BurmaNet News, March 22, 2005

[Editor]

March 22, 2005 Issue # 2680

INSIDE BURMA
SHAN: Wa: It's Wei's war
Irrawaddy: Karenni rivals at odds over landmine blast

ON THE BORDER
Xinhua: Myanmar allots land plots for building sale centers in border town

DRUGS
Men's News Daily: Yaba: Southeast Asian Drug Arrives in US

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar-Malaysia bilateral trade up in 2004

REGIONAL
AFP: Malaysia to press for Myanmar to be denied ASEAN chair: report
Mizzima: India's Policy: No Aid to Transitions in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN ruling sought over jailing of Myanmar's dissidents
LA Times: Unocal settles human rights lawsuit over alleged abuses at
Myanmar pipeline

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: General Maung Aye: new leader of SPDC II?

STATEMENT
European Burma Network: Statement of EBN Meeting 2005

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 22, Shan Herald Agency for News
Wa: It's Wei's war

The brief fighting that broke out on 13-14 March between the Shan State
Army of Col
Yawdserk and the United Wa State Army, which many observers have predicted
was a
prelude for more to come, was fugitive druglord Wei Hsuehkang's own doing and
nothing to do with the Wa as a whole, according to a Shan ceasefire source
returning
from the Wa capital Panghsang yesterday:

"Panghsang does not have a policy to fight against any groups in Shan
State," a high
ranking source from the group told S.H.A.N. during the brief interview.
'It's Wei
Hsuehkang's own private war".

The disclosure corresponds with a similar claim from a Shan businessman from
Panghsang who was on a visit in Chiangmai last week: "If anybody tells you
Pangshang
is planning to fight Sao Yawdserk, he's an out-and-out liar."

Three clashes between the SSA and Wei's fighters from his 171st Military
Region in
the area across Maehongson resulted in 2 dead on the SSA's side. The Wa had
maintained that 8 of their men were abducted by the SSA last month and were
demanding their return. To which the Shans denied any knowledge.

Meanwhile, a source from Mongton, opposite Chiangmai, who just returned from
Mongpan, its twin town on the west bank of the Salween, reported coming
across three
105 mm howitzers arriving at the command post of Artillery Battalion 332
at Loi
Bawma, one mile east of the town, on 14 March. "These are 'presents' for
Yawdserk,"
an officer boasted to the source. The gun has a range of 10.5km.

It was earlier reported that Wei had been promised rations, ammo and
artillery
support in his war against the SSA. "I am sure he has cut a separate deal
with
Rangoon," commented a veteran border watcher.

The Shans have 4 main bases on the Thai-Burma border:
    * Loi Taileng - opposite Pang Mapha district, Maehongson province
    * Loi Lam - opposite Wiang Haeng district, Chiangmai province
    * Loi Sanzu - opposite Fang district, Chiangmai province
    * Loi Kawwan - opposite Mae Faluang district, Chiangrai province The
latter two
bases reported only routine movements on the Wa side. The Wa
base near Sanzu is manned by 214th Brigade, a unit not under Wei's command.
SSA_positions.jpg Related reports: Shan, Wa dance to junta tune, 14 March
2005 A
lull before the storm, 17 March 2005

______________________________________

March 22, Irrawaddy
Karenni rivals at odds over landmine blast - Khun Sam

The Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF) has accused a
rival
group of setting off the landmine that killed one civilian and injured
another on a
road near Loikaw in Kayah State last Sunday.

KNPLF vice-president Htun Kyaw claimed the device, which was fitted with a
sophisticated remote control system, had been planted by the Karenni National
Progressive Party (KNPP) and was intended “to harm our (KNPLF) members.”

The landmine exploded early on March 20, when residents of Oh Kay village
in Nam Meh
Khung Township, 10 km miles west of Loikaw, were traveling the road
between Demoso
and Hprusu. A 36-year old man, Saw Lwin, died in the explosion while a
20-year old
man, Saw Lu Moo was admitted to Loikaw State hospital.

The KNPP denied planting the landmine. Spokesman Raymond Htoo said the
explosion
occurred in a KNPLF-controlled area. According to a KNPLF official from
Loikaw
Township, there have been 10 landmine explosions in the area recently,
with mostly
civilians casualties.

The KNPLF split from the KNPP in 1978, with the two insurgent groups
subsequently
signing ceasefire agreements with Burma’s ruling military junta.

Only a few months after the KNPP entered into its ceasefire agreement with
Rangoon
in 1995, fighting broke out over the movement of Burmese troops into KNPP
territory,
and tension has been rising rise ever since. The KNPP’s base, 13 km west
of the Thai
border town of Mae Hong Son, has been under sustained attack from
government troops
for the past two months.

______________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 22, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar allots land plots for building sale centers in border town

Yangon: The Myanmar government has allotted nearly 180 land plots in the
border
trade zone of Muse for building brokers' sale centers, aiming to promote
border
trade with China, local press reported Tuesday.

Four categories of land plots are being designated for sale at a price
ranging from
25 million Kyats (27,000 US dollars) to 45 million Kyats (50,000 dollars)
per acre
(0.405 hectare) beginning this week, the Flower News quoted the
Directorate of
Border Trade under the Ministry of Commerce as saying.

The building of such sale centers will be jointly undertaken by three private
companies.

Myanmar has opened six border trade points with China, of which Muse
stands as the
one with greater trade transactions. The country plans to open more such
points to
further enhance trade with China.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has also been working to transform border trade to
normal trade
to enhance trade between the two countries.

Bilateral economic and trade ties between China and Myanmar have continued to
develop in recent years.

According to Chinese official statistics, in 2003, the trade volume
between Myanmar
and China's Yunnan province alone bordering Muse amounted to 490 million
dollars.
>From January to November 2004, the figure reached 488 million, of which
the border
trade took up 349 million.

Meanwhile, Myanmar official statistics show that the two countries'
bilateral trade,
including border trade, reached nearly 700 million dollars in the fiscal year
2003-04 with China standing as one of Myanmar's major trading partners.
During the
first half (April-September) of the fiscal year 2004-05, their bilateral
trade
volume reached 423.15 million dollars, equally shared in normal and border
trade.

China has proposed to raise bilateral trade volume to 1.5 billion dollars
by this year.

Myanmar's rich natural resources, including mining, agricultural and forest
products, have vast market in China, while Myanmar consumers like Chinese
goods.

Myanmar and China officially opened the border trade in 1988 and signed
the border
trade agreement in 1994.

Meanwhile, under a framework agreement of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and China initiated in 2002, China has unilaterally cut import
tariff on
over 100 Myanmar products along with those of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

March 20, Men's News Daily
Yaba: Southeast Asian Drug Arrives in US - Jim Kouri, CPP

California is experiencing a new form of methamphetamine use, according to
the US
Drug Enforcement Administration. While most methamphetamine is either
injected with
needles, snorted or smoked, the new form is taken orally and comes in the
form of a
tablet small enough to fit in the end of a drinking straw.

The tablets, often called by their Thai name, yaba, are a mixture of
methamphetamine
and caffeine and are popular throughout much of Southeast and East Asia.
Yaba use in
the United States is too new to yield much information about distribution
patterns,
but it appears that it is confined mostly to the Asian communities in the
northern
California and Los Angeles areas.

Among users, there is a perception that tablets are safer. Tablet users
avoid the
possibility of contracting AIDS or hepatitis by sharing needles, and they
don't have
needle marks running up and down their arms. On the other hand, tablets
don't bring
users a "rush," the brief, intense sensation experienced by those who
inject or
snort methamphetamine.

In the United States, methamphetamine tablets are commonly reddish-orange
or green
and have a variety of logos, with "WY" the most common.

Southeast Asian methamphetamine tablets are produced by large drug
trafficking
organizations in Burma. The United Wa State Army, a former insurgent group
and
Burma's largest heroin trafficking organization, is the preeminent
producer of
methamphetamine tablets in Southeast Asia. Its primary market is neighboring
Thailand.

Southeast Asian traffickers, mainly Thai or Lao nationals, and US citizens or
resident aliens whose families have emigrated from those countries,
dominate the
trafficking or methamphetamine tablets in the United States.

The tablets are sent from Southeast Asia most often through the mail,
although some
quantities are shipped by courier, air, or maritime cargo. Most of the
tablets
seized in the United States arrived through the international mail system.

Although it is currently believed that Southeast Asian methamphetamine
pills are
brought to the United States primarily for sale to the Asian community,
demand may
expand to other communities. There are indications that methamphetamine
tablets are
becoming more popular within the "rave" party scene, given the similar
appearance to
other tablet form "club" drugs, such as Ecstasy.

Sources: United Nations, Drug Enforcement Administration, National
Security Institute

Jim Kouri is Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police

_____________________________________
BUSINESS

March 22, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar-Malaysia bilateral trade up in 2004

Yangon: Bilateral trade volume between Myanmar and Malaysia rose 16.4
percent to
256.2 million US dollars in 2004 compared with 2003, local press reported
Tuesday.

During the year, Malaysia's exports to Myanmar amounted to 149. 3 million
dollars,
while its imports from Myanmar were valued at 106.9 million which was a 34
percent
increase over the previous year, Malaysian Minister of International Trade
and
Industry Rafidah Aziz, who has attended a business seminar here recently,
told
Myanmar Times.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has injected a total of 660.7 million dollars into
Myanmar as of
2004 since 1988, mostly in the sector of oil and gas, hotel and engineering
services.

According to the minister, Malaysia has so far exempted 282 Myanmar
products from
duty under the ASEAN Integrated System of Preference (AISP) and would
continue to
facilitate barter trade, which is mainly carried out through Penang, as an
additional mechanism to raise bilateral trade. Such barter trade amounted
to 50
million dollars in 2004, she said.

Urging the Myanmar government to reduce trade and investment barriers, the
minister
expressed Malaysia's readiness to assist the country to ensure that it has
zero
constraints in bilateral trade.

With Myanmar offering prospects in aquaculture, which can be promoted by
Malaysian
companies, the food sector also provides potential for partnership between
Malaysian
and Myanmar companies, she noted.

Other areas of cooperation have been found to also include furniture,
agricultural
projects, labor-intensive industries, power generation, mining and
information and
communications technology, according to the minister.

Myanmar and Malaysia agreed in February last year to set up a Joint
Commission for
Bilateral Cooperation to promote the two countries' bilateral cooperation
including
trade and economic cooperation.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 22, Agence France Presse
Malaysia to press for Myanmar to be denied ASEAN chair: report

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will press for Myanmar to be refused the
chairmanship of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year unless it carries
out
democratic reforms, local media said Tuesday.

The government will table a motion in parliament calling on Myanmar's
military
rulers to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and speed up reforms,
Minister
in the Prime Minister's office, Nazri Abdul Aziz, told the New Straits Times.

If the junta fails to make progress, "we will ask for Myanmar's turn to be
the
chairman of ASEAN to be suspended and given to other countries until
democratic
reforms are carried out," Nazri was quoted as saying.

The chair is rotated alphabetically each year among members Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.

Malaysia takes over the chair at a summit in Kuala Lumpur in November and
Myanmar's
turn is due in 2006.

Myanmar's membership of the grouping since 1997 has been a growing
irritant in
relations between ASEAN and western countries, including the United States.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke warned in
Bangkok on
Monday that the US and other countries might boycott the 2006 summit and
two major
meetings immediately afterwards if they are held in Yangon (formerly
Rangoon) as
scheduled.

"By holding them in Rangoon next year, ASEAN runs a very serious risk of
finding
some of the most important countries that have attended regularly for over
a quarter
century, including the United States, may not show," Holbrooke said.

Malaysia had warned Myanmar in December that its pledge to move towards
democracy
could only be credible if Aung San Suu Kyi were released from house arrest.

The international icon of democracy and Nobel peace prize winner has spent
various
periods in house arrest since 1989. Her latest began in May 2003.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in
elections in 1990
but has never been allowed to take power.

The military junta announced a seven-step roadmap to democracy in 2003 but
it has
barely got off the ground and been denounced internationally as a sham.

_____________________________________

March 22, Mizzima News
India's Policy: No Aid to Transitions in Burma - Mungpi

With its "wait and see" policy and its duplicitous approach, it is
doubtful that
India will act in the political transition of Burma.

By dealing with the current military regime of Burma and rhetorically
supporting the
Burmese democracy movement, India has been playing a 'double game' with
Burma said
Mr.Renaud Egreteau, a French researcher on International Relations, in a
seminar
held on " Burma's political transitions and its implications for India,"
on March
21.

Speaking to an audience of senior diplomats and intellectuals at the Indian
International Centre in New Delhi, Renaud discussed changes in India's
Burma policy.

"Insurgencies in India's North-eastern region, the China factor and
inclusion of
Burma into India's "Look east" policy are the three factors that shape
India's New
Burma policy," explained Renaud. The Indian embassy in Rangoon was one of
the first
to support the Burmese democracy movement, which emerged in 1988 with a
student-led
general uprising. Since then India had isolated the country and frozen all
bi-lateral relations. However, India took a major turn in its Burma policy
in 1993
with a discreet and unprecedented visit to Rangoon by the then foreign
Minister Mr
J.N. Dixit.

Renaud further explained that fear of loosing a foothold in Burma while
the Chinese
are infiltrating the country made India unwilling to continue waiting for the
restoration of democracy in Burma.  Moreover, as a strategic in location,
India sees
Burma as a gateway for closer cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.
Additionally, India also wants the Burmese junta's help in containing the
insurgency
issue of the North-eastern region.

A social science scholar, Renaud Egreteau is based in Bangkok, Thailand,
and is
currently working on issues of Burma in India's Chinese policy and had
published a
book titled "Wooing the Generals - India's New Burma Policy" in 2003.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 22, Agence France Presse
UN ruling sought over jailing of Myanmar's dissidents

Washington: The United Nations was asked Monday to issue a ruling on whether
extended imprisonment of dissidents under a draconian regulation in
military-ruled
Myanmar was in violation of international law.

Two human rights groups, the United States Campaign for Burma and
Thailand-based
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, filed the case before the
United
Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The Group was set up by the UN Commission on Human Rights to investigate
cases of
arbitrary detention and report back to the Commission.

To press their case, the two groups cited the arrest of 10 dissidents,
including U
Tin Oo, the chairman of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD), under Myanmar's powerful State Protection Act.

The law's "vague and nebulous wording allows for liberal and arbitrary
application,
and nearly every provision stands in contradiction to international legal
and human
rights norms," the rights groups said in a statement.

U Thin Oo and Suu Kyi are both under house arrest.

But unlike the party boss, there were no laws cited by the Myanmar
military junta
for the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the US Campaign for Burma said.

"Our request highlights the extended detention of political prisoners in
Burma under
the dictator Than Shwe and his system of phony 'laws'", said Aung Din, a
former
political prisoner and the Campaign's policy director. "Than Shwe creates
bogus laws
simply to put his opponents in jail."

"These people have committed no crime," adds Bo Kyi, a former political
prisoner and
joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
"They are
guilty only of hoping for human rights and freedom."

Burma is the previous name of Myanmar, which has been run by the military
since a
1962 coup.

The United Nations General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights have
passed
several resolutions calling for the release of all political prisoners in
Myanmar.

Rights group Amnesty International has characterized several of the 10
arrested
dissidents as a "torture concern."

The military regime has been accused of employing gruesome forms of
torture on
detainees, some of whom have allegedly died or developed severe, chronic
illnesses
behind bars.

The United States has identified Myanmar as an "outpost of tyranny" and
imposed
investment and trade sanctions on the Southeast Asian state.

_____________________________________

March 22, Los Angeles Times
Unocal settles human rights lawsuit over alleged abuses at Myanmar
pipeline -  Marc
Lifsher

A deal ends a landmark case brought by villagers who said soldiers committed
atrocities.

Unocal Corp. settled a landmark human rights lawsuit Monday that accused
the El
Segundo-based energy company of being responsible for forced labor, rapes
and a
murder allegedly carried out by soldiers along a natural gas pipeline
route in
Myanmar.

The suit, filed on behalf of 15 Myanmar villagers in Los Angeles County
Superior
Court in 1996, is the furthest along of about three dozen cases that charge
corporations in U.S. courts for alleged crimes that took place in other
countries in
violation of international treaties. Its outcome was being closely watched
both in
the U.S. and abroad.

"This will have a ripple effect on cases around the world," said Bama
Athreya,
deputy director of Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund, a public
interest lawyers organization.

The Unocal case, brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789,
alleged that
the company knew or should have known that the Myanmar army committed
human rights
abuses while providing security for the $1.2-billion pipeline project in the
Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma.

Monetary terms of the settlement weren't made public. However, a statement
released
by both sides said the agreement would provide compensation for the
villagers and
provide money "to develop programs to improve living conditions,
healthcare and
education and protect the rights of people from the pipeline region." The
final
settlement followed the general outlines of a tentative agreement reached in
December.

Unocal's decision to settle indicates that the company "wanted to avoid a
trial
where humble villagers get on the stand and talk about rape and murder,"
said Robert
Benson, a Loyola Law School professor who specializes in international
human rights
law.

The settlement bolsters other Alien Tort Claims Act cases, he said, and
"signals to
corporations that this law is applicable to them, and they are going to
face major
litigation."

Other U.S. companies facing similar lawsuits include Exxon Mobil Corp. in
Indonesia;
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. in Guatemala; ChevronTexaco Corp. in Nigeria;
and
Occidental Petroleum Corp., Coca-Cola Co. and coal miner Drummond Co. in
Colombia.

Business lobbying groups contend that cases dealing with overseas disputes
don't
belong in U.S. courts. The Bush administration maintains that the lawsuits
make it
difficult to conduct foreign policy.

Unocal spokesman Paul Silva declined to comment on the Myanmar case. He
also would
not confirm a published report that the oil company had sued two units of
insurance
giant American International Group and insurers in Germany and Switzerland
for
allegedly refusing to provide $55 million in "personal injuries coverage"
connected
with the pipeline. AIG also wouldn't comment.

Unocal is one of four investors in Myanmar's Yadana pipeline, which has a
30-year
contract to deliver 525 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to Thailand.

Plaintiffs in the suit, who lived in a remote region near the pipeline,
said they
were forced to work on the project in intense tropical heat with little
food or
rest. Soldiers assigned to guard the pipeline were accused of killing the
baby of
one worker who escaped from forced labor and raping a girl and her
great-aunt.

The plaintiffs, fearing for their safety, live in hiding in Southeast Asia
and filed
suit in the U.S. as John and Jane Does to shield their identities.

In its defense, Unocal has contended that there was no forced labor used
on the
pipeline project and that it wasn't aware of any of the violent acts the
soldiers
allegedly committed.

The full effect of the Unocal settlement won't be clear until more details
emerge
about the social, health and human rights protective services that will be
funded by
the deal, said Arvind Ganesan, who tracks business human rights activities
for Human
Rights Watch.

"What this settlement does is start setting the parameters of what's
acceptable and
not acceptable conduct for a company doing business abroad," he said.
"This is one
more piece of the puzzle."

However, Susan Aaronson, a corporate social responsibility expert at the
University
of North Carolina, said she was "deeply ambivalent" about the Unocal
settlement. A
trial might have helped answer "larger questions" about U.S. companies'
responsibilities for ensuring that human rights are protected in foreign
countries
where they do business, Aaronson said.

The settlement of the state court suit apparently resolves a parallel
action filed
against Unocal in federal court.

Unocal's stock fell $1.09 to $61.80 in New York Stock Exchange trading
Monday.

Bloomberg News was used in compiling this report.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 21, Mizzima News
General Maung Aye: new leader of SPDC II? - Nyo Ohn Myint

General Maung Aye, who now controls the Burma Army's reigns and oversees
the daily
running of the economy, normally takes the back seat behind Senior General
Than Shwe
when it comes to the media. However, he has recently appeared in public.
He does not
feel it necessary to be a public figure in the same way as the fallen
former General
Khin Nyunt. Instead, he believes it is enough to maintain his power range
within the
post-Khin Nyunt State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) sphere, or, as
it is now
increasingly known, SPDC II. Nevertheless, a big question continues to
loom: he is physically fit enough to replace Than Shwe despite his
reported prostate
condition.

During last year, Maung Aye showed his disapproval of the rising power of the
non-combat military wing's power. To this end, he organized army generals to
pressure Than Shwe to decide the Burma future without the involvement of
the Office
of the Chief of Military Intelligence. He ended up his archrival at the
expense of
General Than Shwe.

A high ranking official from junta has stressed that Than Shwe's mindset
is such
that he considers he has been achieving the best outcomes for the country
through
building bridges, dams and new roads. Therefore he does not think that
political
leaders deserve the country's top political positions.

Additionally, close neighbouring countries may assume that Than Shwe has
started
losing his long term check and balance mechanism after firing Khin Nyunt
and that
this may eventually diminish his present untouchable top position.
Recently, Thai
army generals paid visits to Burma. They have indicated that Maung Aye
could be the
person to maintain the Burma Army's stability and keep better relations
with the
neighbouring countries, especially Thailand and India. According to a
senior Thai
official, Maung Aye is fully aware that the junta is still managing the
neighbouring
countries' 'wait and see' policies with eyes on Burma as a regional energy
resource.
"Yes we are in a way a bit problem with our neighbouring friends but this
is easy
enough to reverse the course" said official.

Besides from a stepping on the Karen National Union's (KNU) flag during a
ceremony
to note the surrender of a small KNU faction, Maung Aye could fight for his
stability and marked him as a suitable leader for army's unity and
integration
regardless of his illness. Unlike Than Shwe, Maung Aye is not showing
interest in
the top position but he is believed to be acting like a power broker
within recent
days.

After firing hundreds of talented army intelligence generals, colonels,
advisers and
diplomats loyal to Khin Nyunt, the SPDC II faces escalating pressures from
region
and international communities. The mounted pressures cannot be halted with
guns
alone. The newly handpicked diplomats and the novice foreign minister,
Nyan Win, are
supposed to ensure their bosses' wishes are clearly communicated.

"He seems to wait for a right time to take over a position from General
Than Shwe or
he allows him to make a few more uncorrectable mistakes," said one of
Maung Aye's
former colleagues from the junta's State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC)
era.

On the bright side, there is no need to convince his boss that his plan
was better
while Khin Nyunt was Prime Minister. Furthermore, Maung Aye's prominent
role in the
army and economy means he would not allow a second round of power
struggles that
might harm him. One well-known political critic stressed that ethnic
opposition
groups and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be better off if Than Shwe's days
are over
because of his inflexibility and belief that he is doing better for the
country that
anyone else could and that he is only person who can bring Burma into the
future.
Time will tell who can save Burma's future without further harm!
The NCUB, a coalition of exiled political and ethnic minority groups and
the FTUB,
an umbrella exiled group of trade unions of Burma, who were mainly known
to have
engaged in propagandas and lobbying campaigns against the junta have been
often
accused of planning terrorist attacks in Burma by the Military government.

The VBSW is an indistinguishable group that advocates armed action against
the
military junta and was involved in two hostage-taking incidents in
Thailand, which
includes an embassy hostage drama in Bangkok five years ago.

_____________________________________

March 22, European Burma Network
Statement of EBN Meeting 2005

Meeting at the offices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, 19-20
March 2005

The European Union and Burma as the Chair of the ASEAN

Recalling that the European Union meeting in Ireland in April 2004 had set
minimum
standards in order for the EU to consider that the current National
Convention
convened by the ruling State Peace and Development Council in Burma, is
democratic:

1.      Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of all political parties are
released;

2.      The National Convention procedures are modified and a time frame is
established;

3.      The National League for Democracy and other elected
representatives are
allowed to participate freely in the National Convention.

None of the minimum requirements set by the EU have been met.

Recalling that on 18 February 2005, the United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
stated that

-         the National Convention in Burma in its present format does not
adhere to
the recommendations made by successive UN General Assembly resolutions; and

-         for a genuine process of national reconciliation to take root,
the views
of the National League for Democracy and other political parties as well as
representatives of all ethnic nationality ceasefire groups, must be sought
and
considered;

Recalling that the United States of America has stated that it will not
participate
in any ASEAN meeting that takes place in Rangoon;

The Euro-Burma Network calls on the European Union to officially state that:

1.      It will not accept any outcome of the SPDC sponsored National
Convention
unless the minimum democratic standards above are met;

2.      It will not attend the Asia Regional Forum and ASEAN Post Ministerial
Meetings if Burma chairs ASEAN in 2006, unless an accountable government
is in
place;

The European Burma Network is made up of Burma support groups from
Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom,

The National Coalition Government of Burma (NCGUB), Karen National Union,
Karen
Service Team, New Economy Communications, and the Euro-Burma Office also
took part
in the EBN meeting and associate themselves with this statement.

Contact:

Association Suisse Birmanie
ebn2005 at bluewin.ch
www.birmanie.ch