BurmaNet News, May 9, 2006

[Editor]

May 9, 2006 Issue # 2958


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta criticizes two western embassies
Irrawaddy: Dead KNU man spooks Burmese sleuths

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Paranoia in the air

DRUGS
SHAN: No more Wa exodus

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar to boost gem production
Narinjara: Gas from Burma to India bypassing Bangladesh

ASEAN
AFP: ASEAN hopes Myanmar will attend next defence ministers' meet

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Homeless most at risk from traffickers

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: DHL to pull out of Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 9, The Irrawaddy
Junta criticizes two western embassies

Burma’s military regime today accused two western embassies in Rangoon of
violating diplomatic codes of conduct, according to a state-run daily
newspaper.

The regime’s mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, charged the US and
British missions of “interfering blatantly” in the internal affairs of the
nation for their own interests.

The article alleged that members of opposition party the National League
for Democracy established contact with the US and UK embassies by
attending language courses.

“Personnel of the NLD made contact with British and US embassies and
reached agreement in which [they] were allowed to take the courses at the
British embassy and the American Center free of charge,” the article
stated.

“The course fee costs about US $1,000 a year,” it added. “But NLD members
do not need to pay the fee, and they are trained exclusively.”

The article also named some NLD members who attended the courses, which
included party spokesperson Han Tha Myint.

Han Tha Myint told The Irrawaddy today that he and other trainees are
learning language proficiency.

“We learn about globalization, health and language of literature—it is
just for our professional development,” he said.

There are still three months remaining in the nine-month course, according
to Han Tha Myint, who added that he doesn’t understand why the government
has issued an attack on it.

In recent weeks, the regime has stepped up pressure on NLD members,
accusing members of having ties to terrorists but providing no evidence to
support the accusation.

“The training course conducted by the British embassy starting from
September 22, 2005 is being attended by 11 trainees, including U Han Tha
Myint of NLD,” the New Light article said. “The course has no specific
curriculum, and it comprises English language speaking, the assassination
of Bogyoke Aung San, corruption in world’s nations, computer, Internet
news, world trade order and violations of human rights and law in small
countries.”

The state-run paper further characterized the courses as dangerous to the
country’s young people.

“The training courses conducted by these embassies are aimed at feeding
sugar-coated poison to youths in media world of Myanmar [Burma]. The
youths attending the courses have not improved their English language
proficiency. In fact, the training courses elicit information and
reactions regarding education, health, social and economic affairs of
Myanmar from the trainees,” the article stated.

The article ends on a somewhat ominous note: “It is found that conducting
illegal courses at the embassies in cooperation with the NLD means
violating the diplomatic codes of conduct and interfering in Myanmar’s
internal affairs blatantly.”

A British embassy spokesperson told The Irrawaddy today that a wide range
of people—students, business people, teachers, journalists NGO and UN
staff—attend the language courses and have access to the library
facilities in the cultural section.

“The cultural section of the British embassy offers a limited number of
bursary places on English language courses to deserving individuals who
cannot afford the full fees,” said the embassy spokesperson. “Most of
those receiving a free place are nominated by community leaders. These
places are not restricted to any one organization or group.” The
spokesperson disputed the government claim that NLD members were singled
out to receive free training.

“We try to ensure access to the embassy’s cultural section for as wide a
cross-section of Burmese people as possible, and not just the elite. Since
many Burmese are NLD members, one would expect there to be some amongst
those attending. But being a member of NLD per se certainly does not
entitle you to a free place.”

The British embassy also took issue with the government’s characterization
that their activities violated diplomatic codes of conduct.

“I suggest the writer [of the New Light article] looks at Article 3 of the
Vienna Convention, which sets out the functions of a diplomatic mission,”
said the embassy spokesperson. “One of these functions (Section (e)) is to
develop economic, cultural, and scientific relations. This is the role of
British embassies worldwide, including in Burma.”

____________________________________

May 9, Irrawaddy
Dead KNU man spooks Burmese sleuths - Shah Paung

A Karen leader who died three years ago is on the Burmese government’s
list of suspects involved in the recent series of bomb attacks. The
state-owned New Light of Myanmar reported last week that Shwe Sai, former
vice-chairman of the Karen National Union and ex-head of the KNU’s 6th
Brigade, held secret meetings in Mae Sot this month with exiled dissidents
and discussed the dispatch of bombers to Burma. But Shwe Sai died on June
1, 2003.

The risible error is one more sign of the disarray in Burma’s security
apparatus, according to observers. One named suspect, Nyo Ohn Myint, an
American citizen who was also accused of being a "terrorist" bomber, told
The Irrawaddy that since intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt was removed in
2004 the country’s intelligence agency has faced a credibility problem and
was relying on inexperienced informants and spies.

The regime dismantled the notorious spy agency known as the Office of the
Chief of Military Intelligence in October 2004 and detained several
intelligence officers, including Khin Nyunt.

Mahn Sha, KNU general secretary, said the new intelligence agency—Military
Affairs Security, led by Lt-Gen Myint Swe—lacked the experience to perform
well. "They are just sending misinformation to please their boss. On the
ground, the MAS hasn’t a clue.”

A former spy recently confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the MAS struggled to
reach the sinister standards set by the former OCMI.

In a scatter-gun reaction to the recent series of bomb blasts in Burma,
the regime blamed the National Council of Union of Burma and other exile
groups, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and the KNU.
Pro-democracy groups in exile were sending terrorists into Burma, The New
Light of Myanmar charged.

Descriptions of wanted “terrorists” verge on the bizarre. Most of them
wear gold and diamond jewelry, according to the wanted-list descriptions
intended to lead to their capture. Thet Tun, of the Mae Sot-based
Democratic Party for a New Society, for example, “usually wears diamond
earrings and a gold watch.”  It’s unclear whether he is thus adorned while
planting bombs for the ABSDF, which The New Light of Myanmar claims is his
specialty.

One young woman suspect, Moe Moe Aye, “usually wears a jade ring on her
left middle finger.” Commented one sage commentator: “She and how many
other young Burmese women?”

Despite the combined efforts of the armed forces, the police, the security
apparatus and appeals to the public, not one “terrorist” has yet been
detained. Yet suspects were announced only hours after the first of the
bombings, in Rangoon last year.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 9, Irrawaddy
Paranoia in the air - Aung Lwin Oo

As the Burmese military government continues an expansion of its air
defense network along the Thai-Burmese border and near the Andaman Sea,
Thai officials seem keen to calm Rangoon’s apparent paranoia, according to
the latest newsletter from Thailand-based Network for Democracy and
Development.

“[Though] relations between the two countries are going well, the regime
remains insecure about Thailand’s military activities,” Htay Aung, a
Burmese researcher and military analyst for NDD, told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday.

The Burmese junta reportedly ordered air defense troops to obtain more
weapons, as well as basic commodities, by last December. Artillery pieces
and heavy arms, as well as Chinese-made HN-2 and HN-5 surface-to-air
missile launchers, have been delivered to artillery bases in Mergui
Township, Tanessarim Division, and to other bases along the Thai-Burmese
border

The NDD report said Mergui airbase has also been reinforced with nine
Chinese-made fighter jets and two Russian-made MiG-29s. When the junta’s
number two, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, visited Moscow recently, he reportedly
ordered an undisclosed number of MiG-29s to add to a squadron of 12 Burma
has already received from Russia, plus a number of air defense systems.

Unconfirmed reports say Burma has also sent 1,000 air force officers, army
engineers and technicians to Russia for training.

A secret Burmese military document obtained recently by The Irrawaddy
indicates the junta is nervous about Thailand’s annual “Cobra Gold”
military exercises with the US in Thailand, with the next due later this
month. The Burmese regime apparently still considers the country open to
invasion by sea, or via Thailand, according to the document.

In the face of such Burmese concern, Thai Air Force Commander Air Chief
Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk visited Rangoon from May 2-3 to talk to his
Burmese counterpart Lt-Gen Myat Hein and former Rangoon commander Lt-Gen
Myint Swe.

Burma’s state-run The New Light of Myanmar described this as a goodwill
visit, and Washington-based Radio Free Asia, quoting a senior Thai air
force officer, said it was to discuss possible conflicts between the two
countries and to exchange military information.

____________________________________
DRUGS

May 9, Shan Herald Agency for News
No more Wa exodus

Last month's relocations of an estimated 2,000 - 4,000 Wa civilians could
be regarded as the closing page of the mass migration to the Thai-Burma
border, according to two high-level Wa sources who wish to remain
anonymous:

"We wish to keep our members in the south (along the border areas) happy,"
a Wa divisional commander said. "We had brought their families down only
at their express request."

Sources on the border reported in mid-April of the arrival of 2,000 Wa
villagers in Mongton township opposite Chiangmai province. Unconfirmed
reports also say another 1,800 had been resettled in the neighboring
Monghsat township, which would add on to the 126,000 (according to Lahu
figures) and 65,000 (according to Wa figures) that have already been
resettled since 1999, when the first batch of Wa villagers arrived from
their homeland along the Sino-Burma border.

The border areas opposite Chiangrai, Chiangmai and Maehongson provinces
have long been designated as the United Wa State Army (UWSA)'s 171st
Military Region.
"There is no further plan to move out the people," a visiting Wa
businessman recently told S.H.A.N. "At present, all the people are engaged
in the rubber plantation project."

A massive displacement predicted by some Burma watchers has yet to take
place. "However, if anyone or family wishes to move out to pastures new, I
don't think the leadership is going to deny them their right to resettle,"
he added.

He hopes assistance from foreign agencies to make up for the loss of
income incurred by the opium ban which took effect on 26 June 2005 comes
sooner. "Right now, piles of antimony and timber are stranded in
Panghsang," he says, "as Beijing, in response to the request by the
Burmese (military), has stopped importing any merchandise without their
official license."

He maintains that poppy cultivation in the Wa "State", except in a few
remote places, is practically over as promised by Wa supreme leader Bao
Youxiang. "These days you find unrestricted fields only in areas under
Burma Army units," he says.

His claim is supported by independent sources in eastern Shan State who
witnessed hills and valleys in Markmang township, southwest of Panghsang,
covered with poppy fields during the 2005-2006 season.

Shifting the subject to military affairs, he concedes that the Wa "State"
is a besieged land. "We are being blockaded by Burmese troops on all
sides, except from the Chinese side," he says. "Even most of the Salween
crossings (west of the Wa area) are under the Burma Army control."

"The last thing we need today (therefore) is fighting among each other,"
he concludes. "We need to cooperate."

Last year's fighting between the Shan State Army - South and the joint
Burma Army-UWSA alliance on the border (in March and April) had cost both
sides an estimated 770 casualties.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 9, Agence France Presse
Myanmar to boost gem production

Yangon: Military-ruled Myanmar said Tuesday it would increase production
of gems and jade, one of the most important sources of desperately needed
foreign currency in the sanctions-hit nation.

"As Myanmar's gems and jade market is developing, many global nations
including neighbors are paying more attention to the country's gems
emporiums," the state-run daily New Light of Myanmar said.

"Therefore, it is necessary to boost gem production and sale," the paper
said, citing a speech by Lieutenant General Thein Sein, one of the junta's
most powerful members.

In March Myanmar held its biggest-ever auction of gems and jade. Sales
figures were never announced, but the junta had expected to earn at least
53 million euros (63 million dollars). China and Thailand are the biggest
customers for Myanmar's gems.

Although Myanmar is one of the world's poorest and most isolated
countries, it has vast natural wealth -- including natural gas, minerals
and highly prized teak wood -- that often disappears into black markets.

The junta began the gems auctions in a bid to curb the smuggling of
precious stones out of Myanmar, which deprives the government of
much-needed foreign currency.

The next auction is set for June 20 to July 4.

Myanmar is under stiff European Union and US sanctions imposed for human
rights abuses and failure to implement promised democratic reforms.

____________________________________

May 9, Narinjara News
Gas from Burma to India bypassing Bangladesh - Iftekhar Ahmed

To skirt the contentious issue of importing gas from Burma through
Bangladesh, India has recently worked out routes bypassing its neighbour
to transport the gas. India has been competing with China for procuring
gas from Burma, so it needs to work out the most economic route, which is
possible by way of a tri-nation gas pipeline through Bangladesh.

According to a report in the Indian newspaper Hindu, India has presented
eight alternative routes including one via the northeastern part of India
that excludes Bangladesh.

A high-level Indian delegation recently made a presentation before the
A-1, A-3 offshore block partners and the Burmese government in Rangoon, on
as many as eight alternative routes both by land and sea for importing gas
from Burma.

The detailed report submitted at the meeting proposes a pipeline route
through the Indian states of Mizoram, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. The
pipeline will also have the provision to transport gas from developing gas
fields in Tripura and Assam in India, sources said.

The detailed feasibility report (DFR) for a Burma-India gas pipeline
bypassing Bangladesh and pre-feasibility report of the other proposed
alternative routes were prepared with the help of SUZ Tractable of
Brussels (Belgium) as technical consultants.

Transporting gas through Bangladesh to India had become a thorny issue,
which had in fact stalled the whole process and led to Burma favourably
considering a request for large gas supplies to China after repeatedly
urging India to speed up alternative plans including setting up power
projects near the gas fields.

GAIL, which is the preferred buyer of gas from Block A-1, had made
presentations of the various options for importing gas from Burma - three
land routes and three sea routes - besides bringing the gas as liquefied
natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG). Sources said that of
these eight options two routes are through Bangladesh.

GAIL (India) Ltd and ONGC Videsh Ltd hold 30 per cent share in
two-exploration blocks - A-1 and A-3 - offshore Burma. Daewoo
International Corporation with 60 per cent share is operator of both
blocks. South Korea's Korea Gas Corporation holds the remaining 10 per
cent share.

The issue of pricing of the gas would now be discussed and by the last
week of June, Burma is expected to get a detailed feasibility report
commissioned by it on the routes and other aspects of the deal, sources
added.

Despite huge protests from Burmese people against export of gas, the
military Junta has been continuing its deal with India and China for
exporting gas to purchase arms and ammunitions instead of spending money
for development and people’s welfare.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 9, Agence France Presse
ASEAN hopes Myanmar will attend next defence ministers' meet

Kuala Lumpur: Military-ruled Myanmar failed to attend an inaugural
gathering of Southeast Asian defence ministers here Tuesday, but the
region hopes to persuade it to turn up next time, officials said.

Myanmar has been under fire from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) over its refusal to introduce democratic reforms, a stance
its neighbours fear is bringing the whole region into disrepute.

The ruling junta declined to send a representative to the first-ever ASEAN
defence ministers talks, leaving officials mystified by saying only that
it was busy with other engagements.

"We invited Myanmar to attend this meeting. We were hoping that they would
attend but they cited domestic commitments and for that reason they are
not able to come," said Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak.

Najib said Myanmar would be invited to the next Asian Defence Ministers
Meeting (ADMM) which will be held in Singapore.

"Whether in fact they participate or not is something we cannot speculate
on at this period in time," he told a press conference.

"We can all draw our own conclusions but we hope that in future they will
be part of the ADMM process."

Philippines Defence Secretary Avelino Cruz also said he was confident that
Myanmar would take part in the future.

"My sense is that this will evolve into everybody participating," he said,
adding that Myanmar's absence might be due to an "administrative" issue.

The ruling junta has previously cited the shift to its new administrative
capital of remote Pyinmana as a reason for not meeting other diplomatic
obligations.

Ministers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand attended the talks Tuesday, while Brunei and
Vietnam sent deputy ministers.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 9, Irrawaddy
Homeless most at risk from traffickers - Sai Silp

Homeless ethnic tribal children and women from Burma and China’s Yunnan
province are at highest risk of falling victim to forced labor or
prostitution, an international NGO conference in Thailand’s Chiang Rai
heard Tuesday.

Some of the victims end up as far away as Malaysia or Singapore, the
conference was told, although it was difficult to say exactly how many
people are smuggled because they lack nationality papers, the five-nation
conference was told.

A spokeswoman for the organizers, the Chiang Rai-based Development
Education Program for Daughter and Communities Centre, said: “We found
that Akha and Lahu women and children from Burma are the highest risk
group, followed by Burmese Shan and Lue from Yunnan. “They were taken as
forced labor or to be sex workers in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.”

However, Suriya Kasemsirisawat of the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit
of Northern Thailand, told The Irrawaddy that the number of ethnic
migrants entering the sex industry in Thailand had dropped recently
although many still ended up forced to work in poor-standard factories.

“In Chiang Mai, we found more beggar gangs using Shan children forced to
beg in the city or sell flowers at night. This is a kind of human
trafficking and more and more serious.” Thailand is still negotiating an
agreement to work with Burma and China to end human trafficking, said
Suriya.

A United Nations website quotes the US State Department estimating that
about 225,000 women and children have been trafficked in Southeast Asia in
recent years, although other estimates put the figure higher.

Participants at the two-day Chiang Rai conference came from Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, China and Thailand.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 9, The Burma Campaign UK
DHL to pull out of Burma

The Burma Campaign UK has been informed by DHL’s parent company, Deutsche
Post, that DHL will end its joint venture with Burma’s military
dictatorship. DHL’s current contract with the regime expires at the end of
2006, and the Burma Campaign UK had called on the company to use this
opportunity to cut its ties with the regime.

Deutsche Post told the Burma Campaign UK: “DHL Express Asia Pacific has
decided not to renew its joint-venture agreement with Myanma Posts and
Telecommunications in Myanmar which expires in December 2006. The decision
was taken following a regular operational review of DHL's business in
Myanmar.”

“This is a welcome but long overdue move by DHL”, said Yvette Mahon,
Director of the Burma Campaign UK. “DHL have finally realised that it is
not acceptable to have a military dictatorship as your business partner,
especially one that is currently slaughtering its own population in a new
military offensive against civilians.”

DHL’s partner in Burma is the regime-owned enterprise, Myanma Post and
Telecomms. The joint venture began on 1st January 1997. It was a five-year
contract. In early 2002 DHL signed a new five-year contract with the
regime. In 1998 the regime expelled Fed Ex, UPS, TNT and other parcel
carriers. Only DHL was spared. Rivals and observers speculated that the
reason was to increase revenue for the regime, as none of the other
operators were in joint ventures.

The move by DHL will increase pressure on French oil giant TOTAL Oil to
pull out of Burma. TOTAL Oil is the target of an international campaign to
persuade it to pull out of Burma. On Friday 12th May TOTAL Oil faces an
international day of action, with protests taking place across Europe and
Asia.

The Burma Campaign UK has a successful track record of forcing companies
out of Burma through high profile public campaigns. It has persuaded more
than 100 companies to end their involvement in Burma, including British
American Tobacco, Premier Oil, WPP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kuoni, and
Carnival Cruises.

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world.
Democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi remains
under house arrest following an attack by a pro-government militia on her
and her supporters in May 2003. Up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to
death. Around 1,300 political prisoners languish in jail where torture is
commonplace.

The regime is currently engaged in a new military offensive against the
Karen ethnic minority. More than 11,000 people have been forced from their
homes and villages. Most are now hiding in the jungle with no food or
medical supplies.

DHL will now be removed from the ‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or
indirectly providing financial support to the regime in Burma. The full
list can be viewed at:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list.html.