BurmaNet News, November 14 - 16, 2009

[Editor]

November 14 – 16, 2009 Issue #3841


INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: Suu Kyi seeks meeting with Myanmar junta leader
AP: 8 dead, dozens missing in Myanmar ferry accident
DVB: Burmese troops torch border island

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Monks, nuns gather donations for Burmese refugees

HEALTH
DPA: Global Fund returns to Myanmar with 110 million dollars

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: More amphetamines seized near Burmese border

ASEAN
Wall Street Journal: U.S. asks Myanmar to release Suu Kyi
Financial Times: Burma leader poses Asean hazard

REGIONAL
Washington Post: Obama tells Tokyo crowd of administration's outreach to
N. Korea, Burma
BBC News: Sri Lanka protest at Burma visit

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Guarded hope as Obama engages Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
TIME: Why Obama will meet with a leader of Burma's junta – Hannah Beech
Right Vision News (Pakistan) via Hindustan Times: Sri Lanka: Politics
makes for strange bedfellows
New Light of Myanmar: The day of reinforcing the Tatmadaw in public
interest – Tin Min Kyaw




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 16, Reuters
Suu Kyi seeks meeting with Myanmar junta leader – Aung Hla Tun

Yangon – Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has requested
a meeting with the military regime's top leader, adding to signs that
lines of communication are opening up between her and the junta.

In a letter dated November 11, obtained by Reuters on Monday, the
64-year-old Nobel peace laureate said she wanted to work with General Than
Shwe's government, which calls itself the State Peace and Development
Council, in the interests of the country.

News of the letter comes after U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday
offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued
democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

"I would like to earnestly request permission to meet you so that we can
talk about cooperating with the State Peace and Development Council in
working in the interest of the nation," Suu Kyi wrote. It would be the
first meeting with the strongman of the former Burma since the 2003 arrest
of Suu Kyi, sentenced in August to an additional 18 months of house
detention for harbouring an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside
home.

Last month Suu Kyi held a rare meeting with a minister from the ruling
junta. In September, she made a formal offer to the regime to help
negotiate with Western countries to lift sanctions, which critics say have
been largely ineffective.

She has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort
or another, mostly under house arrest.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years and is
shunned by the West over its rights record, plans to hold multi-party
elections in 2010.

In the letter, Suu Kyi also expressed thanks to the regime for allowing
her to meet on November 4 with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt
Campbell, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years.

She asked for permission to visit three senior leaders of her National
League for Democracy Party who are house-bound due to ill health and
approval to hold a plenary meeting with leaders of her party in her home
before meeting with Than Shwe.

Nyan Win, spokesman of the NLD party and a member of Suu Kyi's legal
defence team, said the government had yet to reply to her letter.

Lawyers for Suu Kyi said on Friday they had lodged an appeal against her
house arrest with the Supreme Court but expected no rapid decision.

(Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jerry Norton)

____________________________________

November 16, Associated Press
8 dead, dozens missing in Myanmar ferry accident

Yangon, Myanmar — A ferry carrying nearly 200 passengers sank after
colliding with an oil barge in a river in Myanmar, killing at least eight
and leaving more than three dozen missing, officials said Monday.

The motorized ferry "Nay Win Tun" carrying 176 people sank in the Ngawun
River after the collision, 84 miles (134 kilometers) west of Yangon.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to release information, said the accident in the Irrawaddy
Delta occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday, and most of the passengers were
farmers.

People living in the delta region, also known as the Ayeyarwady, often
travel and transport goods by boat because of the low cost and
inaccessibility of many areas by road.

____________________________________

November 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese troops torch border island – Min Lwin

Burmese troops have razed huts and infrastructure belonging to illegal
Burmese settlers on an island on the Thaung Yin (or Moei) river, which
separates Burma’s eastern Karen state from Thailand.

The controversial island has long been the subject of a dispute over
ownership between the Thai and Burmese governments.

Lying between Mae Sot in Thailand and Burma’s Myawaddy town, the island is
inhabited predominantly by drugs smugglers and blackmarket traders.

According to witnesses, Burmese army troops, police officials and firemen
arrived on the island early on Saturday morning and set fire to huts
belonging to the island dwellers.

Following the incident, the chairman of the Burmese government’s border
committee met with a senior Thai army colonel.

“We are to form a committee on both sides for joint cooperation regarding
this,” said Colonel Padung Yingpaiboonsuk, adding that “a head-on
confrontation could bring unnecessary problems so it is better that we
discuss this.”

The torching has become an almost yearly event as Burma looks to secure
its porous border with Thailand. The Thai government has significantly
tightened its side of the border in recent years as it looks to stem the
flow of drugs, particularly methamphetamine, into the country.

A Myawaddy resident told DVB last year said that island residents were
given no prior warning before their huts were torched. An estimated 70
percent of the population of Mae Sot is thought to be made up of Burmese
migrants.

The two main border crossing points, at Myawaddy and further north at
Tachilek, have frequently this year been the site of major drugs seizures.

In June, Burmese police in Tachilek seized a haul of methamphetamine
tablets, or ‘yaba’, and heroin estimated to worth around $US7.5 million. A
lorry had been attempting to carry the drugs into Thailand.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 16, Irrawaddy
Monks, nuns gather donations for Burmese refugees – Ko Htwe

More than 200 Buddhist monks and nuns asked for alms donations in Chiang
Mai, Thailand, on Monday to send to Burmese refugees who live in camps
along the Thailand-Burma border.

The project was supported by the International Network of Engaged Buddhist
(INEB), the Friends of Burma and other civil society groups that turned
out for the event.

The INEB is a network of Buddhist monks, nuns, social activists and
community leaders under the patronage of the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh
and other leading Buddhists.

Aphatsorn Sombunwatthanakun, a coordinator of Friends of Burma, told The
Irrawaddy on Monday: “Some advisers from our organization are members of
the INEB. We will send the donations to camps in Mae Sot, Mae Hong Song
and Wieng Heng.” Donations included money and other material that could be
used by refugees.

Participants included people from China, Korea, Japan, Siri Lanka, India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Brittain, Austria and other countries.

A young Shan woman, Ying Horm, told The Irrawaddy: “I cannot go inside my
country to help. But now I can help in another way, so I feel satisfied.”

An estimated 140,000 refugees, mostly from eastern Burma, live in nine
camps along Thailand’s western border, according to the Thailand Burma
Border Consortium Web site.

____________________________________
HEALTH

November 15, Deutsche Presse Agentur
Global Fund returns to Myanmar with 110 million dollars

Yangon - The Global Fund has agreed to provide Myanmar with 110 million
dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, after pulling out of
the country four years ago, media reports said Sunday.

Total funding for Myanmar could rise to almost 290 million dollars if the
grants are extended to the maximum five-year period, The Myanmar Times
reported, citing documents provided by The Global Fund to fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria.

It will be the first aid Myanmar has received from organisation since it
terminated grants to the country in 2005, Global Fund spokeswoman Marcela
Rojo told the English-language weekly.

'After the termination of Global Fund grants in Myanmar in 2005, this is a
very significant and very much welcome development, as the Global Fund is
aware of the tremendous need to provide humanitarian assistance to prevent
and fight the three diseases in Myanmar,' Rojo said.

The Global Fund's decision to end funding in Myanmar, a pariah state among
Western democracies because of human rights abuses and refusal to
implement democratic reforms, was attributed to political pressure from
the US, a major donor to the fund.

To some extent the Global Fund's aid to Myanmar had been replaced by the
European Union backed Three Diseases Fund.

UNAIDS country coordinator for Myanmar Sun Gang described the Global
Fund's return to Myanmar as 'very much significant - and welcomed by all
the (implementing) partners.'

'Of all the least-developed countries, Myanmar receives just about the
lowest level of ODA (Official Development Assistance) in the world,' Gang
said.

'To have the Global Fund providing money again not only means much-need
financial resources but is also further evidence of the increasing
confidence from the outside world that Myanmar does have the capacity to
absorb more resources and deliver services to its people,' he added.

____________________________________
DRUGS

November 16, Irrawaddy
More amphetamines seized near Burmese border – Lawi Weng

Thai authorities seized about 300,000 amphetamine tablets in Mae Sai near
Tachilek Township on the Burmese-Thai border on Sunday.

Speaking to the The Irrawaddy on Monday, a source in the Burmese police at
Tachilek said two Burmese and three Thai nationals were arrested early on
Sunday morning while traveling by car in Mae Sai after crossing the border
from Tachilek Township.

The police source said traffickers had purchased 300,000 amphetamine
tablets in Tachilek Township and smuggled them past the Burmese
checkpoint, but they were arrested by Thai authorities in Mai Sai.

Though heroin seizures for 2009 in Thailand reported by Thailand’s Office
of Narcotics Control Board on Sept. 6 were at almost 114 kg, down from 200
kg reported for 2008, opium seizures were up almost eightfold at 40,612 kg
from 5,708 kg in 2008.

Amphetamine seizures over the same period were 14.3 million tablets in
2009 and 22.1 million for 2008.

According to a report in The New York Times on Sept.30, Thai authorities
believe the ethnic groups are converting drugs to cash to pay for weapons
in the predicted battle with the Burmese junta forces after the rise in
tension in Shan State in recent months.

This year, Burmese authorities have reported at least nine seizures of
illegal drugs in Tachilek, an increase from previous years.

Burmese authorities have reportedly strengthened their crackdown on
illegal drugs in the border townships of Laogai and Tachilek, seizing
about 1,000 kilograms of heroin and 340,000 amphetamine pills—the largest
illegal drugs haul reported in Burma this year—in Tachilek in July alone.

Burma’s Myanmar News Agency said authorities burned 11.9 million
amphetamine tablets and other drugs seized between August and October in
Laogai on Oct 31.

Reported drugs seizures in Laogai included a haul of 370,000 amphetamine
tablets found in a cave near Laogai on Sept.30.

Burmese narcotics police in Tachilek said many illegal drugs come from the
United Wa State Army (UWSA)-controlled area in Phangsang Township. The
UWSA is considered the biggest player in Shan State’s illicit drugs
business.

In January, authorities found 89 kg of heroin in a container on the
Singaporean-flagged ship Kota Tegap in Rangoon’s Asia World Port Terminal.

A report issued by the US State Department in March said Burma "is a
significant player in the manufacture and regional trafficking of
amphetamine-type stimulants." It said large amounts of drugs from Burma
end up in Thailand.

The Burmese military regime has reported destroying 7,893 acres of opium
poppy fields in Shan and Kachin states during this year's growing season.

Burma remains the world's second largest producer of heroin after
Afghanistan, according to US and UN experts.

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 16, Wall Street Journal
U.S. asks Myanmar to release Suu Kyi – Jonathan Weisman

SINGAPORE -- President Barack Obama's historic meeting with a top Myanmar
leader Sunday raises the stakes on both sides to show progress in their
recent diplomatic thaw.

Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves a hotel after meeting
with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on Nov. 4.

In a meeting here with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein and other
Southeast Asian leaders -- the highest-level summit involving U.S. and
Myanmar officials in decades -- Mr. Obama personally demanded that the
country release famed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, White House officials said.

But Mr. Obama failed to secure any mention of political prisoners in a
communique issued by the meeting's participants afterward. That failure
disappointed dissidents who were hoping the president's involvement would
encourage Southeast Asian leaders to take a harder line on Myanmar's
junta, which is accused of widespread human-rights abuses but remains a
trading partner with much of the region.

The failure to single out Ms. Suu Kyi was "another blow" to dissidents who
want more pressure on the regime, said Soe Aung, a spokesman for the Forum
for Democracy in Burma, a Thailand-based organization. "We keep saying
again and again that the U.S. should not send a mixed signal to the
regime."

U.S. officials had taken pains to reduce expectations for the meeting,
which occurred between sessions at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum and was part of a new initiative by the Obama
administration to increase interaction with the Myanmar government. The
U.S. imposes stiff sanctions on the country, also known as Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi

Take a look at major events in the life of famed dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many analysts view those sanctions as a failure as Myanmar has expanded
trade with China and other Asian nations, and U.S. officials now believe
they can have more influence over the country's leaders if they talk with
them more regularly. U.S. officials have stressed they believe any results
could be long in coming.

But criticism from dissidents will likely intensify if results aren't seen
soon, increasing the pressure on U.S. officials to show progress or walk
away.

"I think there is a need for some gestures now" from the Myanmar side, or
the U.S. might have to scale back its re-engagement with the regime, said
Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Macquarie University in Australia. He
called the meeting "very disappointing" because of the failure of
Southeast Asian nations to follow Mr. Obama's lead and press for Ms. Suu
Kyi's release.

Myanmar's military has controlled the country since 1962 and has presided
over an economy that remains one of Asia's least developed. The regime
plans to hold elections next year, the first since 1990, in a bid to boost
its international reputation. But the U.S. and others contend that the
results can't be fair unless Ms. Suu Kyi and her supporters -- who won the
last vote -- are allowed to participate.

Some analysts believe the regime will respond to the U.S. overtures,
though it is unclear what they could offer that would satisfy U.S.
officials and human-rights advocates.

The most powerful gesture would be the release of Ms. Suu Kyi. Although
most analysts consider such a move unlikely, rumors have circulated in
recent weeks that a deal could be in the works. A director-general in
Myanmar's foreign ministry told the Associated Press last week that the
regime is developing a plan to set her free, but the report wasn't
confirmed by other sources and it wasn't possible to reach other Myanmar
officials, who rarely speak to the foreign media.

Any deal to release Ms. Suu Kyi would almost certainly come with strict
conditions, analysts have said, including limitations on her political
activities in the run-up to next year's vote. It is also possible the
regime could offer other steps, such as allowing election monitors into
the country next year. But that wouldn't guarantee free and fair
elections.

Many dissidents believe any cooperative gesture by Myanmar should be
viewed skeptically or rejected. In past years, it has taken steps to
please Western governments only to reverse them later.

____________________________________

November 14, Financial Times
Burma leader poses Asean hazard – Kevin Brown and Edward Luce

Barack Obama arrives in Singapore tonight, beginning a policy of
engagement with regional bodies which is intended to draw a line under the
George W. Bush years, write Kevin Brown in Singapore and Edward Luce in
Tokyo.

But the new approach, which includes the first-ever meeting between a US
president and the heads of the 10-member Association of South East Asian
nations, is potentially hazardous. Since Burma is a member of Asean, Mr
Obama will be the first US president to meet Thein Sein, Burma's prime
minister and a member of the ruling junta.

US officials yesterday declined to answer questions about whether Mr Obama
would try to avoid being in a photograph with Mr Sein. "We're not going to
discuss photos that haven't been taken," said a senior official.

The officials added that the Obama administration had chosen to engage
with the Burmese, while maintaining tight economic sanctions, in the hope
of restoring democracy to the country when it holds what are expected to
be rigged elections in 2010.

Human Rights Watch, the US-based campaign group, urged Mr Obama to make
human rights in Burma, and the region, his top priority. "Obama should
encourage them to unite in a strong statement of support for real
democratic reforms," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of HRW.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 14, Washington Post
Obama tells Tokyo crowd of administration's outreach to N. Korea, Burma –
Anne E. Kornblut

Tokyo -- In his speech Saturday to an audience of invited Americans and
Japanese officials, President Obama discussed a wide range of U.S.-Asian
issues. Among them was his administration's evolving approach to dealing
with East Asia's two troublesome military dictatorships: North Korea and
Burma.

The administration announced this week that it will soon send an envoy to
North Korea to persuade the government of Kim Jong Il to return to stalled
six-party nuclear disarmament talks. The North walked out of those talks
early this year and followed with a series of provocative moves, including
detonation of a nuclear bomb and the launch of a flurry of missiles.

Since then, North Korea has shown renewed interest in negotiations. Still,
its government has repeatedly said it has no intention of giving up its
nuclear program, which it has used for years as a lever to win diplomatic
concessions, as well as food and fuel aid.

If North Korea does return in good faith to diplomatic resolution of the
nuclear issue, Obama said Saturday, the United States is "prepared to
offer North Korea a different future."

In a nod to the Japanese government, which is demanding that North Korea
provide detailed information on its abduction of Japanese citizens in the
1970s, Obama said that "full normalization" of relations with the North
depends a "full accounting" of what it has done with the abductees. This
demand won loud applause.

On Burma, Obama said that neither U.S. sanctions nor engagement by other
countries have improved the lives of people, so his administration is
"communicating directly with the leadership."

But Obama did not say that this direct contact had won any concessions
from the Burmese leadership, which has managed to overcome diplomatic
isolation by making major deals for the sales of raw materials to China,
India and Thailand.

____________________________________

November 14, BBC News
Sri Lanka protest at Burma visit – Charles Haviland

Colombo – There has been a demonstration in the Sri Lankan capital,
Colombo, against the visit of the Burmese head of state, General Than
Shwe.

Burmese monks living in Sri Lanka have also protested against the visit.

The general is on his first overseas trip for five years, and this is the
first visit to the island by a Burmese leader for more than 40 years.

Sri Lanka and Burma have religious and cultural ties going back centuries.
Many Burmese monks study in Sri Lanka.

Shouting that General Than Shwe should leave Sri Lanka, this small group
of demonstrators held banners accusing the Burmese military government of
grave human rights abuses and calling them "killers of Buddhist monks" - a
message they hope will resonate in this country which is itself over 70%
Buddhist.

"We are ashamed to see these kind of military leaders visiting our
country. So we staged this protest to mark our sign of protest and our
disgust for this kind of visit," lawyer Shiral Lakthileka said.

An association of Burmese monks in Sri Lanka has echoed these sentiments,
criticising Than Shwe's visit.

In a statment they said they would refuse all offerings from Than Shwe and
his delegation if they come to their temples - an action considered highly
insulting.

Many Burmese monks studying in Sri Lanka have a large temple in the capital.

But monks from Sri Lanka itself are due to bestow blessings on the general
before he leaves.

The official flags of welcome are out for Than Shwe on this rare foreign
trip for him.

The Sri Lankan government, annoyed by Western criticism of its conduct of
the war, has been moving closer to states that are out of favour in
Western capitals.

Burma was President Rajapaksa's first foreign destination after the war
victory earlier this year.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 16, Agence France Presse
Guarded hope as Obama engages Myanmar – Shaun Tandon

Washington, D.C. – Supporters of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
voiced guarded hope after US President Barack Obama raised her case
directly with the junta, but some accused Southeast Asian leaders of
undercutting his message.

In Singapore, Obama on Sunday held a first-ever summit with leaders of the
10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where he pressed
member Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, to enter dialogue with the
opposition.

The summit was a dramatic symbol of the Obama administration's new
approach of engaging Myanmar. Just months ago, any senior US official --
let alone the president himself -- meeting the military regime would have
been unthinkable.

The White House said Obama asked Prime Minister Thein Sein to free all
political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of her
time under house arrest since her party swept 1990 elections and was
prevented from taking power.

But in a joint statement, the US and ASEAN leaders made no mention of Aung
San Suu Kyi and only called for Myanmar next year to hold a free election
-- which the opposition has called a sham aimed at legitimizing the junta.

Aung Din, a former political prisoner who heads the US Campaign for Burma
advocacy group, said that Obama sent a powerful signal by pressuring the
junta in person in front of the other nine ASEAN leaders.

"Sure, certain members of ASEAN may not go along. But it doesn't matter.
They could not run away from Obama's message and the enhanced US
partnership with ASEAN," he said.

Aung Din voiced hope that Obama will raise Myanmar on the subsequent leg
of his trip in China -- the main commercial and military partner of the
junta.

But human rights group Amnesty International criticized ASEAN leaders for
failing to reach a consensus to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi
or other prisoners in the statement.

"We are extremely disappointed," said T. Kumar, the director for
international advocacy at Amnesty International USA. "It is a step
backward."

"We welcome and we appreciate President Obama personally raising Aung San
Suu Kyi's case," he said.

"But the joint statement sent the wrong signal, letting the Burmese feel
that it is only the United States and not ASEAN that is pushing them," he
said.

ASEAN -- whose ranks include communist nations Laos and Vietnam -- has
long faced criticism both from abroad and from within some member-states
for not taking a firmer stand on Myanmar.

ASEAN's last summit in Thailand that ended on March 1 also did not
directly name Aung San Suu Kyi in its final statement but -- unlike on
Sunday -- said "the release of political prisoners" would help national
reconciliation.

Ernie Bower, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank, said that
ASEAN leaders nonetheless were united in seeking progress on Myanmar.

"When you have an intractable problem like Burma, there's some risk that
maybe our interests in engagement are not completely aligned with all the
other parties, but everybody wants movement in this direction," he said.

More important, Bower said that Myanmar's willingness to sit down for
talks was a reason for optimism.

"They're looking for a way to get out of the box that they've created for
themselves, which for me is the most hopeful sign on Burma in the last 20
years," he said.

But the diplomatic push will soon face a stark challenge as the junta
prepares elections next year, the country's first since the 1990 debacle.

The United States has pressed for a free vote but said it is skeptical.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has called a boycott but
observers expect it will face pressure to take part if the junta makes
concessions.

Obama's meeting was the first between a US president and a Burmese leader
since 1966. It followed a rare visit earlier this month to Myanmar by Kurt
Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 14, TIME
Why Obama will meet with a leader of Burma's junta – Hannah Beech

Among the many hands that Barack Obama will likely shake on his inaugural
trip to Asia as U.S. President will be that of a soft-spoken general who
happens to represent one of the world's most repressive regimes. Obama's
planned joint appearance on Nov. 15 with Burmese Prime Minister Thein
Sein, at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations' confab on the
sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore,
will mark the first time since the era of Lyndon B. Johnson that an
American President has spent any face-time with a member of the Burmese
junta that has ruled since 1962.

The brief meet-and-greet will underscore a major shift in American foreign
policy toward the Southeast Asian nation, renamed Myanmar by its ruling
generals. For decades the U.S. has shunned contact with the Burmese
military regime and in recent years has tightened financial sanctions on
its leaders for their murderous treatment of their citizens. (In the most
recent crackdown in 2007, security forces gunned down dozens of Buddhist
monks and other peaceful protesters.)

But after a strategic review conducted over several months, the U.S. State
Department announced in September that it would pursue a policy of
cautious engagement with Burma, in part because isolation had not worked
in blunting the regime's brutal behavior. Administration officials
cautioned that sanctions would remain in place for the time being and
would only be lifted if the Burmese government showed tangible
human-rights progress. But dialogue with dictators, goes the new U.S.
thinking that is being applied from Iran to North Korea, is now seen as
preferable to not talking and cutting off any chance at reconciliation.

The change in policy also reflects the political and economic reality in
Asia. While the U.S. and European Union have stayed away, other countries
have poured money into Burma — most notably its neighbors China, Thailand
and India, who are hungry for the country's plentiful natural resources.
The sting of western sanctions has been lessened by such investment
forays, leaving the Burmese military brass with plenty of money to prop up
their regime

As part of the policy shift, Kurt Campbell, the U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visited Burma earlier this
month — the first such high-level tour in nearly 15 years. In a
significant concession, Campbell was allowed to meet for two hours with
the opposition leader and Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Her
party won by a landslide in 1990 elections that the junta then ignored;
and her continued detention has angered the West. But not everyone was
available to meet Campbell: junta supremo General Than Shwe stayed holed
up in his army bunker, snubbing the visiting American. (Although he holds
the title of Prime Minister, Thein Sein, who the U.S. President will meet,
is merely fourth in Burma's military hierarchy.)

Besides a possible winding down of sanctions, what does Burma get out of a
rapprochement with the United States? Despite its reputation as a
self-isolating regime, Burma's army just may be looking for a little
international affirmation. Next year, the generals will orchestrate a
national election — the first since the 1990 polls that they ignored
because their party lost so badly. This time around, the military has done
its best to ensure its ruling clique will stay in power. The new
constitution reserves top government positions for members of the
military, and an esoteric set of rules seems specifically designed to keep
Suu Kyi from participating in the electoral process. International monitor
groups also have little doubt that vote-rigging will reach Afghan
proportions. Nonetheless, the State Peace and Development Council, as the
regime has designated itself, appears interesting in having the outside
world approve of the elections — if only to confer legitimacy on its
continuing rule.

If Obama does exchange more than photo-op pleasantries with Thein Sein in
Singapore, it would be natural for the American to ask the Burmese Prime
Minister about Suu Kyi's fate. In a tantalizing announcement earlier this
month, Min Lwin, a director-general of Burma's Foreign Ministry claimed to
the Associated Press that "there is a plan to release [Aung San Suu Kyi]
soon

____________________________________

November 16, Right Vision News (Pakistan) via Hindustan Times
Sri Lanka: Politics makes for strange bedfellows

Pakistan -- President Mahinda Rajapaska, President of The Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka warmly welcomes Head of State of Myanmar
Senior General Than Shwe.

No one should need reminding that Myanmar is neither Democratic, Socialist
or a Republic (a state governed through its elected representatives).From
the time of the signing of the Burmese Constitution in 1948, ethnic
minorities have been denied constitutional rights, access to lands that
were traditionally controlled by their peoples and participation in the
government. The various minority ethnic groups have been consistently
oppressed by the dominant Burman majority, but have also suffered at the
hands of warlords and regional ethnic alliances. Religion also plays a
role in the ethnic conflicts that have taken place.

Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Buddhists all live in Burma. These
religious differences have led to several incidents that have impacted
hundreds of thousands of citizens in Burma. In 1991, approximately 250,000
Muslim Rohingyas (an ethnic group from southwestern Burma) were forced
from their homes by Burman forces. They crossed the border into
Bangladesh, where they were given refugee status and aid from the
international community that was not available to them inside Burma.The
current government of Burma is led by Prime Minister (and General) Thein
Sein. This current regime has been responsible for the displacement of
several hundred thousand citizens, both inside and outside of Burma.

The Karen, Karenni, and Mon ethnic groups have been forced to seek asylum
in neighboring Thailand, where they are also abused by an unfriendly and
unsympathetic government. These groups are perhaps more fortunate than the
Wa and Shan ethnic groups who have become Internally Displaced Peoples in
their own state since being removed from lands by the military junta in
2000. There are reportedly 600,000 of these Internally Displaced People
living in Burma today. Many are trying to escape forced labor in the
military or for one of the many state-sponsored drug cartels. This
displacement of peoples has led to both human rights violations as well as
the exploitation of minority ethnic groups at the hands of the dominant
Burman group.

The primary actors in these ethnic struggles include but are not limited
to the Government of Burma (junta), the Karen National Union and the Mong
Tai Army. and Amnesty International have documented egregious human rights
abuses by the military government. There is no independent judiciary in
Burma and the military government suppresses political activity. The
government restricts Internet access, including blocking of Google, Gmail,
Yahoo, and Hotmail. The government uses software-based filtering from US
company Fortinet to limit the materials citizens can access on-line,
including free email services, free web hosting and most political
opposition and pro-democracy pages. In 2001, the government permitted NLD
office branches to re-open throughout Burma. However, they were shut down
or heavily restricted beginning 2004, as part of a government campaign to
prohibit such activities. In 2006, many members resigned from NLD, citing
harassment and pressure from the Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) and the Union
Solidarity and Development Association.

The military government placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest again
on 31 May 2003, following an attack on her convoy in northern Burma by a
mob reported to be in league with the military. The regime extended her
house arrest for yet another year in late November 2005. Despite a direct
appeal by Kofi Annan to Than Shwe and pressure from ASEAN, the Burmese
government extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest another year on 27 May
2006. The junta faces increasing international isolation. Burma's
situation was referred to at the UN (United Nations) Security Council for
the first time in December 2005 for an informal consultation. ASEAN has
also stated its frustration with Burma's government. However, China and
Russia continue to support the junta. Both countries vetoed a UN Security
Council resolution on Burma in January 2007.Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International have documented egregious human rights abuses by the
military government.There is no independent judiciary in Burma and the
military government suppresses political activity.

The government restricts Internet access, including blocking of Google,
Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.The government uses software-based filtering
from US company Fortinet to limit the materials citizens can access
on-line, including free email services, free web hosting and most
political opposition and pro-democracy pages.In 2001, the government
permitted NLD office branches to re-open throughout Burma. However, they
were shut down or heavily restricted beginning 2004, as part of a
government campaign to prohibit such activities. In 2006, many members
resigned from NLD, citing harassment and pressure from the Tatmadaw (Armed
Forces) and the Union Solidarity and Development Association.The military
government placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest again on 31 May
2003, following an attack on her convoy in northern Burma by a mob
reported to be in league with the military. The regime extended her house
arrest for yet another year in late November 2005.

Despite a direct appeal by Kofi Annan to Than Shwe and pressure from
ASEAN, the Burmese government extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest
another year on 27 May 2006.The junta faces increasing international
isolation. Burma's situation was referred to at the UN (United Nations)
Security Council for the first time in December 2005 for an informal
consultation. ASEAN has also stated its frustration with Burma's
government. However, China and Russia continue to support the junta. Both
countries vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Burma in January
2007.According to Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP), on 18 April
2007, several of its members (Myint Aye, Maung Maung Lay, Tin Maung Oo and
Yin Kyi) were accosted by approximately a hundred people led by a local
USDA Secretary U Nyunt Oo and beaten up. Due to the attack, Myint Hlaing
and Maung Maung Lay were badly injured and are now hospitalised.

The HRDP believes that this attack was condoned by the authorities and
vows to take legal action. Human Rights Defenders and Promoters was formed
in 2002 to raise awareness among the people of Burma about their human
rights.Myanmar's army-drafted constitution was overwhelmingly approved (by
92.4% of the 22 million voters with alleged voter turnout of 99%) on 10
May in the first phase of a two-stage referendum amid Cyclone Nargis. It
was the first national vote since the 1990 election. Multi-party elections
in 2010 would end 5 decades of military rule, as the new charter gives the
military an automatic 25% of seats in parliament. NLD spokesman Nyan Win,
inter alia, criticised the referendum: "This referendum was full of
cheating and fraud across the country; In some villages, authorities and
polling station officials ticked the ballots themselves and did not let
the voters do anything."

The constitution would bar Aung San Suu Kyi, from public office. It should
also be noted that the Myanmar government refused humanitarian help at the
initial phases of Cyclone Nargis and did very little on its own account to
ameliorate the suffering. While thousands of its own people were desperate
for food, it exported huge quantities of rice to Sri Lanka. The video
reportage of hundreds of monks being brutally attacked on the orders of
General Than Shwe during a peaceful demonstration, does not sit squarely
with the his visits to Buddhist Shrines in Sri Lanka

____________________________________

November 16, New Light of Myanmar
The day of reinforcing the Tatmadaw in public interest – Tin Min Kyaw

The Tatmadaw government is now working hard to achieve Myanmar's
democratization process. In addition, it has improved infrastructures to a
certain degree for peace and regional development, and that is supported
by many tangible results.

One of them is a milestone that national race armed groups have returned
to the legal fold and are restoring peace in cooperation with the
Tatmadaw. While building peace, the Tatmadaw devotes itself to varieties
of projects for regional development. Now, the people have a greater sense
of Union Spirit, enjoying the taste of peace and development. They have
realized which role they will have to play in the drive for development of
the nation.

It is most satisfactory to witness that national race armed groups that
have returned to the legal fold are showing greater flexibility in the
democratization process of Myanmar, like other community-based
organizations and social organizations. The Tatmadaw government made
arrangements for the national race peace groups to serve as Border Guard
Forces legally holding arms.

On 8 November, ceremonies to transform NDAK troops of Special Region (1)
in Kachin State into Border Guard Forces were held in Gangwin, Lupi, and
Sinkyaing in Kachin State, and Ka-La-La-Ta troops of Special Region (2) in
Kayah State, in Pantein and Sutpaing regions in Kayah State. It is learnt
that other national race peace groups will be reconstituted into Border
Guard Forces.

After taking up State duties, the Tatmadaw government laid down Our Three
Main National Causes "Non-disintegration of the Union, Non-disintegration
of national solidarity, and Perpetuation of sovereignty" as national duty.
The national policy is to be put in the fore in the interest of the Union
of Myanmar, home to over 100 national races who have been living through
thick and thin since time immemorial.

Therefore, the national race armed groups, which had kept in armed revolt
against successive governments due to various reasons, entered the legal
fold one after another to throw themselves to peace restoration and
regional development tasks in concert with the Tatmadaw in adhering to the
national policy. Of them, U Khun Sa's MTA, the strongest force, exchanged
arms for peace and unconditionally surrendered arms on 5 January 1996.

However, certain elements stirred up disruptions to the process of getting
rid of doubts and boosting understanding among national brethren, thus
prompting arrangements for security of the national race armed groups that
had returned to the legal fold. Considering this, the Tatmadaw government
allowed them to continue to hold arms legally.

Throughout the period of formulating the State constitution that would be
approved legally with the support of the people, the government repeatedly
reminded that the national race armed groups surrender their arms. After
over a couple of decades, dating back to 1989, the time was ripe to make
some changes in line with the State constitution.

In Myanmar, the Tatmadaw is more knowledgeable about the historical
background of the nation than any other organization. In the course of the
nation's history, the Tatmadaw has stood firmly by the people, and kept in
touch with ethnic groups. It is the Tatmadaw that knows well the births of
the national race armed groups. The Tatmadaw was convinced of the desires
of the national race armed groups to play a role in the national politics,
enjoy economic growth, and keep themselves safe from dangers.

So, the Tatmadaw government gave permissions to national race armed groups
to attend as representatives the National Convention designed to • enrich
the political knowledge of national races. The purpose was to encourage
the national race peace groups to cordially deal and compare notes about
international and Myanmar affairs with representatives of other national
races, political parties, and people from all walks of life, service
personnel, and intellectuals and intelligentsia, at the National
Convention.

The government rendered assistance to them to boost their businesses till
they would be able to enjoy regional food surplus, and trade their goods
at home and abroad. More than that, it generated opportunities for them to
enjoy due rights in conformity with political affairs and objective
conditions of Myanmar.

Therefore, it should be realized that identifying rights and opportunities
for their better future is a means to see to Our Three Main National
Causes. And in carrying out the appropriate changes according to the State
constitution, the Tatmadaw government applied ways and means acceptable to
all, instead of rigid ones.

In compliance with the agreements and the law, the time has been ripe for
them to surrender their arms, which is a must. Taking into consideration
the national race armed groups' attachment to their societies, and
honesty, the Tatmadaw government launched a plan to transform the groups
wishing to protect their regions against dangers into Border Guard Forces
as troops of the Tatmadaw.

It is noticed that that programme complies with the six principles of the
State constitution. Transforming national race armed groups into Tatmadaw
members does not mean terminating their duties. Indeed, for them, being
entrusted trustfully with national defence duties is to be proud of.

They have also been vested with the rights to set up political parties in
line with the laws to be prescribed soon, if they wish to carry out
political activities among the groups. According to the multiparty
democracy system, by forming political parties or for
independent-representatives by seeking the support of local people, they
can enjoy the rights to serve as people's representatives at
self-administered zone leading bodies, State/Region hluttaws
(parliaments), the Amyotha Hluttaw and the Pyithu Hluttaw.

The troops of the Border Guard Forces have been bestowed with the rights
to take part in the national politics by following the military code of
conduct, rules and regulations and preserving the fine traditions of the
Tatmadaw. Therefore, I would say transforming NDAK of Special Region (1)
in Kachin State and Ka-La-La-Ta of Special Region (2) in Kayah State into
Border Guard Forces is not only bringing dignity to them, but also
reinforcing the Tatmadaw in the interest of the nation and the people.

Translation: MS