BurmaNet News, September 12, 2006

[Editor]

September 12, 2006 Issue # 3043

INSIDE BURMA
Khonumthung: SPDC trains over 200 Chin people
DVB: Land grabbing for Burma new capital

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese migrant workers stage protest strike
Bangkok Post: Thai soldier shot dead near border with Burma

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to form real estate agents association to help foreign
investors
Xinhua: Myanmar to cooperate with Indonesia in fighting money laundering

ASEAN
Asia Pulse: Indonesia calls for release of Myanmar democracy leader

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: SC shifts trial of 36 Burmese to Kolkata
DVB: Thai army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin visits Burma again

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Ready to cooperate with the UN, Burma tells EU
BBC Burmese Service: ASEM supports change in Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 12, Khonumthung News
SPDC trains over 200 Chin people

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has opened an army training
centre for the people in Myanmar, southern Chin state Matupi, and are now
training over 200 villagers of the ages between 35 to 45 from 10 villages.

The training started on August 20 at the play ground in Pha Neng village
in Matupi town. A local said that the authorities have ordered to train
one person from each family.

Lieutenant Colonel Ye Lyun, commander of Light Infantry Battalion 140 is
leading the training. For the trainees each family has to provide two
kilograms of rice and Kyat 1,000 once a week.

Besides, the other family members will have to clean the trainees' farms
thrice a week. If they fail to clean, the authorities will punish them,
said a local.

According to reports, the villagers from Pha Neng, Nga Leng, Cawng Thia,
Ti Baw, Hnaw Te, Va Lang Pi, Tin Lawng, Lei Ring, Khua Ngang, Vu Tu and
Tang Ku tracts are to be included in the training which will end in
September 17.

The order states that if 25 persons cannot attend in one group they will
give extreme punishment.

The SPDC used to have army training centres in Chin state and they forced
the public to attend the training every year in order to protect the
nation.

____________________________________

September 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Land grabbing for Burma new capital

A Burmese civil servant admitted that the ruling military government’s
plan to make the new administrative capital Kyappyay Naypyidaw populated
by allocating 8000 plots of land for new buildings, involved confiscation
of lands from local farmers living between Pyinmna and Lewe.

“Yes. There is a plan to allocate plots of land measuring 80x80, 100x100,
120x120 (feet?). The price has not been fixed. They haven’t said it yet,”
the civil servant from the capital’s municipal department said. “There are
4000 plots on the way to Lewe and 4000 plots to be created at the areas
adjoining the army and civilian lands. Application forms are not sold, but
you could apply for them at Naypyidaw Municipal (office).”

When asked who originally owned the lands, the civil servant said:

“There are various kinds in this matter. They are paddy fields of the
villages. Some of them are paddy fields. I don’t know about that”.

But when asked how many acres of paddy fields had been confiscated, the
civil servant refused to answer the question.

According to a local resident in nearby Pyinmana, the majority of the
people are neither interested in the government’s project nor applying for
the plots.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 12, Irrawaddy
Burmese migrant workers stage protest strike - Khun Sam

More than 700 Burmese migrant workers at a garment factory near the Thai
border town of Mae Sot walked off the job on Monday in protest at low pay
and other conditions of employment.

The striking workers of the SR garment factory continued their protest on
Tuesday, demanding a wage hike and an end to the alleged practice by many
employers of withholding or canceling work permits. Garment workers earn
an average of only 55 baht (US $1.47) a day, according to Moe Swe,
director of the Mae Sot-based Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association.

Moe Swe, whose organization represents the interests of Burmese migrant
workers, told The Irrawaddy the walk-out was prompted by the harassment of
three Burmese women workers, who were allegedly abducted by two Thai men
posing as police. The Thais allegedly tried to rape the women.

Mae Sot police confirmed that two men, Chonakan Chansiw, 41, and Yuth
Natha, 43, had been arrested, charged with extortion and molestation and
released on bail.

Moe Swe said the employers were resisting workers’ demands for more pay
and fair treatment in the issuing of work permits. He called for the
intervention of Thailand’s Labor Ministry.

____________________________________

September 12, Bangkok Post
Thai soldier shot dead near border with Burma

Mae Hong Son - A Thai soldier was shot dead yesterday by unidentified
troops near the Thai-Burmese border while on a mission to intercept a
drugs caravan..

Pvt Somsak Kawkhao, 20, came under fire as he and his comrades from the
2nd battalion of the 17th infantry regiment were heading for Ban Pai Sam
Ngam village in Pai district, officials said.

The troops returned fire. The two sides exchanged fire for around 15
minutes before the attackers fled across the border into Burma, according
to officials.

The army sent troops to patrol the area bordering Pai district and Chiang
Mai's Wiang Hae district following a report that a drugs caravan would use
a route in Pai district to sneak into Thailand.

The body of Pvt Somsak was flown to his home province of Lampang for
funeral rites. He will posthumously receive a promotion, the officials
said.

A border source said that as drug supplies in Thailand were running low,
traffickers in Burma were trying to smuggle drugs into Thailand.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 12, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to form real estate agents association to help foreign investors

Myanmar is seeking to form a real estate agents' association (REAA) to
help foreign investors engaged in the sector to obtain related information
and boost business operation, the local weekly Voice reported in this
week's issue.

The REAA is likely to be part of the Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) if formally formed, real estate
circle was quoted as saying.

The UMFCCI is known as Myanmar's largest private business association. The
REAA is roughly set to serve for the settlement of complicated issues such
as those arising out of sale and lease of real estate, designate uniform
rate of charge for commission by the agents and sale and lease prices of
real estate, the report said.

There are at present 80 real estate agents in Yangon, the previous Myanmar
capital and the present commercial city, of which 27 are major ones,
according to the report.

Official statistics show that foreign investment in Myanmar's real estate
sector amounted to 1.025 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 13
percent of 7.785 billion dollars' total foreign investment and ranking the
fourth largest by sector as of the beginning of this year since late 1988
when Myanmar started to adopt a market-oriented economic policy.

____________________________________

September 12, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to cooperate with Indonesia in fighting money laundering

Myanmar is preparing to cooperate with Indonesia in fighting money
laundering and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two
countries is expected to be initiated in a few months, the local Myanmar
Times reported in its latest issue.

Although problems of money laundering involving Myanmar and Indonesia are
rare, Myanmar has decided to make the move with the ASEAN fellow member to
tackle the boundary-less transnational crime, the Transnational Crime
Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs was quoted as saying.

Once the document is formally signed, Indonesia will become another member
country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with which
Myanmar cooperates in combating money laundering after Thailand.

The Central Control Board (CCB) of Myanmar and the Anti-Money Laundering
Office of Thailand had reached a MoU on such cooperation in July last
year, which covers exchanging information on financial intelligence
relating to money laundering.

Meanwhile, according to the report, a delegation of the Paris- based
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is planning a visit to Myanmar later
this month to look into the country's anti-money laundering undertakings.

Noting that the FATF listed Myanmar as among non-cooperative countries and
territories in dealing with money laundering, Myanmar police officials
blamed the FATF move for partly hindering the country's chance to obtain
aid from international financial institutions, saying that although the
task force withdrew other measures against the country after it enacted
the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Law in October 2004, Myanmar
still remains on the said list.

Earlier in June 2002, Myanmar promulgated a law to control money
laundering and financial institutions such as banks were set to report to
the CCB their clients' fiscal activities and report any cashes exceeding
100 million kyats (100,000 U.S. dollars) and any other suspicious account
activities.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar authorities closed three local private banks -- the
Myanmar Mayflower Bank, the Asia Wealth Bank and the Universal Bank during
last year for allegedly linking with money laundering.

As one of the international assistance in suppressing money laundering,
Australia is funding Myanmar a 15-month project of developing guidelines
for financial investigators of the country since October last year, which
is being implemented by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis
Center, according to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Myanmar Home
Ministry.

The project covers a series of workshops to train Myanmar officials in
terms of technique for investigating money laundering, courses on online
banking, electronic reporting, data analyzing systems and combating
financial terrorism.

As part of its increased international cooperation in the aspects, Myanmar
joined in signing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime
in April 2004.

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 12, Asia Pulse
Indonesia calls for release of Myanmar democracy leader

Indonesian House Speaker Agung Laksono called for the release of Myanmar
political leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi during the opening on Monday of the 27th
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Inter-Parliamentary
Organization (AIPO) general assembly at the Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu City.

"I believe that it is to our best interest to have Myanmar demonstrating
its good faith by, among others showing concrete progress in the
implementation of the road map to democracy as well as the early release
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy members,"
Laksono said in his keynote speech.

Attorney General Tun Shin of Myanmar, also called Burma by proponents of
democracy in the country listened to Laksono's call, but did not directly
react to it.Laksono was the only delegate to ask for the release of Suu
Kyi, who has been detained by the Mayanmar government.Myanmar, has been
ruled by a military government since 1962. In 1990, attempts to restore
democracy resulted in an election of a parliament, but the election
results were voided by the military government.

Since then, elected members of the Myanmar parliament have been in exile
or were detained, including Suu Kyi. Myanmar is represented in the AIPO,
but only as an official observer since the country does not have a
parliament.

In his speech, Laksono emphasized the Myanmar government's promise to
eventually transform the country into a democracy.

"I would like to express my concern over the slow pace of democratization
of Myanmar," he said.He also cited the lack of progress in the
reconciliation process between the military government and Myanmar's
National League of Democracy (NLD), which Suu Kyi leads.

Since Sunday, exiled members of the NLD, with the help of local militant
group Akbayan, have been campaigning in Cebu for democratic reforms in
Myanmar. Their campaign was addressed to AIPO delegates.

Philippine Speaker of the House Jose De Venecia, said some delegates in
the committee on political matters might also raise the issue on Myanmar
during its discussions.

During Attorney general Shin's speech, he said a national convention would
be set up in the country soon to formulate a democratic constitution.

He also said Myanmar was adopting laws to eradicate poppy
cultivation.Poppy, a plant with several uses, is also the chief ingredient
in opium, a substance considered a narcotic in numerous countries.

Shin said the government has already started giving poppy farmers
alternative livelihoods.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 12, Mizzima News
SC shifts trial of 36 Burmese to Kolkata - Syed Ali Mujtaba

The Supreme Court of India on Monday shifted the trial of 36 Burmese
nationals from a court in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Kolkata due to
its inordinate delay for want of adequate legal assistance to accused in
Port Blair.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice C K Thakker and
Justice P K Balasubramanyan transferred the case from a session court in
Port Blair to Kolkata.

Taking into account the delay in trial and the long lapse during which a
defence counsel was also murdered, the Bench said “we are of the view that
the case deserves to be transferred from Port Blair to Kolkata.”

The Bench also took cognizance of advocate Kamini Jaiswal’s plea that she
had instructions from at least 23 accused for shifting the trial out of
Port Blair.

The Bench directed expeditious trial of the case preferably on day-to-day
basis and specifically stated that all the accused should be kept in
judicial custody.

Indian Army during its "Operation Leech" in 1998 claimed to have busted a
gun-running racket with the arrest 82 people. Later 46 of them were
released as they were found to be fishermen.

The investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI that had filed a
chargesheet in December 2004.

However, inordinate delay in the trial led to the moving of the Supreme
Court that ordered the transfer the case to Kolkata.

____________________________________

September 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thai army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin visits Burma again

Thailand's army commander in chief yesterday departed for neighbouring
Burma where he was scheduled to meet with the country's top military
leaders to discuss strengthening military ties, according to a report from
Bangkok.

Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin told the state-run
Thai News Agency (TNA) that he was scheduled to meet with Senior General
Than Shwe, leader of the Burmese military regime, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) and the junta's vice chairman General Maung Aye
during his three-day official visit.

Discussion will focus on bilateral cooperation and narcotics' trafficking
along the Thai-Burma border, said Sonthi.

"The Thai and Myanmar (Burmese) militaries have good ties and have no
problems along our common border. The drug problems along the border are
actually caused by armed ethnic groups in Myanmar," he said.

Burma is a leading exporter of methamphetamines and, to a lesser extent,
heroin. The booming drug trade, much of it controlled by ethnic minority
groups loyal to the Burmese military, has strained relations between the
two countries in the past.

“Normally, they discuss border problems, narcotic problems, trades, weapon
black market matters; these are the subjects they usually discussed,” said
an exiled Burma army watcher Win Min. “But I think it is more than those
by looking at the frequent visits, in my view. The reason is, currently,
when it is politically a little bit unstable in Thailand, they (the Thai
authorities) seem to be sorting a lot of matters by transferring the
responsibilities to the army, instead of the foreign minister to sort out
the affairs of the two countries. When (the Thai) Prime Minister Thaksin
went (to Burma) in his first trip, he (the army chief) was one of the
people who went there. It is quite possible that the economic matters that
started then could likely to be included in this trip. As for the SPDC
army group, it tends to do things more seriously when dealing army to
army, rather than through the normal channel of foreign ministry. Several
matters tended to be discussed successfully when army leaders go there,
therefore, Thailand seems to believe that it will be smoother to send army
leaders and give (the army chief) the responsibility thus.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 11, Irrawaddy
Ready to cooperate with the UN, Burma tells EU - Clive Parker

EU officials meeting with Burmese counterparts at the Asia-Europe Meeting
in Finland, say Foreign Minister Nyan Win indicated his government is
“ready to cooperate with the United Nations.”

In a discussion with EU officials on Sunday on Burma’s democratic
progress, “Nyan Win reiterated his government’s serious intentions towards
democratization and said they were ready to cooperate with the United
Nations,” an official EU statement said.

Markus Lyra, undersecretary of state for political affairs for Finland,
said there were some “positive elements” in the meeting, The Associated
Press reported, although the Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, said
that Burma had not given any firm promises on democratic reform.

It was not clear in what capacity Burma is prepared to cooperate with the
UN. A source in Washington recently told The Irrawaddy that Burma invited
Under Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari to return to Burma during his
visit in May. The UN Secretariat last week confirmed that it was
considering a second visit by Gambari, but will likely be mindful of the
political fallout should a return to Burma fail to produce progress.

Gambari was able to meet with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, prompting
some analysts to speculate that the move was designed by the regime to
relieve international pressure, particularly from the UN Security Council,
which held a briefing on Burma for the first time in December last year.

Brad Adams of New York-based Human Rights Watch urged caution following
Sunday’s meeting: “I don’t think the EU or the United Nations—like when
Gambari was there—should be able to take what the Burmese say as if it’s
meaningful unless the Burmese act, and then we can talk about whether
things are starting to move.”

London-based Amnesty International’s Brussels office was similarly
hesitant in welcoming the regime’s response: “If it leads to concrete
improvements
 it is a positive development,” a spokesperson said on
Monday.

Talks between Burma and the EU at the ASEM follow Europe’s decision to
waive the current visa ban against junta officials at multilateral events
in Europe, providing human rights are addressed—a policy that has sparked
controversy.

HRW and Burma Campaign UK—among others—have heavily criticized Brussels
for allowing Nyan Win to travel to Helsinki. “One would have thought that
the EU would have seen that this was the right moment to isolate Burma
diplomatically,” Adams said.

AI has stated that it has “no position on the attendance of government
representatives at official meetings.”

“We need to take every possible opportunity to improve the situation in
the country,” the AI spokesperson said. “If you look at it at the level of
the EU, has sanctions brought any development?”

____________________________________

September 12, BBC Burmese Service
ASEM supports change in Burma

European and Asian leaders have called for the widest possible cooperation
to combat climate change.

The call came at the close of a two-day summit in the Finnish capital,
Helsinki.

The regular summit brings together thirty-eight countries which are said
to represent fifty per cent of the global economy, and sixty per cent of
world trade.

In a statement after a summit in Helsinki, the leaders supported U.N.
efforts for peaceful change in Burma, called for an end to curbs on
political parties and demanded that activists under detention be released.