BurmaNet News, March 25-27, 2006

[Editor]

March 25-27, 2006 Issue # 2927


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Thousands flee Myanmar fighting: rebels
Mizzima News: Burma’s opposition marks anti-fascist revolution day
Irrawaddy: Junta moves to Pyinmana for armed forces day
AFP: Myanmar defiant with major show of military force in new capital
AFP: Myanmar civil servants to receive 10-fold raise: official
DVB: Ancestral farmlands confiscated from farmers by Burmese prison
authorities

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Migrant workers take Mae Sot factories to court - Khun Sam

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Inflation fears spread in Burma as gold, exchange rates fluctuate
Mizzima: Economists warn military's wage increases could wreck Burma's
economy
Xinhua: Myanmar's private airlines join in flying new capital
Xinhua: Annual Myanmar gems emporium ends in Myanmar

HEALTH / AIDS
Japan Economic Newswire: Bird flu outbreak under control, Myanmar says

ASEAN
AP: Myanmar junta considers Suu Kyi irrelevant, says ASEAN envoy
AP: Myanmar, Malaysian opposition leaders brand ASEAN envoy's Myanmar trip
a failure

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 25, Agence France-Presse
Thousands flee Myanmar fighting: rebels

Bangkok: Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers have fled attacks by
Myanmar's military, a rebel group said Saturday, in fighting that analysts
said could be aimed at protecting the junta's new capital.

The military has since February been shelling villages, burning down crops
and homes, and laying landmines in districts about 90 kilometers (60
miles) southeast of the junta's new administrative capital Pyinmana, the
rebel Karen National Union said in a statement.

"For that reason, thousands of Karen people in Toungoo and Nyaunglaybin
districts have to flee from their homes and villages," the KNU said.

Aung Naing Oo, an exiled Myanmar academic who monitors the fighting from
neighboring Thailand, said the military appeared to be trying to protect
Pyinmana from possible attack.

"Under the pretext of securing the perimeter for Pyinmana, the new
capital, the military has been launching offensives against the villages
in the Toungoo area," he said.

He said the military has been laying landmines in the region, and said he
had received reports of bridges being destroyed.

"They're paranoid about the security," Aung Naing Oo said. "Militarily,
the KNU and other groups cannot physically threaten the junta leaders."

The military government in November made a shock announcement that it was
building a new administrative capital and military headquarters in
Pyinmana, a remote mountain town 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of
Yangon.

The junta plans to hold its first major event in Pyinmana on Monday, when
it conducts its annual military parade there for the annual Armed Forces
Day ceremony.

The KNU is the largest of several rebel groups battling Yangon in one of
the world's longest-running insurgencies.

The KNU and the government had reached a "gentleman's agreement" in 2004
to stop the fighting while peace talks were underway, but later that year
the junta called off the talks after a shake-up in the government.


March 27, Mizzima News
Burma’s opposition marks anti-fascist revolution day - Min Thu

The National League for Democracy marked the 61st anniversary of
Anti-Fascist Revolution Day today by giving donations and assistance to
veterans of the 1945 revolution.

NLD staff at the party’s headquarters in Rangoon gave cash and gifts to 64
veterans of the anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggle, according to
spokesperson Myint Thein.

“These 64 octogenarians sacrificed for their country and the people . . .
Everybody can imagine what the bitter experience they had under the brutal
rule of fascist Japan,” Myint Thein said.

“No matter what happened to their own lives, they were determined to
sacrifice their own lives for the freedom of our country and the people.”

The ceremony to honour the veterans and supporters of the anti-fascist
struggle was attended by more than 400 people, including diplomats and the
Burma representatives of several United Nations agencies.

The NLD released a statement at the ceremony calling on the Burmese
military to support genuine efforts toward national reconciliation and to
allow political dialogue.

They also called on the military to release all political prisoners in
Burma including NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similar ceremonies were held at NLD offices in Mandalay and were attended
by about 40 people.

____________________________________
March 27, Irrawaddy
Junta mves to Pyinmana for Armed Forces Day - Shah Paung

For the first time, the Burmese regime on Monday held an Armed Forces Day
ceremony at its new capital, Pyinmana.

According to one Pyinmana resident, people attending the ceremony had to
show security cards issued by the government, otherwise they were barred
from entering.

The resident, who declined to give a name, said most of those attending
were government officials, or interest groups associated with the regime.
The place used for the ceremony was 11 kilometers from Pyinmana.

He said that since junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe arrived in the new
capital last month, security had been increased, with check points into
the area, including villages outside the capital.

The ceremony was on live TV. One viewer said 12,700 soldiers were
inspected by Than Shwe, standing in a car.

In his speech, Than Shwe said: “Our military should be worthy heirs to the
traditions of the capable military established by noble kings Anawrahta,
Bayint Naung and Alaung Phaya U Aung Zeya,”

While the Pyinmana celebration was taking place, Burma’s leading
opposition party, the National League for Democacy, and a veteran
politicians’ group were holding their own celebrations in Rangoon, the old
capital. The celebrations were for the 61st anniversary of Resistance Day,
the former name of the Armed Forcers Day.

While the NLD held its ceremony at its headquarters, the politicians’
group held its celebration at the home of Thakhin Thein Pe, who fought for
Burma’s independence from British colonial rule. Well-known former student
leader Min Ko Naing joined 150 people at the ceremony.

____________________________________

March 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar defiant with major show of military force in new capital

Pyinmana: Myanmar staged its first official ceremony in its new
administrative capital Pyinmana on Monday, defying those calling for
democratic reforms with a major display of military force.

Addressing almost 13,000 troops on Armed Forces Day, the leader of the
isolated military-ruled state, Senior General Than Shwe, said it needed
strong armed forces during its transition to "disciplined democracy".

"If we are going to practise multi-party democracy, we need peace and
stability. That is why the military is striving constantly to see that
peace and stability prevails," said the 73-year-old leader who is rarely
seen in public.

"The people, together with the military, must also strive hard to build a
modern, developed state where disciplined democracy flourishes."

It took an hour for six columns of troops -- nearly double the number in
previous parades -- to assemble on the vast concrete parade ground in
Myanmar's largest-ever military parade.

The troops marched onto the grounds from an eight-lane highway, one of the
few finished roads in Pyinmana, as residents lined the roadside putting
garlands of flowers over the soldiers' heads.

Than Shwe later reviewed the troops from an open-topped utility vehicle
under the gaze of three towering, golden statues of ancient Burmese kings.

Armed Forces Day, which celebrates the start of Myanmar's campaign against
occupying Japanese forces in World War II, was the first official function
held in remote, malaria-ridden Pyinmana.

The notoriously secretive State Peace and Development Council abruptly
announced in November it was moving the government 350 kilometers (215
miles) north of Yangon to the town surrounded by mountains, in a move that
stunned diplomats.

Embassy defense attaches were the only foreigners allowed at the parade,
which was held almost 10 kilometers outside the main town at the new
military headquarters.

Sources in Yangon say the site, where Than Shwe and other senior generals
have villas, is more than 80 percent complete but signs of construction
could still be seen in the hastily-built parade venue.

One army engineer told AFP he was ordered to lay the massive concrete site
in just three months, and newly planted palm trees stood near roughly
constructed barracks. Most residents wear masks against the dust of dirt
roads.

Sources say some of the ministries are working via video conferences with
Yangon but others appear not to have opened, with their staff in Pyinmana
seen playing volleyball instead.

Analysts say that with the relocation, the regime is further isolating
itself in the face of growing calls for democracy.

The opposition National League for Democracy party used its annual
gathering Monday to call for the release from house arrest of its leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has become the focus of international efforts to
force the junta to reform.

The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, has issued a "road map"
for democracy, including talks on a new constitution, but the NLD has
boycotted the process and critics have dismissed it as a farce.

The junta again suspended constitutional talks in January after just two
months of deliberations, dashing any hopes of ending the process this year
and deepening international frustration over the lack of reforms.

But other than a call "to destroy all enemies of the state", Than Shwe's
speech lacked the anti-Western aggression that has marked previous
statements from the junta.

He made no mention of the regime's sudden decision to relocate the capital
deeper inland.

Myanmar's generals are reportedly afraid of a US attack amid invasion
rumors that have swirled since the start of the war in Iraq. Yangon,
accessible by sea, would be an easy target, while Pyinmana is more easily
defensible.

But observers say there could be other reasons. Diplomats have said the
junta seems to want to cement its place in history by following the path
of ancient Burmese kings who shifted the capital 10 times over the
centuries.

The town has been called "Nawpyidaw", or the "seat of kings" in state
press and by commentators at Monday's ceremony.

Others have credited the junta's obsession with astrology, believing
Myanmar's leaders have sought otherworldly guidance in deciding to move to
Pyinmana.

____________________________________

March 25, Agence France Presse
Myanmar civil servants to receive 10-fold raise: official

Myanmar's military rulers have awarded 10-fold salary increases to civil
servants, an official said Saturday, as they try to convince workers to
move to the remote new administrative capital.

"Official orders to this effect are already out," a government official
told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Typical wages for civil servants run from 5,000 to 10,000 kyats (4.40 to
8.77 dollars) a month, far lower than standard wages at private
businesses.

The increase would reverse that, making government jobs more appealing
financially, especially in a country where inflation is estimated at 25
percent.

The salary hike will take effect on April 1, which is the start of
Myanmar's fiscal year, the official said.

A local economic analyst said he believed the government would be able to
pay for the huge increase without printing more money, which in the past
has been a favorite tactic to meet budgetary shortfalls.

"The government has accumulated huge cash reserves and will be able to
make the salary hike without having to print more money, which would be
rather counter-productive" by fueling inflation, the analyst told AFP.

Myanmar's notoriously secretive military rulers keep strict tabs on any
information about their activities, forcing people with knowledge of the
regime to speak anonymously for fear of retribution.

Civil servants received a huge shock in November when hundreds of them
were forced to relocate to a newly created administrative capital the
military was secretly building near the central Myanmar town of Pyinmana.

Government workers were given only one day to pack and make the move 320
kilometers (200 miles) north of Yangon. Many chose to resign rather than
live in a compound that is still under construction.

In November, many of the facilities in Pyinmana lacked water, electricity
and telephones.

Because their government wages were so low, many civil servants take
part-time jobs or run small businesses in Yangon to make ends meet.

Some government ministries began working from Pyinmana in February. The
pay hike was seen as an incentive for workers to make the move.

Military personnel were also expected to have their salaries increased,
but government officials could not provide details.

____________________________________

March 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Ancestral farmlands confiscated from farmers by Burmese prison authorities

The authorities of No.3, Prison Supervision Department confiscated more
than 1000 acres of ancestral farmlands from local farmers in lower Burma
leaving them jobless and homeless, and causing them untold miseries and
difficulties.

“No.3, Prison Supervision Department in Irrawaddy Division confiscated
paddy fields from the farmers,” a farmer whose lands were confiscated told
DVB. “They (prison authorities) are making a living out of the farms. As
their lands are confiscated thus, the farmers are facing difficulties for
survival.”

1000 acres of farmlands were confiscated in 2004 and the township
authorities promised the farmers they will ‘sort them out’, but no action
has been taken for them so far. When DVB contacted the authorities
concerned, an official on duty refused to answer any query on the matter.

The farmers are planning to write a letter to the ruling junta, State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman Gen Than Shwe asking him to
return the confiscated farmlands to them.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 27, Irrawaddy
Migrant workers take Mae Sot factories to court - Khun Sam

Nearly 300 Burmese migrant workers from three garment factories in Mae
Sot, on the Thai-Burmese border, have filed legal actions against the
factory owners, claiming they were underpaid over the past two years.

The actions were filed with a local labor court by 278 Burmese workers,
who claim they were paid as little as 80 baht (US $2.1) a day, well below
the Thai minimum wage of 139 baht ($3.50). The workers also complain they
were not paid overtime and lost their accommodation when the factories
stopped operations because of declining orders.

The workers are represented by a local Burmese rights group, the Yaung Chi
Oo Workers Association, which helped a group of 13 Burmese migrant workers
win an action against a Mae Sot garment factory in 2004. The workers were
awarded a total of 1.17 million baht ($30,000) in back wages.

The three factories sued by the 278 Burmese workers are Asia Thailand, B B
Top and Thai Sun. One litigant charged that Asia Thailand had arbitrarily
cut wages by a third. When the company closed temporarily it had refused
to provide accommodation or food for the workers, he charged.

There are some 200 industrial factories in Mae Sot, employing more than
80,000 Burmese migrant workers. Thailand’s labor laws theoretically apply
to all workers, but strong ties between local employers and an alleged
resistance to intervene on the part of Thailand’s labor offices make
enforcing labor laws problematic.

A delegation led by Thai Senator Jon Ungpakorn visited the area earlier
this month to assess the situation there. It met with several NGOs and the
Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association. The Thai government recently amended its
registration policy for migrant workers, allowing them to apply for work
permits without immediately submitting the required money guarantee.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 27, Irrawaddy
Inflation fears spread in Burma as gold, exchange rates fluctuate - Yeni

Burma’s recently announced increase in salaries for civil servants and
military personnel has led to a decline in currency exchange rates and a
spike in the price of gold—adding to fears that the salary hike will
contribute to increased inflation.

Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told reporters in the new
administrative capital of Naypyidaw covering Armed Forces Day celebrations
on Monday that the salary increase will benefit everyone from the lowest
level civil servant to the highest-ranking government officials, and the
increase would take effect on April 1, the start of the country’s new
fiscal year.

Top-ranked officials will receive an increase in salary of more than 1,000
percent—up to 200,000 kyat (US $160) per month—while salaries for the
lowest paid workers will rise 500 percent—up to 15,000 kyat ($12), quoting
a document circulated to various ministries, foreign news agencies in
Rangoon reported.

Burma’s state-controlled media has yet to make any official comment on the
salary hike.

Burma’s Information Minister claimed that the salaries of government
employees needed adjusting because “the incomes of other citizens,
including the peasants, have become very high,” Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told
reporters on Sunday.

However, Sein Htay, an exiled Burmese economist, suggested that the
government’s latest increase could be merely an incentive for government
employees forced to relocate to Pyinmana.

“The morale of civil servants is very low nowadays,” he said, “The
government is likely trying to encourage them by increasing their
salaries.”

In Rangoon and Mandalay, the pay rise dramatically affected gold and
currency markets.

The price of gold—previously 340,000 kyat ($272) for one tical of 24-carat
gold—shot up to 380,000 kyat ($306) per tical. One tical is equal to 0.525
troy ounces. Currency exchange rates also fell, from 1,140 to 1,250 kyat
to the US dollar, on the black market.

Meanwhile a panic buying of gold and foreign currency hit the market of
the main cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay.

Currency and gold dealers said that prices are not currently stable, and
some have stopped trading. “We have no ideas at all [about fluctuating
prices]. What we can do is just wait and see,” one dealer told The
Irrawaddy.

Most business transactions and consumer sales are conducted at the
“black-market” rate, which is often linked to China’s RMB, the US dollar
and the price of gold.

The latest salary increase is expected to have a significant inflationary
effect on the economy, and many fear that the price of staple goods such
as rice will also rise in coming days.

____________________________________

March 27, Mizzima News
Economists warn military's wage increases could wreck Burma's economy

Economists have warned the Burmese government’s decision to increase
military and civil servant wages by up to 10 times would have a
devastating effect on the country’s already failing economy.

A source from Burma's war office told Mizzima all military and civil
servants in the country – about 1 million people – would have their wages
increased from the start of next month.

"The increases will be ten times more than current salaries, the military
will get two times higher than police," the military source said.

The military announced the decision officially in Pyinmana today during
celebrations for Burma's Armed Forces Day. Lower-ranking officials and
officers were reported to be happy with the increases, which some Burma
watchers said were designed to quell unrest within the ranks over the
military's move to the new capital.

Sources told Mizzima senior general Than Shwe would now earn about US
$1200 a month with his number two man, vice-senior general Maung Aye,
tipped to earn $1000.

Generals, lieutenant generals, major generals and brigadier generals in
Burma can now expect to be paid $800, $600, $400 and $300 a month
respectively with lower military officials earning between $15 and $200 a
month.

According to military sources, the wages of civil servants would be
increased by more than five times and police officers would receive
increases of between six and eight times their previous salaries.
Previously, some civil servants earned as little as $3 a month.

But while many military members and government workers were celebrating
their pay rises, economists said the massive increases would have a
negative effect on the economy, pushing inflation to new levels and
further devaluing the almost worthless kyat.

Alison Vicary of Macquarie University’s Burma Economic Watch in Sydney
said the increases would further compound Burma’s economic woes as the
military would have to print more money.

"You would expect government salaries to be financed out of the government
budget, that is via higher taxation . . . Given that any increase in
taxation is very, very unlikely to go to the central government or even be
raised, this method of financing is extremely unlikely," Vicary said.

"No one is going to lend them money for such a policy . . . The obvious
and only source of salary increases is from their old habit of turning on
the printing presses."

Vicary said printing more money was a short term solution as it would
increase inflation rates and devalue the new salaries along with the wages
of everyone else in the country.

While the wage increases were only officially confirmed today, prices of
commodities have already shot up across Burma. Reports from Mandalay said
the prices of items such as tea had already doubled.

In Burma's border areas small traders were already shutting up shop on the
weekend. A jewellery store owner in Muse on the China-Burma border saying
gold prices had skyrocketed forcing many businesses to close down.

"At about noon [Saturday] there was a phone call from Mandalay that
informed the raise of pay for government employees and also about the
printing of new currency notes. Following that, gold prices shot-up and
there is the possibility of them rising even higher," the store owner
said.

But high prices were just the start of bad news for traders, with the
value of the kyat dropping against other regional currencies as fast as
news of the salary increases spread.

Vicary said the kyat would become increasingly worthless, forcing traders
to use barter systems or foreign currencies for their transactions.

"No one with a modicum of economic understanding, would recommend this
policy . . . It is actually one of the stupidest policies imaginable -
there is no other outcome, than bigger problems," Vicary said.

"To approximate the impact on the inflation rate is difficult . . . but
given the sizes of the increases, people should be expecting very
unfavorable price increases in all areas of the economy."

____________________________________

March 27, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar's private airlines join in flying new capital

All domestic private airlines in Myanmar have joined in flying to the new
administrative capital of Pyinmana Naypyidaw (Royal capital city) from
Yangon to reinforce transport to the area, private airline sources said on
Monday.

Following the inaugural flight to Pyinmana Naypyidaw by the Air Bagan on
March 1, two other private airlines such as Yangon Airways and Air
Mandalay joined the air route on March 15 providing flight services daily
in turns with the Air Bagan, the sources said.

Previously, the state-run domestic airline, Myanmar Airways, was the sole
airline undertaking daily flights to Pyinmana Naypyidaw since late last
year.

Meanwhile, the construction of an 8-lane 21.4-kilometer motor road ,
directly linking the area where government ministries are relocated with
the Alar airport, is underway and is expected to complete by the end of
this year, other reports said.

The Myanmar government began on Nov. 6 last year shifting its
administrative capital from Yangon to Pyinmana, a plain land in the
central part with mountain ranges in the west and the east and 390
kilometers north of Yangon, with an aim that the move will enable more
effective administration over the whole nation from the central part.

With almost all ministries having been moved out from Yangon, government
office work in Pyinmana is functioning normally since the work started on
Feb. 7, local reports said.

With the move of capital, expansion of the "Pyinmana special region
development project" is underway. Especially in the months following the
November up to now, momentum of the construction work in the Pyinmana
Naypyidaw and nearby area has been in full swing with almost all
financially strong private construction companies including Htoo, Max
Myanmar, Asia World, Adin, Ngwezin and Shwethanlwin being engaged in the
major new capital development project.

In the latest development, six more new hotels were added this month
bringing the total to eight in the new capital to facilitate travellers on
official businesses with the government ministries.

However, analysts said the relocation of Myanmar's capital to Pyinmana
would not change the status of Yangon as the country's commercial hub out
of its geographical position as a port city.

____________________________________

March 26, Xinhua General News Service
Annual Myanmar gems emporium ends in Myanmar

The over-week-long annual Myanmar gems emporium ended here Saturday
evening with the emporium sponsor claiming to have won a huge amount of
record sale of quality pearls, gems and jade, and record attendants this
year.

A total of 1,877 lots of pearl, gems and jade were sold at the 43rd annual
Myanmar gems emporium on the basis of competitive bidding and tender, said
the state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise, the sponsor, declining to disclose
the amount of the proceeds as practised in the last few occasions.

Altogether 2,380 gem merchants including 1,484 of 423 companies from 16
countries and regions, mostly from China, China's Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (SAR) and Thailand, attended the 11-day event. The
number of attendants was two times more than expected.

At the emporium, 52.89 million euros (73.5 million US dollars) worth of
quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry were put on sale. The displayed
items were more than the previous years in quantity.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964 and since then the
country has earned a total of over 500 million dollars from such events
including the mid-year ones introduced since 1992 and the special sale
since 2004 to boost foreign exchange earning, according to official
statistics.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, possesses nine gems
-- ruby, diamond, cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a
variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

There are three famous gem lands in Myanmar -- Mogok in Mandalay division,
Mongshu in Shan state and Phakant in Kachin state.

To develop gem mining industry, Myanmar enacted the New Gemstone Law in
1995, allowing national entrepreneurs to mine, produce, transport and sell
finished gemstone and manufactured jewelry at home and abroad.

Since 2000, the government has started mining of gems and jade in joint
venture with 10 private companies under profit sharing basis.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

March 25, Japan Economic Newswire
Bird Flu outbreak under control, Myanmar says

Myanmar authorities have managed to contain the spread of the deadly H5N1
strain of bird flu virus in the country, and no human infection of the
virus has been found, state-run newspapers reported Saturday.

A ban on movement of poultry and the temporary closure of poultry markets
in affected areas have helped keep the outbreak under control, bringing
down the poultry death rates to a normal level, a report published in all
three state-run papers said.

Up to Wednesday, a total 76,278 birds -- 37,220 chickens and 39,058 quails
-- were slaughtered while more than 50,500 quail eggs were destroyed in
the Mandalay and Sagaing divisions in central Myanmar as part of
preventive measures, the report said.

No poultry deaths suspected linked to bird flu have been reported since,
it added.

The authorities are taking advice from bird flu experts of international
organizations and getting help from the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization and Japan International Cooperation Agency in combating the
virus, the papers said.

Myanmar reported March 13 that 112 chickens had died of the H5N1 strain of
bird flu at a poultry farm in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city,
about 600 kilometers north of Yangon.

The FAO, the next day, provided $40,000 in emergency assistance to the
Myanmar government, including laboratory and personal protection
equipment.

The H5N1 virus has killed at least 105 people since late 2003 in eight
countries -- Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand,
Turkey and Vietnam -- according to the World Health Organization.

____________________________________
ASEAN

March 27, Associated Press
Myanmar junta considers Suu Kyi irrelevant, says ASEAN envoy - Sean Yoong

Myanmar's military government considers opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and her party irrelevant in the democratic process, Malaysia's foreign
minister said Monday after a brief visit to that country.

Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters that his Thursday to Friday visit
did not completely convince him that Myanmar is making sufficient progress
toward democracy, as claimed by its military rulers.

"I would not consider it (the trip) as a total success," Syed Hamid, who
visited Myanmar as an envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
said. "I am happy as well as not so happy."

He said he had asked the junta to be allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, who is
under house arrest, and other members of her National League for Democracy
party.

But "they told me that Aung San Suu Kyi has no more influence, that the
NLD has no more influence."

Although Syed Hamid refused to elaborate, his statement makes it clear
that the generals in power in Myanmar are willing to take a hardline
stance despite pressure from ASEAN to mend their ways and allow a civilian
government to take power.

He indicated that he would not want to visit Myanmar again unless he is
allowed to meet the opposition.

"I don't want to visit Myanmar just to see Yangon. If I am to go to
Myanmar again then I think there is a need for me to see all the stake
holders," he said.

The junta claims that it has a road map to democracy, and has take the
first step by convening a concave to draw a new constitution. However, it
has kept the NLD out of the convention and refuses to release Suu Kyi, who
has spent 10 of the past 16 years in the government's custody. The
constitution convention has been dismissed as a sham by the West and other
countries.

Under pressure from the West, ASEAN forced Myanmar in December to allow
Syed Hamid to visit the country to monitor the progress of democracy.
After repeated delays, Syed Hamid managed to get an invitation last week.

Asked if he is satisfied with the democratic progress, Syed Hamid said:
"Much more needs to be done for ASEAN to be able to convince the
international community that there is progress made. It is seen as very
slow moving."

The ruling junta,which has been in power since 1962, refused to hand power
to Suu Kyi's party after it won elections in 1990, making Myanmar a
virtual pariah to the West.

He said that in response to the junta's refusal to let him meet Suu Kyi,
he told the generals "that we need some balance."

"We hear their (government's) side of the story but we are not able to
verify their story with other stake holders," he said. However, he added
that he sensed the government was worried that opposition parties might
exploit his visit for their own purposes.

Syed Hamid said he would present a verbal report on the visit to an ASEAN
foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, Indonesia, next month.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________

March 25, Associated Press
Myanmar, Malaysian opposition leaders brand ASEAN envoy's Myanmar trip a
failure

Myanmar's pro-democracy party said Saturday that it was disappointed that
a Malaysian envoy sent to monitor the country's claims of democratic
reforms had not met with any of the party's activists, including its
detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid arrived in Myanmar Thursday on a
fact-finding mission as an envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations. But he cut short his trip, returning Friday instead of Saturday.
He has not explained why he returned a day early, and government officials
were not available for comment Saturday.

The Malaysian government had suggested that Syed Hamid would meet with
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for
Democracy during his Myanmar trip. But Myanmar's military government only
allowed him to meet with Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win and Foreign Minister
Nyan Win.

"It is noted that the purpose of the mission to monitor the progress of
democracy in Myanmar is incomplete as the envoy could not meet
pro-democracy forces," the National League for Democracy said in a
statement. "The original purpose of this visit has not been achieved."

Lim Kit Siang, the chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party in
Malaysia, also decried the trip.

"The ASEAN envoy was denied access to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
who is currently in detention, and the National League for Democracy
leaders not in detention, making the visit a mockery of the ASEAN spirit
and community," Lim said in a statement.

The ruling junta refused to hand power to Suu Kyi's party after it won
elections in 1990, making Myanmar a virtual pariah to the West. Suu Kyi,
currently under house arrest, has been detained for almost 10 of the last
16 years.

The visit, which Myanmar agreed to at an ASEAN summit in December, was to
verify the junta's much-disputed claims that the country is making
progress toward democracy. The United States and the European Union said
the junta was doing little more than tightening its grip on power.

Lim said that by denying Syed Hamid access to Suu Kyi and other NLD
leaders, the junta had made ASEAN "an international laughing stock."

He said ASEAN foreign ministers "must face the hard decision of the
purpose of Myanmar's continued membership" in the grouping, at an April
17-18 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

The West has chided ASEAN for not pressing Myanmar's military in power
since 1962 to restore civilian rule.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.