BurmaNet News, September 24, 2007

[Editor]

September 24, 2007 Issue # 3300

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Burmese military issues threat to monks
New York Times: Monks’ protest is challenging Burmese junta
Irrawaddy: Protests grow—but so do fears of a crackdown
AP: Myanmar anti-government protesters claim 100,000 marching through Yangon
Mizzima News: Junta orders Rangoon based journals to denounce ongoing protest
The Times: Nuns join Saffron Revolution
AP: Exile Myanmar radio station sends news to pro-democracy activists at home
Irrawaddy: Ethnics join protests

REGIONAL
The Nation: Thai govt urged to oppose possible Burmese junta crackdown on
protesters
The Australian: China holding regime in check
AFP: Singapore "concerned" over Myanmar protests
Reuters: Myanmar activists protest Indian oil minister's visit

INTERNATIONAL
UN News Centre: Myanmar protests should spur national dialogue, Ban
Ki-moon says

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Letting go of the tiger’s tail - Aung Zaw
Asian Tribune: China's Burma policy undermines Asia, UN, World - Jeremy
Woodrum
Irrawaddy: Medical personnel should prepare for the worst in Burma - Saw Lwin
Mizzima News: Burma's golden revolution [Editorial]
Wall Street Journal Online: Burma rising - Morton Aabramowitz and Jonathan
Kolieb

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: Burma regime planning to infiltrate demonstrations to
spark violence

STATEMENT:
U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today made the following statement about
the recent demonstrations in Burma
AIPMC: Prevent bloodshed of the innocent and the revered in Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 24, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese military issues threat to monks

The Burmese military has directly threatened monks involved in protests in
the country in a nationwide media address for the first time since fuel
prices were increased last month.

In a televised segment on the state-run MRTV channel this evening,
minister for religious affairs brigadier general Thura Myint Maung warned
Burma’s monks not to break Buddhist “rules and regulations”.

“The monks who are walking (in protest) now represent only 2 percent of
the nation-wide monk population . . . if they do not operate according to
Buddhist rules then they will be faced with the law,” Thura Myint Maung
was shown on saying on the TV bulletin just hours after more than 200,000
monks and civilians protested around the country.

The military frequently uses the phrase ‘faced with the law’ when
preparing to arrest or charge activists and opposition members on
political grounds. The day after the leadership of the 88 Generation
Students group was arrested during midnight raids, the state-run New Light
of Myanmar said the activists had broken the law and would face legal
action.

The threats also came as reports emerged from Mytikyina and Monywa of
monks being thrown out of their monasteries for taking part in small
demonstrations. Residents in Myitkyina told DVB today that 30 monks from
the Wun Tho monastery were sent back to their home towns by abbot U Wuntha
for taking part in yesterday’s protest.

“The abbot has close ties with the government as he was elected by them as
the State’s head monk . . .,” one resident said on condition of anonymity.

In Monywa, almost 200 monks are reported to have been kicked out of their
monasteries for taking part in protest marches against military
oppression.
____________________________________

September 24, New York Times
Monks’ protest is challenging Burmese junta - Seth Mydans

The largest street protests in two decades against Myanmar’s military
rulers gained momentum Sunday as thousands of onlookers cheered huge
columns of Buddhist monks and shouted support for the detained
pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Winding for a sixth day through rainy streets, the protest swelled to
10,000 monks in the main city of Yangon, formerly Rangoon, according to
witnesses and other accounts relayed from the closed country, including
some clandestinely shot videos.

It came one day after a group of several hundred monks paid respects to
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi at the gate of her home, the first time she has been
seen in public in more than four years.

The link between the clergy and the leader of the country’s pro-democracy
movement, the beginnings of large-scale public participation in the
marches and a call by some monks for a wider protest raised the stakes for
the government.

So far, it has mostly allowed the monks free reign in the streets,
apparently fearing a public backlash if it cracks down on them in this
Buddhist nation.

Monks were reported to be parading through a number of cities on Sunday,
notably the country’s second largest city, Mandalay, where an estimated
10,000 people, including 4,000 monks, had marched Saturday.

Myanmar’s military government has sealed off the country to foreign
journalists but information about the protests has been increasingly
flowing out through wire service reports, exile groups in Thailand with
contacts inside Myanmar, and through the photographs, videos and audio
files, carried rapidly by technologies, including the Internet, that the
government has failed to squelch.

The state-controlled press has carried no reports about the monks’
demonstrations.

Since the military crushed a peaceful nationwide uprising in 1988, killing
an estimated 3,000 civilians, the country, formerly known as Burma, has
sunk further into poverty and repression and become a symbol for the
outside world of the harsh military subjugation of a people.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been
locked inside her home for 12 of the last 18 years, and the government has
arrested thousands of political prisoners.

The United States and Europe have led a tightening economic boycott that
has been undermined by trade and assistance from Myanmar’s neighbors,
mainly China but also India and some Southeast Asian nations. The United
States has diplomatic relations with Myanmar but no ambassador. President
Bush, his wife, Laura, and a roster of Hollywood celebrities have spoken
out recently about Myanmar, and the abuses of human and political rights
by the military junta are expected to take a high profile at the United
Nations session starting this week.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asked about Myanmar as she arrived at
the United Nations on Sunday, told reporters that the Bush administration
was closely monitoring how the government deals with the protests.

“The Burmese people deserve better,” she said. “They deserve a life to be
able to live in freedom, just as everyone does. And the brutality of this
regime is well known, and so we will be speaking about that and I think
the president will be speaking about it with many of his colleagues.”

The public display of discontent in Myanmar mirrors that of the previous
uprising — anger over a brutal and incompetent military government that
has turned one of Southeast Asia’s best endowed and most sophisticated
nations into one of its most repressed and destitute.

Surreptitiously shot photographs and videos recorded on Sunday showed
thousands of civilians marching quickly through the streets side by side
with the monks, emboldened by the continuing demonstrations into a rare
show of defiance.

Some pictures showed people joining hands in a protective cordon as they
walked beside the monks in their dark red robes. Others showed Buddhist
nuns with shaved heads marching through the streets as onlookers
applauded.

In audio recordings people shouted “Do-aye” — “It is our task” — a slogan
of determination that was also heard on the streets in 1988.

The photographs and videos themselves represented acts of courage in a
closed and repressive country that has tried to quash the spread of
information.

But modern communications technology has brought the protests into the
world’s eye in a way that was not possible in 1988.

Both the government and protesters have so far sought to avoid the kind of
confrontation that led to widespread bloodshed in the 1988 uprising, which
was led mostly by students.

“The monks are the highest moral authority in the Burmese culture,” said
Soe Aung, a spokesman for a coalition of exile groups based in Thailand.
“If something happens to the monks, the situation will spread much faster
than what happened to the students in 1988.”

This gingerly approach by authorities — and the challenges it poses — were
demonstrated on Saturday when guards removed barriers to allow about 500
monks to walk down the tree shaded street where Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi
lives.

She met them at the iron gate outside her home and witnesses told wire
services that she was in tears as she greeted the monks, who chanted
prayers as they faced the security officers with riot shields who sealed
off her home.

On Sunday, witness accounts relayed by exile groups reported that members
of the public shouted their support for her and that some of the
protesting monks also shouted, “Release Suu Kyi!”

Uniformed police officers and soldiers have stayed in the background
throughout a month of building protests. But witnesses said plainclothes
police officers trailed the marchers and some, armed with shotguns, were
posted along the route.

The Associated Press reported that police officers turned back a small
group of monks who tried to march for a second day to the home of Mrs.
Aung San Suu Kyi.

Although she has been sealed off from the public and has been allowed
almost no visitors, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, remains a martyr and
rallying symbol for the population.

“She has been out of contact with virtually everyone, but her symbolic
importance cannot be underestimated,” said Basil Fernando, director of the
Asian Human Rights Commission. “Symbolically, her reintroduction into the
political life of the country at such a dire moment is of enormous
importance.”

The daughter of an assassinated independence hero, Aung San, she came to
prominence when she became a leader in the pro-democracy demonstrations of
1988.

Her political party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide
victory in parliamentary elections in 1990, although the junta, fearing
her charismatic appeal, had already placed her under house arrest.

The military government annulled the election results and held on to
power. But it miscalculated the public mood again in 2002 when it released
her from house arrest and allowed her to tour the country, visiting party
offices.

She drew increasingly large and enthusiastic crowds until a band of
government-backed thugs attacked a convoy in which she was traveling,
killing several people. The government seized her again and placed under
even stricter house arrest, cutting off her telephone and deepening her
isolation.

The latest protests began Aug. 19 in response to sharp, unannounced fuel
price increases of up to 500 percent, immediately raising the prices of
goods and transportation.

They were led at first by former student protesters and other activists,
but most of the leaders had been arrested or were in hiding when the monks
began their protests last Tuesday.

The monks were apparently motivated at first by an attack on a small
demonstration at which security officers fired shots into the air and beat
a number of monks.

Since then, the monks’ protests have spread from city to city and have
become more overtly political.

On Saturday, an organization of clergy called the All Burma Monks
Alliance, called for a widening of the protests in a statement that said,
“In order to banish the common enemy evil regime from Burmese soil
forever, united masses of people need to join hands with the united clergy
forces.”

It went on, “We pronounce the evil military despotism, which is
impoverishing and pauperizing our people of all walks, including the
clergy, as the common enemy of all our citizens.”

____________________________________

September 24, Irrawaddy
Protests grow—but so do fears of a crackdown - Shah Paung

The mass demonstrations by Burmese monks and the general public grew still
further on Monday, joined by members of the opposition National League for
Democracy, popular celebrities and 50 successful candidates in the 1990
general election.

Despite warnings that the regime was preparing a military crackdown and a
visible presence of security forces, the demonstrations passed off
peacefully.

The largest turnout was again in Rangoon, where an estimated 100,000
demonstrators packed city streets. Most headed for the city’s two leading
religious sites, the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Sule Pagoda. Doctors, medics
and nurses were reported to be stationing themselves at Shwedagon Pagoda,
fearing bloodshed.

Crowds of demonstrators were reportedly planning to spend the night
outside Rangoon City Hall, the scene of great carnage in the 1988
uprising.

About 50 NLD members, including party spokesman Han Thar Myint, set out
from their Rangoon headquarters, brandishing the party flag.

Among the celebrities who joined the throngs were popular comedian
Zarganar, famous poet Aung Way and several actors. Many offered alms to
the monks at Shwedagon Pagoda.

Hundreds of thousands of monks and members of the public marched in Pegu,
Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe, as well as in towns in Mon, Arakan and Kachin
states and Kawthaung in Tenasserim Division.

Monday’s turnout was the biggest since demonstrations began on August 19
in protest at a sharp rise in the prices of fuel and other commodities.
The demonstrations rapidly took on a political purpose, and the monks are
now openly calling for an end to the military regime.

The monks’ anger was fuelled by a brutal crackdown on a peaceful
demonstration by monks in Pakokku, Magwe Division, on September 5. The
monks demanded an official apology, and when that was not forthcoming they
implemented a boycott of members of the military regime and their
families.

Monks in Pakokku renewed their call for an apology on Sunday, backing it
with a demand for the regime to hand over power to the people.

As the demonstrations across the country continued to grow on Monday,
several high schools in Rangoon closed their doors. Government offices and
many private businesses reportedly closed as fears grew of a possible
confrontation between government forces and demonstrators.

Two women activists in hiding from the authorities, Nilar Thein and Htay
Kywe, called on Monday for members of the armed forces to join the
demonstrators. In phone interviews with The Irrawaddy, they thanked all
those who were taking part and said they welcomed the participation of
some of the country’s leading celebrities, university staff and students.

On Sunday night, Burmese authorities arrested Myo Myin Yu, a writer and
former political prisoner, according to Htun Myint Aung, a member of the
88 Generation Students group. He said another member of the group, Lay Lay
Mon, had been arrested last Wednesday.

____________________________________

September 24, Associated Press
Myanmar anti-government protesters claim 100,000 marching through Yangon

As many as 100,000 anti-government protesters led by a phalanx of Buddhist
monks marched Monday through Yangon, the largest crowd to demonstrate in
Myanmar's biggest city since a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was
brutally crushed by the military.

Some participants claimed there were several hundred thousand marchers in
their ranks, but an international aid agency official with employees
monitoring the crowd estimated the size was well over 50,000 and
approaching 100,000. From the front of the march, witnesses could see a
one-mile stretch of eight-lane road filled with people.

After a week of marching by the monks, the protests have become explicitly
political, though the clerics prefer to make their point indirectly
through chants and prayers at key locations.

Members of the public who have joined them have taken up chanting the
slogans of the pro-democracy movement: national reconciliation meaning
dialogue between the government and opposition parties freedom for
political prisoners, and pleas for adequate food, shelter and clothing.

The monks' protest raised the political ante Saturday when a crowd of more
than 500 people was allowed to pass by detained democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi's house, where she greeted them in her first public appearance in
more than four years.

Monday's march, launched from the Shwedagon pagoda, the country's most
sacred shrine, gathered participants as it wended its way through Yangon's
streets under cloudy skies. Some 20,000 monks took the lead, with
onlookers joining in on what had been billed as a day of general protest.

The march covered at least 15 kilometers (9 miles), passing by the old
campus of Rangoon University, a hotbed of protest in past times. Students
were seen joining Monday's march. Marchers also passed the offices of the
Defense Ministry, where they said prayers for peace.

Security forces were not in evidence along the march route, though riot
police and their vehicles were stationed at intersections leading to Suu
Kyi's house.

In the central city of Mandalay, 500-600 monks set off shortly after noon
on their own protest march, also undisturbed by the authorities.

The current protests began on Aug. 19 as a movement against economic
hardship, after the government sharply raised fuel prices. But they have
their basis in long-standing dissatisfaction with the repressive military
government.

The monks, who took over a faltering protest movement from political
activists, already had managed to bring people into the streets in numbers
not seen since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising snuffed out by the army at
a cost of thousands of lives.

Diplomats and analysts said Myanmar's military rulers were showing the
unexpected restraint because of pressure from the country's key trading
partner and diplomatic ally, China.

A Southeast Asian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity as a matter
of protocol, said the regime is under pressure from China to avoid a
crackdown just as its larger neighbor has pressured it to speed up other
democratic changes.

"The Myanmar government is tolerating the protesters and not taking any
action against the monks because of pressure from China," the diplomat
told The Associated Press. "Beijing is to host the next summer's Olympic
Games. Everyone knows that China is the major supporter of the junta so if
government takes any action it will affect the image of China."

China, which is counting on Myanmar's vast oil and gas reserves to help
fuel its booming economy, earlier this year blocked a U.N. Security
Council criticizing Myanmar's rights record saying it was not the right
forum.

But at the same time, it has employed quiet diplomacy and subtle public
pressure on the regime, urging it to move toward inclusive democracy and
speed up the process of dialogue and reform.

Josef Silverstein, a political scientist and author of several books on
Myanmar, said it would not be in China's interest to have civil unrest in
Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"China is very eager to have a peaceful Burma in order to complete roads
and railroads, to develop mines and finish assimilating the country under
its economic control," Silverstein said.

The movement seemed to gain momentum Saturday, when more than 500 monks
and sympathizers went past barricades to walk to the house where Suu Kyi
is under house arrest. She greeted them from her gate in her first public
appearance in more than four years. But access to her home was barred
Sunday.

The meeting symbolically linked the current protests to Nobel laureate's
Suu Kyi's struggle for democracy, which has seen her detained for about 12
of the last 18 years.

____________________________________

September 24, Mizzima News
Junta orders Rangoon based journals to denounce ongoing protest - Mungpi

The Burmese military junta has issued a new order to Rangoon based
journals and periodicals to publish a declaration denouncing the ongoing
protests led by monks, a Burmese media watch dog in exile said.

The Burma Media Association in a press statement said, the Burmese junta's
director of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, Major Tint Swe,
during a meeting on Sunday instructed the journals and periodicals to
publish a declaration stating that they are not interested in the ongoing
protest.

"All journals and periodicals were ordered by the Information Ministry to
carry an announcement in which we have to state that we are not a part of
the association and not interested in taking part in the protest", BMA
quoted a journalist, who attended the meeting, as saying.

During the meeting, Tint Swe also told the journalists and editors, whom
he had summoned for the meeting, not to associate with the newly formed
"Association of Journalists and Artists".

The Association of Journalists and Artists, a group formed on September
20, urged all journalists and editors to support and join the ongoing
protests led by monks on Monday.

Buddhists clergy, which has continued protests in military-ruled Burma for
a straight week, on Sunday called on all citizens of Burma – from all
walks of life – to participate in the protests, turning the clergy's
protest into a nation-wide uprising demanding a change in the country's
administrative structure.

Tint Swe warned the journalists and editors that by joining the ongoing
protests or failing to carry the announcement in their papers would be
deemed members of the illegal association, a tactic junta has long used on
dissidents to arrest them.

"We have no choice but to follow the order because the director explicitly
said that we will be considered as members of an illegal association if we
fail to carry the announcement," an editor of a sports journal said.

Meanwhile, the protests in Rangoon and parts of Burma have taken a new
turn with more than 10,000 monks and over 1,00,000 civilians marching the
streets of Burma's former capital Rangoon.

Protestors today shouted slogans and demanded the release of detained
pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political
prisoners, to lower commodity prices and start a dialogue for national
reconciliation in the impoverished southeast Asian nation that has been
ruled by military dictators for more than 45 years.

However, the junta, which has a track record of brutally cracking down on
public dissent, has so far remained silent with only a few security
personnel posted on the street in front of the detained Nobel Peace
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside villa on University Avenue.

____________________________________

September 24, The Times (London)
Nuns join Saffron Revolution - Richard Lloyd Parry

Twenty thousand people, including nuns, monks and ordinary Burmese,
marched through the streets of Rangoon yesterday demanding freedom for
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, in a dramatic escalation of the
country's Buddhist-led "Saffron Revolution".

Ten thousand monks, joined by about the same number of ordinary
supporters, marched from the gold-covered Shwedagon Pagoda through the
centre of Burma's largest city in the biggest anti-government
demonstration since the bloody suppression of the first democracy movement
in 1988.

After heavy-handed efforts to put down demonstrations earlier in the
month, the junta has recently been more restrained, even allowing a large
group of monks to march past the house of the detained Ms Suu Kyi and pray
with her on Saturday.

But the rapidly growing scale of the demonstrations -from a few thousand a
week ago to tens of thousands over the weekend -inevitably raises fears of
another crackdown by a dictatorship that usually tolerates no challenge
whatsoever to its authority. Bystanders cheered the monks as they walked
by yesterday, and presented them with flowers and drinking water and balm
for their bare feet.

For the first time, they were joined by about a hundred Buddhist nuns in
pale pink robes.

Men who appeared to be plainclothes police, some of them armed with
shotguns, followed the marchers or watched them pass by.

"We want the people to join us," the monks chanted. One leader shouted
through a megaphone: "We want national reconciliation, we want dialogue
with the military, we want freedom for Aung San Sun Kyi and other
political prisoners."

The marchers responded by raising their hands in the air, and shouting:
"Our God!"

The All Burma Monks Alliance, based in the country's second city, the
monastic centre of Mandalay, issued a statement urging ordinary people "to
struggle peace- fully against the evil military dictatorship till its
complete downfall and to banish the common enemy evil regime from Burmese
soil forever".

During yesterday's march, one chanted through a megaphone: "Our uprising
must succeed."

Foreign human rights activists supporting the Burmese democracy movement
have begun tentatively referring to the prospect of a "Saffron
Revolution", after the "colour revolutions" of the former Soviet
republics.

Saffron is the traditional colour of monastic robes in South-East Asia
although in Burma monks wear a much darker, ox-blood colour.

The brief public emergence on Saturday of the 62-year-old Ms Suu Kyi was a
remarkable and unexpected development that imparts intense symbolism to an
already emotional situation. Since taking on the leadership of the
democracy movement during the 1988 demonstrations, she has spent 12 years
in detention.

Since 2003 she has been under house arrest at her home in central Rangoon,
Burma's largest city and former capital, tended to by a maid and forbidden
from receiving mail or holding meetings, apart from occasional visits from
a doctor.

The road leading to her house is blocked off but on Saturday its guards
allowed some 2,000 monks to enter.

According to witnesses quoted in news agency reports, Ms Suu Kyi emerged
from the house with two other women, wearing an orange blouse and a
light-brown longyi, a traditional skirt, and with her hands pressed
together in prayer. With tears in her eyes, she saluted the monks as they
walked past her compound at a distance of a few feet.

"Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon,"
the monks chanted beneath the rain, in Rangoon's wettest day for 39 years.

"May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from
all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in
heart and mind." It is not clear whether the concession was a calcu- lated
one by the Government, intended to defuse popular anger with a gesture of
conciliation, or whether it was decision made on the spot by the
lower-ranking commanders guarding Ms Suu Kyi's street.

"The monks told the guards that they just wanted to go to pray for Aung
San Suu Kyi, because we are Buddhists," one witness told Agence
France-Presse.

There was no repeat of the incident yesterday when the barricades were
back in place, as well as riot police and a fire engine. About 400 people,
bearing a banner with the words "Love and kindness must win over all",
approached but dispersed after unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate
their way through the barbed wire.

Yesterday, the secretary-general of the Association of South-East Asian
Nations, one of the few multinational bodies to accept Burma as a member,
expressed hope for a peaceful outcome to the tension.

"I hope the relevant authorities in Myanmar (Burma) will not take any
strong action and turn the protests into a big confrontation," Ong Keng
Yong told the Associated Press.

____________________________________


September 24, Associated Press
Exile Myanmar radio station sends news to pro-democracy activists at home
- Doug Mellgren


>From a warehouse-like building in Norway's capital, a tiny broadcast

network called the Democratic Voice of Burma is struggling to provide news
and encouragement to countrymen rising up against the military
dictatorship at home.

Secret recordings of red-clad monks and other protesters marching Monday
in the pouring rain in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, flashed across
computer screens at the network's plain but tidy office.

Chief Editor Aye Chan Naing said strict control of the news media in
Myanmar, also known as Burma, means the first news its citizens often get
of what is going on in their own country comes through the station's
shortwave radio, satellite TV and Internet services.

"There is no other way for the people of Burma to get news," he told The
Associated Press on Monday, claiming that broadcasts reach as many as 5
million people in the Southeast Asian nation of 54 million.

Exiled pro-democracy student activists, including Naing, founded the radio
station in 1992, a year after Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for her peaceful pro-democracy campaign.

Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election, but was not allowed to take
office by the military, which has been in power since 1962. She has been
detained for about 12 of the past 18 years.

The pro-democracy radio station, funded by grants from government and free
speech groups from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United
States, was founded in Oslo because of Suu Kyi's Nobel Prize, Naing said.

To support the growing protests at home, the station's staff of 10
activists have doubled their shortwave radio broadcasts to seven hours per
day, and have stepped up TV transmissions. But Naing said they are quickly
running out of money.

"We're almost broke," said Naing. "We lost some cameras in Burma. Some
were confiscated by the authorities." He said other cameras and equipment
were damaged.

Just the same, he expressed determination. "Depending what happens in
Burma, we may extend to 24 hours," he said.

Norwegian Aid Minister Erik Solheim this weekend said he would promptly
consider any application for additional funding. Naing said he plans to
apply as soon as possible.

The network sends news, appeals from leading opposition figures and
information about planned protests, said Naing.

He said the media is so strictly controlled in Myanmar that almost
anything they transmit is news to the people there. Last year, the network
transmitted TV footage of Suu Kyi's 1991 Nobel Prize awards ceremony,
which she did not attend for fear of being barred from returning home.

"It was a 15-year-old story, but it was still news in Burma," Naing said
at the downtown office, decorated with pictures of Suu Kyi and lapel
buttons saying "Free Suu."

The station's reporters in Burma, often using tiny hidden cameras, provide
the world an often unique glimpse of what is going on there.

"We have 30-40 people on the ground, all undercover journalists," he said.
"All of the journalists shooting now were brought to a secret location in
Thailand for training."

He declined to say how they get images and news out of Myanmar, although
he said, despite strict military restrictions, the Internet is crucial.
Sometimes, TV footage is sent one frame at a time to get it through.

Working openly, he said, brings the risk of arrest, or confiscation of
cameras and equipment.

Naing, 42, was a dentistry student when he fled Myanmar in 1988, spending
three years in Thailand, learning journalism there. After stops in Germany
and Sweden, he ended up in Oslo in 1992.

He said he hopes someday to return to a democratic Myanmar, with the
freedom to criticize whatever government is in power.

____________________________________

September 24, Irrawaddy
Ethnics join protests - Saw Yan Naing

Ethnic parties in Burma have joined the protesting monks and Burmese
general public in the nationwide demonstrations, according to some top
ethnic leaders.

The chairman of the Zomi National Congress, Cin Shing Htan told The
Irrawaddy on Monday that the protesters speak for all the people of Burma:
“We (the ethnic minorities) also support the movement and we have decided
to join the monks.”

Cin Shing Htan added, “We welcome [the protests] and thank the monks. We
will follow the flag of the Buddhist monks. We have showed by marching
with the demonstrators that we support the monks.”

Aye Thar Aung, Secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy, said that the
country is facing a political crisis. He agreed with what the monks had
asked for and had decided to join the protests.

“We are now ready to cooperate with the monks. We have shown our agreement
and support by joining the protest and marching together with the monks
today,” said Aye Thar Aung.

The Arakanese politician said that he had organized three physicians,
including Aung Tin Oo who is an ethnic Karen politician, to follow the
demonstrations in case protesters needed medical treatment. He added that
he and his group will continue to cooperate with the monks in the coming
days.

Aye Thar Aung urged all ethnic peoples, government staff and soldiers to
join the protests, demand their rights and help change Burma into a
democratic nation.

Other ethnic politicians also joined the demonstrations, such as Thar Ban
from the Arakan League for Democracy, Htawng Kho Thang from the United
National League for Democracy and Naing Htun Thein from the Mon National
Party.

Mahn Sha, General Secretary of the Karen National Union, said, “The regime
is not only the enemy of the Burmese people, but it is also the common
enemy of all ethnic people. It is necessary for all ethnic groups to
cooperate at this time. If the general public, the monks and the students
work together, the regime can’t treat us as slaves.”

He said that KNU is ready to cooperate with the protestors politically as
well as opposing the regime in armed conflict.

Mahn Sha also urged members of the armed forces to join the protests. He
said that senior leaders also treat the soldiers as slaves. “So, lower
ranking officers need to join hands with the public to fight against the
military brass,” he added.

Col Yord Serk, leader of the Shan State Army (South), based along the
Thai-Burmese border, also expressed support for the protesting monks.

The Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks released a statement on Monday
calling for national reconciliation, the release of all political
prisoners, and relief from the hardship in people’s daily lives.

However, while many people and political groups inside and outside the
country are supporting the growing protests in Burma, some members of
ethnic groups have reportedly said that this is a fight “between Burman
and Burman” and is not a concern for ethnic people.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 24, The Nation
Thai govt urged to oppose possible Burmese junta crackdown on protesters

A group of Thai non-governmental organisations has demanded for the Thai
government to send clear signal over situations in Burma in which tens of
thousands of monks and civilians joined demonstration against the military
junta.

"Thailand, as a neighbour and fellow member of Asean, should send a clear
message to the Burmese military junta, opposing the use of all forms of
violence against the demonstrators, calling for the immediate release of
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners," read the Thai NGO
Coordinating Committee on development (NGOCOD).

The statement, signed by its chairman, Jon Ungphakorn, said Thailand
should take action by asking the junta to announce urgent measures for the
establishment of democracy in Burma.

The group said if the Thai government remained silent and allowed the
situation get out of hand, Thailand may prepare to receive hundreds of
thousands or even millions of Burmese refugees from across the border.

The group expressed its support for the peaceful marches and public
gatherings calling for democracy and social justice in Burma by the
Buddhist Clergy and hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens.

"We fervently hope that the campaign is successful and devoid of
bloodshed. But it is extremely worrying that that the Burmese military
junta has a long uniform track record of using violence against the
peaceful democracy movement," read the statement.

____________________________________

September 24, The Australian
China holding regime in check - Rowan Callick

The Burmese military regime's unusual restraint in confronting the biggest
and most widespread demonstrations against its rule for more than two
decades is being attributed to the influence of its chief ally, China.

In the run-up to its crucial five-yearly Communist Party Congress in
October and the Beijing Olympics next year, China is determined to
demonstrate it is a responsible international citizen focused on global
stability and does not wish to be viewed as a sponsor of dictatorships.

China has also developed close relationships with other members of the
Association of South East Asian Nations, which has started losing patience
with the recalcitrance of the Burmese generals, who seized power 17 years
ago.

The strategic relationship with Burma has become crucial for China,
providing it with potential access to ports on the Indian Ocean and easier
links to the oil supplies from the Middle East and Africa.

China does not wish to see Burma's regime further isolated by a brutal
response to the protests, which would cast a shadow over its own relations
with the rest of the region.

As a Southeast Asian diplomat said yesterday: ''The Myanmar Government is
tolerating the protesters and not taking any action against the monks
because of pressure from China. Everyone knows that China is the major
supporter of the junta so if (the) Government takes any action, it will
affect the image of China.''

China's Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister often used as a personal
envoy by President Hu Jintao, told special Burmese envoy U Nyan Win on
September 13: ''China wholeheartedly hopes that Myanmar (Burma) will push
forward a democracy process that is appropriate for the country.''

That the state newsagency Xinhua circulated Mr Tang's comments reinforces
their strength. He said that China ''as a friendly neighbour sincerely
hopes Myanmar will restore internal stability as soon as possible,
properly handle issues and actively promote national reconciliation''.

This, he said, was ''conducive to regional peace, stability and
development''.

The strength of China's opposition to heavy-handed military action is
reinforced by its own rueful awareness of the continuing overhang from the
Tiananmen massacre in 1989, and by the extent to which the protests in
Burma have been against the fast-growing presence of China there, as well
as against the regime. Such anti-Chinese sentiments would be reinforced by
brutal suppression.

____________________________________

September 24, Agence France Presse,
Singapore "concerned" over Myanmar protests

Singapore on Monday said it was "concerned" over the protests in Myanmar
and hoped the situation would be resolved peacefully.

"Singapore is concerned over the latest developments in Myanmar and is
monitoring the situation closely," the ministry of foreign affairs said in
a statement.

"We hope that the ongoing protests will be resolved in a peaceful manner."

Tens of thousands of Buddhist monks and their supporters marched in Yangon
on Monday, piling the pressure on Myanmar's ruling military junta in the
biggest show of dissent in nearly two decades.

At least 30,000 people led by about 15,000 monks clad in orange and
rust-red robes swarmed through the streets of downtown Yangon, Myanmar's
main city.

It was the largest protest in Myanmar since a 1988 democracy uprising that
was led by students but brutally put down by the military, killing
hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters.

____________________________________

September 24, Reuters
Myanmar activists protest Indian oil minister's visit

Dozens of Myanmar pro-democracy activists protested on Monday against an
Indian minister's visit to Yangon, urging New Delhi not to put energy and
economic ties ahead of democracy and human rights.

The demonstration in the Indian capital came a day after Petroleum
Minister Murli Deora began a visit to the country's eastern neighbor to
boost energy cooperation.

The protesters, who included school children, shouted slogans and held
placards which read "Hey, Murli Deora, Don't Go For Gas, Go For
Democracy", "India Stop Supporting Burmese Military Rule".

Deora is due to hold talks with Myanmar officials to step up energy links
and witness the signing of contracts between Indian and Myanmar oil firms
for three deep-water exploration blocks.

"It is a shame for the world's largest democracy to send its cabinet
minister to Burma for reasons of exploiting more natural gas from the
country at the time people and monks are protesting against the fuel
shortages and economic hardships in Burma," the protesters said in a
statement.

Since August, Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has sought to stamp out
public protests sparked by fuel price rises but reflecting frustration at
the military's rule.

The crackdown has been one of the harshest since the army crushed a
nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

The poor southeast Asian nation has been hit by fresh protests since last
week, this time by Buddhist monks in what appear to be the biggest
demonstrations yet against the ruling generals.

While the West has imposed sanctions on the country and stepped up
pressure, India has boosted its relations with the junta since the
mid-1990s in what is seen as an effort to counter rival China, a long-time
supporter of Yangon.

New Delhi initially supported Nobel laureate Aung Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy in the early 1990s, but changed strategy to court the
military regime.

It has invested in developing ports, building roads and railways and is
also competing with Beijing for Myanmar's oil and gas reserves.

Besides, Yangon is also helping New Delhi fight militants across the
border in India's troubled northeast.

India also hosts hundreds of Myanmar exiles and says the relationship
between the two countries is "rooted in shared cultural and religious
ties". The two countries have exchanged several high-level bilateral
visits in recent years.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 24, UN News Centre
Myanmar protests should spur national dialogue, Ban Ki-moon says

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he hoped the recent wave of
peaceful protests in Myanmar will spur dialogue between the Government and
all relevant parties on promoting national reconciliation, the restoration
of democracy and full respect for human rights in the Asian nation.

“The Secretary-General hopes that the Government will seize this
opportunity to engage without delay in dialogue with all the relevant
parties to the national reconciliation process on the issues of concern to
the people of Myanmar,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

Mr. Ban also expressed his commitment to “continue to intensify his
assistance in this process with a view to promoting national
reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and full respect for human
rights in Myanmar.”

The Secretary-General is closely following events in the country, where
demonstrations began last month in protest at a surge in fuel prices and
the protesters have included many of the country’s monks.

“He commends the peaceful approach the demonstrators are using to press
their interests, and he calls upon the Myanmar authorities to continue to
exercise restraint,” the statement added.

Last week, Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy for Myanmar emphasized that the latest
events are a clear setback for the country.

Briefing the UN Security Council, Ibrahim Gambari said “we have no choice
but to persevere” through the Secretary-General’s good offices and work
with all relevant parties to try to “move events in the right direction.”

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23933&Cr=myanmar&Cr1

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 24, Irrawaddy
Letting go of the tiger’s tail - Aung Zaw

Have you ever caught hold of a tiger’s tail? If not, Burmese generals can
report what it’s like—they’ve probably had some experiences to share with
you.

Burma’s Gen Ne Win, who staged a military coup in 1962, once caught hold
of a tiger’s tail and never let it go.

The general, who introduced the “Burmese way to Socialism” and
self-imposed isolation to the country, soon realized the failure of his
nationalization policy.

In 1965, three years after the coup, he famously told journalists and
officials: "It was like having caught hold of a tiger's tail.” Then he
added: "But there was nothing else to do but hang on to it."

Today, the tiger is reawakening as the monks march out of their
monasteries and members of the everyday public join them in the streets in
what is looking like a repetition of the 1988 uprising.

But, the demonstrations this time are different to those of 1988. They
started simply enough when members of the 88 Student Generation group
staged a march in Rangoon on August 19. Predictably, the generals cracked
down again, arresting and imprisoning more than 400 activists.

But, the 88 Student Generation leaders' demonstration touched a public
nerve. They had stood up for everyday citizens, outraged over the sudden,
steep hikes in fuel and commodity prices. The generals made a serious
political blunder, and when 13 of the group’s leaders were manhandled,
imprisoned and some were reportedly tortured more fuel was added to the
fire.

Enter the monks, who for years had remained silent in their monasteries.
When they took to the streets, and were also subsequently manhandled and
brutally beaten in Pakokku on September 5, the brutality of the
authorities infuriated the Sangha who demanded an apology from the regime
only to be met by silence.

What has happened since is a casebook study on street-politics, which some
observers say indicates a controlling strategy behind the present
demonstrations. Over the past week, the monks have sent clear symbols to
the outside world and to the people of Burma.

First, they marched to religious pagodas not to public buildings, thereby
claiming the highest moral ground and making it harder for the military to
intervene.

Second, they marched to the Chinese Embassy where they paused to chant the
"Metta Sutta," the Buddha's words on loving kindness, thereby sending a
signal to those who support the junta.

Third, they marched to the home of opposition leader Aung San Sui Kyi, who
appeared before them, symbolically uniting with the monks.

And now the monks have asked the students and public "to join hands."

A new tiger had been unleashed, one that will be harder for the junta to
control.

Now the tiger’s tail is being held by junta leader Snr Gen Than Shwe and
his cronies. If they fail through fear to let go of it they’ll probably
see history repeating itself.

The wave of protests led by thousands of monks has shaken a once confident
regime that hijacked Burma’s political legitimacy and took control of the
country at gunpoint. Burma is clearly a political time bomb that can
explode anytime.

The regime has lost all public confidence in its own plan to bring
stability to the country through the mechanism of the National Convention
tasked with drafting guidelines for a new constitution.

The determined monks’ peaceful marches have stolen the regime’s show and
injected new energy into the fragile opposition movement.

What about the international community, however?

We continue to see selfish, opportunist and ill-informed neighbors who are
quick to exploit Burma’s resources but reluctant to support moves towards
political change and democracy.

The UN and the West continue to adopt a policy of “closely watching”
events in Burma. UN special envoys continue to fly in and out of Burma
with no tangible results. By mixing small doses of good news with a bounty
of bad they are only doing the Burmese people a disfavor by equating one
with the other.

The monks, activists and their supporters are the true heroes in the
current stage of Burmese history.

They are also realists, understanding full well that there is no easy
shortcut or quick fix to cure Burma’s ills. Yet they also know best how to
confront the regime and solve the country’s problems.

They know Burma cannot afford to lose many more years. Their message to
the generals is: let go of the tiger’s tail.

____________________________________

September 24, Asian Tribune
China's Burma policy undermines Asia, UN, World - Jeremy Woodrum

Occasionally a single defining event or image can bring into focus a
serious crisis that has simmered beneath the surface of widespread public
awareness. The past month's demonstrations in the Southeast Asian country
of Burma, featured in thousands of news articles around the world, place a
previously unseen human rights nightmare in plain view of global
decision-makers and beg for a firm international response.

Thousands of human rights activists, Buddhist monks, and everyday citizens
marched through the streets of Rangoon in opposition to a quintupling of
fuel prices, unleashed by a military dictator – Than Shwe -- that pays no
heed to his own people. Many of the demonstrators were beaten to the
ground with truncheons by members of Than Shwe’s feared Union Solidarity
and Development Association, the same group that attempted to assassinate
the worlds only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi.

Unfortunately, the fortitude needed to march peacefully in the face of
authorities armed with deadly weapons has not been matched by political
courage among international policymakers. The United Nations Security
Council has remained shamefully paralyzed on Burma for the past 9 months
since China exercised its veto of a peaceful, non-punitive multilateral
resolution that would have empowered the UN Secretary General. China’s
explained its veto of the resolution – which had garnered the necessary
nine votes to pass -- by stating that the situation in Burma did not
impact the region.

As a result, the Security Council is making the same mistakes it made on
Rwanda and Darfur -- sitting on its hands while a crisis explodes before
its eyes.

China’s claim is easily refuted by hard facts from inside Burma. In
eastern Burma, Than Shwe’s regime has carried out a vicious scorched earth
campaign targeting ethnic minority civilians. His troops have burned,
destroyed and forced the abandonment of over 3,000 villages; to put this
in the context of a more well-known international crisis, this is nearly
twice as many villages as have been destroyed in Darfur. At least 1.5
million refugees have fled their homes in Burma, some across borders and
others trapped deep inside the jungle where the regime hunts them down and
kills them like animals. Rice fields and barns are being torched nearly
every day.

Health indicators in these areas resemble those of conflict zones in
Africa. Burma’s regime spends less than one dollar per person on
healthcare compared with Thailand’s $61 per person and spends only
$137,000 a year (total-not per capita) on HIV/AIDS for a population of 55
million. The consequences for the people of Burma and Burma’s neighboring
countries are deadly.

Than Shwe’s regime has also recruited up to 70,000 child soldiers – far
more than any other country in the world. The use of forced labor by the
regime, a modern-day form of slave labor, was recently decried in an
extremely rare public criticism by the International Committee of the Red
Cross. Over 1,100 political prisoners remain locked behind bars, including
members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party National League for
Democracy, which won 82% of the seats in parliament before the ruling
military regime admitted, and then annulled, the results.

Sadly, China’s unilateral opposition to multilateral diplomacy on Burma
has undermined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and China's own Asian
neighbors. Without a full Security Council mandate Ban K-moon's envoy to
Burma has been unable to produce any lasting results.

Thankfully, opposition to China’s unilateralism on Burma seems to be
growing. A group of members of parliament from ASEAN has called on China
to modify its unequivocal support for the military regime. The move comes
after China undermined three diplomatic missions to Burma to secure the
release of Suu Kyi by leading Southeast Asian senior statesman Indonesian
Ali Alatas, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid, and Filippino Foreign
Minister Alberto Romulo.

The move by those in Southeast Asia may represent the first time in recent
history that China’s own Asian neighbors are balking at its perceived
heavy-handedness in regional diplomacy. In particular, Southeast Asian
lawmakers are unhappy that China refuses to endorse Ban Ki-moon and
ASEAN’s call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The grumbling has now
extended to the media and the UN, where a series of op-eds over the past
two weeks have decried China's unilateralism.

For 15 years, human rights groups working on Burma have never organized a
concerted campaign calling for China to modify its unilateral policies.
This "soft" approach has not produced results, as China only enhanced its
diplomatic, financial, and military protection of Than Shwe's regime. As
the Olympics approach, activists are now launching a concerted year-long
effort to expose how China has paralyzed the UN Security Council and
enabled Burma to grow into a serious threat to regional stability. As a
first step, activists organized demonstrations in front of Chinese
embassies in 10 countries on September 18th, the same day that monks took
to the streets inside Burma.

While the Chinese government is thrilled about the prospect of hosting the
Olympics, human rights activists, Burmese people, and governments plan to
make it clear to China that its policies on Burma are not a game.

China could easily reverse the growing frustration with its policy on
Burma by endorsing a multilateral approach that would include publicly
supporting: Ban Ki-moon and ASEAN’s calls for the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi, an end to attacks against ethnic minority civilians, and pressing
Than Shwe to enter negotiations with Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s ethnic
minorities. Such a move would not only bring greater stability to Burma,
it would in no way undermine China’s investments in the country.
Additionally, it would add substance to China’s claims of a peaceful rise
in the region. Those marching and bleeding in Rangoon – as well as those
suffering and hiding in eastern Burma – hope for such an outcome. Until
that time, however, the days of "soft"calls for change in China's
unilateralism are over.

Jeremy Woodrum is co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma

____________________________________

September 24, Irrawaddy
Medical personnel should prepare for the worst in Burma - Saw Lwin

Shivers went down my spine Sunday night when I heard the news that Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi met and greeted demonstrating monks in Rangoon at the
front gate of her house where she has been under house arrest for most of
the last 19 years.  The barricades to the front of her compound were
opened for the monks to pass through.

The news mentioned that Daw Suu was in tears when she saw the monks. They
must have been tears of hope, joy, pain and respect. The same tears well
in our eyes whenever we hear about her brave struggles and those of the
people inside Burma.

I feel optimistic when I see that there has been no intervention by the
military dictators and their thugs as of the evening of September 23
However, sobering memories of 1988 still surface.

We were excited and optimistic when Gen Sein Lwin, who gave the order to
shoot demonstrators in August 1988, was replaced by Dr. Maung Maung, who
refrained from giving such orders.  Peaceful demonstrations grew even
larger throughout the country.

But we were crushed brutally after the military coup by Gen Saw Maung. 
The shooting started again on September 19, 1988.  An estimated 3,000
people were killed in August and September of 1988 by military and special
police forces.

As health workers, we faced challenging circumstances in our efforts to
treat wounded demonstrators in the streets and hospitals.  Shots were
fired as we tried to bring the wounded to safety.  We could not use
ambulances. Hospitals and clinics were short of medical and surgical
supplies and filled with wounded people.  Sadly, many wounded didn’t make
it to hospitals and their whereabouts were not known.

After the massacre, a network of 37 free clinics was established in
Rangoon by health workers and communities with support from individuals
and monks.  Many monasteries granted permission to open free clinics at
their compounds and doctors, nurses, paramedics and others volunteered
their services. However, it covered only a small response to a greater
need.

In retrospect, we realized that we were not well prepared to respond to
the medical challenge.  We did our best, but we believed that we could
have done more if we had anticipated and prepared for the brutal
suppression.

Despite our deepest hopes for a peaceful resolution to the current
situation, now is the time to prepare in the event the military leadership
orders another unspeakable action against the protesting monks and nuns,
or against civilians:

• First, while there's still a chance, efforts should be taken to prevent
a  brutal suppression against the monks and people: Urge China, India,
Asean, the European Union and the UN to send strong messages to the
military junta to refrain from violent suppression of the protesting monks
and nuns in Burma and to expect serious international actions if such
suppression is carried out.

• Train people along the protest paths on first aid.  People need to
become familiar with first aid responses to muscle cramps, exhaustion,
gunshot wounds, internal injuries, eye injuries, tear-gas injuries,
fractures, injuries from high-pressure water cannons, dog bites (in case
canine units are used), and other consequences of violence.  Equip them
with adequate first aid kits (international agencies should make kits
available) and establish necessary support from health professionals.

• Prepare for triage services.  Shelters for triaging the wounded should
be identified early. Prepare for timely referral to appropriate health
facilities for the seriously wounded—including plans for transportation,
health workers and security in treatment areas.

• Prepare how to prevent monks and nuns from suffocation in case they are
put into crowded vans.

• Stock appropriate medical and surgical supplies at local, township and
district hospitals and clinics in the event of mass casualties. Authorize
clinic/hospital staff to provide necessary care for wounded people without
having to fear punitive actions by the military (this should be assured by
the Ministry of Health and UN agencies).

• Provide ways and means to continue care for the wounded whether they are
discharged from the health facilities or put into jails.

• Neighboring countries should be prepared to provide necessary health and
social assistance to displaced populations who might seek refuge in the
border areas.

While not a complete list of recommendations by any means, this covers
basic areas that if addressed early can allow a more effective medical
response to catastrophic events.

I reiterate my deepest hope that this list will never have to be used in
Burma.  But we must hope for the best and prepare for the worst.  If given
a chance, I believe that the people of Burma from different ethic,
religious and political backgrounds will be united to work together for
the betterment of everyone in the country.

Saw Lwin, a pseudonym, is a Burmese medical doctor

____________________________________

September 24, Mizzima News
Burma's golden revolution [Editorial]

The Burmese military junta, habituated to years of repressive rule, is
today in the eye of a storm. The Sanghas have taken on the Tatmadaw. In a
dramatic form of peaceful protest, Buddhist monks with upturned begging
bowls have literally flooded the streets of Burma turning them into a
crimson sea. The generals in their wildest dreams could not have  imagined
that the shock increase in oil prices would let loose a movement so 
momentous.

What started as sporadic protests spearheaded by 88 generation students
seem to be engulfing the Burmese polity. Hordes of people have joined the
protests. Anyone outside the regime's penumbra is for the protests. May be
many of them too. Students, monks, activists, politicians, and more have
reacted. The pent up feelings of a populace under the heels of the army
has found a vent. In the ultimate analysis the demand is for change.
That's what the people of Burma desire.

Used to putting down dissent with a heavy hand the junta thought nothing
of arresting some monks who were protesting in Pakhokku in central Burma.
Its goons owing allegiance to the Junta such as Union Solidarity
Development Association and Swan Arrshin allegedly beat up a few monks
after arrest. Rumours spread like wildfire that the monk beaten on the
head with a baton had died.

It was as if the spark was waiting to be ignited. Monks sworn to the path
of Ahimsa went on the rampage. The monks deftly turned the tables on the
junta. Officials who forcibly entered the monastery in Pakhokku including
those from the Department of Religious Affairs were detained and four of
their vehicles set ablaze. The junta had to eat humble pie and release the
arrested monks in exchange of the detained officials.

The Buddhist Monks Alliance demanded an apology from the regime. With the
junta not obliging the monks took to the streets more vehemently. The
several thousand disciplined Buddhist monks marched on the streets of
several cities including Rangoon and Mandalay , praying for peace and
freedom from evil and untold suffering. In another move which the junta
did not anticipate, it called for a religious boycott (Thabeikmhaut) of
the junta and anyone on its side.

The snowballing events have now become inexorably interlaced with the
movement for democracy. The rarest of rare sight of detained democracy
icon and Noble Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in the compound of her
house by the marching monks on September 22 has lent a different dimension
to the protests.

The fountainhead of the democracy movement in Burma came out to the
compound and paid her obeisance to the monks bringing tears to her eyes
and the monks. The emotional contact may weigh heavily on a junta
struggling to control the growing monk's movement which has demanded
freedom for Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, a political
dialogue with the opposition and an end to economic hardship in
beleaguered Burma.

Caught totally unawares at the turn of events, the junta is floundering.
While there are rumours of a massive crackdown, any attempt at it will
invite the wrath of the populace, a majority of whom are Buddhists.

For the first time the monks alliance has called on Burmese people to
'banish the common enemy, the evil despots from Burmese soil forever.' If
this does not send a chill down the collective spines of the military
brass then nothing will.

The monks have done what they had to do. To be precise, they have done
more than is expected of men in robes. They have opened the flood gates.
Now it is for the people of Burma to carry the movement forward seeking to
send where the military belongs – the barracks.

The current movement is definitely not a religious affair but it is rooted
to the political system. The ruling military generals should also note
that the protesting monks, students and activists and their supporters are
calling for a political dialogue and national reconciliation, not a change
of regime. This should pave the way for a peaceful political and economic
transition in the country, unless the ruling generals chose to do
something else. News of military movements in the cities, especially in
Rangoon, has been trickling in. Using force will put Burma on a retrograde
mode for at least the next 20 years.

The country needs a political solution to be negotiated across the table.
Killings will not solve the natural-resource rich country's dilemma.
Without solving the political and economic malaise Burma will be doomed
notwithstanding the dictatorship. At this juncture there is an option for
the regime for a "safe-exit" leaving behind its dark and bloody years.

It is now for the international community, especially Burma's neighbours
to realize that they are in a way responsible for the situation in Burma.
They need to intervene in Burma immediately and pressure the regime to
talk to the opposition and ethnic nationalities for a peaceful transition
to democracy. The people of Burma have once again spoken out. The message
is that they want peace, democracy and development that their counterparts
in many South East Asian countries are enjoying. They have spoken out loud
and clear.

It is still not too late for the United Nations, Russia China and India to
act to stave off a disastrous situation. There is immediate need for the
world body and these countries, which have influence on the generals, to
act.

____________________________________

September 24, Wall Street Journal Online
Burma rising - Morton Aabramowitz and Jonathan Kolieb

Burma's oppressive military junta appears to have a bigger problem on its
hands than anyone realized. What started as relatively small-scale,
informal protests over gas prices have turned into a large and growing
protest by the country's highly respected Buddhist monks. And now the
monks and Burma's political pro-democracy movement are converging, with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi emerging from house arrest to greet the
monks at the gate of her home on Saturday. Reform has proved elusive in
the past, but hopefully its time is arriving. The international community
needs to show support for the protesters now.

It all comes at a bad time for the junta. The military leadership is sick
and stagnant. The current junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, is 74
and in poor health, a situation that suggests he might soon hand over
power. His prime minister is in no better shape and has been temporarily
replaced. The new capital in which both leaders sit, Naypyitaw, is a
massive white elephant in the middle of nowhere. The city's continuing
construction and maintenance drain the nation's coffers and anger the
state apparatus, who resent moving there.

The project further alienates the people, who see no benefit whatsoever as
their country sinks into even greater misery. The regime's excesses and
fiscal mismanagement have forced drastic cuts in expensive subsidies for
fuel and energy, leading to a 500% increase in the price of cooking gas.
These price rises have triggered the wave of protests across many Burmese
cities.

The junta's frequently touted National Constitutional Convention, the
first of the military's "seven steps to democracy," concluded in August
after 14 years. With Ms. Suu Kyi's political party boycotting the
convention, and the terms of debate dictated by the regime, the convention
is widely considered a fraud. The constitutional roadmap it prepared
cements the military's role in government and the economy. Ethnic groups
that once fought against junta forces are disappointed by the document,
which fails to provide the minority rights and decentralized authority
they were promised.

Nor has this been a good year for the junta internationally. In a
remarkable step, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
after years of inaction on Burma, openly expressed their unhappiness that
the junta was impeding regional integration and the drafting of an Asean
charter including human rights protections. China and India, Burma's two
main trading partners, are under increasing pressure from the U.S., Europe
and many non-governmental organizations for supporting the regime. The
U.N. Security Council had its first meeting on the regional dangers
emanating from Burma's internal situation, noting among other things that
Burma's public health crisis is spreading across its borders, and that the
country is a major source of drug and human trafficking. The International
Committee of the Red Cross uncharacteristically shed its long-standing
principle of confidentiality and publicly blasted the government about
conditions in Burma.

Change within the military remains the most likely way of securing some
political change in Burma in any reasonable time-frame. The Burmese
military is an opaque institution, and it is hard to know what is
happening inside the military at this important juncture. Their ongoing
crackdown -- which may well escalate -- reflects fear that an uprising
like the popular explosion of 1988 could develop. But there also is some
reason to hope that the public unrest might generate serious questioning
within elements of the military about their dismal leadership, Burma's
failing economy, and a possible leadership transition. We can only
speculate.

Meantime, for many years now external pressures from other governments and
human rights groups have had little political influence on the Burmese
military. But that may be starting to change. The information technology
revolution is slowly yet steadily reaching Burma, despite government
restrictions, with all that that implies for access to information, ideas
and ease of communication.

Now is the time for Asean and Western countries to put increased pressure
on China. The goal should not be to threaten the success of the Olympics
or cut China's trade with Burma, but rather to urge Beijing to more
aggressively send the message to Burma's leaders that they must deal
better with their people and be responsive to international concerns.
India needs to do the same. New Delhi can be usefully reminded that
nuclear deals come with some price and that India can do a better job of
exerting positive influence in its neighborhood with little cost to
itself.

The U.N. needs to become more involved than merely sending the Secretary
General's special representative to Rangoon. The Security Council should
urgently review the Burmese situation, and the upcoming General Assembly
should spend a day discussing the humanitarian, political and regional
security aspects of the problem that is Burma. Similarly, Asean should be
encouraged to hold an emergency session on Burma.

Almost anything would be better than the status quo. As it stands, the
world is divided on dealing with Burma and collective efforts to help
promote change are unimpressive. But as Burma's monks and other protestors
risk life and limb by marching against their overlords we cannot simply
let this moment slip by. The nonviolent resistance of Burmese inside and
outside Burma to the brutal military regime cries out for support, and
world leaders must at least vigorously stand with the Burmese people and
echo their call for change. If they do not respond to the world's truly
non-violent political struggles, they send the message that the world
responds only to violence.

Mr. Abramowitz is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, and former
U.S. Ambassador to Thailand. Mr. Kolieb is a research associate at the
Century Foundation.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 24, Burma Campaign UK
Burma regime planning to infiltrate demonstrations to spark violence

Burma Campaign UK sources in Rangoon have reported that soldiers have been
ordered to shave their heads, in possible preparation for infiltrating
peaceful demonstrations. They would start rioting or attacking police,
providing the regime with a pretext for a brutal crackdown on protestors.

Sources indicate that soldiers from Light Battalion 77 in Rangoon have
been given the order. Sources also report that the regime has ordered
3,000 monks¹ robes from a factory in Rangoon.

It is a tactic the regime has used in the past, including at the Depayin
massacre in 2003, during which Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. Regime
militia dressed as monks were involved in the ambush which left up to 100
democracy activists dead.  State television today reported that action
would be taken against protestors.

³We know from experience that the regime is capable of opening fire on
civilians,² said Mark Farmaner, acting Director of Burma Campaign UK. ³The
regime came to power on the back of a massacre in 1988 that left at least
3,000 civilians dead. They have also been accused by the UN of breaking
the Geneva Convention for their deliberate targeting of civilians in
attacks on ethnic minorities.²

Despite the widespread expectations that the regime will use violence to
suppress protest, the international community has been remarkably silent,
with the French government being the only one to make a strong statement
warning of consequences if the regime respond with violence. ASEAN has
also expressed concern.

³The regime has been held in check by the peoples¹ respect for the monks
and the fact that the world is watching, but the scale of protests means
they will be looking for options that allow them to justify a
crackdown,²said Mark Farmaner, ³The UN Secretary General and other world
leaders must speak out and make it clear that a violent response in
unacceptable. At the moment the international community seems to be
willing to watch from the sidelines as the regime moves closer to a
massacre. If the regime does attack protestors, this will have been one of
the most widely predicted massacres in recent history, and makes a mockery
any government¹s claim to be committed to human rights.²

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 07941239640.

____________________________________

STATEMENT

September 24, U.S. Senator John McCain
U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today made the following statement about
the recent demonstrations in Burma:

"The world has witnessed in recent days the astonishing courage and
resilience of the Burmese people.  With the largest demonstrations since
1988, small protests have exploded into a nationwide, non-violent
democratic uprising.  Tens of thousands of Burmese from all walks of life,
led by throngs of Buddhist monks, have taken to the streets to demand
their right to a genuine, free, and fair democracy.

"These courageous people should know:  All free peoples stand with you and
support
you.  The world is watching not only your brave actions, but also those of
the military government, whose cruelty and incompetence know no bounds. 
Already, we see
the junta blocking the latest attempts by protestors to reach the home of
Aung San
Suu Kyi, that serene and inspiring woman whose efforts to bring freedom to
her
homeland are nothing short of heroic.

"This could be the moment of change the Burmese people have long awaited. 
And yet we have seen in the past the junta's instinct for repression and
penchant for violence.  The regime must realize that the only course is to
avoid violence at all costs, free Aung San Suu Kyi and the other political
prisoners, and recognize immediately the Burmese people's call for
democracy and genuine national reconciliation.

"The military government should understand that the world is watching this
situation closely. As global leaders gather this week for the United
Nations General Assembly, they should send a strong message that there can
be no return to the repressive years before the "Saffron Revolution"
began. The United Nations, the ASEAN nations, and China and India must
understand the great urgency of the situation in Burma today, and use all
of their influence with the regime to urge restraint and dialogue that
includes all stakeholders.  1988, the military crushed the widespread
democratic uprising, and Rangoon's actions then and since have become a
stain on the world's conscience.  It must not happen again."

Contact: Melissa Shuffield, (202) 224-7130
Eileen McMenamin, (202) 224-2235

____________________________________

September 24, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC)
Prevent bloodshed of the innocent and the revered in Burma

In view of the current turmoil in Burma and the violence displayed by
Myanmar’s military junta, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus
(AIPMC) unequivocally calls for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
to pass a resolution on Burma and take steps to intervene in the crisis
the country is in.

Scores of people, including monks, are being arrested for peacefully
demonstrating and expressing their displeasure with the military junta’s
mis-governance. Many protesters are experiencing human rights violations
and are being subjected to violence by the military junta’s civilian arm,
the Union Solidarity and Development Association.

Given Burma’s history, namely the incidences in 1988 where the military
junta brutally and bloodily suppressed public rallies for democracy and
human rights, AIPMC urges ASEAN leaders and their international
counterparts and the UNSC to act immediately to prevent human casualties
in Burma.

While AIPMC welcomes the UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s recent
briefing at the UNSC, on the situation in Burma, and his proposed visit to
the country to monitor the situation, the Caucus believes that there can
no longer be a delay in addressing the current situation in Burma.

For media contact or to facilitate an interview with AIPMC members, please
call: Roshan Jason (AIPMC Executive Director) at +6-012-3750974 or the
numbers above.