BurmaNet News, October 3, 2006

[Editor]

October 3, 2006 Issue # 3058


INSIDE BURMA
NLM: Preventive action taken against unrest, sabotage
Mizzima: Burma's 88 generation students reject junta's accusation
Mizzima: KNU waits for talks but the junta is 'busy'
Irrawaddy: Mandalay flood toll tops 20
IMNA: Military bans carrying food to farms in Southern Ye Township
DVB: Sanction Burma junta style: KIO blocked for supporting UNSC’s decision
AFP: Myanmar crackdown defies international pressure
Narinjara: 17 civilians killed in gun battle between junta troops and Shan
Army

ON THE BORDER
Times of India: Burma set to strike Indian separatists

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Cuba complains it was barred from UN Burma briefing
Mizzima: British MPs, activists urge UK to ban investments

OPINION / OTHER
Khaleej Times: Let’s talk Myanmar

PRESS RELEASE
FIDH: Burma at the UN Security Council, a resolution is urgent and essential


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 2, New Light of Myanmar
Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe, Min Zeya, Pyone Cho being questioned,
preventive action taken against unrest, sabotage

Nay Pyi Taw: Information about the perpetrations to cause internal
commotion and commit terrorist attacks inside the nation has been received
at a time when the US led the move to put Myanmar on the agenda of the UN
Security Council in the previous month, with an accusation that Myanmar
affairs pose a threat to international peace and security.

The information also said that the NCUB, formed with expatriates and
insurgents, was conspiring with remnants of the underground cell of the
Burma Communist Party against the nation. It organized a central committee
to realize the people's struggle scheme. A committee to struggle within
the bounds of law was also formed with UGs under the central committee.
The dailies issued on 20 September already featured a news report about
the committee in which a group of persons under the name ‘the new
generation students’, some of the so-called seasoned politicians, and some
members of the CRPP and NLD were active members.

In order to prevent internal unrest and instability and terrorism, the
authorities concerned called in for questioning Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi
and Htay Kywe of the so-called ’88- generation students’ on 27 September,
and Min Zeya and Pyone Cho on 30 September.

____________________________________

October 3, Mizzima News
Burma's 88 generation students reject junta's accusation - Mungpi

The 88 generation students today rejected the military junta's accusation
that they were involved in terrorism and demanded the release of five
student leaders who they claim were arbitrarily arrested.

In a written statement issued today, 88 generation students claimed that
they have been working peacefully to usher in democracy and national
reconciliation and denied indulging in terrorism.

The junta in the state-run newspaper on Tuesday accused Min Ko Naing, Ko
Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe, Pyone Cho and Min Zeya of being involved in terrorism
and intending to cause 'internal commotion' as justification for their
arrest last week.

The New Light of Myanmar said the student leaders were brought in for
questioning "in order to prevent internal unrest and instability and
terrorism."

The newspaper said the authorities received information that efforts "to
cause internal commotion and terrorist attacks" are planned to time it
with the United States successful push to put Burma on the United Nations
Security Council agenda.

However, the 88 generation students, rejecting the junta's accusation,
said "We the 88 generation students have no plans to cause instability and
have no connection with terrorism."

The 88 generation students in their statement reiterated their demand to
release the five detained student leaders and to kick-start a dialogue to
begin the process of national reconciliation.

The five student leaders, who have all served long term imprisonment,
played a key role in leading the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in
1988, which was brutally suppressed by the military causing the death of
several thousand students and civilians.

Min Ko Naing - the second prominent opposition leader after Nobel Peace
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - was released in November 2004 after spending
nearly 16 years in prison. Ko Ko Gyi was released in March 2005 after
nearly 14 years imprisonment. Both of them were re-arrested along with
another student leader – Htay Kywe – on September 27.

Min Zeya and Pyone Cho, who had both served eight years and 14 years
prison terms respectively, were re-arrested on September 30.

Friends and colleagues of the student leaders in Rangoon have launched a
signature campaign demanding the immediate release of the five and other
political prisoners including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mya Aye, another 88 generation student leader and currently active in the
signature campaign, which started yesterday, told Mizzima, "
it is still
difficult to guess the exact number but we guess it is over 100, 000
signatures now."

____________________________________

October 3, Mizzima News
KNU waits for talks but the junta is 'busy' - Nem Davies

A five-member delegation of the Karen National Union is being made to cool
its heels in Rangoon despite being invited by the military junta for peace
talks.

The delegation from the KNU, the strongest ethnic rebel group fighting the
military regime for autonomy, comprising Colonel Jonny, Lieutenant Colonel
Saw Paw Doe, Major Yin Nu, Major Shwe Yoe and their security personnel
arrived in Rangoon on Monday morning to meet Burmese military junta
officials.

Pado David Taw, in charge of KNU's Foreign Affairs confirmed to Mizzima
that the KNU delegation was being made to sit around by the junta on the
excuse that they were 'busy'. The talks are expected to be held in
Rangoon.

The delegation is staying in the homes of their relatives in Rangoon.

"At this stage we have no idea whether the talks will be held or not",
said David Taw.

Earlier, KNU officials had denied that they had plans for talks with the
military regime.

"We don't have any plans to meet the SPDC and we didn't have any meeting
on this," said Pado Mann Shar, spokesperson of the KNU to Mizzima on
September 28.

____________________________________

October 3, Irrawaddy
Mandalay flood toll tops 20 - Shah Paung

The death toll in the Mandalay flood disaster has risen to at least 20,
according to local residents. More than 3,000 people have been affected by
the floods, which have caused many of them to abandon their homes.

Five of the dead were killed by falling trees, while the others were swept
away by the flood waters, said one Mandalay businessman.

One Mandalay journalist put the death toll even higher, saying at least 40
people had died.

The water in parts of Mandalay is more than one meter deep. Residents have
fled to high ground, some taking refuge in a community hall and schools.
Local business and transportation have been disrupted by the floods.

The chairman of Mandalay Division, Maj-Gen Khin Zaw, and other officials
toured the disaster zone on Monday, and they were expected to return on
Tuesday. They told affected residents to move to safer ground.

The official media remains silent, and carries no reports of the
catastrophe. Some residents claim the flooding was caused by the release
of water from a dam near Mandalay.

____________________________________

October 3, Independent Mon News Agency
Military bans carrying food to farms in Southern Ye Township - Banyol Kin

The military authorities have warned villagers not to carry food with them
when they go to their farms in Southern Ye Township. The ban comes
following the clash between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
troops under the new tactical commander and the Mon Armed Group led by
Chan Done on Sunday.

On Sunday morning the two groups clashed near Sin Kuu village, in Southern
Ye Township Mon State, in lower Burma but the villagers said that there
were no casualties or injuries on either side. Villagers too were
unharmed, a villager said.

The tactical commander Col. Myo Win who has been reposted in the area, is
infamous as a ‘rapist soldier’. He has a record of raping many Mon women
and forcing young women to entertain him as models in so called fashion
shows during military operations in 2003-2004 in the area.

That he has not mended his ways was clear when Hun Gun villagers were
forced to buy the best whisky and a bed for Col Myo Win. Villagers in Yin
Yae had to buy six bottles of the best whisky. Local villagers are
apprehensive that the colonel would threaten local villagers and sexually
abuse the women as he had done in the past.

“They called a meeting this morning and told us to destroy the huts and
not to take food when we go to the farms because they want to cut supply
of foodstuff to soldiers of the Mon Armed Group,” the villager added.

They also ordered us to make a village compound with bamboos to make it
difficult for the armed group to enter the village, said a Sin Kuu
villager, near which the fighting occurred.

“The ban on carrying foodstuff will make it difficult for us with the
onset of the betel nut season. Everybody has to work in the farms the
whole day and therefore not carrying food is a difficult proposition. The
further the farms the worse it is for us,” said a farm owner.

The military government reposted Col. Myo Win in the area after Mon armed
groups killed a person who could not speak Mon in Ye town.

_____________________________________

October 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Sanction Burma junta style: KIO blocked for supporting UNSC’s decision

Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has
been pressuring the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) for supporting
the UN Security Council’s decision to discuss Burma issue.

The latest pressure from the junta came after KIO decided to support the
decision despite the junta’s efforts to make KIO and other ‘peace’ groups
which signed ceasefire agreements with the junta, denounce the decision.

“At the moment, cars and motorcycles from KIO special regions are not
allowed to enter the government’s areas. You can’t enter Myikyina (Kachin
State capital) from Laiza (KIO’s HQs),” a Kachin living on the
Sino-Burmese border told DVB. “What they are banning is timber, gold and
at the moment, trading from Laiza. Goods from China enter here. From here,
timbers are exported. They banned all these. An unlicensed motorcycle
transported from KIO (areas) to Myikyina fetches 100 Chinese money (Yuan).
Even this is not possible anymore. There are quite a lot of consumers in
Laiza. Nothing could be transported, not even fresh produce. Almost all
the businesses are shut down during recent days.”

Another KIO official confirmed the current situation as follows:

“Normally there was no check for travelling. Now, we elders (KIO leaders)
have to report an hour in advance, when we want to travel. There are some
restrictions.”

Another KIO official who doesn’t want to be named said that a special
investigation team from the new capital Naypyidaw has been detaining cars
belonging to the KIO. He added that officials from Burma War Office and
military strategists have been phoning the KIO officials and rank-and-file
and scolding them for supporting the Security Council’s decision.

____________________________________

October 3, Agence France Presse
Myanmar crackdown defies international pressure - Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

Myanmar's oppressive military government is cracking down hard on
political dissent in a bid to crush any public support for possible UN
action against the junta, analysts say.

In the past week, the authorities have arrested six pro-democracy
activists, going to their homes, ordering them to pack a few personal
belongings, and then marching them off without a word on their fate to
family or colleagues.

The military confirmed only five of the arrests Tuesday, saying they were
"called in for questioning" because of security concerns as the UN
Security Council held discussions on the country.

The United States is vowing to introduce a draft resolution on human
rights abuses in the country formerly known as Burma.

"The military is well aware of the impact that a UN resolution can have,
so basically it seems the military prioritizes internal security ahead of
international punishment," Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo told AFP.

Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe, former student leaders who led a
bloody uprising in August 1988 to demand an end to the military
dictatorship, were detained last Wednesday.
All three have already spent more than a decade in prison for their
protests against the military government, but no reason was given for
their re-arrest.

Then on Saturday the authorities detained three more activists, including
student leaders Min Zeyya and Pyone Cho.

The third was Myint Aye, a human rights activist and a former local leader
of the opposition National League for Democracy, the party led by detained
nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar watchers say the junta is cracking down ahead of this month's
National Convention, a meeting aimed at drafting the country's
constitution and the first step on the military's so-called "road map" to
democracy.

"The people who were arrested command a lot of respect," said Aung Naing
Oo, adding that the activists had been trying to establish dialogue with
the junta and express concerns about aspects of the National Convention.

Debbie Stothard, of advocacy group Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma,
said that a combination of international pressure, low morale in the armed
forces and a lack of funds were worrying the junta.

"They are feeling fragile and brittle and under attack so they resort to
knee-jerk reactions to do whatever they can to suppress any public support
for the UN Security Council activities," she said.

"(The arrests) are part of the regime's efforts to coerce statements of
support for the upcoming National Convention," she added.

Stothard said that the regime felt emboldened by the backing of China and
Russia, key trading partners who would likely veto any UN resolution on
Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962.

"It should be a source of concern for Russia and China that even as Burma
is included on the formal agenda, the regime seems to be so complacent of
(their) support that they are eagerly cracking down on any potential
sources of dissent," she said.

The United States has been pushing for more punitive action by the UN,
arguing that drug trafficking, mounting numbers of refugees, rights abuses
and a growing AIDS problem in Myanmar represent a threat to international
peace and security.

The secretive regime is regularly criticized by governments and human
rights groups over the treatment of political opponents, particularly Aung
San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 17
years.

The United Nations confirmed Monday that Ibrahim Gambari, under secretary
general for political affairs, would go to Myanmar in early November for
talks on human rights and political freedoms.

But analysts are not sure how much he can achieve in the current climate.

"I'm not sure if he will be able to secure the release of these
activists," said Aung Naing Oo.

Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners -- Burma, said the fate of the activists remains firmly in the
junta's hands.

"I do not believe that they brought these leaders for discussion but they
will force them not to do something they dislike, especially, not to
criticize National Convention," said Bo Kyi, himself a former political
prisoner.

"If they cannot force them, they will be given imprisonment for at least
20 years."

____________________________________

October 3, Narinjara News
17 civilians killed in gun battle between junta troops and Shan Army

Seventeen Shan nationals from eastern Shan State were killed in a gun
battle between Burmese junta troops and the Shan army, according to a
report of the state-run media.

Most of the victims were the elderly, women, and children from four
villages; about 73 houses were burnt down in the villages during the
battle, the report said.

The gun fight broke out in eastern Shan State, close to Thailand, on 15
September, 2006.

The Burmese military junta blamed the Shan State Army-South, led by
Colonel Ywet Sit, and accused the group of involvement in the incident.

The accused group is one of the largest revolutionary forces in Shan
State, with some 5,000 members fighting the Burmese military junta for
autonomy in Shan State from Burma's eastern border with Thailand.

An inside source says people from Burma do not trust the state-run media
reports, and the people believe that the Burmese army may have killed the
civilians during the battle.

A number of people living in the border area have been killed in several
battles between junta troops and revolutionary groups along the border in
the last five decades. Because of the casualties, many Burmese opposition
groups have demanded several times that the Burmese military junta call
countrywide cease-fires to solve the problems on Burma at the political
table.

However, the Burmese junta has consistently rejected all of the opposition
demands.

In Burma, there are several armed groups, including the Karen National
Union, the Shan State Army - South, the Chin National Front, the Karenni
National Progressive Party, as well as a number of Arakanese groups, which
are still fighting the Burmese junta for self-determination and equal
rights.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 3, Times of India
Burma set to strike Indian separatists

Guwahati: Myanmar is planning a major military operation to evict Indian
separatists from its soil within a week, fuelling fears of heavy fighting
in the north of that country, a rebel leader said on Tuesday.

Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior guerrilla leader of the S.S. Khaplang faction
of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), which is fighting
for a tribal homeland in India's north-eastern state of Nagaland, said
hundreds of Myanmarese soldiers were moving into areas dominated by the
rebels. He alleged that India was assisting Myanmar by supplying it with
military equipment and ammunition.

Mulatonu said the NSCN-K cadres were alerted and were ready to repulse the
military offensive by Myanmar.

"The Myanmarese army is seen setting up bunkers and moving military
hardware close to our bases and we expect an assault by them within a week
or so," Mulatonu said from an area bordering Myanmar.

The rebel leader said a brigade of troops were being moved to the
military-run Myanmar's northern Sagaing Division where the NSCN has at
least 50 camps with some 7,000 guerrilla fighters entrenched in fortified
bunkers.

"We have spotted 98 trucks, loaded with weapons and ammunition being sent
by the Indian government, crossing over to Myanmar through the border town
of Moreh in Manipur to aid the junta to crush our bases," the rebel leader
alleged.

There were no immediate comments available to confirm the rebel claims of
India sending weapons to the Myanmar junta to fight the rebels. "We are
ready to give the Myanmarese military a real taste of our fighting
skills," he said. There has been no immediate confirmation of any military
offensive by Myanmar.

At least four other militant groups from India's north-east, where
numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or
independence, have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles -
all of them sheltered there under the patronage of the NSCN. In March,
Myanmar had launched an assault on NSCN-K bases in the area.

"During the last operations we lost about 20 cadres and our fighters
killed at least 30 Myanmarese soldiers in heavy pitched battles. They
managed to demolish five of our mobile bases," Mulatonu said.

The NSCN's Khaplang faction has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi
since 2001 although peace talks are yet to begin. India and Myanmar share
a 1,640-km-long unfenced border, allowing militants from the north-east to
use the adjoining country as a springboard to carry out hit-and-run
guerrilla strikes on federal soldiers.

The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and
allege the federal government has exploited the resources in this mineral,
tea, timber, and oil-rich region. More than 50,000 people have lost their
lives to insurgency in the north-east since India's Independence in 1947.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 3, Irrawaddy
Cuba complains it was barred from UN Burma briefing

Cuba’s ambassador to the UN in New York, Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, has
complained that he was not allowed to represent the Non-Aligned Movement
during last Friday’s UN Security Council session on Burma, a Havana-based
news organization reported on Monday. Cuba said in a letter circulated in
New York on Monday that its request to represent NAM as its current
president at Friday’s session “was fully justified and perfectly adjusted”
to the regulations of the Council and that the decision not to include
Diaz was “an arbitrary and selective interpretation” of UNSC rules,
reported the Prensa Latina news agency. The Council’s charter states that
any UN member country can participate in a meeting, if invited, based on
its relevance to the issue at hand. It is not known on what basis Cuba was
not admitted to the Burma session on Friday, although the incident has
again prompted the Latin American state to call for reform of the Council.
NAM has in the past expressed solidarity with Burma, who is also a member
of the grouping, arguing that its case does not pose a threat to
international peace and security.

____________________________________

October 3, Mizzima News
British MPs, activists urge UK to ban investments - Mungpi

The United Kingdom today drew flak from its parliamentarians including MPs
of the Conservative Party and human rights activists, for being the second
largest source of approved investments in military-ruled Burma.

A group of British parliamentarians and human rights campaigners today
slammed the British government for allowing foreign companies to use its
overseas territories, such as the Bermuda and the Virgin Islands, to
channel foreign investment into Burma.

The group, the Burma Campaign UK, All-Party Parliamentary Group for
Democracy in Burma, Conservative Human Rights Commission and Christian
Solidarity Worldwide, releasing separate statements, called on the British
government to ban new investments in Burma.

The call came after Channel 4 television broadcast its Dispatches:
documentary on Burma, on Monday, which exposed the military regimes secret
war against ethnic minorities in Burma, and the role Britain has played in
financing the country's brutal military dictatorship.

"The Dispatches documentary highlights not only what a despicable regime
it is that rules Burma, but also the shocking role the UK has played in
propping up that regime," said John Bercow a British parliamentarian and
Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma.

"I am appalled that the government continues to act as if nothing needs to
be done to stop companies investing in Burma," he added.

The Burma Campaign UK said UK, with a total estimated 1.2 billion dollars
investment since 1988, is the second largest source of approved
investments in Burma, because companies from all over the world use UK
overseas territories to channel investments to Burma.

UNOCAL, the US oil company, in order to defend itself from being sued in a
US court said that it has invested in Burma via Bermuda, a British oversea
territory.

The Director of the Burma Campaign UK, Yvette Mahon said, "The British
government could stop this kind of investment today, but refuses to do so.
The refusal to act is inexplicable. The government says it does not
support trade and investment in Burma, but does nothing to stop it."

"The brutal military junta in Burma is one of the most sadistic and
bestial dictatorships in the world. Britain's job is to confront it, not
to comfort it," said John Bercow MP.

The French oil giant Total, is the largest European investor, investing
via the Bermuda islands. While the annual income of the Burmese regime
from Total is believed to be up to 450 million dollars, the junta spends
more than half its budget on the military.

Total, which has come under the glare of international criticism for its
relationship with the Burmese junta, is currently considering new
investments in Burma.

Human rights activists have reported widespread human rights violations
such as rape, arbitrary arrest, extra judicial killings, forced labour,
forced relocation of villages, in areas where Total and the Burmese
generals jointly operate in eastern Burma.

Despite calls for targeted economic sanctions against the Burmese regime,
the junta continues to earn foreign investments and trade, which has
helped keep the regime in power, while spending on health and education
has fallen, said the Burma campaign UK.

The UK is also the largest European importer from Burma, said the Burma
Campaign UK in a statement released today.

"The UK will have blood on its hands as long as it is linked with
investments in Burma, putting money in the generals' pockets is the same
as putting guns in their hands," said Mahon.

"There is real anxiety that British territories are being used to cipher
funds to sustain this illegitimate regime, which practices rape as a
weapon of war, forced labour, torture and false imprisonment, "said John
Bercow, who has visited Karen State in eastern Burma, where he saw how
foreign investments has funded the Burmese junta's policy of ethnic
cleansing.

He urged his government that instead of helping the regime that is
infamous for its repression of its own civilians, "Britain should be
straining every muscle to starve the Burmese tyrants of the money they
need. We should use our political and economic influence to turn the
screws on the Government of Burma and promote the speedy transition to
democracy, said Bercow.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 2, Khaleej Times
Let’s talk Myanmar

The UN Security Council has at last turned its attention to Myanmar. The
Friday debate was the first ever to come up before the council after
several attempts by Washington failed, largely due to opposition from
China, Russia and some Asian countries.

But this time UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim
Gambari had briefed the world body after a brief visit to that country.

Gambari’s visit hardly made any difference to the ruling junta that has
become the face of Myanmar. But a top UN official’s report should at least
make members realise the gravity of the situation there and force the
Generals to pay attention to the international community.

That may be wishful thinking because the men in uniform have been defying
the global opinion with such impunity that even the US is not able to do
much except trying to move the UN to force the junta to initiate a
dialogue with pro-democracy movement and the symbol of nation’s political
conscience Aung San Suu Kyi in particular before handing over power to a
democratically-elected government.

The US and its allies have been trying to tighten the screws on Myanmar by
first cutting off economic aid, followed by a diplomatic offensive to
bring the military rulers to their knees. But, unfortunately, Washington
has not made much headway on both the fronts and the UN move should send a
strong signal to the Burmese rulers that it’s time to bow out.  But such
strong UN signal may come only after UN envoy Gambari’s proposed visit to
Rangoon in November to study the situation there. Until that time
Washington too prefers a wait and watch policy. Though not much importance
is attached to the UN debate, its significance lies in the fact that the
Burmese junta is put on the line and it’s now the responsibility of other
countries to work for a democratic Myanmar.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 29, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Burma at the UN Security Council, a resolution is urgent and essential

As the United Nations Security Council met today to discuss the situation
in Burma for the first time as part of its formal agenda, the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) released a letter to the
members of the Security Council calling for the urgent adoption of a
resolution on the situation in Burma. This resolution should call on the
Burmese regime, the military junta known as the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), to restore democracy, engage in peaceful
national reconciliation, release political prisoners and put an end to
human rights violations.

FIDH believes that the situation in Burma falls within the Security
Council’s mandate : the escalating human rights violations perpetrated by
the Burmese regime, the growing humanitarian crisis, are posing increasing
threats to Burma’s neighboring countries and the entire region.

Over the past eighteen years the military junta has detained 1156
political prisoners, including 392 representatives of the democratically
elected National League for Democracy (NLD). Recently, the SPDC has
further increased political repression. Indeed, on September 27, 2006, the
three most prominent student leaders of Burma, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and
Htay Kywe were arrested by the Burmese military regime. All had already
served over 15 years in prison. They were released in 2004 and 2005 and
since then, they have been working tirelessly to bring about the
democratic changes in country by peaceful means.

Despite more than 28 resolutions adopted by the U.N. General Assembly and
the Commission on Human Rights, calling for national reconciliation and
democratization in Burma, as well as the actions undertaken by the U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan, his office and personal envoys over the past
ten years, despite the four envoys to Burma mandated by the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights, the SPDC’s unlawful methods of political and
ethnic repression have intensified and consolidated.

FIDH considers that a resolution from highest body of the United Nations
constitutes a measure of last resort. A Security Council resolution is not
only justified but urgent and essential.