BurmaNet News, Oct 8, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Oct 8, 2003 Issue # 2343


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar Excessive logging in Myanmar clearing vast swathes of virgin
forests DVB: Political prisoners in Burma
AP: Government factories to employ jobless textile factory workers

GUNS
Irrawaddy: Wa Army Selling Weapons to Asian Rebels

REGIONAL
AFP: Japan urges Southeast Asian states to press Myanmar on democracy
AFP: Malaysia's Mahathir says no regrets at bringing Myanmar into ASEAN
Nation: Rangoon’s Road Map: Asean U-turn on Burma
Financial Times: Burma garners backing for election plan
Bangkok Post: Senate To Fight Talk Of Doctor's Repatriation
New Straits Times: 'Sanctions won't ensure democracy in Myanmar'

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Indonesian envoy: Myanmar's promises to free Suu Kyi 'genuine' Japan
Economic Newswire: Myanmar to seek int'l support for democratization
AFP: Philippine foreign secretary says ASEAN not tough enough on Myanmar
DVB: ASEAN praises SPDC and criticises US
AFP: Corrupt regimes 'deserve support'

OPINION / OTHER
The Australian: Weakness in face of tyranny
Dictator Watch: Empathy, Sympathy and Objectivity

__________________ INSIDE BURMA ___________________

Oct 8, AP
Myanmar Excessive logging in Myanmar clearing vast swathes of virgin
forests

Excessive logging in Myanmar by its military junta, insurgent groups and
Chinese companies has cleared vast swathes of virgin forests in an
ecological destruction of unimaginable scale, according to an
international watchdog.

Money earned from the exploitation of the resource - in one of the most
thickly forested countries in the world - is also being spent on the war
between the government and ethnic rebels, said the London-based Global
Witness in an investigative report released Tuesday.

"Revenue derived by the regime and insurgents alike ... has perpetuated
violent armed conflict throughout Burma," Jon Buckrell of Global Witness
told a news conference.

Myanmar is also known as Burma.

In 2002, logging represented 9.3 percent of legal foreign exchange
earnings of Myanmar's junta, which has been in power since 1962, said
the report titled "A Conflict of Interests: The uncertain future of
Burma's forests."

But the real trade is at least double that, said Buckrell.

"Burma is resource rich but surrounded by resource-hungry nations and
the regime has used this fully to its advantage," Buckrell said.

Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment.

Global Witness conducted the investigation in 2001 with its researchers
visiting the Chinese-Myanmar border along the northern Kachin State.

It said logging activity increased after Myanmar's junta signed
cease-fire agreements with various ethnic guerrilla groups in 1989 and
gave them logging concessions.

At the same time Myanmar's military also is heavily involved in logging
as are guerrilla groups who remained hostile to the regime, the report
said.

Military units conduct logging operations themselves, transport illegal
timber using forced labor, give permission to log and tax legal and
illegal log cutting and transportation, the report said.

But the biggest beneficiaries are the Chinese who do the work for
concession holders, charging exorbitant amounts because of the difficult
nature of the job.

"Logging has led to environmental destruction, particularly in Kachin
State where Chinese logging companies have clear-cut vast swathes of
virgin forests," the report said.

The Chinese are making roads and employing tens of thousands of Chinese
laborers to extract timber and transport it across the border to
furniture factories in China, said the report.

According to Chinese import data, China imported over 1 million cubic
meters of timber from Myanmar in 2002 and this figure is likely to
exceed 1.4 million cubic meters in 2003.
___________________________________

Oct 8, DVB
Political prisoners in Burma

Political prisoners who were arrested during Dipeyin incident and
currently detained in Shwebo Jail are being kept under leaky roofs of
prison cells and they are suffering from cold and coughs.  U Hla Myint,
the chairman of Amarapura Twonship NLD has been enduring pains on his
broken finger he received during the assault in Dipeyin and he reported
it to the prison medic but he only gave him sleeping pills instead of
giving treatment. His family members reported it to the authority and he
was allowed to receive treatment from an outside doctor. But he is still
kept in the cell with leaky roof during the rainstorms, said his
daughter as follows:

U Hla Myint's daughter : My father and other prisoners are suffering
from colds and coughs because they have to stay under the leaky roof.
Their eyes are also stinging. They have to sleep on the wet floor. I
went to see him on 3rd of October. The military intelligence came to
pick him up and took him to an outside doctor. Before, the prison medic
only gave him sleeping pills instead of treating his broken finger and
left him like that.

The wife of U Bar Bar, the MP of Myinmu who was kept in the same cell as
U Hla Myint was not allowed to see her husband when she went to see him
at the prison on the 25th of August. All five prisoners, Ko Hla Oo, U
Hla Myint, U Aung Soe, Teza Naing and U Aung San are also suffering from
cold and coughs.

Similarly, family members of Daw May Hnin Kyi, the MP of Moegok who was
arrested on the 17th of July and currently detained in Insein Prison are
still unable to see her in prison despite their repeated attempts to do
so.  ___________________________________

Oct 8, AP
Government factories to employ jobless textile factory workers

Tens of thousands of workers who lost their jobs after the United States
imposed sanctions on Myanmar will be employed in state-owned factories,
a semi-government business journal reported Wednesday.

A total of 123 textile and garment factories have been forced shut since
the United States imposed sanctions in July to pressure the ruling junta
to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Business
Information Group journal reported.

That has put 22,094 people out of work, an official with the journal
told The Associated Press.

"Unemployed garment factory workers will be employed in state-owned
factories ... and they can return to their old jobs if the private
textile factories reopen," the weekly reported.

Suu Kyi was detained on May 30 following a clash between her followers
and the regime's supporters in northern Myanmar, triggering
international outrage. The Nobel Peace Prize winner remains under house
arrest.

The U.S. sanctions banned Myanmar imports, froze the U.S. assets of
Myanmar officials and stopped all U.S. dollar remittances to the
country.

Myanmar's exports to the United States - mostly garments - totaled about
US$356 million in 2002.

About 350,000 workers, mostly young women, are employed at 300 textile
and garment factories. According to earlier official reports, the U.S.
sanctions would hit 1 million people, if workers in related businesses
and families were counted.

The United States accounts for 75 percent of exports from the textile
industry while the remaining 25 percent go to European countries.

The Business Information Group weekly said the laid-off workers will be
employed by the state-run factories according to the level of their
skill and will be given a monthly allowance of 1,000 kyat (about US$ 1
in black market exchange rate), in addition to their monthly salary.

Workers at private-owned garment factories earn 8,000 kyat to 20,000
kyat (US$8 to US$20) a month. Government salaries are much lower with
school teachers in state schools earning about 5,900 kyat (US$6) a
month.

The government has expressed concern that young textile factory workers
who lost their jobs will be lured to work in sex industry.

The United States has also acknowledged that the sanctions are causing
hardships.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,
Matthew Daley, told a congressional hearing on Oct. 2 that more than
40,000 people have lost their jobs in the garment sector and some women
have been forced into illegal sex and entertainment industries.

He told a subcommittee of the House of Representatives International
Relations Committee that in the long term, the garment sector is likely
to lose 100,000 jobs, most of which are occupied by young women.

Myanmar's garment industry was already threatened by the impending end
in 2005 of preferential treatment under a World Trade Organization
accord on textiles and clothing.

_____________ GUNS ______________

Oct 8, Irrawaddy
Wa Army Selling Weapons to Asian Rebels

October 08, 2003—The ethnic Wa army in Burma has replaced Cambodia as
the main source of small arms for rebel groups in South Asia, an expert
on Burma said Tuesday.

Bertil Lintner said that the United Wa State Army, Southeast Asia’s main
drug trafficker, bought the arms from private arms traders in China as
well as from militia groups that are being disbanded as China trims its
security forces. The Wa resell the arms to rebel groups.

[The Wa area] is truly becoming a criminal republic. —Bertil Lintner

"What is happening now is that more and more guns, small arms, are
coming in from China and going through Wa state
 and out through Rangoon
and Moulmein," the Swedish journalist and author said in an interview.
Moulmein is the capital of Mon State.

Lintner, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, investigated gun running and
other organized criminal activity in Asia for a book he published last
year, Blood Brothers.

During the 1980s, Lintner said, Cambodia supplied arms to rebels in
Burma, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia. Since then, the trade has been
driven underground, he said.

The Burmese government generally has been turning a blind eye to the Wa
arms trafficking because of a ceasefire agreement it signed with the
United Wa State Army in 1989, Lintner said. That agreement gave the Wa
significant autonomy in their areas of control in Shan State, including
the ability to keep their own army. Critics say the group has been using
its areas as a base for many criminal activities.

Arms shipments from the Wa areas have been seized at least three times
in Burma and in neighboring countries in recent years, Lintner said.

He added that the first two shipments were seized a couple of years ago
in India close to the Burmese border. Those shipments were destined for
Naga rebels who are fighting the Indian government for an independent
homeland. The shipments included AK47 and G3 and G4 automatic rifles,
explosives and radio communication equipment.

The third seizure was made inside Burma and involved at least a
truckload of AK47s and explosives, Lintner said. He said it was
suspected that the arms were destined for Nepal, where Maoist rebels
have been fighting the government.

In addition to gun smuggling, the Wa army also has been trafficking
heroin and methamphetamines, counterfeit audio and video compact discs,
and cigarettes, Lintner said.

The Wa area, he said, "is truly becoming a criminal republic."

The Burmese government says the Wa have been unjustly blamed for the
region’s drug problems. "Wa officials said the autonomous region is
ruled democratically with the rule of law a priority," said an article
last year in the government newspaper New Light of Myanmar

__________________ REGIONAL ____________________

Oct 8,  AFP
Japan urges Southeast Asian states to press Myanmar on democracy

Japan urged Southeast Asian leaders Wednesday to press Myanmar to move
towards democracy, while the Philippine foreign minister said the
leaders had not been tough enough with the army-ruled state.

"Japan wants to see democracy restored in Myanmar and ASEAN has a role
to play in this aspect," an ASEAN official quoted Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi as telling leaders of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.

Koizumi was speaking at a morning summit between his country, which has
suspended new aid to Myanmar over its crackdown on the opposition, and
ASEAN.

After ASEAN's 10 leaders held their own summit Tuesday, Myanmar won
praise rather than censure even though fellow members had urged the
regime to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi before the summit.

A statement by chairman Indonesia, on behalf of all members, welcomed
"recent positive developments" in Myanmar and the government's pledge to
bring about a transition to democracy.

"I am personally concerned and worried about the current situation in
Myanmar," Koizumi was quoted by his spokesman as telling his Myanmar
counterpart Khin Nyunt during bilateral talks Tuesday.

Koizumi raised the status of Aung San Suu Kyi during that meeting, a
Japanese source said.

The opposition leader was detained in an undisclosed location after a
bloody clash between her supporters and pro-junta demonstrators on May
30.

Following a hospital stay for an operation, the Nobel peace prizewinner
was transferred last month to house arrest -- a move which Myanmar is
portraying as a positive and planned development.

Koizumi said later he had "a very meaningful discussion" with Khin
Nyunt.

"I asked him to keep up the efforts towards democratisation because the
international community is watching developments in Myanmar with great
interest and concern," the Japanese leader told a press conference.

"I said I hoped there would be greater efforts towards democratisation
and I asked him to exercise his leadership towards democratisation."

General Khin Nyunt in August announced a seven-point "road map" for
democratic reform. But Koizumi's spokesman, Jiro Okuyama, said there was
no timeframe in the plan and no mention of the opposition leader and her
National League for Democracy (NLD).

"It is of critical importance to take Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD
activities on board as part of the democracy process in Myanmar,"
Okuyama said. "We will keep on pressing it."

Myanmar has told delegates here that she was not in detention but rather
convalescing at home.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said Wednesday that ASEAN had not
been tough enough on Myanmar and its slow progress toward political
reform.

What ASEAN members had so far said at the summit was "not strong
enough," Ople told reporters. "They should have acknowledged the problem
in the formal statement, but they did not."

Regional rights activists were also critical.

"ASEAN has willingly swallowed another crop of lies served up by the
Burmese military regime...," said a statement by the activists.

Max de Mesa, of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, said the road
map "is a rehash of previous excuses for delaying genuine political and
economic reforms."

But ASEAN's Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said Myanmar assured
delegates that it would soon give a timeline for the road map.

"Personally I think the Myanmar discussions here in the summit are more
substantive than (those) that I have attended so far," Ong said.

Khin Nyunt gave assurances that the situation was moving "in a positive
direction" during bilateral talks Wednesday with Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Sihasak
Phuangketkeow said.

"We would like to see the lifting of all restrictions on Aung San Suu
Kyi as soon as possible," Sihasak said.
___________________________________

Oct 8, AFP
Malaysia's Mahathir says no regrets at bringing Myanmar into ASEAN

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Wednesday he had no
regrets at bringing army-ruled Myanmar into the ASEAN grouping and urged
the international community not to use sanctions to force Yangon to
adopt democracy.

"No regrets," Mahathir said when asked by reporters about his key role
in backing Myanmar's membership in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 in Kuala Lumpur.

His statement Wednesday contrasted with his July warning to Myanmar that
it could face expulsion from ASEAN if it continued to defy world
pressure to release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving elected leader with 22 years in power,
was speaking at the end of his last summit of ASEAN leaders. He is to
retire at the end of this month.

He said the international community should be patient with democratic
reforms in Myanmar, which was also facing ethnic tensions.

"People go through certain periods of difficulty and they have to react
to these difficulties. We have to be patient," he said, rejecting
suggestions that sanctions be used to pressure the junta.

"We don't believe in applying sanctions on a country that refuses or has
not been able to become a democracy," Mahathir said. "(It) will actually
victimise the people of Myanmar rather than the government (and) will
not do any good at all in solving the problem."

He said sanctions would starve the people and deprive them of medicine
and "that is a cruel way to trying to spread an ideology."

Mahathir said the United States was known to be a leading democracy but
noted it was "the only country which has dropped an atomic bomb."

ASEAN leaders at their meeting here avoided any public criticism of
their fellow member. ___________________________________

Oct 8,  The Nation
Rangoon’s Road Map: Asean U-turn on Burma

Taking a step back from their earlier call for the immediate release by
the Burmese military junta of op-position leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Asean
leaders yesterday hailed Rangoon's 'road map' to democracy as a
'positive development'.

'We welcome the recent positive developments in Myanmar [Burma] and the
government' pledge to bring about a transition to democracy through
dialogue and reconciliation', said a statement issued by Indonesian
Presi-dent Megawati Sukarnoputri, who currently chairs Asean.

Asean will give the junta time to prove its claim that Suu Kyi, who has
just been released from hospital after an operation, is not under house
arrest, said Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

'Burma's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Win Aung
informed other Asean countries that house arrest was not a situation
Aung San Suu Kyi was facing,' the spokesman said.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Khin Nyunt had detailed the
seven-point road map to Asean leaders at the Bali summit.

'I regard him as showing spirit in explaining his country's road map to
other leaders. He did not have to do it, since it is an internal issue.
I praise him for that,' he said.

Thaksin also said the Burmese leader had assured him that Suu Kyi was
safe and well in her own home.

The Indone-sian spokesman quoted Win Aung as telling other Asean leaders
that Suu Kyi was 'recuperating'.

Suu Kyi had been placed in detention by the junta since May. She
returned home after undergoing surgery late last month. She had been
denied visits, except from UN special envoy Razali Ismail.

Megawati's statement was taken by analysts to mean that Asean indirectly
accepted the junta's treatment of the pro-democracy leader.

Asean leaders regarded recent developments in Burma as 'a pragmatic
approach and deserving understanding and support'.

Referring to Western sanc-tions against Burma, the leaders said:
'Sanctions are not helpful in promoting peace and stability essential
for democracy to take root.'

Khin Nyunt recently announced a seven-point road map, which includes
free and fair elections towards democracy.

'We have to admit there is some progress and I think we should show our
appreciation,' said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who held
a bilateral meeting with Khin Nyunt on Monday.

'Of course, all progress must be step by step. You just can't change
overnight. He [Khin Kyunt] said that they have started to implement the
road map,' said Mahathir.

On the sidelines of the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi told Khin Nyunt that he recognised Burma's attempt to move
towards democracy, but more work needed to be done.

Japan, a key donor to many of Burma's development projects, blocked
financial assistance to the country following Suu Kyi's detention.

'The international community is concerned with the situation ...
surrounding Suu Kyi. I am personally concerned and worried about the
current situation in Myanmar,' Koizumi was quoted as saying by Japanese
government spokesman Jiro Okuyama. ___________________________________

Oct 8,  Financial Times
Burma garners backing for election plan

South-east Asian leaders yesterday endorsed the Burmese military's road
map for a transition to democracy, saying the plan was "a pragmatic
approach and deserves understanding and support".

Asean members - which, along with China, are Burma's closest friends -
made no public mention of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition leader.
She is confined to her home after being in military custody at an
unknown location for three months.

Marty Natalegawa, an Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, said the
improvement in Ms Suu Kyi's conditions and the junta's plans to convene
a long-suspended constitutional convention marked welcome progress
towards resolving Burma's political stalemate.

"It's a vindication of Asean's approach," he said. "Dialogue is
beginning to yield results."

Japan, however, voiced concerns yesterday that the junta had yet to
offer any time-frame for the plans to be completed, or to clarify
whether Ms Suu Kyi or her National League for Democracy would
participate in the contemplated constitutional convention or elections.

Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, warned in a speech to Asian
businessmen on the fringes of the regional summit that Asean could not
separate its wider economic aspirations from its internal political
conditions.

He suggested that south-east Asia should engage in efforts to resolve
nagging political problems such as Burma.

"A sound political environment is indispensable to ... expand trade and
investment," Mr Koizumi said.

"The countries of this region should offer each other advice and
assistance to resolve any difficulties they face in the political
realm."

In June Asean countries broke from their principle of non-interference,
calling for the immediate release of Ms Suu Kyi, who was then in
military custody after a savage attack on her convoy on May 30.

The junta has since reshuffled its cabinet and announced its intention
to hold fresh elections - only after completing a fresh constitution.

Asean leaders, many uncomfortable with commenting on the Burmese
situation, have seized on the initiatives as evidence of momentum
towards change that should be encouraged, without further public
pressure.

Ms Suu Kyi's own status, meanwhile, remains ambiguous. Several western
diplomats who have sought to visit her have been barred from doing so.

However, at the meeting Burmese leaders told their counterparts that Ms
Suu Kyi was neither in detention nor under house arrest, but merely
"recuperating" from recent gynaecological surgery.
___________________________________

Oct 8, Bangkok Post
Senate To Fight Talk Of Doctor's Repatriation

The Senate will urge the government to reconsider any plans of
repatriating Magsaysay Award winner Dr Cynthia Maung of the Mae Tao
clinic in Mae Sot district.

After visiting the clinic, Senator Kraisak Choonhavan said repatriating
Dr Cynthia would hurt Thailand's image as a humanitarian and tolerant
society.

Dr Cynthia, herself a displaced person, runs the clinic which has
treated more than 200,000 Burmese and Thais since it opened 14 years
ago.

Mr Kraisak said sending Dr Cynthia back to Burma would be solely to
appease Rangoon because she was perceived to be an opponent of the
ruling junta.

Determined to strengthen economic ties with Burma, the government was
trying to move Rangoon opponents off Thai soil. The pressure was also
felt by aid organisations and health workers on the border. They had
become hesitant to work, fearing they might get into trouble with
authorities.

Mr Kraisak said the government should not put politics before
compassion.

Provincial governor Sawad Sornsuwankadee said there were no plans to
shut down the clinic or expel Dr Cynthia.

He said her clinic helped lessen the workload at Thai public health
facilities along the border. She also assisted in the prevention of
diseases such as malaria, elephantiasis and tuberculosis.

Currently, Mae Tao Clinic cares for about 200 displaced orphans from
Burma, and gives healthcare support to more than 700 displaced Burmese
children in 16 child care centres in Tak.

Dr Cynthia is a Karen. She was born in Moulmein on Dec 6, 1959 and
graduated from Rangoon University's medical faculty in 1985.

She opened a clinic in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division and moved to Eindu,
Pa-an district in Karen state. The political situation in Burma in 1988
forced her to flee to Thailand along with other wanted activists. She is
married and has two children _ a 10-year-old son and an eight-year-old
daughter.

She won the Magsaysay Award last year for Community Leadership but could
not leave Thailand to receive the award in the Philippines because her
status as a displaced person did not qualify her to travel to a third
country.

Dr Cynthia said a government review had led to medical workers at her
clinic no longer being granted permits. She was in the process of
negotiating a reprieve. ___________________________________

Oct 8, New Straits Times
‘Sanctions won't ensure democracy in Myanmar'

ASEAN leaders meeting amid mounting pressure to make a strong stand on
Myanmar welcomed recent "positive developments" in the country and said
sanctions would not help in bringing about democratic reforms.

The leaders said the roadmap outlined by Myanmar Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt was a pragmatic approach and deserved understanding and support.
"The leaders welcomed the Myanmar Government's pledge to bring about a
transition to democracy through dialogue and reconciliation," Indonesian
President Megawati Sukarnoputri said at the end of the ninth Asean and
seventh Asean+3 Summit. She is chairman for both summits.

Since Myanmar's National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
was put under house arrest on May 30 by the military junta, Asean had
been under pressure to seek her release through constructive engagement.
  UN special envoy to Myanmar Tan Sri Razali Ismail had met with Suu Kyi
during a recent visit but failed to get a commitment from the junta for
the Nobel laureate's release.

The Asean Summit also reaffirmed its commitment to co-operate in
fighting terrorism and continue to undertake specific measures outlined
in the "Asean Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism" adopted
in 2001. On Iraq, Megawati said the UN must continue playing a major
role in the reconstruction of the country, in accordance with the
aspirations of the Iraqis.  Asean leaders also reiterated their support
for the United States-backed roadmap for peace to end violence in the
Middle East.

"We were also delighted to note the deepening of regional economic
integration in the Southeast Asia region. We also reaffirmed our
commitment to enhance Asean's economic linkages with the world economy,
including the Asean+3 process," she added.

On the Asean Security Community, Megawati said Asean leaders had agreed
on exploring innovative ways of enhancing security in the region.

__________________ INTERNATIONAL ____________________

Oct 8, AP
Indonesian envoy: Myanmar's promises to free Suu Kyi 'genuine'

Japan is concerned that military-ruled Myanmar has given summit partners
no firm dates for when it will release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
nor when it will introduce democracy, a Japanese spokesman said at a
regional conference.

However, Indonesia's special envoy to Myanmar said that the junta is
showing sings of moving toward democracy and that its promise to free
the Nobel Peace laureate is genuine.

Many of Myanmar's neighbors pushed for Suu Kyi's release ahead of their
Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Bali, but backed away
from criticizing Myanmar for her continued house arrest once the two-day
summit began Tuesday.

Human rights groups criticized the soft stance of the 10-member
grouping, which adhered to one of its founding principles -
noninterference in domestic politics - rather than take the Myanmar
junta to task over its crackdown on the country's pro-democracy
movement.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Also attending the
ASEAN summit were Japan, China, South Korea and India.

An adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his
government's concern over Suu Kyi's continued house arrest and
criticized Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt's "road map" for moving
toward democracy.

Khin Nyunt, briefing summit colleagues about the plan, failed to set
specific deadlines or to mention Suu Kyi or her political party, Koizumi
adviser Jiro Okuyama said.

Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party need to be a part of
that country's transformation, Okuyama said.

"These are important forces that need to be taken on board," he said.

Alatas, who visited Myanmar last month to push for Suu Kyi's release,
said he had received assurances from the country's military leaders that
they would free her.

"We must assume it is genuine," Alatas told reporters in Bali. "There
has been movement, there has been a pledge by the Myanmar government to
continue their progress toward democracy."

Following a May 30 clash between her supporters and a pro-junta group in
Myanmar, Suu Kyi was detained at an undisclosed location in a move that
the junta said was aimed at protecting her and quelling unrest.

The arrest of Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace price in 1991, and a
crackdown on her pro-democracy party prompted international outrage.

Last week, the junta announced that, after undergoing surgery at a
hospital, Suu Kyi had been allowed to return Sept. 26 to her home in
Myanmar's capital.

During the ASEAN summit, Indonesian officials said repeatedly that
Myanmar was insisting that Suu Kyi is no longer under house arrest.
However, there appeared to be no change in her confinement to her house
in Myanmar's capital.

"We (ASEAN) continue to maintain open lines of communication and quiet
dialogue with Myanmar," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda told
reporters at the close of the summit.

"Of course we also urged Myanmar to do more," he added.
___________________________________

Oct 8, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar to seek int'l support for democratization

Thailand and Myanmar agreed Wednesday to work together to woo support
from the international community for Myanmar's road map to
democratization and national reconciliation, a Thai spokesman said.

The move came during a 15-minute meeting between Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt on the
sidelines of the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

'We welcome the positive developments, but we also believe there should
be more efforts to have the international community understand where the
process is heading,' Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak
Phuangketkeow told reporters after the talks.

'So we encourage the Myanmar government to do more to promote
understanding and get support from the international community,' he
said.

The spokesman said the two leaders also agreed their foreign ministers
would have further discussions on the involvement of the international
community in Myanmar's road map to democracy.

Gen. Khin Nyunt, who replaced Gen. Than Shwe as prime minister on Aug.
25, laid out the seven-stage road map during his first public address
five days later, promising to hold fair elections and draft a new
Constitution.

A Thai proposal on holding an international forum on Myanmar's plans
could be considered as one option to win better understanding and
support from the international community, Sihasak said.

Khin Nyunt assured Thaksin the situation concerning pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi is 'moving in the right direction,' according to
Sihasak.

The general merely smiled at reporters asking for comment.

Suu Kyi was held incommunicado since May 30 until the middle of last
month by Myanmar's junta. She was detained following what the junta
claims was a clash between her supporters and pro-government
demonstrators in northern Myanmar on May 30.

She now remains under house arrest at her residence. The Nobel Peace
Prize winner is recovering from surgery performed Sept. 19 and is still
not allowed contacts with well-wishers or political supporters.

Responding to charges Thailand is shielding Myanmar from pressure to
reform, Sihasak said, 'Our efforts have to be step-by-step.'

He reiterated that Thailand continues to call for lifting the
restrictions on Suu Kyi, the same position taken by the ASEAN foreign
ministers during their annual talks in June in Phnom Penh.

The Myanmar premier explained to ASEAN leaders at an 'off-the-record'
working dinner Monday that his government would 'soon' present the
timetable for its road map toward democracy and reconciliation,
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told reporters Tuesday
night.

'The most vocal response was made by Prime Minister Thaksin, seeking
understanding of Myanmar's situation because Thailand is the next-door
neighbor of Myanmar. And since Myanmar already has a road map and it has
to contend with many sources of internal instability, Thaksin felt that
they should be encouraged in this direction,' Arroyo said.

'So the other ASEAN countries certainly would recognize Thaksin's
superior knowledge because he is the next-door neighbor and Thailand is
a democratic country and we share the same democratic ideals,' she
added.

On Suu Kyi's detention, Arroyo said Khin Nyunt told ASEAN counterparts
that 'she underwent surgery in the hospital, she is at home now, she is
recuperating under the care of doctors.'

'The prime minister and she are in personal contact with each other,'
Arroyo said without elaborating on their communication.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
___________________________________

Oct 8,  AFP
Philippine foreign secretary says ASEAN not tough enough on Myanmar

Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said Wednesday the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had not been tough enough on
military-run Myanmar and its slow progress toward political reform.

Ople said what ASEAN members had so far said about the situation in
Myanmar at a summit on the Indonesian island of Bali was "not strong
enough."

"They should have acknowledged the problem in the formal statement, but
they did not," Ople said.

Instead, he said there was a tendency at ASEAN "to give the Myanmar
government a chance to perform on their promises concerning the roadmap
to political reconciliation in Myanmar."

None of the 10 ASEAN leaders made any reference to Myanmar's political
situation at a summit Tuesday, although the issue has come up in some
private talks on the sidelines, according to several delegates.

A statement by chairman Indonesia, on behalf of all members, Tuesday
welcomed "recent positive developments" and said sanctions are not
helpful in bringing about democratic change.

Ople arrived on Bali earlier this week saying he expected Southeast
Asian foreign ministers to call for a strong statement on the issue at
the summit.

______________________________

Oct 8, DVB
ASEAN praises SPDC and criticises US
At the top ASEAN meeting in Bali on 7 October, there has not been even a
murmur of criticism on the Burmese military regime. Instead, some
praises could be heard from the delegates. The chairman of the meeting,
the Indonesian president Megawati said that she welcomes recent
‘positive’ changes in Burma.

The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who urged the
organisation to expel Burma said that he has to admit that there has
been progress in the country recently. As the result of the lack of
criticism on Burma, there could be increasing oppression in the country,
warned Debbie Stotthard of Alt-SEAN.

The joint statement from ASEAN meeting says that the organisation
welcomes political developments in Burma. The statement was read by the
Indonesian President Megawati today at noon. She also said that the
organisation welcomes the political changes by means of dialogue. The
statement also insists that the road map plan which invites all
organisations in Burma is the right move forward and it needs to be
supported and given time. The organisation also criticises the US
government for imposing ‘unhelpful’ economic sanctions on the military
junta.

Correspondences who report from the meeting say that ASEAN has recently
toned down its criticism on Burma. The reason for this is due to some
recent progress in the country, according to Indonesian Foreign Minister
Hassan Wirajuda. Mr. Wirajuda said that the transfer of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi to house arrest and the receptions of Mr. Razali Ismail and Mr.
Alatas by the regime in Burma are positive signs.

There has been no criticism on Burma in this morning meeting, according
to some diplomats who attended the meeting. General Khin Nyunt who
delivered a ten minute speech said nothing about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
As he is the newly appointed Prime Minister of Burma, Asian delegates
are carefully watching his activities, according to the diplomats. This
is the ASEAN way of doing things, added a diplomat who doesn’t want to
be identified.

The host nation Indonesia has been worried that the meeting would be
dominated by the affairs of Burma and it has been trying very hard for
the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Some diplomats said that the SPDC
has escaped from being humiliated publicly at the meeting.
______________________________

Oct 8, AFP
Corrupt regimes 'deserve support'

BERLIN: Rich nations need to do much more to help developing countries
tackle endemic corruption, the head of a global graft watchdog urged
yesterday at the launch of a new report on sleaze.

The survey of 133 nations by Transparency International showed
Bangladesh, Nigeria and Haiti bottom of the pile for perceived levels of
corruption among public officials and politicians.

Paraguay and Burma were next, and there also were low marks for Kenya,
Indonesia, Libya, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Zimbabwe.

At the top were Finland, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore.
Hong Kong also performed well, as did most of western Europe, Australia,
the US, Israel and Japan.

Peter Eigen, the head of Berlin-based Transparency International, said
developing countries which showed the political will to curb corruption
needed more support.

"Nations starting with a high degree of corruption should not be
penalised since they are in the most urgent need of support," Mr Eigen
said.

He urged the leaders of developing nations to put in place
anti-corruption measures, "but they also urgently require practical help
tailored to the needs of their national strategies".

"In addition donor nations and international financial institutions
should take a firmer line, stopping support to corrupt governments and
blacklisting international companies caught paying bribes abroad," he
said.

The survey reflects the perceptions of academics, risk analysts and
business people. This year's index was based on 17 surveys by 13
independent institutions.

Mr Eigen said that even with 133 countries, only those featured in at
least three surveys make it on to the list.

__________________ OPINION / OTHER ____________________

Oct 8, The Australian
Weakness in face of tyranny

The 10 ASEAN leaders meeting in Bali yesterday were presented with two
unique opportunities.

One was to start to abolish tariff and non-tariff barriers to integrate
their diverse economies, thereby creating jobs and economic growth for
the region's poorest people.

The other was to take a stand against tyranny.

The gathering of two presidents, seven prime ministers and one absolute
monarch -- only six of whom were democratically elected -- took one
small step towards the first goal. The Bali Concord II should, in
theory, begin to break down some of the problems that prevent the flow
of manufacturing and services through member countries of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations.

But the Bali meeting shunned talk of perhaps the region's most pressing
economic problem: Burma's plunge into poverty at the hands of its
incompetent military rulers.

After months of anticipation that the leaders would condemn Burma's new
Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt for the detention of all senior
leaders of the nation's democracy movement, ASEAN instead fell back on
its old policy of "non-interference".

ASEAN's outgoing senior statesman, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, met General Khin Nyunt and declared the junta had made
"progress" by transferring National League for Democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi from a military lock-up to house arrest.

As his colleagues gave the retiring Mahathir a tearful send-off from the
forum, he cautioned them to maintain ASEAN's policy of not meddling in
each other's affairs.

The Bali Concord II might well become a historic document. But until
Asia's leaders recognise that political evolution is a harbinger of
economic growth, ASEAN is unlikely to bring its promised "peace,
stability and shared prosperity" to many of the region's 500million
people. ______________________________

Oct 8, Dictator Watch
Empathy, Sympathy And Objectivity
Please see www.dictatorwatch.org for links to the reports and
photography described below. [Contact: Roland Watson,
roland at dictatorwatch.org]

(Note: We have posted three summary relief mission reports, with
photography, from Free Burma Rangers teams that recently returned from
humanitarian missions to Pa-an and Muthraw districts of Northern Karen
State; and a full mission report from an FBR team that visited Lahu
areas of Eastern Shan State. The second summary report includes
information on a seventeen year-old girl who was raped and murdered two
months ago yesterday. The Lahu report contains information on a woman
who was gang-raped by twenty Burmese soldiers on August 16; intelligence
on the narcotics trade; and other information about SPDC human rights
abuses, including forced labor and religious persecution.)

This is a follow-up comment to our last press release, in particular its
points about media objectivity regarding the crimes against humanity
committed by the Burmese dictatorship. We understand that journalists
have little empathy for the suffering people of Burma, but we are
surprised at the lack of sympathy. Empathy requires shared experience.
Few of the journalists who cover Burma are combat reporters, and have
faced death and hysteria in the field. Nor it seems have such reporters
lost a family member or a close friend to a violent death, particularly
a criminal one.

Sympathy, on the other hand, requires only common human sensitivity and
understanding. We can all feel pain, therefore, when we see someone
experiencing great pain, such as from the loss of a loved one, we can
sympathize with it. Or so you would think.

Apparently, this is not the case with many of the reporters who cover
Burma (in particular the press in neighboring nations). Sympathy in this
case would involve the recognition that the relatives of the victims
cannot forget, that to them the deaths of their loved ones cannot
disappear as if they had never happened, and that there has to be a
balancing act, some day, to yield justice. Sympathy, not to mention
objectivity, would also demand that you do not talk to the perpetrators,
the murderers, and report their every word as if it were legitimate and
unassailably true.

What is surprising, then, is that the latter is exactly what is
happening. The obsequious press transcribe every word of junta spokesmen
and supporters, they report verbatim the quotes of murderers and their
co-conspirators, which comments actually demand the strongest of
disclaimers if not open denunciation. This is certainly not justice.
Rather, it is complicity.

As for such supporters, diplomats worldwide regularly accept the
commission of mass murder as if it were nothing more than a minor
negotiation stumbling block. Indeed, mass murder is even viewed in a
positive way if the diplomats perceive that it serves their nations’
interests. This certainly holds true with the politicians of ASEAN, for
whom the crimes committed by the Burmese generals constitute only
barriers to trade. Indeed, the murders and other crimes are themselves
viewed as inconsequential, and also fully the prerogative of the illegal
military regime. They are only important to the extent that other
governments, notably the United States, respond with sanctions and other
actions such that trade is disrupted.

This is to be expected. In government in general and in diplomacy in
particular, immorality rises up. The least moral individuals regularly
obtain the greatest power. An honorable diplomat, or diplomatic honor,
are oxymora. But the aforementioned response of the media is unexpected,
particularly given their professed objectivity. Perhaps the media have
evolved into a form of social government, with the same trend manifested
as in politics.

An even deeper question regarding dictatorship and crimes against
humanity is: Is “objectivity,” the type of objectivity that grants the
words of criminals equal weight to that of their victims, even
desirable? Indeed, in many cases the press actually give far greater
weight to the words of the criminals, since most of their victims,
certainly in Burma, have no voice at all. (For the May 30th Depayin
massacre, we still do not even know the “names” of the victims.) In
practical terms, the voices in support of dictatorship get far greater
airtime and numbers of column inches.

Said another way, we would ask the press: Do you report on the democracy
movement, or are you part of democracy movement? What seems to be the
case is that you report on the democracy movement, largely from the
perspective of the dictators.