BurmaNet News, November 3, 2004

[Editor]

November 3, 2004, Issue # 2593

"Burma has broken its promise and now they come to attack us"
- Karen National Union soldier Saw Doh Moo, as quoted in South China
Morning Post, November 3, 2004

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: NLD called on to take greater role
South China Morning Post: Karen prepare for the worst as peace hopes diminish
S.H.A.N.: Youths for ransom in Shan State
Dow Jones: Myanmar to hunt for historic treasures under riverbeds
Xinhua: Myanmar to penetrate int'l film industry market

BUSINESS
Xinhua: Myanmar to host five-nation trade fair
Mizzima: India to invest more in Burma

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: India unlikely to fulfill northeast demand

INTERNATIONAL
M2 Press Wire: ILO governing body's 291th session to discuss partnerships
for "Fair Globalization", Belarus, Myanmar and other issues

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 3, Irrawaddy
NLD called on to take greater role - Nandar Chann

On Monday about fifty members of the National League for Democracy, or NLD
in Meiktila, Mandalay Division, including four elected members of
parliament, adopted a resolution calling on the party to play a major role
in political reform in the country instead of acting as a bystander.

They also urged the NLD to press the government to take steps towards
democracy and to reform the Burma Army, according to Thein Lwin, a member
of parliament from the Meiktila for the NLD, who spoke to The Irrawaddy by
telephone on Tuesday.

“We welcomed the government’s action abolishing the National Intelligence
Bureau,” he said. “But, [the NLD’s] executive members should urge the
government to release of political prisoners who were arrested and
sentenced.”

The resolution follows similar moves by other party members. In August 43
NLD members of parliament from across the country called on the party
executive to arrange a meeting of all NLD MPs with the CRPP. On July 29,
fourteen NLD members of parliament from Irrawaddy Division petitioned the
party executive to call for a people’s parliament.

“If they fail to call for a people’s parliament by May 27 next year, we
[14 MPs] will withdraw our support for the Committee Representing the
People’s Parliament [CRPP],” the letter stated.

“It was a long time ago and I don’t know much about it,” party spokesman U
Lwin told The Irrawaddy by telephone from Rangoon on Wednesday. “In short,
it seems to amount to insincerity.” He dismissed as “mere speculation”
claims that an NLD disciplinary session will meet regarding the calls.

The CRPP was formed by the main opposition NLD and smaller ethnic-based
political parties on September 16, 1998 after the State Peace and
Development Council, or SPDC, failed to respond to renewed calls for it to
recognize the results of the 1990 elections. The committee stated that it
would continue to call for the parliament to sit and work like a
legislature until it is convened.

“The CRPP is based at the NLD office [in Rangoon],” said Khun Htun Oo, a
member of the CRPP and an elected MP for the Shan National League for
Democracy, or SNLD, who spoke to The Irrawaddy by telephone on Tuesday.
“So long as the NLD doesn’t do anything, we can’t do anything.”

_____________________________________

November 4, South China Morning Post
Karen prepare for the worst as peace hopes diminish - Simon Montlake

Mu Aye Pu: Colonel Ner Dah threads a strip of white cloth through the
barrel of his silver Italian-made handgun, newly purchased in Thailand.

"We have to be prepared," the rebel commander says. "This is about our
dignity. We have to defend ourselves."

A ceasefire agreed in December by the Karen National Union (KNU) with then
prime minister General Khin Nyunt had offered a glimmer of hope peace
could prevail. But the fall of the general, now under house arrest in
Yangon, has raised fears that hawkish army generals may ditch the talks
for war.

Resting inside a wooden cabin at his battalion headquarters, Colonel Ner
Dah says the KNU has not given up hope of brokering a deal to end the
fighting and allow fleeing Karen villagers to return home.

"It's better to keep talking. Both sides are playing a political game
now," says the colonel, son of KNU elder statesman General Bo Mya.

Even before the hardliners reasserted control in Yangon, many Karen were
openly sceptical of the verbal ceasefire deal, which has brought little
relief to their devastated homeland. By some accounts, the ceasefire has
reduced the fighting, though KNU guerillas continue to attack the army's
supply lines.

Human rights groups say Karen villagers are still being forced to work for
free for the Myanmese army as porters or manual labourers. As many as
200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war. A
further 120,000 live in camps across the border in Thailand.

Hundreds of families have sought protection in the riverside camp of Mu
Aye Pu, headquarters of Battalion 202. They have planted rice and
vegetables to supplement a diet of foraged roots and fruits. Their raised
bamboo huts nestle up against heavily forested limestone hills that
provide a natural barricade against marauding soldiers. A new school with
four classrooms holds out the hope that a new generation of Karen may have
other options than taking up arms.

Saw Paw Kler, 19, who fled his village six years ago after his father was
accused of being a KNU sympathiser, says he is ready to run again. "We
will have to flee across the border to Thailand if our troops can't keep
us safe," he says.

Some soldiers fear the Myanmese army is preparing for a dry-season
offensive against their tenuous border positions.

The KNU says it has more than 10,000 soldiers under its command, though
independent analysts give a figure in the low thousands.

"Everyone was happy at the time of the ceasefire. We all hoped it would
lead to proper peace talks," soldier Saw Doh Moo says.

The 30-year-old joined the rebels when he was 12 after the army razed his
village. He shakes his head at the apparent duplicity of the regime.
"Burma has broken its promise and now they come to attack us," he says.

_____________________________________

November 3, Shan Herald Agency for News
Youths for ransom in Shan State

More than 50 - new young arrivals from southern Shan State say they had
fled from the Army's recruiting campaign for militiamen which turned out
to be merely a caper to raise funds, reports King Cobra from the Chiangmai
border:

On 22 October, the Mongpan-based Light Infantry Battalion 520 issued a
directive for the local populace to select male youths between 18-35 to be
trained as paramilitaries. Accordingly, 58 trainees were collected and
sent to the battalion. To their consternation, the yet-to-be trained
conscripts, on their arrival, were ordered to change into army uniforms
and taken out on a patrolling mission. Villagers were later informed by a
non-commissioned officer Sergeant Aung Htay, "If you want your sons an
nephews back, you only need to pay 10,000 kyat ($ 10) for each of them."

Youths coming from other townships in the area: Kengtawng, Mongnai,
Langkher and Kunhing had a slightly different story. "Each village is
surrounded and names of those eligible are read out and called forth,"
said a 20-year old youth from Kunhing township's Kali village. "Anyone who
wished to be counted out must pay 10,000 kyat to the Army."

All the arrivals in Thailand had decided to leave homes ahead of the
Army's arrival in their villages. Many of them are currently seeking jobs
in Chiangmai's countless fruit orchards.

A number of them also express fear for their parents. "I hope the Army
doesn't punish them for our absence," worries one.

Burma reportedly has the second largest army in Southeast Asia after
Vietnam. Most of the armed opposition movements have concluded truce pacts
with Rangoon and it is facing no armed aggression from neighbors. Yet the
fact remains it has yet to stop its continued military build-up.

_____________________________________

November 3, Dow Jones International News
Myanmar to hunt for historic treasures under riverbeds

Yangon: Myanmar plans next year to begin retrieving cultural treasures
that have been buried under riverbeds for centuries, a local cultural
journal reported Wednesday.

Foreign experts will train people from Myanmar's archaeology and water
resources departments in underwater archaeology skills next year, and the
hunt should start soon after, Flower News said.

The journal quoted Hla Gyi Maung Maung, director-general of the
Archaeology Department, as saying the search would focus on the
Ayeyarwaddy River along which the ancient cities of Bagan, Tagaung and
Amarapura once flourished.

The official said the Great Bell of Dhammazedi, which has been lying in
the Yangon River for centuries, will be among the treasures salvaged if
the training proves successful.

A monarch donated the giant bronze bell to the capital's Shwedagon Pagoda
in 1476, but it was stolen by a Portuguese adventurer. However, the vessel
carrying the bell sank. Until the late 1800s, the top of the sunken bell
could still be seen at low tide.

Earlier attempts to salvage the Dhammazedi Bell, which is believed to
weigh about 270 metric tons, were unsuccessful.

_____________________________________

November 3, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar to penetrate int'l film industry market

Yangon: Myanmar has introduced a movie featuring ancient king era to
Malaysian audiences recently as part of its move to penetrate the
international film industry market.

The movie, Kyansittmin, based on the life of the Bagan era monarch King
Kyansittha, who reigned from 1084 to 1113, was shot by the Everest Film
Company with Academy winner Lu Minn directing and playing King Kyansittha
himself, according to film industry sources.

The movie was shot with technical assistance from Malaysian company PWT Co
Ltd at Bagan and other locations including the former royal palace in
Mandalay, Myanmar's ancient capital.

The movie will also be screened in Singapore late this month.

"Thway" (blood), a film jointly produced by Myanmar and Japan was released
last year.

During the last four years, two Myanmar films entered Chinese film
festival, the first, which is "Master of Flowers", was screened in 2001,
while the second "The Hearts of the Givers" in September this year's
Yinchuan Film Festival.

To encourage Myanmar's film production and bring up its quality, the
government has been presenting domestic academy awards to successful
artists annually since 1952, stressing the need to create films that are
artistic, educative, informative and entertaining.

A Myanmar Motion Picture Museum was established in Yangon in November 1998
to display the efforts of pioneers, successful film artists and promoters
and innovation in the motion picture history of the country.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS

November 3, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar to host five-nation trade fair

Yangon: Myanmar will host a regional trade fair involving five countries
of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) in early
December, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The five-day trade fair on Dec. 1-5 is aimed at developing the economies
of the five Southeast Asian nations and narrowing the economic gap among
them.

The first five-nation trade fair, which will be held at the Myanmar
Convention Center here, was agreed at a summit of economic cooperation
strategy (ECS) of the prior four countries held in Myanmar's Bagan in
November last year.

Myanmar has negligible trade volume with Cambodia and Laos but Thailand
and Vietnam. Thailand represents one of Myanmar's major trading partners.

Regionally speaking, Myanmar's foreign normal trade with members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), mainly Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, amounted to 2.23
billion US dollars in 2003, accounting for 51 percent of its total foreign
trade, according to official statistics.

Of the 1.2 billion dollars' Myanmar-Thailand bilateral trade during the
year, Myanmar's export to Thailand amounted to 1.09 billion, while its
import from Thailand represented 110 million.

Thailand has held its trade fair in Yangon annually since 1998 and
biannually since 2002 as economic and trade cooperation between the two
countries grew.

Meanwhile, Vietnam, which reportedly had a bilateral trade volume of 50
million dollars with Myanmar in the fiscal year 2003- 04 which ended in
March, also launched its trade fair annually in Yangon since 2003 and the
last event took place in October.

_____________________________________

November 3, Mizzima News
India to invest more in Burma

The crisis-hit Burmese economy is likely to get a boost soon as several
Indian companies are willing to invest in the country and explore its
economic potential.  Their willingness came in the wake of the visit to
India by Burmese State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chief, General
Than Shwe. General Than Shwe, along with senior ministers of Burma,
recently completed a six-day visit to India during which time he held
discussions with several Bangalore companies inviting them to invest in
Burma to explore the country’s potential.

Bangalore is known as the IT state of India. Confirming this is
Confederation Indian Industry (CII) senior member, Abhijit Baruah, who has
been closely monitoring the visit.  Mr Baruah informed this correspondent
that Than Shwe had invited several IT companies to invest in Burma to
develop the Information Technology sector. “Indian IT companies are
willing to set up industries in Myanmar [Burma],” he added.

Asked about the nature of the investment, Baruah said that it was too
premature to make any comment, but several companies had expressed their
willingness to set up units in Burma. The Indo-Burma joint task force, set
up earlier this year, had recommended in its report that Indian interests
invest in Burma. The junta is now offering several incentives to Indian
companies to invest in the country.

Asked which companies wanted to invest in Burma, he said that it would
require some time to clear the plan. However, he said that the CII would
extend all possible cooperation to set up industries in Burma.

“Indian companies can explore the potential as the Indian government is
now adopting a ‘look east’ policy,” he added. He also emphasised that the
new investment would provide employment opportunities in Burma of which
young people in the country could take full advantage.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 3, Mizzima News
India unlikely to fulfill northeast demand

Several Northeastern Indian states have been demanding a joint army
operation to flush out insurgents based in Burma. However, the Indian
Government is not ready to comply with the demand of the states.  Instead
of a joint military operation, Burma is likely to put pressure on
Northeast militants to shift their camps to
other places.

This became apparent when the Indian Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee,
told reporters yesterday that his government would consider the ongoing
ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Issac Muiva
(NSCN-IM) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang
(NSCN-K). These two groups have established strong bases in border areas
on the Burma side. However, he said that Burma had already stated that it
would not allow its territory to be used by anti-Indian government
insurgents.

In a joint declaration signed yesterday, Burmese leader, General Than
Shwe, said that Burma would work with India to restore peace and
tranquillity in the bordering areas. Burma has deployed over 1000 soldiers
in its border areas with India to prevent subversive activities by the
Northeast militant groups.

General Than Shwe and the Indian Defence Minister held a marathon
discussion about the militancy issue and agreed to initiate concrete steps
to scale down the activities of the militants taking shelter in various
areas in the country. Burma’s main problem is that it does not have
sufficient manpower to cope with the situation.

Moreover the country had come to an agreement in 2000 with the northeast
Indian militant groups. Under the agreement, the United National
Liberation Front (UNLF), the People Liberation Front (PLA), NSCN-IM and
the NSCN-K have set up their camps in certain locations. Considering this
agreement, Burma is unlikely to launch a joint military operation against
the militants.

Highly-placed Indian Home Ministry sources told this correspondent that
though Burma's leaders have given their assurance to take positive steps
against the militants, it was not an easy task for the ruling government
to carry out. “Myanmar [Burma] can only pursue the dislocation of the
camps,” the sources added.

Meanwhile, seven senior United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) members
who had surrendered to the Assam police yesterday evening in Dibrugarh
revealed that ULFA had made a strong base in Sagaing area of upper Burma
in association with the NSCN-K. Dulumoni Gohain, a self-styled major of
the militant organisation and one of those who surrendered, told reporters
that after the Bhutan operation, the ULFA has been exploring the potential
of Burma as an alternative base and hundreds of cadres had shifted to
bordering areas of the country. “Our strength is getting more bolstered in
Burma,” she said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 3, M2 Presswire
ILO governing body's 291th session to discuss partnerships for "Fair
Globalization", Belarus, Myanmar and other issues

Government, employer and worker representatives will hold a wide-ranging
debate on basic labour rights, and strategies to promote a fair
globalization at the 291th session of the ILO Governing Body, from 4-19
November.

Strategies for strengthening existing partnerships within the multilateral
system, and designing new ones will be examined as further follow-up to
the recently published report, "A Fair Globalization: Creating
Opportunities for All", presented to the International Labour Organization
(ILO) by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization .

With respect to basic labour rights, the Governing Body will consider a
report issued by an ILO Commission of Inquiry concluding that the Belarus
trade union movement has been and continues to be the subject of
significant interference on the part of Government authorities. The
Commission of Inquiry, composed of high-level independent experts, was
appointed in November 2003 by the Governing Body of the ILO.

The Governing Body will also discuss continued efforts to end the use of
forced labour in Myanmar (Burma). In June 2004, the Committee on the
Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference noted with
deep concern that in spite of the government's assurances of its
intentions, in actual practice forced labour continued to be exacted in
many parts of the country.

The latest report of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association is also
among the agenda items of the November session of the Governing Body.

Another agenda item is a report on the progress made to date and plans for
follow-up to the expanded programme of technical cooperation for the
occupied Arab territories. The report covers work progress, from the last
update in November 2003, which has been made by the ILO in collaboration
with the Ministry of Labour, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade
Unions (PGFTU) and the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce,
Industry and Agriculture (FPCCIA).

As a follow-up to resolutions adopted at the 2004 International Labour
Conference, the Governing Body will also look at specific steps to be
taken to promote equality between women and men in the world of work and a
fair deal for migrant workers.

* The Governing Body is the executive body of the International Labour
Office (the Office is the secretariat of the Organization). It meets three
times a year, in March, June and November and takes decisions on ILO
policy, the agenda of the International Labour Conference and the draft
Programme and Budget of the Organization for submission to the Conference.

It is composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14
Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19
Workers).

Ten of the titular government seats are permanently held by States of
chief industrial importance (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy,
Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States).
The other Government members are elected by the Conference every three
years.