BurmaNet News, October 9, 2008

[Editor]

October 9, 2008 Issue # 3574


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Appeal against Suu Kyi¡¯s detention handed in at Naypyidaw
Irrawaddy: Desertions, assassinations plague Burmese armed forces
DVB: Rice prices down in Rangoon as sales slow
Kaladan News Network: Junta's new protection plan from cyclone in Arakan

ON THE BORDER
IMNA: KNU encouraging logging free-for-all in advance of DKBA offensive
Mizzima News: Nine trucks carrying contraband seized on Sino-Burma border

BUSINESS / TRADE
Asia Pulse: Bangladesh-Myanmar to raise trade volume to US$500 million

DRUGS
Kachin News Group: Two monks arrested for smuggling heroin

ASEAN
Irrawaddy: Asean must do more on Burma: Rice

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: UN outlines steps to improve Burma¡¯s human rights

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Regional NLD branches laying low ¨C Khin Hnin Htet
Irrawaddy: Ban tries to avoid a fruitless visit ¨C Kyaw Zwa Moe
Korea Times: One year after the Saffron Revolution ¨C James Rose



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 9, Irrawaddy
Appeal against Suu Kyi¡¯s detention handed in at Naypyidaw

A legal representative of Burma¡¯s detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi handed in to the military government in Naypyidaw on Wednesday a
formal appeal against the latest extension of her house arrest.

Suu Kyi¡¯s lawyer, Kyi Win, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the appeal
had been handed in personally by his assistant, Hla Myo Myint.

The government had given no indication when the appeal would be heard in
court, Kyi Win said. ¡°But we are hoping for a positive outcome.¡±

Suu Kyi¡¯s latest five-year term of house arrest was extended in May for a
further year¡ªillegally, according to Kyi Win, because article 10 (b) of
the Burmese State Protection Law 1975 stipulates that a person judged to
be a ¡°threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and the peace
of the people¡± can only be detained for up to five years.

Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years of the past 19 years confined to her
Rangoon home.

Kyi Win said he planned to meet Suu Kyi soon to discuss the appeal.

Suu Kyi has reportedly been in poor health recently. She refused for about
one month to accept deliveries of food and other household supplies at her
home in what was seen as a protest against her continuing house arrest.
Last week, she was visited by an eye specialist, Dr Kan Nyunt, and her
personal physician, Dr Tin Myo Win.

At a Geneva press conference earlier this month, a UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights official, Navanethem Pillay, expressed concern about Suu
Kyi¡¯s continuing detention and urged the regime to free her and all other
political prisoners.

Suu Kyi had ¡°in fact served a sentence that far exceeds that served by
many hardened criminals,¡± Pillay said.

Pillay welcomed the recent release of seven political prisoners, but said
it was a very small step when more than 2,000 political activists were
still detained. ¡°I urge the government to release them all as soon as
possible,¡± she said.

____________________________________

October 9, Irrawaddy
Desertions, assassinations plague Burmese armed forces ¨C Min Lwin

A soldier deserted recently from Burma¡¯s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)
707, in Taikgyi Township, Rangoon Division, after murdering his
commander¡ªthe latest sign of rising dissatisfaction among the
lower-ranking members of the Burmese armed forces.

The deserter, who fled with a number of weapons, was later killed in a
manhunt.

Desertions, small mutinies and assassinations are plaguing Burma¡¯s ruling
military, according to observers abroad and sources within the country.

Low-ranking soldiers are increasingly unhappy about their conditions of
service. ¡°There is a big gap between high ranking officers and other
ranks,¡± said Htay Aung, a Burmese military researcher based in Thailand.

Ordinary soldiers earn around 22,000 kyat (less than US $20) per month,
and most have difficulty surviving, particularly if they are family men.
They are also assigned sub-standard housing, while high-ranking officers
are given luxury homes in Naypyidaw and Rangoon.

Htay Aung said soldiers were treated ¡°like slaves¡± by their officers,
whose wives often assigned them menial domestic duties.

An army training officer said defectors were leaving not for political
reasons but because of their treatment by their commanders.

The murder of the commander of Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 707 was no
isolated incident.

In 2005, a young captain with Light Infantry Battalion No. 375, based in
Kyauktaw, Arakan State, killed the wife and other family members of his
commanding officer and then committed suicide.

In 2001, a medical corps sergeant shot dead Maj Min Min Soe and a captain
from No. 4 Military Operations Command after accusing them of abusing
their positions.

In the same year, Tin Oo, Secretary 2 of the SPDC and Army Chief of Staff,
died in a helicopter crash after previously surviving three assassination
attempts.

In July 1977, Capt Ohn Kyaw Myint, personal secretary to then Army Chief
of Staff Gen Kyaw Htin, was arrested, along with a dozen other army
officers, and accused of plotting to assassinate dictator Gen Ne Win and
other state leaders.

The captain said he and other members of the group opposed Ne Win¡¯s
¡°Burmese Way to Socialism,¡± which they felt was leading the country to
ruin.

In the late 1960s, Capt Kyaw Zwa Myint, a military intelligence officer
and personal assistant to Ne Win, fled to Karen rebel-controlled territory
after plotting to assassinate Ne Win. He later died in Australia.

____________________________________

October 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rice prices down in Rangoon as sales slow ¨C Nan Kham Kaew

The price of low-quality rice at Bayintnaung rice market in Rangoon has
dropped as sales are slow compared to other years, according to rice
merchants.

A trader in the former capital said the price of a bag of 'Nwe-cial' rice
had gone down from 17000 to 16000 kyat.

Another trader said sales were slow in part because people from Laputta,
one of the areas severely affected by Cyclone Nargis in May, were not
coming to buy rice in Rangoon as before.

Merchants said that rice exports were also down, and rice intended for
export was being sold back onto Bayintnaung market.

One trader said that workers had been laid off due to the slow trade.

The government has begun to allow rice from Rangoon to be sold in other
regions, in contrast to the usual regulations which forbid transportation
of rice from one region to another for sale.

Economist Sein Htay said sales were down because people were unable to
afford to buy as much rice as usual.

"People are not buying it not because there is a surplus, but just that
they can't afford it,¡± Sein Htay said.

¡°In Hlaing Tharyar, they have to drink rice water because people have no
jobs and no money,¡± he said.

¡°Also the foreign export market is not good ¨C Burmese rice does not have
a good image on the international market due to its poor quality compared
to rice from other countries. That's why rice is piled up in depots in
Burma."

____________________________________

October 9, Kaladan News Network
Junta's new protection plan from cyclone in Arakan

General Tint Swe, the Arakan State Peace and Development Officer and the
Transport Minister has formulated a new 'protection plan' to check damage
from cyclones for all townships in the State. The plan comes into effect
from the first week of October. It entails planting betel nut and coconut
plants, according sources.

General Tint Swe came recently from Naypaydaw to develop Arakan State and
to monitor its security.

He directed all townships authorities to plant betel nut and coconut trees
in the compound of all schools in the town.

In Maungdaw and Buthidaung, the township authorities mobilized people to
plant betel nut and coconut trees in all schools in the township, said a
student from Maungdaw high school.

The teachers were directed to tell primary school students to bring betel
nut seedlings failing which they have to pay Kyat 500 for a seedling.

Middle and high school students would have to bring one small coconut
plant. If a student fails, he or she has to pay Kyat 1500 to the
authorities of schools.

The schools authorities in turn have to hand over the money to township
authorities to buy plants and seedlings.

"We received some fund from townships authorities for the schools," said a
school teacher from Buthidaung, on condition of anonymity.

Following a meeting in Akyab on September 29, General Tint Swe, declared
that he would provide all the towns in Arakan Kyat 50,000 as project
money. But the township officers are selling the seedlings and plants to
the students for them to fulfill the school's requirements.

"I have no work as my land was confiscated and I can't go to another
village or place to work as the authorities have restricted our movement.
I have three children in school and my family sometimes faces starvation.
How can I pay them money for seedlings?" asked a father in Maungdaw.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 9, Independent Mon News Agency
KNU encouraging logging free-for-all in advance of DKBA offensive

The Karen National Union (KNU) is slashing logging restrictions in
territory it controls near Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burma border.
The change in timber policy comes before the KNU is expected to retreat in
the face of an expected offensive by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA).

Timber stands in the Makate and Kyunchaung forests, respectively nine and
thirty kilometers from the Thai-Burma, have been opened for free-access
logging, say loggers, sources in ethnic political parties and local
villagers. Both forests are in Thupalaryar District, currently under the
control of KNU Brigade 6.

Logging in both areas marks significant changes in KNU forestry policy. In
years past, logging operations in both forests were permitted only from
January until May, with exceptions made for continuing operations or
community timber harvesting for projects like schools, monasteries,
churches and bridges.

Previously, only large timber companies like the Thailand based Sia Hook
could purchase logging contracts. In an interview in mid September, Nai
Maut, a logger working in Makate, reported that the KNU typically charged
100,000 baht for permission to log fifty tons.

This year, the price of logging access has been drastically reduced.
According to a logger interview in Three Pagoda Pass three weeks ago, the
KNU had reduced charges to just 50,000 to 80,000 baht for rights to stands
in Makate and Kyunchaung.

According to other sources, last week the KNU appears to have cut fees
altogether. Captain Htat Nay, of Bridge 6, told IMNA that loggers are now
harvesting timber from Kyunchaung Forest without having to purchase
advance permission from the KNU. Makate is open as well, says the owner of
a logging company based in Three Pagoda Pass. A former official in the KNU
Forestry Department confirmed both sources. Loggers still have to pay at
KNU checkpoints, but loggers report that the fees have been reduced.

Importantly, not only are loggers free to operate without having to
purchase permission, but they are being allowed to log virtually without
limits. Restrictions on the minimum size of harvestable trees have been
loosened. In the past, loggers were prohibited from cutting trees less
than ten centimeters across. Trunks with a diameter of just over seven
centimeters, barely larger than a can of soda, are now eligible for
harvest. Tree species other than teak and ironwood, once off limits to
loggers in an attempt to maintain at least a modicum of forestland, are
also eligible for logging.

The KNU is also permitting a wider array of actors to participate in the
logging operations. In Makate, where contracts were once granted to only
large companies, now anyone can log, including villagers, says Captain
Htat Nay. In Kyunchaung, large companies are currently not allowed to log,
the captain says, but villagers and smaller companies are being granted
unlimited access.

The difference between the types of companies allowed to lob in the two
forests appears to be nominal and will likely have little affect on the
rate at which timber is harvested, for the small businesses often work for
larger operations.

According to the captain, the KNU Forestry Department estimated the Makate
Forest to be 50,000 acres and home to 150,000 tons of unharvested
hardwoods, including teak and ironwood. Kyunchaung is thought to be 20,000
acres and contain 500 tons.

It is unclear why KNU forestry policy has changed. Some sources speculated
that the changes are related to an expected offensive by the Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army, which split from the KNU in 1994.

The DKBA has been preparing for an offensive into KNU areas since at least
August, reported the Irrawaddy last week. According to a source in
Payatung village, near Kyunchaung, the KNU has explained that it will soon
leave the Kyunchaung area rather than fight a Karen-on-Karen conflict with
the DKBA.

"I think the KNU is about to leave this area and wants to earn as much as
it can before it goes," says a source in Kyunchaung village. "They'll earn
a lot of money if they let logging continue like this, but the trees will
be gone in a few months." The source said he spoke with a highly placed
KNU official, who told him that the new rules are an attempt to extract
all possible revenue from the territory before it is occupied by the DKBA.
The source, however, speculated that the new policy is as much an attempt
to earn revenue for the KNU as it is an attempt to prevent the DKBA from
profiting from remaining timber.

The source in Kyunchaung village seemed unimpressed with the actions of
armed groups in general, and accused the KNU, DKBA and Burmese army of
caring more about exploiting natural resources than caring for the people.

This sentiment was echoed by a villager in Kyo Hablu, near Makate, who
said, "If the KNU continues to allow logging like this, we will face
disaster. We will have floods and the weather will be even hotter in the
coming hot season. When the trees are gone nothing can live in the forest.
How can we survive?"

____________________________________

October 9, Mizzima News
Nine trucks carrying contraband seized on Sino-Burma border ¨C Myo Gyi

Nine trucks transporting Chinese manufactured goods were seized by the
police in Momauk Towship, Kachin State on the Lwejie-Bamao trade route
along the Sino-Burma border. The truck drivers had not paid customs duty.

The Seinlon Kabar police seized the nine trucks on September 6 while
plying from Lweje to Bamao with contraband goods like engine oil,
motorcycles, nails and foodstuff.

"Most of the vehicles are from Bamao and Lwejie.  Among the seized
vehicles are one bus, two jeeps and seven Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. All
are passenger vehicles and were plying on the route with goods on the
floor under the seat and were carried by passengers. The Seinlon Kabar
police seized the vehicles midway. The foodstuffs being carried were
cookies, snacks and sugar. Some goods were owned by the vehicle drivers
and some belonged to traders," a trader told Mizzima.

The vehicles were taken to Bamao Customs Office at about 4:30 p.m. and
detained. The nine drivers were held in the Bamao police lock-up. All the
vehicles and the drivers were released later after fines were paid.

Businessmen estimated that the contraband goods were worth Kyat 30 million.

"This trade route is really a cash cow for government employees posted
here. There are hardly arrests. All contraband goods like hand tractor
spare parts, cars without license among others enter along this route.
This is the biggest ever arrest made in this area though we still don't
know why they were arrested. Unlike this route, the Muse route has a lot
of checkpoints and inspections," a trader said.

Mizzima was unable to contact the Bamao police and Customs office.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 9, Asia Pulse
Bangladesh-Myanmar to raise trade volume to US$500 million

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman Wednesday said Bangladesh and
Myanmar have agreed to raise their bilateral trade volume to US$500
million in the next fiscal year.

"To achieve the target, we'll increase export and import between the two
neighboring nations, as we have huge potentials for that," he said while
addressing an FBCCI meeting with the visiting Myanmar business delegation
at its conference room.

He, however, regretted that the business potentials between the two
countries cannot fully be exploited due to poor road communication and
banking system, lack of air connectivity and complicated visa process.

According to available statistics, the total trade volume between
Bangladesh and Myanmar was US$27 million in 2007 although a target had
been set in 2004 to raise the trade volume to US$100 million.

The Adviser said Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to arrange a trade
fair of Bangladeshi products in Yangon on January in 2009.

Zillur also said the government is keen to sign a deal with Myanmar to
import 1 lakh metric tons of agro-products for creating a buffer stock in
the country to ensure food security.

He also said government officials will visit Myanmar next month smooth
trade and remove trade barriers.

Myanmar Commerce Minister Brig Gen. Tin Naing Thein, National Planning and
Economic Development Minister Soe Tha, FBCCI President Annisul Huq and
Bangladesh Myanmar Business Promotion Council Chairman Syed Mahmudul Huq
were, among others, present at the meeting.

The meeting focused on increased economic cooperation between Bangladesh
and Myanmar, as economies of the two countries are primarily based on
agriculture.

The meeting was told that there are 131,000 hectares of cultivatable
wasteland and 33,000 hectares of fallow land available in the Rakhine
state where Bangladeshi businesspeople can invest under current
agricultural land lease policy of Myanmar.

____________________________________
DRUGS

October 9, Kachin News Group
Two monks arrested for smuggling heroin

Two presiding Buddhist monks of the Tagontai Monastery in Mandalay were
arrested in Mansi (Manje) city in Bhamo District, Kachin State while they
were delivering a number of solid-heroin blocks. Acting as carriers they
collected the heroin from 105 Miles Border Trade Zone in Muse in northeast
Shan State and were proceeding to Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State,
northern Burma, said a Mansi police source.

KIO prepared to destroy its seizure of drug in Laiza HQ on Sino-Burma
border in Kachin State in 2005.

The Toyota Mini-van with five passengers including the two monks and their
helper was stopped and checked near Mansi police station by police officer
U Htun Kyin on October 4, 2008 (Saturday). The two Buddhist monks along
with a helper were arrested around 10 p.m. for carrying 60 solid-heroin
blocks (one carried 40 and the other carried 20) inside their typical
monks' yellow-coloured bags, said police station sources.

The current price of the heroin blocks are estimated to be over 440
million Kyats (est. US $371,308). It was meant to be smuggled to the
Indian border along the Myitkyina track, according to a Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) officer in Laiza headquarters who knows about the
heroin route in Kachin State.

The monks had the official Monk Identification Cards which revealed that
they were presiding monks of the Tagontai Monastery in Mandalay, central
Burma, added Mansi police sources.

Normally, the heroin is in powder form. However the shade and size of
solid-heroin blocks depend on the original shape and size of hardware
blocks, which has been popular for about two years now, said residents of
Mansi.

A resident who has seen solid-heroin blocks before told KNG today, "The
powdered heroin is made into solid blocks in rectangular shapes. The
length of a block is about 9 inches and its height is about 3 inches. But
the shapes of the blocks depend of the original hardware block."

After the arrest the same night, the two monks were quickly disrobed and
put in Mansi prison cell. They were then sent to Bhamo based Narcotic
Police Station for further investigations, said a resident of Bhamo.

They said, there was solid evidence to prove the two monks, aged 27 and
28, had carried the heroin from Muse in northeast Shan State to Myitkyina
in Kachin State as special carriers for over three times. Now, the two
monks have been detained in the prison cell in a police station in Bhamo
Township.

Residents of Mansi told KNG that it is not unusual for Buddhist monks to
get involved in smuggling heroin but it has never happened in Kachin State
before where such a large amount of heroin was being smuggled out.

____________________________________
ASEAN

October 9, Irrawaddy
Asean must do more on Burma: Rice ¨C Lalit K Jha

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday said the Association
of South East Asian Nations (Asean) should do more to help move Burma¡¯s
military dictatorship toward democracy.

"The democracies in places like Asean have to do more on Burma," Rice said
in Washington in a speech delivered before a State Department advisory
committee on the promotion of democracy.

Her remarks were one of the rare times a top US official has directly
criticized the way Asean-member countries have handled the issue of Burma
when it comes to promoting restoration of democracy and protection of
human rights.

Pro-democracy advocates say Asean is in a position to do more for the
people of Burma to help in reaching the objectives set by the
international community¡ªrestoration of a true democracy in a peaceful
transition.

Critics of Asean say several members of the regional grouping take the
side of the military junta and are instrumental in supporting the regime.

In her speech, Rice said the task of promoting democracy in the world is
not that of the US alone, and it should be shared by other responsible
countries as well.

"Democracy promotion has got to be more than an American¡ªan American
task. The rest of the world, the EU, has got to do more on this,
particularly in places like Cuba," she said.

"That's something that we're continuing to press for. A breath of fresh
air in NATO and in the European Union has been the former captive nations,
which take it as a part of their agenda to do democracy promotion," Rice
said.

"So I think the next big frontier is to get more international support for
this agenda. And it was a good thing that the UN did a Democracy Fund.
That's a very good thing," she said.

In her speech, Rice identified Burma as one of the few countries in the
world where the government does not welcome US ideas.

"You have other countries, such as, obviously, countries with which we
have very bad relations¡ªBurma or Cuba, Iran, even increasingly
Russia¡ªwhere the governments are not welcoming to what we do and you
operate under a lot of constraints," Rice said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 9, Irrawaddy
UN outlines steps to improve Burma¡¯s human rights

Tom¨¢s Ojea Quintana, the UN special reporteur on human rights in Burma,
outlined ¡°core human rights elements¡± that should be put in place before
the 2010 general election, in a statement released on Wednesday.

The elements include:

¡ªAmend domestic laws that limit freedom of expression, opinion and
peaceful assembly.

¡ªRelease of political prisoners.

¡ªRepeal discriminatory laws.

¡ªStop the recruitment of child soldiers.

"Respect for international human rights standards is indispensable" for
the regime's proposed "roadmap to democracy" to gain international
acceptance, Quintana said.

He said full enjoyment of human rights does not exist in Burma, according
to "reliable reports on the extension of detentions and/or new arrests of
political activists."

The release of political prisoner would reduce tension and inspire
political participation among stakeholders in Burma, he said.

The transition to a multi-party democratic and civil government, as
planned under the new constitution, will require ¡°an intensive process of
incorporating democratic values,¡± Quintana said.

He suggested a number of changes in the country¡¯s judiciary, which
currently "is not independent and is under the direct control of the
government and the military."

Proposed changes include guaranteeing the due process of law, establishing
a fully independent and impartial judiciary and setting up a mechanism to
investigate human rights abuses.

Quintana, who took up his post in May 2007, visited Burma in August and
met with prominent political prisoners, including U Gambira, the head of
the All-Burmese Monks Alliance, a leading force in the 2007
demonstrations. He met with Gambari in Insein Prison, where he was being
held prior to standing trial for posing a threat to the security of the
state.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday his planned
visit to Burma in December might not take place unless he sees the regime
is ready to produce tangible results toward progress in democratization.

Also, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, this week
called for the release of all political prisoners including detained
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta now holds 2,123 political prisoners in various prisons across
the country, according to a report compiled by the Thailand-based
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) and the US-based
Campaign for Burma.

Two leading activist groups in a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Ban
released on Sunday said, "Dramatic increases in the number of political
prisoners show the junta's defiance of the United Nations and
international community, as well as its own people."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Regional NLD branches laying low ¨C Khin Hnin Htet

Since the Saffron Revolution in September last year, regional National
League for Democracy branches have been keeping a low profile, with many
not even managing to hold regular meetings.

This period of quiet is unusual; even when many NLD offices were sealed
off after the Depayin incident in May 2003, party members were still
active and able to meet regularly.

Is it the situation in the regions that has caused this dip in activities,
or a lack of direction from NLD headquarters?

Mya Hla, an elected member of parliament from Bago, one of the most active
regions, gives three reasons why NLD regional activities have stopped.

"Firstly, all the township offices have been closed down so we have
nowhere to hold meetings and no one dares to host us,¡± he explained.

¡°Secondly, the restrictions imposed on us, for example we have to inform
the authorities when we are holding meetings, make not only normal members
but also the central executive committee afraid to come to meetings,¡± he
went on.

¡°Thirdly, the headquarters haven't handed down any instructions or issues
that we need to discuss and gain agreement on."

Despite these difficulties, some townships are continuing to hold regular
meetings, but Mya Hla said that other townships genuinely could not hold
meetings due to the restrictions imposed upon them.

While he insisted that party members remained staunch supporters of the
NLD, he admitted that the lack of action could become an issue in the
longer term.

In Mandalay division in central Burma the situation is slightly different,
according to Myingyan MP-elect Paw Khin.

"The situation is quite good ¨C we are able to hold two meetings a month,
but that's it,¡± he said.

¡°We are waiting for instructions from the headquarters. There have been
no instructions for a while."

In nearby Magwe division, activities have been suspended since local NLD
secretary Myint Oo was arrested in connection with last September¡¯s mass
public demonstrations.

U Taa, an elected MP from Magwe division's Salin township, said the
situation became too difficult to hold regular meetings.

"We could not meet because of the difficulty in finding a place to meet,
and when we did hold meetings, they would come and check up on us,¡± he
explained.

¡°We stopped having meetings after repeated harassment."

In Karen state, Pa-an MP-elect Nant Khin Htway Myint said that local party
membership had been weakened by the intense pressure and intimidation.

"The authorities have been causing stress and intimidation and forcing
people to resign,¡± he said.

In Kachin State in northern Burma, there were sporadic meetings in some
townships up until September last year, but these stopped after party
leaders were arrested and imprisoned.

NLD state organising committee member Ngwe Kyaing from Myitkyina blamed
the situation on the lack of a safe place to meet.

"If we still had our office, we would always meet in the office. Now that
our office is sealed off, we have no place to meet,¡± she said.

¡°If we did, the place would be in danger as we would have to inform [the
authorities]."

But Ngwe Kyaing insisted that, despite these difficulties, members would
be willing to carry out any instructions sent from NLD headquarters.

Ban Lja, chair of Chin state NLD in northwest Burma, said that morale was
suffering.

"There is nothing special going on here as we have not had any
instructions from headquarters,¡± he explained.

¡°We are just sitting around doing nothing and it's affecting our morale a
little bit,¡± he said.

¡°But the people in the townships meet occasionally and our party
organisations in rural areas are still going strong."

In northern Shan State, economic difficulties contribute to the lack of
political activities, according to Lashio MP-elect Sai Myint Maung.

"The closure of offices is one reason. Secondly, people are struggling to
survive,¡± he explained.

¡°I am surviving because I have my own little business. The rest are in
trouble."

Senior NLD member and newly-released political prisoner Win Tin
acknowledged that there were difficulties in coordinating the activities
of the regional NLD groups.

"We are facing problems because we are unable to go to the regions to
solve the problems and we can't afford to invite them to Rangoon,¡± Win
Tin said.

¡°But if we wanted to, we could still struggle on our own. The way places
like Meikhtila are operating is amazing, encouraging and worth taking a
lesson from,¡± he said.

¡°I don't want people to just let the headquarters do the job without the
regions. I want it to be more widespread. I want to hear the voices from
the regions."

But Win Tin said the regional members should act on their own initiative
to find ways to remain active.

"The HQs has many problems, so instead of waiting for instructions, do it
from the bottom up, in your own ways,¡± he said.

¡°We have leaders, firm policies and the strong support of the people.
With these three things, there is no reason to feel dejected."

____________________________________

October 9, Irrawaddy
Ban tries to avoid a fruitless visit ¨C Kyaw Zwa Moe

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is clearly worried about his next trip to
Burma. The reason: he doesn¡¯t want to visit the generals and end up like
his UN envoys¡ªcoming home without any tangible political progress.

Ban expressed his doubts this week about his tentatively scheduled trip in
December in a press conference at UN headquarters in New York. He hopes to
go to Burma to kick off a dialogue between the military regime and
opposition groups and to secure the release of all political prisoners,
including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

But before he goes, Ban is clearly signaling Snr-Gen Than Shwe: You have
to agree to a political concession.

¡°As to my visit, when I said I will be personally engaged, that meant
that I would be willing to pay a return visit to Myanmar [Burma] at an
appropriate time,¡± Ban said. ¡°But you should also know that without any
tangible or very favorable results to be achieved, I may not be in a
position to visit Myanmar without any expectations."

Ban is right to suspect the generals won¡¯t pay any attention to the usual
UN proposals for democratic reform. For his visit to take place, he
clearly needs a signal from the junta in Naypyidaw that it is ready to
make some concessions, to guarantee he can leave with some ¡°tangible
results.¡±

Real political dialogue is the best means to resolve the country¡¯s
political issues and the release of all political prisoners is essential
to build confidence between the two sides for a meaningful dialogue.

Late last month, the regime released a handful of political prisoners
among a government amnesty for 9,002 prisoners. But the number of
political prisoners in Burma has nearly doubled, according to the
Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

¡°By nearly doubling the number of political prisoners, the Burmese regime
is directly defying the United Nations, including the UN Security
Council,¡± said a joint statement by the human rights group and the US
Campaign for Burma based in Washington DC.

If Ban goes to Burma without a guarantee of some concrete political
breakthroughs, he will further jeopardize the credibility of the UN. Many
UN envoys, including the current special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari,
have repeatedly fallen victim to the general¡¯s manipulation for their own
purposes.

By signaling the regime that he will visit only if they agree to some of
the UN-mandated changes, Ban is taking a tougher stand.

If the junta fails to come up with some compromises before his visit, Ban
will be in a better position to go back to the Security Council and seek
new measures to achieve UN-mandated goals.

As a result, the generals may face even more pressure. Ban is exercising
tactical diplomacy, putting pressure on the junta prior to his visit. Nyan
Win, a spokesperson of Suu Kyi¡¯s opposition National League for
Democracy, called Ban¡¯s move ¡°right.¡±

But the question is what more can Ban and the Security Council do? In
October 2007, the council approved a presidential statement on Burma,
calling for the release of political prisoners. Anything stronger would
require the approval of permanent members China and Russia, two staunch
Burma supporters, who are likely to baulk.

In the past two decades, Burma has become a diplomatic graveyard, running
through the previous seven UN special envoys to Burma.

What will play out in the coming weeks is an effort by Ban to play the
best card he has and to avoid another frustrating, fruitless trip to a
government that has repeatedly shown it has no regard for world opinion.

____________________________________

October 9, Korea Times
One year after the Saffron Revolution ¨C James Rose

Last September, peaceful demonstrations let the world know that the
Burmese people have had enough of the crushing oppression of the military
junta, yet, today, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, still languishes in a
haze of terror and deprivation.

Another year goes by and those monks who are left after the military
cracked down after the demonstration are contemplating huge risks once
again because the world just didn't get it last time.

If Myanmar is a part of the global family it is perhaps its most
neglected, like a child cast away simply because it was mugged by some
bullies and held hostage by them ever since. As with most situations of
this kind, ostracization is as much the story of the ostracizer as the
ostracized.

It certainly doesn't make sense to ignore the Myanmarese (Burmese). Most
risk their lives daily in keeping the Saffron Revolution alive and in
trying to get the message to the world, they need help.

Led by a community of monks in the devoutly Buddhist country, known as the
Sangha, a network of activism has firmed throughout the country since last
September. Monks have boycotted the military and continue to thwart their
attempts to crush Myanmar's spiritual soul.

The military have been largely cut off from the Buddhist clergy and the
monks have openly campaigned for an international arms embargo as a means
of taking the tools of oppression away from their oppressors.

The Sangha provided the aid and accommodation services the military
refused to give to some 70 percent of homeless survivors from May's
Cyclone Nargis in the Yangon (Rangoon) and around the Irrawaddy delta.

This is a case of the civil overwhelming the political, of citizens and
their spiritual, not their political, leaders taking up the slack left
neglectfully dangling by the dispirited goons of the olive drab
government.

Perhaps this is why the community of nations finds it difficult to respond
more firmly in Myanmar ¨D notions of state sovereignty run deep and tend
to undermine many of the good souls who would dearly love to effect
positive change in a much maligned country.

A flavor of this was seen in the immediate aftermath of Nargis as civil
aid groups found it more or less impossible to deliver aid over and around
an unwilling state government.

Perhaps this is why the global community and its more influential members
refuse to demand the release of some 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar,
including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, nor can find the
will to dam the arms trade flowing in from Russia and China.

Perhaps this is why the world will not act even as the military backbone
to the ruling junta bends and weakens under the force of its own people
clamoring for an end to the nightmare.

Structural shifts, widespread dissatisfaction among the ranks, including
regular desertions, are enfeebling an already untenable organization, yet
still no-one moves to show the generals the door.

Myanmar continues to win all the sort of awards no one wants to win. It
has the largest number of child soldiers anywhere in the world, many
fighting the world's longest running civil war; it is the world's most
corrupt country and it has probably the world's highest military spending
as a percentage of budgetary funds (40 percent).

It has Asia's second highest child mortality rate and is the third largest
source of refugees in the world.

This in a country with the 10th largest natural gas reserves in the world
and in an economy which already, despite huge natural resources remaining
untapped, receives some $150 million per month in energy export revenues
alone.

One year on from the Saffron Revolution, the world is highly distracted by
an economic crisis largely of its own making.

As the graphs and stock charts head southward, attention is justifiably on
the family home, keeping one's job and hoping the whole shooting match
doesn't end up with blood everywhere.

But, this isn't the time to get caught up in ones own crises. This is an
opportunity to extend crisis thinking outwards. It is a time to remember
that even as the world reels, there are those in Myanmar as in Sudan,
Tibet, North Korea, Chad, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara and elsewhere who need
some crisis thinking of their own.

In dealing with the economic crisis, lets use that energy and fix-it
thinking to extend to other areas. One year after the Saffron Revolution
another opportunity has appeared to help the long-suffering people of
Myanmar.

James Rose is advisor to the Burma Fund, policy think tank of the New
York-based National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma. He can be
reached at jamesrose18 at aapt.net.au.