BurmaNet News, Dec 12, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Dec 12, 2003 Issue # 2386

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar democracy demonstrator sentenced to seven years in jail
Xinhua: Myanmar makes continuous efforts for agricultural development

DRUGS
Xinhua: Thai PM to visit Myanmar's UWSA area

REGIONAL
AFP: Japan, ASEAN leaders envisage East Asian community, huge aid upcoming
AFP: Japan, ASEAN leaders set to declare efforts to create East Asian
community
Kyodo: Myanmar understands global interest in its democratization

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Confronting the Realities: KNU Weighs Strategic Options for
Burma's Political Deadlock
FT: Burma’s Plans for holding National Convention Analysed

BRIEFING
Altsean: Media Advisory: Latest Photos of Aung San Suu Kyi available

INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

Dec 12, Associated Press
Myanmar democracy demonstrator sentenced to seven years in jail

A man who staged a solo pro-democracy demonstration in Myanmar's capital
city has been sentenced to seven years in jail, his daughter said Friday.

Phone Aung, 46, was tried by a special security court on Thursday inside
Insein prison in the capital, Yangon, his daughter told The Associated
Press.

Ex-soldier Phone Aung was arrested in September when he stood near the
City Hall with a piece of paper hanging from his neck. The paper bore a
message demanding the release of political prisoners and calling for
political reforms.

His daughter said he was convicted and sentenced under an all-encompassing
emergency law that prohibits public protests.

The government did not immediately comment.

The daughter, who did not wish to be named, said she was allowed to attend
the court when the judgment was issued.

Phone Aung refused to appeal against the prison sentence, saying he made
the protest under his own convictions, said the daughter.

Salai Tun Than, who is in his 70s and is a former professor at Myanmar's
agriculture institute, was arrested and sentenced to seven years
imprisonment for demonstrating in front of Yangon's City Hall in November
2001. He was released in May this year.

Law student Thet Naung Soe, who staged a similar protest in front of the
City Hall in Aug. 2002, was sentenced last year to 14 years in prison.

The United Nations human rights envoy to Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
during a visit to the country last month called for the immediate release
of political prisoners. He said Myanmar's ruling military junta is holding
between 1,200 and 1,300 such prisoners.

The government has come under intense international criticism for
suppressing democracy and frequently jailing leaders of the opposition
National League for Democracy party.

The party's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is currently under house arrest
since being detained on May 30 following a clash between her supporters
and a pro-government mob.

The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy
movement. It called elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when
Suu Kyi's party won.
_____________________________

Dec 12, Xinhua
Myanmar makes continuous efforts for agricultural development

A review project is underway on the development of Myanmar's agricultural
sector, aimed at identifying investment requirements, setting strategic
goals, collecting statistics for seeking international aid and foreign
investment and maintaining sustainable development in the sector.

According to the latest report of the local Business Tank, the United
Nations Development Program and the Asian Development Bank are funding the
review project with 874,390 US dollars for technical matters, while the
Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) is taking the role of executive
agency in the implementation of the project in cooperation with the
Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

The project started in June this year and will carry on to next March, the
end of the current fiscal year.

During the project period, expert groups, made up of both foreign's and
local's, are studying the present situation of the country's agricultural
sector, its technical conditions, effectiveness of public and private
institutions, allocation of state budget for the sector and infrastructure
and social investment, the report said.

Future plans and appropriate strategies for establishing basic framework
for future investment will also be worked out to maintain development pace
in the agricultural aspects.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has carried out its third agricultural census since
October under the guidelines adopted by the FAO. The census, which covered
272 of the country's 324 townships, is believed to help plan a number of
agricultural projects.

With a population of 52.4 million, Myanmar stands as a country with
agriculture as the mainstay of its economy and with 65 percent of its
labor force being engaged in agricultural production. Its agricultural
output accounts for 42 percent of the country's gross domestic product and
its export value represents 28.3 percent of the total.

To help develop agriculture, Myanmar has built 150 dam facilities since
1988, adding an irrigated area of 1.21 million hectares during the 15-year
period and bringing the total irrigated area to about 2.22 million
hectares, or 22 percent of the cultivated area. Besides, other 265
river-water pumping projects have irrigated 121,500 hectares more of the
farmland.

With regard to foreign investment in the agricultural sector, official
statistics show 34 million dollars have so far been injected into the
sector's four projects since the country opened to such investment in late
1988.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has introduced a new paddy purchase policy, granting
free trade of rice and has also exempted import duty of agricultural
machinery, fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety.

DRUGS
____________________________________

Dec 12, Xinhua
Thai PM to visit Myanmar's UWSA area

Thai Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would visit an area in Myanmar controlled
by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), also known as Red Wa, opposite Chiang
Rai on Dec. 26 to inspect an opium crop-substitution project, the Bangkok
Post reported Friday.

The report quoted a source from the Thai Army as saying that accompanied
by Myanmar's military leaders, Thaksin would be greeted at the town of
Yongkha by UWSA leaders who were keen to prove they had ceased drug
production.

Thaksin and Thai army chief Chaisit Shinawatra will later hold talks with
their counterparts, Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and army commander
Maung Aye.

The four will discuss joint efforts on drug suppression, as well as the
success of crop-substitution projects at 20 villages in Thailand's Tak,
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces.

Myanmar's crop-substitution projects were funded with a donation of 20
million baht (500,000 US dollars) from the Thai government.

According to the information of the Thai Army, Wa is one of the 135
military groups dwelling in Myanmar. The Wa population is about 700,000 to
800,000, most of whom stay on highland at the northeastern part of
Myanmar.

The Myanmar government located Wa to live in the 2nd Special Zone of
Control, or Wa State, in 1989, then signed a peace agreement with the
UWSA, the task force of Wa State.

Now, the 20,000-strong UWSA has been accused of being a major producer and
supplier of methamphetamines and heroin in the "Golden Triangle" area.

REGIONAL
____________________________

Dec 12, Agence France Presse
Japan, ASEAN leaders envisage East Asian community, huge aid upcoming

Japan and 10 Southeast Asian nations on Friday set the ambitious goal of
creating an East Asian community as Japan pledged three billion dollars of
aid to train people, and develop areas along the Mekong River over the
next three years.

The Tokyo Declaration, signed by leaders of Japan and the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after a two-day summit to
mark three decades of relations, floated the idea for forming a common
group.

ASEAN and Japan "seek to build an East Asian community which is outward
looking, endowed with the exuberance of creativity and vitality and with
the shared spirit of mutual understanding and upholding Asian traditions
and values, while respecting universal rules and principles," the
declaration said.

The nations vowed to "promote more opportunities for trade in goods and
services such as through opening and enlarging markets, progressively
eliminating non-tariff barriers."

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday agreed with leaders
from Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines to start free trade talks
early next year on the sidelines of the special summit.

These pacts set no deadlines for the negotiations and similarly noted the
both sides should pay "due consideration" to sensitive areas.

The declaration said Japan would "continue to give priority to ASEAN
countries in its ODA (official development assistance) programmes."

In a separate document on Japan's initiative on official aid to ASEAN,
Tokyo pledged three billion dollars of aid to develop human resources, and
areas along the Mekong River over the next three years.

It said Japan plans to extend at least 1.5 billion dollars worth of aid
based on actual needs, including the cost of personnel exchanges between
Japan and ASEAN involving about 40,000 people in policy-making/public
administration, industry/energy and five other priority areas.

Another 1.5 billion dollars will go for the Greater Mekong Subregion
development, which would link the southern Chinese city of Kunming to
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Japan is ready to offer more support to Mekong projects to build the
East-West Economic Corridor -- a highway linking Da Nang in Vietnam to
Mukdahan in Thailand to Mawlamyine in Myanmar -- and another road
connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh to Bangkok.

It is also supporting projects to improve other infrastructure such as
bridges, ports and railways, while cooperating on electricity sector,
information and communication technology and water resource management.

An action plan to implement the ideas in the Tokyo Declaration spelled out
efforts to reinforce the Japan-ASEAN economic partnership, "including
elements of a possible free trade area, as soon as possible by 2012,
taking into account the economic levels and sensitive sectors in each
country."

It said they would make "maximum efforts" to start talks on the
comprehensive economic partnership from early 2005.

They will continue support for developing Asian bond markets as part of
strengthening Asia's own financial architecture, while supporting the
issuance of Asian currencies-denominated bonds, the action plan said.

It also listed cooperation in the automobile industry through government
and business dialogue by "sharing Japan's experience and best practices in
order to strengthen competitiveness of ASEAN automobile industry."

Japan will accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast
Asia, a regional non-aggression pact ratified in 1976.

The action plan affirmed close cooperation in the fight against terrorism
while promoting cooperation among coast guards to combat piracy, and
illicit drug and human trafficking.

Japan will also conduct joint research in ASEAN countries in order to
address SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and other newly emerging
infectious diseases.
______________________________

Dec 12, Agence France Presse
Japan, ASEAN leaders set to declare efforts to create East Asian community

Japan and 10 Southeast Asian nations entered a second and final day of
summit talks Friday, set to sign a joint declaration envisaging an East
Asian community pulled together by possible free trade pacts.

The leaders, who gathered here to commemorate three decades of Japan-ASEAN
ties, are scheduled to sign a Tokyo Declaration, proposing the creation of
a common East Asian community as a long-term vision.

They are also expected to pledge efforts to strengthen economic
partnerships, possibly through free trade pacts to pave the way for the
common community.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday agreed with leaders
from Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines to start free trade talks
early next year on the sidelines of the special summit.

Japan already has a free trade agreement -- its first -- with Singapore,
which took effect in November last year, and it is also in free trade
talks with South Korea.

These pacts set no deadlines for the negotiations and similarly noted the
both sides should pay "due consideration" to sensitive areas.

Japan and ASEAN aim to form a free trade zone possibly by 2012.

The two-day summit, the ASEAN leaders' first-ever get-together hosted by a
non-member country, is widely seen as Japan's bid to catch up with China
and India in exerting regional influence.

Koizumi on Thursday formally expressed Tokyo's intention to sign the
Treaty of Amity and Cooperation of ASEAN, a regional non-aggression pact
ratified in 1976, reversing an earlier reluctance.

A Japanese official said the move was welcomed by ASEAN leaders as a
symbolic event that showed Japan-ASEAN relations were forging a
partnership in security areas, but China and India already signed it in
October.

The Japanese and ASEAN leaders are also to sign a joint action plan Friday
listing measures to implement the Tokyo Declaration defining the direction
of future cooperation between Japan and ASEAN.

The action plan is likely to include cooperation to crack down on human
trafficking and terrorism, to the battle against drugs and piracy, and
enhance the regional financial system through the creation of Asian bond
markets.

Japan is expected to announce huge cash injection into Mekong development
projects, including those to build roads, bridges and ports, to help
narrow economic gaps between old ASEAN members and new, poorer members.

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank is aiming to raise 14 billion
dollars by the end of the decade for 11 flagship projects for the Greater
Mekong Subregion development.

They cover areas such as telecommunications, energy, transport, tourism
and other forms of infrastructure and services along the Mekong.

Japan is also expected to vow to enhance assistance to island areas in
four Southeast Asian countries -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines.

Besides these nations, ASEAN groups Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
_______________________________

Dec 12, Kyodo News Service
Myanmar understands global interest in its democratization

Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt on Friday told Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi he understands the strong interest shown by the
international society in the democratization in Myanmar, according to a
Japanese Foreign Ministry official.

Khin Nyunt responded to Koizumi's expectations that Japan hopes the
democratization process in Myanmar will develop steadily so that Tokyo
will be able to support Myanmar, according to the official.

Khin Nyunt also indicated he will make efforts for the early reconvening
of the suspended national convention tasked with drafting a democratic
constitution, telling Koizumi that it is not appropriate to delay its
resumption.

Khin Nyunt visited Tokyo to attend a two-day summit of Japan and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which concluded earlier in
the day.

Koizumi also held a bilateral talk with Laotian Prime Minister Boungnang
Vorachit, who showed concerns over the continuing U.S.-led occupation in
Iraq, saying it is important that the United Nations be involved in the
reconstruction of the war-torn country.

OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Dec 12, Mizzima Confronting the Realities: KNU Weighs Strategic Options
for Burma's Political Deadlock

Speculation abounds within Burma's democratic forces and the international
community, as the State Peace and Development Council, one of the longest
running military regimes in the world, makes a fresh move.  The SPDC has
offered its seven-step road map that calls for the resumption of National
Convention as its first step.

As recently as last week, the junta quietly sent its representative, Col.
San Pwint, to the Thai-Burmese border in order to persuade the Karens to
come back to the "legal fold" and take part in the proposed process. 
Along with Col. San Pwint came U Khun Mya, a well-known Kachin
ceasefire broker, and Rev. Saw Margay Gyi, General Secretary of the Bible
Society - Burma, who has been known to have a cordial relationship with
Prime Minister Khin Nyunt.

Meanwhile, some Karen academics and businessmen in Rangoon are eager to
persuade the KNU to give serious consideration to PM Khin Nyunt's "road
map" and seize what opportunities the offer may obtain.  Although it is
not entirely clear what messages the SPDC wants to convey to the KNU, it
is obvious to the opposition forces that PM Khin Nyunt, surrounded by
support from China and neighboring countries such as Thailand, is pushing
ahead with his seven-step initiative, strategically approaching both
cease-fire and non-cease-fire armed resistance groups and, in particular,
the Karen National Union (KNU). In response to this political move, the
KNU leadership needs to adopt a multi-prong approach that goes beyond
usual closed-circle meetings among themselves. The rank and file of Karen
National Liberation Army, the armed wing of KNU and other key democratic
allies need to be informed strategically on time on the development of the
situation.  Keeping the international community and media organizations in
the loop and seeking assistance from the Karen Diaspora in particular
could be considered as part of a broader strategy.

In striving to find an enduring solution to Burma's political problems,
the KNU generally has not focused on the Karen exclusively but rather on
the entire nation, by working in alliance with other nationalities
including the Burmese pro-democracy opposition groups.  This time, the KNU
is seemingly going one step further and probing into the PM Khin Nyunt's
seven-step political roadmap.  A team of delegates including Maj. Ner Dah
Mya, commander of KNLA's Battalion 201 and son of KNU Vice Chairman Gen.
Saw Bo Mya, and Lt. Col. Paw Doh of KNLA's Special
Battalion 101, reportedly met with Col. San Pwint, the SPDC point man for
dealing with the KNU, was flown into Rangoon on December 3.   The
five-member team apparently does not include Maj. Ner Dah Mya.  The
delegation is meeting with high-ranking SPDC officials including PM Khin
Nyunt in Rangoon. Sources from the KNU caution, however, that the team has
not been given any authority by the KNU Central Committee to negotiate any
deal but has been only asked to look into the possibility of solving
Burma's political problem by political means.  The fact that
Gen. Bo Mya has been deliberately behind this move makes it more noteworthy.

Conversely, the KNU team, which consists mainly of junior KNLA commanders,
raises some questions about the leverage the group has in this process. 
Regardless, the move indicates an unusual approach from the part of the
KNU.  Because the KNU's official position has always
been that it is open to discuss political issues with SPDC without any
precondition, this type of engagement cannot be considered a policy shift.
 Whether the KNU will be invited to attend the National Convention is not
known.

However, if an invitation is offered, the KNU may well consider accepting,
although it will surely weigh its decision in consideration of the
official position of the National League for Democracy. The junta's
strategy, obviously, is to bring the ethnic nationalities forces,
ceasefire as well as non-ceasefire groups, to play its game and garner as
much legitimacy as it possibly can, while leaving the NLD and Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, the most credible threat to the regime's power, out in the cold. 
 Once it can mute ethnic resistance forces, the junta believes that it
will be able to directly challenge the NLD on a much stronger political
ground.  In the meantime, reports coming out of
inside sources indicate that Col. Than Tun has been meeting on and off
with Aung San Suu Kyi lately; the nature of the talks between the two is
not yet known.

The NLD is yet to declare its official position on the proposed roadmap.

In light of recent increased involvement of the Thai government, in
particular of its Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai, Burma's political problems offer opportunities to
neighboring governments in their struggle for regional power.  Some senior
Thai officials are reportedly talking to the KNU in an attempt to help
persuade the Karens into a ceasefire agreement with the SPDC.

Just recently, the Bangkok Post reports that Thailand will host a
ten-nation meeting to discuss Burma's proposed "road map" toward
democratic transition.  According to the report, Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra confirmed Bangkok is expecting representatives from up to ten
countries to attend the forum which is due to be held on December 15.

Since Singapore's Lee Kwan Yew has effectively retired from politics and
Prime Minister Mahathia Mohammad of Malaysia is soon to leave his office,
it seems Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is keen to assert Thai
political influence over regional matters.  In an attempt to become a
player in global politics, Thailand's leaders see Burma's politics as a
good entry point.  Both Shinawatra and Sathirathai identify the need to
tame the rogue Burmese regime and understand that solving the Burma
problem or managing it will score points politically and be economically
rewarding to their country.  After all, foreign policies are a byproduct
of both national interests and personal ambitions.

On the one hand, the KNU must strategically consider its political options
to get out of the current political deadlock and find the best possible
solution for the Karen people and Burma. But it would be foolhardy to deal
with the SPDC as if it was a completely unified entity with good
intentions for the country.

Although ostensibly unpopular among the democratic opposition, the
practical view may be if the pro-democracy opposition groups, including
the NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, choose to fully reject PM Khin Nyunt's
seven-step road map, it will strengthen the position of hardliners within
the SPDC and weaken that of the moderates.  For the ethnic nationalities
armed resistance groups, choices are limited and fifty plus years of
experience have made it evident, especially for the
Karens, that it is politically unrealistic to base their political destiny
solely on the sincerity of the military junta.  For a regime that has been
bent on the policy of oppression and military suppression for decades,
sincerity has not been a significant concern and, presumably, is not of
high importance.  The KNU and other democratic forces have to confront the
realities, and continue to struggle with the understanding that politics
by nature is dynamic and fluid, and it at
times requires our ability to know when and how to (or not to) strike a
strategic deal with our opponents.

Edward W. Said, the late world-renowned Palestinian intellectual who
passed away recently in exile in New York, once observed, "Look at a
situation as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of
a series of historical choices made by men and women, as facts of society
made by human beings, and not as natural or god-given, therefore
unchangeable, permanent, irreversible."  It is only imperative that the
KNU leadership makes the right historical choices as it finds itself at
the crossroads of its resistance history, for the choices made today will
have long-term ramifications for both the Karens as a people and Burma as
a nation state.

Saw Kapi
_____________________________

Dec 12, The Financial Times
Burma’s Plans for Holding National convention Analysed

A commentary carried by the Thailand-based Burmese exile publication
Irrawaddy has examined the Burmese government's attempts to induce all the
nation's ethnic groups to attend the forthcoming National Convention. The
commentary said that if this convention was to be more successful than the
last one, the ethnic and pro-democracy groups should take a common
position for the convention negotiations. The commentary also said that
the presence at the convention of the National League for Democracy was
vital. The following is the text of an "online commentary" in English by
Win Min, researcher on civil-military relations, entitled: "Convention
plans moving ahead"; carried by Thailand-based Burmese exile publication
Irrawaddy web site on 11 December:

When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) endorsed the
Burmese junta's road map for political reconciliation in October, ruling
generals breathed a sigh of relief. But increased pressure from the West
and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's criticism of the road map last month
reflect the lack of international consensus on the issue.

Most criticism centres on the omission of any mention of opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
and the lack of a time frame for the road map's implementation.
Nonetheless, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is
proceeding with its plans and taking various measures to appease its
critics.

The first step in the road map is to reconvene the National Convention,
which has not been held since 1996. The new convention is set to meet in
early 2004. Originally criticized for granting only limited representation
to MPs elected in the 1990 election and for excluding delegates from most
ethnic nationalist organizations, the SPDC has been seeking to demonstrate
the inclusiveness of the new convention. It has already invited a number
of cease-fire groups to participate, and it appears to want non-cease-fire
groups to stop fighting the government, so they too can participate in the
proceedings.

In the convention planning's first stage, the SPDC approached cease-fire
ethnic groups to join, requesting that each send a list of five delegates
who would represent them. In mid-September the Kachin Independence
Organization (KIO) replied that it would attend but only under the
condition that the convention would include all ethnic and political
groups. Although the SPDC made no formal agreement on this matter, last
month the KIO decided to attend the convention anyway.

The United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army (North) also decided to
attend, even though their original conditions were not met. On 5 December,
the New Mon State Party, which had come under serious pressure, also
dropped its conditions and chose delegates for the convention. Perhaps the
regime promised these groups that they could discuss their conditions once
the convention begins.

Recently, the SPDC has pressured non-cease-fire groups to join the
convention as well. They have approached the Karenni National Progressive
Party, a small ethnic armed group, but the most powerful group in Karenni
State. More importantly, they have been trying to convince the Karen
National Union (KNU) to join, realizing how much legitimacy the national
convention would gain if this group participates.

The Karen armed struggle was the first ethnic insurgency to break out
after Burma's independence and it is the strongest ethnic force still
fighting today. Moreover, the KNU is the cornerstone of the border-based
alliance of ethnic and pro-democracy groups, which also includes the
National Council of the Union of Burma, among others. In the past, the
SPDC insisted that the KNU give up its arms before forging a cease-fire,
but Defence Ministry official Col San Pwint stated that this time there
would be no set conditions for a cease-fire. The KNU is thus faced with a
difficult decision. It does not want to give up its struggle without
having achieved its goals, but, on the other hand, it may be in a more
difficult position if it does not negotiate now.

Once it has persuaded most of the ethnic organizations to participate in
the convention, the regime may present the NLD with a take-it-or-leave-it
offer to join. This presents quite a dilemma for the party, similar to the
one it faced in 1993, when the convention first met. Suu Kyi was also
under house arrest then, and NLD Chairman U Aung Shwe decided that the
party's participation was necessary to ensure its survival. However, it
was only granted 12 per cent of the convention's seats, despite winning 82
per cent of the seats in the 1990 election. Nevertheless, the NLD hoped
the convention would afford some opportunity for open debate on the
country's future.

These hopes were soon dashed when they discovered that military
intelligence officers were monitoring all group discussions. In addition,
all the delegates' position papers were censored and rewritten in
accordance with the regime's preferences. Delegates were then told to read
their corrected papers to the convention without making any changes. One
Shan delegate who dared to slightly revise his censored speech was ordered
by a senior general to stop his speech immediately. Due to these and other
restrictions, the NLD walked out from the convention in late 1995.

In order to gain support for both the convention and their future plans, a
representative of the regime will attend a Thai-organized international
forum on Burma's road map in Bangkok on 15 December. At the meeting he
will have a chance to reaffirm ASEAN's endorsement for the road map and
also to change the attitude of Germany and France. These two powerful
European Union countries have advocated less harsh policies towards Burma
than other EU members, and the junta must be hoping that they will at
least adopt a wait-and-see stance towards the road map, if not lend their
total support.

The regime recently stated that a representative would only attend the
forum if the generals felt confident that their purpose is to clarify
their intentions, rather than for other countries to criticize their
policies. None of the EU hard-liners on Burma were invited to the meeting,
nor was the Philippines, the most democratic member of ASEAN. Burma's
rulers have insisted that they must develop their own solutions to the
country's problems and other nations should not interfere. Other ASEAN
countries have generally accepted this stance, standing by their principle
of non-interference in the internal affairs of member countries.

Japan, which has been critical of Burma, was invited to the meeting. This
may be because the junta feels that Japan is unlikely to take a harsh
stance, just days after it is scheduled to sign a treaty of amity with
ASEAN. The Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit takes place in Tokyo on 11-12
December. It is doubtful that Japan will criticize an ASEAN member so soon
afterward.

To ensure that the new National Convention is more successful than the
last, all ethnic and pro-democracy groups should develop a common set of
conditions for the convention's negotiations and stick to them. However,
since meetings between ethnic groups and the NLD are often blocked by the
government, coming up with a shared platform will be difficult. If ethnic
delegates attend the convention without the NLD, they may not be able to
insist on some of their most important points.

For the National Convention to lead to reform in Burma, the ethnic groups
and the NLD must be present. In order for these organizations to have
sufficient negotiating power, coordinated international support is also
necessary. The US, EU and UN must work closely with other international
actors, especially ASEAN, China, India and Japan, to maximize the impact
of pressure and persuasion on the generals. Otherwise, this convention may
too break down, just like the last one.

BRIEFING
__________________________

Dec 12, Altsean-Burma
Media Advisory: Latest Photos of Aung San Suu Kyi available

A photo essay of photographs documenting the travels of Burmese democracy
leader Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi in northern Burma in the week before she was attacked and
arrested
is now available from Altsean-Burma.

These photos constitute the latest available ones of the immensely popular
leader. On

June 19, Altsean-Burma released photos of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that were
taken on
her travels between June 2002 and April 2003 (available at

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Photos_of_Daw_Aung_San_Suu_Kyi_on_tour.htm )

The photos were captured from video footage taken between May 25 and May
29, 2003,
just hours before Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s entourage was violently attacked
by USDA
members, released prisoners and plainclothes army personnel.

According to survivors of the attack about 70 people were killed. Daw Aung
San Suu
Kyi and her deputy U Tin Oo, were arrested and detained. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
remains under house arrest, and U Tin Oo has been detained at the remote
prison in
Kale, near the Indian border.

The photos show the immense support that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD
receive in
so-called ‘non-traditional’ NLD areas. Tens of thousands of people have
turned out
to see her during her travels between May 2002 and May 2003, despite Daw
Suu’s
13-year absence from public view in Burma and the regime’s intimidation
tactics.
Such broad support is compelling proof that the people of Burma still want
democratic reforms in their country.

Two versions of the photos (thumbnails and higher resolution) can be
viewed and/or
downloaded at www.altsean.org. There is no copyright on these photos.
Media and
activist groups are welcome to use them.

Also available at www.altsean.org are pdf copies of Altsean-Burma’s recent
publications.

Enquiries telephone number: +661 686 1652