BurmaNet News, February 9, 2006

[Editor]

February 9, 2006 Issue # 2897


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: NLD members jailed on drugs charges
DVB via BBC: Burmese officials reportedly call new capital Naypyidaw
NLM via BBC: Burmese daily reports progress in Kayah State
Xinhua: Car accident occurrence rate drops in Myanmar in 2005

ON THE BORDER
IMNA: Disarmed Mon group under pressure - Chan Mon

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: Myanmar leprosy prevalent rate continues to drop

BUSINESS / TRADE
New Kerala: Indian petroleum minister to visit Myanmar in April

REGIONAL
Narinjara: Burmese junta gathers information on US Military in Bangladesh
AFP: China to avoid human rights talks with Myanmar PM
New Straits Times (Malaysia): Police detain three, gun seized

INTERNATIONAL
India Today: India is wooing Myanmar to keep out China and check
Northeastern rebels

___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 09, Irrawaddy
NLD members jailed on drugs charges

Two National League for Democracy members have been sentenced to seven
years in prison, having been found guilty of possession of drugs,
following a police raid on their home last November. A local court in
Bhamo Township, Kachin State, yesterday found against Ko Ko Myint, the
joint secretary of Shwe Gu Township NLD and senior NLD member Thein Zaw.
Speaking from Bhamo, NLD spokesman Zaw Thin confirmed that both men were
sent to Bhamo prison yesterday.

The search which led to the arrests was apparently prompted by police
intelligence concerning documents from an NLD meeting. The official reason
given to the two NLD members at the time, though, was that the police
wanted to check the overnight guest list. The documents related to an NLD
program to provide distance-learning instruction on human rights and
HIV/AIDS awareness. When the NLD members did not produce the documents on
request, the police searched the house and found a quantity of illegal
narcotics. According to a Mandalay Division NLD defense lawyer, the two
detainees had passed an official drug test and displayed no signs of drug
use. Thein Zaw was previously jailed for two years in 1996 for protesting
to local authorities about forced labor and Ko Ko Myint had also
previously been jailed for two years in 1988, on charges of using
unlicensed building materials.

____________________________________

February 9, Democratic Voice of Burma via BBC
Burmese officials reportedly call new capital Naypyidaw

Excerpt from report by Norway-based Burmese Democratic Voice of Burma
website on 6 February

[Presenter] It has been learned that some telecommunications employees
from Rangoon have been working for over nine months anxiously setting up
telephone lines for various ministries at Kyetpyay. Since almost all the
ministries were relocated to Kyetpyay on Saturday and Sunday [4 and 5
February] they have been busy urgently installing 150 telephone lines per
ministry. A telecommunications employee from South Dagon Township
Communication Centre in Rangoon, who has been working day and night in
Kyetpyay, explained the following to DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma].

[Telecommunications employee - recording] Yes, there are a lot of
activities happening and many cars are arriving everyday to relocate
people and things. We have to work from sunrise to sunset and we don't
know which group comes from where. We have to fix the cable lines from the
mountains to the valleys and we have just returned from there. We have to
draw the cable line from Pyinmana telephone exchange. We have to set up
150 cable lines, supply 150 telephones, and also lay fibre optic lines.
Our department gave us this job order and it is to be rotated every three
months but we have been here for nine months now.

[Presenter] Those were the words of a telecommunications employee. Agency
news reported that since almost all the ministries have been relocated to
Kyetpyay, they will start functioning from Kyetpay on 6 February. All
senior officials from most of the departmental headquarters in Rangoon
refer to the new capital as Naypyidaw and have instructed their
subordinates to follow suit, it has been learned. When DVB inquired about
the condition of the new capital, Naypyidaw, the same telecommunications
employee explained as follows:

[Telecommunications employee - recording] It is not busy but when people
from Rangoon started to arrive, it has become a bustling place. They came
here as a duty not because they are happy. I call the capital Kyetpyay.
When the locals and everyone say Kyetpyay, I too say Kyetpyay.

[Presenter] That was a telecommunications employee from Kyetpyay. Since
the relocation of government ministries to Kyetpyay, the price of basic
commodities has skyrocketed in Pyinmana a local resident said. [Passage
omitted]

That was an explanation by a Pyinmana resident who also said the houses
that were blocking the construction of Pyinmana-Kyetpyay six-lane road
were previously told to dismantle immediately but now they were told the
move has been suspended for three months.

____________________________________

February 9, Xinhua General News Service
Car accident occurrence rate drops in Myanmar in 2005

Yangon: Car accident occurrence rate dropped in Myanmar in 2005 compared
with 2004 with casualties declining also during the year, according to the
latest figures released by the Traffic Rules Enforcement Committee.

The car accident occurrence rate fell to 906 cases in 2005 from 914 cases
in 2004 with the dead registering at 98, down from 122 and the injured at
1,359, also down from 1,372 comparatively.

The authorities attributed the drop to increased observance of traffic
rules last year than the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar police authorities began launching a car accident
prevention campaign in Yangon on Jan. 1 this year, aimed at bringing down
death rate out of such accidents and improving traffic flow and safety in
the city.

The campaign will last until there produces sharp drop in such rates, the
traffic police sources said.

Police members were reinforced for deployment at dozens of locations in
the city where accident frequently take place, the sources added.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 9, Independent Mon News Agency
Disarmed Mon group under pressure - Chan Mon

A disarmed Mon group is under considerable pressure from the local
military commander in Kawthaung and Mergui, in Tenasserim division.

“Mon Nyein Chan Yay” means Mon armed group. It exchanged arms for peace.
It was founded by a retired leader of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and
was later divided. It is now being threatened by local people, said a
leader of the group.

“For instance, if a fight takes place between our members and local
people, our members are put in jail for more days than the local people.
If the authorities realize that they are our members they will not release
them easily and are badly treated,” a leader said.

“We are subjected to more checks regarding our movement,” he added.

A former NMSP central member, Nai Soe Myit, founded Mon Nyein Chan Yay and
the group has been based in Tavoy, Mergui and Kawthaung area since 2001.

The group had worked together with Gen.Khin Nyunt led Military
Intelligence. But after the MI was dismantled and Gen Khin Nyunt sacked
from power, the arms of the group were seized by the army.

After being disarmed, about a hundred members of the group separated,
weakening it.

The people who left are threatened when they make a trip or are active in
Kawthaung.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 9, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar leprosy prevalent rate continues to drop

Yangon: The leprosy prevalent rate of Myanmar continued to drop to 0.44
per 10,000 population as of the end of 2005, reaching the global target
which was set to eliminate the disease by the year, according to a latest
disclosure from the health authorities.

The prevalent rate declined from 0.6 per 10,000 population in 2003, 2.9 in
1997, 53.4 in 1987 and 86.2 in 1977, the sources said, attributing the
drop to 50 years' efforts in leprosy eradication, especially to some
measures taken by the government after the Third Meeting of Global
Alliance for Elimination of Leprosy in 2003, attended by ministers of the
World Health Organization (WHO) member countries.

Myanmar has implemented anti-leprosy campaign since 1952, introducing
Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) in 1986 for treatment recommended by the WHO and
paving way for the eradication of leprosy with integrated services
expanding to more areas in the country.

Myanmar was regarded as one of the countries where leprosy prevalence was
traditionally high.

Despite being free from leprosy, the health authorities outlined future
activities for the disease control including sustainability of current
leprosy elimination status, rehabilitation programs for persons affected
by leprosy, as well as monitoring for missed patients who remained out of
cover by the activities in areas inaccessible or hidden out of social
stigma and fear.

Official figures also show that over 260,000 cases were treated and cured
between 1988 and 2005, indicating there will be no more transmission from
these people. However, disability due to nerve destruction in leprosy
tolls 30 to 35 percent of persons affected by leprosy, the statistics
reveal.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 8, New Kerala
Indian petroleum minister to visit Myanmar in April - Lola Nayar

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to visit Yangon on his first
overseas trip in April to try to convince Myanmar that India is serious in
pursuing the gas pipeline project.

The move comes in the backdrop of Myanmar having conveyed its
disappointment over the delay by India in pursuing the project, originally
envisaged as a tri-nation project including Bangladesh.

At stake is not just India's 30 percent stake in two exploration blocks
offshoring Myanmar but the option of getting additional gas supplies to
meet its growing demand.

India is currently able to meet only 50 percent of its demand through
domestic production and regassified imported LNG.

Even as plans are afoot for the import of more gas from Iran and Central
Asian countries, Myanmar is seen as a good and economic source of getting
clean energy supplies.

The delay of over six months in the finalisation of the tri-nation pact
signed in January 2005 had led to Myanmar agreeing to consider China's
request for a pipeline project for gas supplies.

"The petroleum minister is likely to visit Yangon in April, by when we
hope to get the technical feasibility report from (Belgian company) SUZ
Tractebel who have been selected as technical consultants for studying an
alternative route bypassing Bangladesh," a senior petroleum ministry
official told IANS.

"Personally we do not see any possibility of the pipeline passing through
Bangladesh as we get the impression that it is not interested in the
project," the official said.

He admitted that there was considerable pressure from Myanmar for an early
decision on the pipeline project, demonstrated in two visits by the
Myanmarese energy minister as also an official communication and visit
last month.

"The message from Myanmar is very clear and we have no choice but to
proceed with the project and come up with a viable proposal," the official
said.

Despite the fact that the alternative pipeline route bypassing Bangladesh
and entering India through the northeast would be much longer, there is
considerable support for the project "given that it would help us tap the
gas reserves in Tripura and Assam, while saving on the transit fee we
would have had to pay Bangladesh," official sources said.

Other than import of gas through the pipeline route, Myanmar has also
offered India the option of exploring the feasibility of a power plant
near the gas fields for generation and transmission of electricity.

European infrastructure consultants SUZ Tractebel has been given the brief
to submit by April the detailed feasibility report, an environment
management plan and a rapid risk analysis study report for the
Myanmar-India pipeline project via northeast Indian territory.

"The proposed pipeline will be routed through the states of Mizoram,
Assam, West Bengal and Bihar. The pipeline will also have the provision to
transport gas from developing gas fields in Tripura and Assam," said the
official statement from state-owned GAIL (India) Ltd, which is handling
the project.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 9, Agence France Presse
China to avoid human rights talks with Myanmar PM

Myanmar's political and human rights situations will not be high on the
agenda when Prime Minister Soe Win visits Beijing next week, China's
foreign ministry indicated Thursday.

"Different countries should explore their own road of development that
suits their national reality," spokesman Kong Quan said, when asked if the
house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Myanmar democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi would be discussed.

"What happens in Myanmar is Myanmar's internal affairs and should be
solved by the Myanmese government and people themselves."

Soe Win's visit to China comes as the Myanmar's ruling military junta
faces increasing international pressure over its harsh rule, with the
United States considering introducing a resolution on the issue to the UN
Security Council.

Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
have also recently showed growing impatience with the junta.

But China is one of Myanmar's strongest and most loyal allies, as well as
one of its biggest trading partners.

"We hope all countries can respect the sovereignty and national dignity of
Myanmar and take efforts to promote (their) national reconciliation," Kong
said.

Soe Win will arrive in China on Tuesday for a four-day visit.

____________________________________


February 9, Narinjara News
Burmese junta gathers information on US military in Bangladesh

The Burmese junta has been collecting important facts and information on
US military activities in Bangladesh through informers working for the
Burmese Army in Bangladesh as spies.

A businessman close to a Burmese informer said, recently the Burmese
military authorities dispatched a few informers to Bangladesh territory to
collect information on the US military's activities in Bangladesh, and its
military ties with the Bangladesh Army.

The junta nurses a strong belief that the US forces may attack and invade
Burma from Bangladesh territory during the next year if the military junta
fails to reform the Burmese political system in 2006, said a teacher from
Maungdaw who is close to Burmese army brass.

Burmese authorities in Maungdaw always ask businessmen whenever they
travel from Bangladesh about St. Martin Island, which is located on the
mouth of the Naff River.

The Burmese Army believes that Bangladesh has rented the island to the US
Navy and Army and that a naval base is now being constructed there, the
businessman said.

According to a source close to Nasaka, some Burmese officials from the
border areas are now looking for money for their families because they
feel that Burma will face a war waged by the USA in the near future.

A politician from Sittwe pointed out that last year the junta opened a
number of Arakanese language schools for Burmese soldiers in several
cantonment areas in Arakan State to learn local languages. It was intended
as part of a strategy to disperse troops among the Arakanese people if a
war took place in the region.

There has also been speculation that the Junta shifted their capital to
Pyinmana as part of an advance move to defend itself against a US invasion
of Burma.

However, to date the US has not been undertaking any military activities
of note along the Bangladesh border area, said the businessman.

____________________________________

February 9, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
Police detain three, gun seized

Kuala Lumpur: An alert policeman prevented a suspected robber from
reaching for a gun hidden under a pillow during a raid at a house in
Selayang yesterday.

The suspect and his two accomplices, all Myanmar nationals, were involved
in a scuffle with the arresting officers in the bedroom when a policemen
managed to tackle a suspect as he reached for a gun wrapped in a black
cloth hidden under a pillow.

All three men were subdued, and police seized seven knives and a .32
revolver loaded with four live bullets.

Seven other Myanmar nationals renting the house near the Selayang Baru
wholesale market were detained for not having valid documents.

Police hope to solve several armed robbery cases in the area with the
arrests.

A 10-member team from the City police's anti-vice, gaming and secret
society division, led by Chief Inspector Habibi Majinji, raided the house
at 2am following a tip-off.

City CID deputy chief Superintendent Ramli Mat Arshad said investigations
revealed the Myanmar nationals arrived here three or four months ago.

They have been remanded for 14 days.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 9, India Today
India is wooing Myanmar to keep out China and check Northeastern rebels -
Sandeep Unnithan

The Navy is outraged at Britain's threat to block supply of spares for the
Islander aircraft if India sells them to Myanmar.

The warning from Britain came couched in mealy-mouthed diplomaticspeak,
but the message was clear. If India transferred aircraft to Myanmar, it
would have to face sanctions on the supply of spares which could possibly
ground its entire fleet of 11 BN-2 Islander maritime patrol aircraft which
it first bought from the UK 30 years ago. "There is a possibility India
could supply Islander aircraft to Myanmar. If this were the case, we would
look very carefully at the spares supplies for the aircraft,'' said Sir
Michael Arthur, British High Commissioner to India.

While the envoy called it a "small little Myanmar related issue", his
warning drew strong reactions from the Ministry of Defence and the Indian
Navy. "We see this as a threat and the British have no business
threatening us,'' said a senior naval official. The Ministry of External
Affairs had already sent a reply to the British Government over the
transfer, the Navy sent a second missive protesting against the high
commissioner's strong language.

The issue began during the course of Navy chief Arun Prakash's visit to
Myanmar last month when he proposed transfer of three old Indian Navy
Islander aircraft to the Myanmar navy. In the past few months, the Indian
Navy has used transfer of equipment as part of maritime diplomacy with
countries on the Indian Ocean rim. It transferred a patrol aircraft to the
Seychelles navy and its entire inventory of spares for the Osa class
missile boats and Petya class frigates to the Vietnamese navy. British
officials say they are conforming to military sanctions imposed by the EU
against the military regime of Myanmar. The incident, nevertheless, marks
a new low in the ties between the UK and India, reviving memories of the
post-Pokharan sanctions when the British impounded two of the Navy's
Harrier trainer aircraft and levied sanctions on spares, effectively
grounding the entire fleet of British-supplied Sea King helicopters.
Despite British assertions that the deal would have no bearing on ongoing
defence contracts, including the sale of eight second-hand Royal Navy Sea
Harriers to replace the Indian Navy's crashed jets, the incident does
raise questions on Britain's reliability as a supplier of defence
equipment.

It comes at a time when Britain is wooing the world's largest arms
importer-last year, India imported defence hardware worth $5 billion (Rs
22,088 crore), including 66 Hawk trainer aircraft from the UK which cost
$1.4 billion (Rs 6,180 crore). The UK flew down Minister for Defence
Procurement Lord Drayson to the cii-organised Defexpo-2006 in Delhi to try
clinch another round of arms sales, including the super-priced EH101
Merlin helicopter.

Unmindful of the threats, the Indian Navy says it is going ahead with the
aircraft transfer (see graphic for reasons) at "friendship prices". The
Indian armed forces have assiduously courted Myanmar over the past eight
years and all three service chiefs have visited Yangon over the past year.
The overtures are aimed at keeping the Chinese out of Myanmar and denying
sanctuaries to Northeastern rebels who have training camps in Myanmar.
Putting the British threat in perspective, Bharat Karnad, research
professor at the Centre for Policy Research, says: "Once a big country
like India gets the reputation of acting like a small one, then even
marginally small countries (such as Britain) start acting up.''

The threat of sanctions may be too late to bite---the Navy is planning to
shortly replace its Islander fleet with 11 new HAL-built Dornier aircraft.
It could perhaps consider gifting all the Islanders to the Myanmarese to
be used for spares.