BurmaNet News, April 8-10, 2006

[Editor]

April 8-10, 2006 Issue # 2937

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta links oppositions with outlaws
AP: Myanmar press blasts the American Center for spreading 'poison' among
journalists
Mizzima: Burma’s chamber of commerce gutted by fire
DVB: Awarded: Burma’s former FM gets seven years for loyalty to junta
DVB: Authorities issue warnings to Burmese New Year revellers

ON THE BORDER
Morning Star: Myanmar troops 'behead civilians and burn homes'
Irrawaddy: KNU denies junta accusations
SHAN: Butcher of Kengtung palace visits Tasang
Kaowao: Booming furniture industry fuels uncontrolled logging

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Oil, gas sector dominates foreign investment in Myanmar
The Vancouver Sun: Ivanhoe Mines restarts copper production in Myanmar

HEALTH / AIDS
AP: Burma’s bird flu more serious than initially thought

REGIONAL
AFP: Myanmar to reopen diplomatic ties with North Korea
Irrawaddy: Malaysian FM Discourages Isolation of Burma

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Burma junta’s war of words and thinly-veiled threats on US continue
Reuters: Europe urges Myanmar to combat money laundering

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 10, Irrawaddy
Junta links oppositions with outlaws - Aung Lwin Oo

Burma’s military government accused opposition and activist groups with
maintaining links with exiled organizations to plot terrorist activities
in the country, state-owned media reported today.

The junta’s Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan in a press conference
on Sunday blamed the main opposition party National League for Democracy
and political activists for creating unrest in the country.

“NLD members and the noted persons within the country had contacts with
expatriate terrorists,” state-run The New Light of Myanmar quoted Kyaw
Hsan as saying. He also branded members of exiled opposition groups as
“terrorists.”

The list of such groups cited by Kyaw Hsan include the Washington-based
government in exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma, the National Council of the Union of Burma—a loose umbrella
organization comprising ethnic and pro-democracy groups, exiled Federation
of Trade Unions-Burma and the Karen National Union, a major ethnic rebel
group.

“We [the NLD] have a clear policy not to be involved in any unlawful
activities—not to mention terrorist groups,” Myint Thein, a spokesman for
the opposition party told The Irrawaddy today.

The NLD was also accused of seeking stronger measures by the EU against
the government if the regime failed to meet the opposition’s
reconciliation proposal, made this year on Burma’s Union Day on February
12.

“That’s not true,” Myint Thein said. “If one studies our announcement
carefully, they will know that our proposal is simply to solve the problem
that the country is facing now.”

The opposition’s offer called on the junta to reconvene the people’s
parliament with the winning candidates of the aborted 1990 elections, who
would then recognize the current military regime as a de jure government.

Kyaw Hsan further accused political activists—including the 88 Generation
Students group, led by former student activists including Min Ko Naing—of
creating instability in the country.

Kyaw Hsan said that the group has sought 1 million kyat from Bo Kyi, joint
secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma) following the death of fellow activist, Thet Naing Oo,
who was fatally beaten in a brawl on March 17.

Bo Kyi dismissed the charge, stating that contrary to the junta’s claim,
he was on a trip to the US at the time the student group allegedly phoned
him to seek a contribution.

____________________________________

April 8, Associated Press
Myanmar press blasts the American Center for spreading 'poison' among
journalists

A U.S. government center in Myanmar is spreading "poison" among local
reporters through its "English for Journalism" courses, a state-owned
newspaper said Saturday.

The Kyemon newspaper said apart from teaching journalistic ethics and
writing, foreign instructors at the American Center have gathered
information about Myanmar's education, health and social conditions from
the students.

"The 'English for Journalism' course attended by young journalists from
various Myanmar media groups is like poison, because the course is nothing
but sugar-coated bitter medicine," the newspaper wrote.

The article went on to indicate that the center, through courses like the
one on journalism, was spreading American propaganda and harming "young
Myanmar brains."

Thomas Pierce, who heads the center, declined immediate comment since he
had not read the article.

"We are working to improve journalism in Burma, working with journalists
to both improve their English and reporting skill," he said, referring to
Myanmar by its former name.

The center, operated by the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, offers educational
courses, a library, films and other facilities that are open to all
Myanmar citizens.

Commentaries in state-owned newspapers often reflect the viewpoint of the
ruling military government.

A similar, anti-West commentary was carried in state-run papers in
February slamming Western embassies for offering classes to members of
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy.

The junta frequently accuses Western powers of trying to interfere in the
country's affairs and accuses Myanmar's pro-democracy movement of
collaborating with them.

The United States and Britain have imposed political and economic
sanctions on the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure
to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

____________________________________

April 10, Mizzima News
Burma’s chamber of commerce gutted by fire - Min Thu

The Rangoon headquarters of the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce
and Industry was gutted by fire last Friday night.

The fire broke out at about 9:45 pm at the group’s head office on the
corner of Merchant and 39th streets in Kyauktada township before spreading
to the nearby Thanyawzin guesthouse and being brought under control by
about 11:20 pm.

An eyewitness told Mizzima, “The top floor of this head office was
completely destroyed and a floor of nearby Thanyawzin guesthouse was
completely destroyed too. The second floor was partially burnt and the
cause of the fire has not yet been known. The area is cordoned off and
under investigation”.

The eyewitness said no security guards had been present when the fire
started and no one had been arrested over the incident.

On Saturday the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper said no one had been
injured in the fire and investigations had been launched to assess the
scale of the damage.

____________________________________

April 09, Democratic Voice of Burma
Awarded: Burma’s former FM gets seven years for loyalty to junta

Former Foreign Minister of Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), Win Aung has recently been sentenced to seven
years in jail by a special court after being charged with misuse of
authority by his former comrades.

According to a report by AP on Sunday, a family source, who demanded
anonymity for fear of retribution by authorities, said Win Aung was being
held in the notorious Rangoon’s Insein prison.

At a press briefing on the same day, police chief Brig Gen Khin Yi
confirmed sentence had been passed on Win Aung but declined to elaborate.

The sources said Win Aung was arrested last October and his trial began
early this year on charges connected to the sale of an imported car.
Previously a military intelligence colonel and a former ambassador to the
United Kingdom, Win Aung became foreign minister in 1988. He was known to
have been close to ex-Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, who was arrested in
2004 and given a 44-year suspended sentence in July last year on charges
including bribery and corruption.

A number of other close associates area also serving jail terms in what
was seen as a power struggle within the ruling junta, according to the
report.

____________________________________

April 09, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities issue warnings to Burmese New Year revellers

The authorities have been issuing warnings to revellers who are planning
to take part in the traditional Water Festival (Thingyan) celebrations
welcoming the Burmese New Year 1368 (starting on 17/18 April) not to
misbehave, through state-run newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts.

Potential revellers, especial young women, are told not to wear ‘out of
order’ clothing, not to throw rubber balloon water bombs, ice packets and
gas canisters filled with soap water, not to throw water roughly at one
another and not to drive while high on drugs or drunk.

Although the warnings are similar to those issued in previous years,
revellers are warned in particular to avoid brawls and fights, on the pain
of being prosecuted on the spot by mobile, standby courts. Local residents
told DVB that the warning against involvement in fights was emphasised
because there had been many deaths due to the increasing incidents of
brawl.

But young people told DVB that they are not likely to behave recklessly
like undisciplined children despite the lack of freedom, and they also
said that it is becoming more and more expensive to take part in and enjoy
the festival properly due to the rising commodity prices caused by the
runaway inflation.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 10, Morning Star
Myanmar troops 'behead civilians and burn homes'

Myanmar troops have beheaded civilians and torched villages in an
offensive against Karen rebels which has forced 1,000 refugees to flee
into Thailand and thousands of others to hide in the jungles, activists
inside Myanmar said yesterday.

The attacks, which began in mid-November in Western Karen State, follow an
established Myanmar army strategy of seeking to separate the rebels from a
possibly sympathetic population.

Human rights groups say that numerous atrocities have been committed
against innocent civilians in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

"The Burma army is burning homes, rice barns and laying land mines to stop
villagers from returning to their homes and fields," said a report from
the Free Burma Rangers, a group of Westerners and ethnic minority
volunteers who provide aid to displaced people.

At least 5,000 villagers with little food or clothing have fled into
remote areas of the state's Toungoo and Nyaunglebin districts, while about
1,000 others have crossed into Thailand, the group said.

In village-by-village accounts, the group said that, in recent weeks,
casualties included 40-year-old Saw Po De, who was decapitated at Ker Der
Gah village, four villagers who were shot dead in Nyaunglebin district and
a number of others who were wounded and captured elsewhere.

In other areas, villages were attacked by mortars, rice fields were
destroyed, property was stolen and farm animals were slaughtered and eaten
by the attacking troops, the group said.

The military dictatorship has denied any human rights violations against
ethnic minority groups, including the Karen, who have been fighting for
autonomy for more than half a century.

Decades of conflict have created hundreds of thousands of refugees,
including about 140,000 who are now in camps in Thailand.

The Karen rebels have been holding ceasefire talks with the junta since
late last year.

____________________________________

April 10, Irrawaddy
KNU denies junta accusations - Shah Paung

The Karen National Union denied allegations made by Burma’s minister of
information that the ethnic opposition organization is engaged in
terrorism against the country’s military government.

“Everything they [Burmese government] said about us [KNU], and all their
allegations of terrorism are totally wrong and not based on reality,” said
KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha.

An article in state-run The New Light of Myanmar on Monday quoted Burmese
Minister of Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan as saying during a press
conference on Sunday that the government has confronted the KNU about
violence committed against the state, but the group has continued to
engage in destructive acts.

“These acts should not have [been] done during the peace talks,” said Kyaw
Hsan, referring to ongoing informal peace talks with the KNU. “The
government’s attitude on peaceful ways does not change, and it still opens
its peace door.”

Mahn Sha disputed the information minister’s claim, saying that there has
always been a method of communication between the two sides.

“They should not speak of the ‘peace door.’ If they want to solve the
problem, they just have to stop the fighting and set a date for peace
talks. That’s all,” said Mahn Sha.

The New Light article also alleged that the government had received
information about planned military attacks in the country by KNU brigades
3, 4 and 7 in 2006, apparently discussed at a recent KNU central committee
meeting.

“We do not have any planned offensive attacks,” Mahn Sha said. “We operate
only for defense because we always try to find a way to solve problems
through political means.”

Kyaw Hsan added that the government is not concerned about the threat of
violence from the KNU, as they are prepared to safeguard the lives and
property of the Burmese people.

According to the Karen Refugee Committee, however, more than 1,000
Internally Displaced Persons have arrived at the Mae Ra Moo refugee camp
in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province since last December 2005—displaced in
the wake of ongoing counterinsurgency attacks by the Burmese army.

Reports from the KNU and the Free Burma Rangers, the Burmese army has
recently attacked villages throughout western Karen State and around the
new administrative capital in Pyinmana, which have sent more than 5,000
Karen villagers into the jungles to escape the violence.

Hundred of IDPs have reportedly been waiting for admittance to Mae Ra Moo
near the Salween River since early March. Hundreds more have been stranded
in Taungoo and Muthraw districts in Burma because military patrols along
roads and trails have blocked them from leaving the area.

____________________________________

April 10, Shan Herald News for Agency
Butcher of Kengtung palace visits Tasang

One of Burma's top generals flew over to visit one of the 4-controversial
Salween dam sites at Tasang in Shan State last week amid reports that
Burma has signed an agreement with a Thai firm to build a 7,110 megawatt
hydropower plant there, according to Thai and Shan sources.

Lt-Gen Kyaw Win who commands three military regions in Shan State:
Northeastern, Eastern and Triangle, arrived by helicopter at Tasang, about
90 miles north of the Chiangmai border, on 4 April, a day after Thailand's
MDX Group signed a $6 billion agreement in Rangoon. The project is
expected to be completed within 15 years, according to the New Light of
Myanmar.

Kyaw Win later turned up at Nakawngmu, 29 miles from the border, to meet
with security officials there. "All the machinery and construction
material will be coming through Nakawngmu," said a Thai border watcher.

Sources however were unable to offer further details.

Kyaw Win who had served as the commander of the Burma Army forces in
eastern Shan State during the years 1991-93 reportedly ordered the
demolition of the palace of Kengtung in November 1991.

____________________________________

April 10, Kaowao News
Booming furniture industry fuels uncontrolled logging

Sanghalaburi -- Rebel groups on the border are logging three kinds of
hardwood trees at an alarming rate contributing to rampant deforestation
in Burma’s southern forests, a source from the border said.

Rock Dammar, Ironwood and the Gum-Kino trees by their common names are
being cut down daily and hauled out by smugglers looking for the highest
price in the border area. The trees are commonly used for making furniture
and are destined for furniture industries in the booming business in the
Three Pagodas Pass border town, a Mon timber worker said from the border.

While the Burmese government manages the felling of teak, the Forest
Department of Burma has no control over this region of the forest where
the logging area is controlled by Karen armed groups. They strike deals
with illegal loggers who sneak in from the Thai side.

Securing ceasefire agreements gave rebel groups access to forest machinery
and milling equipment provided by the government, “We have to go to Tha
Byu area of Dona Mountain range to get these kinds of trees. We have to
drive to the eastern part of the forest on the Thai side and then back to
Tha Byu area on the Burmese side and transport them here (Three Pagodas
Pass),” he claimed.

A source close to the logging business at the border said that 6X4 trucks
able to carry 9 to 10 tons and 4X4 trucks carrying 3 tons haul about 200
tons of ironwood for the furniture industry daily across the border.

One ton of Rock Dammar logs fetch between 17,000 and 18,000 baht, Ironwood
9,000, and the Gum-Kino tree 11,000. As the area is too far from the
border town and a long days drive, the businessmen select only trees that
offer high value, not others. Iron trees are not easily found along the
Burma border, as most have been logged, the Mon timber worker said.

They have to drive for an hour to go from the Thai side into the Tha Byu
area, Kyar-in-Seik-Kyi Township, Karen State. The businessmen claim to
make only about 500 baht in profits for one ton of logs after taxes and
fuel.

They pay taxes to the three Karen armed groups; namely Karen National
Union, Karen Peace Force, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and also the
SPDC. The two armed groups (KPF and DKBA) split from the KNU and reached a
cease-fire with the Burmese junta. Many Mon timber businessmen approach
the armed groups for their trading business, sources said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 10, Xinhua General News Service
Oil, gas sector dominates foreign investment in Myanmar

The oil and natural gas sector is dominating Myanmar's foreign investment
with 2.635 billion U.S. dollars out of a total of 7.785 billion dollars of
contracted foreign investment as of January this year since 1988 when the
country opened to such investment, according to the latest statistics of
the Foreign Investment Commission.

The investment in the oil and gas sector, which involves 71 foreign oil
companies, is followed by manufacturing, hotels and tourism, real estate
and mining.

Despite rich land resources, Myanmar's agricultural sector drew the least
amount of foreign investment of 34.35 million dollars. About 70 percent of
Myanmar's population depend on agriculture.

With three main large offshore and 19 onshore oil and gas fields, Myanmar
possesses a total of 87 trillion cubic-feet (TCF) or 2.46 trillion
cubic-meters (TCM) of gas reserve and 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable
crude oil reserve, official statistics show.

The latest official figures show that in the first quarter of the fiscal
year 2005-2006 which ended in March, Myanmar generated 2.1 million barrels
of crude oil and 2.98 billion cubic meters ( BCM) of gas. Gas export
during the period was registered as 3.227 BCM with an earning of 359
million dollars.

In the fiscal year of 2004-2005, Myanmar produced 7.48 million barrels of
crude oil and 10.69 BCM of gas. Gas export during the year went to 9.5
BCM, earning over 1 billion U.S. dollars mainly through the export.

Thailand's PTTEP and Malaysia's Petronas stood as the two largest
investors in Myanmar's oil and gas sector. Others are from Australia,
Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea.

____________________________________

April 8, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
Ivanhoe Mines restarts copper production in Myanmar - Chanyaporn
Chanjaroen, Bloomberg

London -- Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., the Canadian miner controlled by billionaire
Robert Friedland, said this week that it has restarted production at its
Monywa copper project after economic sanctions caused a month-long
closure.

Monywa, a joint venture between Ivanhoe and the Myanmar government, was
restarted this week, said an Ivanhoe spokesman in Vancouver who declined
to be identified. This year's copper production will plunge by more than
half to 16,280 metric tons, he said.

The former Burma remains under international economic sanctions imposed
after the military government refused to recognize the victory of the
National League for Democracy in elections in 1990. Monywa's S&K mine was
shut last month after its insurance broker and bank "terminated their
relationship" because of the sanctions, Ivanhoe said in its March 31
annual report, which was published on the company's website.

Monywa has since been able to buy fuel and other items for the mine, the
Ivanhoe spokesman said. Monywa supplies metal to Marubeni Corp., Japan's
fifth-largest trading company.

Monywa produced 34,478 tons of copper last year. Output will drop in 2006
as ore at the mine is expected to contain less copper, Ivanhoe said
another report published March 31.

The company also said it might not be able to obtain permits necessary to
expand Monywa. Ivanhoe wants to increase production to 200,000 tons a
year.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 10, Associated Press
Burma’s bird flu more serious than initially thought

Bird flu in Burma is more serious than originally thought, with 100
outbreaks detected in the country since the deadly avian virus was first
confirmed last month, an official from the UN Food and Agriculture Agency
said Monday.

He Changchui, the FAO's regional representative, said authorities
initially believed the deadly H5N1 virus was limited to two outbreaks.

“The situation there was more serious than we imagined,” he told a news
conference in Bangkok. “Up to now, there are over 100 outbreaks.”

Since confirming the outbreak of bird flu in the Mandalay and Sagaing
regions on March 13, authorities have slaughtered some 500,000 chickens
and quails at more than 400 farms in efforts to prevent the spread of the
disease.

The FAO official said Burma didn't have the means, including diagnostic
equipment and protective gear, to adequately cope with the spread of the
disease.

“The awareness is rather poor. The information is not that comprehensive,”
he added.

He said two FAO teams have been working in the country along with other
international experts. A team from the UN World Health Organization is
expected to arrive later this month.

“On the human side, the WHO has received a request from the Myanmar
[Burmese] government to help, and we are sending a team in at the end of
this month," said Somchai Peerapakorn, of the WHO's regional office.

David Nabarro, the UN's chief coordinator for avian influenza, said bird
flu officials would concentrate efforts in Burma. He stopped in Thailand
during a regional tour to assess countries' pandemic preparedness and the
work being done to combat bird flu in poultry.

“In Myanmar [Burma], we've got some major problems that our colleagues
from FAO and WHO have been looking at in detail,” Nabarro said. “We're
going to be focusing on Myanmar a lot in the next few days and weeks,
trying to make sure that the authorities and civil society in that country
are able to cope better.”

Burma ranks as one of the world's poorest nations, with its military
rulers suspicious of foreign influence and reluctant to reveal the
seriousness of problems it faces, including the rampant spread of AIDS.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 10, Agence France Presse
Myanmar to reopen diplomatic ties with North Korea

Military-ruled Myanmar has decided to restore diplomatic ties with North
Korea, more than 20 years after the Stalinist state staged a deadly bomb
attack in Yangon, a foreign ministry official said Monday.

"Myanmar has made the final decision to restore diplomatic relations with
the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea just recently," a senior
diplomat at the ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat said no official announcement had been made and an
announcement might come only when the secretive junta names its ambassador
to Pyongyang.

"I don't know when this would happen," he said.

Analysts said the restoration of ties between two of the world's most
secretive and repressive regimes could have benefits for both.

Myanmar is always looking for arms suppliers to circumvent Western
sanctions, while North Korea has eyed Myanmar's offshore natural gas
reserves.

"They want to get military equipment from North Korea because under
western pressure they cannot get weapons from the West," said Win Min, a
Myanmar military researcher based in Thailand.

"Now they can get (weapons) from China and they are trading with India. So
the more places they can get weapons, the better for them," he said.

The decision comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity between Myanmar
and non-western powers, with high-level meetings with China, India and
Russia this year.

"I think they're trying to level the playing field somewhat," said an
analyst based in Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about
Myanmar's links with non-western nations.

Western countries have imposed stiff economic sanctions on Myanmar over
its human rights abuses and failure to deliver on promised democratic
reforms.

The United States considers both Myanmar and North Korea as "outposts of
tyranny", which gives them some shared goals in working around US foreign
policy, the analyst said.

"Pyongyang, which the military regime admires for its defiant attitude
against the United States, can surely become a diplomatic asset," he said.

Myanmar broke off diplomatic ties with North Korea in 1983 after it
masterminded an attempt to assassinate South Korea's then-president Chun
Doo Hwan while he was on an official visit to Yangon.

North Korea staged a bomb attack on Chun's delegation as they visited the
Martyr's Mausoleum, near the famous Shwedagon pagoda, on October 9, 1983.

Chun survived the attack but the blast killed 17 of his entourage,
including four cabinet ministers, while 17 others were injured. Four
Myanmar officials also died in the blast.

Two of the North Korean bombers were captured and one of them is still
serving a life sentence in Myanmar's notorious Insein prison.

A court in Myanmar, which was then called Burma, ruled that the attack was
"the work of saboteurs acting under instructions of the Democratic
Peoples' Republic of Korea."

____________________________________

April 10, Irrawaddy
Malaysian FM Discourages Isolation of Burma

Malaysia’s foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Sunday any move to
isolate Burma will not bring much benefits, as it would affect the people
more than the regime itself. Syed Hamid’s comments come ahead of a meeting
of foreign ministers from Asean in Bali, Indonesia on April 17 and 18.
Under increasing pressure from the US and EU, Asean urged Burma to allow
Syed Hamid to visit the country to monitor the progress of democracy. Syed
visited Burma from March 23-25 following an agreement reached at last
December’s Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur. “I did not see any significant
development there,” Syed told reporters in southern Johor State, according
to Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama. But Syed Hamid said Asean
should continue to engage. "We have to be careful because we want to see
Myanmar (Burma) making a positive contribution," he said. “We shall also
discuss further action that would be taken together with Myanmar,” he
added without elaborating.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 08, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta’s war of words and thinly-veiled threats on US continue

A columnist, writing under the name of Mann Pauk Pauk in the state-run
newspapers of military-ruled Burma, accused the US Center in Rangoon of
meddling in domestic affairs of the country by teaching English and
journalism to Burmese youth at Rangoon and Mandalay.

“I was born and brought up in Mandalay. When I was young, I often boasted
that even my belly was stuck with gold foils of the palace posts. As I am
so inquisitive, I know every incident that occurs in the city,” claimed
the ‘omnipresent’ author at the beginning of his article, ‘I’ll tell you
with a tap on the shoulder’, which appeared in the New Light of Myanmar
and the Mirror on 8/9 April. He went on to describe his recent alleged
encounter with ‘White’ tourists, who turned out to be the staff of the
American embassy who ‘met the chairman of the organizing committee and
executives of the Mandalay Division National League for Democracy’.

The ‘surprised and angry’ author who seemed to be particularly incensed by
the showing of the film ‘Crash’ by the Center, ranted that the so-called
civilized country dared make brazen lies about his country.

“Americans who are shouting “press freedom” are now lying the world with
false news, while withholding the truth,” howled the author. “They are
flagrantly violating the journalism ethics. But it is not strange. Have
any of the successive American administrations ever taken a sincere stance
towards Myanmar?”

Mann Pauk Pauk maintained that the US government and Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) operatives ‘organized and used even the persons of literary
and journalism worlds, students, ordinary persons of the religious field
and monks’ in the past to meddle in the affairs of Burma, pointing out
several examples US activities in the country and forgetting the fact that
successive military governments made no concerted efforts to help the
people.

“In reality, English is not a British language, but an international
language or communicative language between different peoples,” the author
philosophised. “Fully taking advantage of this point, the US Center does
organizing work through various English language courses. That is its
concern. But, the course on English for journalism is like a sugar-coated
course for young journalists from the Myanmar (Burmese) journalism sphere,
and so it can be called poisonous media
In particular, the course targets
novice journalists to stuff them with its ideas.”

In the end, the arguments of the article escalated into the expression of
the author’s thuggish motive which seems to fit in perfectly with that of
the ruling junta.

“I wholeheartedly encourage and support some folks of Mandalay who are
shouldering national duty by sending warnings in writing to certain
American diplomats and US Embassy staff who violated diplomatic ethics and
are interferring in the internal affairs of Myanmar.”

The so-called ‘sending warnings’ involved writing and publishing
intimidating leaflets bearing no official seal or name, and copies of
which were freely distributed among the local population and printed in
local journals. Nevertheless, normal citizens and pro-democracy activists
who carry out similarly activities are often given lengthy jail terms when
caught.

Recently, a suspicious explosive device was also found in the
international school of Rangoon attended by children of foreign diplomats
including those from the US embassy, as well as affluent Burmese and
entrepreneurs. It is interesting to note that the article appeared around
the time the explosive device was discovered in an American school and at
the height of anti-American activities by the ruling military government,
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

____________________________________

April 09, Reuters
Europe urges Myanmar to combat money laundering

Vienna (Reuters) - European countries on Sunday urged Myanmar to step up
efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing activities.
The call came at a meeting between Asian and European finance ministers in
Vienna to discuss the outlook for the global economy and the risks to
growth, which was attended by officials from the military-run Southeast
Asian state.
"A substantive dialogue was held with the Myanmar delegation on their
anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing efforts," said a
joint statement issued by the finance ministers at the end of their
meeting.
"European countries stressed their dissatisfaction with the situation in
Myanmar and urged Myanmar to implement all international treaties and
standards," it added.
"Ministers acknowledged the legal and implementational efforts Myanmar had
made in recent years, which would contribute to bringing Myanmar into the
fold of compliant countries."
Myanmar is often criticised by the West for not having sufficient
supervisory and enforcement mechanisms to prevent or detect money
laundering, or financing for terror activities.
The statement also urged Myanmar and other countries that are part of the
regular Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) group to comply with the Financial
Action Task Force's (FATF) recommendations.
The Paris-based FATF is an intergovernmental body whose purpose is to
develop and promote policies to combat money laundering and terror
financing activities.
It monitors members' progress in implementing measures and review money
laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter measures.
Myanmar is on the list of FATF's non-cooperative countries.