BurmaNet News, February 17, 2006

[Editor]

February 17, 2006 Issue # 2903


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar military supremo arrives in new capital: sources
Xinhua: Myanmar to form coordination committee to work with UN

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Burmese activists flee Moreh after kidnapping
Narinjara: People's militia formed at Western Border

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Rangoon awaits approval for huge economic zone
Xinhua: Myanmar PM welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Myanmar

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Indonesian president to visit Burma
Mizzima: India confirms presidential trip to Burma
Mizzima: Pinheiro calls for coordinated efforts for change in Burma
Irrawaddy: Pyinmana subject of seminar in Bangkok

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma called non-cooperative in combating money laundering

___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 17, Agence France Presse
Myanmar military supremo arrives in new capital: sources

Yangon: Myanmar's military leader Senior General Than Shwe arrived in the
country's new administrative capital Friday, signalling the completion of
a surprise relocation of power from Yangon, sources said.

The notoriously secretive State Peace and Development Council abruptly
announced in November it was moving the government to Pyinmana, 320
kilometers (200 miles) north of Yangon, and set a deadline for the end of
February.

"The senior general and his entourage left here by special flight for
Pyinmana early this morning and arrived there to receive the key to his
recently completed official mansion at the military site," a source close
to Than Shwe's family told AFP.

As Than Shwe was due back in Yangon Saturday afternoon, it was unclear in
which city he would be based permanently, the source said.

Ministries have held individual opening ceremonies, but sources have said
that Than Shwe will not hold an official opening for the new capital or
the military zone.

"All the 34 ministries as well as the war office are now present and
accounted for at the new site, with most of the staff in place," a second
source, a private contractor, said on condition of anonymity.

He said most of the junta's top leadership had taken possession of their
new homes this week, except Prime Minister Soe Win who was expected in
Pyinmana Saturday afternoon after returning from a state visit to China.

Some buildings in the civilian zone under his responsibility were not yet
finished, the contractor said.

The civilian zone still needs sealed roads, and problems remain with water
and food supplies, sources have said.

The new capital is near a logging town in the mountains on the main road
and railway line between Myanmar's two main cities, Yangon and Mandalay.

It will be known as "Pyinmana Naypyidaw" which means "capital where the
king resides".

The announcement of the relocation was without ceremony and caught
government staff and the international community by surprise, including
Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).

The junta told ASEAN it was too busy relocating the capital to receive an
envoy from the bloc despite agreeing in December to a review of democratic
reforms.

The envoy, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, was expected to
have visited last month. No arrival date has been set.

The foreign ministers of ASEAN members Singapore and the Philippines said
Wednesday the envoy should be allowed to visit "soon".

Speculation about the reason for the relocation of the government ranges
from the junta's fear of a US invasion to astrological predictions and
worries over possible urban unrest in Yangon.

___________________________________

February 17, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to form coordination committee to work with UN

Yangon: The Myanmar government will form a Central Coordination Committee
(CCC) to work with United Nations agencies operating in the country with
their aid projects, a local weekly reported Friday.

Besides the UN agencies, other international non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and domestic NGOs are also governed by regulations of
the CCC, a latest release of the Ministry of National Planning and
Economic Development (NPED) was quoted by the weekly newspaper as saying.

The CCC will be headed by Minister of NPED U Soe Tha together with
Minister of Home Affairs Major-General Maung Oo and Minister of Foreign
Affairs U Nyan Win as deputy heads. Deputy ministers of related ministries
will act as CCC members and Deputy Minister of NPED Colonel Thurein Zaw
will serve as the secretary, the release said.

NGOs' projects to be implemented in Myanmar are to seek approval from the
CCC now in addition to the Health Ministry and the Foreign Policy
Committee which are the only steps to go through previously in the
formalities.

The CCC designates that all NGOs assisting Myanmar are to be registered
with the government for their operations and the traveling in the country
of their project staff is so limited that they must be accompanied by at
least a responsible official of the government.

There are 80 international NGOs in Myanmar including those that have
signed memorandums of understanding with the government and it also has
300 Domestic NGOs.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 17, Mizzima News
Burmese activists flee Moreh after kidnapping - Nem Davies

Burmese democracy activists and their families have fled Moreh on the
India-Burma border for New Delhi to seek protection from the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sixteen Burmese people sought UNHCR protection yesterday as they said
Moreh was no longer safe. Most had lived in Moreh since the 1988 uprising.

They decided to leave after activists Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo
were kidnapped and dragged back to Burma by militants on January 14.

Student leader Aung Seing Oo, who recently arrived in New Delhi with his
wife and two sons, said Moreh was no longer safe.

"It is not secure in Moreh at the present and we can not go outside of our
house anymore," Aung Seing Oo said.

Another activist, Ko Thein, said Assam Rifles-24 security forces had
started to clamp down on the area, closing all border checkpoints but two.

"The security forces have permission to shoot everybody who enters Moreh
except through the two check points," Ko Thein said.

"I felt that, we Burmese democracy forces lost revolution ground like
Moreh, but we need to keep and try to get into the land."

Among the group of Burmese seeking safety in New Dehli were three couples,
five children and four single men and women.
___________________________________

February 17, Narinjara News
People's militia formed at Western Border

The Burmese military junta has formed a people's militia in the western
border area to act as a defense against either internal insurgents or
external invasions in cooperation with the Tatmadaw, or the Burmese army,
on 14 February, said a source.

A military team led by Lt Col Maun Maung Lwin from Dakasa, the regional
security control force, ye sterday came to the village of Kodan Kouk in
southern Maungdaw, in company with the Maungdaw Township Mayaka, or
Township Peace and Development Council, to form the people's militias with
the villagers.

According to village sources, the local army summoned villagers to the
village Rayaka office to enlist in the militia. The people's militia in
Kodan Kouk will be formed with 60 individuals. Of those, 20 will make up a
standing force, and 40 will make up reserve forces.

After military training is given to the enlistees in the militia, the
military authority will arm members of the militia with sophisticated
guns, the villager said.

Furthermore, the military team led by Lt Col Maung Maung Lwin has a plan
to form another people's militia at Ahgumaw Village after the Kodan Kouk
village militia is established. Ahgumaw and Kodan Kouk are located in the
south of Maungdaw Township near the Bay of Bengal.

In Maungdaw Township, the authority used to form people's militias at the
border areas close to Bangladesh in the northern part of the township.
This time, however, the military has formed a militia in the southern part
of the township and at least 10 villages in the same area will be host to
militias formed one after the other by the military team.

In the northern party of Maungdaw, close to the Bangladesh border, there
are at least five people's militias in the villages of Bandula,
Wayladaung, Tet Chaung, and Taung Bro (left). Members of the people's
militias in the border areas carry sophisticated arms including AK-47 and
M-16 automatic rifles.

___________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 17, Irrawaddy
Rangoon awaits approval for huge economic zone - Clive Parker

Burma’s military government and Chinese company Shanghai Jinqiao Export
Processing Zone Development Company are currently awaiting Beijing’s
permission to jointly develop what would be Burma’s largest Special
Economic Zone in Rangoon.

Shanghai Jinqiao—a part-state-owned company—said it submitted a proposal
for the project to China’s Ministry of Commerce a few days before Burmese
Prime Minister Gen Soe Win arrived in Beijing as part of an ongoing tour
of China. The company has been working with Burma’s Ministry of
Construction for two years in planning the project, the company added.

The proposal is understood to involve the construction of an SEZ in
Rangoon’s southern Thanlyin Township, just north of the capital’s main
Thilawa Port, in an area which would be free of export duty. Shanghai
Jinqiao says it plans to model the project on a similar development in
Shanghai’s Pudong district which has proven to be one of China’s most
profitable economic zones.

The junta told Shanghai Jinqiao that should the Chinese Ministry of
Commerce fail to give the go-ahead, Japanese and South Korean partners
will then bid to partner with the Burmese government in developing the
site. The Ministry of Commerce was not available for comment on the issue
today.

Should Beijing approve the project, the company will then begin
construction on what would be China’s first attempt to establish a
commercial presence with access to the Indian Ocean, a move that has been
anticipated by analysts for some time. The Burmese government will rent
out the site to Shanghai Jinqiao, it is understood, with the Chinese
company then bringing in companies to operate in the zone, which—according
to the proposal—will be separated into six sections including industrial,
commercial and residential areas.

For the junta, revenue from leasing the site and the anticipated boom in
trade would make the zone a profitable venture. One of the companies that
operate Thilawa Port told The Irrawaddy the proposed project would give a
much-needed boost to Burma’s stalling economy.

“I believe it will bring some life to our place,” said Mahmoud Samy, a
representative of Singaporean company Myanmar Integrated Port Limited,
which runs Plot 4 at Thilawa Port. “Not so many vessels come, we stay
empty
so it’s getting difficult these days.”

The question of whether or not China will involve itself in the project
may be decided by the time Soe Win leaves China tomorrow morning, although
given the scale of the project, Shanghai Jinqiao expects an outcome may
take some time. However, noises made by both the Chinese and Burmese this
week suggest economic cooperation between the two is set to increase
significantly.

“There is great potential for further economic cooperation and trade,
which both will work to expand in the future,” Chinese Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Liu Jianchao said on Tuesday when Soe Win touched down in
Beijing.

Soe Win’s meetings with Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on Tuesday, and
then with President Hu Jintao on Wednesday, lead to similar statements of
intent, with the Burmese prime minister encouraging more trade and
investment with its northern neighbor.

Meanwhile, Soe Win today arrived in Guangdong, southern China, where his
delegation visited Shenzhen, an SEZ bordering Hong-Kong. The prime
minister’s group—which includes Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Energy
Minister Lun Thi—were expected to meet with local government officials
before returning to Rangoon on Saturday.

____________________________________

February 17, Xinhua Economic News Service
Myanmar PM welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Myanmar

Xi’an: Visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Soe Win on Feb. 16 expressed
welcome for more and more Chinese enterprises to invest in Myanmar.

Soe Win and his party arrived in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, in the morning of Feb. 16 to continue the five-day
official visit to the country.

During his meeting with Zhao Zhengyong, executive vice provincial
governor, Soe Win said Myanmar abounds in resources, expressing his hope
that more Chinese companies will invest in Myanmar.

Zhao said he hopes Shaanxi province and Myanmar can further cement
cooperation in the trade and economic field.

Upon his arrival, the Myanmar prime minister visited a compressed natural
gas program of a local car producer and the Famen temple where he paid
respect to Sarira.

Besides Beijing and Shaanxi Province, Soe Win will also travel to the
southern province of Guangdong before the end of his tour on Feb. 18.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 17, Irrawaddy
Indonesian president to visit Burma - Yeni

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will visit Burma “in the
near future,” according to an official announcement.

Burma’s state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar said Yudhoyono and
his wife will pay a state visit at the invitation of Burma’s junta chief
Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

The Indonesian president’s spokesman Dino Patti Djalal, however, has
announced that the two countries have not confirmed a definite date but it
would take place in combination with visits to Brunei on February 27 to 28
and Cambodia on February 28 to March 1. The official date would be decided
before Yudhoyono`s departure, he said.

The purpose of Yudhoyono’s trip is to promote cooperation in the economic
and trade sectors with fellow Asean member countries, Dino told reporters,
but he refused to give any details about the Burma trip.

Last month, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin hinted
that Yudhoyono may raise the issue of Burma’s democratization process
during his visit.

Asean has grown increasingly impatient with Burma’s slow crawl toward
political reform, particularly with the junta’s refusal to allow Malaysian
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid to visit the country to monitor
democratization efforts.

In December, Asean reached an agreement with Rangoon to allow Syed Hamid,
representing Malaysia—who currently holds the rotating chairmanship of
Asean—to visit Burma. The visit was tentatively scheduled for January, but
the junta subsequently called it off.

“We are frustrated. We feel that diplomatic efforts should produce some
concrete step forward," Ong Keng Yong, the secretary-general of Asean,
told the AP news agency on Friday. “Our friends in Myanmar [Burma] feel
their domestic preoccupations come first. It looks like we are losing
momentum.”

Ong’s impatience comes comes a day after Malaysia’s Foreign Minister told
reporters that he had no date for a visit to Burma. But he said he hope to
arrange the trip before an Asean ministerial meeting on April 17 and18 in
Bali, Indonesia, where he will report his assessment to his Asean
counterparts.

Meanwhile Singapore and the Philippines have released a joint statement
that a proposed visit by an Asean envoy to Burma should take place soon
and “that it should be a meaningful one.”

The joint statement was issued after a meeting in Manila between visiting
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and his Philippine counterpart
Alberto Romulo on Wednesday.

____________________________________

February 16, Mizzima News
India confirms presidential trip to Burma - Syed Ali Mujtaba

India has confirmed president APJ Abdul Kalam will visit Burma from March
8 to 10 to enhance bilateral ties and economic cooperation between the
countries.

The Indian foreign office said today the trip was organised at the
invitation of senior general Than Shwe.

"India enjoys warm and friendly relations with the Union of [Burma]. In
recent years, the relationship has grown and diversified considerably.
President Kalam's goodwill visit is expected to contribute significantly
to the further strengthening of bilateral relations," an official
statement said.

"It will, in particular, signal our interest in developing a long-term
economic partnership with [Burma] as well as demonstrate our commitment to
assist the people of [Burma] through infrastructure projects, scientific
and technological support and human resource development."

President Kalam will hold discussions with Than Shwe during his visit and
will also address professors and students at Rangoon University and
interact with scientists, intellectuals and school children.

He is also expected to visit Bagan and Mandalay.

India has strong economic and diplomatic ties to Burma, particularly
within the two countries' energy sectors.

The Indian government has been accused by pro-democracy activists of
helping support Burma's military regime through investments in the
country.

____________________________________

February 15, Mizzima News
Pinheiro calls for coordinated efforts for change in Burma - Mungpi

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations special rapporteur on human
rights in Burma, said the international community needed to coordinate
efforts to promote change in Burma.

Speaking to Mizzima in India yesterday, Pinheiro said, "Coordination
within the international community is needed . . . We need a lot of
diplomacy, diplomacy and diplomacy".

Pinheiro said economic sanctions were not having the desired effect on the
military and while he welcomed the release of a few political prisoners in
the past few years, he said the human rights situation in Burma was
worsening.

But Pinheiro said he did not think Burma would make it onto the UN
Security Council agenda in the near future.

As the Burmese military continue to deny Pinheiro access to the country,
the Brazilian academic has been spending time in border areas, researching
the human rights situation in the country.

Pinheiro, whose tenure as special rapporteur ends in April 2006, said
ASEAN could play a key role in promoting change in the country.

The human rights specialist was in India on three-day visit as a UN
independent expert on violence against children.

____________________________________

February 17, Irrawaddy
Pyinmana subject of seminar in Bangkok - Sai Silp

A seminar was convened yesterday in Bangkok, at which Thai scholars and
Burma observers met to discuss the implications of the Burmese military
government’s recent relocation of the country’s capital to Pyinmana.

The Burmese government began relocating government ministries from Rangoon
to Pyinmana, some 320 km north, in early November 2005. The move has drawn
widespread criticism from the international community and Burma’s regional
neighbors.

Yesterday’s seminar was organized by the Asian Institute at Bangkok’s
Chulalongkorn University and aimed to provide general information about
the relocation, to offer opinions by regional scholars and consider what,
if any, impact these developments might have for Thailand and its future
relations with Burma.

“Thailand may have more limitations accessing information about the
[Burmese] government because of the Pyinmana move, particularly because of
its hidden location,” said Sunait Chutintaranond, a historian from
Chulalongkorn University’s Southeast Asian Studies Centre, and the main
speaker at the seminar. “Besides this, the Thai government should prepare
a military strategy to be ready for any future emergency.”

Burma’s new capital at Pyinmana is geographically closer to Thailand than
Rangoon—just 210 km (130 miles) from the border with Thailand’s Mae Hong
Son province.

“Burma has changed their base of government, so strategies relating to
ongoing conflicts in the country must change too,” said Sunait. “Thailand
should be prepared for any impact resulting from a resumption of fighting
between the Burmese army and armed ethnic insurgency groups.”

He added: “I think Burma is not dangerous for us [Thailand]. The problems
we have had with Burma have stemmed from clashes between the government
and its insurgent groups, which have had a huge impact on Thailand.” There
are currently some 120,000 Burmese refugees living along the
Thailand-Burma border.

Sunait disagreed with those who fear that the US may decide to intervene
in Burma, as North Korea seems to be the principal focus of the current
administration.

Pornpimol Trichot of the Asian Institute, and moderator of the seminar,
told The Irrawaddy that the event generated considerable interest among
media and academic institutions, and included about 80 participants.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 17, Irrawaddy
Burma called non-cooperative in combating money laundering

Burma has once again been named by the Financial Action Task Force on
Money Laundering as an uncooperative in the global fight against money
laundering during a three-day meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. FATF
President Kader Asmal said that two countries—Nigeria and Burma—remain on
the list of non-cooperative nations, whose ruling regimes have failed to
support the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering.
However, the task force was encouraged by the progress these countries
were making, the South African newspaper Business Day reported recently.
The FATF first named Burma to its list in June 2001.

Observers have noted that drug money is widely believed to be keeping
Burma’s struggling economy afloat. In 2003, the US Treasury Department
reported that the Myanmar Mayflower Bank and Asia Wealth Bank were linked
to narcotics trafficking organizations in Southeast Asia. Burma’s ruling
junta initiated an investigation of the two banks to uncover any possible
drug links, but it is not known whether any formal charges have been filed
in the case. Burma’s military government enacted the Control of Money
Laundering Law in 2002.

Attended by more than 400 delegates from 44 countries, the three-day
session in Cape Town, which ends Friday, included discussions about the
ways to build effective infrastructures for fighting money-laundering and
countering terrorist financing in emerging economies. The conclusions of
the meeting will be made available on February 21 on the FATF web site.