BurmaNet News: June 10 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

June 10 2003 Issue #2257

INSIDE BURMA

Australian: Suu Kyi unhurt, in ‘good spirits’
AP: UN envoy expects Suu Kyi to be freed
NMG: Burmese oppositions call for global action on Suu Kyi’s birthday
Narinjara: Prison labor in Western Burma
Narinjara: Arakanese opposition: on Friday Massacre
IMNA: Pro-Rangoon [group] involved in illegal logging
Xinhua: Myanmar to step up wildlife conservation

MONEY

Xinhua: South Korean company to build liner terminal in Myanmar

REGIONAL

Xinhua: China believes Myanmar can handle internal affairs well
Bernama: Malaysian premier urges immediate release of Burma’s Aung San Suu
Kyi
Hangook Ilbo: Myanmar will emulate Korean democracy

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: Annan calls on Myanmar junta to release democracy leader Suu Kyi
Washington Post: US asks Burma’ s neighbors to pressure junta to release
Suu Kyi
AFP: Bush, Thai leader demand ‘immediate release’ of Aung San Suu Kyi

EDITORIALS

Washington Post: Where is she?

INSIDE BURMA

The Australian June 10 2003

Suu Kyi unhurt, in 'good spirits'
By Kimina Lyall

BURMA'S democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is uninjured and in "good
spirits", according to UN special envoy Razali Ismail, who met her in
military custody in Rangoon yesterday.

His hour-long visit with Ms Suu Kyi was a partial coup for the retired
Malaysian diplomat, and it should help to reassure the world community
that the National League for Democracy leader was not injured in a violent
clash with pro-government supporters.

"I can assure you she is well and in good spirits ... no injury on the
face, arm. No injury. No scratch, nothing," Mr Razali said.

But there were no signs that Mr Razali's last-minute meeting, which came
just two hours before he left Rangoon to return to Malaysia, made any
progress towards his primary objective, to secure her release from
detention. Nor was there any sign that his visit had achieved his third
priority: to restart the stalled negotiations between the ruling State
Peace and Development Council and the NLD.

Mr Razali declined to say where he had met with Ms Suu Kyi, and did not
divulge their conversation except to say she could not confirm reports
from exiled Burmese that 70 people died in the events of May 30 that led
to her "protective custody".
__________

Associated Press June 10 2003

U.N. Envoy Expects Suu Kyi to Be Freed
By AYE AYE WIN

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is ``well and in
good spirits'' despite being held incommunicado by the military government
for nearly two weeks, a U.N. envoy said Tuesday after meeting with the
Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
U.N. envoy Razali Ismail - the first outsider to see Suu Kyi since she was
detained after opposition clashes with the government - said he was told
she would be freed, but it could be another two weeks.
``They gave assurances but they didn't give specific dates,'' Razali told
reporters on arrival in Malaysia after a five-day trip to Myanmar. ``I
think two weeks, they should release her.''
Suu Kyi was taken into custody and moved to a secret location after May 30
clashes between her supporters and military backers in northern Myanmar.
After her detention, the junta launched a crackdown on Suu Kyi's
pro-democracy National League for Democracy party and refused to let her
appear in public, raising fears she may have been injured in the clashes.
But Razali told reporters before leaving Yangon that Suu Kyi was unhurt.
``I can assure you she is well and in good spirits ... no injury on the
face, arm. No injury. No scratch, nothing'' Razali said after an hour-long
meeting with Suu Kyi at a Defense Ministry guesthouse.
It was unclear whether Suu Kyi was being kept at the guesthouse or was
brought there for the meeting.
After Razali left the country, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win
issued a statement saying the ``safe custody measures'' against Suu Kyi
would be lifted, but he did not give a specific date.
Suu Kyi's plight has triggered a chorus of condemnation from world
leaders, including President Bush, who has threatened more economic
sanctions against Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Bush met Tuesday with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Washington
and the two leaders urged the immediate release of Suu Kyi and other
members of her party, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
``We have great concerns about the actions that are being taken in
Burma,'' Fleischer said.
State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said Washington ``welcomes the
news that Aung San Suu Kyi has not been injured. But clearly the clock of
Burma's progress toward democracy has effectively been turned back.''
Even traditional allies such as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
expressed displeasure. Mahathir urged the junta Tuesday to immediately
release Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for
democracy, spent six years under house arrest from 1989 to 1995. Her party
won general elections in 1990 but was blocked by the military from taking
power.
A national reconciliation process mediated by Razali began in October 2000
but there is no sign the junta wants to give up power. The latest
developments have further strained the hard-line government's credibility.
Until Tuesday morning, it was not even certain Razali would be allowed to
meet with Suu Kyi.
Razali said Suu Kyi's detention and the crackdown on her party could
undermine the national reconciliation process.
``This is a point I have made to the government and Aung San Suu Kyi. They
have to get back to discussing things with each other as expeditiously as
possible,'' he said.
Razali said the government must immediately free Suu Kyi and several other
members of her party.
Razali said Suu Kyi told him her version of the May 30 clashes, but it was
an incomplete picture as she was in the lead car and could not see
everything.
Also, ``she hasn't met up with her colleagues, so she has been
incommunicado the whole time. She can only say what happened to her,''
Razali said without elaborating.
In his statement, Maung Win reiterated the government's assertion that the
clashes were sparked when Suu Kyi's motorcade tried to plow through
thousands of pro-government protesters blocking the unlit road at night.
``A melee ensued ... there was much confusion and things got out of
hand,'' the statement said. ``Finally, when the police regained control of
the situation four persons were found dead and 38 persons injured.''
He denied assertions by exiled opposition figures in Thailand that
pro-junta thugs started the violence and that as many as 70 people were
killed.
The U.S. State Department also says the clashes appear to have been an
ambush by junta supporters and that the events suggest the junta has ended
efforts at national reconciliation.
Maung Win denied the allegation, saying the government's ``commitment to
national reconciliation and democratization remains firm.''
_________

Network Media Group June 10 2003

Burmese oppositions call global action on Suu Kyi's birthday

June 9 (NMG) - Burmese opposition in exiles declared June 19, the birthday
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as an “Global Action Day” for
democracy in Burma in its counter action against the military government’s
May 30th crackdown on opposition leader Suu Kyi and her convey.

The secretary of Burmese opposition’s umbrella alliance, the National
Council of Union of Burma (NCUB), Aung Moe Zaw said “ We, the NCUB, want
to urge for a ‘Global Campaign’ for world-wide demonstrations against the
military regime in Burma. Starting from June 19, the birthday of Aung San
Suu Kyi, all democracy activists around the world along with all the Burma
support groups should join their hand and stage radical demonstration
against the military government in Burma.”

Burma’s opposition around the world including America-based the Free Burma
Coalition (FBC) and Australia-based Burmese student activists are going to
take action on 19th June as “the Global Action Day”, according to news on
Internet. FBC announced the period starting from 9 up to 19 June as action
days and urged all activists in America to start nation wide action on
19th June.

The supporters of Burma’s democracy around the world are also joining
their hands on this action day. National Students Union (NSU) of Australia
will take part in demonstration on this Global Action Day along with
Burmese student activists, a Burmese student organization in Australia
announced.

Opposition reports declared that at least 70 people were killed in the May
30th ambush by government-affiliated thugs on Aung San Suu Kyi and her
convey near provincial town in upper Burma. However, the military
government spokesman said that event as a clash between Suu Kyi’s
supporters and those who opposed her and caused only 4 deaths. The United
States government accused the attack was systematically organized by the
military government.

After that attack, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior
leaders were put under detention and shut down all NLD party offices
around the country.

Kyaw Kyaw who is taking responsibilities in the political defiance
committee of NCUB told NMG that “If we want some form of radical changes
in Burma, inside activities and their efforts plays the most important
role. Another factor, the world-wide action against military regime shows
the sympathy toward democracy loving people in Burma and urged their
respective governments to put pressure on Burma’s generals. But when we
compare these two factors the former is more important. I think the
international pressures and efforts from border-areas are just supplement
to inside activities."

He also added that “Peoples inside Burma are completely outraged after
hearing that May 30th massacre. They are closely watching what Mr Razali
can do in his current trip and whether he can persuade the generals to
release Aung San Suu Kyi or not. I assume there will be a series of
actions from inside Burma against military unless Mr Razali could not do
so.”

Moe Hein, a student leader of 1988 movement and former general secretary
of Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) said “I suppose there will be a
counter action against the government inside Burma on the birthday of Aung
San Suu Kyi. I dare say so. Peoples understand what is their role in the
movement and they want to hold whatever they get in their nearby like
knifes, sticks and so forth.”

Virtually all countries including US, UK and France denounced on the
military regime actions on the opposition and urged the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi and starts the reconciliation process in Burma. Particularly,
the United States government is considering to tighten its policy and
increase sanction and visa ban not only on the military government but
also to the military personals and the members of the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) and their families.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) recently added
the list of companies who are doing business with Burma. The US Senate is
also considering a legislation to ban the exports from Burma. The US and
EU countries already warned the Burma’s regime that they may tighten their
stance on Burma unless there is no progress in the reconciliation process
inside Burma.

The instance outrages and demonstrations broke out around the world such
as America, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Thai, India and other
countries after the military government organized a brutal act on Aung San
Suu Kyi and her convey. The demonstrators in Korea were temporarily
detained by Korean government due to the lack of permission that must be
taken from the authorities 48 hours before the demonstration. In Thailand,
the demonstration in front of Burmese Embassy could only take place after
silence of past several months.

Burmese generals, after foreseeing unrest from the students, shut all
universities and colleges across the countries on 31 May and forced to
closing down all NLD offices all over the countries.

When our NMG correspondent asked Moe Hein whether there would be a brutal
crackdown on the demonstration if “people’s uprising” actually takes
place, he said “peoples should stage the demonstration in unconventional
way here and there, if the government dare to soot them, let them do. The
more they shoot, the more closer to their fallen day.”

Anyhow, it is a matter of time and unpredictable whether there will actual
be a “Global Action Day” and its success, and how the military government
will response to these events.
_____________

Narinjara News June 10 2003

Prison labour in Western Burma

 Prisoners at Thabra (Thabya) Island prison camp under Pauktaw Township in
the western Burmese state of Rakhine have been reportedly used in a
privately owned salt works in the vicinity.

Our correspondent quoting a source in the island said that the salt works
is owned by Maung Tun Mya from Pauktaw Town who in collusion with the
prison officers of the prison camp have been conducting the business for a
couple of years.  The owner of the business is alleged to bribe the prison
officers regularly for utilising prisoners’ labour.  Besides the prison
officials and guards also confiscate the wages Tun Mya gives to the
prisoners who work at his salt field.  There are approximately eighty
prisoners in the camp and they are also engaged in the nearby state shrimp
ponds and hatcheries as labour force.

At present there are five prison camps in Rakhine State.

At Mrauk-u Township, in one of those prison camps at Lenyang-daung on the
Lemro River, the prison labour is used to extract stones and pebbles
widely utilized in construction of roads, bridges and military
installations.  A recently released prisoner from the camp said to our
correspondent that the prisoners there are also engaged in logging and
timber extraction from the state-owned forests.  ‘Timber extraction has
been done at an alarming rate, causing large areas of virgin forests to
vanish in a few years, which could bring a natural disaster as the topsoil
in the region get denuded,’ he said,  ‘Much of the money from forest
products go for the upkeep of the families of the army, navy, police and
other law enforcement agencies since the junta cannot pay enough for the
subsistence of them.’

In another prison camp at Kyi-gan-braung (Kyi-gan byin) under Maungdaw
Township bordering with Bangladesh, the inmates are engaged in the
construction of roads, bridges and military camps.

There is yet another camp at Kyaw-zan-rwa Village under Ponnagyun
Township, the inmates of which are engaged in construction works and
pisciculture including shrimp cultivation, earnings from which would go to
the ‘welfare fund’ of the Burmese Army and other law enforcement agencies.

The prison guards confiscate the wages given to the prisoners by the
private businessmen and owners of the fish farms, and the food given to
the inmates is also of poor quality and inadequate in amount, it was
learnt.
__________

Narinjara News June 10 2003

Arakanese Opposition: on Friday Massacre

Dhaka, 10 June 2003:  The Arakan Independence Alliance, an umbrella
organization of the National United Party of Arakan and Arakan Rohingya
National Organization, welcomed the strong stand taken by the US in
consideration of imposing further sanctions against the ruling Burmese
military clique due to the crisis arising from the recent De-Pe-Yin
massacre on 30th May in a statement released on 8th June 03.

The (ruling Burmese) junta is killing time, it said, without any interest
for a meaningful political dialogue for national reconciliation and
peaceful solution guaranteeing self-determination and equal rights to all
the peoples of Burma.

The AIA demanded immediate release of all political leaders and appealed
to the visiting UN envoy to have a look at the people of Arakan who have
been facing large-scale persecution, genocide and ethnic cleansing.  It
also urged all the opposition forces to take a united and concrete stand
for a clear-cut result  either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ and not
‘hallucination’.

In yet another statement, the All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress
observed on 6th June 03 that the latest crisis in Burma was, what it
finds, an  ‘intentional creation by SPDC’ to show UN special envoy ‘their
real attitude’.  It condemned the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and the
closure of educational institutions and urged the SPDC junta to release
all detainees including Suu Kyi, reopen educational institutions and start
reconciliation dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi-led opposition.  It also
added that the latest clashes indicate the insincerity on part of the SPDC
junta for a national reconciliation.

In an interview the chairman of AASYC, U Kyaw Han also said that the
Friday killings only shows how reluctant   the SPDC junta is when it comes
to the dialogue for restoration of democracy, prosperity of the country
and reconciliation.  Unless the junta follows the tripartite dialogue, the
time has come for the people of Burma to wage another ‘8-8-88’  hinting
the popular uprising for democracy of 1988.  He also called for a blanket
visa ban on the members of the Burmese junta-sponsored USDA party besides
that of the SPDC junta by the world.
___________

Independent Mon News Agency May 25 2003

PRO RANGOON INVOLVED IN ILLEGAL LOGGING

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a pro-Rangoon outfit, is involved in
illegal logging along the Burma Thailand border area, reported a resident
from the Three Pagodas Pass border town.
According to local source, a Buddhist religious leader San Pyu Ya Thae and
Lt. Col. Lay Win from the DKBA Battalion No. 906 are involved in cutting
teak in the area near the border town and selling it to traders.  All
teak, from 2 feet in circumference to 7 feet in height is sold for 18,000
Thai Baht per ton.
A trader said the pro-Rangoon armed group sold 17 tons of teak wood in
April.  He added if the local traders would like to sell them in Thailand,
they first make the wood into furniture and the sell it in the Thai
market.  Local resident complained of the local junta’s forestry
authorities for keeping silence.  “Even though the religious leader San
Pyu Ya Thae shows a reason to disseminate Buddhist belief in the area and
build the pagodas, he has been dreadfully involved in illegal logging. 
DKBA soldiers are not afraid of anyone in Three Pagoda Pass town, they
could sell (teak) independently and freely”, said a town resident.
The DKBA does not ask permission from the military government and township
forestry department to cut teak.  Teak is a restricted type of tree in the
forestry department’s regulation, anyone who harvests teak is committing
an illegal offense.
__________

Xinhua News Agency June 10 2003

Myanmar to step up wildlife conservation

Myanmar will step up conservation of wildlife by introducing tougher
penalties for offenses involving protected and endangered animals under a
newly amended act based on the one promulgated in 1994, the local Myanmar
Times reported in its latest issue.

The move follows the exposure of possession of  wild animals in late April
by four restaurants in Yangon which have catered customers with snakes and
vipers among others.

The new act will cover penalties for offenses including animals classified
as being totally protected, protected and seasonally protected, the Forest
Department was quoted as saying.

Existing penalties for such offenses include a fine of 50,000 Kyats (about
50 US dollars) or a seven-year imprisonment.

It is reported that it has been a decade that some restaurants in Myanmar
cook wild animals to attract foreign customers.

Myanmar's wildlife, along with its natural heritage, is being
systematically conserved and protected under its Wildlife Conservation
Act.

MONEY

Xinhua News Agency June 10 2003

South Korean Company to build liner terminal in Myanmar

A South Korean company, the S and S Myanmar Investment Development, will
build a passenger liner terminal and hotel complex at the Yangon Port to
help develop the country's tourism sector, the local Myanmar Times
reported in this week's issue.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed here last Thursday between the
South Korean company and the Yangon port authority, the
22-million-US-dollar project will be implemented on a 1.62-hectare plot at
the port and will start in early 2004 and complete in early 2006, the
South Korean company was quoted as saying.

The project will include a berth capable of handling cruise liners of up
to 300 meters long, it said.

It added that the company is also considering building a tourist resort
near the newly developed Thilawa Port next to the Yangon Port at the mouth
of the Yangon River, about 40 kilometers south of the capital.

It revealed that the company is also negotiating to lease a cruise liner
capable of accommodating 300 passengers to ply between Yangon and the
Malaysian island of Penang via Myeik archipelago of Myanmar.

According to official statistics, South Korea has injected into Myanmar
153.41 million dollars of investment in 31 projects since late 1988 when
Myanmar opened to foreign investment.

REGIONAL

Xinhua News Agency June 10 2003

China believes Myanmar can handle internal affairs well

China believes the people of Myanmar are able to handle their own affairs
well, maintain stability and enhance economic growth, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said here Tuesday.

Myanmar is a good neighbor of China and the two countries have always
maintained friendly ties, Kong said.

"The Chinese side believes that what happened in Myanmar lately is an
issue between the Myanmar government and its opposition parties," he said.
"We believe the people of Myanmar are able to handle their own affairs
well."
__________

Bernama June 10 2003

MALAYSIAN PREMIER URGES IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF BURMA'S AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that it has always been Malaysia's
stand that Myanmar's (Burma's) pro-Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
should be released from detention by the country's military junta. "We
have made our stand known that Aung San Suu Kyi is to be released
immediately," the prime minister told newsmen after chairing the
pre-budget 2004 dialogue at the Ministry of Finance, here Tuesday (10
June). Dr Mahathir said this when asked to comment on United Nations
special envoy Tan Sri Razali Ismail's meeting with Suu Kyi for an hour at
the junta's headquarters Tuesday. Razali, who had said that Suu Kyi was
unhurt, however gave no details on casualties from clashes late last month
in which her supporters said up to 75 people had died.

On a question whether Malaysia would apply pressure for the release of Suu
Kyi, he said, "I do not know ... (ellipsis as received) as to whether we
can apply sanction. We do not indulge in that kind of pressure." This
recent development in Myanmar might also have some effect on ASEAN
(Association for Southeast Asian Nations), Dr Mahathir added.
_________

Hangook Ilbo June 10 2003

Myanmar Will Emulate Korean Democracy

May 30, 2003 marked one of the darkest chapters in the history of Myanmar.
In the northern Monywa and Depayin area, some 70 followers of Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi were killed in what is thought to be a
government-backed terrorist attack.

Vice chairman T Tin Oo of Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD), is
presumably dead. Whereabouts of injured Suu Kyi is not known at this
point.

And Bo Kyi, an activist working for the democratization of Myanmar in
Thailand, yesterday urged Koreans as well as other democracy-loving
citizens of the world for more support for his peoples struggle for
democracy.

He, along with 15 members of the Korean chapter of the NLD and other
Korean non-governmental organizations (NGOs), yesterday staged a
demonstration in front of the Embassy of Myanmar in Hannam-dong, urging
the Myanmar government to immediately release Suu Kyi and recognize the
result of the 1990 general elections, when her NLD won more than 80
percent of the parliamentary seats.

''The May 30 attacks were a deliberately planned one by the junta. They
were afraid that the democracy forces were gaining strength in Burma, Boo
Kyi, 36, said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Boo Kyi, a former student activist who was imprisoned for more than seven
years since 1988, said the situation bears a striking resemblance to
Koreas democracy movements, initiated mostly by students, in the 1970s and
1980s. Some 2,500 political prisoners are locked up in cells.

''Many believe Korea to be the future of Myanmar, having achieved
democracy after decades of military dictatorship. Korea is also remembered
for its feats in the World Cup, he said.

So far, the United Nations resolution urging restoration of democracy in
Myanmar has led to no action. Some kind of action such as imposing
sanctions against the regime is needed, as was the case with South Africa
in the apartheid years, he said.

''Since Korea has become a rich country now, it is now your turn to help
the Myanmar people, who are poor but working hard for democracy, said Win
Myint Oo, 34, a fellow Myanmarese who publishes newsletters while working
at a furniture factory in Inchon.

Prof. Jang Ha-sung of Korea University, who also took part in yesterdays
demonstration, urged the Korean government as well as fellow intellectuals
to take a keener interest in Myanmar.

''Unlike North Korea, the people in Myanmar are actually fighting tooth
and nail for their right to democracy. It is time to open our eyes to the
sufferings of other Asian nations, he said.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France Presse June 10 2003

Annan calls on Myanmar junta to release democracy leader Suu Kyi

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called Tuesday on the military
junta in Myanmar to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi immediately
and resume political reconciliation talks.

In a statement released through his spokesman, Annan said the arrest of
Aung San Suu Kyi on May 30 was "not merely a question of 'law and order,'
but rather one that derives from the political aspirations of the Myanmar
people."

Earlier Tuesday, Annan's special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, said he
had met Aung San Suu Kyi at a military camp near the capital, Yangon, and
added that he believed the junta intended to release her within two weeks.

"I think in two weeks they should release her," Razali told reporters at
Kuala Lumpur airport after a five-day mission to Yangon. "I'm hoping and
praying she will come out earlier than that," he added.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan welcomed Razali's report that Aung
San Suu Kyi was "uninjured and in good spirits" but added that Annan was
"seriously concerned that she and other democracy leaders were still
denied freedom of movement."

Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested in northern Myanmar after violent clashes
between pro-government protesters and supporters of her National League
for Democracy (NLD).

Her meeting with Razali -- in the last hours of the envoy's five-day visit
to Myanmar -- was the first permitted her since she was placed in
"protective custody" at a military camp.

Annan "strongly urges the government of Myanmar to release (Aung San Suu
Kyi) and other NLD leaders from the continued detention immediately and
begin a dialogue aimed at national reconciliation without further delay,"
Eckhard said.

Annan also called on the international community, and especially countries
in the region, to join in his appeal to "safeguard the process of national
reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar," Eckhard said.

The process "continues to represent the only guarantee for progress
towards prosperity and stability," the statement said.
___________

Washington Post June 10 2003

U.S. Asks Burma's Neighbors to Pressure Junta to Release Suu Kyi
By Alan Sipress and Ellen Nakashima

U.S. envoys in many Asian countries have called on their host governments
to pressure Burma's military rulers to release opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, held incommunicado since May 30 after a violent attack on her and
supporters, U.S. and other diplomats said today.

By delivering formal diplomatic requests in at least 11 capitals over the
last week, U.S. officials are seeking to enlist countries deemed to have
the most influence over the Burmese government: its immediate neighbors,
particularly Thailand and China.

In recent years, most Western governments have opted in varying degrees to
use sanctions to try to put pressure on Burma to improve its human rights
record. But most governments in the region argue that engaging the
military authorities there and continuing trade would be more productive
in the long run, and some reiterated that stance in recent days.

Diplomats said that President Bush would make an appeal about Burma
Tuesday when he meets with Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra,
who has been one of Burma's closest supporters over the last two years.
Thaksin's visit to Washington was scheduled before the attack on Suu Kyi.

In a bid to resolve the crisis, a U.N. special envoy, Razali Ismail, met
today with two senior generals in the Burmese capital of Rangoon, but he
did not see Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

[Razali told Western diplomats in Rangoon early Tuesday that he had
secured permission to meet with Suu Kyi within hours. The meeting, he
said, would also be attended by a Burmese government representative.

[The diplomats said the envoy, who planned to depart Burma Tuesday, told
them that he did not expect the meeting to be long and that his priority
was checking on Suu Kyi's condition.]

Razali has urged the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) to drop the organization's policy of nonintervention. "ASEAN has
to break through the straitjacket and start dealing with this issue," he
said in Kuala Lumpur, where he lives, before flying to Rangoon on
Thursday. "The situation in Burma can only be changed if regional actors
take their positions to act on it."

The United States and some other Western countries have asked the military
junta to release Suu Kyi and her supporters and resume negotiations over a
political settlement. But diplomats in Southeast Asia concede that after
isolating Burma for more than a decade, Western governments have limited
leverage with Burma's generals.

"What's important to them is what countries in the region do," a European
diplomat said. "The attitude of countries in the region is the absolutely
decisive thing."

Over the last six months, Burmese officials have toured the region,
seeking to improve ties. Gen. Than Shwe, Burma's top leader, has visited
China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Bangladesh. Foreign Minister Win Aung
made a visit to India earlier this year.

"They were deliberately cultivating their regional support," a Western
diplomat said. "What they see as their success in cultivating this
regional support has made them perhaps less concerned about the reaction
of the larger community beyond the region."

U.S. diplomats said all U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia were instructed
last week to deliver formal diplomatic requests, or dmarches, to their
host governments. "What we're doing is conveying the theme that a country
simply cannot regard this as the internal business of Burma," one of the
diplomats said. He added: "Our concern is not just letting [Suu Kyi] go.
It's a broader concern about the overall circumstances in Burma."

A European diplomat familiar with the appeal said: "It was strongly
worded. It seems the American reaction is the toughest and they are doing
whatever they can to have the [Southeast Asian] countries influence the
government of Burma."

Thailand's stance is considered crucial by diplomats and human rights
activists. Thailand is the "main pressure point," said Kavi
Chongkittavorn, a columnist at the Nation, an English-language newspaper
in Bangkok and longtime Burma watcher.

After Thaksin's election in 2001, he reversed the critical stance Thailand
had long taken toward Burma because of its repression of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy. Instead, analysts said, Thaksin has sought
to improve coordination with the Burmese authorities in stemming the flow
of methamphetamines, refugees and illegal immigrants across their
1,500-mile frontier, and to increase cooperation in fighting ethnic rebels
along the border.

He has encouraged Thai companies to invest in their neighbor while
promoting the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Salween River
along their border, and he approved the construction of a new bridge to
foster trade between the countries. Thaksin's critics, such as Kavi, said
the prime minister, an entrepreneur turned politician, is interested in
furthering the prospects of his telecommunications business in Burma.
Although Thailand has voiced concern about Suu Kyi's detention, officials
here have so far balked at placing sanctions on Burma, which is also known
as Myanmar.

"We are neighbors of Myanmar," said Sihasak Phuangketkaew, spokesman for
the Thai Foreign Ministry. "We have so many other factors to take into
consideration. . . . We don't think isolation and sanctions are the right
way. We believe that talking with the regime, cooperation -- that's the
best approach."

After a tepid initial response to the May 30 attack, Thaksin took a
tougher line Saturday, calling for Suu Kyi's "immediate release." A
diplomat in Bangkok said that appeared to be a direct result of the U.S.
appeal delivered last week.

Western diplomats said the United States had also passed a similar message
to Japan and China, which has been a key supporter of Burma.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said they consider Burmese politics to
be an internal affair. These officials have also refrained from
encouraging Suu Kyi's movement because they have been reluctant to see a
democracy emerge on their southern flank, according to Kavi.
___________

Agence France Presse June 10 2003

Bush, Thai leader demand "immediate release" of Aung San Suu Kyi

US President George W. Bush and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on
Tuesday demanded the "immediate release" of democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi by Myanmar's military junta, the White House said.

During a meeting here, the two leaders "expressed their deep concern over
the recent developments in Burma, in particular the violence that occurred
on May 30," when the activist was arrested, said Bush spokesman Ari
Fleischer.

They further "agreed on the need for immediate release of Aung San Suu
Kyi" and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD), said
Fleischer, who declined to comment specifically on the possibility of
stepped-up US sanctions.

As a result of renewing a US "national emergency" regarding Myanmar, "we
have prohibited new investment in Burma by all persons in the United
States, we extended for one year the national emergency and associated
sanctions with respect to Burma," he said, referring to the country by its
former name.

"We have great concerns about the actions that are being taken in Burma,"
he added.

Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested in northern Myanmar after violent clashes
between pro-government protesters and NLD supporters.

Earlier Tuesday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy to
Myanmar, Razali Ismail, said he had met Aung San Suu Kyi at a military
camp near the capital, Yangon, and added that he believed the junta
intended to release her within two weeks.

"I think in two weeks they should release her," Razali told reporters at
Kuala Lumpur airport after a five-day mission to Yangon. "I'm hoping and
praying she will come out earlier than that," he added.

STATEMENTS/EDITORIALS

Washington Post June 10 2003

Where Is She?

THERE IS AT LEAST one true statement in the letter we publish today from
the embassy of Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation more commonly known as
Burma. In the letter, an embassy spokesman takes issue with our earlier
criticism of the regime's decision to kill, injure and imprison a number
of democracy advocates on May 30 while shutting universities and
opposition party offices. This was not a crackdown, the spokesman
explains: The regime took these measures and confined the unarmed and
nonviolent leader of Burma's democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, for her
own good, "to ensure her safety and for the sake of national security."

That is not the one true sentence we earlier referred to. The embassy's
unassailable point is that "this unfortunate incident will not derail the
national reconciliation and democratization process in Myanmar." You can't
argue with that, because there never has been such a process; despite
repeated promises to the contrary, the generals who run Burma have not
permitted one. The question, now that the regime has cracked down so
brutally, is whether nations that have an economic stake in pretending
that democratization is taking place -- notably Thailand, a neighbor, and
Japan -- will admit that their strategy of "engagement" with Burma's
dictators has failed.

An alternative strategy is available. The Senate is scheduled to vote
today on legislation sponsored by Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would bar the import into the United States of
goods manufactured in Burma and freeze the assets here of the regime's
leading generals. Since those dictators control the nation's economy, an
import ban would affect those most responsible for Burma's repression, and
senators supportive of democracy in Asia should vote for the bill without
conditions or expiration dates. A House subcommittee today may mark up a
similar bill sponsored by Reps. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Peter T. King
(R-N.Y.). President Bush, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet with Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been an active backer of the Burma
regime. The meeting, like Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's imminent
trip to Southeast Asia, offers the administration an opportunity to press
its arguments for a united front in favor of democracy.

Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen by any credible source since the attack
on her convoy by government-sponsored goons 12 days ago. A United Nations
representative, Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, is in Burma, but as of
yesterday the regime had not allowed him to visit her. Reports from the
scene say she was injured in the attack, but no one knows for sure. Odd
behavior for a government so concerned about her safety.