BurmaNet News, April 6, 2006

[Editor]

April 6, 2006 Issue # 2935


INSIDE BURMA
AP: State newspaper urges Myanmar opposition to abandon claim to power
Mizzima: Murder victim’s mother denied access to trial
DVB: Pro-junta party allowed to lobby people freely at Burma’s Daik-U

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Human trafficking: Over 80 Burmese Mon arrested by Thai police for
illegal entry

DRUGS
Mizzima: Burmese media workers talk on narcotics smuggling

BUSINESS / TRADE
Globe and Mail: Sanctions affect Ivanhoe's Myanmar operation
Xinhua: Myanmar takes measures in stabilizing commodity prices

INTERNATIONAL
Financial Times: US defends its record on the promotion of democracy

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 6, Associated Press
State newspaper urges Myanmar opposition to abandon claim to power - Aye
Aye Win

Yangon: A commentary in a state-run newspaper has urged the party of
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for its own good and the
nation's, to abandon its claim to power based on a 1990 election victory.

The insistence by the National League for Democracy that the results of
the election, which it won by a landslide, be recognized has long been a
major sticking point between it and the ruling junta.

The article, published Thursday in the daily Kyemon, was apparently a
response to a statement issued in February by the NLD, urging the military
government to convene Parliament with the members who were elected in
1990. If it did so, the party said, it would recognize the military
administration as the country's legal government.

The daily press in Myanmar is state-owned and operated and closely
reflects the ruling military's viewpoints.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, the first freely
contested poll in nearly three decades. However, the ruling military
refused to hand over power, insisting that a new constitution was needed
before it could hand over power.

The military's continued rule has left the country isolated from much of
the world community, which wants power handed over to a democratically
elected government.

The Kyemon commentary said the NLD's revival of its call to open
Parliament with the victors of the 1990 election was wrong, impractical
and contradictory to their previous claims of reconciliation.

It said that for 16 years, the NLD had adopted various means to grab the
state power and had missed several good opportunities.

If the NLD wanted to solve its problems, it should "discard the results of
the 1990 elections and entirely accept the principles and objectives of
the ruling government," it said. The government often accuses the NLD of
colluding with hostile foreign powers.

"Even if a parliament is summoned, the party does not have a full quorum
to adopt any political resolutions," it said, noting that for various
reasons only one-third of the NLD's elected representatives survive. Many
have gone into exile.

The NLD's February statement was a concession of sorts by the party, in
that it explicitly said it would recognize the ruling military council as
the de facto government once the 1990 Parliament was convened.

The statement had urged the ruling junta to give a positive response by
April 17, Myanmar New Year's Day.

The NLD won 392 seats out of 485 seats in the 1990 election. After
refusing to recognize the results, the military harassed and arrested many
members of the NLD. Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate, has been
detained about 10 of the last 17 years, mostly under house arrest. Her
release is another major demand of her party.

The ruling military government has been holding a national convention to
draw up guidelines for a constitution leading toward democracy, but no
timetable has been set. Myanmar has had no constitution since 1988, when
the military crushed a pro-democracy uprising.

____________________________________

April 6, Mizzima News
Murder victim’s mother denied access to trial - Min Thu

The mother of former political prisoner Ko Thet Naing Oo, who was beaten
to death by Burmese police and fire fighters last month, has been denied
access to information on the resulting court case, according to the
prosecution attorney.

Ko Thet Naing Oo was brutally killed in Kyimyindaing, Rangoon on March 18.

Khin Maung Shein, who is acting as the prosecuting attorney in the court
case against Ko Thet Naing Oo’s killers, said the victim’s family was
being denied access to information on the case.

“The case is being tried by special tribunal. The victim's mother, the
prosecutor Daw Khin San Yi herself cannot access to court proceeding. And
so do to the prosecution attorney. We even still don't know in which
court, the divisional or township bench, would hear the case. So it is far
cry from being able to read and copy the case file,” Khin Maung Shein
said.

The March issue of a newspaper published by the Yangon Municipal Committee
claimed Ko Thet Naing Oo had been inebriated and resisted arrest.

His mother Khin San Yi said, “My son has high conduct. He is helpful to
other people and also he is generous and altruist. He is fond of vipassana
and devout Buddhist, graduated with history major and not the sort of the
man as they mentioned in their newspaper. He is not the road devil and
delinquent person as they said”.

____________________________________

April 5, Democratic Voice of Burma
Pro-junta party allowed to lobby people freely at Burma’s Daik-U

While the political activities of the main opposition party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD) have been severely restricted by the
authorities, the pro-junta National Unity Party (NUP) members have been
allowed to freely lobby the support of rural people at Daik-U Township,
Pegu Division in lower central Burma.

“U Kyi Kha, U San Myint, U Tin Ngwe who is a retired teacher, are from the
NUP. They used to work for the NUP and still working for it. They come
down to the villages. They frequently come to the villages and bivouac at
a house in the village,” a NLD member told DVB. “They summoned the people
from the village and told them how good the NUP is through sound boxes and
loudspeakers. They said what they would do for the farmers if they win
(the election). They distribute pamphlets saying how they are going to be
beneficial to the farmers.”

When asked about the reactions of the people, the NLD member said:

“Some people asked around. Who are they? Are they from the NUP? If so, we
are not only interested in them. We came all the way here thinking that
they are from the Khamauk (the NLD). If they are not of the Khamauk, we
will go home, they said. Then, they (NUP members) retorted that the
Khamauk is worn and torn. No more. We are lobbying you now so that we win
the election this time etc., they said. But the farmers and rural areas
only keep in their heart and yearn for the Khamauk. If you are from the
Khamauk group, we will give you full support. When is the Khamauk group
coming (to our village)? There is no more Khamauk. Don’t wait for the
Khamauk. They said this kind of thing (to the farmers) I am told.”

The ‘Khamauk’ literally means the distinctive Burmese conical hat, usually
used by farmers and poor people. It was adopted by the NLD as its symbol
during the 1990 general election, through which it with won by a
landslide, but never allowed to rule. A Burmese sculptor from Mandalay,
Shwe Maung was sentenced to a couple of years in jail for moulding a
statue of the Khamauk some years ago.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 5, Democratic Voice of Burma
Human trafficking: Over 80 Burmese Mon arrested by Thai police for illegal
entry

While 30 Burmese workers are struggling to survive in Malaysia after they
were cheated by their Malaysian employer and Burmese agent, more than 80
Burmese Mon nationals, along with their human trafficking agent were
arrested by the police near Ranong in southwest Thailand on 5 April.

They were arrested by the Thai district security special police force on
an island while waiting for their agent, with 5000 Thai Bahts (US$131)
each, so that they could be smuggled into nearby Thai towns, according to
DVB staff Maung Maung Hein reporting from Thailand. All the detainees are
said to be of the Mon minority race; 35 males, 37 females, 14 children
under the age of 16 including a 4 months old baby.

“According to a Thai security officer who arrested the Burmese in
Thailand, as the milk-suckling baby and the mothers could not be
prosecuted under the (Thai) laws, children under 16 years old will be sent
back to their native places or Thaungyin (the nearest Burmese border
town),” Maung Maung Hein said. “The mothers and children under 16 years
old are being detained at Thailand’s Ranong Jail, and the men who are to
be prosecuted are currently being detained at Phan Nga District Jail.”

These desperate Burmese nationals took such risks to enter Thailand
illegally because the Burmese army has been frequently forcing them to be
military porters and landmine sweepers, causing them untold economic
difficulties and miseries.

____________________________________
DRUGS

April 6, Mizzima News
Burmese media workers talk on narcotics smuggling - Nem Davies

Members of the exile media organization Burma News International and a
group of Indian journalists held a joint press conference yesterday at the
Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi to address ongoing problems with
drug trafficking across the Burma border.

The group—comprising journalists based along Burma’s borders with
Thailand, India and Bangladesh—stated that the Burmese military is
directly involved in the illicit drug trade and poses a serious threat to
Burma’s regional neighbours, particularly India.

BNI’s development secretary told Mizzima that “we would like them (Indian
journalists) to understand the illicit drugs problem in Thailand and
China, and how it can spread to countries such as India.”

“Recently the drugs factories owned by the United Wa State Army have
fallen under military control and moved to central Shan State due to
pressure by the Thai and Chinese governments,” said Sao Puen Khan, a
senior journalists with the Shan Herald Agency for News, based along the
Thai-Burma border.

He added that drug smugglers have been using different routes to cross the
Burma border with the support of the Burmese army.

Loa Htaw, an assistant editor with the Thailand-based Independent Mon News
Agency said during the press conference that “drug smugglers can not
easily cross border checkpoints without the assistance of the Burmese
authorities along the Thai-Burma border.”

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 5, Globe and Mail
Sanctions affect Ivanhoe's Myanmar operation - Wendy Stueck

Vancouver: A copper mine in Myanmar partly owned by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. was
forced to temporarily close last month after the mine's bank and insurance
broker cut off relationships with the project as a result of U.S. economic
sanctions against the country, according to regulatory filings by the
company.

The mine resumed production earlier this week, an Ivanhoe official said
yesterday. But U.S. sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma,
have started to "seriously impact the mine's ability to function in a
normal way," the filing states.

The company is also wrangling with Myanmar authorities over import permits
for mining equipment.

The lack of that equipment, combined with falling grades in the area being
mined, resulted in lower production at Monywa in the last quarter of 2005
and is expected to hurt production in coming years.

Ivanhoe now expects copper cathode production of about 16,000 tonnes from
Monywa next year, compared with about 34,000 tonnes in 2005.

Ivanhoe reported sales of $23-million from the joint venture last year.
Their flagship asset is Oyu Tolgoi, a copper-gold deposit in Mongolia
considered one of the prime undeveloped deposits in the world.

Ivanhoe is negotiating a stability agreement for that project with the
government of Mongolia. Yesterday, thousands of protesters, some carrying
signs objecting to Oyu Tolgoi, rallied in Mongolia's capital of Ulan
Bator. With the project's potential to dominate the country's mining
industry for years to come, it has become a lightning rod for debate over
how Mongolia should manage its emerging mining sector.

Company estimates say Oyu Tolgoi could churn out more than 1.6 billion
pounds of copper and 900,000 ounces of gold a year at peak production and
have a mine life of more than 40 years.

In its filing, Ivanhoe said management remained "optimistic" that an
agreement could be reached in a time frame that would not unduly delay the
Oyu Tolgoi project. The company has been negotiating the agreement since
2003.

Ivanhoe periodically comes under fire for operating in Myanmar where a
military junta has ruled since the 1960s. The junta refused to recognize
results of a 1990 opposition election victory.

In a fact sheet on its website, Vancouver-based Ivanhoe says it has been
working in Myanmar through a subsidiary company since 1992, five years
before Canada imposed limited economic sanctions.

Ivanhoe says it had invested about $60-million (U.S.) in Myanmar by the
end of 2000 and that its joint venture is "voluntarily improving
pre-existing conditions at the Monywa site," including waste rock and
untreated water.

Some activists and shareholders, however, reject those claims and say any
foreign investment in Myanmar serves to prop up a corrupt military regime.

____________________________________

April 6, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar takes measures in stabilizing commodity prices

Yangon: Myanmar has formed a committee for controlling prices of basic
food items in 6-million-population Yangon division in a bid to stabilize
the soaring commodity prices, impacted by March 24 government announcement
of raising salaries of civil servants to an unprecedented margin.

The committee, chaired by Yangon Mayor Brigadier-General Aung Thein Lin,
comprises responsible personnel from a number of associations of rice
dealers, edible oil dealers, rice millers and goldsmiths, and will strive
for bringing down the commodity prices in the respective sectors, the Khit
Myanmar News Journal quoted the committee members as reporting Thursday.

The committee will make market survey in Yangon division's 45 townships on
basic food items such as rice, edible oil, salt and onion, the report
said, adding that trader, who is found to raise such commodity prices
excessively, will be warned or revoked of license or heavily fined.

Meanwhile, some business organizations blamed retailers with raising the
prices up to as high as 1,000 Kyats per pyi (2.127 kilograms) from about
600 Kyats for good-quality rice and up to as high as 17,000 Kyats from
14,400 Kyats per bag (1.5 baskets) for such rice. (One basket of rice
weighs 34 kg), according to the report.

Local Myanmar Kyat currency devalued from 1,100 Kyats against US dollar to
over 1,200 Kyats and then to over 1,300 Kyats to date. The prices of the
basic commodities such as rice, edible oil, meat and fish and other daily
necessities as well as fuel also went up by over 10 percent, according to
traders.

According to an order of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue issued from
the newly relocated administrative capital of Naypyidaw (Royal City), the
monthly salaries of government employees will be increased with effect
from April 1, the start of the next fiscal year 2006-07, by a range from
nearly six times to 12.5 times depending on their respective rank status.

The order designated that the lowest-pay-earning basic workers will
receive nearly six-time increase of their pay from 3,500 Kyats up to
20,000 Kyats (16 U.S. dollars) a month, while top- ranking officials will
see their pay soar as high as over 12-time from 16,000 Kyats up to 200,000
kyats (160 U.S. dollars) per month.

Since 1989, the Myanmar government has raised the salaries of government
servants for three occasions by 180 percent, 26 percent and 500 percent
respectively.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 6, Financial Times
US defends its record on the promotion of democracy - Guy Dinmore

Washington: The Bush administration yesterday defended its efforts to
promote democracy around the world in the face of growing criticism of
double standards and accusations that its "freedom drive" was flagging as
a result of electoral gains by Islamists opposed to the US.

A 262-page report by the State Department - Supporting Human Rights and
Democracy: The US Record 2005-2006 - sets out US achievements in 95
countries with its budget of Dollars 1.4bn (Euros 1.14bn, Pounds 802m).

"We stood in solidarity with the brave men and women around the world who
were persecuted by repressive regimes for exercising their rights,"
Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, wrote, condemning persecution in
Burma, Belarus, China, Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Iran and Zimbabwe.

While listing in detail US efforts to put pressure on autocrats to reform
and the promotion of civil society, the report skates around the issues
arising from the administration's stated goal of "ending tyranny" - namely
the success of Islamists in elections across the Middle East, and the
resistance to change by allies in the "war on terror".

The report mentions only briefly how "some governments" moved to impose
draconian restrictions on civil society groups, "citing fears of
instability or foreign interference".

"Their efforts to weaken the secular opposition often drove frustrated
citizens to support the only visible alternative to corruption and
inefficiency - Islamist parties with compelling anti-corruption and good
governance platforms and solid social service track records," the report
says. Ms Rice came under fire in Congress on Tuesday during a hearing on
foreign assistance, where the US was accused of spreading a sense of chaos
in the Middle East through a pursuit of elections first and institutions
later, as well as following double standards.

"What concerns me," said Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, "is the way we
are flagrantly violating the stated commitment to democracy in the name of
expedience elsewhere in the world. I can think of no better example than
Pakistan."

Administration insiders concede there is concern over direction. Some say
the pro-democracy strategy laid out by President George W. Bush in his
second inauguration address in 2005 is flagging. Recent FT interviews with
senior State Department officials reinforced that impression.

One official drew a comparison with the human rights agenda embraced by
President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, which he said was only
institutionalised by his successor, Ronald Reagan.

With three years still left in office, a second official spoke in terms of
the president's "historic legacy", saying he had embedded democracy
promotion in foreign policy and that his successor - Republican or
Democrat - would be under pressure to respond to this vision.