BurmaNet News, September. 1, 2004

[Editor]

September 1, 2004, Issue # 2550

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar opposition asks junta for meeting with detained democracy leader
VOA: Burmese Democratic Opposition Considers Reforms
DVB: Burmese activists show interest in NLD meetings

BUSINESS / MONEY
WWP: Construction of proposed $3,000,000,000 liquefied natural gas (LNG)
plant

REGIONAL
S.H.A.N, DW: East Timor offers to host KNU - SPDC ceasefire talks
Irrawaddy: Thai Army Chief Visits Rangoon

INTERNATIONAL
USCB: Three Major Tours to Burma Cancelled
EPPS: No to Europe-Asia summit with Burma
Xinhua: Myanmar forges diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Being a journalist in Myanmar


______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 1, Agence France Presse
Myanmar opposition asks junta for meeting with detained democracy leader

Myanmar's opposition has asked the country's military regime to allow a
meeting with their detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi amid calls for a party
overhaul, officials said Wednesday.

Members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) want to boost the
leadership, whose numbers have dwindled because of detentions,
resignations and deaths, and to rejuvenate an ageing party.

"We haven't get their (the government's) reply yet and we are expecting to
meet her. We have many things to discuss," NLD spokesman U Lwin told AFP.

Any meeting would be the first since May when NLD leaders, including Aung
San Suu Kyi, held a series of discussions before boycotting a national
convention held by the junta.

The regime, which has ruled the country since a 1962 coup, said the
convention was the first step in its programme of democratic development
but the international community has dismissed it as a sham.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo have been in detention since May
last year when her convoy was attacked by a junta-backed mob in northern
Myanmar.

The NLD scored a landslide win in 1990 elections which the international
community considered free and fair but was never allowed to rule.
_____________________________________

September 1, Voice Of America
Burmese Democratic Opposition Considers Reforms

Several members of Burma's pro-democracy opposition have called for
reforms within the party.
The members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy say the
party needs to see changes in its decision-making bodies in order to bring
younger people into the group. They have called for the party to expand
its Central Executive Committee to include younger people.

Party spokesman U Lwin suggested senior party members may meet to discuss
reforms, but he did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the French news agency reports that Burma's opposition has
asked the country's military government to allow a meeting with Aung San
Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.

____________________________________

August 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese activists show interest in NLD meetings

Pro-democracy activists inside, outside Burma are said to be very
interested in the meetings held by the main opposition party National
League for Democracy (NLD) which finished in Rangoon recently.

They are hoping for more active political activities as NLD leaders
throughout Burma were able to discuss their views openly and frankly with
the party’s central executive (CEC) committee members.

NLD members are calling for an overhaul to the party’s decision-making
bodies, including its nine-member CEC.

Most agree that the party must expand the CEC, entrusted with making the
party’s major decisions, to include younger members.

They also agree that the party must expand its Central Committee (CC)
which is subordinate to the CEC and has more than a dozen members.

NLD spokesman U Lwin said the nine central executive committee members,
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and party chairman Tin Oo would respond to
the proposal some time in the future.

An unnamed NLD member told DVB that NLD members understand the precarious
and sensitive position of their leaders but they want more active
political actives and transparent contacts with ordinary people in Burma.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

September 1, World Wide Projects- Business Opportunities in Asia & the
Pacific
Construction of proposed $3,000,000,000 liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant
in Myanmar

A South Korean/Indian joint venture that teams up South Korea-based DAEWOO
International Corp. (60%) and Korea Gas Corp. (10%) in conjunction with
ONGC Videsh (20%) and Gail (India) Ltd. (10%) of India is currently
involved in the exploration of the A-1 gas block off the western Rakhine
state in Myanmar. In so doing, the consortium is expected to drill 8 more
wells in mid-October 2004 before deciding whether to build a liquefied
natural gas (LNG) plant in the country. The deposit is presently
considered to hold an estimated 4 to 6 trillion cubic feet of gas.

As things currently stand, DAEWOO has indicated that it will go ahead with
the construction project if some 8 trillion cubic feet of reserves are
found. If no additional gas is secured the existing reserves will be
supplied to India by pipeline. On the other hand, if the project goes
ahead as envisioned DAEWOO will build a complex that is expected to
require an investment of $3,000,000,000 to complete.

In any case according to Dr. Yang Su-Seong, Myanmar DAEWOO LTD. Managing
Director, his company has also signed a contract to explore for gas in
Block A-3 that is located south of Block A-1.

DAEWOO is engaged in international trade, information, project organizing
and resource development.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 1, Shan Herald News Agency/ Dictator Watch
East Timor offers to host KNU - SPDC ceasefire talks-- Roland Watson

Dictator Watch has interviewed David Tharckabaw, head of the Karen
National Union Information Department, about the status of the ceasefire
negotiations between the KNU and Burma's military regime, the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC).

In recent days the government of East Timor has offered to provide a
neutral venue for the negotiations. This offer was conveyed by Jose
Ramos-Horta, Foreign Minister of East Timor and Nobel Peace Prize
recipient.  Mr. Ramos-Horta said that East Timor would be pleased to serve
as a neutral, humble and disinterested party to facilitate the talks.

The ceasefire talks began last December, at which time a gentleman's
agreement to suspend hostilities was reached. However, since then over
three hundred clashes have occurred. The Burma Army also continues to
commit widespread human rights violations against the Karen people.

Because of this, the KNU believe that the immediate negotiation objective
must be to agree upon ways and means to establish a systematic ceasefire,
such that the clashes and human rights abuses come to an end.

The generals of the SPDC have been intransigent. There has been no
progress in the discussions towards achieving this goal. The SPDC are also
proceeding with their "Roadmap," and have stated that the participation of
the KNU, and the National League for Democracy, is unnecessary. It is now
clear that the SPDC have no intention of relinquishing military control,
nor of allowing Burma to become a democracy.

The ceasefire negotiations are presently at a standstill, because the SPDC
are insisting that all meetings be held inside Burma, in areas they
control. They have rejected out-of-hand the idea of a neutral venue.

Their negotiation positions, on all issues, have been hard-line and
inflexible.

The Karen do not feel free and secure meeting in SPDC territory. The
regime has not made a general declaration of amnesty, hence Karen leaders
could be arrested at any time. Karen leaders have also been assassinated
in the past.

Having a neutral venue, with international mediation, is to everyone's
benefit - including the SPDC. It will help ensure that any agreement that
is reached is transparent and accountable.

The Karen have been exploring prospective neutral venues, to which the
East Timorese have responded with their gracious offer. East Timor is
well-suited to host the negotiation. The country is non-aligned, and it is
also close geographically - which will simplify travel arrangements.
The negotiations will also benefit from East Timor's recent and direct
experience in international conflict resolution.

The KNU are now asking the SPDC to reconsider their position on the venue,
and to agree to conduct future negotiation sessions in East Timor.

The KNU further would like to make it clear - to the international
community - that having a ceasefire agreement is not equivalent to peace.

Any formal ceasefire must be followed by political dialogue - the Karen
support a tripartite dialogue - to achieve a just settlement in Burma. 
And, the terms of this settlement must then be successfully implemented.
Only then will Burma be at peace, and only then can such things as
refugee repatriation and economic development legitimately commence.

_____________________________________

September 1, Irrawaddy
Thai Army Chief Visits Rangoon

On Wednesday the outgoing Chief of the Royal Thai Army returned from a
two-day trip to Rangoon, during which he met with Burmese military
leaders. One of the topics for discussion was ethnic minority rebel groups
on the Thai-Burma border, said Thai officials.

Gen Chaisit Shinawatra on Tuesday met with Sr-Gen Than Shwe, chairman of
State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, and Supreme Commander of
Burma’s armed services, and Deputy Sr-Gen Maung Aye, Burma Army Commander
and vice chairman of the SPDC, the state-run New Light of Myanmar
newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to a Thai reporter based in Bangkok, they discussed border
security, frontier demarcation, bilateral trade and ethnic rebel groups,
particularly the state of the ceasefire process with the Karen National
Union, or KNU.

The reporter, who asked not to be named, said that those topics were also
discussed last month when Burma Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff Gen
Thura Shwe Mann visited Bangkok.

Gen Chaisit Shinawatra, a cousin of the Prime Minister of Thailand, has
played a key mediation role between Rangoon and the KNU.

The KNU, which has fought with Rangoon for 56 years, started ceasefire
negotiations with the Burmese government late last year and has a
tentative agreement in place.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on August 25 said that his
government would not support Burma’s ethnic rebels when Gen Thura Shwe
Mann, visited Bangkok.

The KNU’s secretary of foreign affairs David Taw said before Chaisit’s
trip that the Royal Thai Army Chief wanted to help facilitate a lasting
agreement between the SPDC and the KNU.

At the end of last month a Burmese government delegation led by Col San
Pwint met the KNU leaders in Mae Sot, Thailand, to prepare for the next
round talks due to be held this month, according to the rebel group.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 31, US Campaign for Burma
Three Major Tours to Burma Cancelled

The US Campaign for Burma today welcomed the cancellation of three major
tours to Burma by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH),
Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian Journeys), and Asia Society. Burma’s
democracy movement, led by the world’s only incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize
recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for a boycott of tourism to Burma
until there is a irreversible transition to democracy.

“These decisions represent principled reasoning,” said Aung Din, a former
political prisoner from Burma and policy director with the US Campaign for
Burma, who met with officials of AMNH last month.  “We’re grateful that
such respected institutions took a fresh look at the situation in Burma
and decided that it is not appropriate to travel to Burma right now.”
On August 30th, AMNH informed USCB of its intent to cancel its “Expedition
to Burma” scheduled for October, 2004, three days after the Smithsonian
Journeys cancelled its own trip.  The Asia Society informed USCB of its
decision in a letter dated August 12th.

Tourism is linked to human rights abuses and benefits Burma’s military
regime in a number of ways.  First, the regime uses forced labor—a modern
form of slavery—to develop its tourist infrastructure.  The International
Labor Organization reports that “the military treats the civilian
population as an unlimited pool of unpaid forced laborers and servants at
their disposal. The practice of forced labor is to encourage private
investment in infrastructure development, public sector works and tourism
projects.” As a result of the military regime’s use of forced labor, the
ILO has called for international sanctions on Burma, the first time the
organization has taken such action in its 80-year history.

Second, thousands of Burmese people have been forced from their homes to
make way for tourism developments or as part of so-called “beautification”
projects.  These people are usually left without homes or shelter, so that
tourists can “enjoy” the areas where they used to live.
Third, Burma’s regime, desperate to get its hands on dollars, milks the
tourism industry to maximize government intake.  The country’s Minister of
Hotels and Tourism, Major General Saw Lwin, admitted that the government
receives about 12 per cent of the income even of private tourism services,
while the military regime receives much larger sums from visa fees and
government-controlled entities.

Many prominent individuals, organizations, and companies have joined the
boycott of tourism to Burma, similarly to the 1980s boycott of South
Africa’s apartheid government.  According to the popular “Rough Guides”
travel guide, “There are occasional instances where any benefits (from
tourism) are overshadowed by the nature of the social and political
climate. Apartheid South Africa was an example. Burma, with its brutal
dictatorship, state control of the economy and forced labor used to build
its tourist infrastructure, is another. As long as the military regime
remains in power and Aung San Suu Kyi - leader of the democratically
elected National League for Democracy - requests that tourists do not
visit, Rough Guides will not publish a guide to the country.”

_____________________________________

August 30, European Parliament Press Service
No to Europe-Asia summit with Burma

"Don't let the Council attend the Europe-Asia Forum with Burma", urged
Thaung Htun, representative of the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (the Burmese government in exile), to applause from MEPs at
Monday's meeting of the Development Committee. Differing positions have
emerged between EU Member States over the participation of Burma at the
Europe-Asia summit meeting (ASEM) to be held in Hanoi in October. The UK
is opposed to Burma's presence while France refuses to rule it out. MEPs
on Monday strongly condemned the military regime in Rangoon and rejected
the idea that the Council of the EU should be represented at a summit in
which Burmese leaders will take part. Max van den BERG (PES, NL) proposed
that Parliament send a letter to this effect to the Council Presidency.

MEPs pointed out that Parliament was the first institution to show concern
about the political situation in Burma when it awarded the Sakharov Prize
to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990, a year before she received the Nobel Peace
Prize. More recently, in a resolution adopted on 11 March 2004, the
European Parliament again called for the release of the leader of the
National League for Democracy, who has been under house arrest since 1989,
and all political prisoners in the country. MEPs believe that if this
condition is not met there should be no dialogue with the junta, with José
Ribeiro E Castro (EPP-ED, PT) in particular arguing that it would make a
laughing stock of Parliament.

Thaung Htun and Brad Adams (Human Rights Watch) stressed the widespread
violations of human rights in Burma. Opposition politicians are arrested
and tortured but, more than that, all Burmese people are living in terror.
"You can see the fear in people's eyes", said Mr Adams, a view endorsed by
Glenys Kinnock (PES, UK) and Ana Maria Gomes (PES, PT). Apart from the
cases of Aung San Suu Kyi and the political prisoners, speakers at
Monday's meeting highlighted the abuses suffered by non-Burmese ethnic
groups in the country as well as the land confiscations, assassinations,
forced labour, the use of rape as a political weapon and the 70,000 child
soldiers in an army of 250,000 men. Living conditions are appalling yet
50% of the budget is spent on the army and only 5% on health. In addition,
the country is riddled with corruption and drug trafficking, Burma being
one of the biggest exporters of heroin in the world. In the words of Mr
Adams, "the population is poor but the generals are rich".

Kyaw WIN, the Burmese ambassador to the United Kingdom, said that the only
solution to human rights violations was peace and development. The central
position of the army in government and the internal conflicts in the
country were the result of the colonial period, she said. However, Nirj
Deva (EPP-ED, UK) rejected this claim, describing it as "post-1948
paranoia". He called on Burma to allow the international community to
assist it. The national conference currently under way should speed up the
democratisation of the country, replied the ambassador, but Mr Htun
disagreed, saying the conference was only designed to legitimise the
military government.

Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PES, FR) made a point of distancing herself from
the French government's stance on this issue and urged French MEPs of all
groups to send a joint letter to their foreign minister expressing their
disquiet.

_____________________________________

September1, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar forges diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia

Myanmar has established diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia at ambassadorial
level as part of its move to enhance its foreign relations, the Myanmar
Foreign Ministry announced here Wednesday.

An agreement on the establishment of diplomatic ties was signed by the
ambassadors of Myanmar and Saudi Arabia in New York on Aug. 25, said the
ministry.

Saudi Arabia is the third country with which Myanmar has forged diplomatic
ties so far this year after Ireland and Sudan, bringing the total number
of countries with which Myanmar has diplomatic links to 92 since it
regained independence in 1948.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Myanmar has so far set up embassies in
30 countries and two permanent missions in New York and Geneva, and three
consulates-general in China's Hong Kong and Kunming and India's Calcutta,
respectively.

Meanwhile, 27 countries have their embassies in Myanmar. In addition,
China and India have respectively set up consulates- general in Myanmar's
Mandalay, while Bangladesh has one in Sittway.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 31, Mizzima
Being a journalist in Myanmar

(A reporter who is working inside Burma sent this letter to Mizzima News
recently, which express the reality of Burmese regime's censorship in
press. The name of the writer is withheld because of the security reason)

I had been dreaming of reporting right and accurate news to the public
since I was in childhood I was delighted to join a leading newspaper as I
believed that I would be able to offer strong and healthy news to the
readers.

But, unfortunately, I came to realize that I was in a wrong path to depict
my dream one month after joining the paper. Initially, I was assigned to
contribute articles for Timeout section in which most human interest
stories are mentioned. The third story I had contributed was about
children in a Christian orphanage school and the story was denied to be
published as the censorship board thought that it was linked to religious
affairs.

I was so surprised and intolerant for the condition I had faced, but most
of my colleagues explained me that they had also faced the similar
condition. One of my friend who always covered the political news also
told me that most of his stories were banned by the board.

So, it was not a surprise for any body working at our paper at all and it
accustomed to me as time goes by. As a result, the freedom of press which
is a phrase we, journalists in Myanmar, are longing for. All the
journalists are expecting to acquire a period in which we can report the
informative articles on different sectors - political, health, economic or
social.

Whenever I was advised by some interviewees to write strong and
informative stories, I felt very annoyed and sad as I was unable to speak
out them why I could not contribute such kind of stories.

So, what about the earning? According to the international practice, each
story is paid in consignment. But, we are paid in salary no matter or what
how many stories we have contributed.

So, how about our journalism skill? Although I have been working as a
journalist for the past three and half years, I did not get any training
or education on new writing or other kind of journalism ethics. But, I
learn a lot from our editors who has a lot of experiences in the
international journalism field.

But, like other international journalists, I have gained a wide knowledge
on different sectors meeting with various kinds of people from grass-root
level to top-level.

Being a journalist in Myanmar gives me the real taste of life as I can
enjoy good or bad things about life by interviewing people or exploring by
myself and I am now looking forwards to be energetic, efficient
journalist.