BurmaNet News November 18, 2004

[Editor]

November 18, 2004, Issue # 2604

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Small blast near court in Myanmar's capital causes no casualties
Xinhua: Myanmar grants amnesty to large number of prisoners
International Herald Tribune: With purges in Myanmar, reform outlook dims
Japan Economic Newswire: Junta chief reiterates commitment to road map to
democracy

DRUGS
AFP: Chinese police make big drugs haul in northwest region

BUSINESS
Xinhua: Myanmar to host ASEAN freight services conference
Xinhua: Bangladesh, Indian, Myanmar to finalize joint gas project

REGIONAL
AFP: Hundreds gear up for first Southeast Asian car rally

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN committee raps Myanmar over rights abuses

OPINION / OTHER
Inter Press Service: Hardliners point to Myanmar's isolation

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 18, Associated Press
Small blast near court in Myanmar's capital causes no casualties

Yangon: A small explosion occurred early Thursday in front of a court in
Myanmar's capital, causing no casualties and only minor damage.

No one claimed immediate responsibility for the pre-dawn blast at Yangon's
Southern Division Court, and there was no immediate mention of the
incident in state-controlled media.

It was unclear what caused the explosion, which destroyed a drain pipe and
shattered windows in a nearby shop.

In June, four bombs exploded near Yangon's central railway station. No
casualties or damage were reported and no group claimed responsibility,
though the government blamed exiled dissidents in Thailand. Yangon said
the "terrorists" were trying to cause panic and disrupt moves to draft a
new constitution.

Myanmar is ruled by a military junta and its justice system deals harshly
with dissidents. There are estimated to be well over 1,000 political
prisoners in the country's jails.

Public dissent is rare in the tightly guarded capital, and anti-government
violence even more uncommon, although there is a well-organized armed
opposition to the junta along Myanmar's eastern border with Thailand.

The incident comes at a time of heightened political tension in Myanmar
following the ouster last month of the prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt.

Khin Nyunt's has been publicly accused of corruption and insubordination.
Since his fall, an unknown number of his associates have been purged from
the government, as well as the security services that he headed.

______________________________________

November 18, Xinhua News Service
Myanmar grants amnesty to large number of prisoners

Yangon: The Myanmar government on Thursday granted amnesty to 3,937
prisoners charged by former National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), state-run
Radio Myanmar reported Thursday night.

The detention of the prisoners by the former NIB was considered as
improper after reassessment, an announcement of the Myanmar State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) said.

These prisoners will be released from respective prisons throughout the
country, the announcement added.

The SPDC promulgated a law on Oct. 22 dissolving the former NIB three days
after it carried out a major cabinet reshuffle on Oct. 19, in which former
prime minister General Khin Nyunt, who had been military intelligence
chief for nearly two decades, was removed.

The amnesty was the first political move by the government since the
cabinet shake-up.

Khin Nyunt, as well as his family, was openly charged with involvement in
major bribery and corruption cases, violation of the army discipline and
commitment of certain acts which are not legal.

Meanwhile, the government has also been investigating into cases which the
former NIB had handled, including a number of major economic offences.

______________________________________

November 18, The International Herald Tribune
With purges in Myanmar, reform outlook dims - Steve Hirsch

Bangkok: The junta in Myanmar has intensified a purge of top officials
with experience in international affairs, dimming prospects for
democratization in the nation, diplomats and officials in Bangkok and
Yangon say.

The latest dismissals follow the removal last month of Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt, who was viewed as a relative pragmatist on questions ranging from
peacemaking with ethnic rebels to the future of the country's imprisoned
Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

A diplomat based in Myanmar's capital city, Yangon, said the junta had
toughened its position and was effectively defying the international
community, which has pressed the Myanmar regime to open a dialogue with
Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. She remains under
house arrest following an armed attack on her convoy in May last year in
which scores of her supporters were killed or wounded.

Khin Nyunt, who also served as chief of military intelligence, had been
viewed as possibly promoting a softer line toward Aung San Suu Kyi.

With Khin Nyunt now removed and reportedly under house arrest in Yangon,
two of his allies were "permitted to retire" on Nov. 5, the government
announced.

Dismissed as interior minister was Colonel Tin Hlaing, whose post entailed
regular contacts with international drug agency officials. The dismissed
labor minister, Tin Winn, is a former ambassador to Washington and
Bangkok.

The two were replaced by allies of Senior General Than Shwe, the top
leader of the military junta, as was Win Aung, whose dismissal as foreign
minister in early October started the current round of purges.

Another hard-liner was named to replace Khin Nyunt. The new prime
minister, Lieutenant General Soe Win, was denounced by the U.S. State
Department last month as "reportedly directly involved in the decision to
carry out the brutal attack on Aug San Suu Kyi and her convoy on May 30th,
2003."

The purge has sparked concern in the region that Myanmar is moving toward
stiffer authoritarian rule even as it prepares to take up the chairmanship
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2006.

The arrival of Khin Nyunt as prime minister last year had been seen as
possibly providing an opening toward greater democracy in the run-up to
that date.

Now, with his dismissal, a diplomat in Bangkok said, there is no prospect
that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released.

"I fear this is the end of the road," at least for the moment, he said.

The diplomat, commenting that the outside world had largely ignored the
attack on Aung San Suu Kyi last year, said the generals might have decided
that they did not need Khin Nyunt's perceived pragmatism and could pursue
a hard line without adverse consequences.

Because Myanmar is a tightly controlled police state, and foreign
journalists are rarely allowed in, it is difficult to verify the situation
inside the country.

But by all accounts, the wave of dismissals appears aimed at consolidating
the power of Than Shwe.

Officially, Khin Nyunt's removal was first described as a resignation for
health reasons and then as a dismissal for corruption.

Last week, a junta member, General Thura Shwe Mahn, said Khin Nyunt had
threatened the unity of the armed forces by starting an investigation of
regional commanders, The Associated Press reported.

As one of three generals at the top of the junta, officially the State
Peace and Development Council, Khin Nyunt had impressed outsiders as
relatively pragmatic, with at least some concern for the opinions voiced
by the international community.

Upon becoming prime minister in August 2003, he unveiled a seven-step
"road map to democracy," including a proposal for a constitutional
convention that would lead to new elections, although doubts were
expressed about its sincerity.

He was also the force behind cease-fires with 17 ethnic rebel groups,
which form part of Myanmar's opposition.

A United Nations official in Bangkok, who like other officials interviewed
here asked not to be identified, said that Khin Nyunt, while no moderate,
had been tactically astute and may have argued within the junta against
killing or exiling Aung San Suu Kyi. If so, he warned, that restraining
voice is not there now.

Myanmar, the former Burma, which has been under military rule since 1962,
has been sharply criticized for its human rights record and its detention
of political prisoners, who currently number 1,425, according to the
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), rights monitors
based in Thailand. This group lists political prisoners on its Web site,
www.aappb.net.

The country was scorned internationally when the junta annulled the
results of parliamentary elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party in
1990.

The daughter of a slain independence hero, Aung San Suu Kyi is the
linchpin of Myanmar's opposition.

She may be the only leader who can rally the support of both the
pro-democracy advocates and at the same time the ethnic insurgents who
make up the opposition.

Zin Linn, a Burmese journalist who spent nine years as a political
prisoner and who is now information director for the opposition National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, agreed with diplomats that the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi now appears impossible any time soon.

_____________________________________

November 18, Japan Economic Newswire
Junta chief reiterates commitment to road map to democracy

Yangon: Myanmar's top leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe has reiterated his
commitment to implementing a seven-stage 'road map to democracy,'
state-run newspapers reported Thursday.

Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council,
made the remarks at a meeting of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, the newspapers said.

'The consolidation of national unity is necessary to maintain development,
peace and tranquility, and for the successful implementation of the
seven-stage road map to democracy to establish a peaceful, modern (and)
democratic state,' he said.

The road map to democracy was announced in August last year by then Prime
Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt, who was dropped as premier Oct. 19 this year and
replaced by Lt. Gen. Soe Win, formerly first secretary of the SPDC.

The first stage of the road map was implemented in May with the
reconvening of the constitution-drafting National Convention.

The convention first began in January 1993 but was suspended halfway
through in March 1996 following the withdrawal of all 86 National League
for Democracy delegates in November 1995 in protest at the 'undemocratic'
convention procedures.

The NLD, which won the 1990 general election by a landslide but was
blocked by the junta from coming to power, boycotted the latest convention
after the military authorities refused to free its leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from house arrest.

Late month, the junta said the convention, which recessed July 9, would
resume early next year.

After the constitution is drafted, it would be put to a national referendum.

Once the constitution is adopted, free and fair multiparty general
elections would be held in accordance with the constitution, to be
followed by convening of the parliament with the elected members to form
the new government.

The road map, however, has so far failed to impress Western governments
that tightened sanctions against Myanmar after the crackdown against the
NLD.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

November 18, Agence France Presse
Chinese police make big drugs haul in northwest region

Beijing: Chinese police seized 80 kilograms (175 pounds) of heroin and
captured two suspects in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu
province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Citing the provincial public security bureau, it said haul was made on
Tuesday in a joint operation by police from Gansu and Yunnan provinces.

Yunnan in the southwest is adjacent to the infamous Golden Triangle
(Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) through which much of the drug trafficking
takes place.

China announced an intensification of efforts to curb drug trafficking
from Myanmar this summer.

Chinese authorities say four-fifths of the country faces drug problems.
Official figures show there are more than a million addicts in China, most
of them hooked on heroin.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS

November 18, Xinhua News Service
Myanmar to host ASEAN freight services conference

Yangon: An annual general conference of the ASEAN Freight Forwarding
Agencies (AFFA) is due to take place here next week to seek ways of
improving the freight forwarding services and developing trade in the
Southeast Asian region, a local news journal reported Thursday.

The two-day conference on Nov. 24-25, to be hosted by Myanmar for the
first time, will also be attended by trading partners of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- China, Japan and South Korea as well
as India, the Myanmar International Freight Forwarding Agency was quoted
by the 7-Day journal as saying.

The last AFFA was held in Manila without the participation of ASEAN's
trading partners.

ASEAN members of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, along with
China, Japan, South Korea and India, stand as Myanmar's major trading
partners.

According to official figures, in the fiscal year 2003-04 ended in March,
Myanmar's foreign normal trade registered 4.5 billion US dollars, 51
percent of which came from trades with four ASEAN members.

The latest figures show that the country's foreign trade amounted to 1.98
billion dollars in the first half (April- September) of the current fiscal
year of 2004-05 ending next March.

_____________________________________

November 18, Xinhua General News Service
Bangladesh, Indian, Myanmar to finalize joint gas project

Dhaka: The energy ministers of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar will meet in
Yangon in January 2005 to finalize a three-nation gas pipeline project,
reported the daily Independent on Thursday.

A bilateral meeting will be held between Bangladesh and India for
finalizing some issues relating to the project, ahead of the trilateral
meeting scheduled between January 6 and 10, 2005.

According to a top official from the Energy Ministry of Bangladesh,
Bangladesh wants to discuss terms and conditions with its Indian
counterpart in this regard.

Bangladeshi government has set certain conditions, such as import of gas
from Myanmar when required for allowing the transit of gas pipeline from
Myanmar to Indian state West Bengal over Bangladeshi territory.

Sources from the energy ministry here said the proposed pipeline will
enter Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria along its eastern border from the Indian
state Tripura, and then will cross into another Indian state West Bengal
through the Rajshahi district over western border of Bangladesh.

AKM Mosharraf Hossain, the State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources
of Bangladesh, was quoted as saying on Wednesday that the project would
not cause any harm to the country, adding the country would benefit from
royalty, installation and other transmission charges for the pipeline.

Officials from the ministry also indicated Bangladesh would get some 125
million US dollars annually, 100 million dollars as wheeling charge and 25
million dollars as maintenance charge, from the proposed pipeline.

A local company in Bangladesh Mohona Holding has showed strong interest to
take this one-billion-US dollar project, though its proposal was rejected
by the Prime Minister's Office in 2003.

The company has now furnished detailed information and asked the
government to reconsider its proposal.

Sources said a consortium will be set up to implement the project within
Bangladeshi territory.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 18, Agence France Presse
Hundreds gear up for first Southeast Asian car rally

Yangon: Nearly 250 entrants are gearing up for next week's first car rally
from India through Southeast Asia, Indian officials said Thursday while
visiting military-ruled Myanmar, which will host part of the event.

The 20-day rally starts Monday and is aimed at boosting greater
cooperation between India and member states of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Indian government delegation said in
a statement.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will flag off the 8,000-kilometer
(4,950-mile) event in Guwahati, the main city of the eastern state of
Assam.

>From there the "non-competitive" rally will wind through the 10 nations of
ASEAN, first through Myanmar and then Thailand, Brunei, Philippines, Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore before crossing the finish line
in Batam, Indonesia on December 11.

The rally, costing eight million dollars, is organised by India's foreign
ministry and leading industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The event was the brainchild of former Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee
who called for a car rally to "foster regional unity" at an ASEAN summit
in October 2003.

Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government was ousted
at the polls in May by the left-backed Congress party.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 17, Agence France-Presse
UN committee raps Myanmar over rights abuses

United Nations: A UN committee has approved a resolution pressing Myanmar
to end human rights violations in the Asian nation formerly known as
Burma.

It called on Myanmar's ruling military junta to stop "extrajudicial
killings, the use of torture, the use of rape and other forms of sexual
violence persistently carried out by members of the armed forces."

The measure also called for the immediate and unconditional release of
Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her opposition National League for
Democracy movement.

The resolution was adopted without a vote in the General Assembly's third
committee on Tuesday, which includes all 191 UN member states. Such a move
normally leads to later adoption by the assembly proper.

Myanmar has repeatedly rejected criticism of its human rights record,
including from Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the top UN rights official for the
country who was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Pinheiro hinted earlier this month that he might resign from his post
early next year because the junta continued to refuse his re-entry to the
country.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 18, Inter Press Service
Hardliners point to Myanmar's isolation - Larry Jagan

Bangkok: As the purge of pragmatists continues in Myanmar, there are signs
that a major shift of power is also under way within the junta. A new
generation of military officers is beginning to emerge that may signal a
significant shift in policy, particularly toward the outside world.

Since the dramatic arrest of prime minister Khin Nyunt in October,
military hardline commanders under Senior General Than Shwe in Yangon seem
committed to purging any remaining people who may have shared the former
premier's vision of Myanmar's future.

Many Myanmar watchers viewed Khin Nyunt as a moderate based on his plans
for the country - the most important of which was a seven-step roadmap
toward democratic reform. The reconvening of the National Convention to
draft a new constitution, first initiated in 1993 but adjourned in 1996,
was described at the time as the preliminary step of this exercise. In
addition, Khin Nyunt was also reported to favor talks with opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent the past year under house arrest.

Most of Myanmar's ambassadors have been recalled to Yangon, ostensibly for
a formal briefing, but many of them - especially those aligned with Khin
Nyunt and former foreign minister Win Aung - are not expected to return to
their posts abroad.

Win Aung, a close confidant of Khin Nyunt, was the first to be purged
after the prime minister's arrest. Now it seems even more changes in the
country's military administration are in the pipeline, according to Asian
diplomats.

"There is likely to be a further shakeup of the cabinet, possibly within
weeks," a Yangon-based Southeast Asian diplomat told Inter Press Service.
"This will be followed by a major change amongst the country's regional
commanders - already the western regional commander is on his way back to
Yangon to become the new home minister."

This follows the sacking on November 5 of home minister Colonel Tin Hlaing
and labor minister U Tin Win, both of whom were permitted to retire,
according to the state-run media, but who in effect were purged. Both
ministers were the last of Khin Nyunt's key supporters in the cabinet.
They were also the only remaining senior ministers who had close contacts
with diplomats and international organizations.

Tin Win recently led a top-level official delegation to the United Nations
General Assembly in New York and later to the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting
(ASEM) in Hanoi. The home minister, Tin Hlaing, meanwhile, attended an
international meeting in Yangon where the Mekong Delta countries signed a
regional cooperation agreement on combating human trafficking.

Four other ministers, the deputy ministers for agriculture
Brigadier-General Khin Maung and Brigadier-General Kyaw Win; livestock
breeding and fisheries minister Aung Thein; and science and technology
minister Nyi Hla Nge also were sacked this month.

When Khin Nyunt was unexpectedly removed from office on October 19, it was
initially explained, in textbook dictatorship style, that he was simply
"unwell". But as it turned out, the prime minister, who was also the
country's military intelligence chief, had been placed under house arrest.

Since that time, hundreds of military intelligence officers have been
detained, many of them charged with corruption. Diplomats in Yangon
believe as many as 2,000 senior military intelligence officers are
currently in detention. A few have been allowed to retire and others have
fled - or are hiding along the borders with China and Thailand.

At least 20 Myanmar military intelligence officers based in Bangkok
disappeared within 24 hours of Khin Nyunt's arrest, according to sources
here. Officially, the junta claims this is all part of a corruption
crackdown in intelligence services - the military dictatorship's attempt
to clean up its act. But a more likely explanation, according to Myanmar
watchers, is an army purge by hardliners consolidating their grip on power
and gobbling up their rivals' business empires in the process.

Human-rights report targets the regime
As the current power struggle plays out in Yangon, Britain's Foreign and
Commonwealth Office last week released its annual human-rights report for
2004 and singled out the Myanmar regime for suppressing political
opposition groups.

The report also highlights the May 2003 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's
entourage, which was ambushed by government-backed thugs while traveling
in upper Myanmar. The report claims that about 1,400 political prisoners
are denied basic rights and health care.

"The gravest failures to respect human rights can provide fertile ground
for terror and conflict, bringing mass killings, refugees, and the
destruction of precarious livelihoods in their wake," Jack Straw,
Britain's minister for foreign and commonwealth affairs, said when
launching the report.

The report stresses that the regime's seven-point roadmap lacks democratic
principles and that Yangon has rebuffed international efforts to improve
human-rights conditions in the country. Other rights violations were also
cited, including forced labor, the forced recruitment of child soldiers,
religious persecution and abuses in ethnic minority areas.

Meanwhile, the political strife between Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt has had
its first repercussion overseas. This month Japan's Nenbutsushu sect
withdrew its sponsorship of a Buddhist summit in Myanmar in December over
concerns about the junta's hardline shakeup. The sect has held the World
Buddhist Summit every two years in a Buddhist nation. This year the event
was due to be held from December 9-13 in Yangon, where a new convention
hall has been built for the event and temples and hostels spruced up.

But the sect said most nations refused to attend the summit after the
junta sacked Khin Nyunt and placed him under house arrest. "People were
concerned that this was a coup d'etat or an undemocratic change of
government," said Nenbutsushu spokesman Kazuo Takayama.

Last week Myanmar announced that it will still host the summit as
scheduled, claiming it will not be affected by the withdrawal of
Nenbutsushu.

Transfer of power far from over
The purge of Khin Nyunt and his supporters is likely to be only the start
of the purging process, rather than the end. Diplomats in Yangon believe
it may not be Than Shwe who is really calling the shots but Myanmar's No 2
- General Maung Aye, in effect the army chief.

"There is no doubt that Than Shwe will have been consulted and involved in
the events that unfolded, but General Maung Aye was clearly the prime
mover," said a senior Southeast Asian diplomat who regularly deals with
Yangon. "The top army commanders have taken firm control of the military
and government. All the new appointments to the cabinet have been loyal
army officers, close to Than Shwe and Maung Aye."

The regime's top generals have also been talking about the need to
transfer power within Myanmar's military leadership to the next or younger
generation. General Thura Shwe Mann, the armed forces chief of staff, and
Lieutenant-General Soe Win, who replaced Khin Nyunt, are both clearly
destined for the top jobs.

A new triumvirate is beginning to emerge with Maung Aye, Thura Shwe Mann
and Soe Win running the country on a day-to-day basis. Than Shwe is likely
to fade into the background but will remain a key figure in the power
structure.

"His role is likely to be a combination of the former Burmese leader Ne
Win after 1988 [when the current junta took over and changed the country's
name from Burma to Myanmar] and China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping," a
Western diplomat who closely follows politics in Myanmar told IPS.

The next few months are going to be critical for Myanmar. But the signs
are not too hopeful, as there are strong indications the new generals may
retreat into greater isolation.