BurmaNet News, September 7, 2007

[Editor]

September 7, 2007 Issue # 3287

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Enraged monks in Pakhokku last night destroyed two houses
owned by members of USDA and Swan Arrshin
IPS: Monks vs military hike Myanmar tensions
AFP: Myanmar frees wounded protester after monks release hostages
Reuters: Myanmar junta blames exiles for unrest
DPA: Myanmar military clashes with monks, state media says
Mizzima News: Burma blocks You Tube
Irrawaddy: Official version of Pakokku events dismissed as untrue
IMNA: Situation worsens in Myanmar 's second largest city, Mandalay

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Names of well-known activists on watch list at Burmese checkpoint

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar's Air Bagan launches Singapore service

ASEAN
AFP: ASEAN engagement with Myanmar failing: Romulo
AFP: Bush invites Southeast Asian leaders to Texas - Olivier Knox

REGIONAL
Reuters: China says wants reconciliation in Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: EU calls rights violations in Myanmar a scandal
Mizzima News: Secretary General supports Gambari's assessment of UN role
in Burma
Reuters: Myanmar draws APEC concern, generals defiant
Hollywood: UN must act to help Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma

OPINION / OTHER
The Economist: A charter for thugocracy; Myanmar's constitutional convention
Irrawaddy: Gambari must wow prove his effectiveness - Aung Zaw

PRESS RELEASE
FIDH: EU must reinforce sanctions against Burmese military junta
NCGUB: NCGUB condemns junta for atrocities against protesting monks
Freedom House: UN Security Council Members Should Address Burma at APEC
summit

STATEMENT
BLC: Statement demanding that the SPDC take immediate action against
security forces for shooting peacefully demonstrating monks

ANNOUNCEMENT
Asia Society: Human Rights and Public Health: The Burma/Myanmar Tragedy

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 7, Mizzima News
Enraged monks in Pakhokku last night destroyed two houses owned by members
of USDA and Swan Arrshin.

Indian Standard Time - 5:00 p.m - Authorities keep close watch over
Mandalay branch NLD meeting - Interview with Daw Win Mya Mya, member of
Mandalay NLD organizing committee

"There were people on the left and right of the street in front of U Maung
Maung Than's house, where we had the meeting. There were people also at
the junction near the meeting place. These people are pretending to be
sweepers cleaning the road, but they keep monitoring us. Apart from them
there are also plainclothes officials like the SB (Special Branch) and MAS
(Military Affairs Security). Among them there were people who took
photographs of us."

"There are a lot of people on 28th street pretending to be road cleaners
from the municipality, where we held the meeting. There are also people
with a variety of arms and equipment, and soldiers in various uniforms,
including commando and regular uniforms, making rounds on the street. We
could see about a dozen trucks. That was unusual, but the rest was normal
and as of yet nobody has come to give us any trouble. But there are
reports that members of the NLD from other townships were stopped from
coming for the meeting. But some of them still made it."

4:35 p.m - Sources said some of the protestors arrested during the recent
series of protests in Rangoon have been released.

4:10 p.m - Pakhokku incident hits Rangoon and Mandalay cities

Security has been heightened in Rangoon and those suspected of possibly
leading another protest are being closely monitored, an activist who
participated in the recent protests told Mizzima.

"We can see about one or two military trucks on most street corners. And
groups of people (about 20 in a group) could be seen in many places," said
the activist.

According to the activist, people have gathered in some townships, such as
Hlaing Tharyar and North Okkla, and are preparing to fight back against
the junta-backed gangs, USDA and Swan Arrshin. However, the information
could not be independently confirmed.

A writer in Mandalay told Mizzima that the incidents in Pakhokku have
effected the people in Mandalay, saying, "Looking at the incidents in
Pakhokku, people here are feeling like coming out in protest."

3:45 p.m - Activists detained in Kyaikkasan interrogation camp have
stopped a hungry strike protest, sources in Rangoon said.

Activists, detained at Kyaikkasan camp, on August 30 launched a hunger
strike in response to the authorities' failure to provide adequate medical
treatment to a fellow activist, Ye Thein Naing, who hurt his leg during
the brutal crackdown by USDA and Swan Arrshin while protesting in Rangoon
over sharp increases in fuel and food prices.

However, the activists stopped the hunger strike after the authorities met
them and guaranteed medical treatment for Ye Thein Naing. Authorities
yesterday release Ye Thein Naing.

2:40 p.m - Mandalay National League for Democracy (NLD) today held a
meeting at the residence of U Tin Aung Aung, Member of Parliament Elect
from the 1990 election. The meeting began at about 10 a.m. and ended at
about 2:30 p.m. (local time). Several NLD members from other townships
came to Mandalay by bike and car to attend the meeting. Such meetings are
rare in tightly controlled military-ruled Burma.

Sources said several members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, with spades and shovels in their hands and pretending to be
doing chores, could be seen around the house while the NLD meeting was
taking place. Security has been tightened in and around the meeting place.

12:25 p.m - Situation normal in Pakhokku, no signs of security forces A
resident in Pakhokku told Mizzima that there has been no sign of security
forces in town.

"There are no security personnel to be seen in town. All are free. There
are only people going up and down the streets. BEHS No 1 (government high
school) is currently closed because of an ongoing training exercise. It
was closed about five days ago due to the training. Other schools and
universities are operating as normal. Nothing is unusual and there are no
public gatherings."

"Everything is normal with the monks as well. They went for their usual
morning 'Swan' (offering of food) collections. The situation at
monasteries like Bodhi Mandaing and Wihthuhtha is normal. Monks are very
secretive about their plans. Whatever they plan to do is never leaked. But
when we asked them what happened last night, they explained it to us. But
they would never let anyone know of their plans."

11:25 a.m - Enraged monks in Pakhokku last night destroyed two houses
owned by members of USDA and Swan Arrshin.

Interview with a resident of Pakhokku

"Monks last night went into the house of Hla Win Naing, a member of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) Township Working
Committee, and destroyed the house, located on the main street in
Pakhokku."

"They [monks] went into the house and destroyed some of the things inside.
It was about 10:00 p.m. last night and nobody dared to go near because
there were about 40 to 50 monks and they explicitly announced that nobody
should come near."

"Moreover, the monks also destroyed a hut-like house of a member of Swan
Arrshin in ward No. 1. The house was owned by Khin Maung Win. The house
was not so good. It was more of a hut. The monks went and destroyed it.
Nobody was there, the house owners must have hid themselves."

____________________________________

September 7, Inter Press Service
Monks vs military hike Myanmar tensions - Marwaan Macan-Markar

Political tension in military-ruled Myanmar has taken an ominous turn,
with soldiers clashing this week with sections of the country's respected
Buddhist clergy. The confrontation was the latest in an unfolding drama
that has featured rare public protests against the hardline regime for
implementing massive hikes in fuel prices in mid-August.

Monks in the central town of Pakokku on Thursday openly defied the regime
by burning four cars belonging to local authorities.

"The monks, who are students at a large monastery in Pakokku,
are very angry with the military regime," said Than Win Htut, a senior
producer for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a radio and TV station run
by exiles from Myanmar and based in Oslo, Norway.

Clashes first erupted on Wednesday between soldiers and monks in Pakokku
town, some 500 kilometers north of the old capital Yangon. That morning,
soldiers fired warning shots to break up a crowd of more than 300 monks,
representing apparently the first time security forces have used their
firearms since the protests against the fuel hike began last month.

"The monks started a protest march from their monastery and were cheered
on by thousands of people as they headed into the town," said Than Win
Htut. "The soldiers dragged about 10 monks away, tied them to electricity
poles and beat them with bamboo sticks."

One of the monks involved in the protest told DVB that the outpouring of
anger was linked to the fuel hike, which has hit the clergy in the stomach
the same way it has the rest of the impoverished population.

"We can't sit back and watch the people who sponsor us sink into poverty.
Their poverty is our poverty as well," the monk was quoted as saying.

In Myanmar, where more than 85% of the country's 47.3 million people are
Buddhists, the monks, monasteries and temples depend heavily on public
donations for their survival. This includes the food and alms that
laypeople give monks when they visit communities every morning with empty
bowls to collect their day's meal. Myanmar's Buddhists follow the
Theravada school of Buddhism, as in Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

The clash between clergy and security forces in Pakokku is being viewed
with a greater degree of interest than the fuel-hike-related protest
involving some 150 Buddhist monks during the last week of August in the
country's northwestern Arakan state. That's because Pakokku is home to the
second-largest community of Buddhist monks in the country, estimated by
some to be close to 10,000 ascetics. The largest Buddhist clerical
community is in the nearby city of Mandalay. Both places are highly
regarded as centers of Buddhist learning.

"This could trigger a reaction among monks elsewhere, forcing them to come
out and protest," said Win Min, an academic on Myanmar affairs at Chiang
Mai University in northern Thailand. "It has the capacity of spreading,
since the monks have a close network, particularly in the area around
Pakokku."

The Buddhist clergy is "the most organized institution after the military"
in Myanmar, he explained during an interview. "They have always been a
very influential part of Burmese society and could assert that role again
now."

Myanmar's history is replete with such interventions. During the days
prior to British colonization, the Buddhist clergy played a central role
as advisers and shapers of national affairs in the royal courts. When
Myanmar, then called Burma, became a British colony, the monks were in the
vanguard of the movement against Western imperialism.

Such political activism continued even after independence was achieved in
1948, and when the country came under the grip of successive military
regimes after a 1962 coup. Among the more recent episodes was the leading
role monks played during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was
brutally crushed by the military.

"Many young monks took part and were shot to death during the
pro-democracy demonstrations," said Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner in
Myanmar, now based in Thailand, who was part of that peaceful uprising
against the military rulers. Some monks were beaten and disrobed, he said.
"There are still 90 Buddhist monks in prison for their political activity
during that period. They are part of [Myanmar's more than 1,100] political
prisoners."

Buddhist monks were also victims of a brutal military crackdown in August
1990, when they came out in protest after the junta refused to recognize
the results of parliamentary elections held a few months before. The
opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi, routed the pro-junta party at those polls, the first held in
the country in nearly 30 years.

The current protests against the fuel hike, which saw prices rise by 500%
overnight, show little sign of easing, despite the harsh methods deployed
by the junta. Before the clash in Pakokku, the military regime appeared to
keep its soldiers on a leash, but instead let loose thugs linked to the
regime to beat back demonstrators and journalists who attempted to cover
the conflict.
That strategy, say analysts, was employed to avoid rekindling memories of
the brutal manner in which soldiers crushed the 1988 pro-democracy
uprising. The showdown in the Pakokku potentially points to a tactical
shift, with the junta falling back on armed soldiers to control the
crowds. Two military platoons were used on Wednesday to break up the monks
chanting a prayer and demonstrating peacefully.

"Events may now take a turn for the worse," speculated Debbie Stothard, of
the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a regional rights lobby. "We may
be entering a period of brinkmanship.

"The monks have taken a stand in a very provocative way. They are
asserting their role of having a moral obligation to help improve the
people's welfare," she said, adding that if more monks protest, it could
mean "the military is gradually losing control of the situation".

____________________________________

September 7, Agence France Presse
Myanmar frees wounded protester after monks release hostages

Myanmar's military regime freed a wounded protester in a conciliatory
gesture after tensions boiled over when Buddhist monks seized a group of
officials as hostages, activists said Friday.

Ye Thein Naing, who suffered a broken leg when authorities arrested a
crowd of anti-junta protesters in Yangon on August 28, was released during
the night after being brought to a hospital for treatment, activists said.

A group of pro-democracy supporters jailed with Ye Thein Naing had staged
a week-long hunger strike to demand medical attention for him, but they
resumed eating after he was taken to hospital on Wednesday, activists
added.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled with an iron fist for 45 years, rarely
shows such concern for the more than 1,000 political prisoners believed
held in the nation's jails.

Rights groups frequently denounce the regime for refusing prisoners access
to medical treatment. The Red Cross has not been allowed to visit
Myanmar's prisons for nearly two years.

"This time they let the person go to the hospital and release him -- it's
a small concession. They are worried that things could escalate" after the
hostage crisis Thursday at the monastery, Thailand-based analyst Win Min
said.

The showdown in Pakokku, about 500 kilometres (310 miles) north of the
commercial capital Yangon, was the most serious confrontation with the
regime since anti-junta protests began on August 19.

Twenty government and security officials were held hostage for several
hours, as monks torched four of their cars.

After the officials were freed, about a dozen monks marched through the
town and trashed an electronics shop owned by a local militia leader.

The monks were enraged after soldiers fired warning shots into the air to
break up a march on Wednesday, when some 300 Buddhist clergy walked
through the streets praying in solidarity with the people after a massive
hike in fuel prices.

Pro-junta militia then beat the crowd with bamboo sticks, according to
residents, who lined the streets to cheer the monks' march and the
hostage-taking.

Pakokku is a major centre of Buddhist learning in Myanmar, and analysts
said the crisis at the monastery raised the risk that other teaching
temples around the country could mobilise their monks in protest.

The military and the Buddhist clergy are the two most important
institutions in Myanmar, and the only groups which maintain networks
stretching across the entire country formerly known as Burma.

Monks were credited with helping to rally popular support for a
pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was crushed by the military, when
soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing hundreds, if not thousands.

In an unusually swift commentary on the situation in Pakokku, Myanmar's
state media on Friday accused the monks of trying "to create public
outrage in order to intentionally incite a mass protest like '88 unrest."

The latest crackdown has sparked an international outcry, and one key
protest leader Thursday urged the United Nations to take action.

US President George W. Bush attacked the regime while attending the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney, demanding the
release of all the prisoners.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing, and
assaulting pro-democracy activists for organising or participating in
peaceful demonstrations," Bush said Friday.

Myanmar's neighbours in Southeast Asia are increasingly frustrated at the
regime's failure to reform, despite the region's policy of "constructive
engagement" with the junta, Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo
said on the sidelines of APEC.

"We're still waiting and there is now impatience in (the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) about the fact that it's not working out the way
we thought it would work out," Romulo told reporters.

____________________________________

September 7, Reuters
Myanmar junta blames exiles for unrest - Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's ruling generals accused exile dissident groups on Friday of
fomenting two weeks of rare protests and signalled there would be no let
up in efforts to crush them despite harsh U.S. and European Union
criticism.

"The government has information that external anti-government groups are
giving directives and providing various sorts of assistance to internal
anti-government groups to stir up mass demonstrations and instability,"
state-run newspapers said.

"The people will not accept any acts to destabilise the nation and harm
their interests and are willing to prevent such destructive acts," they
said.

There was no direct reference to tough criticism from U.S. President
George W. Bush and the European Commission of one of the harshest
crackdowns on dissent in the former Burma since the army ruthlessly
crushed an uprising in 1988.

The Myanmar military, which has ruled since 1962, rarely reacts directly
to external pressure or rhetoric, much to the frustration of fellow
members of the Association of South East Asian Nations which have tried
and failed to foster change.

But China, Myanmar's largest trading partner and the closest it has to a
friend, also sounded frustrated on Friday, saying it wanted reconciliation
and improved conditions there and welcomed international efforts to that
end.

"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all
the relevant sides, including the United States," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Liu Jianchao said during an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma,"
he said in a pointed comment that followed an unflattering account of
Myanmar's new jungle capital his ministry published earlier this year.

However, Myanmar did not come up in bilateral meetings Chinese President
Hu Jintao held in recent days, including one with Bush, Liu said.

MONKS "MANHANDLED"

The comments came after two days of protests by Buddhist monks in the town
of Pakkoku, 80 miles (130 km) south-west of Mandalay, the latest against
huge fuel price rises last month.

State-owned MRTV said the seizure of 13 government officials and torching
of their cars by young monks on Thursday was the result of external
agitation.

Pakkoku residents blamed the junta, whose troops fired warning shots over
the heads of monks during a peaceful protest march the previous day.

Soldiers and pro-junta gangs had manhandled monks and bystanders when they
broke up the march, some people said.

"The monks were just peacefully marching, reciting holy scriptures. But it
was handled very cruelly and rudely. Some monks were beaten and tied up to
the lampposts," one said.

Another said local members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, the pro-junta civilian group used to break up many of the
protests, had gone into hiding because some young monks had been looking
for them.

The repeated outbreaks of protest, albeit generally small and not swelled
by onlookers cowed by all-pervasive security, have been notable for their
persistence despite the prospect of long jail terms.

They have continued despite the detention of most of the leaders of the
1988 protests for their roles in the latest demonstrations. Up to 3,000
people are believed to have been killed in the military's crackdown
against the 1988 protests.

Those arrested include Min Ko Naing, the most influential dissident after
detained Nobel laureate and National League for Democracy chief Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Min Ko Naing spent 15 years in jail after the 1988 uprising and official
newspapers say he and his colleagues face up to 20 more years behind bars.

Bush called for the release of all those arrested and for action, although
years of U.S. and European Union sanctions on Myanmar appear to have left
the junta unmoved.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing and
assaulting pro-democracy activists for organising or participating in
peaceful demonstrations," Bush said.

The European Commission called human rights violations in Myanmar a
scandal and said the junta was a threat to Southeast Asia, but it said the
world needed to engage Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated regimes.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Sydney and David Brunnstrom in
Strasbourg)

____________________________________

September 7, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar military clashes with monks, state media says

Myanmar's state controlled media on Friday admitted for the first time
that the military regime was at loggerheads with rebellious Buddhist monks
in Pakokku, central Myanmar.

The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece, acknowledged that
security personnel had clashed with hundreds of protesting monks on
Wednesday in Pakokku, 530 kiloemrtes north of Yangon, and were forced to
disperse the demonstration by firing over the heads of the monks.

The monks were protesting against fuel price hikes implemented last month,
and the arrests of more than 100 anti-inflation protestors in Yangon in
recent weeks.

The state media also confirmed reports that Magway Division military
officials had visited the Bawdimandine monastery in Pakokku on Thursday
and had their vehicle burned by 50 stone-throwing monks. The government
officials spent several hours in the monastery before making their
getaway.

Before Friday, the government-controlled press had kept quiet about the
rebellious monks of Pakokku, a centre for Buddhism in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, according to eyewitnesses in Pakkaku, monks on Friday attacked
the Nay La Store owned by a prominent government official and allowed a
mob to sack the place.

Buddhist monks have a long history of political activism in Myanmar, a
predominantly Buddhist country.

The monkhood played a prominent role in Myanmar's struggle for
independence from Great Britain in 1948 and joined students in the
anti-military demonstrations that rocked Myanmar in 1988, which ended in
bloodshed.

Like the recent protests, the 1988 mass demonstrations were sparked by
rising discontent with the military's mismanagement of the economy and
refusal to introduce some semblance of democracy.

After the 1988 events, the military, although still very much in charge,
dropped its socialist ideology and opened the country up to foreign
investments and market forces.

But the generals' brutal 1988 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement,
that left an estimated 3,000 dead, resulted in the severing of nearly all
international aid to the regime.

The aid blockade and other sanctions have been kept in place for the past
19 years. Although the military allowed a general election in 1990 it
ignored the outcome when 80 per cent of the votes went to the National
League for Democracy (NLD) of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sealing
its pariah status in the West.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been under house arrest since
May, 2003. Her ongoing incarceration was harshly criticized earlier this
week by US President George W Bush, who is currently attending the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney.

____________________________________

September 7, Mizzima News
Burma blocks You Tube

You Tube, the popular website which featured the ongoing protests in Burma
on video, has been banned by the military junta. Access to the
video-uploading website was barred four days ago.

As is usual in the secretive military ruled country, no reason has been
ascribed by the internet service provider under the control of the Myanmar
Post and Telecommunication Department. BaganNet, the other internet
service provider had banned You Tube earlier.

However, here say among rare internet friendly users in Burma suggest that
blocking the site was due to footages of demonstrations in Burma which
were uploaded.

Most internet users in Burma rely on BaganNet while MPT internet users are
mainly from business houses.

An internet user in Rangoon told Mizzima that the video uploading of
ongoing protests against the increase in fuel prices could be the reason
for the ban.

"Since August 22, when the Hledan demonstrations began, it spread through
You Tube among online users here. Later more followed," he said. "We could
watch every demonstration on videos," the user said.

No response was available from MPT even though Mizzima contacted the
department several times.

Cyber cafés in Burma have prohibited users from browsing banned sites
which include news websites such as www.cnn.com and dissidents' and
pornographic websites.

Mizzima is also in the list of hundreds of banned sites.

____________________________________

September 7, Irrawaddy
Official version of Pakokku events dismissed as untrue

An official version of the standoff between monks and civil authorities in
the tension-racked Upper Burma town of Pakokku, claiming warning shots had
been fired to disperse protesters in the interests of public safety, has
reportedly only heightened people’s anger.

Protesters marching during a demonstration in Rangoon on August 22 [Photo:
AFP]
A monk at Pakokku’s Bawdi Mandine monastery told The Irrawaddy that a
report on the incident in the government newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar on Friday did not reflect the truth.

The New Light of Myanmar said security forces fired three times into the
air to disperse a crowd of about 100 monks because they thought the abbot,
Tay Zaw Batha (known as U Tejobhasa), and “local bystanders” were in
danger.

Bystanders had reportedly applauded the monks during their standoff with
the authorities, and The New Light of Myanmar report was dismissed as
inaccurate by local people. They also said far more monks had participated
in the protests than the number given by the newspaper.

“There is feeling of frustration among the monks and the people,” said the
Bawdi Mandine monk. There had been an “explosion of public anger,” he
said.

The monks at Maha Visutarama, monastery (also known as Ah Le Taik) took
several officials hostage during the confrontation but released them after
about five hours. They made three demands: the dismissal of abbot Tay Zaw
Batha, who is chairman of the regime-appointed supervisory religious body
Pakokku Sangha Maha Nayaka, and undertakings not to take legal action
against the monks or to expose them to further violence.

It was not known on Friday whether the authorities had acceded to the
demands.

Tension remained high in the town on Friday. Troops under the Northwest
command were deployed in several areas.

____________________________________

September 7, Independent Mon News Agency
Situation worsens in Myanmar 's second largest city, Mandalay - Chan Mon

The situation in the aftermath of monks in Pakokku teaching the military
junta a lesson in Mandalay is worsening. Mandalay is the second largest
city of Burma ( Myanmar ) and is situated in upper Burma .

Following rumours that local law enforcing agencies had killed a monk in
custody for joining protests and fired into the air during a demonstration
in Pakokku, monks took senior junta officers hostage at the Maha
Visutarama Monastery (Ah Le Tiak).

The monk's released the hostage in the evening after arrested monks were
freed but earlier they set fire to four government cars. A rumour also did
the rounds that many monks from Mandalay had gone to Pakokku yesterday to
reinforce the monks in Pakokku about 90 miles southwest of Mandalay.
Earlier the Mandalay Division commander had repeatedly asked the abbots to
stop monks from joining the protests.

"We were ordered to stay in the office and not to go out. I heard, today
the monks are going to start protests again," an officer told IMNA.

Anxious residents in Mandalay hurriedly tried to contact their sons and
daughters in school to tell them to stay back and not to go out.

Military government officials have communicated to each other to keep away
from areas where protests may occur, the officer said.

Senior military officials had been regularly going to four of the biggest
monasteries in Mandalay where hundreds of monks are studying and telling
the abbots to order their monks to stay away from demonstrations. However,
senior monks are supporting the movement; they have told the media in
exile.

Military commanders had been going to Ma Soe Yein, Mahar Kan Thar Yone,
Mahar Myaing and Phayar Kyi monasteries every week.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 7, Irrawaddy
Names of well-known activists on watch list at Burmese checkpoint - Saw
Yan Naing

Twenty or more names of Burmese activists, including prominent
pro-democracy activists Htay Kywe and Su Su Nway who are currently in
hiding, are on a watch list at the Myawaddy border checkpoint opposite Mae
Sot in Thailand, according to travelers who have been questioned by border
officials.

Rumors have circulated that Htay Kywe, a prominent leader of the 88
Generation Student group, has left Rangoon for the Thai-Burmese border.

A merchant who regularly crosses the border from Myawaddy to Mae Sot told
The Irrawaddy on Thursday that travellers whose names are similar to Htay
Kywe are stopped and closely questioned. The merchant requested anonymity
for security reason.

“They even stopped people whose father's names were similar to Htay Kywe,”
said the merchant.

Officials also carefully check the ID cards of all travelers who live in
Rangoon, he said.

A Burmese girl who came to Mae Sot looking for work, said, “They
[officials] asked me, where I came from and why was I going to Mae Sot.”
She said she gave extra money at some checkpoints when she was questioned.

There are 15 checkpoints along the road from Rangoon through Myawaddy to
Mae Sot, and travelers reportedly are checked at every stop.

In a telephone call to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Su Su Nway said she had
run out of her prescribed medicine for heart disease, and she was unable
to seek medical care.

Meanwhile, Burmese security officials have been routinely checking the
list of houseguests in the homes of well-known activists in the
pro-democracy demonstrations, according to family members.

In Burma, households and hotels are required to keep a list of the names
of all overnight guests.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 7, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's Air Bagan launches Singapore service

Singapore became the second international destination for Myanmar's Air
Bagan on Friday with the airline's launch of daily flights between the two
countries.

The new service, offering 14 flights each week, begins amid an
international outcry against the Myanmar junta's recent crackdown on
dissent, and questions over international engagement with the regime.

The Air Bagan Airbus A310-200, fully loaded with 224 passengers and
guests, landed about 30 minutes late on its inaugural flight from Yangon.

Tay Za, the airline's chairman, told a welcoming ceremony at Changi
Airport that the Singapore service marks "a new phase" of Air Bagan's
operation.

Singapore is only the second international destination for the carrier
after service to Bangkok began in May, he said.

"I believe that our service will promote the relationship between the two
countries, at the same time boost tourism with ASEAN nations," he said
before the audience were showered in gold confetti.

Two other carriers, Singapore Airlines' regional unit SilkAir, and Jetstar
Asia, already link Singapore and Yangon.

Lim Kim Choon, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of
Singapore (CAAS), said the Air Bagan service begins "at an opportune" time
when growth in passenger traffic between the two countries is at its
strongest.

Last year, 156,000 people travelled between the countries, 23.5 percent
higher than the previous year, he said in a statement. In the first six
months of this year, the growth continued as 92,000 passengers made the
trip, he said.

Asked how much difficulty Air Bagan has had in securing international
landing rights, Gopi Bala, the airline's senior marketing manager, told
AFP: "It's been easy."

He said Kunming, China, is expected to become an Air Bagan destination by
the end of this year.

According to Amnesty International, more than 150 people have been
detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began protests against
a huge hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even bus
fare.

The most serious showdown occurred in Pakokku, about 500 kilometres (310
miles) north of the commercial capital Yangon.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks held a group of local and security officials
hostage for several hours in Pakokku on Thursday, after troops violently
broke up an anti-junta protest, residents said.

US president George W. Bush has called the junta's crackdown on the
dissent in Myanmar "tyrannical" and called for the release of the
prisoners.

Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations pointman in efforts to promote
national reconciliation in Myanmar, warned Wednesday that the crackdown
made it "more difficult to maintain international support for engagement
with Myanmar."

On Friday, Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Southeast
Asia's controversial policy to engage Myanmar, a pariah in the west due to
its human rights record, was not working out.

Asked about the timing of the new Air Bagan service, as criticism of the
regime mounts, Bala said, "I refuse to answer on that."

A spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP that the
city-state has an air services agreement with Myanmar.

"Singapore is an air hub and we welcome airlines of all countries to fly
to Singapore," the spokesman said.

"It is not clear that further isolating an already isolated government
will have any beneficial impact on internal developments in Myanmar."

Singapore has backed the UN's efforts on Myanmar. It has also supported
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) calls for the Myanmar
government to stick to its "Roadmap to Democracy" and for the release of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 7, Agence France-Presse
ASEAN engagement with Myanmar failing: Romulo

Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday that Southeast
Asia's controversial policy to engage Myanmar, a pariah in the West due to
its human rights record, was not working out.

The Filipino official said he delivered his assessment in a meeting with
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit here.

Romulo said he told Rice "the roadmap to democracy has long been coming
and long delayed."

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) admitted Myanmar to the
fold in a "constructive engagement" policy 10 years ago after the
military-ruled nation laid out long-term plans toward democratization.

"We're still waiting and there is now impatience in ASEAN about the fact
that it's not working out the way we thought it would work out," Romulo
told reporters.

US President George W. Bush hosted a lunch Friday for the leaders of ASEAN
members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam, who are also attending the APEC summit.

In a speech earlier, Bush scolded Myanmar, called for elections in
Thailand, and urged the creation of an "Asia Pacific Democracy
Partnership" to help "forces of moderation" in the region.

Bush later invited ASEAN leaders to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, but the
White House suggested Myanmar would have to send a lower-level official.

President Arroyo, who was at Friday's meeting with Bush, told reporters:
"The reason he invited us for lunch is, he wants to stress that ASEAN is
very important to the US."

Bush said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion,
avian flu and climate change would be on the agenda for the Texas talks.

He also said he would name a US ambassador to ASEAN, "so that we can make
sure that the ties we've established over the past years remain firmly
entrenched."

____________________________________

September 7, Agence France Presse
Bush invites Southeast Asian leaders to Texas - Olivier Knox

US President George W. Bush on Friday invited Southeast Asian leaders,
including an official from Myanmar, to Texas despite his increasingly
sharp attacks on the isolated nation's military regime.

In recent days, Bush has branded Myanmar's leaders as "tyrannical" and
their crackdown on pro-democracy activists and protests over fuel prices
as "inexcusable" as US officials talked about "next steps" to pressure
Yangon.

Bush made the announcement as he met with leaders of countries that are
members of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in
Sydney.

"I invited the ASEAN leaders to Texas at their convenience. I'm looking
forward to hosting you down there," said Bush, who reserves invitations to
Texas as a diplomatic plum for close allies.

He said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian
flu, and climate change would be on the agenda for the talks, which could
take place at his ranch or "another location" in Texas, an aide said.

"I also am pleased to announce that we'll be naming an ambassador to
ASEAN, so that we can make sure that the ties we've established over the
past years remain firmly entrenched," said the US president.

White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all ASEAN
heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of
participation is to be determined."

Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said later that Bush had made
"an invitation in principle" and stressed "we have to work out the details
later," including what he called Myanmar's presence "hypothetically."

The US president unveiled the meeting as he held talks here with leaders
of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam. ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

"ASEAN represents our fourth largest trading partner. In other words, this
is a group of friends that represent more than just social acquaintances,
you represent commerce and trade and prosperity," he said.

Bush's announcement came hours after he called on APEC leaders to pile
pressure on the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to
free pro-democracy activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar's military rulers have held the Nobel Peace Prize winner and
democracy icon under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting and harassing and
assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in
peaceful demonstrations," he said in the keynote speech of his visit to
Sydney.

His comments followed US State Department criticism of a Myanmar
convention that drew up guidelines for a new constitution, and a political
foray by First Lady Laura Bush who asked for UN condemnation of the
crackdown.

"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in
Asia," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister
John Howard ahead of the 21-member APEC meeting in Sydney.

Bush had already last week criticised the junta's crackdown in a statement
but his comments in Sydney were more direct and used harsher language.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990 but the military never
recognised the result, and instead opened the National Convention in 1993
to draft a new constitution.

According to Amnesty International more than 150 people have been detained
in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began rare protests against a
major hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even a
bus fare.

The military regime has long dealt harshly with the slightest show of
dissent during 45 years in power, but the latest protests have spread
across the country, defying the threat of arrests and beatings.

Bush's invitation came after he postponed indefinitely a planned trip to
Singapore for a meeting with all 10 ASEAN members.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 7, Reuters
China says wants reconciliation in Myanmar

China wants reconciliation and an improvement of conditions in army-ruled
Myanmar, where scores of people have been arrested during weeks of
protests, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

While Myanmar's biggest trade partner shuns interference in the domestic
affairs of other countries, China welcomed international efforts to help
stabilise the situation in Myanmar as long as it is done with a
"constructive attitude and on the basis of mutual respect", spokesman Liu
Jianchao said.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma,"
Liu told reporters on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Sydney.

"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all
the relevant sides, including the United States."

In a sign Myanmar may even be testing Beijing's patience, earlier this
year China's Foreign Ministry published an unflattering account of
Myanmar's new jungle capital, complaining it was remote, isolated and
barren.

Myanmar did not come up in various bilateral meetings that Chinese
President Hu Jintao has held in recent days, including one with U.S.
President George W. Bush on Thursday, Liu said.

The United States has long standing economic sanctions against Myanmar,
while energy-hungry China has cultivated a relationship with Myanmar for
access to its gas and other natural resources, such as timber.

Liu said Beijing was in "very close touch" with Myanmar's ruling military
junta.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 7, Reuters
EU calls rights violations in Myanmar a scandal

The European Commission on Thursday called human rights violations in
Myanmar a scandal and said its military government was a threat to the
Southeast Asian region.

But the EU executive said isolating Myanmar was not the way to encourage
change.

"The Commission remains very worried about this situation," EU
Commissioner Viviane Reding told the European Parliament. "We are
believing that the military regime is a threat to the region, most of all
to the country and the people of Burma."

Reding said much of Myanmar's population lived "in anguish and poverty"
and the Commission viewed the rights situation as a "scandal".

She dismissed a National Convention process which this month completed the
first stage of drawing up a new constitution as a procedure to boost the
power of the current government.

"It was certainly not a genuine exercise to draft a new constitution and
it was certainly far from inclusive," she said, adding that the European
Union backed a U.N. call for a transparent and inclusive process.

"An effective policy should aim at bringing the country back into the
international community. As regards engaging the regime, there is a
consensus more needs to be done, not less. Isolation will only make the
population pay a greater price."

The commissioner said communication channels needed to be kept open with
the government, notably to allow the EU to convey its concerns on human
rights.

"We do not believe that additional restrictive measures will push the
government in the desired direction or will alleviate the suffering of the
people," Reding said.  Continued...

More than 150 people have been arrested in a crackdown on dissent in
Myanmar since Aug. 19, when activists began protests against an increase
in fuel prices that nearly froze transport.

The crackdown has been one of the harshest since the army crushed a
nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988, when around 3,000 people are
thought to have been killed.

Hundreds of monks held a group of government officials for more than four
hours on Thursday and torched their cars after the officials went to a
monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologise for soldiers firing over the
heads of protesting monks on Wednesday.

____________________________________

September 7, Mizzima News
Secretary General supports Gambari's assessment of UN role in Burma

Replying to follow-up questions to Ibrahim Gambari's recent update on
United Nations initiatives vis-à-vis Burma, the Office of the Secretary
General concurred with the Special Advisor's statements concerning the
nature of the United Nations approach, the positive results to date and
the relationship between the Secretary General and Security Council.

Michele Montas, spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and
echoing the words of Gambari during a press briefing yesterday in New
York, said the United Nations remains committed to approaching Burma
"systematically".

She went on to reiterate the active role of United Nations personnel,
including Special Advisor Gambari, in working toward a solution in Burma.
She highlighted the fact that the United Nations remains the only body to
be engaged in face to face meetings with all concerned parties.

Additionally, amidst growing calls for the Secretary General to pressure
the Security Council to take action regarding Burma, Montas gave notice
that it is the Security Council itself which determines the Council's
agenda.

Montas did confirm receipt of two letters addressed to the Secretary
General, one from the 88 Generation students seeking Security Council
action, and the other from a consortium of Hollywood personalities calling
on the international organization to pressure the junta to release
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

United Nations Special Advisor on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, gave a press
conference on Wednesday in New York with respect to his, and the United
Nations, initiatives in addressing the situation in Burma.

The United Nations is "moving very systematically to line up the support
of the international community," stated Gambari during Wednesday's press
conference.
The United Nations has recently come under increased attack as being too
soft on the Burmese junta, as a wave of demonstrations have been
consistently and brutally beaten back by government and
government-sponsored personnel.

____________________________________

September 7, Reuters
Myanmar draws APEC concern, generals defiant - John Ruwitch

Myanmar's crackdown on protests against huge fuel price rises drew
condemnation from the United States and expressions of dismay from other
Asia-Pacific nations on Friday, but its ruling generals appeared defiant.

U.S. President George W. Bush demanded the immediate release of activists
detained by the army and called on the generals who have ruled the former
Burma since 1962 to stop "assaulting pro-democracy activists."

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing, and
assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in
peaceful demonstrations," Bush said in a speech to Asia-Pacific business
executives.

Washington has recently ratcheted up calls for the international community
to press Myanmar for change.

China, Myanmar's closest ally which is usually reticent when it comes to
the affairs of others, also sounded frustrated with its southeast Asian
neighbor.

Beijing welcomed international efforts to help the situation in Myanmar as
long as it was done with a "constructive attitude and on the basis of
mutual respect," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma,"
he said.

"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all
the relevant sides, including the United States," he added.

Bush and President Hu Jintao met on Thursday but made no mention of
Myanmar in their comments to reporters afterwards.

More than 150 people have been arrested in Myanmar since August 19, when
activists began protests against an increase in fuel prices that nearly
halted public transport.

There was no sign the junta was about to release them. Instead, it sounded
a defiant note, accusing exile dissident groups of fomenting the protests
and signaling no let-up in efforts to crush the dissent.

"The people will not accept any acts to destabilize the nation and harm
their interests and are willing to prevent such destructive acts,"
state-run newspapers said.

The junta rarely reacts directly to external pressure or rhetoric, much to
the frustration of fellow members of the Association of South East Asian
Nations which have tried and failed to foster change.

ASEAN leaders, which accepted Myanmar as a member in so far forlorn hopes
that engagement would work, met Bush in Sydney on Friday, but Myanmar was
not raised, the White House said.

The organization had the same goal as the United States and the EU,
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. Both the EU and the
United States have imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

"We want Myanmar to be more open. There should be a move towards freedom.
It's the question of approach. How do we go about achieving the
objectives?" he told Reuters.

"The U.N. has to be engaged. We also encourage other players," he said,
referring to China and Russia, which vetoed a U.N. Security Council
resolution in January calling on Myanmar to take concrete steps toward
democracy.

The flurry of diplomacy in Sydney came after two days of protests by
Buddhist monks in the town of Pakkoku, 80 miles southwest of Mandalay.

State-owned MRTV said the seizure of 13 government officials and torching
of their cars by young monks there was the result of external agitation.

Pakkoku residents blamed the junta, whose troops fired warning shots over
the heads of monks during a peaceful protest march. Soldiers and pro-junta
gangs had then manhandled monks and bystanders, some people in the town
said.

"The monks were just peacefully marching, reciting holy scriptures. But it
was handled very cruelly and rudely. Some monks were beaten and tied up to
the lampposts," one said.

Another said local members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, the pro-junta civilian group used to break up many of the
protests, had gone into hiding because young monks had been hunting for
them.

The repeated outbreaks of dissent, albeit generally small and not swelled
by onlookers cowed by all-pervasive security, have been notable for their
persistence despite the prospect of long jail terms.

Underscoring the White House's interest, U.S. first lady Laura Bush took
the unusual step of wading into international diplomacy on Wednesday when
she called for the United Nations to step up pressure on Myanmar over
human rights, adding she hoped China would join in.

The European Commission called human rights violations a scandal and said
the junta was a threat to Southeast Asia.

(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in Yangon, Matt Spetalnick, Jalil
Hamid and John Ruwitch in Sydney and David Brunnstrom in Strasbourg)

____________________________________

September 6, Hollywood
UN must act to help Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma

Dear United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,
We are writing to urge you to personally intervene to secure the release
of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu
Kyi. As you know, she has been held under house arrest in the Southeast
Asian country of Burma for 12 of the past 17 years. On June 19th, she
spent her 62nd birthday under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi is not just a charismatic leader, she is the elected
leader of the Burmese people. In Burma's last election, she won 82% of the
seats in parliament, yet the military regime cruelly locked her up along
with many members of her party. Meanwhile, according to the United Nations
expert on human rights in Burma, the ruling military regime has burned
down or otherwise destroyed over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, forcing
over 1 million and a half people to flee their homes.

This courageous, brave woman whom many call "Burma's Nelson Mandela"
should be released and the military regime should end its attacks on
civilians. We urge you to take action to secure her immediate release.

Sincerely,
(In Alphabetical Order)

Jennifer Aniston
Anne Archer
Kabir Bedi
Julie Benz
Jane Birkin
Jim Carrey
Jorja Fox
Kris Hahn
Jack Healey
Dustin Hoffman
Anjelica Huston
Eddie Izzard
Mimi Kennedy
Walter Koenig
Christine Lahti
Padma Lakshmi
Laura Linney
Jimmy Miller
Damien Rice
Christina Ricci
Susan Sarandon
Liev Schreiber
Jason Schwartzman
Eric Szmanda
Bonnie Timmerman
Robin Williams
Owen Wilson
Elijah Wood
Robin Wright

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 8, The Economist
A charter for thugocracy; Myanmar's constitutional convention

The curtain falls on a long-running farce, with Myanmar no nearer democracy

After 14 years of intermittent meetings and tortured prevarication, a
constitutional commission appointed by Myanmar's junta has come up with
the answer it first thought of: to entrench military rule in the benighted
country. This week the 1,000 members of the National Convention wound up
their work, producing a document outlining the principles to underpin a
new constitution. It will give a thin democratic façade to continued
military rule. After the actual drafting of the constitution, it will be
put to a referendum—probably next year, say officials. Elections would
then be held in 2009.

At the closing session of the convention, Myanmar's acting prime minister,
General Thein Sein, presented its conclusion, offering what the regime
regards as "disciplined democracy", as a roaring success. Yet the
country's most popular politician, Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the main
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) is under house arrest and
has in effect been excluded from the process. So have the numerous groups
representing ethnic insurgencies.

Under the guidelines, a quarter of the seats in parliament will be
reserved for military appointees. The president will be a military man,
and the army will control important ministries, including defence and home
affairs. The army would set its own budget, and would retain the right to
declare a state of emergency and seize power whenever deemed necessary.

The charter would ban Miss Suu Kyi, as the widow of a foreigner, from
holding elected office. It has also disappointed the hopes of the
country's various rebel ethnic groups for greater autonomy. Most of these
used to wage armed insurgencies but now have ceasefires with the junta.
Many are now so dissatisfied with the charter that they have begun to
rearm and are threatening to resume fighting.

On the pretext of "national security" the guidelines also severely curtail
civil liberties and the rights of political parties, which, as yet, are
unable to operate openly in Myanmar. With the exception of its
headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar's main city, the offices of the NLD have
been shut by the junta for years. Amnesty International, a human-rights
watchdog, estimates there are more than 1,000 political prisoners in the
country.

On a secret visit to Beijing earlier this year, the country's army chief,
Thura Shwe Mann, told Chinese leaders that Miss Suu Kyi could not be
released as she remained a big security risk. It is still unclear whether
her party, the NLD, will be allowed to run in the elections. Last
November, Myanmar's most senior general, Than Shwe, said it would be
allowed to field candidates. Most probably, however, the generals will
find a pretext to disqualify them.

The NLD convincingly won the last elections, held in May 1990, taking more
than 80% of the seats. But the army refused to recognise the results. Now
the regime insists it is committed to introducing multiparty democracy.
But diplomats in Yangon and the pro-democracy opposition in Myanmar think
Miss Suu Kyi got it right back in 1995, when she called the convention "an
absolute farce".

Recent protests against rising fuel and food prices were put down
brutally. Several thousand vigilantes, armed with wooden batons, attacked
protesters in Yangon, leaving them badly beaten. The authorities have
arrested hundreds of people for organising or taking part in small
protests that have taken place all over Myanmar in the past few weeks.
This week around 1,000 marchers joined the latest demonstration, the
biggest so far, in central Myanmar, before pro-government thugs dispersed
it.

The vigilantes are part of a pro-government "community group", the Union
Solidarity and Development Association, whose thugs attacked Miss Suu Kyi
in 2003, when she was touring in the north of the country. The regime that
deploys them seems little interested in democracy. But nor does it seem
self-confident.

____________________________________

September 7, Irrawaddy
Gambari must wow prove his effectiveness - Aung Zaw

Twenty years ago, on the campus of Rangoon University, a masked student
leader read to us a letter he had written on behalf of the people of Burma
to the then UN Secretary-General, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra.

“We will ask the UN Secretary-General to take action on the Ne Win
government,” he declared loudly, to cheers from his student audience. one
hour later, the peaceful gathering was violently broke up by riot police
and we were all in prison.

Twenty years later, many Burmese realize that it’s unrealistic to have
high expectations of UN action on Burma. The regime remains unchanged,
while we have seen several UN special envoys to Burma come and go, finally
admitting failure.

In a new appeal to the UN, Htay Kywe, a prominent Burmese activist now in
hiding, sent a letter to Ban-Ki-moon asking the world body to intervene on
Burma. His letter was dated September 6, and was written by on behalf of
members of the 88 Generation Students group.

The UN Secretary General’s spokeswoman, Michele Montas, told reporters in
New York that the office of Ban Ki-moon had received several
letters—including ones from the 88 Generation Students group—asking for
the issue of Burma be taken up by the Security Council and appealing for
action to secure the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In his letter, Htay Kywe also asked Ban Ki-moon to dispatch his special
envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma as soon as possible.

Shortly before the junta’s current crackdown in Burma, Gambari visited
Asia to “promote positive changes.”  He went to China, India and
Japan—three key countries that support the repressive regime economically
and militarily, while keeping quiet on its human rights abuses and brutal
suppression of its people.

In public statements on Burma, Gambari referred to “progress,” leading The
Irrawaddy to question his use of such a positive term. Now a leading
American daily newspaper, the Washington Post, has questioned his work,
saying the UN envoy is “missing in action.”

The criticism stung Gambari into responding: “I have been the only
international actor to maintain face-to-face dialogue with Myanmar's
[Burma’s] leaders about the need for democracy and human rights. In that
context, I have been able to advance the international community's
concerns directly with Myanmar's [Burma’s] senior leadership and with Aung
San Suu Kyi each time I have visited Myanmar [Burma],” the UN envoy wrote
in the Washington Post.

At a New York press conference, Gambari also condemned the regime’s brutal
suppression of the peaceful demonstrations in Burma.

Fair enough. It is understood that Gambari has to play a delicate game. It
seems his job is not only to facilitate the dialogue but also to “broaden
the agenda” to include the release of Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners, the cessation of hostilities against ethnic groups,
humanitarian access and progress in implementing the Millennium
Development Goals, particularly in the areas of education and health. But
can he achieve his mission?

Gambari is not the first UN special envoy to visit Burma and he won’t be
the last.
Since 1988, about seven UN envoys, including human rights investigators,
have been appointed to find a solution on Burma, but they all failed.

One of them, Rajsoomer Lallah, the UN’s second special rapporteur was
denied entry to Burma during his four years in office, because of his
criticism of the regime. He is noted for saying: “We are faced with a
country which is at war with its own people.”
The most successful of the seven envoys was probably Razali Ismail, who
broke the news of a “secret dialogue” between Suu Kyi and the regime
leaders.

This Malaysian diplomat made twelve visits to Burma. In the early years of
his term, he was praised for brokering talks between the opposition
National League for Democracy and the junta.

His influence waned, however, after it was disclosed that he was part
owner of a Malaysian company, Iris Technologies, which supplied the regime
with 5,000 electronic passports.

The regime also suspected that Razali became too close to Suu Kyi and the
then Prime Minister and military intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt, who
was purged in October 2004. Finally, Burmese leaders shut the door,
showing they no longer wanted to “turn the new page.” When Razali quit, he
told The Irrawaddy: “It is best to conclude that I have failed.”

After Razali’s failed mission, Burmese leaders skillfully revived optimism
in 2006, hoping to stave off growing international pressure by inviting
Gambari, a UN diplomat who rarely visited Southeast Asia and was looking
for a job after his boss, Kofi Annan, left office in 2006.

After a series of meetings in New York, Gambari traveled to Burma for
talks with the junta’s top leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe. He was also allowed
a one hour session with Suu Kyi.

That first visit was followed by a second. The junta controlled the
schedules of both visits, including a call on the military-sponsored
National Convention, which had been shunned by previous envoys who
considered it to be a political minefield

The regime-organized schedule also included meetings with senior ministers
at which they lectured him on the regime’s “achievements,” its “booming
economy” and “road map” progress.

Gambari did say he wanted to see “concrete results” in Burma, although
other statements were vague and contained the usual catch phrases and
jargon.

Now a third visit to Burma is being prepared for Gambari in October. This
time he needs to make sure he and his good offices are put to good use for
the Burmese people, who hold high expectations from the visit.

I don’t want to discourage Gambari. I understand he needs to go to Burma
to carry out his delicate mission. But everything depends on the generals
and their political will to make positive change. They will be happy to
receive Gambari as long as they find him useful.

Burmese generals and Burmese diplomats in New York know full well that the
UN is toothless. Gambari needs to prove that he is not also clueless.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 7, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
EU must reinforce sanctions against Burmese military junta

Paris, 6 September 2007 - As the Foreign Ministers from the European
Union's 27 member states prepare to meet on 7 September 2007 in Viana do
Costelo in Portugal, and as the world witnesses the repression of peaceful
demonstrations throughout Burma, FIDH sent a letter today to the European
Union Foreign Ministers calling on the EU to strengthen its sanctions
against the Burmese military junta.

The call for stronger European sanctions on the military junta in Burma
follows the series of arrests by authorities, since 21 August 2007, of
over 100 peaceful protestors demonstrating against the increase in the
prices of fuel. The junta responded swiftly and harshly to the protests,
detaining and reportedly torturing several high profile demonstrators.
FIDH has previously called upon the Burmese authorities to immediately
release the detainees.

FIDH recalls that the European Union has, over recent years, adopted
several Common Positions renewing sanctions against Burma. The current
measures include an embargo on arms and defence related material as well
as a prohibition on European investment in a number of small industries.
As FIDH has previously noted, however, the current sanctions have no real
positive impact on human rights and governance in the country, due to the
resistance of certain members of the European Union to extending the
sanctions to the key industries, particularly oil, timber and gas. The
revenues from these industries help financially sustain the junta and, as
a result, the EU sanctions fail to produce any true impact.

Notwithstanding the flaws in the current sanctions, FIDH welcomes the
efforts of the European Union on the issue of the human rights situation
in Burma at the United Nations and, in particular, its collective support
for the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on
Burma and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma.

As the recent repression of peaceful demonstrators shows, however, the
junta maintains its ability to forcibly control the Burmese population and
to deny them their most basic human rights. It is high time for
strengthened sanctions to be adopted that will effect real changes on the
ground and signal the support of the international community to the
peaceful protesters which are targeted.

FIDH urges the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the European
Union to impose, as a matter of urgency, a new programme of sanctions that
prohibit all European investment in the junta's most profitiable sectors,
namely oil, timber and gas.

Press contact : Gaël Grilhot : +33-1 43 55 90 19

____________________________________

September 6, National Coalition Government Union of Burma
NCGUB condemns junta for atrocities against protesting monks

The goons fostered by the junta through its Union Solidarity and
Development Association have sunk to new lows as if merely abducting,
assaulting, and forcibly arresting people, who are peacefully
demonstrating against rising transportation and commodity costs following
the generals' decision to abruptly hike fuel oil prices, are not bad
enough.

According to reports from Pakokku in central Burma in recent days, the
army and the goons confronted some 600 protesting monks and fired into the
air to break up the protest. As the monks fled, the beastly goons and
soldiers started chasing them. Any monk caught had a noose tied around his
neck and was beaten while being tied to a lamp post. Several monks were
also forcibly disrobed.

Barbaric acts against religious figures are unprecedented in a
traditionally peaceful
Buddhist nation like Burma and what is even more disturbing is that the
generals who claim to be Buddhist are ordering the assault against
Buddhist monks.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) strongly
condemns and calls for an immediate end to the savage acts against monks
and people by the military regime. NCGUB fears that the strong-arm tactics
by the junta-backed goons are turning peaceful protestors into angry mobs
like it did to the monks in Pakokku who set fire to four government
vehicles and briefly locked a group of officials who arrived at the
monastery to apologize for their inexcusable behavior against monks the
previous day.

The NCGUB, therefore, calls on the United Nations, Governments, and the
international community at large to closely monitor the situation in Burma
and to dissuade the Burmese generals from committing atrocities against
the people.

The NCGUB is constituted and endorsed by representatives elected in the
1990 elections in Burma

____________________________________

September 6, Freedom House
UN Security Council Members Should Address Burma at APEC summit

The upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit taking place
in Australia provides an important opportunity for participants -- and
particularly for China, Russia and the U.S., as members of the UN Security
Council -- to press for democratic change and greater openness in Burma,
Freedom House said today.

Burma remains one of the most repressive countries on earth. While the
U.S. and other Western countries maintain sanctions on Burma, the ruling
military junta is sustained in large part through funds from China in
exchange for oil and gas. Earlier this year, Burma closely escaped censure
by the UN Security Council; a January resolution supported by 9 of the
Council’s 15 members was vetoed by China and Russia. The U.S., Russia and
China will all be present at the APEC summit this weekend.

Recent public demonstrations for democracy included protests yesterday by
Buddhist monks, who were subsequently beaten by police in an effort to
disperse the protesters. In response to the demonstrations, Burma’s
military government has finally concluded a 14-year-long National
Convention charged with drafting guidelines for a new constitution.  The
guidelines have already come under criticism: they will preserve the
military’s role in government and bar Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, whose party won elections in1990, from running in a future election.

“Left to themselves, Burma’s current rulers have no intention of allowing
the country to transition to democracy,” said Paula Schriefer, director of
advocacy at Freedom House. “As a result, it falls to the international
community, and particularly members of the UN Security Council, to apply
effective, constructive pressure on Burma’s leaders.”

President Bush has already pressed for political freedom in Burma, and
First Lady Laura Bush recently called Secretary-General Ban to ask him to
keep the issue of Burma on the agenda of the  Security Council.

As one of Burma’s biggest investors, China has great potential to
influence the Burmese regime, yet the Chinese government has avoided
speaking out against the regime’s repressive tactics.

“China claims, in light of the upcoming Olympics in Beijing next year,
that it wants to become a responsible member of the international
community,” added Ms. Schriefer. “If that is true, it is time for the
Chinese government to step up and pressure Burma’s leaders to tolerate
peaceful protests and, eventually, legitimate elections.”

Burma is ranked Not Free in the 2007 edition of the organization’s annual
survey, Freedom in the World, which covers the events of 2006. The country
received a rating of 7 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the lowest) for
political rights and 7 for civil liberties, and was given a downward trend
arrow due to the largest offensive against the ethnic Karen population in
a decade and the displacement of thousands of Karen as a result of the
attacks.

Contact: Amanda Abrams, 202-747-7035

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports
the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political
rights and civil liberties in Burma since 1972.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

September 6, Burma Lawyers’ Council
Statement demanding that the SPDC take immediate action against security
forces for shooting peacefully demonstrating monks

1. Throughout the past few weeks, the people of Burma have been
demonstrating against the recent increase in commodity prices. The SPDC
has violently suppressed the demonstrations through the use of its
civilian criminals from the Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA) and the Swan-Ar Shin Association. When people face difficulties to
show up on the street, in replace of them, hundreds of monks have also
taken to the streets and demanded the reduction of commodity prices.

2. Considered together, the Burma Police Act, the Penal Code and the Code
of Criminal Procedure make clear that the people of Burma have the right
to peacefully assemble. Section 31(2) of the Police Act provides the
police the power to require demonstrators to obtain a license. The
authorities must grant these licenses without delay. The licenses are to
describe rules and restrictions to prevent a breach of peace or
disturbances to the vehicles in the road. Peaceful demonstrators must,
under the law, abide by such rules established by the police. The police
force may stop any procession or public assemblies and take action only
when the procession breaches the peace, if uncontrolled, or the
demonstrators have otherwise violated the terms of the license. If the
SPDC wants to show that it respects the rule of law, it should handle
peaceful processions in accordance with the Police Act and the Code of
Criminal Procu.

3. In practice, the SPDC does not comply with the existing laws to
facilitate the peaceful processions of people. Instead, on September 5,
2007, the SPDC dispersed a group of 500 peacefully demonstrating monks in
Pakokku, by shooting. Unbelievably, this act of violence was committed
against monks, who the majority of Burmans worships and reveres. Then, the
SPDC clearly violated the current law repeatedly.

4. According to Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, “Any
magistrate or officer in charge of a police-station [or police-officer not
below the rank of sub-inspector] may command any unlawful assembly, or any
assembly of five or more persons likely to cause a disturbance of the
public peace, to disperse; and it shall thereupon be the duty of the
members of such assembly to disperse accordingly.”

5. Merely assembling five people does not in itself violate Section 127 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure. So long as the assembly is neither
unlawful nor likely to cause a disturbance, the authorities cannot
disperse it. Section 141 of the Penal Code provides that, “An assembly of
five or more persons is designated an ‘unlawful assembly’ if the common
object of the persons composing that assembly is –

First.—To overawe by criminal force, or show of criminal force, the Union
Parliament or the Government, or any public servant in the exercise of the
lawful power of such public servant; or
Second.—To resist the execution of any law, or of any legal process; or
Third.—To commit any mischief or criminal trespass, or other offence; or
Fourth.—By means of criminal force, or shown of criminal force, to any
person to take or obtain possession of any property, or to deprive any
person of the enjoyment of a right of way, or of the use of water or other
incorporeal right of which he is in possession or enjoyment, or to enforce
any right or supposed right; or
Fifth.—By means of criminal force, or show of criminal force, to compel
any person to do what he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do what
he is legally entitled to do.”

6. The peaceful processions of the monks did not use or show criminal
force, as is prohibited by Section 141 (First). In fact, these monks had
neither the intent to commit nor did they commit a crime – thus, they were
not an “unlawful assembly”. Nonetheless, the SPDC determined that they
were an unlawful assembly. However, even after such a declaration, the
SPDC must disperse the assembly properly, without immediately resorting to
violence. Section 130(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that
officers dispersing a demonstration must “use as little force, and do as
little injury to person and property, as may be consistent with dispersing
the assembly and arresting and detaining such persons.” The SPDC, by
electing to shoot at the monks, instead used unreasonable and
disproportionate force to disperse the peaceful demonstration, thus
violating the laws.

7. In seeking justice and the rule of law in Burma, the Burma Lawyers’
Council condemns the above-mentioned SPDC acts and demands that:

a. The SPDC publicly take action against responsible security or army
officers who ordered the shooting of the peacefully demonstrating monks.

b. The SPDC publicly announce that their security and army officers have
committed crimes against the monks and publicly apologize.

c. To show that they respect human rights on the basis of the Rule of Law,
the SPDC must give licenses to the public and the monks to conduct their
peaceful demonstrations and marches in accordance with the current rules
contained in the Police Act.

For detailed information, please contact:
U Aung Htoo, General Secretary: 66 (0) 815330605

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

September 7, Asia Society
Human Rights and Public Health: The Burma/Myanmar Tragedy

While the debate on how to break the political impasse in Burma rages in
international circles, less attention is being paid to the disastrous
consequences of the Burmese regime's neglect of health care. Co-sponsored
by OSI, this panel of experts in health and/or human rights will explore
the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid to Burma/Myanmar.

Speakers
Joe Amon, Director, HIV/AIDS Program, Human Rights Watch
Helen Epstein, Author, The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West and the Fight
Against AIDS
Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Institute
Brian Williams, UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Myanmar

Location: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York City
Event Date(s): September 13, 2007
Event Time: 6:30 - 8:00 pm

Contact:
Azadeh Fartash
azadehf at asiasoc.org
1-212-517-ASIA

Policy programs at the Asia Society are generously supported by the
Nicholas Platt Endowment for Public Policy.

Registration
$10 Asia Society Members
$15 nonmembers

For tickets, call the Asia Society box office at (212) 517-ASIA or visit
https://tickets.asiasociety.org. No cancellations, exchanges, or refunds.

For information, visit the Asia Society website at www.asiasociety.org.