BurmaNet News, January 9, 2007

[Editor]

January 9, 2007 Issue # 3117


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar leader 'very much OK' after checkup: official
Irrawaddy: Chinese whispers: The Great Coco Island mystery

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Bomb explosions on Indo-Burmese border: residents

BUSINESS / TRADE
Narinjara: Burmese military government to set up free trade zone in Arakan

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: ARV treatment denied new HIV/AIDS patients in Rangoon

ASEAN
Xinhua: Timor-Leste soon to join ASEAN

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: New UN chief calls for release of Burma’s political prisoners
Washington Post: American considered for U.N.'s top political job

OPINION / OTHER
Jakarta Post: Muslims must back tough actions against Myanmar military
junta - Djoko Susilo

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 9, Agence France Presse
Myanmar leader 'very much OK' after checkup: official

Singapore: Myanmar's aging junta leader Senior General Than Shwe is "very
much OK" after a medical checkup in Singapore, an embassy official said
Tuesday.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the general had
undergone a medical checkup at Singapore General Hospital and remained in
the city-state at a hotel.

"There has been a lot of speculation with regard to his health condition,"
said the official. "We had this thorough medical investigation ... His
health is very much okay."

Officials rarely speak on the record in military-ruled Myanmar, for fear
of repercussions by the junta which runs the isolated Southeast Asian
nation with an iron fist.

"This is purely a private visit," the official said when asked whether he
was also conducting any state business in Singapore.

Airport sources in Yangon have said Than Shwe, 73, left his country on
December 31 for medical treatment in the city-state, accompanied by his
wife Kyaing Kyaing.

The embassy official denied he arrived in Singapore around that time but
declined to be more specific about how long he had been in the country.

"I am not at liberty to tell you what time he will be returning," the
embassy staffer added.

Than Shwe has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1992, but
Thailand-based analysts have said his health is weakening and he is
considering handing more power to his trusted protege, Shwe Mann.

Members of Singapore's Burmese community said they were little concerned
with Than Shwe's health because even if he stepped aside, little would
change in the country.

Myint Myint Aye, a long-time Singapore resident, said she had no concern
at all for Than Shwe's health, "simply because he is bad to his own
country and not taking care of Myanmar."

Nick Htun, a consultant, said he did not care whether or not Than Shwe was
in good health.

"I don't think this will have any significant change on the politics at
all. It is ruled by the army so if one general passes on, another will
take over," he said.

Another Burmese, shopping at a plaza where many Myanmar immigrants operate
food stalls and other shops, said some of his curious friends had gone to
the hospital to "try to take a peek" at Than Shwe.

"Some of my Burmese friends told me he's in good health and the visit to
Singapore could just be a routine checkup," said the man, who would not
give his name.

Myanmar's military regime is facing mounting international pressure over
human rights abuses, the ongoing house arrest of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and its slow progress on democratic reforms.

____________________________________

January Issue, Irrawaddy
Chinese whispers: The Great Coco Island mystery - Andrew Selth

How a single news agency report led to the accepted belief that China has
a sophisticated intelligence post in Burmese waters

For almost 15 years, there has been a steady stream of newspaper stories,
scholarly monographs and books that have referred inter alia to a large
Chinese signals intelligence (SIGINT) station on Burma’s Great Coco
Island, in the Andaman Sea. Yet it would now appear that there is no such
base on this island, nor ever has been. The explosion of this myth
highlights the dearth of reliable information about strategic developments
in Burma since the creation of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) in 1988.

The Great Coco Island mystery seems to stem from a report issued by the
Kyodo News Agency on September 17, 1992. Citing diplomatic sources in
Beijing, Kyodo claimed that China was building a radar facility on Burma’s
Coco islands, under a secret agreement with the SLORC. The Kyodo report
was picked up by Reuters the next day, and repeated in the US newspaper
The Estimate the following week. From there, the story quickly found its
way into a wide range of newspapers and military journals.

Questioned about the Kyodo report, the Chinese Foreign Ministry flatly
denied it. When asked to make a comment, the SLORC declined either to
confirm or deny the report. On October 22, 1992, however, The Estimate
published a follow-up story citing a “highly-placed, knowledgeable US
military source,” who stated that Chinese personnel had been seen on
Hainggyi Island in the Irrawaddy delta, where another secret base was
believed to be under construction. The Great Coco Island facility was
mentioned in the same context.


>From these small beginnings, the story grew rapidly. At first, the Great

Coco Island base was reported to have a powerful optical telescope,
capable of sighting India’s Andaman Islands. Before long, the base was
somehow transmogrified into a dedicated SIGINT collection station,
operated by more than 70 Chinese military technicians, in partnership with
the Burmese armed forces. By the mid-1990s, most newspapers and magazines
were referring to a 50-meter antenna tower and a large radar facility on
the island.

The Great Coco Island base has been described as “the most important
Chinese electronic intelligence installation in Burma.” Its main purpose
was reportedly to monitor regional military activities, especially air and
naval movements in the Bay of Bengal, and to conduct surveillance of
India’s strategically important tri-service facilities at Port Blair, on
South Andaman Island. In a later elaboration of this theme, commentators
suggested that the base was also equipped to analyze telemetry from Indian
ballistic missile test flights.

Few of these reports gave sources to support their claims, other than
quoting other newspaper stories. One or two authors, however, cited
unnamed Western intelligence contacts. In one article, there was even a
reference to satellite imagery, implying that at least one great power had
confirmed the existence of the Chinese base, using national technical
means. A prominent Indian analyst also claimed that there was “a fair
amount of irrefutable evidence” about the Great Coco Island site, derived
from human and signals intelligence.

As these reports proliferated, they were picked up by respected
commentators and academics, and given fresh life in serious studies of the
regional strategic environment. The Great Coco Island and Hainggyi Island
bases were cited as evidence that Burma had become a client state of
China. Other analysts saw these bases as proof of China’s expansionist
designs in the Indian Ocean region. Each time the reports were cited in
books and reputable journals they gained credibility, and soon the
existence of a large Chinese base on Great Coco Island was widely accepted
as an established fact.

Throughout this entire period, Burma consistently denied that it had
permitted China to establish any bases on its soil. The SLORC conceded
that China was helping Burma to upgrade its civil and military
infrastructure, but repeatedly stated that there was no Chinese facility
on Great Coco Island. Beijing too issued formal denials, characterizing
the story as a collection of unsubstantiated rumors. The Burmese
government’s reputation was so poor, however, that its denials were not
believed. China’s statements on the subject were also dismissed.

So persistent were Indian claims of Chinese bases in Burma, however, that
they threatened to harm the relationship between Rangoon and New Delhi
that began to gather pace in the late 1990s. In 1999, Burma’s then
powerful intelligence chief, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, invited the Indian defense
attache in Rangoon to visit any place in the country where the attache
believed Chinese forces were stationed, to verify the military regime’s
statements.

This invitation does not seem to have been taken up, but in a later
attempt to settle India’s concerns, the regime (known since 1997 as the
State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC) apparently permitted India
to conduct a surveillance flight over Great Coco Island, to see for itself
that there was no Chinese SIGINT base there. It is difficult to imagine
such a flight being permitted if the SPDC had anything important to hide.

Finally, in August 2005, India’s chief of naval staff told reporters that
he believed the Burmese when they said there was no Chinese presence in
the Coco Islands. Two months later he stated categorically that India had
“firm information that there is no listening post, radar or surveillance
station belonging to the Chinese on Coco Islands.”

It is conceivable that a small intelligence collection station once
existed on Great Coco Island, but was then dismantled. The most likely
explanation for India’s remarkable about-face, however, is that there
never was a Chinese SIGINT station there and most of the claims made since
1992 were completely baseless. If so, the question must be asked how this
myth came to take such a firm grip on the imagination of so many
journalists, scholars and government officials.

There was a certain logic to the initial reports. China’s defense ties
with Burma developed rapidly after 1988, giving Beijing new opportunities
to protect its strategic interests in the south. Viewed from this
perspective, reports of a Chinese base on one of Burma’s offshore islands
were not surprising. China’s historical concerns about India, and its
interest in protecting its sea lines of communication to the Middle East,
argued for an intelligence collection effort in the northern Indian Ocean
region, even if Beijing did not enjoy such close relations with Rangoon.

Also, the journalists and scholars who wrote about this subject could be
forgiven for thinking they were on solid ground. Senior members of the
Indian security establishment were clearly convinced that the Chinese had
established a major intelligence presence in the Andaman Sea. In Rangoon
and New Delhi, Indian officials made repeated representations about this
perceived challenge to India’s national interests. In 1998 George
Fernandez, then India’s defense minister, publicly accused China of
helping Burma install surveillance and communications equipment on Great
Coco Island.

Yet warnings had been sounded by a few Burma-watchers. They pointed out
Rangoon’s sensitivity to any perceived challenges to its sovereignty, and
the regime’s continuing suspicions of China’s long-term motives in the
region. There was also a notable absence of firm evidence for the Chinese
base. More importantly, perhaps, at no stage had the existence of the base
been officially confirmed by any government other than India’s, which was
hardly an objective observer. This included the US, which had both an
interest in China’s activities in the Indian Ocean and the means to detect
them.

The story of the Chinese SIGINT facility on Great Coco Island is perhaps
best viewed as a cautionary tale. Accurate information about security
developments in Burma has always been difficult to obtain, cloaked as
these issues invariably are in official secrecy and confused by countless
rumors. Burma will always have its fair share of mysteries but, if policy
makers are not to be led astray, any analysis of its strategic environment
must be grounded in hard facts, not based on myths and misconceptions.

Andrew Selth is a Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith
University, in Brisbane, Australia.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 9, Mizzima News
Bomb explosions on Indo-Burmese border: residents - Subhsachandra M

A series of explosions at noon on Sunday rocked the Indo-Burmese border
town of Moreh late reports from the border town said.

Loud explosions were heard by residents over a period of half an hour.
Residents said the four bombs were detonated by Assam Rifles troops
deployed in the border town. However, the reason behind the bomb blasts is
still unknown.

"We heard two loud explosions when we were inside Nanpharlone market,"
Ngangom Tarun, an Indian tourist who is visiting Nanpharlone, an
Indo-Burmese trade point, with his family told Mizzima.

The tourist said he learnt from local residents that there were four
explosions. However, a senior police officer at the Inspector General of
Assam Rifles (South) headquarter in Mantripukhri, 7 kilometres north of
Manipur's capital Imphal, denied knowledge of the explosion.

"We've no official information about the explosions," he said. The
officer, however, admitted that the troops of the 24 battalion of the
Assam Rifles posted in Moreh town gunned down a youth, suspected to be a
cadre of an underground group, in an encounter near the Indo-Burmese
international border fencing in Moreh on Saturday evening.

Police said that the body of the youth, a pistol and two live rounds of
ammunition was handed over to the Moreh police station. Later, the body
was identity as that of Yamkholun Guite (34) son of Samthong Guite
resident of Khampat town in Sagaing Division of Burma.

The senior police officer added that the Assam Rifles men are out
searching for another youth, who escaped while the encounter was on.

The series of explosions, however, did not hamper normal business in the
commercial hub as traders and tourists continue usual business. The inflow
of traffic along the Indo-Burmese road also remained normal.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

January 9, Irrawaddy
ARV treatment denied new HIV/AIDS patients in Rangoon - Shah Paung

Hospitals and clinics in Rangoon treating HIV/AIDS sufferers have stopped
providing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for new patients, saying stocks have
been exhausted, according to a member of the opposition National League
for Democracy concerned with the welfare of victims of the disease.

The NLD is currently caring for more than 300 HIV/AIDS sufferers, who are
receiving ARV treatment. Hospitals and clinics treating them had denied
ARV drugs to more than 40 others who had recently fallen ill, said the
NLD’s Phyu Phyu Thin.

Phyu Phyu Thin charged that HIV/AIDS sufferers were dying while waiting
for ARV treatment. Five of the patients cared for by the NLD had died
since stocks of ARV drugs ran out at the end of December, she said.

ARV treatment is offered in Rangoon by the AZG clinic of the Dutch branch
of the French-based Médecins sans Frontières and the Rangoon Infectious
Diseases Hospital [Wai Bar Gi].

The World Health Organization reported last month that Burma has 339,000
HIV/AIDS sufferers. Japan pledged last November to donate US $2.65 million
to Unicef to help fight HIV/AIDS and malaria in Burma, while the Norwegian
government is to contribute $819,948 towards combating HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 9, Narinjara News
Burmese military government to set up free trade zone in Arakan

Burma's military authority is set to designate a free trade zone at Kyauk
Pru in Arakan in the near future, along with five other free trade zones
in Burma. Kyauk Pru is home to the largest naval base in western Burma,
and is located on Rambree Island along the Arakan coast.

The free trade zones will be established under a new special economic zone
law to be enacted sometime in the future, reported a weekly journal from
Burma.

Foreign investment within the free trade zone will be categorically exempt
from taxation for a minimum of one to a maximum of eight years.

Foreign investors will be allowed to invest in a number of prospective
sectors as outlined by the military government, which are: production,
high tech, agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry, as well as
transportation, communication and banking services.

A source reported that income derived from investment in the production
and communication sectors will be completely exempt from taxation in the
first five years.

Investments in high tech will be exempt for the first eight years, while
investment in agriculture, livestock breeding, and forestry will be exempt
for two years, and banking investments will be exempt for one year, the
source elaborated.

The Burmese military will set up such free trade zones in Thilawa Port in
Rangoon Division, Mawlamyine in Mon State, Myawaddy and Hpa-an in Kayin
State, and Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Division.

The drafting of the new special economic zone law has reportedly been
completed and is awaiting enactment, with the intent to attract inflow of
foreign investment to the military run country to promote its economic
development.

The military government has already announce over the last couple of years
plans to establish economic zones in Arakan, namely an industrial zone to
be set up in the state capital, Akyab, and another border trade zone to be
set up in Maungdaw, a border town near Bangladesh. However, authorities
have not yet implemented plans for either of these two special economic
zones.

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 9, Xinhua General News Service
Timor-Leste soon to join ASEAN

Cebu: Timor-Leste, formerly  known as East Timor, will have no problem
joining the 10-member  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
according to  officials of the 12th ASEAN Summit.

In a press conference at the Cebu International Convention  Center (CICC)
here Tuesday afternoon, Summit Spokesman Ambassador  Vic Lecaros said that
as the youngest nation in the region, "it is just a matter of time" before
Timor-Leste would become a full- fledged member of ASEAN.

Lecaros said that the attendance of Timor-Leste Prime Minister  Jose Ramos
Horta means that "ASEAN is good enough to join in."

He said that since Timor-Leste shares the same characteristics  as the
rest of the members of ASEAN, the former Portuguese colony  would "not be
an odd man out among us."

Lecaros said that Timor-Leste, through Prime Minister Horta,  would first
sign the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation on the  sidelines of the
ASEAN Summit, which is the first step toward  formally joining ASEAN.

According to Lecaros, the five other nations that joined ASEAN  went
through the same process.

Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on Jan. 8, l984, Vietnam on July 28, 1995,
Laos and Myanmar on July 23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, l999.

The first five members are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 9, Irrawaddy
New UN chief calls for release of Burma’s political prisoners - Clive Parker

A week after taking over as the new secretary-general of the UN, Ban
Ki-moon on Monday called on Burma to release all political prisoners,
including National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Welcoming the release of nearly 3,000 Burmese prisoners last week,
including a number of prisoners of conscience, Ban urged the regime “to go
beyond this first step by releasing all other political prisoners in the
country.”

The statement by Ban’s spokesperson also called on the junta to make
“further concrete progress on all of the issues raised in the context of
his [the secretary-general’s] good offices.”

The statement is the first on Burma by the incoming head of the UN and
follows similar calls by his predecessor, Kofi Annan, who in May last year
appealed directly to the head of the regime, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, “to do the
right thing” by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi. A few days afterward, however,
the Burmese authorities ignored the request, choosing instead to extend
the opposition leader’s period of house arrest by one year.

Ban’s appeal to the regime comes less than a week after Burma released
2,831 prisoners to mark the country’s Independence Day on January 4. The
exact number of political prisoners released is unclear. The NLD and
Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) say
that between 40 and 50 prisoners of conscience were freed, compared to
Oslo-based exile media group Democratic Voice of Burma, which reported a
much higher figure of 192, citing unnamed Burmese prison officials.

AAPP representative Bo Gyi on Tuesday said his organization had confirmed
the release of 45 prisoners of conscience last week, including four women,
adding that it had been difficult to confirm the exact number freed
because of the lack of information offered by the Burmese authorities.

Describing Ban’s statement on Monday as “nothing special,” Bo Gyi said
that Monday’s statement had nevertheless been a positive response from the
incoming secretary-general.

“Everybody is happy that the secretary-general noticed
that something
happened in Burma. That is a good thing for us,” he said.

____________________________________

January 8, Washington Post
American considered for U.N.'s top political job - Colum Lynch

United Nations: Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is considering naming a U.S.
diplomat as the United Nations' top political official, which would give
an American a key role in shaping the world body's diplomatic, disarmament
and postwar reconstruction policies, according to senior U.N. officials.

Ban recently interviewed B. Lynn Pascoe, the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia,
about heading the political department, according to U.N. diplomats. If
appointed, Pascoe would be the first American since the end of the Cold
War to manage the United Nations' chief political department, which
oversees mediation efforts from Burma to the Middle East. British
officials have traditionally run the department, although a former
Nigerian diplomat, Ibrahim Gambari, is the current chief.

Ban's initiative comes just months after the United Nations' top U.S.
official, Christopher Burnham, stepped down as the head of its management
department. The Bush administration has agreed to relinquish that post --
which an American has headed for 15 years -- in the hopes of securing the
top post in the growing Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which
oversees 100,00 peacekeepers and has an annual budget of nearly $5
billion.

The decision reflects shifting U.S. priorities from reining in U.N.
spending to playing a more active role in influencing the organization's
expanding diplomatic and peacekeeping missions. But Ban has assured French
President Jacques Chirac that France would keep the top peacekeeping job,
and he urged the Bush administration to nominate a candidate for the top
post in the Department of Political Affairs.

U.N. officials cautioned that Ban has not yet decided to appoint Pascoe,
whose nomination was first reported in yesterday's Times of London. But
they said the job is likely to go to a U.S. national.

Ban's plans for restructuring the bureaucracy would require the approval
of the 192-member General Assembly. He has begun briefing representatives
from key U.N. regional groups on a plan to merge the organization's
Department of Political Affairs with its Department of Disarmament. A
separate office for coordinating post-conflict peace-building efforts
would also be absorbed into the expanded Political Affairs Department.
Early discussions called for the department to oversee U.N. efforts to
combat international terrorism, but Ban has not agreed to do so.

Ban has also proposed splitting the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
France, which has had one of its nationals run U.N. peacekeeping for a
decade, would retain control over peacekeeping operations. Ban would
create a second senior post, held possibly by a Japanese national, to
oversee the department's procurement, personnel and logistics.

"We face an unprecedented demand for peacekeeping as well as a range of
growing demands for preventive diplomacy, good offices, peace building and
efforts in conflict management," Ban told the U.N. Security Council during
a meeting on global threats to international peace. "We need to look at
the organizational structures of all departments and offices related to
peace and security, and find ways to strengthen our capacities."

Ban's initiative faces resistance from within the U.N. peacekeeping
department, whose influence would be diminished by the changes. Some U.N.
members are also concerned that it would allow the United States to exert
too much control over the world body's political priorities.

To win support for the changes, Ban has announced high-level appointments
for nationals from the developing world. They include Ban's pick for
deputy secretary general, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro;
Alicia B’rcena Ibarra of Mexico, his new undersecretary general for
management; Vijay Nambiar, his Indian chief of staff; and Michele Montas,
a former Haitian journalist, as his spokeswoman.

South Africa's U.N. ambassador, Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo, said that he has
concerns about Ban's initiatives, but that there is a good chance the
General Assembly will endorse them. He said Ban has effectively laid the
groundwork by explaining his plans to key Third World voting blocs.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 9, Jakarta Post
Muslims must back tough actions against Myanmar military junta - Djoko Susilo

Jakarta: United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James B.
Warlick visited Jakarta recently to hold a series of meetings with Foreign
Ministry officials.

Warlick's mission was to secure Indonesian support in the next United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Myanmar.

This visit was timely as Indonesia is expected to act sternly on Myanmar
and address the least discussed of issues surrounding the nation: the
position of Muslim countries on Myanmar.

Last September the UNSC debated the Myanmar situation for the first time
in its history. Muslims inside Myanmar and around the world welcomed this
major step. Regrettably, however, the only Islamic country in the UNSC,
Qatar, voted against the motion. Now, there will be two Muslim countries
represented on the UNSC following Indonesia's election to the council.
This time around we can not fail to address the plight and misery of
Burmese Muslims who face economic, political, religious and social
destruction under the nation's military junta.

The leader of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council, General Than
Shwe, has forced more than one million people to flee the country. He has
burned down and relocated over 3,000 villages using modern-day slave
labor, employed more child soldiers than any other country in the world
and has created over 1,000 political prisoners. Not only this, the regime
has imprisoned 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi
is not merely a charismatic, non-violent leader; she led the National
League for Democracy to a landslide victory in Myanmar's last democratic
election. The military junta nullified the general election results and
refused to hand over power.

Than Shwe's regime represses all Burmese, though as Human Rights Watch has
thoroughly documented, Myanmar's Arakan state Muslim population is
especially targeted. Many have been systematically imprisoned, raped or
killed by the military. The junta has also denied Muslims freedom of
movement and food and land rights, as well as forcing them to convert and
punishing them for marrying and having children.

And the human rights group says the repression doesn't stop there. Muslim
land is being confiscated by the military, leading to severe food
shortages and, as a result, chronic malnutrition. When regime forces
captured the Central Dooplaya district, Muslims were driven en masse from
their villages. Copies of the Koran were torn up and mosques were
dynamited and bulldozed.

Perpetrators of these vicious crimes rarely, if ever, face prosecution.

Survivors of such heinous acts as rape by the military cannot seek justice
because the Myanmar Citizenship Law does not recognize the citizenship
rights of Muslims living in Arakan state. Amnesty International says this
is "grossly discriminatory", and a clear violation of Myanmar's
"obligation as a state and member of the United Nations". As Human Rights
Watch reports, the law prevents Muslims living in Arakan from becoming
citizens solely on the basis of their religion. The reality is, however,
that these people "have had a well-established presence in the country
since the 12th century".

Intense and systematic discrimination by the regime against Muslims in
northern Arakan state has left these people unprotected and without
freedom. Than Shwe's regime has nearly rendered these people stateless on
their home soil. Amnesty reports that "tens of thousands have fled to
neighboring Bangladesh and other countries".

Those who have no choice but to stay in northern Arakan state cannot
travel to other villages without special passes, which are virtually
impossible to obtain. To underline the severity of these travel
restrictions, the government has refused to issue passports for Muslims
who wish to perform the haj pilgrimage.

Some have suggested that the UN Human Rights Council should deal with the
situation in Myanmar, but the matter is far more serious than this as UN
Human Rights mechanisms have already failed numerous times over the past
14 years. The UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights have
passed 28 consecutive resolutions calling for change in the country. The
commission appointed four special envoys to Myanmar, while then UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan appointed two full-time envoys. The regime
has ignored every single resolution and envoy. The last envoy, Malaysian
Tan Sri Razali Ismail, resigned in frustration. Even Annan himself called
for change in direct meetings with Than Shwe, though his outcry fell on
dear ears.

Than Shwe's oppression can not be allowed to continue and a response from
the international community to his iron rule is long overdue.

The Myanmar military junta is not only threatening its own people, but has
become a problem for the world. Muslims want the UNSC to immediately pass
a resolution to bring about national reconciliation, and it is high time
for Qatar and, especially, Indonesia to support such action. The people of
Myanmar deserve no less than a serious, binding UNSC resolution.

The writer is a House of Representatives lawmaker who serves in the
Defense and Foreign Affairs Commission. The views expressed here are
personal.