of North Korea selling rocket launchers to
Burma, though the US State Department could not confirm the report that
appeared in the Japanese media on Wednesday.
“We've seen those reports, but we don't have any information that would be
able to substantiate them,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey told
reporters in Washington.

“Certainly, though, we would take seriously any indications that there
have been violations of the various sanctions that were imposed on North
Korea after its nuclear test the previous year,” Casey said.

The Japanese NHK public broadcast reported Wednesday that North Korea has
been selling rocket launchers to Burma in violation of UN sanctions
imposed against North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006.

Quoting the NHK report, news agencies reported the sale of rocket
launchers was being handled by an unnamed Singapore trading country. No
other immediate details were available however.

Htay Aung, a Burmese military researcher based in Thailand, told The
Irrawaddy on Friday the Burmese military junta is seeking arms and other
military equipment anywhere in the world to upgrade its Tatmadaw (armed
forces).

“North Korea is one country among them,” he said. “But what we see is that
Naypyidaw’s military upgrading seems to aim at external threats rather
than internal ones, because the generals don’t need these kind of rockets
to attack guerrilla groups. It is not useful for guerrilla warfare.”

Htay Aung added he heard that the Burmese army had set up new artillery,
such as howitzers and rocket-launchers, along Burma’s eastern border. “Of
course, the Royal Thai Army is scanning every footstep of the Burmese
army,” Htay Aung added. “It means there is an ongoing arms race between
Thailand and Burma in silence.”

Burmese-North Korean military ties are said to have been reestablished in
1999 when members of the Burmese junta paid a low-profile visit to the
rogue state. The junta sent a delegation to North Korea secretly again in
November 2000 for a meeting with high-ranking officials of North Korea’s
the People’s Armed Forces. A North Korean delegation led by Deputy Foreign
Minister Park Kil-yon met with his counterpart, Khin Maung Win, in June
2001.

Military analysts say the North Korean regime has provided weapons,
military technology transfers and expertise in underground tunneling used
for concealing secret military installations and, since 2002, dozens of
North Korean technicians have worked for the Tatmadaw.

Burma and North Korea restored diplomatic ties last year ending a
diplomatic crisis after North Korean special agents assassinated 18 South
Korean officials, including four cabinet ministers, who were on a
delegation to Burma in 1983.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 5, The Straits Times (Singapore)
UN's 'good offices' must be nurtured - Thant Myint-U

Some people are disappointed that UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has not
been able to work miracles in Myanmar over the past six months. Recently,
there have been calls for an end to his efforts.

But before jettisoning the role of the United Nations Secretary-General's
'good offices' in Myanmar, it is important to understand what it actually
is and what it is not, and why calling it quits may not be in anyone's
interest.

A little more than two years ago, the UN's first and only 'special envoy'
on Myanmar, Mr Razali Ismail, stepped down after being repeatedly denied
entry into the country, ending a negotiation process which had begun with
his appointment in 2000.

The then UN secretary-general Kofi Annan judged that the opportunities did
not exist for a revived mediation effort and instead asked Mr Gambari, who
was then his undersecretary-general for political affairs, to keep an
active watch on the situation and look for ways to restore contact with
both the government and the opposition.

With the appointment of Mr Ban Ki Moon as Secretary-General in 2007, Mr
Gambari was appointed his 'Special Adviser on the Iraq Compact and Other
Issues'. Myanmar was designated as one of these other issues.

Mr Gambari (below) has since made several trips to the country. Although
some of his initial proposals were accepted by the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, others have been rejected.

Between the views and desires of the government and those of the main
political opposition led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, there remains a sea of
difference. The government is very much in control and sees little point
in engaging with outsiders and compromising on what it views as matters of
basic regime and national security.

Adding to the mix are the more than two dozen different armed groups and a
host of rival ethnic interests. And it's not like mediating in a civil
war, with pivotal battles and potential ceasefires.

In Myanmar, the UN is attempting to facilitate a process of democratic
reform, a role it has seldom if ever played.

Facilitating democratic reform is also not a role many UN member states
would like the organisation to play. The General Assembly has passed
annual resolutions on democracy and human rights in Myanmar since 1991.
But though these resolutions were passed by consensus, they are
Western-sponsored and enjoy only limited support outside the Western bloc.

The reasons for the limited support are not just about Myanmar. Many
countries are uneasy about the UN straying too far into what is seen as
the 'internal affairs' of sovereign states, something expressly prohibited
by the Charter. And a contest between a military government and a
pro-democracy opposition is viewed by a good number as an essentially
domestic matter.

If Myanmar's neighbours complained that the situation there required
Security Council action, that would be one thing. But they haven't. It
seems unlikely that a much harsher resolution is around the corner and
even less likely that any General Assembly resolution would sway the basic
political calculations of Myanmar's junta.

Then there is the Security Council. For some pro-democracy campaigners,
the idea of Security Council action against the Myanmar government is the
obvious and desired alternative to Mr Gambari's diplomacy. But this is
based on an entirely unrealistic appreciation of where the Security
Council is on this issue.

The Council is deeply divided. Russia and China's veto a year ago of a US
and Britain-sponsored resolution on Myanmar demonstrated this clearly,
much to the pleasure of the ruling junta. Nothing has changed since.

Several on the Council are nowhere near being convinced that Myanmar
constitutes a threat to international peace and security. China does not
want Myanmar on the agenda at all. The Security Council will likely
continue to discuss Myanmar and hear briefings from the Secretary-General
or his representatives, but even the mildest resolution is very far away.

So we are back to the secretary-general and his 'good offices'. Under the
Charter, the secretary-general is a political organ in his own right, and,
through their 'good offices', successive secretaries-general have acted
independently to further the Charter's objectives.

But the secretary-general has no special power, no troops on standby and
no punitive sanctions in his back pocket. He and his staff are
facilitators and mediators and can do little without the consent of the
government in question. They are also servants of the UN's member states,
and as long as the permanent five of the Security Council are themselves
at odds over what to do about Myanmar, the real political space the
secretary-general has is fairly limited.

But before throwing up our hands in despair at the UN's occasional
feebleness, it is important to remember that the secretary-general's 'good
offices' often bear fruit only after interminable rounds of tiresome,
frustrating and seemingly dead-end diplomacy.

Sometimes - not always - after years of endless talking and bickering, a
new political landscape will unexpectedly appear, and the contacts and
conversations cultivated over the interim take on a new life.

This was seen recently in the region, in East Timor and in Nepal, where
patient and quiet diplomacy suddenly changed into more active mediation.
It was important to have had the UN waiting in the wings, talking to
whomever it could, even if there were no immediate pay-offs. Efforts by
individual governments or regional bodies like Asean should also continue.

Meanwhile, the provision of humanitarian assistance and economic reform
may yield greater results.

It is possible that one day there will suddenly appear a fresh opportunity
in Myanmar, and the 'good offices' of the secretary-general will be
indispensable in moving things forward. It is a role that needs to be
protected and preserved. The costs are minimal and there are few
alternatives in sight.

The writer is a former fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the
author of The River Of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History Of Burma.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

April 4, Irrawaddy
Journalist Kyemon U Thaung dies in US exile - Min Lwin

The well-known Burmese journalist Kyemon U Thaung, who wrote under the
name Aung Bala, has died in hospital in the United States, at the age of
82.

His death was reported by the Thailand-based New Era journal, where he was
chief editor. The journal, which is produced in the US, printed in
Thailand and distributed clandestinely in Burma, said he passed away on
Thursday in hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

U Thaung was born on October 4, 1926, in Nyaung U Township, Mandalay
Division, the son of Thar Phan and Daw Oak. His childhood name was Tin
Maung.

U Thaung began his journalism career in 1947 as a reporter for The Burma
Times in Rangoon, advancing rapidly to become chief editor in 1951, at the
age of 25.

Six years later, in 1957, he started his own daily newspaper, Kyemon (The
Mirror).

His open criticism of Gen Ne Win, who seized power in 1962, earned him a
prison sentence in 1964. He and three of his editorial staff were
imprisoned without trial, and Kyemon was nationalized.

After his release from prison in 1967, U Thaung was given a bureaucratic
post in the Ministry of Information by Gen Ne Win. But his licence to
write was revoked when he again criticized the dictator in his writings.

After 10 years at the Ministry of Information, U Thaung was allowed to go
to the United States to work as a feature writer for a small newspaper in
Washington, Missouri, The Missourian.  However, his critical writings—in
particular an article in Reader’s Digest about his three years in jail—led
the Burmese authorities to revoke his passport. He was granted political
asylum in the US.

U Thaung was an outspoken critic of military rule in Burma, writing
numerous articles, essays and books, and taking part in pro-democracy
meetings around the world. At his home in exile, he wrote some 30 books,
under the penname Aung Bala, including the best-sellers “General Ne Win
and His Executioners” (1990) and “A Journalist, a General and an Army in
Burma” (1995).

U Thaung is survived by his wife, Tin Tin Win and five children, all of
whom live in the US.