BurmaNet News, January 6, 2006

[Editor]

January 6, 2006 Issue # 2874


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Too busy to host ASEAN envoy this month, says Myanmar junta
Irrawaddy: NLD proposal wins wide support
Xinhua: Military-run TV to telecast 24 hours in Myanmar

BUSINESS / TRADE
Narinjara: Chinese Ambassador attends well drill test in Arakan
SHAN: First lot of Burmese teakwood through Chiangrai

REGIONAL
AFP: Indonesia urges Myanmar to take concrete steps towards democracy

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INSIDE BURMA

January 6, Associated Press
Too busy to host ASEAN envoy this month, says Myanmar junta

Yangon: The expected visit of a special envoy to military-ruled Myanmar to
assess that nation's self-proclaimed progress toward democracy has been
held up because the government is too busy moving its administrative
capital, the foreign minister said Friday.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win said his government could not host
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, a representative of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, this month because the country is
in the midst of moving government offices to a new capital at Pyinmana,
hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of Yangon.

Syed Hamid was expected to assess the progress of Myanmar's
self-proclaimed democratic reforms.

When asked if the visit could take place in February, Nyan Win told The
Associated Press on the sidelines of a Chinese Embassy reception that a
date could not be fixed yet.

The delay is another setback in the efforts of ASEAN to help resolve
Myanmar's political crisis, which is affecting the region's relations with
Western nations.

Myanmar, under pressure from fellow members of ASEAN, agreed at the
group's summit last month to let Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar make a visit.

Malaysia is the current chairman of ASEAN.

ASEAN members expected the visit would take place in January, Thai Foreign
Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said during the summit.

The junta has not allowed even U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail, a former
Malaysian diplomat, into the country since March 2004.

ASEAN members are concerned at the political deadlock in Myanmar,
including the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The
disapproval by Western nations of the junta's poor human rights records
and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government has
complicated their relations with ASEAN as a group.

The United States and other countries maintain economic and political
sanctions against the Yangon regime.

Last month, Nyan Win said in an interview with the government-linked
Myanmar Times newspaper, "We are ready to accept an envoy, and we'll
willingly describe to him our actual situation."

Since Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997 - with strong support from Malaysia -
the international community has criticized the group for defending Myanmar
despite its lack of progress toward democracy and improved human rights.
ASEAN has pressed the ruling junta to take concrete steps toward democracy
and release Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, has been detained since May 2003
when a pro-government mob attacked her and her followers as she toured
northern Myanmar. Her house arrest was extended by six months in November.

Last month, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said the proposed
visit by the Malaysian foreign minister would be meaningful only if he
meets their detained leader. The junta has not said if he will be able to
meet with her

Myanmar's current junta has been in power since 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy uprising. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand
over power after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________

January 6, Irrawaddy
NLD proposal wins wide support - Yeni

Burmese opposition groups both inside the country and abroad have welcomed
a National League for Democracy proposal for a new “supreme leading body”
that would bring together the military rulers, winning political parties
from the 1990 election and ethnic groups.

In a speech marking Burmese Independence Day on Wednesday, senior NLD
spokesperson U Lwin proposed that a new governing body could guide the
country through its transition to democratic rule. “We must go through a
transitional period within a specified time frame,” he said.

Aung Din, policy director of the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma,
told The Irrawaddy by phone today that his group welcomes the proposal of
Burma’s main opposition party as a prelude to democracy.

The Karen National Union also praised the proposal, pinpointing the role
afforded ethnic minority groups as the key element. “We are not clear yet
as to the NLD’s exact plan,” said Mahn Sha, general secretary of the Karen
National Union. “But the offer looks fair and is an essential step for a
transitional period.”

Observers pointed out that the NLD’s position has shifted following a
meeting in Rangoon last October when leading representatives of Burma’s
main opposition party met to discuss how best to open dialogue with the
regime.

Well-known activist Min Ko Naing suggested that all parties should
consider each other's positions and work to find common ground. “Everybody
can play their role, for the country’s sake,” he said.

The 88-Generation Students group, led by Min Ko Naing, last year called
for cooperation between the ruling military junta and opposition parties
to create the right environment for attracting and coordinating the flow
of international humanitarian aid to people in distress, releasing a
statement saying that Burma’s humanitarian issue was already “at a
critical point.”

In a briefing to the Security Council in December, UN political chief
Ibrahim Gambari also warned that Burma is facing a rapid rise in HIV/AIDS
infections and food shortages that continue to deny its people many
essential human rights.

However, many believe that despite the NLD’s current showing of political
courage, the issue of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi holds
the key.

In a statement to mark the 58th anniversary of Burma’s independence from
Britain, the NLD said that any substantive political dialogue with the
junta would require “the release of the party’s general secretary Aung San
Suu Kyi, vice chairman U Tin Oo and other senior members” from detention.

According to the UN, an estimated 1,147 political prisoners are detained
in prisons or interrogation centers throughout Burma.

____________________________________

January 6, Xinhua General News Service
Military-run TV to telecast 24 hours in Myanmar

Yangon: Myanmar's military-run television -- the Myawaddy TV, is planning
to introduce a 24-hour service for the first time in the country to meet
the demand of domestic watchers, a latest report of the Yangon Times said.

Myawaddy TV, one of the two TV stations in Myanmar and started telecasting
on March 27, 1995, is now having morning and evening services at present.

The other is the state-run TV Myanmar which has launched four channels
including Myanmar and English languages to telecast news, education and
entertainment programs since the color television was introduced in the
country in 1980.

There has also been satellite news available with TV Myanmar with the
cooperation of the China Central television (CCTV), Cable Networks News
(CNN) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).

Last year, Myanmar opened 17 TV relay stations, bringing the total in the
country to 195 scattered in nine zones and relaying the programs of the TV
Myanmar and Myawaddy TV, statistics revealed.

To enable domestic watchers in the remote areas to get access to the
government's TV programs telecast from Yangon, Myanmar is projecting to
add nine more TV relay stations this year to expand the coverage up to
border areas.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is also making efforts to enhance its radio and TV
services in conformity with global changes and development, arranging to
upgrade its radio and TV machines and equipment by changing its TV system
to digital one.

Recently, a German company, the Deutsche Welle (DW), has agreed with
Myanmar to air its satellite programs through TV Myanmar for the country's
audiences under the TV programs exchange between the two countries.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 6, Narinjara News
Chinese Ambassador attends well drill test in Arakan

The Chinese ambassador to Burma, Mr Guan Mu, along with the Chinese
Commercial Counsellor, Mr Tang Hai, attended a well drill test ceremony in
Arakan state on 27 December 2005, said a government official from Rambree
Township.

The well drill test was held at Rambree Township in Arakan under the
arrangement of CNOOC Myanmar Ltd of the People’s Republic of China.

The ceremony was held by CNOOC Myanmar Ltd in collaboration with the
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise of the Ministry of Energy who are working
together in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas.

According to official sources, the Burma Minister for Energy, Brig-Gen Lun
Thi, and the Chairman of the Arakan State Peace and Development Council,
Commander of Western Command Maj-Gen Khin Maung Myint, attended the
ceremony with other Burmese military officials.

CNOOC Myanmar Ltd Chairman, Mr Xu Fa, also attended and described the
prospects of the block-M and the arrangements for exploration of oil from
the test well.

The ceremony was held to test drill well Rambree 19-1-1 on block-M near
Tharetcho village, Rambree Township, Arakan State.

It was learned that several oil fields owned by local people from Rambree
Island, the biggest island in Arakan, were confiscated by the Burma
military authority without any compensation for CNOOC Myanma r Ltd, a
Chinese oil and gas company dedicated to the exploration in the area since
last year.

A number Arakanese people have been making in livelihood by hand-drilling
oil on Rambree island since the British rule.

____________________________________

January 6, Shan Herald Agency for News
First lot of Burmese teakwood through Chiangrai

The first lot of 620 teak logs worth $2.5 million from Tachilek has
arrived at Chiangrai's Chiangsaen port of entry along the Mekong, reported
the Thai-language Manager online yesterday.

They were purchased by the Siva company's Arnond Markmasilp "Sia Ar", a
former associate of Saengsanit Chaisri, better known as Kamnan Daeng, a
local supremo who was killed by a sniper during the 2001 Thai-Burma border
confrontation.

He is expecting another lot of 1,300 teak logs in the coming weeks,
reports the paper.

Thailand has banned import of teakwood from Burma through Maesod following
the 'Salween teak' scandal a few years ago, but it has never placed
restrictions on imports through other provinces. On the contrary, it was
Burma that had banned exports of timber through Chiangrai.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 6, Agence France Presse
Indonesia urges Myanmar to take concrete steps towards democracy

Jakarta: Indonesia on Friday urged military-ruled Myanmar to take
"tangible" steps towards democracy and make good on its promises to
reform.

"We ask Myanmar to show democratic progress which is tangible as it
reflected in its road map" to democracy, Foreign Hassan Wirayuda told a
press conference.

"The problem is there is a gap between principles and practices," Wirayuda
said.

Wirayuda said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or his special envoy
would visit Myanmar soon to share with the junta Indonesia's experience in
undergoing transition from authoritarianism to democracy.

Under Suharto, who resigned under pressure in 1998, Indonesia was ruled
with an iron fist for more than 30 years.

Myanmar is holding opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San
Suu Kyi under house arrest, and her National League of Democracy has been
blocked from taking office despite winning elections 15 years ago.

The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have all
derided a national convention proposed by the junta to help set up a
future constitution for Myanmar as part of a national "road map" to
democracy.