BurmaNet News, April 22, 2005

[Editor]

April 22, 2005 Issue # 2703

INSIDE BURMA
Guardian: Burma gas attack alleged
AFP: Myanmar rejects Christian group's claim of chemical attack on Karen
rebels
AP: Report: Myanmar rebels stage highway attack, killing eight and
wounding 15
Irrawaddy: Rangoon canvasses opinions on independent Shan State
SHAN: Junta plays good cop-bad cop
Mizzima: Burma's 13-point prohibition for government staffs studies abroad

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Thailand allows Shan temporary refuge

BUSINESS / FINANCE
Mizzima: Center to approve rice import from Burma to Manipur

REGIONAL
Nation: Forced repatriation of refugees upsets US
Mizzima News: UNHCR launches basic minimum salary scheme for Burmese refugees

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Asian, African nations calling for closer ties between two continents

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 22, The Guardian
Burma gas attack alleged - John Aglionby

The Burmese army used chemical weapons in an attack on ethnic Karenni
rebels in February, the UK-based rights group Christian Solidarity
Worldwide alleges in a report published today.

Martin Panter, the organisation's international president, told the
Guardian he had interviewed and examined five reported survivors of the
February 15 assault on Karenni positions in Nya My, just over the border
from the northern Thai town of Mae Hon Son.

"I believe there's overwhelming and compelling circumstantial evidence
that these soldiers are victims of chemical weapons," he said.

"I cannot say exactly what the cocktail of chemicals was but it appears to
have contained blister agents, mustard gas and neurological agents." He
said the Karenni forces had allegedly been enduring an artillery
bombardment for more than a month when, on February 15, a shell exploded
with a different sound.

"They said there was a strongly pungent acrid yellow vapour," Dr Panter
said. "The gas was yellow, tasted like chilli and was hot."

The Karenni allegedly told Dr Panter their eyes watered, and they suffered
severe nausea and vomiting, coughed up blood and suffered
gastro-intestinal illnesses such as diarrhoea and had great difficulty
walking for some time.

"I have a report from a doctor who examined them five days after the
attack and what I saw was completely consistent with what was in that
report," he said.

Dr Panter admitted it would be virtually impossible to prove his
allegations. "The United Nations insists on date and location-specific
photographs and evidence such as shell fragments and soil samples in
double-sealed bags," he said. "Many of these chemicals are water-soluble
so after the first heavy rain all the evidence would have disappeared."

Burma's military seized power in 1962 and has ruled with an iron fist ever
since. The opposition National League for Democracy overwhelmingly won a
general election in 1990 but was never allowed to take office.

The junta's senior general, Than Shwe, is currently on a rare overseas
visit, to Jakarta, for a summit of Asian and African leaders. No one in
his delegation was willing to discuss the allegations last night.

guardian.co.uk/burma

____________________________________

April 22, Agence France Presse
Myanmar rejects Christian group's claim of chemical attack on Karen rebels

Yangon: Myanmar on Friday rejected reports by a London-based Christian
organization that the military junta launched a chemical attack on ethnic
Karen rebels.

"As Myanmar is a signatory to the convention to controlling chemical
weapons, we neither produce nor use such weapons," Myanmar's Information
Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan told a press conference.

"Myanmar has never violated any international convention."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a non-government organization, said
Thursday there was "strong evidence" that the Myanmar army had used nerve
gas and irritants on February 15 against a camp near the Thai border.

It said in a statement that the attack caused irritation to victims' lungs
and skin as well as muscular weakness, and that an Australian doctor who
chairs the association, Martin Panter, personally witnessed the effects on
the victims.

Minister Kyaw Hsan said the Karen in question, the Karen National
Progressive Party, has signed a ceasefire deal with Yangon and the army
was in no way involved in clashes with the group.

"They are fighting amongst themselves," the minister said.

There are various Karen ethnic political groupings in Myanmar, the largest
of which is the Karen National Union, the country's largest ethnic rebel
group which has conducted one of the world's longest running insurgencies.

____________________________________

April 22, Associated Press
Report: Myanmar rebels stage highway attack, killing eight and wounding 15

Yangon: Ethnic Karen rebels attacked a convoy of trucks and buses on a
highway in southern Myanmar, killing eight people, including a university
student and a teacher, and wounding 15 others, a state-run newspaper
reported Friday.

A gunfight broke out between security forces and the Karen National Union
rebels during the attack on two cargo trucks and 12 passenger buses along
the Dawei-Ye highway in Tanintharyi division early Thursday, the Myanma
Ahlin newspaper reported.

Eight people, including a university student and a teacher, were killed
and 15 passengers wounded in the attack on the vehicles, which included
two buses carrying university students and lecturers from Dawei
University, the paper reported.

The rebels took about 3 million kyat (about US$3,400; [euro]2,603) in cash
and jewelry from the passengers, the report said.

The junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has reached peace agreements
with 17 armed ethnic groups.

The KNU is the only major ethnic rebel group not to have concluded a
cease-fire with the junta. Its separatist struggle in eastern Karen state
is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

The KNU and the government began talks aimed at forging a cease-fire deal
in late 2003 and reached a provisional truce in early 2004.

____________________________________

April 21, Irrawaddy
Rangoon canvasses opinions on independent Shan State - Nandar Chann

A senior officer of the military regime and representatives from ethnic
ceasefire groups met in Lashio, capital of Northern Shan State, on
Wednesday to discuss their views on an independent Shan State, according
to ceasefire groups.

Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, commander of the government’s Northeastern Regional
Command, met members of seven ethnic ceasefire groups based in Lashio,
including the United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army (North), the Shan
State National Army, and the Palaung State Liberation Organization.

“[Myint Hlaing] asked about our views on the secession of Shan State,
which was declared abroad” said a UWSA officer based in Lashio. The
secession was announced Sunday by elderly Shan leaders in exile. The
officer speculated that the military’s interest seemed geared towards
publicizing the ceasefire groups’ responses.

Some ethnic groups in Shan State have already rejected Sunday’s
declaration of independence. The SSNA, a ceasefire group, said that they
had no knowledge of the proclamation of an independent Shan State, despite
the claim of the Shan exiles that their “Federated Shan State” has the
popular support of 48 out of 56 townships in Shan State.

____________________________________

April 22, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta plays good cop-bad cop

The Burma Army's regional commanders in Shan State are trying to woo back
the Shan ceasefire group that had suddenly decamped with all of its 2,000
strong fighters on 9 April, following official notice that they would have
to surrender, according to ceasefire sources:

Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, Commander of Lashio-based Northeastern Region
Command, whose message had prompted the Shan State National Army leader
Col Sai Yi to depart to his Loikhurh mountain fortress, had reportedly
summoned the SSNA's ally, Shan State Army "North"s leader Maj-Gen Loimao
to another meeting to ask him to mediate. They had already met once soon
after Sai Yi's ignominious leave taking.

Meanwhile, representatives from the SSA 'North' in Taunggyi were informed
by Maj-Gen Khin Maung Myint, Commander of the Eastern Region Command, that
Sai Yi could move his forces down to his domain in Southern Shan State if
he thought he could not live under Myint Hlaing.

"Khin Maung Myint is supposed to be a softliner, as opposed to Myint
Hlaing," said a former SSA leader.

The SSNA is facing a tough decision, he added. "They want to settle things
peaceably, but they know they can't expect a square deal from Myint
Hlaing."

Col Yawdserk, Sai Yi's boyhood friend and the leader of the anti-Rangoon
SSA "South", who has been expecting a joyful reunion is just about out of
patience. "What the Burmese generals have done to him (forcing him to
surrender) was just a curtain raiser for more to come," he told S.H.A.N.
"They are simply not going to stop with him.

"People have applauded his firmness and welcomed him with open arms when
he left Khaihsim (former headquarters of the SSNA in Hsipaw township).
He'll therefore be making the biggest mistake of his life if he decides to
return to those who are asking to 'rub his back after knocking his head'".

It has been his cherished wish to be reunited with his old friend,
Yawdserk claims. "Of course, I cannot offer him a rosy life," he said,
"only that it will be one that is worthy for all of us."

Sai Yi, 48, a native of Panglong, where the union treaty was signed in
1947, joined the resistance in 1976 together with Yawdserk. Both of them
rose to become intrepid fighters and able tacticians. In 1995, Sai Yi
joined hands with Gunyawd, another childhood friend, to mutiny against
Khun Sa and set up the SSNA. Following Khun Sa's surrender a year later,
Yawdserk assembled all the fighters that had refused to give up the fight
and formed a new group that became the SSA "South".

Shan State is administratively divided into 3 divisions: Northern,
Southern and Eastern. But militarily, they are called Northeastern,
Eastern and Triangle region commands respectively.

____________________________________

April 22, Mizzima News
Burma's 13-point prohibition for government staffs studies abroad

Burmese government staffs, aspiring to go abroad for further studies, will
have to give an undertaking to abide by a 13 - point do and don't
prohibition which include banning the communication with dissidents in
exile, slapped by the Government.

Mizzima received a copy of an announcement issued by the Ministry of
Industry (I), which describe the trainees who were sponsored by the
ministry for further studies abroad will have to fill up a seven - page
form and sign an agreement that stipulates a penalty of five million Kyats
(about 5555 US $) or jail terms in case of violation of the rules.

The agreement include the prohibition on communication with Burmese exiled
pro-democracy groups, launching a political organisation and criticising
the government by any means, taking a vacation during course breaks,
getting married during the study course, association with respected
country's political affair directly or indirectly.

Moreover, it prohibits the signatories to switch over to another field of
studies apart from the one mentioned in the form without prior notice to
the Ministry, is also required to be signed by at least five guaranters.
The guaranters, who may include parents of the learner, will be held
responsible in case the student violates the agreement and are required to
pay the penalty and legally accept other punishment imposed by the
authorities.

It was announced last month, further states that the signatories are
required to return to Burma as and when summoned by the authorities even
if the studies are not complete.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

April 20, Mizzima News
Center to approve rice import from Burma to Manipur - Surajit Khaund

Guwahati: The Indian Minister of state for food processing industries,
Subodh  Kant Sahai, has  said  his ministry will soon approve  a proposal
for allowing Manipur to import rice from Burma .

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, capital of Assam in the North -
East India yesterday, he said with the improvement of India-Burma
relations, the volume of bilateral trade should also go up. "We will
approve the proposal of the Manipur Government very soon", he said.

The Manipur government had submitted a proposal to the Center for
importing 50,000 MT of rice from the bordering Burma to meet the
requirement of the state's people. The proposal was made to plug the big
gap between demand and supply of rice that triggered off a flood of
Burmese rice in three bordering states of North - East India.

The Food Processing Minister said India was also keen to export perishable
and non-perishable food products to Burma keeping in view the growing
market in that country. "Our products have a good demand in the Burmese
market, for which North - East India will be a major destination to Burma
and other south - East Asian countries," he said.

Mr. Sahai also announced setting up of a mega food park in the North -
East to tap the South - East Asian market. The food park will have all
modern facilities to export products to Burma and other South -East Asian
countries.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 22, Irrawaddy
Thailand allows Shan temporary refuge - Shah Paung

Thailand will allow Shan people displaced by the fighting in Burma
temporary refuge, said a Shan State Army (South) spokeswoman today.

The spokeswoman, Nam Khur Hsen, said the Thai government agreed to the
SSA-S’s request to allow Shan people refuge in Thailand, but the situation
will not be permanent. In the past, Thailand has refused to shelter Shan
people as refugees.

According to Friday’s issue of the Bangkok Post, Thai army chief Gen
Pravit Wongsuwan said Shan refugees will be sent back to Burma “when the
situation returns to normal.” SSA-S soldiers fleeing across the border
would be disarmed, he said.

Nam Khur Hsen said the SSA-S fears that, as the fighting escalates,
civilians will not have safe places to stay inside Burma. United State Wa
Army soldiers have burned civilian villages in the conflict areas, and
some villagers, including students and orphans, have fled to
SSA-S-controlled areas and other places for safety, she said.

According to an official from the Mae Hong Son-based Shan Youth Network
Group, more than 1,800 people have been displaced within the conflict
areas. SYNG has been working to distribute rice to them.

These displaced people have not yet entered Thailand, the official said.

Fighting between the UWSA and the SSA-S began in early April and is
concentrated in the Mong Ton area of southern Shan State, opposite
Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province.

Since the beginning of the conflict, three SSA-S soldiers have died and 21
have been injured, compared with 125 casualties and 185 injured on the
UWSA side, according to Nam Khur Hsen.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 20, Nation
Forced repatriation of refugees upsets US

Prominent US Senator Richard Lugar has written to American Ambassador in
Bangkok Ralph Boyce to convey his concern over Thailand’s policy of forced
repatriation of Burmese refugees.

The letter, dated April 8, a copy of which has been sent to The Nation,
urges Boyce to continue expressing US disapproval of the Thaksin
government’s policy.

Lugar is chairman of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.

In his letter, he points out that several Burmese political refugees,
including democracy advocates and journalists, have sought asylum in
Thailand.

“For many years, Thailand served as a safe haven for persons fleeing
oppression from throughout Southeast Asia, including Burma,” Lugar writes.
But he said many refugees fear “they will be sent back to Burma by the
Thai government” and that some Burmese refugees no longer “believe they
will be safe in the Thai camps”.

Lugar has asked Ambassador Boyce to assess the Thai government’s policy
shift and to brief members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

After taking power in early 2001, the government under Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra reversed Thailand’s previously tough stance towards
Rangoon in favour of support for the military junta.

_____________________________________

April 22, Mizzima News
UNHCR launches basic minimum salary scheme for Burmese refugees - Thazin

New Delhi: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
yesterday announced a new scheme that will guarantee a basic minimum
salary for the working Burmese refugees.

The new scheme, drafted in accordance with the Indian Minimum Wages Act,
ensures that refugees, accepting job through placement by Don Bosco
Ashalayam (Bosco), will get a basic monthly salary of Rs. 2,864 (about US
$ 65) even if the employer pays less.

To clarify, if a refugee receives Rs. 1500 as salary from his employer
then Bosco will provide the extra Rs.1, 364 to make sure that he earns Rs.
2864 per month, the UNHCR said in a statement on April 20.

The statement points out that the scheme is only for the Burmese refugees,
recognised by the UNHCR, and it will cover only one person from each
family.

The scheme, to be introduced in May 2005 as a pilot project for six
months, is aimed at promoting the skills of the refugees for
self-sustaining and better jobs so that no longer do they require the
support of Bosco, said the statement.

The UN refugee Agency's Chief of Mission, Mr. Lennart Kotsalainen,
yesterday said in a mass meeting with Burmese refugees at Janakpuri in New
Delhi, "We cannot arrange jobs for all of you and no body can do that.
Probably you will have to fix it for yourselves."

Don Bosco Ashalayam (Bosco), the New Delhi-based Roman Catholic
non-government organisation, has been running Hindi Language and computer
training courses for Burmese refugees in partnership with the UNHCR's New
Delhi office, as part of the refugee self-reliance programme (finding job
placement), launched by UNHCR in New Delhi.

But with the number of employment through Bosco not being very high, it
has been a common grievance among the Burmese refugees over the NGO's
"ineffective " job placement system.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 22, Associated Press
Asian, African nations calling for closer ties between two continents -
Michael Casey

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Asian and African leaders
to back his push to reform the UN, saying the developing world could
benefit from plans to increase development aid and boost the world body’s
role in protecting human rights.

 “The time has come for action—for concrete, measurable steps, leading to
a quantum leap in resources for development,” Annan told more than 40
heads of state at the opening of the summit of Asian and African nations.

“The developing world also stands to benefit enormously from major steps
on security and human rights,” he said. “Your peoples pay the highest
price for inaction in the face of massive violations of human rights and
for the strains placed on the UN’s peacekeeping, peacebuilding and human
rights machinery.”

The two-day summit draws together presidents, prime ministers and kings
from developed countries such as Japan and Singapore, as well as the
world’s outcasts including North Korea, Burma and Zimbabwe. In all, 80
nations were represented at the 50th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa
conference that gave birth to the Nonaligned Movement, which tried to
steer a neutral course during the Cold War.

A growing row between Japan and China over Tokyo’s World War II aggression
threatened to steal the limelight.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed “deep remorse” over his
country’s past militarism during a speech at the summit.

He didn’t go beyond what Japanese leaders previously have said, but the
apology clearly was aimed at quelling the row with China over Tokyo’s
handling of its wartime atrocities and its bid for a permanent seat on the
UN Security Council.

Massive anti-Japanese protests erupted in China after Tokyo approved a new
history textbook that critics say plays down wartime Japanese atrocities,
including sex slavery and germ warfare.

Koizumi said he was hoping for a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President
Hu Jintao in Jakarta on Saturday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. But
China says it's still considering the proposal.

Hu, in his speech to the summit, avoided the controversy and focused
instead on quelling fears that his country’s booming economy could
threaten developing countries. He noted that China launched its biggest
foreign relief operation to help victims of the December tsunami, and is
increasingly giving assistance to poorer Asian and African countries.

“I would like to solemnly reaffirm here that China will follow steadfastly
its chosen path of peaceful development,” Hu told the summit.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the summit by calling
on Asia and Africa to cooperate more closely, and looked forward to a time
when “our people would live in comfort and dignity, free from fear of
violence and all be free from the clutches of poverty.”

Yudhoyono, head of the world’s most populous Muslim nation, said the two
regions must do more to fight corruption, protect human rights and prepare
themselves to compete in a global economy.

“In 2005, we have to sound a different battle cry,” he said. “In 1955, the
battle cry of the day was freedom which made perfect sense given the
persistence of colonialism back then. But now that Asia and Africa are
free, we must take on the next phase and that is the battle for human
dignity.”

Terrorism colored many of the speeches given by leaders. Malaysia’s Prime
Minister Malaysia accused rich countries of being “preoccupied” with the
war on terrorism, saying it had sidetracked efforts to help Asia and
Africa countries.

Nepal’s King Gyanendra, in a speech to be delivered later in the day,
defended his move to sack the government and seize power earlier this year
by saying his country faced a serious terrorist threat from communist
rebels, who he accused of recruiting child soldiers.

“Instead of a pencil and notebook in their hands, they are armed with
lethal weapons and socket bombs,” he told the two-day summit.

The king said security in Nepal had improved since his takeover, which
“has enabled us to schedule elections to local bodies within a year as a
first step toward restoration of the derailed democratic process.”

Leaders on Saturday were expected to endorse a document calling for more
cooperation in fighting terrorism and poverty, and improved economic
cooperation between the two diverse continents.

The declaration also calls endorses proposed UN reforms, including greater
decision-making for developing countries. Annan has proposed enlarging the
Security Council to include more voices from the developing world.

Annan’s plan also calls for developed countries to provide 70 cents in
development assistance to the Third World for every US $100 of gross
national income.

Annan also has said that the UN needs a new, permanent human rights body
with greater authority, possibly on a par with the powerful Security
Council, to combat abuses around the world.

South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, a co-chairman of the summit, said
reforming the UN would alleviate poverty that “afflicts millions.”

“Every day the processes of globalization emphasizes the gross imbalance
in the global distribution of power, making it imperative that we use our
collective strength urgently to achieve the restructuring and
democratization of the United Nations and other multilateral
organizations,” he said.