BurmaNet News, February 11-13, 2006

[Editor]

February 11-13, 2006 Issue # 2899


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: NLD proposes military as interim government
AP: Myanmar junta extends detention of Suu Kyi's top lieutenant
Mizzima: Confusion over Burma's new UN and NGO guidelines
AFP: Myanmar lashes out at US, EU over sanctions
AFP: Dramatic rise in Myanmar quakes over past two years: report
AFP: Myanmar PM Soe Win heads for refuge of China
DVB: 59th anniversary of Burma’s Union Day marked inside, outside the country

ON THE BORDER
VOA: Burma's Karen face hard times as insurgency begins sixth decade

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to open second largest border trade zone

INTERNATIONAL
Kyodo News: Annan says Myanmar may threaten international peace, security

___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 13, Mizzima News
NLD proposes military as interim government

Burma opposition party, the National League for Democracy offered first
time ever publicly to legitimise the military junta as de jure government
in exchange of reconciliation Sunday.

The bold move was announced in a party chairman Aung Shwe's statement at
the Burma's 59th anniversary of Union Day celebration in the NLD
headquarter in Rangoon that military junta will be recognised as de jure
status if a Parliament was formed by the results of the 1990 election.

"Only people parliament can declare the State Peace and Development
Council as judicial administrative council. None other organization has
right to do so. Presently, the State Peace and Development Council is a de
facto council", said the statement.

The new government will come to power by the new election and the terms of
terms of the interim government will be negotiated by both sides, it
added.

Burma watchers and exiled activists surprise and welcome on NLD's
statement but dim hope for response of the military junta.

"The military's policy on NLD is too extreme and in that scenario the
military likely to response to the proposal positively although this is
very important proposal", Burma analysts Aung Naing Oo said.

The president of outlawed Democratic Party for a New Society Aung Moe Zaw
in exile surprises by the statement.

"As you know, many observers and some democracy activists accused the
National League for Democracy as stubborn. I believe this statement shall
overcome this accusation.", he said.

"It is hard to suggest the outcome. If we say on their (military) move,
they are hard to predict", he added.

Some critics often blamed NLD on stand on its principal of holding 1990
election result, which they say the barrier for reconciliation process.

The junta coup the power after bloody cracking down pro-democracy
demonstrators in 1988 and refuse to hand over power to the NLD although it
won over 82 percent parliamentary seat.

Aung San Suu Kyi herself and party have been calling for national
reconciliation which is supported by the alliances political parties and
ethnic minorities and international community but no response so far by
the military.

The military is drafting constitution as the first step of their own plan
seven point Road Map to democracy without participation of major political
parties, which was postponed again on January 31.

The NLD also call for release of detained Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been
in house-arrest since May 30, 2003.

Moreover, NLD propose a leader from a South East Asian countries to
mediate for national reconciliation.

Meanwhile, the head of the military junta Senior General Than Shwe accused
in Union Day statement that "some power" nations of prompting racial
dissension for the ruining, obstruction and armed conflicts in
Burma.

"We must be vigilant against the steps and schemes of the
neocolonialists", he said.

He cited that the process of reconvening the National Convention to lay
down basic detailed principles for drawing up a new constitution is
underway.

___________________________________

February 13, Associated Press
Myanmar junta extends detention of Suu Kyi's top lieutenant

Yangon: Myanmar's military government on Monday extended the house arrest
of senior opposition figure Tin Oo, the deputy of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, relatives and officials said.

A senior police official was seen late Monday visiting the house of Tin Oo
to inform him that his house arrest had been extended under an
anti-subversion law.

The extension was for one year, said one official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because he is not authorized to release such information.
Myanmar's junta tightly controls the release of all news.

Detention orders come into force when they are delivered and read to the
detainee.

Tin Oo, 79, the vice chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy,
was arrested with Suu Kyi in May 2003, after their motorcade was attacked
by a pro-junta mob as they were making a political tour of northern
Myanmar.

Both have been in prison or under house arrest since then.

In November, the military government extended Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's
house arrest by six months. The opposition leader has been under detention
for much of the last 18 years, since she assumed leadership of the
country's pro-democracy movement.

The extensions had been expected, since the military government has shown
no signs of wishing to talk with the NLD to resolve the country's
political deadlock. Tin Oo was one of the founders of the opposition party
in 1988.

The junta took power in 1988 after violently suppressing mass
pro-democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990 but refused to
hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory, saying the
country first needed a new constitution.

After being seized in May 2003, Tin Oo was initially held about 700
kilometers (435 miles) north of Yangon in Kale Prison, infamous for its
harsh conditions, and there was great concern about his health.

He was sent to his Yangon home on Feb. 13, 2004, where his detention was
extended for one year in February 2005.

Tin Oo, a former army general and a defense minister during the 26-year
socialist regime of the late president Gen. Ne Win, was jailed in 1976 for
alleged involvement in an abortive coup plot as well as a plot to
assassinate Ne Win, who was forced out of power by the 1988
demonstrations.

The NLD on Sunday urged the junta to release its detained party leaders
and other political prisoners. The party issued its statement to mark
Union Day, the anniversary of a historic agreement between the country's
ethnic groups that led to independence from Britain in 1948.

___________________________________

February 13, Mizzima News
Confusion over Burma's new UN and NGO guidelines - Jessicah Curtis

Confusion has spread among United Nations and international humanitarian
aid groups in Burma over new operational guidelines released by the
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

The government released the first formal set of guidelines for
humanitarian operations in Burma last Tuesday during a meeting with
international organisations in Rangoon.

While an English-language document handed out by officials in the meeting
contained few changes to operational requirements, the Burmese-language
version of the same document detailed several serious new restrictions on
the way organisations would be expected to operate.

In a further twist, a draft English-version of the official document was
leaked to the UN weeks before the meeting, containing many of the
restrictions cited in the official Burmese version.

But most of those changes to operational rules were omitted in the
official English version leaving UN and NGO workers unsure of which
document to believe.

All three documents, which have been obtained by Mizzima, are different.

The more serious restrictions listed in the Burmese-language and draft
English versions would heavily impact on international aid operations.

The documents said groups would be forced to choose Burmese staff from
military-prepared lists and that operations would be overseen by
committees made up of civil groups including the state-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Association and Women's Affairs association.

When international staff first saw the leaked draft English version of the
guidelines, they said they were gravely concerned over the new
restrictions. After the meeting, when the softer English version was
handed out, aid workers said they were relieved.

"News was definitely not as bad as we had feared. There had been rumors –
based on an initial draft document that was circulating – that all future
staff in UN agencies and INGOs would have to be hired from a shortlist of
candidates provided by the Government . . . Fortunately, this possibility
has not reared its ugly head," one humanitarian worker told Mizzima after
the meeting.

But a high-level international aid worker told Mizzima the fact that the
Burmese language version of the document contained the same restrictions
as the previously leaked version – plus a stipulation that all
international field workers would have to be accompanied by a government
official during in-country visits or inspections – showed the government
did plan to impose the new rules.

The worker said the rules were worrying and that they would have a serious
impact on international aid operations in Burma.

"The restrictions if imposed as they stand will have serious repercussions
on our activities. Greatly reducing them as we would have difficulty
operating within the parameters of the humanitarian principles to which we
must all comply. Donors would be more hesitant to support operations in
[Burma]," the high-level worker said.

The recent insistence by the military that USDA members accompany
International Committee of the Red Cross workers on prison visits –
causing the group to halt inspections – was seen by some aid workers as
evidence the military planned to enforce the new restrictions.

UN and INGO workers have expressed concern that if the new restrictions
were enforced some groups would be forced to cease operations in the
country.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria withdrew US $98
million worth of funding from Burma last year, citing unreasonable
restrictions on the operations of recipient organisations.

International humanitarian organisations are known to be requesting a
second meeting with military officials to clarify the matter.

"I haven't heard anyone here speaking of some of the more draconian
measures in the original document being imposed. Maybe they will be. Maybe
they won't. Nothing more than guess work at this point . . .," one aid
worker said.

____________________________________

February 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar lashes out at US, EU over sanctions

Yangon: Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe on Sunday lashed out at
the United States and the European Union over their sanctions against his
regime, amid rising global pressure for it to reform.

Myanmar's military supremo said "neo-colonialists" were trying to dominate
and stir racial tensions, in a message marking the 59th anniversary of
Union Day which commemorates the declaration of resistance to British
rule.

"They are also imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar and attempting to
incite political instigations to hinder the momentum of national
development," Than Shwe said in a speech read by another official at a
ceremony in Yangon.

The United States, Myanmar's most vocal critic, has a total ban on Myanmar
exports, and the European Union has more targetted measures including a
travel ban on the junta, an arms embargo, and a ban on investment in state
companies.

"People should be aware of the fact that colonialists and neo-colonialists
who are anxious to intrude and dominate our union have been intentionally
breaking up our national solidarity," he said.

Than Shwe's address followed Washington's renewed call last week for
global pressure against the junta to be stepped up over its poor human
rights record.

The United States put the international spotlight on Myanmar in December
when it successfully pushed the UN Security Council to hold a briefing on
human rights and other problems in the military-ruled country for the
first time.

US legislators last week pressed Washington, current president of the
Security Council, to formally put Myanmar on the agenda of the powerful UN
panel, a move that could lead to resolutions of condemnation and raise
pressure on the ruling generals.

Union Day commemorates a 1947 agreement between ethnic leaders and
independence hero, General Aung San -- the father of opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi -- to resist British colonial rule. Independence came in
1948.

Union Day was celebrated this year at a Yangon park with military
officials and ethnic representatives attending the ceremony.

____________________________________

February 12, Agence France Presse
Dramatic rise in Myanmar quakes over past two years: report

Yangon: The frequency of earthquakes in Myanmar has risen dramatically
over the past two years but scientists are divided over whether it means a
big quake is now likely, a report said Sunday.

Department of Meteorology and Hydrology records showed there were just 22
earthquakes on average each year in Myanmar from 1917 to 2000, the weekly
Myanmar Times said in its edition to be published Monday.

But the frequency soared to more than 200 in 2004 and over 300 in 2005,
the daily said, adding that there had already been 28 quakes in January
this year.

Some seismologists say there is huge potential for a strong quake in the
northeast of the Bay of Bengal region, while others argue the high
frequency of small quakes reduces tensions on geological faults.

"These different theories just point out the fact that it is impossible to
accurately predict earthquakes," U Tun Lwin, the acting director-general
of the department, told the daily.

The most seismically active areas in Myanmar are Coco Island, off the tip
of Gulf Mottama, Sagaing Division, which borders India, Kachin in the
north and the eastern Shan states.

In 1912, a quake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale jolted Myanmar in Shan
state, which borders China, Laos and Thailand.

____________________________________

February 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar PM Soe Win heads for refuge of China

Beijing: With Myanmar's military junta facing increasing international
isolation, Prime Minister Soe Win heads to China this week expecting to
expand ties with his nation's strongest and most loyal ally.

Even as Myanmar's fellow Southeast Asian neighbours show growing signs of
unhappiness over the regime's political and human rights records, China
has remained solidly behind the generals while looking to broaden trade
links.

"We expect that this visit will further expand and deepen the traditional
friendship between China and Myanmar," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman
Kong Quan said last week when asked about Soe Win's trip, which begins on
Tuesday.

Kong said the two nations would sign trade agreements during Soe Win's
four-day trip, while he is scheduled to receive red carpet treatment
during meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

However the United Nations former envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, called
on China to belatedly start pressuring the junta to reform.

"China has a critical role to play in the efforts to bring reforms and
democracy in Myanmar," Razali, a Malaysian diplomat who resigned in
frustration in December after being denied access to the country for two
years, told AFP.

"The Chinese know if they exert the political will, they can get Myanmar
back on the track towards reforms. China is extremely close with Myanmar."

However China has given no indication it will encourage the junta to
reform, with Kong insisting his government will not deviate from its
strict policy of not interfering in Myanmar's "internal affairs".

The director of the Honolulu-based Center for Strategic and International
Studies' Pacific Forum think tank, Ralph Cossa, said China's stance had
become more important for the junta as other regional governments
abandoned them.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a long time followed a
similar policy of "non-interference" with member Myanmar, but last year
demanded it move towards democracy and release opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

"China has become not only an important economic contributor, but also its
political protector," Cossa said.

Cossa said this support had become "critical" in multilateral forums, with
China lobbying other nations privately and publicly to avoid pressuring
Myanmar's generals.

"You see the Chinese at every one of these meetings speaking out for
Myanmar. No one else is carrying the flag for them. Politically it helps
to take some of the heat off Myanmar," he said.

The United States said last week it was considering introducing a
resolution at the UN Security Council to step up international pressure on
Myanmar over its human rights abuses.

China, a permanent member of the Security Council, would likely veto any
such move, with Myanmar so confident of the fact that Soe Win would not
even raise the matter this week, according to a former Thai ambassador to
the UN.

"Burma doesn't have to lobby," Asda Jayanama told AFP, referring to
Myanmar by its former name.

One of the reasons for China's steadfast loyalty is Myanmar's strategic
importance on military, economic and geopolitical fronts, with the nation
bordering India and giving Beijing access to the Indian Ocean.

China has been the junta's biggest military supplier, delivering more than
one billion dollars worth of hardware during the 1990s, according to
various academic reports.

Meanwhile, with Myanmar's economy suffering from the junta's mismanagement
and Western sanctions, China's growing trade links are assuming an even
greater importance in helping the junta remain in power, according to
Thailand's Asda.

"China is the last refuge for Myanmar, not only in terms of political
relations but also in terms of trade," he said.

Bilateral trade was worth more than 1.15 billion dollars in 2004,
according to official Chinese figures, but the true figure is undoubtedly
much higher taking into account the enormous informal border trade.

Environmental watchdog Global Witness last year accused China of being
involved in the illegal trade of timber from Myanmar worth around 300
million dollars annually.

____________________________________

February 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
59th anniversary of Burma’s Union Day marked inside, outside the country

The 59th anniversary of Burma’s Union Day was celebrated at the National
League for Democracy (NLD) HQs in Rangoon and it was attended by nearly
1000 celebrants, with two separate ceremonies which were held at noon and
4pm local time.

The ceremonies were attended by several US and European diplomats, veteran
politicians, Committee Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) members,
ethnic national leaders, 8888 Generation students and party members and
supporters, according to NLD information official Han Zaw.

The Union Day marks the signing of a treaty between Burma’s national hero
Gen Aung San and some major ethnic national leaders at Pang Long in
southern Shan State on 12 February 1947, pledging to demand independence
from the British colonial power together.

NLD members and leaders in other regions of Burma, especially in Magwe and
Mandalay Divisions also marked the auspicious day. Exiled pro-democracy
activists throughout the world also celebrated the event with social
events and political discussions. The celebrations were led by the
National Coalition government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) and the
National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) in Thailand.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 13, Voice of America
Burma's Karen face hard times as insurgency begins sixth decade - Ron Corben

Thai-Burma border: Burma's ethnic Karen, who have been fighting the
central government for nearly six decades, remain defiant despite set
backs and few resources.

Traditional long-tail boats ferry passengers up the Moei River, which
divides Burma from Thailand. Some boats stop at a clearing on one side of
the river - the headquarters of Burma's ethnic Karen insurgents.
Jungle-covered hills loom over the little community.

Colonel Ner Dah Mya is a Karen rebel battalion commander. He told
journalists that the Karen must remain defiant against Burma's military.

"We have to proceed and have to continue. We need to have a political
fight also - a political fight, a military fight. In the battlefield, on
the negotiating table. And we're ready to fight them either way," he said.
"Show to the world that we are a Karen people, we are a nation; we're
defending our Motherland."

The Karen National Union, or K.N.U., has spent nearly six decades fighting
for autonomy. It is among some 20 minority groups that have fought the
government since Burma won independence in 1948. In the past few years, 17
of those groups have signed cease-fire deals with Rangoon. But not the
Karen, who number about seven million and had one of the largest armed
insurgencies in Burma.

But thousands of Karen have died from the fighting and from the hard life
in some of Southeast Asia's harshest jungle. With a fighting force of less
than four thousand now, the K.N.U. is a far cry from the 1980s, when there
were 20,000 troops. There have also been internal splits within the Karen
leaving their strength diminished.

Bertil Lintner, a Swedish academic who has written extensively on Burma
and its politics, says there is little the Karen can hope for against
Burma's 400,000 strong Army.

"There's no way they will be able to defeat the Burmese Army," siad
Lintner. "The most they can hope for is to survive and to keep their cause
alive."

But Lintner says despite the odds, the K.N.U. has a lot of support that is
problematic for the government.

"Eyewitnesses, at least, support that they're still enjoying a high degree
of popular support among the Karens in eastern Burma," he said. "So, even
if the K.N.U.'s strength is down considerably it's still a factor to be
reckoned with."

On this past Karen Revolutionary Day on January 31, leaders came to the
jungle encampment to address the crowds and more than 200 troops.

Young Karen sing the movement's anthem, and gunfire is heard from the
nearby jungles.

The Karen have long argued they have distinct qualities in terms of
history, language and culture that qualify them as a "nation." Rebel
commander Ner Dah Mya outlines the Karen's goals now:

"What the Karen want is very simple - freedom and territory for the Karen
people so that they can live peacefully in harmony," he said.

That autonomy is unlikely under Burma's military, which has ruled the
country since 1962.

Lintner and other Burma experts say the government, which is drafting a
new constitution based on national unity, is not likely to allow either
autonomy for minority groups or significant democratic reform.

In fact, Sunai Pasuk, a representative for the U.S.-based Human Rights
Watch, says Burma's military will fight until all insurgencies surrender.

"It appears that the generals still believe that by using military force
they can pressure ethnic groups to surrender and to take part in on-going
reconciliation," Sunai said.

The K.N.U's cease-fire talks with the government in 2004 have stalled. An
informal truce is currently in place. But for how long, is not clear.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 13, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to open second largest border trade zone

Yangon: One more border trade zone in Myanmar's Myawaddy along the
Myanmar-Thailand border will be opened later this year, the local Myanmar
Times reported Monday.

The Myawaddy border trade zone in southeastern Kayin state will be the
second largest of its kind after Muse trade zone along the Myanmar-China
border, which is also expected to be inaugurated soon.

Thailand stands as Myanmar's largest trading partner, taking up about 1.9
billion U.S. dollars or 38 percent of Myanmar's 4.9 billion dollars'
foreign trade in the 2004-05 fiscal year. Border trade accounted for about
70 percent of the bilateral trade between the two countries.

According to the Thai embassy here, bilateral trade between the two
countries is expected to rise 20 percent in 2005 compared with 2004.

Meanwhile, border trade officials said that one-stop service will be
introduced in the 150-hectare Muse border trade zone, also known as the
105 Mile Zone linking China's Ruili in Yunnan province, and transformation
from the border trade system to normal trade system is being strived.

Observers here said that once the two border trade zones are established,
Myanmar's bilateral trade with Thailand and China will be further
enhanced.

According to Chinese official figures, Sino-Myanmar bilateral trade
reached 1.209 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, up 5.6 percent from 2004. Of
the total, China's exports to Myanmar took 935 million dollars, while its
imports from Myanmar stood at 274 million.

Statistics also show that trade between China's Yunnan province and
Myanmar, including the border trade, amounted to 630 million dollars in
2005, up 14.6 percent over the previous year.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 13, Kyodo News
Annan says Myanmar may threaten international peace, security


New York: U.N. Security General Kofi Annan said at an informal meeting of
the Security Council in December that military-ruled Myanmar may threaten
international peace and security if the country's current situation is not
addressed properly, security council sources told Kyodo News on Monday.



"Annan made it clear (at the meeting) that Burma might be a threat to the
region," one of the sources said. Annan's view on Myanmar was expressed
amid a division among the permanent members of the Security Council over
whether the Southeast Asian nation should be formally put on the council's
agenda.

The United States is considering introducing a resolution in the Security
Council, which would lead to sanctions, to increase pressure on Myanmar
for alleged human rights abuses.

China and Russia, however, are opposed to the move.

Britain also considers Myanmar to be threatening security partly because
of the military government's suppression of moves toward democracy and
alleged drug trafficking.

The meeting of 15 Security Council members -- five permanent and 10
nonpermanent members -- was held on Dec. 16 last year on an informal basis
because China and Russia objected to holding a formal meeting which would
pave the way for economic sanctions and adoption of a political message.

Annan expressed the view on Myanmar in the meeting when British Ambassador
to the United Nations Emyr Jones Parry asked Annan whether he considers
Myanmar a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security as
stipulated in an article of the U.N. Charter, the sources said.

Article 99 says, "The Secretary General may bring to the attention of the
Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the
maintenance of international peace and security."