BurmaNet News, January 28, 2010

[Editor]

January 28, 2010, Issue #3885


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi rejects minister's release comment: lawyer
Irrawaddy: Mongla killing a blow to ethnic cease-fire groups
Kachin News Group: Anti-Irrawaddy dam movement gathers momentum
Mizzima News: DVB reporter sentenced to 13 years

ON THE BORDER
Reuters: China a reluctant refuge for people from Myanmar
DVB: Armed groups to form parallel Burmese govt
Mizzima News: Thailand concerned over agricultural smuggling from Burma

BUSINESS / TRADE
Financial Times (UK): World Bank considering assistance for Burma
Xinhua: Myanmar expands international rice market

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: UN still searching for Gambari replacement

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: More differences between the Haiti-Burma disasters
ISIS: A nuclear wannabe; Suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech
procurements and enigmatic facilities – David Albright, Paul Brannan,
Robert Kelley and Andrea Scheel Stricker

PRESS RELEASE
France Diplomatie: Situation of Aung San Suu Kyi



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's Suu Kyi rejects minister's release comment: lawyer

Yangon — Myanmar's detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on
Thursday described as "unfair" a minister's comment that she would be
released in November as it pre-empted a court decision, her lawyer said.

Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo reportedly told a meeting of local
officials in central Myanmar last week that the release of the
64-year-old, who has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years, would
come in November.

Suu Kyi "said the home affairs minister's comment was totally unfair," her
lawyer, Nyan Win, told AFP after meeting her on Thursday.

A decision is expected from Myanmar's top court within three weeks on an
appeal against her conviction last August. The conviction related to an
incident in which a US man swam to her house and she was sentenced to
another 18 months under house arrest.

"She said the case has not reached the end yet. She said the court has the
right to make its own decision. Saying this is hurting the court
decision," Nyan Win said. "She also said this comment is legally not
correct."

The extension of Suu Kyi's detention sparked an international furore as it
keeps her out of elections promised by the regime some time this year.

After learning of the minister's comments, her National League for
Democracy (NLD) party initially said a November release would be "no
strange thing" as that is when her sentence will be completed.

But the signal that she would remain locked up for elections sparked the
United States on Tuesday to call again for her immediate freedom.

"The idea that her release will conveniently come after the election is
unfortunate," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the last democratic elections in 1990,
but the junta, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, never allowed the party
to take office.

The opposition has been deeply suspicious of the election promised by the
junta, seeing the poll as a plot to legitimise the generals' iron-fisted
rule.

In recent months the United States, followed by the European Union, has
shifted towards greater engagement with Myanmar, as sanctions have proved
unproductive.

____________________________________

January 28, Irrawaddy
Mongla killing a blow to ethnic cease-fire groups – Wai Moe

Already under pressure from Naypyidaw over the Border Guard Force issue,
the ethnic cease-fire groups faced a fresh blow as a key leader of the
National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) based in Mongla in eastern Burma
was killed on Wednesday.

Min Ein, secretary-general of the NDAA was assassinated by unknown gunmen
while he was doing regular exercise at the armed group’s headquarters in
Mongla in eastern Shan State on Wednesday morning, sources from Burma's
border area said.
Min Ein in Laogai, 2003 (photo: MRTV)

The gunmen have not been arrested and no one has claimed responsibility,
the sources said, adding that observers give two reasons for the
assassination.

Some believe it was a political killing organized by the junta against an
ethnic armed group unwilling to join the border guard force plan. A second
theory suggests the killing could be related to a business conflict.

“I think Naypyidaw is behind the assassination. As a key player in the
NDAA, Min Ein knew how to play the junta politically over the past two
decades,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burmese
border who was with Min Ein as a communist guerrilla in the 1970s and the
1980s.

 “The NDAA still does not totally agree to the junta's Border Guard Force
proposal, and Min Ein represented his organization in talks with the
junta's negotiator, Lt-Gen Ye Myint,” he said, adding that the junta
stood to benefit as the Mongla militia had lost a “good political
leader.”

Suspicions that the junta was involved would grow within the Mongla group
if the gunmen are not arrested in the near future, he said.

“It is a kind of warning to NDAA chairman U Sai Leun, saying 'if you
remain a hardliner on the Border Guard Force proposal, your turn will be
next,'” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

The eastern Shan State town of Mongla is well known both as a symbol of
the struggle for autonomy in Burma and for casinos and other businesses
including drug trafficking.

An anonymous source in southern Shan State who is close to the ethnic
armed group suggested that with many ethnic leaders running businesses in
their territory, the death of the Mongla leader could be due to a business
conflict.

Whether Min Ein, who was also known as Lin Hongshen, was killed for
political or business reasons, his death will directly affect the people
and leaders in Mongla.

Following the killing, security in the casino town of Mongla has been
tightened.

“I do not want to comment on the issue before I get detail information.
However, if the Mongla leaders distrust each other, it will not be good
for unity within the NDAA,” said Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor-in-chief of
the Shan Herald Agency for News.

Like other towns in Shan State run by ethnic armed groups, the situation
in Mongla area known as Special Region 4 Shan State has changed since the
military junta expelled the Kokang militia known as Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) from their territory, Special Region 1
Shan State, in August 2009.

At that time, Mongla authorities deported dozens of Burmese workers from
their territory   following reports that government agents had been
arrested in Mongla.

Both the NDAA and MNDAA cease-fire groups  along with the United Wa State
Army (UWSA) and the New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDAK) were formed in
1989 after troops separated from the former Communist Party of Burma
(CPB).

Following the cease-fire with the junta in 1989, Min Ein was a key player
when the four former communist groups (NDAA, MNDAA, UWSA, NDAK) formed an
alliance known as the Peace and Democracy Front in November 1989.

The Mongla and Kokang leaders also have a personal relationship as Mongla
leader Sai Leun, who is also known as Lin Mingxian, is a son-in-law of
Kokang leader Peng Jaisheng.

As a Chinese communist cadre who was a former medical student from Bhamo
in Kachin State, Min Ein was good in Burmese compared to other Mongla
leaders. Because of this, he used to lead talks between the NDAA and the
Burmese junta, and some among the ethnic groups suspected he was close to
the Burmese generals.

When he was with the CPB, he was a general staff officer with the CPB’s
war office in their headquarters at Panghsang. When ethnic troop within
the CPB revolted against the communist leadership in 1989, he stood with
them and later became the secretary-general of the NDAA.

Representing the Mongla group, Min Ein attended the 14-year-long National
Convention for the constitution concluded in 2007. During the referendum,
he called for genuine autonomous rights for ethnic groups along with the
MNDAA and UWSA.

The NDAK agreed to accept the Border Guard Force plan in 2009.

Min Ein is the second ethnic leader to have been assassinated in the past
two years. Mann Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union
(KNU) was killed by gunmen on Feb.14, 2008.

Though the Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization, a Karen splinter group,
was accused of being behind the killing, many KNU leaders then said they
believed Naypyidaw was involved directly or indirectly in the plot.

According to confidential military reports from Naypyidaw leaked to The
Irrawaddy, agents of the Military Affairs Security (MAS) formerly known as
the Military Intelligence Service encourage Burmese commanders to make
preemptive strikes against ethnic ceasefire groups if they have a chance.

____________________________________

January 28, Kachin News Group
Anti-Irrawaddy dam movement gathers momentum

With the anti-Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam movement gaining momentum, signatures
collected demanding a halt to the project in Burma’s Northern Kachin State
were handed over today by ethnic Kachins in Singapore to the Chinese
Embassy in the city-state, said anti-dam activists.

The signature campaign letters were signed by 110 Kachins in the
city-state and were handed over this morning to Mr. Cheng Hong Bo, Second
Secretary of the Political and Press Section of the Embassy of the
People’s Republic of China by two representatives of the Singapore-based
Kachin Literature and Culture, also called Jinghpaw Laili Laika hte
Htunghking Hpung (JLH) in Kachin, the organization’s general secretary
Awng Di told Kachin News Group today.

Awng Di, one of the two JLH leaders, who delivered the letters to the
Chinese Embassy said, “We talked to the Second Secretary of the Chinese
Embassy and he promised a reply”. The two JLH leaders talked to Mr. Cheng
Hong Bo in his office from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Singapore time, he added.

“He said this is the first time ever that his office had received such
letters so he needed to discuss it with his senior officers and then make
a response,” he added.

The JLH leaders said the two anti-dam letters with signatures in English
and Chinese languages were delivered to the Chinese embassy. It pointed to
the damaging effects of the dam construction, where 15,000 villagers will
be displaced and millions will face insecurity over flooding if the dam
collapses. It detailed the wish of the Kachin people.

“We hope China will consider our request. If they say no, the Burmese
junta will go ahead. The decision to continue is in the hands of the
Chinese,” said Awng Di.

He said they were into the anti-dam movement to save local people, whose
lives are threatened by the dam project.

Awng Wa, Chairman of the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) on the
Sino-Burma border urged all Kachin people inside and abroad to unite in
protest against the dam construction because it will destroy not only the
place but also put in danger the lives of those living along the Irrawaddy
River.

“It is a good thing that Kachin people around the world are becoming
involved in the protest. We need to stop it because it threatens not only
Kachin people but the ecology and the environment,” he said.

On January 19, the Kachin community in the United Kingdom sent the
signature campaign to the Chinese Embassy in London. They are to protest
against the Myitsone dam project outside the Burmese Embassy in UK on
February 5, the 49th Kachin Revolution Day, organizers said.

On the same day anti-dam demonstrators also plan to protest outside the
Burmese Embassies in Japan and Australia, according to the London-based
Kachin National Organization (KNO) which is organizing the movement.

For the first time, Kachins in Singapore together urged today China to
stop the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam project in Burma's Northern Kachin State.

____________________________________

January 28, Mizzima News
DVB reporter sentenced to 13 years – Phanida

Reporter Ngwe Soe Lin of the Norway-based opposition radio station
Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment yesterday
by the Rangoon Western District Court sitting inside Insein prison, close
associates said.

According to confidants, Ngwe Soe Lin (28), who lives in Rangoon’s South
Dagon Township, was charged under the Electronic and Immigration Emergency
Provisions Acts, receiving associated terms of ten and three years
imprisonment, respectively.

“Ngwe Soe Lin was yesterday given ten years in prison under the Electronic
Act and another three years under the Immigration Act’s section 13(1),”
his sister-in-law, Aye Mee San, told Mizzima.

Aung Thein, a legal counsel of the accused, said, “We heard that he was
interrogated and sentenced to imprisonment yesterday at about 4 p.m. with
cases charged under section 33(a) of the Electronic Act and section 13(1)
of the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act. He was given a total prison
term of 13 years.”

Ngwe Soe Lin, a DVB video reporter, was honored with the the Rory Peck
Award for his work in documenting orphan victims of Cyclone Nargis, which
struck Burma in the first week of May 2008.

The London-based Rory Peck Trust seeks recipients from across the world
based on bravery in covering news. The award is named after British
reporter Rory Peck, who was killed by a gunman while reporting from
Moscow, Russia, in October 1993. Friends and his wife established the
trust in 1995.

Giving a long term prison sentence is unjust, DVB (Thai) Bureau Chief Toe
Zaw Latt iterated.

“This is an unjust case. I think they would like to give a clear message
to other reporters that if they do same, they will be given similar
punishment. However, we will expose what’s going on in Burma,” he told
Mizzima.

Ngwe Soe Lin was arrested on the 26th of June last year as he was leaving
an internet cafe in Kyaukmyaung, Tamwe Township.

Aye Mee San told Mizzima that Tamwe Township Special Branch (SB) police,
ward level Peace and Development Council (PDC) members as well as a police
major came to their home and seized a video camera three days later on the
29th.

She added that an appeal would be filed against the verdict.

Ngwe Soe Lin was arrested along with NLD Youth member Ngaing Ngan Lin, but
the latter was later released on August 29th, noted Aung Thein. After
being interrogated for over two months Ngaing Ngan Lin was sent to Insein
prison and allowed to see family members only after three-and-a-half
months. He is suffering from beriberi disease and taking neurotropic
drugs, according to his sister-in-law.

Aung Tun Myint, elder brother of Ngwe Soe Lin, was also arrested for
allegedly taking photographs of a polling booth in Rangoon’s Hmawbi
Township during the 2008 constitutional referendum. He was given three
years imprisonment, which he is currently serving in western Burma’s
Arakan state.

According to the Burma Media Association (BMA), at least 14 Burmese
journalists were arrested and sentenced in 2009 after the 2007 September
Saffron Revolution, in which monks chanted a sutra of ‘loving kindness’ in
protest against the junta.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 28, Reuters
China a reluctant refuge for people from Myanmar

Ruili, China - Ask residents of the dusty Chinese border town of Ruili
what they think of their neighbour and supposed friend Myanmar and one
word features prominently -- "luan," or chaotic.

Ask the Myanmar traders, in their sarong-like longyis and cheap plastic
sandals, what they think of China and their answer is completely the
opposite -- stable, giving them a chance to escape the poverty and
mismanagement of their ruling generals.

Yet there is little love lost between the Myanmar businessmen, farmers and
massage girls who flock to booming China and their host nation. Many
harbour a burning resentment not necessarily of their own government, but
of the Chinese.

"There are so many Chinese in Mandalay, at least half the population now,"
said Myanmar jade trader Ye Kaw, speaking in the flawless Mandarin he has
picked up after many years living in Ruili, China's main trading post with
its southern neighbour.

"We hate them," he added, when asked how residents of his home town look
upon the Chinese migrants, looking fearfully around to see if any of his
customers had heard him.

"But we have to come here. There is no future for me at home."

Ruili -- its name comes from a word in the local Dai language meaning "a
jade green place enshrouded in mist" -- is home to a large population from
Myanmar, some legal, and others sneaking across a porous border to sell
vegetables, trinkets, or sex.

Sitting on the far southwestern tip of Yunnan province, Ruili was once
notorious in China for its gambling, prostitution, smuggling, drugs and
general lawlessness during the 1990s when border trade really began taking
off.

CHINA'S HOLD

While those heady days may be behind the city, there is little doubt at
the sway Myanmar continues to hold over Ruili.

The circular Burmese script adorns many shop signs, people squat by the
side of the road eating spicy papaya salad laced with pungent fish sauce,
and the Myanmar kyat freely changes hands, though China's yuan currency is
far more popular.

Ruili's residents have become rich on trade with Myanmar, mainly in raw
materials such as timber and jade, which once sculpted and polished into
intricate and immaculate designs of Buddha or traditional Chinese gods can
go for thousands of dollars.

This has not, however, engendered much goodwill towards the government of
Myanmar. Though nor does it appear to generate Chinese disdain of the
often obviously poorer Myanmar citizens in their midst.

"We all know how bad the government there is," said Chinese businessman Li
Hai. "It's poor and horribly corrupt. If I were from Myanmar, I'd want to
come to China too."

In Myanmar, there has been growing alarm among some people at illegal mass
entry of Chinese into their country through the border controlled by major
ethnic armed groups such as the ethnic Chinese United Wa State Army,
denounced as a narcotics cartel by the United States.

Anti-Chinese feeling in the former Burma is not new. The Burmese kings,
who ruled before the British came, had long been wary of their powerful
neighbour.

More recently, in 1967, anti-Chinese riots in then capital Rangoon --
today called Yangon -- lead to the sacking of China's embassy and dozens
of deaths, if not more.

Myanmar, believed at independence in 1948 to have a bright future ahead of
it due to its rich natural resources, has seen its economy lag far behind
China's thanks to almost five decades of inept military rule and
international isolation.

The United Nations ranked Myanmar 138 out of 166 countries in its 2009
Human Development Report. China, by contrast, is now on track to surpass
Japan as the world's second-largest economy.

LITTLE CHOICE

The flow of people goes both ways.

Zaw Mein, an ethnic Rohingya and Muslim from the southeastern Myanmar
coastal state of Arakan, has little time for the politics of his sometimes
chaotic homeland. He just wants to earn enough for his family back in
Myanmar.

"What choice do we have but to come to China to work?" he said, standing
in Ruili's sprawling jade market. "China gives us visas easily. Not many
other countries will."

Ask him about Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Myanmar democracy leader and
Nobel laureate, and his face lights up, as do those of his friends
clustering around.

"Everyone wants to vote for her," he said, referring to an election slated
for sometime this year, one condemned by rights groups, the United States
and the European Union, as a sham.

"We know people won't be allowed to vote for her, so what's the point? The
military will still stay in charge no matter what, and I'll stay in
China."

Many Rohingyas, not recognised as an ethnic minority by Myanmar, allege
human rights abuse by its authorities, saying they are deprived of free
movement, education and rightful employment.

Rohingyas have been leaving Myanmar and heading mainly into impoverished
Bangladesh since the late 1970s. The biggest influx occurred in 1992.

It's not only the Rohingya who come to Ruili, though.

Yunnan is home to many ethnic minorities whose populations are on both
sides of the border. China's Jingpo are the same as Myanmar's Kachin, many
of whom have for decades been involved in armed rebellion in the mountains
of northeastern Myanmar.

The frontier means little to them, and in any case the two sides are
separated by no more than a ditch and scanty bamboo groves in some
villages.

"We're lucky to live in China," said Jingme, who like many ethnic Dai uses
only one name, and whose village is half in China and half in Myanmar. Her
aunt crosses every day to look after her nephews.

"But we are one people. How can we not feel bad for our friends and
relatives on the other side?"

(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in YANGON; Editing by Megan Goldin)
____________________________________

January 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Armed groups to form parallel Burmese govt – Htet Aung Kyaw

Several Burmese armed groups, including the Karen National Union, could
soon merge with Burma’s government-in-exile to form a parallel government
prior to elections this year.

According to a minister with the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (NCGUB), Khun Myint Htun, a new constitution is currently
being drafted which will outline steps to integrate ethnic resistance
leaders into a broader coalition.

“We have discussed the plan with [ethnic] groups who met the six
qualifications: they must be a group that has a political party, their own
territory, and their own public support,” he said. “They also must have
education and medical programmes for the public, and an [armed] resistance
wing.”

He said that part of the agreement was to “seek a federal union” in Burma,
which is currently ruled by a rigid central military government. The
country’s multiple ethnic groups have long called for political autonomy
in the volatile border regions.

At least four armed groups have reportedly pledged to join the coalition,
although only the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Burma’s largest armed
opposition groups, has confirmed interest.

“We have always planned to form a parallel government even prior to the
election members of parliament in 1990 [Burma’s last elections]
so this is
just shaping an old idea,” said Saw Hla Ngwe, joint-secretary of the KNU.

“If the negotiations [with the NCGUB] turn out well, then we will form a
parallel government to compete with the [ruling junta],” he added.

“This way, there will be more understanding between armed groups and the
democratic movement.”

The majority of Burma’s opposition parties have not yet announced whether
they will participate in the elections, rumoured to be in October this
year. Critics of the junta claim that the 2008 constitution will entrench
military rule in Burma, thus delegitimising any claims by the generals
that elections will be democratic.

Conflict is also expected to intensify in the run-up to polling,
particularly as the junta attempts to convert ethnic ceasefire groups into
border guard forces and bring them under the direct control of Naypyidaw.

The KNU is among only a handful of Burma’s 18 armed ethnic groups not to
have signed a ceasefire deal with the government, although the pressure of
the border guard issue has weakened already tenuous truces.

____________________________________

January 28, Mizzima News
Thailand concerned over agricultural smuggling from Burma – Usa Pichai

Chiang Mai – Thailand has increased surveillance along the Thai-Burma
border since the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) came into full effect
early this month, over fears of agricultural smuggling, particularly rice,
entering the Kingdom.

“The Ministry of Agriculture has asked cooperation from related
authorities near the border with neighboring countries to raise
surveillance on illegal low-quality rice that may be smuggled into the
country that would effect the rice price in Thailand,” said Apichat
Jongsakuk, General Secretary of Thailand’s Office of Agricultural
Economics, according to a Thai government website.

The flooding of the Thai market with low-quality products from Burma
negatively impacts Thai farmers in driving down the costs of their
products

China’s Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday that over the first nine
months of fiscal 2009-2010 Burma expanded its rice market by exporting to
Russia, Ukraine, Australia and South Korea.

According to official figures, Burma's rice exports over the said period
totaled over 1.2 million tons. Additionally, Burma is making efforts to
export high-grade rice to the Middle East, African and European Union
countries.

According to official statistics, Burma’s rice surplus is about 5 million
tons yearly.

With a total area of 676,500 square kilometres, Burma had been the world's
largest exporter of rice as recently as the 1930s, but rice exports fell
by two thirds in the 1940s, with the country never again reclaiming its
dominant status in the international rice trade. Thailand and Vietnam now
lead the world in rice exports.

A rice trader in Mae Sot in Thailand told Mizzima that demand for imported
Burmese rice has nearly doubled since AFTA came into effect, even though
the quality is lower.

According to Thailand’s Office of Agricultural Economics, Thailand earns
approximately 102 billion baht [3.4 billion USD] in agricultural trade
with ASEAN.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 28, Financial Times (UK)
World Bank considering assistance for Burma – Tim Johnston

The World Bank is considering providing Burma with assistance more than
two decades after relations were frozen following the bloody suppression
of the 1988 democracy movement.

James Adams, a senior World Bank official, told the Financial Times that
officials from the bank and the Asian Development Bank had recently
travelled to Burma to look at “possible future analytical work that could
have a positive development impact for the people”.

But Mr Adams stressed that any co-operation with Burma would be limited.
The plan would be for World Bank specialists to head to Burma to provide
technical assistance on projects.

“The World Bank has not provided financing to the government of Myanmar
since 1987 and we have made clear to government, shareholders and
development partners that we have no intention of doing so under current
circumstances,” said Mr Adams, the bank’s vice-president for east Asia and
the Pacific.

While the scope of the co-operation is limited, however, the renewed
engagement marks a significant step forward. The World Bank suspended
loans in 1988 after soldiers killed thousands of demonstrators who were
pushing for greater democracy.

“In and of itself, it won’t lead to a resumption of normal relations, but
it is better than having them totally isolated,” said another World Bank
official.

The move comes amid a general, albeit slight, improvement in relations
between Burma and the US. Over the past year, there has been increased
engagement between US officials and the generals who run Burma.

After concluding that the previous US policy of isolation had not produced
democratic reform in Burma, the Obama administraiton decided to
re-establish high level contacts, and offered incentives if the junta
takes steps towards reform.

The European Union followed suit, pledging substantial funds for
humanitarian assistance and a geographical extension of the assistance
programme originally set up for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which
killed about 140,000 people in 2008.

However, so far there has been little sign of a softening of the line from
the generals in their bunkers in the newly built capital of ­Naypyidaw.

The junta have extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the
opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate. Also, journalists, democracy
activists and regime opponents continue to be imprisoned, and few analysts
believe that the elections due to be held this year will yield a
democratic outcome.

One of the projects being discussed with the World Bank involves updating
the country’s antiquated system of preparing its national accounts, which
currently still conforms to the 1968 standard.

While the World Bank does not intend to provide any finance while the
political repression continues in the country, the Burmese regime would
need to solve another problem before they could receive financial
assistance from the bank. The regime still owes $300m in payments to the
international financial institution.

“They understand clearly that, under our formal rules, we will not lend to
a country until their arrears are cleared up,” the official said.

____________________________________

January 28, Xinhua
Myanmar expands international rice market

Yangon – Myanmar has been expanding its rice market to more countries,
exporting the agricultural crop to Russia, Ukraine, Australia and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea in addition to the present rice
exporting countries, rice traders said on Thursday.

Though the exported amount to these countries is negligible, Myanmar rice
has won more markets in the international, the sources commented.

Under its market expansion plan, Myanmar is making efforts to export
high-grade rice to Kuwait, Middle East and African and European Union
countries.

According to official figures, Myanmar's rice export in the first nine
months (April-December) of the 2009-10 fiscal year reached over 1.2
million tons against the export target of 1.5 million tons.

The nine-month export registered the highest over the past decade against
the one million tons recorded in the year 2000.

Myanmar's rice export amounted to 700,000 tons in 2008-09.

Myanmar's major rice exporting countries went to East Asian countries to
where over 50,000 tons were exported in 2009, while over 850 tons to
Middle East countries.

There are so far 35 private companies in the country undertaking the
export of rice to South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab
Emirate, South Korea and Egypt.

As more companies have come and invested in the rice production sector,
the country is expected to export better quality rice during this year,
the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said.

According to official statistics, the country generated about 30 million
tons of rice out of 8.26 million hectares of paddy cultivated in the last
fiscal year 2008-09.

Myanmar enjoyed rice surplus of 5 million tons yearly.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 28, Irrawaddy
UN still searching for Gambari replacement – Lalit K Jha

Washington — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he is
still searching for a replacement for Ibrahim Gambari as the new special
UN envoy for Burma.

“I would like to make it quite clear that there is no hiatus in my efforts
to have this Myanmar [Burma] issue resolved as soon as possible,” Ban told
reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

Ban said he has not received any communication from the Burmese military
junta about the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, in response to
a reporter's question. A Burmese official said this week that Suu Kyi, who
is under house arrest, would be released in November.

“I can assure you that my chef de cabinet, Mr [Vijay] Nambiar has been
continuously engaging himself with the Myanmar authorities, and as soon as
we have a clearer picture about what is going on and what their intentions
are, then we will have more consultations with them,” Ban said.

Nambiar was appointed to coordinate Burmese affairs for the
secretary-general at the beginning of this year when Gambari, who was
special envoy for the past few years, was transferred to a new assignment 
in Darfur.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley
said the United States would continue to its dialogue with the junta,
though no new dates have been fixed for the next round of talks.

“We have had multiple conversations with Burma. I assume we'll continue
the conversation, but I just don't know in what form at this point,”
Crowley said at a State Department briefing.

Early this week, Crowley said: “It's important for the Government of Burma
to reach out not only to those who wish to be politically active, but also
to the various ethnic communities within Burma.”

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OPINION / OTHER

January 28, Irrawaddy
More differences between the Haiti-Burma disasters – Simon Roughneen

BANGKOK— Haiti President René Préval on Wednesday said that the country's
legislative elections would be postponed indefinitely due to the impact of
the Jan. 12 earthquake. The change of plans stands in stark contrast to
the Burmese junta, which didn't let the devastation wrought by Cyclone
Nargis in May 2008 get in the way of a nationwide constitutional
referendum that proceeded as planned mere days later.
A Haitian girl is rescued by a French team after being in the rubble for
more than two weeks in Port-au-Prince on January 27. (Photo: Reuters)

Haiti's polls were scheduled for Feb. 28 and were seen as an important
next step in stabilizing Haiti's fragile democracy. Brazil-led UN
peacekeepers have operated in Haiti since 2004, after politicized gang
violence.

“The electoral campaign should have opened tomorrow and for obvious
reasons, that won't be able to happen," Préval said in an interview at his
temporary office.

Préval has been criticized by many Haitians, particularly in the vocal and
influential expat lobby based in the US, for his apparent reticence after
the earthquake. A New America Media/Bendixen & Amandi poll surveyed
Haitians living in South Florida and across the country and found 63
percent disapprove of how Préval's government has responded to the natural
disaster.

With government buildings destroyed, the government has been forced to
meet at a police station and under a nearby tent.

Préval says he did not want to be seen to be milking the disaster for
public relations benefits. He said that as he toured Port-au-Prince the
night of the earthquake and the next day, ``A lot of people would have
chosen to go and be filmed touring hospitals, to talk to the injured. . .
. I chose to get to work and try to find help to deal with the
catastrophe.''

Already dependent on foreign aid for around 60-70 percent of the national
budget, Haiti's reliance on aid will increase in coming months and years,
with 10-year rebuilding plans costing billions of dollars being discussed.
Haitian expats remit an estimated US $1.5-1.8 billion per annum, far
exceeding the amount of aid and keeping Haitian families afloat amid
nationwide poverty.

Haiti's Electoral Council offices collapsed in the recent earthquake,
while UN staff assigned to work with the commission were killed. The
president added: "For human and technical reasons, it is obvious that the
electoral process won't be able to proceed as we had planned. Now we have
to discuss with the various parties what will happen, what will be the
next plan."

Just as Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Burma is
one of the poorest in Asia— though Burma has a wealth of natural resources
that Haiti cannot match.

Regardless, the junta put severe limits on international assistance
getting to the disaster area. In the days after that disaster, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the referendum to be postponed in
full to concentrate on the "national tragedy."

The junta was criticized for diverting critical resources from survivors
toward the referendum, including evicting refugees from shelters so they
could be used as polling stations.

"Instead of putting all resources toward saving the lives of the victims,
the military is concentrating on legalizing military rule in Burma forever
through a sham constitutional referendum," said a joint statement from the
All Burma Monks Alliance, the 88 Generation Students and the All Burma
Federation of Student Unions released after the Nargis disaster.

The referendum and the results—a 93 percent vote in favor of the
controversial new constitution—was widely dismissed as rigged and massive
fraud and intimidation was reported by Burmese who managed to get
information out of the country.

The poll was part of the junta's self-styled democracy “road map,” which
includes elections to be held sometime this year. Last week a senior junta
official said that Aung San Suu Kyi would remain under house arrest until
November, likely to be after the election takes place.

However, no electoral law or timetable has been decided upon. The 2008
Constitution and the elections together are expected to put a civilian
veneer upon continued military rule in Burma, leaving the main opposition
parties undecided on whether or not to participate in the elections.

Some of the opposition have called for the 2008 Constitution to be
reviewed before talks on national reconciliation can go any further.

While the Burmese junta seeks to retain power, irrespective of the human
cost, the much-maligned Haitian president says he will not seek to extend
his term in office beyond Feb. 11, 2011, the scheduled end of his term.

____________________________________

January 28, Institute for Science and International Security
A nuclear wannabe; Suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech procurements
and enigmatic facilities – David Albright, Paul Brannan, Robert Kelley and
Andrea Scheel Stricker

For several years, suspicions have swirled about the nuclear intentions of
Burma’s secretive military dictatorship.  Burma is cooperating with North
Korea on possible nuclear procurements and appears to be misleading
overseas suppliers in obtaining top-of-the-line equipment.  Certain
equipment, which could be used in a nuclear or missile program, went to
isolated Burmese manufacturing compounds of unknown purpose.  Although
evidence does not exist to make a compelling case that Burma is building
secret nuclear reactors or fuel cycle facilities, as has been reported,
the information does warrant governments and companies taking extreme
caution in any dealings with Burma.  The military regime’s suspicious
links to North Korea, and apparent willingness to illegally procure high
technology goods, make a priority convincing the military government to
accept greater transparency.

Suspicions about nuclear intentions followed an agreement by Russia to
sell Burma a research reactor in 2001 and intensified in 2007 with the
resumption of a formal military relationship between North Korea and
Burma, known officially as Myanmar.  Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
said in July 2009, “We know there are also growing concerns about military
cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take seriously.”1 
According to U.S. officials, these concerns extend to possible nuclear
cooperation, but their information is incomplete.2  The evidence supports
that Burma and North Korea have discussed nuclear cooperation, but is not
sufficient to establish that North Korea is building nuclear facilities
for Burma’s military junta, despite recent reports to the contrary.

Nonetheless, no one can ignore the possibility of significant North Korean
nuclear assistance to this enigmatic, military regime.  Because North
Korea secretly sold a reactor to Syria, a sale which the world’s best
intelligence agencies missed until late in the reactor’s construction, no
one is willing to turn a blind eye to the possibility of North Korea
selling nuclear equipment, materials, or facilities to Burma.  North
Korea’s past proliferation activities and the failure to promptly detect
the Syrian reactor cannot but lead to more scrutiny over whether North
Korea might sell Burma a reactor or other nuclear industrial equipment and
facilities, or the means and guidance to manufacture nuclear facilities. 
When one adds Burma’s own efforts to acquire abroad sophisticated dual-use
goods that can be used for nuclear purposes, it becomes essential to
determine and constrain as necessary the military junta’s nuclear
intentions.

Another dimension is whether Burma is helping North Korea obtain items for
its nuclear programs.  Burma could act as a cooperative transshipment
partner for goods ultimately destined for North Korea’s gas centrifuge
uranium enrichment program.

The military regime’s lack of transparency and repressive actions
complicate any effort to investigate suspicions about its nuclear program.
 A priority is getting the military government to accept greater
transparency of its activities.

Because Burma is buying a wide variety of suspicious dual-use goods
internationally, governments and companies need to be more vigilant in
examining Burma’s enquiries, or requests for equipment, whether via
Burmese governmental entities, Burmese trading companies, or other foreign
trading companies.  Companies should treat enquiries from Burma no
differently than those from Iran, Pakistan, or Syria.

For more, visit:
http://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/burma-a-nuclear-wanabee-suspicious-links-to-north-korea-high-tech-procureme/

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

January 27, France Diplomatie
Situation of Aung San Suu Kyi

France reacted with firmness to the further sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi
on August 11, 2009 and the European Union toughened its sanctions.

It continues to call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and of
all the Burmese political prisoners. This is an essential condition for
the credibility of the elections planned by the authorities this year.
Let’s not forget that Aung San Suu Kyi was deprived of her liberty for 14
of the last 20 years and that the number of political prisoners in Burma
is estimated to be approximately 2000.

France would like the Burmese government to make concrete gestures in
support of the national reconciliation process which would include the
opposition and the ethnic minorities. This is particularly urgent prior to
the elections planned by the authorities.