BurmaNet News, August 30 - 31, 2009

[Editor]

August 30 – 31, 2009 Issue #3787


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi to renovate home to stop trespassers
Narinjara: No government relief for storm victims
New Light of Myanmar: Kokang region regains stability, administrative
machinery in normalcy

ON THE BORDER
New York Times: Myanmar forces overwhelm rebels
Los Angeles Times: Thousands of Myanmar refugees stream into China
Christian Science Monitor: China issues rare rebuke after Burma border
clashes
Xinhua: China presents railway carriages to Myanmar

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Economic mismanagement exacerbates human and sexual trafficking
New Light of Myanmar: Diplomatic relations established between Union of
Myanmar and Republic of Zimbabwe

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US urges Myanmar to halt ethnic attacks
AP: UN leader defends leadership style amid criticism

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Kokang conflict highlights constitutional flaw – Yeni




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 31, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's Suu Kyi to renovate home to stop trespassers

YANGON — Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans to
renovate her crumbling lakeside home to keep out trespassers, her lawyer
said Monday.

The Nobel peace laureate had her house arrest extended by 18 months
earlier this month for violating her detention rules after a bizarre
incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her Yangon residence
in May.

Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for
Democracy (NLD) party, said Suu Kyi had been in contact with an architect
about making renovations.

"She worries for the security of her house and that's why she wants to
repair it," he said. "It is to prevent another trespassing."

Nyan Win said the democracy icon would pay for the renovations, which are
still in the planning stages but will include fixing a balcony, herself.

He said she was concerned about security despite the house being more
heavily guarded by authorities now than it was before John Yettaw made the
trip across Inya Lake using a pair of homemade flippers.

Yettaw was sentenced to seven years hard labour for the stunt but was
freed after a visit by US senator Jim Webb earlier this month.

Suu Kyi's own conviction over the incident, which sparked international
outrage, means she will not be free for elections promised by Myanmar's
junta in 2010.

She has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest at the
family mansion since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide
victory in 1990.

After a stint in the notorious Insein prison for her trial, she returned
to the house with her two aides, where they live an isolated existence
with no Internet or telephone access and almost no visitors except doctors
and lawyers.

Her lawyers are expected to file an appeal against her conviction early
next week.

____________________________________

August 31, Narinjara
No government relief for storm victims

Rathidaung – The victims of a tornado that hit an Arakanese village have
not yet received any relief aid from the government authority, even though
many houses were severely damaged in the storm that took place a month
ago, said one villager.

"The chairman of Rathidaung Township, U Aung Myo Myint, along with other
officials came to our village to inspect the area soon after the tornado
slashed our village. He promised to provide us with relief, but there has
been no aid for us from the government so far," he said.

The village of Ali Chaung under Net Chaung Village Tract in Rathidaung
Township was hit by a tornado on 25 July. Nearly 70 of the 80 houses in
the village were severely damaged.

"We had never seen a tornado in our area and it was the first time we had
seen this. Ten people were injured and among them were one child and one
elderly man who were critically injured. Many small houses were blown away
by the tornado,” the villager added.

Officials from the local UNHCR office came to the village to provide food
and other necessities to the victims soon after the storm occurred.

"Most villagers are homeless. So the UNHCR provided a rice bag, two
cooking pots, a plastic sheet and clothes to each family that was affected
in the village. But the government relief is not there," he said.

A witness who visited the village said that most of the villagers in the
village have been unable to rebuild their damaged homes due to lack of
money. Some families are still living on the ground floor of the village
monastery.

"I think they still need aid from both government and local NGOs. Without
aid the villagers can not build their houses and it is difficult to
achieve a normal life," the witness said.

In Arakan State, the government typically fails to provide such disaster
relief aid, despite that the Burmese government has a disaster and food
ministry devoted to responding to natural disasters such as this.

An elder from Rathidaung said, "In Arakan State, the storm or cyclone
usually attacks during the rainy season, but tornados are very rare. This
is the first time a tornado has struck this township in 20 years."

A tornado also hit Gwa Township in southern Arakan State on 25 August,
sinking one fishing boat and killing five people.

On 29 August, a ferry boat in Ann Township was sunk by a tornado and the
operator, Ko Saw Shwe Maung, died in the accident.

____________________________________

August 31, New Light of Myanmar
Kokang region regains stability, administrative machinery in normalcy

NAY PYI TAW — Kokang group of Shan State (North) Special Region 1 led by U
Phon Kya Shin returned to the legal on 21 March 1989 and joined hands with
the government in implementing regional development undertakings, with
Laukkai as the base. At first, the group carried out its activities in
accord with the law. Later, it was found that the group was engaged in
businesses that were against the law.

Acting on information given by a country across the border, the Myanmar
Police Force exposed and seized a factory producing and selling arms and
ammunition illegally in Kokang region of Shan State (North) Special Region
1 on8 August 2009. When the MPF filed a lawsuit in connection with the
case and summoned the responsible persons—U Phon Kya Shin, U Phon Kya Phu,
U Phon Tar Shwin and U Phon Tar Li, there arose disagreements among the
leadership of the Special Region 1. U Phon Kya Shin and party did not
clarify the matter officially to the authorities concerned; they
redeployed troops of the Special Region 1 of their own accord; they
themselves moved to Yanlonkyaing region at the border; and spread rumours
and news that there would be an encounter between the government and their
troops. Hence, the locals fled to the other country or interior parts of
the country in panic. In addition, Kokang forces that did not want to stay
under the leadership of U Phon Kya Shin joined hands with the Tatmadaw.

On 27 August morning, Kokang troops loyal to U Phon Kya Shin took 39 MPF
members of Yanlonkyaing border checkpoint as hostages. Information was
sent for the release of hostages. But they were not released. And when the
combined force of the Tatmadaw, with the cooperation of Kokang region
provisional leading committee went to the Yanlonkyaing border checkpoint
to rescue the hostages at 4 pm on 27 August, Kokang troops loyal to U Phon
Kya Shin started to open fire at them. As there were casualties, the
combined Tatmadaw force had to return fire. At 2 pm on 29 August, the
combined force rescued 25 hostages including 11 wounded persons. In the
confinement and some places 14 bodies of MPF personnel brutally shot to
death at point-blank range were found.

During the rescue mission, skirmishes began on 27 August. As troops loyal
to U Phon Kya Shin fled leaving their heavy weapons and small arms, it
ended at 2 pm on 29 August. Eleven Tatmadaw members fell and 34 were
wounded and 15 MPF members fell and 13 wounded in the skirmishes. Eight
bodies of troops loyal to U Phon Kya Shin were found together with over
400 assorted heavy and small arms that were left behind by the fleeing
troops. The combined forces also seized 200 assorted weapons from
armouries in the area where those Kokang troops were stationed and over 40
new small arms and ammunition of various kinds in the surrounding areas of
the illegal arms factory.

As the Tatmadaw, MPF members and Kokangs that joined hands with the
Tatmadaw were able to restore peace in the region on 29 August, it is now
in a stable condition and local administrative machinery has become
normal. Locals who ran away to the other country were returning to Kokang
region.

They are being accepted after proper screening. Officials are also
providing necessary assistance to them. - MNA


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 31, New York Times
Myanmar forces overwhelm rebels – Thomas Fuller

BANGKOK — The Myanmar military has overwhelmed rebels from an ethnic
Chinese minority in the northern reaches of the country, the junta’s
second victory over armed opponents in three months.

The routing over the weekend of the forces of the small, Chinese-speaking
Kokang ethnic group gives Myanmar’s governing generals momentum in their
campaign to quell armed opposition before elections and the adoption of a
new Constitution next year.

Several well-armed groups, notably the Wa and Kachin, still stand in the
way of the junta’s goal of complete control over the country. But a
recently announced agreement of solidarity among the rebel groups, which
had the potential to slow the central government’s advance against the
Kokang, may be fraying.

The Myanmar government’s strategy, analysts say, appears to be to
challenge the groups one by one and to try to capitalize on the many
factions within each group.

In June, the military defeated ethnic Karen insurgents along the border
with Thailand, aided by a local militia of Karen Buddhists who led an
attack on forces that were largely made up of Karen Christians.

To defeat the Kokang, the small ethnic group in the north, the junta
allied itself with a defector and chased out troops loyal to the Kokang’s
chairman, Peng Jiasheng.

A force of 2,000 Wa soldiers had initially come to the assistance of the
Kokang, but they retreated Friday, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a former
rebel based on the Chinese side of the border. This appeared to undercut a
mutual-assistance agreement that the rebel groups reached several weeks
ago.

Late on Sunday, Myanmar’s official media broke their silence on the
fighting with a television broadcast announcing that clashes had ended and
providing what appeared to be a preliminary death toll of 26 members of
government security forces and 8 Kokang militiamen, The Associated Press
reported. “The region has now regained peace,” the official announcement
said.

Chinese state media said that two Chinese citizens had also been killed in
the fighting.

News services reported from southern China that Kokang forces were
continuing to flee across the border into China on Sunday on the heels of
what United Nations and Chinese officials estimated were as many as 30,000
civilian refugees. Nearly half the estimated 1,500 members of the Kokang
militia have crossed the border and handed their weapons to the Chinese
authorities, according to Mr. Aung Kyaw Zaw.

The central government’s assaults on the Kokang, which began last week,
have put other ethnic groups on alert, according to Brang Lai, a local
official in the Kachin headquarters in Laiza, along the Chinese border.

“People are very concerned,” Mr. Brang Lai said in a telephone interview.
On the Chinese side of Laiza, residents have put Chinese flags on their
roofs in the hope that they will be able to avoid any additional fighting.
Officers from the Myanmar military’s Northern Division were in Laiza over
the weekend to call for calm, Mr. Brang Lai said.

Followers of Mr. Peng, the Kokang’s chairman, were spotted by reporters on
the Chinese side of the border buying civilian clothes to replace their
militia uniforms.

“There was no way we would win,” Ri Chenchuan, a Kokang rebel, said as he
shopped for new clothes, The A.P. reported.

The Myanmar government has signed more than a dozen cease-fire agreements
with ethnic groups over the past two decades, but the fighting with the
Kokang raised questions about the military’s intentions.

Aung Din, executive director of the United States Campaign for Burma, an
advocacy group that opposes the junta, said the generals apparently had
adopted a more aggressive posture, partly influenced by the Sri Lankan
government’s military victory over Tamil rebels in May.

Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, met with Myanmar’s generals in
June in what was his first overseas trip after the defeat of the Tamil
Tigers. The visit might have inspired Myanmar’s senior general, Than Shwe,
who has spent much of his military career battling ethnic groups, Mr. Aung
Din said.

“It was an encouragement to the regime to do away with the insurgency once
and for all,” Mr. Aung Din said. “Their thinking has changed.”

The motives and strategies of Myanmar’s leaders have long been difficult
to divine. General Than Shwe is a very secretive man and the state-run
media are highly selective in their reporting. The report on Sunday
evening was the first time they had mentioned the campaign against the
Kokang.

The fighting appears to have strained Myanmar’s relations with China,
especially since the Kokang are ethnically Chinese. The Chinese Foreign
Ministry warned Myanmar on Friday to “properly handle domestic problems
and maintain stability in the China-Myanmar border region.”

Analysts said that the Chinese government had asked Myanmar’s generals to
refrain from initiating military campaigns before the celebration of the
60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct. 1.

In that light, China could view Myanmar’s campaign as provocative,
especially since China is a large investor in Myanmar and plays the role
of the junta’s protective big brother in the United Nations and other
international forums.

Mr. Aung Kyaw Zaw said he suspected that the Myanmar generals wanted to
demonstrate their independence to Chinese leaders. Their message, he said,
is that “if we want to fight along the border, we can fight.”

“This is a political game,” he added.

____________________________________

August 31, Los Angeles Times
Thousands of Myanmar refugees stream into China – Mark Magnier

Fighting between government troops and Kokang militants in northern
Myanmar abates. It's unclear whether the calm is temporary and how China
will react to the influx of people fleeing the violence.

New Delhi – An uneasy calm settled over northern Myanmar on Sunday as
rebels and refugees continued to cross the border into southern China
after an assault by Myanmar's military.

United Nations and overseas Myanmar groups say more than 10,000 ethnic
Kokang refugees, including hundreds of militiamen, are now in southern
China, presenting a logistical headache for Beijing.

Still unclear, analysts said, is whether this is only a lull in the
fighting and how great an effect this human tide will have on relations
between China and its ally, Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

In the past, Beijing has downplayed political, social and human rights
problems raised by the West, arguing that these were internal Myanmar
issues that didn't affect regional stability or China's national interest.
This stance may be harder to maintain now that the problem has washed over
into Chinese territory.

"India will remain quiet as long as its national interests aren't
affected," said Aung Zaw, the editor of the Irrawaddy magazine, based in
Chiang Mai, Thailand. "But this puts China in a difficult situation."

A number of considerations appear to have fueled Myanmar's decision to
launch a campaign against the Kokang militants, analysts said.

"This is a several-prong strategy," said Zarni, a senior fellow at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, who uses only one name.

The move may be aimed at boosting domestic support in advance of promised
elections in 2010, the first in two decades. The elections are being held
under a new constitution widely seen as favorable to the nation's military
rulers.

Northern Myanmar is better off financially than many other parts of the
impoverished nation because of smuggling, Chinese investment, trade and
other factors. So an attack on the Kokang, the weakest of several armed
groups in the area, could win points among voters farther south who envy
the area for its relative prosperity.

The attack on a group that is ethnically and linguistically Chinese also
may be a way to send a signal to Beijing that Myanmar doesn't want to be
pushed around.

Although this risks awakening the sleeping giant, Myanmar also knows that
China's Communist Party doesn't want trouble before the nation's
politically sensitive 60th anniversary of party rule.

Furthermore, China recently staked $1 billion on an oil pipeline project
through Myanmar, which will probably make Beijing think twice about
applying too much pressure on its neighbor.

With Russia and India either in Myanmar's camp or unlikely to embarrass it
publicly, the government also may be sending out feelers to the United
States in a further bid to counterbalance China's huge influence. This
comes at a time when the Obama administration is reviewing U.S. policy
toward Myanmar.

This week, Myanmar's military rulers justified the crackdown against the
Kokang forces as a move against drug trafficking -- a cause more likely to
win sympathy in Washington -- rather than as an attack on a domestic
upstart.

This month, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia was given rare access to
supreme military leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe as well as detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Webb also was able to secure the release of American John Yettaw, with the
military government hailing the senator's visit as "a success for both
sides as well as the first step to the promotion of relations between the
two countries."

Yettaw was jailed on charges related to his visit to Suu Kyi's house,
which he reached by swimming across a lake. Analysts say the incident
served as a pretext to extend the Nobel Peace Prize winner's house arrest
by an additional 18 months -- putting Suu Kyi out of circulation through
next year's promised national elections.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military in various forms since a coup in
1962. In the interim, the Southeast Asian nation has held only one
election, in 1990. The election produced a landslide win for Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy, which the government refused to
acknowledge. Critics have dismissed next year's polls as a ruse designed
to legitimize and extend the army's grip on power.

In attacking the Kokang, the government also hoped to send a signal to
other armed groups in the area, analysts said, that they should fall in
line with its plan to transform them into border guard units and not
create trouble.

The government wants various armed groups subdued and on message before
the vote and in particular wants to prevent them from unifying
politically. Given that the apparent routing of the Kokang took a month,
the generals may have given themselves some months before next year's
polls -- no date has been announced -- should they need to take on several
other groups one by one.

"For a variety of reasons, they can't have bombs exploding while the
campaign is underway," Zarni said.

mark.magnier at latimes.com

____________________________________

August 31, Christian Science Monitor
China issues rare rebuke after Burma border clashes – Tom A. Peter

As more than 30,000 refugees return to Burma (Myanmar), key ally China
urges Burma to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability."

After several days of clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government
forces, the fighting came to an abrupt end on Sunday. The violence sent up
to 30,000 refugees into China, some of whom were rebels who handed over
their guns and uniforms to Chinese authorities.

China's official news service, Xinhua, has reported that a number of
refugees have begun returning to their homes in Burma now that the
fighting has stopped. Chinese officials assisted a number of refugees by
providing tents, food, and medical aid.

Both China and the ruling military junta in Burma have a particular
interest in the return of stability to the region, as China has plans to
build oil and gas pipelines through Burma. There are also nearly 10,000
Chinese business people in the fractious area of Northern Burma.

In a rare move by China, an ally of the Burmese government, the country's
foreign ministry spoke out urging Burma to "properly handle domestic
problems and maintain stability in the China-Burma border region" and to
"protect the security and legal rights" of its citizens in the country,
reports the The Financial Times. Meanwhile, the Chinese media reports that
Burmese officials have apologized for any Chinese casualities and thanked
its neighbor for assisting refugees.

The situation erupted on Thursday when the Burmese army sent troops to
occupy the Kokang territory following the refusal of several ethnic
militias to convert into border security forces under the authority of the
Burmese military. While it remains uncertain if the relative calm will
remain, the Burmese government may have done considerable damage to its
relationship with China, reports The Irrawaddy, a magazine published in
Thailand by Burmese exiles.

    Some observers said that junta head Gen. Than Shwe's decision to send
troops into Kokang territory despite China's concerns showed his
determination to demonstrate that he will not be constrained by
Beijing.

    "The Burmese junta doesn't care what anybody thinks, so I don't think
the generals are thinking about China's response," said Chan Tun, a
former Burmese ambassador to China.

Still, it remains unlikely that China and Burma's military junta will
break ties over the incident. Meanwhile, The China Post reports that
clashes between Burmese ethnic groups and government forces are likely to
continue, because none of the ethnic groups' concerns have been addressed
and the military junta is working to strengthen its grasp on power before
the country's national elections.

The latest tension is a consequence of the military's attempt to silence
the voice of the opposition in the runup to the 2010 general election.
Unless the military junta can persuade the different ceasefire groups to
accept its terms, it is likely that similar confrontations will occur.
Despite international criticisms, the Burmese military junta is determined
to move forward with the 2010 general election. Under the guidelines of
the 2008 constitution, it is by and large a forgone conclusion that the
military will hold on to power after election.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Burmese government will move an
additional 3,000 troops to the northern area of the country. Regional
analysts and officials say the government's apparent objective is to rout
out the ethnic militants before the elections. If the country does go to
the ballot box in 2010, it will be the first time the country has had
elections in nearly 20 years.
____________________________________

August 31, Xinhua
China presents railway carriages to Myanmar

Yangon, A ceremony of presenting a bulk of railway carriages by China to
Myanmar for use in improving the latter's rail links was held here Monday.

The presentation of the bulk of 225 railway carriages, which includes 5
engines, 20 passenger coaches and 200 freight coaches, were offered by the
Chinese side during the attendance of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein
Sein at the 5th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Economic and Investment
Summit in Nanning in October 2008.

The hand-over ceremony, attended by Myanmar Minister of Rail
Transportation Major-General Aung Min and Director-General of the
International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Railways of China
Chen Juemin, took place on the occasion of the visit of a seven-member
Chinese railway delegation, headed by Chen.

Director-General of the Myanmar Railways U Thein Swe said at the ceremony
that it is the second time for China to present to the country railway
carriages, while the first was in June 2006 with 130 passenger coaches
which have run for three years, assisting in facilitating the country's
rail transport.

On the occasion, Chen said the presentation brings friendship between
peoples of the two countries as well as that between the two railways.

He expressed belief that the extensive cooperation sector wise between the
two countries' railway transportation would benefit mutually.

According to official figures, Myanmar rail tracks extend as long as 6,942
kilometers now.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/31/content_11973672.htm

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 31, Mizzima News
Economic mismanagement exacerbates human and sexual trafficking – Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi – Human and sexual trafficking in Burma has been pushed up by
economic mismanagement and human rights abuses in the military ruled
country, a new report said.

Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP) of the Human Rights Foundation of
Monland (HURFOM) in a new report released on Monday said many Burmese
children and women are becoming victims of human trafficking because they
are left with few alternatives to eke out a living.

“Systemic and structural discrimination” and the, “harsh economic reality”
under the military regime has driven Burmese women and children to became
victims of human and sexual trafficking, Mi Jarai Non, Coordinator of the
WCRP said.

In many cases, Mi Jarai Mon said, Burmese people are tempted to go out of
the country in search of greener pastures as living conditions are
deteriorating at home, and they often become victims of human traffickers.

“It has become extremely difficult for people to get jobs in Burma and
even those who are lucky to get jobs, their wages are too little to
support them and their family,” she added.

Often, traffickers promise to provide well-paid jobs, but when they have
left the country, many are sold to sex industries and to other jobs were
discrimination is rampant, she added.

The 90-page report, titled ‘Nowhere Else To Go” documented sexual
trafficking and human rights abuses committed against Burmese women and
children, mostly between the age group of 10 to over 40, from 19 Townships
in Mon and Karen State, Tenasserim, Pegu, Rangoon and Mandalay Divisions.

The report is based on interviews conducted with 71 victims, who were
being trafficked between 2004 to 2009, and explains the causes of sexual
trafficking and the horrendous experiences faced by the victims.

“The number of victims of sexual trafficking included in the report
represents only a small percentage of the instances of sexual trafficking
from Burma to Thailand and other neighbouring countries,” Mi Jarai Non
said.

“Several Burmese women in sexual rackets in Thailand still remain out of
reach,” she added.

Despite efforts to help the women to come out of sex trade, Mi Jarai Noi
said some victims are reluctant to give up their work in sexual rackets
because they felt useless as they had already lost their virginity.

“For the first time, I had to sleep with an old Thai man. That is how I
lost my virginity that night,” the WCRP quoted a woman, who was sold to a
Thai businessman by a sexual trafficker in Thailand as saying.

Despite Burma being a party to anti-trafficking protocols from the United
Nations in 2004, having a National Plan of Action for Trafficking Women
and Children and a national taskforce in 1998, widespread corruption and
involvement of Burmese authorities such as the police and military
officers in the sex trade makes action ineffective, the report said.

“The regime said it had committed to fight to end human trafficking. In
reality, the authorities themselves are involved in the sexual rackets in
the country and this has contributed to the increase of human
trafficking,” Mi Jarai Noi said.

The WCRP in its report said, not only is there the regime’s economic
mismanagement, the increased militarization in rural and border areas, the
impact of Cyclone Nargis which lashed delta regions in southern Burma in
May 2008 and the global economic crisis had left many Burmese women in
southern Burma starving and forced them to migrate to neighbouring
countries.

“Because of this lack of support spending for basic elements of civilian
life, as well as the direct assault of a heavily militarized state, women
are often in the position of having no options but to travel abroad for
work, and subsequently become victims of human and sexual trafficking,”
said the report.

The WCRP urged the Thai government to provide protection and humanitarian
assistance to civilians, who have fled from human rights abuses in Burma
and to broaden the opportunities for legal migration both for humanitarian
and economic reasons.

____________________________________

August 31, New Light of Myanmar
Diplomatic relations established between Union of Myanmar and Republic of
Zimbabwe

NAY PYI TAW — The Union of Myanmar and the Republic of Zimbabwe, desirous
of establishing friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation on
the basis of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and norms
of international Law in accordance with the Vienna Conventions on
Diplomatic Relations and on Consular Relations, decided to establish
diplomatic relations between the two countries at Ambassadorial level with
effect from 27 August 2009.

The Joint Communique on the agreement to establish diplomatic relations
between the Union of Myanmar and the Republic of Zimbabwe was signed by
their Excellencies, Ambassador of Myanmar to India and Ambassador of
Zimbabwe to India in New Delhi on 27 August 2009. — MNA

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 31, Agence France Presse
US urges Myanmar to halt ethnic attacks

WASHINGTON — The United States Monday urged Myanmar to halt attacks on
ethnic minorities, saying it was "deeply concerned" about the fighting.

"We urge the Burmese authorities to cease their military campaign and to
develop a genuine dialogue with the ethnic minority groups, as well as
with Burma's democratic opposition," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly
said in a statement.

The junta-run television in Myanmar, which was earlier known as Burma,
said Sunday that 26 state security personnel and eight ethnic rebel
fighters had been killed in three days of clashes near the Chinese border.

The broadcast ended a news blackout on the unrest between the army and
rebel Kokang forces in the remote northeast of Myanmar, formerly called
Burma.

Kelly said "the brutal fighting has forced thousands of civilians to flee
their homes for safety in Thailand and China, and has reduced both
stability and the prospects for national reconciliation in Burma."

Refugees headed back across the border Monday, but some said they feared a
fresh outbreak of violence.

Officials in China's southwestern Yunnan province said 37,000 refugees had
streamed into the country from Myanmar following days of fighting in
Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state.

The fighting comes as President Barack Obama's administration reviews its
policy toward Myanmar which has been under both US and European Union
sanctions.

"I would expect sometime in the next couple weeks, as we get through the
summer holidays and... the Labor Day break, that we will have a final
review and approval of a Burma strategy," Kelly said.

He declined to answer questions about Washington's stand on sanctions.

The Obama team has been skeptical about sanctions as a diplomatic tool and
supports engagement with US foes.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar due
to its refusal to recognize the last elections in 1990 and prolonged
detention of the victor, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

US Senator Jim Webb, after returning last week from a rare trip to
Myanmar, called sanctions against the military regime "overwhelmingly
counterproductive" and asked the opposition to consider taking part in
upcoming elections.

Webb, whose against-the-grain views on Myanmar have infuriated some
activists, voiced concern that Western isolation of Myanmar pushed it into
the arms of China, "furthering a dangerous strategic imbalance in the
region."

____________________________________

August 31, Associated Press
UN leader defends leadership style amid criticism – Doug Mellgren

OSLO — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon defended his leadership style
Monday after stinging criticism by a Norwegian diplomat, saying different
cultures and traditions in the world body must be respected.

Norway's U.N. Ambassador Mona Juul accused the South Korean of weak
leadership, lack of charisma and angry outbursts in an internal memo that
leaked to Norwegian news media this month.

"Personally, I admit that it doesn't feel good to be criticized sometimes,
but I am always looking to improve my role and my performance as a
secretary-general," Ban told reporters during a visit to Oslo.

He noted that the U.N. consisted of people from all over the world with
different backgrounds.

"We need to be able to respect the culture, tradition and leadership style
of each and every leader," he said. "Different circumstances may require
different leadership style and different charisma. I have my own charisma,
I have my own leadership style."
In the memo, Juul, who is married to U.N. special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen,
accused the secretary-general of "weak handling" of international crises,
a lack of charisma and said "Ban routinely has angry outbursts that even
levelheaded and experienced co-workers have trouble dealing with."

She also wrote that Ban and the United Nations were "notable by their
absence" in many of the crises facing the world, such as in Myanmar,
formerly called Burma.

Last week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said he regretted
the leak, and that the memo was a confidential report to his ministry
rather than a public statement by Norway's government.

Ban defended his performance, saying he had been to Myanmar twice and met
its top generals three times in efforts to promote a peaceful transition
to democracy.

"We were able to open up this society so that humanitarian assistance
could flow smooth last year in the wake of Cyclone Nargis," he said. "We
were able, together with the international community, to save at least a
half a million population."

The U.N. leader said he had also sent strong public and private messages
to the Myanmar military dictatorship that elections planned for next year
must be "fair, credible and inclusive."

He also demanded the release of all political prisoners, including
opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban was set to travel to the Svalbard Islands north of Norway to study the
impact of climate change in the Arctic.
____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 31, Irrawaddy
Kokang conflict highlights constitutional flaw – Yeni

The recent clashes between the Burma Army and the Kokang ethnic militia,
known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), in the
country's northeastern region expose a central flaw in the constitution
that was approved in the so-called referendum held a few days after
Cyclone Nargis struck Burma in May 2008.

Although the Burmese junta announced on Sunday that the fighting is over
and that the Kokang region—the autonomous First Special Region of the
northern Shan State, recognized by Napyidaw—is again stable, there is
growing suspicion and distrust of the  Burma Army within the Sino-Burmese
border-based ethnic groups that have ceasefire agreements with the
Naypyidaw regime.

Relations between those ethnic groups and the junta deteriorated when
Naypyidaw in April ordered all ceasefire armed groups to transform their
armies into a Border Guard Force, to operate under the Burmese army.

The junta’s recent move to transform the troops of the ceasefire groups
into border guard forces before the upcoming 2010 election is believed to
be in accordance with the constitutional provision.

Clause 338 in the new constitution’s chapter VII, entitled "Defense
Services," states that all armed forces in the union shall be under the
command of the defense services, known in Burmese as the "Tatmadaw," which
is described as the main armed force for the defense of the union.

As the June 30 deadline approached for accepting the regime’s border guard
proposal, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of military affairs security and
secretary of the transformation committee for the border guard force,
visited the Wa, Kokang and Mongla regions to promote the plan. Burmese
military officials also met with representatives from the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State.

However, with the exception of the Burmese-Thai border-based Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army, armed ceasefire groups have refused to accept the
border guard proposal, effectively rejecting a central clause of the new
constitution. Seventeen insurgent groups have signed ceasefire agreements
with the ruling generals since 1989, according to official reports.

Despite signing ceasefire agreements, ethnic armed troops have recently
been preparing for possible combat with the Burmese army by recruiting and
training soldiers and producing small arms and ammunition. The United Wa
State Army (UWSA), in particular, is manufacturing arms and ammunition for
use by its own battalions but also to sell to other armed groups in the
region.

According to a Jane’s security report, the UWSA facility marks the first
time an insurgent group in the region has succeeded in setting up a
small-arms production line. The UWSA is also known to be operating as
traffickers and middlemen, buying from Chinese arms manufacturers, then
reselling the weapons to Indian insurgent groups and the KIA.

Observers believe that the patience of Burmese military commanders is
wearing thin and Naypyidaw seems have no option but to launch military
action against ceasefire groups.

In a tactic aimed at achieving ethnic compliance with the junta’s border
guard plan, the Burmese regime began its pressure on the Kokang group,
citing its concern about Kokang  links to illegal arms production—charging
that arms production facilities had been set up at the home of the MNDAA's
chairman, Peng Jiasheng.

The area rocked by fighting between the Burma Army and Kokang forces is
also renowned for illegal activities such as gambling, drug production and
trafficking. The regime has no shortage of reasons, therefore, for using
its armed forces to bring the ethnic groups into the "legal fold,"
neutralizing their threat and giving some extent of "legitimacy" to next
year’s general election.

Meanwhile, the Burma Army is busy deploying its troops to consolidate
control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders—both those with
China and Thailand. There are serious concerns that the boom years that
began with the signing of a ceasefire agreement with then-intelligence
chief Gen Khin Nyunt are ending on the battlefield.

The current clashes on the Sino-Burmese border offer a clear picture of
what the election will mean for Burma’s ethnic regions. It’s a familiar
picture—of conflict, fleeing refugees and massive human rights violations.