BurmaNet News, November 2, 2004

[Editor]

November 2, 2004, Issue # 2592

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar's new prime minister leaves for China
Irrawaddy: Unlicensed autos confiscated
Irrawaddy: Burmese political prisoner dies
Kao Wao: More Monland lost to Burma army
S.H.A.N.: Ethnic meet urges ceasefire groups to stick to their guns

DRUGS
S.H.A.N.: Huge price hike in Muse

REGIONAL
New Straits Times: Rohingyas thrilled over refugee status

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: UN rights expert sours on Myanmar democracy plan

OPINION / OTHER
Hindustan Times: Set to be Asia’s man at UN
Statesman: The General's visit: Uneasy questions
Observer: Ethics boys

ANNOUNCEMENT
www.tacticaltech.org: Asia Source: Request for Participants

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 2, Associated Press
Myanmar's new prime minister leaves for China

Yangon: Myanmar's new prime minister, Lt. Gen. Soe Win, left for China
early Tuesday, his first trip abroad since being appointed to the post
last month, diplomatic sources said.

Soe Win, who is leading a 50-member delegation that includes ministers of
foreign affairs, commerce, transport and national planning, will attend
the China-ASEAN Summit of Business and Investment in Nanning, in China's
Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The delegation will also attend a China-ASEAN trade fair, the sources said
on condition of anonymity.

Soe Win was seen off at the airport by a host of military leaders led by
chairman of the ruling junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who recently returned
from a historic six-day state visit to India, the first by a Myanmar
leader in 24 years.

The trip is Soe Win's first visit abroad since he replaced Gen. Khin Nyunt
as prime minister on Oct. 19. Khin Nyunt was officially reported to have
resigned for health reasons, but it is generally accepted that he was
forced out.

Soe Win, 56, is believed to espouse a hard line toward Myanmar's
pro-democracy movement - led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi - and Western countries pressuring the junta to free her and hand
power to an elected government. Khin Nyunt was considered relatively
moderate.

Khin Nyunt made a weeklong visit to China in July, almost a year after he
became prime minister.

In his capacity as a leading member of the junta, Soe Win earlier this
year went on official trips to Vietnam and Malaysia. He invited Chinese
Vice Premier Wu Yi - who he will meet at the summit - for a visit to
Myanmar in March.

China is Myanmar's most important ally, giving it financial assistance
denied by Western nations that shun the country's military regime for its
human rights records and for failing to hand over power to Suu Kyi's
opposition party, which won elections in 1990.

China and Myanmar share a 2,800-kilometer (1,400 mile) border.

____________________________________

November 2, Irrawaddy
Unlicensed autos confiscated - Shah Paung

Burmese officials have confiscated several hundred unlicensed vehicles
across the country and have arrested their owners in recent days, say
Burmese residents.

A resident in Mandalay said by telephone today that army and police
officials in the central Burmese city launched the crackdown on illegal
vehicles and their owners on Saturday. More than 400 automobiles have been
seized and several of the vehicles’ owners were Buddhist monks, said the
resident, who added that those found guilty would likely be sentenced to
jail.

At Three Pagodas Pass, on the Thai-Burma border, Burmese officials have
seized more than 100 unlicensed cars and motorcycles, which are being kept
at a local police station, said local resident Ma May Thet today.

In Karen State more than 60 unregistered vehicles have been confiscated
since October 31, said Nan Khin Htwe Myint, a member of the National
League for Democracy in Pa-an, the Karen State capital. Most of the
vehicles were owned by members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or
DKBA, a ceasefire group which broke away from the Karen National Union
insurgent group in 1995. The DKBA earns some of its income by smuggling
vehicles from Thailand inside Burma.

Burma’s erstwhile border security department allowed the DKBA to import
the illegal vehicles from Thailand, but was disbanded in recent weeks as
part of Burma’s leadership shuffle.

_____________________________________

November 2, Irrawaddy
Burmese political prisoner dies – Yeni

A political prisoner jailed for “high treason” has died in hospital from
complications related to tuberculosis and a swollen liver, according to a
statement issued by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma), or AAPP, on Monday.

Zaw Myo Htet, aged 28, also known as, Zaw Zaw, passed away at Rangoon
General Hospital on October 19 after being transferred from Insein Prison.

The final year geology student was arrested in November 2003 along with
eight other people (including First Eleven sports magazine editor Zaw Thet
Htwe) and convicted of  “high treason” for participating in plots to
“assassinate” government leaders. The regime commuted his sentence from
death to a three-year prison term following pressure from the
International Labor Organization, or ILO.

Joint-secretary of the AAPP Bo Kyi claimed that the death of Zaw Myo Htet
is indicative of how bad prison conditions are for political prisoners.
“It [prison deaths] has happened many times because of the absence of
necessary medical treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, reportedly hinted that he might resign his post early next year
because of the Burmese government’s refusal to let him into the country.

According to the AAPP, Zaw Myo Htet was the ninety-third Burmese political
prisoner to have died in detention since 1988. About 100 others suffer
from serious illnesses such as malaria, tuberculosis, asthma and
psychiatric disorders. There are around 1,500 political prisoners in jails
in Burma.

_____________________________________

November 2, Kao Wao News
More Monland lost to Burma army - Taramon

The Burmese junta has seized an additional 350 acres of land in southern
Mon State including family run plantations with the former farmers being
forced into providing unpaid forced labour on a daily rotation basis.

According to a Mon politician who recently arrived to Thai Burma border,
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) junta is building up troop
base along southern Mon state to crackdown on Hongsawatoi Restoration
Party, the splinter group who broke off from the New Mon State Party in
November, 2001.

“Land confiscation has intensified over the last 3 years forcing villagers
to flee to the border area and other places to escape forced labour and
destitution,” he said. Some having no means to support themselve may
decide to migrate to Thailand. “Two villages must provide force labor on a
daily basis or on a rotating system to clear  bushes, cut small trees, and
construct the military camp,” added the politician.

“One village has approximately 200 households and must provide the labor
for the rotating system. Other villages must pay for construction
equipment and other materials such as bamboo and small trees,” the
politician said.

Local people have now started to arrive at Halockhanee Mon refugee camp,
but want to return home to their stolen land but fear reprisals and forced
labour; living in the rural area is sometimes dangerous as fighting has
occurred between insurgents and the BA. The Mon refugees face dismal
prospects of ever returning home to their land and may have to live for
several years warehoused in the camp and are restricted from leaving the
camp to work freely in Thailand to support their family.

For those who decide not to go to the camp and migrate to Malaysia or
Thailand to look for work, face a daunting challenge in the hands of
traffickers, they would rather take the risk than stay in the camp, where
there is not enough humanitarian assistance. At the moment, there is no
other area for people to find safety and people in southern Ye township
face dangerious situation due to fighting.

Recently, satellite phones bought from neighboring Thailand and used for
business and for villagers with family who work in Thailand, Singapore and
Malaysia, were seized by the local BA led by colonel Than Toe.

In the evenings, beautiful women are sought out from the villages to go to
the military camp and provide entertainment, such as singing and pouring
beer or alcohol for the partying senior military commanders including Than
Toe, says a young Mon from the area who does not want to identified out of
fear of arrest.

The village headmen must use his own money or find ways to award prizes
(money in an envelop) to the women singers for entertainment, he says. The
women must join the commanders for hours of Karoke singing and put up with
their drunken and sometimes abusive behaviour. This has forced many of the
young women to flee from their villages to find work in Thailand, where
had never thought of going before and do it out of fear and necessity,
according to an interview with them last month on Thai soil by Kao Wao.

They say they have no hope for the future after their land or plantations
were confiscated by the junta, the new battalion that moved to the area is
No. 31 based in Thanbyuzayat town. Some Mon political analysts believe
that the move is not to crackdown on the HRP but to establish control in
the area first then build up Burman military influence within the
surrounding Mon community.

“The military commanders of the SPDC do not want to go that area for they
have no influence on the local people, so to gain control over peoples’
lives they started to found organizations such as the National Woman
Affair, the USDA, and other organizations,” the politician said. “The most
important thing they have wanted to do was first build a government
school, not a Mon National school.”

_____________________________________

November 1, Shan Herald Agency for News
Ethnic meet urges ceasefire groups to stick to their guns

A three-day strategic consultation meeting held by Burma's largest ethnic
alliance at an unidentified venue along the Thai-Burma border has called
on the ceasefire groups participating in the military-organized National
Convention to hold fast to their federal proposals presented at its last
session.

"We earnestly hope members of the ceasefire groups that, by force of
circumstance, have been attending  the SPDC (State Peace and Development
Council)'s National Convention will continue to stand firmly by their
original position on Democracy and Genuine Federalism," reads the
statement in Burmese issued by the Ethnic Nationalities Council yesterday
(Saturday, 30 October).

Sixteen armed groups that have concluded truce pacts with Rangoon had,
during the 17 May-9 July session of the National Convention, demanded a
reorganization of Burma as a union of autonomy states. The proposal had
warranted an on the sidelines rejection from the generals but a hearty
praise from the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Other resolutions include:

Support for US Congress resolution to place Burma on the UN Security
Council's agenda
Continued support for a tripartite (SPDC-Democratic Opposition-Ethnic
Nationalities) dialogue
One of the unwritten conclusions reached at the meeting, attended by 40
representatives from two umbrella organizations: National Democratic Front
and United Nationalities League for Democracy and other groups: Karenni
National Progressive Party, Restoration Council of Shan State, Kachin
National Organization, Arakan National Council, Political Affairs
Committee of Chinland and Shan Women's Action Network, was the
overwhelming need for all armed organizations, under the prevailing
circumstances, to be on full military alert and readiness.

A state of emergency has reportedly been issued by Rangoon since the
arrest and subsequent dismissal of Gen Khin Nyunt as prime minister on 18
October.

The ENC was formed on 14 March 2004 with the establishment of a Democratic
Federal Union as its ultimate goal. Among its tasks are support for Aung
San Suu Kyi and the ethnic alliance inside Burma, empowerment of ethnic
nationalities forces and their democratic alliances and the creation of an
International Forum on Burma.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

November 2, Shan Herald Agency for News
Huge price hike in Muse

In northern Shan State's Muse, the gateway to China's Ruili and where it
all started before the fall from grace of General Khin Nyunt, many
businesses have ground to a halt including drug trafficking, prompting
prices to rise sharply, reports Hawkeye from the border:

One 200-pill bag of low-quality methamphetamine used to be around Kyat
30,000 ($ 30) before 19 October, the day Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was
abruptly "permitted to retire due to health reasons". It has suddenly gone
up as high as Kyat 70,000 ($ 70) in the past few days.

Meanwhile, 1 kg of heroin that was around Yuan 23,000 ($ 2,875) a few
weeks earlier has soared to Yuan 30,000 ($ 3,750) and upwards, according
to local sources.

The price hike has been attributed to the suspension of operations by drug
entrepreneurs, who have adopted a wait-and-see policy. "It will also take
sometime to cultivate relations with the new people in power before
resuming business," said a Shan source in Zegao on the Chinese side of the
border.

All business transactions that had been arranged through connections with
the Military Intelligence and its financing arm, Nasaka (Border
Disciplinary Unit), were suspended after the two were taken action by
Rangoon one after the other between September and October.

With the MI and Nasaka gone, the vacuum has been filled up by local
police, who are setting up checkpoints to collect tax from the small
traders.

Each tolaji (farm tractors used by locals for transportation) is charged
2,000 - 10,000 kyat. "The state of affairs is known as Frogs become dear
when fish is scarce in the Shan saying," explained another local. "The
cops, long ignored by the populace, have now become people you have to
take into account even if temporarily."

On 12 September, troops from Northeastern Region Command raided the Nasaka
check point in Muse and confiscated 3 chestful of gold bars, among others.
The scandal led to the dissolution of the unit and its patron, the
Military Intelligence.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 2, New Straits Times
Rohingyas thrilled over refugee status - Ahmad Suffian

Kuala Lumpur: For most of the 10,000 Rohingyas in the country, the
Government's decision to grant them refugee status simply means being able
to walk around without fear of arrest.

For many, it will also mean ending begging and finding jobs for the first
time since arriving here. For some, it translates into doing small
businesses such as collecting discarded cardboard boxes and old newspapers
lawfully.

Regular jobs may also help them move out from squatter colonies in Cheras,
Pandan and Ampang Jaya into better housing.

Rohingya Information Centre (RIC) director Sawmee Ullah described the move
as the "best Hari Raya gift" for this Muslim community, which has been
living hand to mouth for years.

They can now obtain aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and send their children to school.

"They also no longer need to hide for fear of being deported back to
Myanmar, where they may face problems," he said.

Abdul Razak Ishak, 42, who came here in 1994, praised the Government for
recognising the plight of the Rohingyas.

"I have been renewing my temporary resident pass issued by the UNHCR every
two years since 2000, to avoid deportation. "I can now try to get a proper
job." Zarina Suleiman, 27, who gathers cardboard and scrap metal for sale,
said his new status meant not having to risk deportation.

"I have been arrested seven times and deported twice to Thailand and once
to Arakan. But I managed to return to my family here."

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 1, Reuters News
UN rights expert sours on Myanmar democracy plan - Irwin Arieff

United Nations: It would be a miracle if Myanmar's proposed road map to
democracy actually led to democracy, even if elections are held in 2006 as
planned, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Monday.

"I don't think, at the end of the road map, you will have democracy.
Perhaps you will have elections, but under what circumstances will these
elections be held if people are not able to assemble, to publish, to
distribute materials?" rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told reporters.

The military has ruled the southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma
since 1962, ignoring a 1990 landslide election victory by the National
League for Democracy. The party is led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since
May 2003.

Myanmar's road map plan calls for a national convention to draft a new
constitution, followed by a referendum to endorse the new constitution,
followed by elections.

Pinheiro, a Brazilian who has visited Myanmar six times in his four years
on the job but has not been allowed in this year, said he planned to keep
encouraging Myanmar's military government to take the necessary steps "to
have some sort of democracy at the end of the process."

But "today I don't see how this will be possible," he said. "Of course, if
some people believe in miracles, this is possible."

Prospects for political change in Myanmar were thrown into question last
month when Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who backed the road map plan, was
put under house arrest and replaced by Lt. Gen. Soe Win, a conservative.

Pinheiro said he hoped to be able to visit Myanmar before the next session
of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, scheduled to convene in Geneva in
March. If he could not, he was considering stepping down.

Myanmar envoy Kyaw Win told a General Assembly committee last week that
Pinheiro's current request to visit was "under consideration" even though
past commission resolutions criticizing his country's rights record had
been "unbalanced, biased, politically motivated and based on unfounded and
unproven allegations."

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 2, Hindustan Times
Set to be Asia’s man at UN - Saurabh Shukla

He boasts an impressive collection of rare watches and antique cars, but
that's just a stress buster. At 43, Thailand's foreign minister Dr
Surakiart Sathirathai criss-crossing global capitals as he braces himself
for Mission 2006 - to be Asia's man at the UN.

Backed by his boss, Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, Sathirathai is Asean's
official candidate for the UN secretary-general's job when Kofi Annan
retires in 2006. If he succeeds, he will be the youngest UN
secretary-general and only the second from Asia after U. Thant of Burma.
But it's not going to be easy as there are many candidates and many more
countries to be won over.

Sathirathai is known for his dynamism and contribution to economic diplomacy.

A realist and an advocate of global free trade, Sathirathai, who holds a
doctorate in law from Harvard, has also been Thailand's finance minister.

Known to be a tough negotiator, he proved himself during Thailand's trade
talks with the US on the intellectual property rights issue. He played the
role of a peacemaker in Cambodia and East Timor. He also helped Norway in
the Sri Lankan peace talks, hosting them in Thailand. His latest cause:
the restoration of democracy in Myanmar

Sathirathai was instrumental in getting Thailand to pioneer initiatives
like the Asian Cooperation Dialogue and BIMSTEC. His role as a dominant
voice in Asean has given him a global profile.

In Sathirathai, India has a friend who has worked for deepening ties
Indo-Thai ties. He was earlier instrumental in strengthening economic
co-operation with India as economic advisor to the prime minister.

Within a short time he has developed a close rapport with external affairs
minister K. Natwar Singh with a convergence of views on regional
partnerships as the foundation of multilateralism.

Sathirathai wears many hats. As the executive chairman of the Thai Oil
Company, he is known for his oil diplomacy and has been nicknamed 'the oil
man'. He still finds the time to teach at Harvard.

Sathirathai has a fetish for the initials SS, shared by his entire family.
They are supposed to bring him good luck. He'll need that in abundance to
be Asia's man at the UN.

_____________________________________

November 2, The Statesman (India)
The General's visit: Uneasy questions

That the visit of Myanmar's leader Gen. Than Shwe should have proceeded
without incident, to all intents and purposes a normal Head of State visit
during the diplomatic season, shows how far we have come in our dealings
with that country. Just a few years ago, such an occasion may well have
been marked by demonstrations, processions, press editorials questioning
the visitor's credentials and other reminders of the fact that the Myanmar
regime has overthrown democracy and incarcerated that country's elected
leader. But today, the critical voices are muted. A gesture or two was as
much the once vocal opposition was able to muster, nothing to disturb the
even tenor of the visit. The General received all the honours due to the
position he occupies and was able to travel to different parts of the
country without anything going amiss. It all suggested that there were no
great issues outstanding between India and Myanmar.

A Head of State visit is no occasion for unfriendly display, but it should
not blind us to some of the realities within our neighbouring country.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the admired leader who emphatically won the popular
mandate at the election in 1990, has never been able to assume the office
for which her people chose her. The military junta annulled the election
results and Suu Kyi herself was placed under restraint. Her heroic
resistance earned her worldwide respect and the following year she
received the Nobel Peace Prize. She became, and remains, the foremost
symbol of resistance to military rule. For over a decade-and-a-half, she
has remained under some form of restraint and has had to bear a heavy
personal burden. Yet, she has not flinched or compromised. In the early
days of her travails, Aung San Suu Kyi had much sympathy and support in
New Delhi. She had been a student here when her mother was ambassador, and
there was a wide network of friends and supporters to take up her cause.
India, whose democratic instincts were roused by her plight, remained a
staunch backer of the ousted leader and maintained distance from the
military regime long after others had made their adjustments. Prominent
among those who soon came to terms with the regime was China which moved
in while others were backing off. Before long China had gained an
important foothold in Myanmar's affairs. As a close neighbour, India could
do little more than watch in some dismay. Myanmar had long been plagued by
unsettled conditions, with multiple insurgencies in many different parts
of the country. There were links between some insurgent groups in Myanmar
and similar groups in India, with whom they had ethnic ties. The border
across which they moved with ease is difficult to police, being remote and
relatively undeveloped. Curbing the insurgents, which both desired,
required joint effort. Thus, of necessity, little by little the ruptured
links were revived. As cooperation in dealing with armed groups developed
in the border areas, Indian media coverage of events in Myanmar was toned
down, especially in All India Radio and other official media. Suu Kyi's
cause came to be pursued more actively by private, non-official groups.
Persisting political differences did not disturb handling of day-to-day
matters. This was especially beneficial for the people of the bordering
region, and even the most ideologically driven could hardly object. Nor
could there be any quarrel with the way cross-border insurgent activity
was brought under some sort of control. Cooperation for such practical
purposes was useful and mutually beneficial. The bilateral relationship
remained more or less at this low level of exchange for some years, and
only gradually did it inch its way onward and upward, so that now high
level visits can be undertaken without eyebrows being raised.

The China factor in Myanmar's affairs has kept Indian strategists on their
toes. There has been much discussion and speculation in the Indian media
about Chinese naval bases in Myanmar waters, Chinese airstrips, and more.
Such apprehensions have never quite been substantiated as a direct threat
to India but nevertheless enough has been said to raise fears of a
possible Chinese advance along a vulnerable Indian flank. This is one of
the reasons for India to try to raise its profile in Myanmar. Indian eyes
have also turned to the road and other transport links that have been
developed from China to Myanmar and the burgeoning economic activity that
ties the two closer together. Today, China is well placed to take the lead
in exploiting Myanmar's abundant natural resources, which some regard as
Asia's last remaining treasure house. Such developments can appear
disturbing at a strategic level.

The Myanmar visit did not open up new areas of activity: rather, it
confirmed the structure of the relationship as it has evolved over the
last few years. Security issues seem to have dominated the agenda. The
opportunity for economic expansion and development of transit capacity was
not taken: it seems that New Delhi remains chary of opening up the
North-east to the neighbouring world. In dealing with countries around us
it may become necessary from time to time to suppress our democratic
instincts, but remaining stuck in the time warp that prevents more normal
development of the North-east should become progressively less acceptable.
That is where the challenge lies.

(Salman Haidar is a former Foreign Secretary, Govt. of India.)

_____________________________________

October 31, The Observer
Ethics boys - Nick Mathiason

Last Sunday, Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, right, began
her tenth year incarcerated by the brutal Burmese military regime. Last
week the European Union set out of list of sanctions covering every
Burmese industry other than its money-spinners - oil, gas and timber. For
this egregious dilution, blame the French. It's French oil firm Total
which stands to gain from the rich reserves that will be extracted in
coming years. And it's been the French who have been vetoing strong
sanctions. But Britain is no angel. Soon after Labour came to power, UK
imports of goods from Burma were £17.3 million. By 2002, they were up to
£64.3m. In three years' time, the tyrannical dictators who rule Burma will
be home and dry on the riches that gas and oil excavation will bring. If
sanctions don't come now, it will be too late. Oh, well. Never mind.

_____________________________________

ANNOUNCEMENT

November 1, www.tacticaltech.org
Asia Source: Request for Participants

Tech camp for the voluntary sector

Tachtical Techonology Collective [www.tacticaltech.org] Bangalore, India.
January 28th to February 4th 2005.

Asia Source hopes to bring together over 100 people from 20 countries to
increase the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) amongst the
voluntary sector in South and South East Asia.

This week long event will bring together NGOs and NGO technology support
professionals working at the grassroots level across the region to learn
new skills, exchange tips, and share experiences. Together with regionally
and globally renowned experts and specialists they will look at the use of
FOSS within the non-profit sector from both an access and a content
perspective. Offering participants the opportunity to explore the
practical technical side of FOSS whilst providing a conceptual backdrop.

Asia Source will be the first event of its kind in the region, bringing
together regional non-profit professionals with a rights based focus, it
will invite those from both the technical and content end of the spectrum
to focus on the practical elements of technology deployment.

Participants with a range of expertise will be provided with a space for
intensive peer learning. They will be given the opportunity to develop
their understanding of FOSS, learn how to select and apply alternative
technologies, and be provided with the skills and tools to utilise this
within the context of their daily work. They will also be encouraged to
explore the challenges and the future potential of FOSS adoption within
the social context.

During this 'camp' style event,  participants will take part in a range of
sessions. From planning and helping an NGO to migrate to FOSS, to sharing
tips and techniques on using tools for content development, advocacy and
campaigning. In parallel to this they will look beneath user-level
scenarios, and break-down tricky issues such as localisation techniques
and how to develop total cost of ownership models.

Four themes will flow throughout the event
o 'FLOSSophy' for NGOs
o Migration and Access
o Tools for content and communication
o Localisation

Asia Source will be held in a small artists community on the outskirts of
Bangalore. Its aim is to become a community building event, with the
potential to seed connections and future partnerships across borders and
between skillsets.

The event is co-organised by Mahiti.org (Bangalore) and the Tactical
Technology Collective (Amsterdam). The event is guided by an advisory
board of established non-profit and FOSS professionals from across the
South and South East Asian region. The organisers will also collaborate
with international NGO technology groups such as the Association for
Progressive Communications(APC) and Aspiration.  Asia Source belongs to a
larger family of Source Events that seek to increase the viability of FOSS
use by the non-profit sector. Other source events have taken place in
South East Europe, Southern Africa and are planned in 2005 in Western
Africa.

For more information please visit http://www.tacticaltech.org/asiasource

Applications will be announced and invited between October and November
2004. Participants will be selected by the advisory board based on their
interest and experiences. There will be a small registration fee for the
event. A limited number of travel and registration fee scholarships will
be available and may be applied for on application. If you would like to
receive an application form or have any questions please write to
asiasource at tacticaltech.org.