BurmaNet News, October 10, 2007

[Editor]

October 10, 2007 Issue # 3316

INSIDE BURMA
The Independent: Suu Kyi rejects Burma junta's preconditions on peace talks
Mizzima News: More arrests in Burma, detainee dies during interrogation
Irrawaddy: No joke: fate of popular, arrested comedians unknown
SHAN: Hundreds of Shan monks pinched in crackdown
The Times: Fearful tourists desert Burma after protests - and the economy
withers
AFP: Landmines kill three, injure four in Myanmar: report
DVB: Family of NLD member imprisoned for USDA intimidation

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Number of Air Bagan passengers plummets

REGIONAL
Reuters: Singapore under pressure to get tough on Myanmar
Reuters: Singapore's Lee says Myanmar's generals can't survive
AFP: Japan caught in jam on Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Global lawmakers' assembly condemns Myanmar abuses
AP: UN Rights Council urges Burma to admit expert quickly
AFP: UN chief briefs US first lady on Myanmar
AP: Senate party leader critic of Myanmar
AP: New Zealand lawmakers condemn repression, killings in Myanmar
BBC Burmese Service: US says time for transition in Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Straits Times: The only game in town - George Yeo
Wall Street Journal: Stop the terror in Burma - Laura Bush
China Post: Status quo on Burma is untenable
Bangkok Post: Dependent on Burma for our gas - Boonsong Kositchotethana

PRESS RELEASE
JA appeals to Congress and issues advice to members concerning purchases
of Burmese gemstones

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 10, The Independent (London)
Suu Kyi rejects Burma junta's preconditions on peace talks - Andrew Buncombe

Having beaten them, abused them and shot many of them dead, Burma's
military junta says it is trying to rebuild a relationship with the
country's Buddhist monks by donating supplies of food, medicine and
toothpaste.

Lieutenant-General Myint Swe has apparently delivered £4,000 of supplies
to 50 monasteries and a nunnery in Rangoon. The state-run New Light Of
Myanmar newspaper said the donations were accepted by the monks but there
was no independent confirmation of this.

News of the regime's attempts at reconciliation with the clergy following
its violent repression of pro-democracy protests came as the Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the junta should not affix
preconditions to its offer to meet her.

In a statement issued by her party, the National League for Democracy, she
rejected the deal, saying: "The success of a dialogue is based on
sincerity and the spirit of give and take. The will for achieving success
is also crucial and there should not be any pre-condition."

The junta has said it is willing to meet the 62-year-old but only if she
first renounces her calls for international sanctions. Yesterday, it
appointed the deputy labour minister, Aung Kyi, as "manager for relations"
with opposition leaders, apparently at the behest of the UN envoy Ibrahim
Gambari, who visited Burma 10 days ago and met senior General Than Shwe.

General Shwe, the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council and
head of the hardline regime, has met Ms Suu Kyi only once before, in 2002.
On that occasion, their talks quickly broke down. He is understood to
loathe the opposition leader and it is said that he does not even allow
mention of her name in his presence.

Campaigners would welcome a move by the regime to talk to Ms Suu Kyi but
are demanding that it drops its preconditions. They have also called for
her to be released from house arrest.

"Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from detention would be the most obvious step
towards smoothing relations," said Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign
UK. "At the same time the regime says it will agree to talks, it is
arresting and torturing those people who should be involved in the talks.
There is no breakthrough yet. We have seen nothing concrete from the
regime but they are obviously feeling under pressure."

Last week, a draft statement condemning the regime's actions was
circulated to UN Security Council members in New York. The EU and the US
have warned they will push for UN sanctions if Burma fails to move towards
democracy. But China, which has a veto on such a move as a member of the
Security Council, has repeatedly opposed the idea.

Precisely what action the junta is taking now is unclear because it has
banned journalists from entering Burma and has blocked internet access and
phone lines. At the weekend, officials claimed to have released more than
half of the 2,171 people arrested in the crackdown and said 400 of the 533
monks detained had been "sent back to their respective monasteries".

At the same time, reports from exiled Burmese suggest that the regime is
still making strenuous efforts to track down activists and those involved
in the protests. Troops recently discovered 12 satellite phones used by
activists to contact the outside world. Meanwhile, a diplomat at the
Burmese embassy in London said last night he had resigned as a result of
the regime's actions against the monks. "I have never seen such a scenario
in the whole of my life," Ye Min Tun added.

"This revolution, this incident seemed to be the decisive factor that
could persuade the government to go to the negotiation table. But actually
the government ignored the reality."

____________________________________

October 10, Mizzima News
More arrests in Burma, detainee dies during interrogation

In the unabated clampdown on dissidents, the Burmese military junta today
arrested two more 88 generation students, activist groups in exile said.

The Thailand based Asia-Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma (APPPB), an
activist group, today said authorities in Rangoon arrested Hla Myo Naung
and Tharaphee, who have been in hiding. They were going to a clinic when
they were rounded up.

"They were arrested today around noon while visiting an eye clinic in
Rangoon," Khin Ohn Mar, coordinator of the APPPB, said.

Hla Myo Naung, who evaded the junta's dragnet on August 21 midnight when
15 of his fellow 88 generation students including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko
Gyi were arrested, had developed an eye problem requiring immediate
operation, sources said.

"For this he was trying to see a doctor at a clinic in Rangoon and that
was when he was arrested," said Khin Ohn Mar.

Tharaphee, a young woman member of the '88 Generation Student Group, was
also arrested as she was accompanying Hla Myo Naung to the clinic, added
the APPPB.

The junta continues to conduct midnight raids and random searches
arresting more activists. Authorities also reportedly used force and
torture while interrogating, killing several detained activists, the group
alleged.

Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said,
authorities in Kyauk Padaung Township in Mandalay division on Tuesday
informed family members that Win Shwe, a member of the National League for
Democracy arrested on September 26, died during interrogation.

Win Shwe, a 42-year old NLD member, and four of his friends were arrested
and detained at Plate Myo Police Center near Mandalay.

"He died as a result of torture during interrogation," the AAPP said.

The authorities, however, did not hand over the body of Win Shwe to family
members but told them that they had cremated him.

Meanwhile, authorities on Tuesday arrested three student members of the
All Burma Federation of Students' Unions (ABFSU), when they were holding a
meeting in Rangoon, the group's branch in exile said.

The ABFSU's Foreign Affairs Committee, based in Thailand, said Kyaw Ko Ko,
Si Thu Maung or Ya Pye and Han Ni Oo were arrested on Tuesday while
holding a secret meeting in Rangoon.

Min Naing, spokesperson of the ABFSU's Foreign Affairs Committee said,
"They were arrested at bout 2 p.m. (local time) while giving an interview
on a statement they had released earlier."

____________________________________

October 10, Irrawaddy
No joke: fate of popular, arrested comedians unknown - Aye Lae

For decades, Burmese comedians have charmed their audiences and irritated
the ruling generals with their topical satire and political wit.

During the current unrest, Burmese authorities struck back by arresting
two of the country's most well-known comedians. Currently, no one knows
where they are being held.

The comedians' family members are in anguish over the fate of their loved
ones.

“I am worried about him. He is not in good healthy," said Kyi Oo, the
mother of Zarganar, who has been called Burma's Charlie Chaplin.

"I warned him not to get too involved in the protests, but he refused me,"
she told The Irrawaddy by phone from Rangoon. "He loves his country and
his people.”

Zarganar, 45, a dentist-turned-comedian, came to prominence in the 1980s
by poking fun at the then socialist regime.

He was arrested after he prominently appeared in public, offering food and
drink to monks during the early days of the Rangoon protests.

Zarganar was jailed twice for his social and political activism, first as
a political dissident in 1988, then again in 1990 while helping his mother
in her campaign for the general elections that year. He was freed in 1994.

The popular comedian—whose name means tweezers—received the Lillian
Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Award in 1991 after being nominated by the
Fund for Free Expression, a committee of Human Rights Watch.

Another well-known comedian and a former movie star, 60-year-old Par Par
Lay, the leader of the "Moustache Brothers" comedy troupe, was arrested in
Mandalay by police on September 25 after he had gone to a monastery to
give alms to monks.

His wife, Win Mar, told The Irrawaddy: “I’m very worried. I haven't known
where he is since he was arrested. I want to give some medicine and
clothes to him.”

Par Par Lay, along with his comedian colleague Lu Zaw, was sentenced to
seven years imprisonment for a satirical performance they gave at an
Independence Day party at the residence of detained democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi in 1994.

When the authorities released them in July 2001, they were blacklisted and
forbidden to perform in public venues. However, they continued to perform
for small groups of foreign tourists at their home in Mandalay.

____________________________________

October 10, Shan Herald Agency for News
Hundreds of Shan monks pinched in crackdown

A Shan cleric from Burma who recently fled to Thailand has confirmed that
more than a hundred Shan monks were among those detained by the ruling
military junta during the crackdown two weeks ago.

"The Pinnya Ramika temple in (Rangoon's) Botahtaung Township where I
stayed, alone had more than 100 Shan boarders of a total of 400 odd. All
of us except the abbot and his two deputies (Taik-Ok) were detained. Only
nine evaded arrest by climbing into the attic," said the 22-year old monk,
a native of one of the townships in Shan State East

The monastery was raided at 3 a.m. on September  27, a day after the
violent clampdown began. "The military surrounded the temple, woke up the
abbot and ordered him to beat the brass gong," he said.

According to him, the monks were instructed to assemble at the mess hall
and told they had been invited to breakfast at the Kaba Aye (World Peace
Pagoda).

"We piled into trucks waiting outside the temple grounds. But when the
trucks drove past the Kaba Aye and then to Insein without stopping, we
knew we were in for a Heaven-knows-how-long ordeal," he said

The group arrived at the Mingladon military prison outside Rangoon where
they were locked up in crowded cells. "There were at least over 1,000
detainees, including 600 monks," he estimated.

Later in the day, some elderly monks, believed to be sympathetic to the
military, arrived with new "lay people's clothes" and ordered them to put
them on, discarding the standard saffron robes worn by Buddhist monks.

"Day and night, one monk after another was taken out of the cells to be
interrogated. Some returned with swollen heads and bruised bodies, others
with bent backs or limps. 'You are no longer monks', the guards liked to
tell us, 'You are just bald-heads now'," he recalled.

The young monk, who asked not to be identified as he had left a number of
relatives back in his hometown, said he, together with 70 monks, were
released on  October 4, "probably through the good offices of our abbot."

The exact number of Shan monks detained along with Burmese monks could not
be known, according to other sources. Rangoon and Mandalay have been
centres of learning both for lay people and monks from the Shan hills.

"My elder brother is among those arrested in Mandalay. I haven't heard
from him for a week. But the last time he called me, he along with other
monks were staging a hunger strike," said a businessman in Tachilek.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at
least 4,000 people including more than 1,000 monks were arrested during
the countrywide clampdown on protesters demonstrating against 100-500
percent fuel price rise on August 15.

____________________________________

October 10, The Times (London)
Fearful tourists desert Burma after protests - and the economy withers -
Kenneth Denby

* Inept junta is unable to control rising prices
* Daily hardship made worse by cuts in wages

For Le Le Thaung and people like her across the Burmese city of Mandalay
the events of the past few weeks have been among the most uplifting -and
the most depressing -of their lives.

For ten days she watched as Buddhist monks took to the streets to demand
freedom from the military dictatorship. Like the rest of the world she
shivered as the demonstrations were quelled with smoke bombs and gunfire.
But after the political disappointment came economic disaster: the foreign
visitors who keep afloat Le Le's hotel and restaurant business simply
disappeared.

"There were many tourists in the beginning of September but then, after
this Saffron Revolution, very few," says Le Le (a pseudonym is used to
protect her identity). "October to November is our peak season, but all
the reservations have been cancelled. It's not just hotels and restaurants
which are affected, but all the tourist businesses."

Apart from coping with the brutal junta under which they have lived for 45
years, Burmese have faced two economic blows in two months. In August
enormous price rises were caused by the sudden removal of government
subsidies on fuel, which triggered small demonstrations and then mass
marches. But the protests themselves have had their own economic effects,
not least of which is to have scared away the foreign tourist trade.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the revered Burmese democracy leader, has consistently
asked that foreign tourists boycott the country. As a consequence Burma
has never seen the millions of visitors who holiday in neighbouring
Thailand and Malaysia. But last year 263,500 tourists ignored the boycott
and visited Burma. By the end of August the total was already 190,000,
suggesting that a record year was in the offing. Then came the
demonstrations and the crackdown. The British Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, like those of other nations, rates Burma as a country that should
be visited only if essential. And in Mandalay -the former royal capital,
until it was conquered by the British in 1885 -the effects are visible on
the streets.

The lone foreigner who walks along the moat of King Thibaw's former palace
finds himself besieged by desperate drivers of taxis and the
pedalpropelled trishaws, competing with one another to offer ever lower
prices. In a luxury hotel the staff outnumber the 23 guests at a time of
year when it would expect 200. And Le Le's hotel and restaurant is empty.
She has laid off 30 of her 50 staff; those that remain have had their
60,000 kyat (£ 22) monthly pay cut by half.

Less well known than the junta's brutality is its incompetence as an
economic manager. Burma is rich in gems, timber and natural gas, yet it
remains the poorest large country in South-East Asia. Average per capita
income is £ 150 a year, well below the poverty of Cambodia or Laos.
Unemployment is officially 10 per cent but probably closer to 30 per cent,
and inflation runs at about 50 per cent. The country exports more energy
than it consumes but because of its inefficient refineries home-drilled
oil cannot be used in most buses, cars and power stations.

Fuel must be imported and, in August, with global prices rising, the
Government decided that it could no longer subsidise the cost. Diesel
doubled in price, and with it the cost of everything transported by road,
and bus and car travel itself.

The question for the Government is whether the intensifying hardship will
quell the will to protest or invigorate it all the more.

ONE RULE FOR THEM...

* Burma is ranked the world's fourth most corrupt country
* The official value of exports is £ 1.7 billion, rated 110th globally
* Those close to the junta can buy heavily subsidised goods, which are
then sold - or smuggled abroad - for huge profit, creating a black market
equal in size to its legitimate counterpart

* A private soldier earns 30,000 kyat a month, officially £ 2,300 but in
reality only enough to buy one and a half bags of rice

Sources: Heritage Foundation; CIA World Fact Book For breaking news from
Burma timesonline.co.uk/asia

____________________________________

October 10, Agence France Presse
Landmines kill three, injure four in Myanmar: report

Three people have been killed by landmines in military-ruled Myanmar,
state press reported Wednesday, which the authorities blamed on ethnic
rebel militias battling the junta's troops.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said another four people were
injured by the "insurgent-planted mines" as they were out hunting and
working in the east of the country Monday.

Two were killed and two injured in a mountain range in Mon State, while
one person died and two were wounded in Karen State.

Myanmar's regime made headlines when it cracked down on mass protests last
month, killing 13 people, but the junta has been battling ethnic rebel
groups for decades, with civilians often caught in the crossfire.

Much of Karen State, where the Karen National Union (KNU) has been waging
a nearly six-decade battle against the junta, is laced with deadly
ordnance.

A Human Rights Watch report in December last year accused the military of
planting mines around rice crops and routes to fields in an effort to
hamper the annual harvest, effectively starving civilians off their land.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines says Myanmar is one of the few
governments still planting landmines, but added that rebel groups,
including the KNU's armed wing, were also responsible.

In 2005 at least 231 people in Myanmar were killed or maimed by landmines,
the group said in its 2006 report.

____________________________________

October 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Family of NLD member imprisoned for USDA intimidation

Family members and colleagues of a National League for Democracy member
who was attacked in June have been given five to seven-year sentences for
threatening the Union Solidarity and Development Association, according to
their lawyer.

U Than Lwin, a National League for Democracy member and elected member of
parliament from Mandalay's Maddaya township, suffered serious facial
injuries when he was attacked by a man wearing a knuckle-duster in
mid-June.

Four family members of U Than Lwin – Daw Khin Ma Gyi, Daw Khin Ma Lay, U
Zaw Min Lwin and U Nyein Sein – and Maddaya NLD party members U Nyo Lay,
Ko Kyaw Swar, Ko Thaung Naing and Ko Nyi Nyi were each given five-year
prison sentences while another NLD party member, U Nyo Gyi, received a
seven-year jail term.

U Myint Thwin, the group’s defence lawyer, said that they were charged
with intimidation under section 506 of the penal code.

The USDA brought the charges against them, claiming they had threatened to
burn down the USDA office and kill U Than Lwin’s attacker, who the lawyer
says has now been identified as U Kyaw Min, secretary of the township
USDA.

"There were eight witnesses for the prosecution in court. They testified
against U Nyo Gyi, saying that he had really threatened the USDA officials
in the way they described. But they testified that the other eight weren't
involved in the intimidation, and in fact were just standing there and
watching the scene as it happened," said the lawyer.

Despite this testimony, the court still found that the other eight had
assisted U Nyo Gyi in the intimidation and sentenced them to five years
each. All nine were sent to Mandalay prison after sentencing

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 10, Mizzima News
Number of Air Bagan passengers plummets - Than Htike Oo

The nation wide protests in Burma have dealt a body blow to Air Bagan, the
country's leading airlines. The number of passengers has plummeted by 66
percent in the airlines owned by Than Shwe's protégé business tycoon
Tayza, an insider said.

"The number of passengers dropped because of the unrest in Burma. It
dropped by nearly 60 to 70 percent," an airline official based in Bangkok
said.

Today only about 50 passengers are flying in the Rangoon-Bangkok A310-200
flight, which can accommodate over 200 passengers.

Before the unrest, this flight recorded almost full occupancy on holidays,
he added. Air Bagan is jointly owned by state-run Myanmar Airways and Htoo
Trading.

The number of passengers dropped in international flights because of
domestic unrest and curfew, he added. Air Bagan flies to Thailand ,
Cambodia, Singapore , South Korea and China.

In the same way the number of passengers in the Myanmar Airways
International has also decreased.

"It dropped more than usual. I think it decreased because Burmese
embassies stopped issuing visas," an MAI official told to Mizzima.

The biggest nationwide demonstrations in almost 20 years began in Burma
after the junta suddenly increased fuel prices. The Burmese in Singapore
launched a campaign against Air-Bagan owned airlines for the brutal
crackdown against unarmed protesters by the junta.

An unconfirmed report circulating among the Burmese people said that Tayza
and the family of Snr. Gen. Than Shwe fled to a foreign country in the
early days of the protests.

But a Rangoon based Air Bagan official denied this report and said that
Tayza is still in Burma. But she declined to give further details.

Opposition sources said that Kyaing Kyaing, wife of Snr. Gen. Than Shwe,
is redeeming her shares because of the volatile political situation.

Kyaing Kyaing owns the shares just by putting her name in the corporations
without investing money in it, it said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 10, Reuters
Singapore under pressure to get tough on Myanmar - Daryl Loo

Singapore, one of Myanmar's biggest investors, is under pressure from
rights groups to use its economic clout to push the generals down along a
more democratic path.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore was Myanmar's
largest source of foreign funding last year with US$47.5 million in
investments, followed by Russia and Britain.

Singapore is a key investor in Myanmar's tourism sector, provides medical
care for the regime's generals and is seen as a financial centre for the
Myanmar elite.

"There are not many countries that the military regime can rely on today,
and Singapore is one of them," Sann Aung, a Bangkok-based leader of the
government-in-exile set up after the junta ignored the 1990 election
results, told Reuters.

The city-state's links with the junta have come under fire from rights
groups and led to calls to take a tougher stance.

European Union parliamentarians visiting the island last week called on
Singapore to ease bank secrecy laws and seize assets of Myanmar's
generals, or risk a proposed pact with the EU.

Burma activist groups last week urged the U.S. Senate foreign relations
committee to compel Singapore banks to freeze the accounts of junta
leaders, and prohibit U.S. institutions from dealing with those that
refuse.

Freezing the overseas assets of Myanmar's generals "would at least deprive
the regime of the means to buy more weapons, and put pressure on it to
carry out reforms," said Debbie Stothard of the Bangkok-based Alternative
ASEAN Network on Burma.

But Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong denies the generals are using
Singapore as a money-laundering centre.

"We don't play dirty money, we don't condone money laundering. Our rules
against that are as strict as any other financial centre - London, Hong
Kong, New York," Lee told CNN.

Singapore's three banks -- all of which operate offices in Myanmar -- have
declined comment, citing banking secrecy laws.

"DIRTY LIST"

Analysts say that without Singapore's expertise in areas such as airline,
airport, and hotel management, Myanmar would be a much less comfortable
place for its ruling elite.

Myanmar's top international airline, Myanmar Airways International, is a
joint venture between the Myanmar government and Region Air, a company
owned by hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, one of Singapore's
best-connected businessmen.

Activist group Burma Campaign UK lists 10 Singapore firms on its "Dirty
List" of companies for their involvement in Myanmar, including banks DBS,
UOB and OCBC, and conglomerate Keppel Corp.

Yangon's The Strand Hotel, Myanmar's top hotel and sister to Singapore's
Raffles Hotel, is jointly owned by Myanmar's tourism authorities and
Singapore-based General Hotel Management.

The Singapore bourse is also host to the only Myanmar listed firm -- Yoma,
a real estate firm with close junta links.

Myanmar, too, has come to the aid of a friend in need. When Indonesia
banned sand exports that feed the construction sector, general Than Shwe
was quick to offer his sand and granite.

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Singapore also gives the ageing generals access to top hospitals, where
security guards shield them from the press.

Senior General Than Shwe, 73, visits Singapore for regular medical checks.
Myanmar prime minister General Soe Win, 59, was treated for cancer at
Singapore's General Hospital for months before he reportedly died on
October 2. Lee says denying them medical treatment would be inhumane.

"I mean, somebody is sick, he wants to come to Singapore, he needs
treatment and you're telling me that I shouldn't treat him because he's
not a good man?" he told CNN.

Myanmar expert David Steinberg of Georgetown University told Reuters that
Singapore could play a big role to end the crisis.

"(The junta) consults with Singapore leaders," said Steinberg, adding he
favored a "quiet" approach. "I think a strong stand by Singapore will be
helpful. But a strong stand has to be a quiet stand. The private advice is
absolutely critical."

Lee's father, Singapore's first prime minister and now "Minister Mentor",
said in unusually blunt remarks that Myanmar's leaders had pushed a
"hungry and impoverished people to revolt".

"These are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy," Lee, 84,
said in an interview, adding a political solution has to include the
military who alone have the ability to hold the country together.

____________________________________

October 10, Reuters
Singapore's Lee says Myanmar's generals can't survive

Economic mismanagement by Myanmar's ruling generals means they cannot
survive indefinitely and the population was always likely to revolt in the
face of excesses by the junta, Singapore senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew was
quoted on Wednesday as saying.

But in an interview reprinted in Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, Lee
said any solution to the political impasse in Myanmar would have to
include the military, as they alone had the administrative ability to hold
the country together.

"These are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy," Lee, 84,
told syndicated U.S. columnist Tom Plate in an interview on Sep 27.

"How can they so manage the economy and reach this stage when the country
has so many natural resources?"

Lee, who was Singapore's first Prime Minister at independence in 1965,
stepped down as premier in 1990 but remains influential as its "minister
mentor".

He gave the interview at the height of a crackdown by Myanmar's military
rulers after streets protests led by monks saw tens of thousands of people
take to the streets to protest against military rule and economic
hardships.

At independence in 1948, Myanmar was blessed with vast natural resources
and wealthier on almost every economic measure compared to tiny Singapore.

But independent economists say decades of mismanagement by 45 years of
military rule have left Myanmar with negligible growth, rampant inflation
and a currency, the kyat, considered worthless outside the country.

Lee said Myanmar's leaders had pushed a "hungry and impoverished people to
revolt" on wasteful projects and also by flaunting their wealth.

"...they decided to close down the government in Yangon and go into this
Pyinmana, or whatever the place is called, where there's nothing," he
said, referring to the military's decision to relocate the capital from
Yangon to Naypyidaw, newly carved out of the jungle last year.

"...they are putting up expensive buildings for themselves and a golf
course...".

Lee also made reference to a bootleg video of the wedding of a daughter of
Myanmar's leader, Tan Shwe, in which the bride is showered with cash and
jewellery.

"...and the top general had a lavish wedding for his daughter which was
then out on YouTube -- the daughter was like a Christmas tree," he said.

Singapore is one of Myanmar's biggest foreign investors and bilateral
trade reached S$1 billion ($679.3 million) last year, but in the
interview, Lee rued the risk.

"I had advised several of our hoteliers to set up hotels there. They have
sunk in millions of dollars there, and now their hotels are empty," Lee
said.

"Why they believe they can keep their country cut off from the rest of the
world like this, indefinitely, I cannot understand."

____________________________________

October 10, Agence France Presse
Japan caught in jam on Myanmar - Kyoko Hasegawa

Fearing China's growing influence in Asia, Japan is hesitating to cut off
aid to Myanmar, whose bloody crackdown on protests has put Tokyo in an
awkward position, officials and analysts say.

Junta troops shot dead a Japanese journalist covering protests on
September 27 as authorities clamped down on the largest pro-democracy
demonstrations in Yangon in nearly two decades.

Japan threatened to curtail aid or take other punitive action. But despite
calls from its Western allies for a united global response on Myanmar, it
has yet to announce any action.

Looming in the background is China, which is Myanmar's biggest supporter
and which has refused to suspend aid to the junta in response to the
crisis.

"Cutting aid to Myanmar is easy, but the junta would not be troubled by
that because of the presence of China," senior foreign ministry official
Reiichiro Takahashi said.

"I personally think cutting the current grant aid to Myanmar would only
hurt ordinary people's lives," he said.

"But we don't want to look to China for their help in pressuring the
junta, because that would help increase China's political clout in the
region."

China has shown growing influence in the region, proposing a different
framework from Japan for a future East Asian community.

Japan, in a rare break with the United States and the European Union,
provides humanitarian aid to Myanmar and remains one of its largest
donors.

But, unlike China, Tokyo has made a stand against the actions of the
Myanmar regime, suspending low-interest loans for infrastructure projects
since 2003 to protest the detention of Nobel laureate and opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Japan, whose relations with its close neighbours remain uneasy due to
wartime history, has long focused its diplomacy on building close ties
with Southeast Asia.

Asian countries' sentiments towards the country have gradually improved
over the past few decades and Tokyo has worked in recent months to ease
friction with China and South Korea over the past.

But despite these steps forward, analysts say that insisting on democracy
in Myanmar would be tricky for Japan due to its own past militarism in the
nation formerly known as Burma.

Myanmar, which frequently denounces Britain for its own past imperialism
in the country, has largely stayed mum on history issues with Tokyo.

An exception came last year when Myanmar lashed out at Japan over its past
aggression after Tokyo switched sides and voted to haul Myanmar before the
UN Security Council over its human rights record.

"Value-based diplomacy can be quickly criticised as a double standard if
the country's own moral performance is not consistently high," said
Takashi Shiraishi, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for
Policy Studies.

"If Japan cannot sincerely tackle the issue of its wartime history, it had
better refrain from taking an overbearing attitude towards Asian
countries," Shiraishi said.

"If Japan stresses human rights issues too much, it would destroy the
relations with China," said Hidekazu Wakatsuki, associate professor at the
Hokkai Gakuen University.

Business groups have pressed Japan not to irritate China, which in the
last fiscal year became Japan's largest trading partner for the first time
since World War II, unseating the United States.

Energy analyst Akio Shibata warned that Japan, which is almost entirely
dependent on imports for its oil and gas, would lose badly needed
resources in Myanmar if it joined Western sanctions.

"China, India and South Korea have already invested in Myanmar for oil and
gas resources, and Japan could be left out from the race for resources,"
he said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 10, Associated Press
Global lawmakers' assembly condemns Myanmar abuses

Lawmakers from around the world condemned the ongoing human rights abuses
in Myanmar and called for sanctions against the country's military regime
to be stepped up if the situation there worsens.

In an emergency motion, the Inter-Parliamentary Union expressed grave
concern Wednesday at «the brutal acts of violence perpetrated by the
Myanmar military and police forces against peaceful protests by Buddhist
monks and civilians.

The organization, which represents more than 40,000 legislators from 147
national parliaments, also demanded the release of Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other lawmakers imprisoned by the government.
The motion, put forward by Indonesia, was passed unanimously.

IPU's human rights committee, which deals with abuses against
parliamentarians, said several legislators were arrested during the recent
crackdown against opposition groups.
«It is not only Aung San Suu Kyi who is being deprived of her liberty, but
several parliamentarians, as well as innocent civilians and Buddhist
monks,» Aquilino Pimentel, a Philippines senator and member of the
committee, told reporters in Geneva.
Sharon Carstairs, a Canadian senator who heads the committee, said at
least 26 lawmakers are being held by Myanmar's military-led government.

«Some of them have actually served their complete sentences only to be
then told that another two years has been added to their sentence without
any trial, without any due process,» Carstairs said.

The motion, which has no binding effect beyond highlighting the concerns
parliamentarians around the world have about the situation in Myanmar,
calls on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to consider suspending
the country's membership «until such time as the process of reconciliation
with the democratic forces gains momentum.

It also asks the international community to tighten economic sanctions and
impose an arms embargo on Myanmar if the democratization process suffers
further setbacks.
Aside from Myanmar, the rights committee this week examined 56 cases of
alleged abuse against parliamentarians in 19 countries.

Carstairs said her committee highlighted the persecution of lawmakers in
Colombia and Philippines, but the situation in Sri Lanka, Ecuador,
Eritrea, Lebanon and Zimbabwe was also troubling.

Six years ago, 11 Eritrean parliamentarians were arrested after calling
for democratic reforms in the East African country, «and they have
literally disappeared off the face of the Earth,» she said.

____________________________________

October 10, Associated Press
UN Rights Council urges Burma to admit expert quickly

The head of the U.N. Human Rights Council appealed to Burma's military
government on Tuesday to permit an urgent visit by the council's
specialist on the country.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who was appointed as the UN's independent expert on
human rights in Burma seven years ago, has been barred from entering the
country since 2003.

Romanian Ambassador Doru-Romulus Costea, who chairs the 47-nation rights
council, told the government it had instructed Pinheiro to go as soon as
possible to Burma to assess the human rights situation after the military
junta's crackdown on protests there.

In an emergency session last week, the council deplored the junta's
actions and urged an immediate investigation by Pinheiro, a human rights
specialist from Brazil.

The council resolution cited "continued violent repression of peaceful
demonstrators in Myanmar [Burma], including through beatings, killings,
arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances."

Costea met with Nyunt Swe, the top diplomat at the Myanmar Mission to UN
offices in Geneva, earlier Tuesday and sent him a letter underscoring the
request, officials said.

"I would appreciate receiving a reply to the council's request at your
earliest convenience," Costea said.

The UN expert "is able to travel to your country at any time should the
government of Myanmar give its approval," he added.

Protests, which began over increased fuel prices in August, grew into a
national movement led by Buddhist monks that was crushed when troops fired
on demonstrators last month.

The military government said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups
put the toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including
thousands of monks who led the rallies.

____________________________________

October 10, Agence France Presse
UN chief briefs US first lady on Myanmar

UN chief Ban Ki-moon briefed US First Lady Laura Bush by phone Tuesday on
the latest Myanmar developments, as the Security Council pursued efforts
to agree on a united response to defuse the crisis.

The first lady's press secretary, Sally McDonough, said Ban thanked US
President George W. Bush's wife for her "unwavering support" for the
people of Myanmar.

Ban also told Bush about the military regime's appointment of deputy labor
minister Aung Kyi to talk with pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years.

"Mrs. Bush believes that the regime's appointment of ... Aung Kyi will be
seen as a genuine effort toward national reconciliation when they release
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners," McDonough said in a
statement.

"Mrs. Bush expressed her hope that the international community will help
to effect positive and peaceful change in Burma (Myanmar)," McDonough
added.

Last week, Laura Bush urged Myanmar's ruling generals to "step aside" and
called on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution calling for a
peaceful transition to democracy.

The US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, expressed hope that
Security Council experts working on a revised presidential statement
deploring the military crackdown in Myanmar would "finalize it today."

The non-binding text would urge Myanmar's rulers to "cease repressive
measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners,
including Aung San Suu Kyi.

During the experts's meeting Monday, China proposed amendments to soften a
statement put forward by the United States, Britain and France Friday
after the council heard a report from UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his
recent mission to Myanmar.

The amendments, backed by several other delegations, called for replacing
the word "condemn" by "strongly deplore" in the draft and dropping a
reference to consideration of "further steps," suggesting instead that the
council continues to monitor the situation.

Unlike a resolution, a so-called presidential statement requires the
consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

Khalilzad had his own message to Myanmar's rulers.

"We believe it is very important that progress be made, that prisoners are
released, that conditions for Aung San Suu Kyii be improved, that she can
prepare for participation in negotiations, that there be negotiations for
a transition," he said.

"The (Myanmar) military as a national institution has its role to play in
a transition and post-transition," Khalilzad said.

But he added that it was "very important that a serious dialogue on
transition begins" and that the international community and regional
players play their role.

He called for an early return of Gambari to Myanmar "to facilitate a
dialogue between the government, the military and the opposition."

China for its part restated its opposition to any strong world pressure
against its close ally Myanmar, warning that it could exacerbate tensions
there.

"Sanctions or pressure will not help to resolve the issues (in Myanmar),"
foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

At least 13 people died and more than 2,100 were locked up in the Myanmar
crackdown as security forces moved to crush protests involving up to
100,000 people with live rounds, baton charges and tear gas.

____________________________________

October 10, Associated Press Online
Senate party leader critic of Myanmar

As soldiers in Myanmar killed and hunted down Buddhist monks and
pro-democracy demonstrators, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stood
up on the Senate floor day after day to berate the country's ruling
generals and cheer the dissidents' courage.

The mild-mannered Kentucky Republican has been Myanmar's fiercest
congressional critic for more than a decade, long before the junta's
crackdown last month sparked condemnation among McConnell's colleagues and
around the world.

More recent advocates for the protesters rock star Bono; President Bush's
wife, Laura; American comedian Jim Carrey are better known. But
McConnell's focus has made his name and message familiar to many in
Myanmar, the southeast Asian country also known as Burma.

Now the top Republican in the Senate, McConnell was, for many years, a
leader of the panel responsible for financing international programs. With
that power, he is credited with putting and keeping Myanmar high on the
agendas of the State Department and White House during times when it
received little public attention.

McConnell, in a recent interview, said the country caught his attention in
the early 1990s when he read about the junta and the pro-democracy
movement it crushed in 1988, killing at least 3,000 people in the process,
and about the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel
Peace laureate under house arrest.

When asked to explain his continuing absorption, McConnell said, "I've had
a long-standing interest; I wish I could claim I've had an impact."

Last week, there was ample evidence of his support for the biggest
anti-government protests in two decades and of his anger at the military
attacks that followed. He sent out daily statements to the news media, he
testified at hearings and pushed a resolution of condemnation, and he
taped a video message of support for the protesters.

Mrs. Bush has been an outspoken advocate for human rights there, departing
from the role she has cut out for herself in the White House as a first
lady who focuses mostly on domestic issues like reading programs and the
arts.

In an interview with USA Today published in Tuesday's editions, she said
the administration is poised to levy additional sanctions against the
government there unless it loosens its grip on the populace.

"The crackdown has been brutal," she told the newspaper.

Some politicians may hesitate to alienate Myanmar's big neighbor, China,
with its booming economy, or Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S. hunt for
terrorists. But they see little downside in taking up Myanmar as a cause.

As a pet issue, though, the country offers few political benefits to
lawmakers, who often adopt causes that appeal to the ethnicity or
interests of the voters in their home states.

Tom Malinowski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, said no
constituency in Kentucky demands action on Myanmar from McConnell. "The
only reason to do what he's doing is because he cares about the issue," he
said.

McConnell, who is married to Elaine Chao, Bush's labor secretary, is known
in Washington as a dedicated conservative. In diplomatic and human rights
circles, his name also is closely associated with Myanmar.

Michael Green, Bush's former senior adviser on Asia, said that during
Bush's first term McConnell and his staff were "considered dangerous,
single-issue sentimentalists" in some parts of the State Department.

Some Asia hands wanted to move beyond the tough U.S. sanctions McConnell
championed and engage the regime, Green said. They argued that China was
making strong inroads in the region because of a U.S. focus on driving
Myanmar's junta out of power through isolation.

Green, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
said McConnell made his case directly to the secretary of state. Senior
officials, he said, "did not want to cross him on Burma" because he had
the power to block support of State Department programs.

Bruce Brown, a deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative
affairs, said top U.S. diplomats often were briefed on Myanmar before
meeting with or testifying before McConnell. "He's a tough guy," Brown
said, "and I say that in a good sort of way."

After years of urging the United Nations and Myanmar's neighbors to step
up pressure, and of blasting the junta from Washington, McConnell's
frustration occasionally emerges. "I can't think of an issue I've spent
more time on, over a longer period of time, and seen less results," he
told colleagues at a recent hearing.

Still, he said in the interview, he has been pulling for the protesters
"and hoping they would stay in the streets and overwhelm this regime with
numbers."

"But it takes great courage," he added, "and it's easy for us to preach
from over here, sitting safely in our offices."

Malinowski said McConnell's advocacy has made him well-known in Myanmar,
largely through foreign radio broadcasts.

In a recent e-mail provided by McConnell's staff, with the request that
the sender not be identified, a Myanmar student studying abroad wrote:
"Your words greatly attract my heart. ... I do believe you will support
our democratic movement till we win."

____________________________________

October 10, Associated Press
New Zealand lawmakers condemn repression, killings in Myanmar

New Zealand lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday to condemn the repression
and killing of anti-junta protesters by the military government in
Myanmar.

Opposition National Party lawmaker Nick Smith moved a formal motion to
"condemn the recent beatings, arrests and killings of peaceful protesters
by the military dictatorship."

It passed without dissent in the 121-member Parliament.

The New Zealand motion calls on the United Nations to take firm measures
to restore democracy and protect the human rights of those being oppressed
in the country formerly known as Burma.

Troops in Myanmar crushed pro-democracy demonstrations with gunfire after
protests that began Aug. 19 over high fuel price rises mushroomed into
broad-based marches by many thousands demanding democratic reforms.

The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll
at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of
monks who led the rallies.

The ruling junta on Monday appointed a Cabinet official to handle contacts
with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as Myanmar faces intense
international pressure to hold talks with the democracy movement.

The U.N. is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy
advocates and a military that has ruled Myanmar since 1962.

____________________________________

October 10, BBC Burmese Service
US says time for transition in Burma

The United States says it's time to prepare for a government transition in
Burma but has accepted there is a role for the military.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the
international community needed to be involved in dialogue for change.

He said the military, as a national institution, also had its part to play.

The US and its allies have prepared a statement at the United Nations
limited to deploring the crushing of pro-Democracy demonstrations and
calling for the release of prisoners.

China has resisted a tougher response at the Security Council.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 9, Straits Times
The only game in town - George Yeo

It was a sad day, that morning at the United Nations, when the Asean
foreign ministers confronted their Myanmar counterpart over the brutal
crackdown on demonstrators in Yangon. We had just received reports of
automatic weapons being used. The Thai foreign minister said to me with
great sadness that the killing of Buddhist monks was particularly
opprobrious.

Asean issued a strong statement expressing our horror and our anger. We
had been reluctant to do so because Myanmar is a member of the Asean
family. For some time now, we had stopped trying to defend Myanmar
internationally because it became no longer credible.

But we refrained from publicly castigating its government. This time, we
had no choice. The honour of the family was at stake and the people of
Myanmar would not forgive us if we kept silent.

When Western countries cheered us for speaking out, it worried us.
Strident calls to bring down the regime showed a lack of understanding of
the problem. It cannot be assumed that, out of the ashes, a new
resplendent Myanmar will automatically rise. That the old way persisted in
by the military government since 1988 cannot work is clear. But the way
forward is not so clear.

Like in Indonesia, the Myanmar army played a major role in the founding of
the state. It was Aung San Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, who founded that
army. He remains a national icon and part of his prestige has passed on to
his daughter. Ironically, the institution which her father established
became her tormentor.

This emotional entanglement is part of the complexity in the Myanmar
situation today. After he stepped down, the old leader Ne Win, often
suspected of being still a power behind the scenes, would occasionally
visit Singapore for medical treatment. Sometimes, he would meet former
prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

Whenever they discussed Ms Suu Kyi, Ne Win always referred to her as 'my
leader's daughter', never in a pejorative way, despite her being an
implacable opponent of the military government's policies. The military
leaders know she retains a certain moral authority because of her father
and her landslide victory in the 1990 elections. They have to accord her a
certain respect. She in turn knows that national reconciliation must
involve the military.

Achieving national conciliation will not be easy. The military government
has been trying to marginalise her and the National League for Democracy
without success. The recent demonstrations, especially the large-scale
involvement of Buddhist monks, have strengthened her hand. Attempts by the
government to intimidate the population can only succeed in the short
term. However, if either side takes brinkmanship too far, the result will
be a great tragedy for the people of Myanmar.

The role of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is crucial. A
gifted Nigerian diplomat, he has somehow managed to earn the trust of both
sides. That the military leaders allowed him access to Ms Suu Kyi on two
occasions in the past was a sign that they wanted to negotiate, albeit on
their terms. That she asked him to continue playing that role showed that
she too is prepared to negotiate, provided the military leaders are
serious.

The negotiation will be tough and protracted but it is our best hope for
the country. If Mr Gambari fails, the future will be bleak. There are some
observers who believe that the issue must be forced now. That point may
yet come but we should give peaceful negotiation our best shot. If the
Chileans had tried to force the issue with (General Augusto) Pinochet,
their transition to democracy would have been bathed in blood.

The alternative cannot but be violent. Many ethnic groups in Myanmar
resent majority Burman rule. While their peace agreement with the Yangon
government still holds, a number of these groups are still armed and can
easily return to insurgency. The border regions remain largely unpacified.

The fact is that without the army playing a major role in any future
solution, Myanmar cannot hold together. Historian Thant Myint-U, the
grandson of the third UN secretary-general U Thant and no apologist of the
regime, warned recently that sudden change in Myanmar can lead to
Iraq-type anarchy. It is precisely to win over the minorities that the
military government changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar some
years ago. It is, however, a change that Western countries refused to
accept in order not to confer legitimacy on the government.

Myanmar is a buffer state between China and India. If the country
dissolves into civil war, both these giant neighbours will be dragged in
willy-nilly. For this reason, keeping Myanmar in the Asean family is in
everyone's best interest, including the West's.

When Mr Gambari was dispatched by the UN Secretary-General to Myanmar last
week, with the full authority of the Security Council, we in Asean gave
him our full support. He is our best bet and the only game in town.

China played a helpful role in helping secure the meetings he had. Japan
has decided to cut aid to Myanmar but is keeping close to the Asean
position. The United States and Europe are stepping up their sanctions
against Myanmar. Skilfully done, concerted international action can
strengthen Mr Gambari's hand and help bring about a happy outcome.

The writer is Singapore's Foreign Minister.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services

____________________________________

October 10, Wall Street Journal
Stop the terror in Burma - Laura Bush

It is 2 a.m. in Rangoon, Burma. In the middle of the tropical night, army
troops pour into the neighborhood surrounding a peaceful Buddhist
monastery. The soldiers occupy nearby homes, so that residents will not
peek through their windows or go outside to witness the raid. Troops then
storm the monastery, brutalizing, terrorizing and arresting the monks
inside.

 Eventually the monks are imprisoned inside Rangoon's former Government
Technical Institute. According to one eyewitness, hundreds are crammed
into each room. They have no access to toilets or sanitary facilities.
Many of the monks refuse food from their military jailers. There is no
space to lie down and sleep.

These are the stories of Burma's "Saffron Revolution." The protests that
started a few weeks ago with a 500% spike in regime-controlled gas prices
have now unleashed 19 years of pent-up national anger. As the
demonstrations play out on front pages, computer monitors, and TV screens
across the globe, millions of people have been inspired by the sea of
orange-robed Buddhist monks standing up to the military dictatorship.

Millions have also been stunned by the junta's shameful response:
nonviolent demonstrators struck down with batons, tear gas, smoke grenades
and bullets; civilians, including children, seized at random; innocent men
and women slain.

The generals' reign of fear has subdued the protests -- for now. But while
the streets of Burma may be eerily quiet, the hearts of the Burmese people
are not: 2007 is not 1988, when the regime's last major anti-democracy
crackdown killed 3,000 and left the junta intact. Today, people everywhere
know about the regime's atrocities. They are disgusted by the junta's
abuses of human rights. This swelling outrage presents the generals with
an urgent choice: Be part of Burma's peaceful transition to democracy, or
get out of the way for a government of the Burmese people's choosing.

Whatever last shred of legitimacy the junta had among its own citizens has
vanished. The regime's stranglehold on information is slipping; thanks to
new technologies, people throughout Burma know about the junta's assaults.
The public mood is said to be "a mixture of fear, depression,
hopelessness, and seething anger." According to reports from Rangoon, "The
regime's heavy-handed tactics against the revered clergy and peaceful
demonstrators have turned many of the politically neutral in favor of the
recent demonstrators."

The international community, too, is distancing itself. On Saturday,
during a "Global Day of Action for Burma," thousands of people marched
through dozens of cities -- from Kuala Lumpur to London, Sydney to Paris
-- in solidarity with the monks. Spiritual leaders, including Pope
Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama, have enlisted millions of faithful to
pray for peace and justice in Burma.

Governments from Spain to Estonia to Panama to Australia have voiced their
disapproval. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has denounced the
generals' actions as "repulsive." Burma's neighbor, Malaysia, has urged
the regime to hold "unconditional" talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of
Burma's popularly elected National League for Democracy party. India, one
of Burma's closest trading partners, has called for an inquiry into the
regime's crackdown, and encouraged the junta to hasten the process of
political reform.

On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the
regime's violent repression as "abhorrent and unacceptable." Yesterday,
Mr. Ban called me to say that he will send the U.N.'s special envoy to
Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, back to the region "as soon as possible." Mr.
Gambari will coordinate with Burma's neighboring governments, encouraging
them to use their influence with the junta to bring about a transfer of
power.

And last week, the United States led an effort to put Burma, for the first
time in history, on the agenda of the U.N. Security Council. The United
States expects that the Security Council -- especially permanent members
Russia and China, who typically support Burma's military dictatorship --
will keep pressure on the regime.

The junta has also shut itself off economically. Money talks -- and we
know it speaks to those who rule the country, Gen. Than Shwe and his
deputies. One of last week's more promising developments was the general's
statement indicating, for the first time, his willingness to meet with Ms.
Suu Kyi -- but on the condition that she "stop calling for economic
sanctions." The junta is feeling the financial squeeze.

The economic pressure will only grow more intense. Last week, the European
Union tightened its sanctions against the regime; over the weekend,
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for harsher measures. Amid
growing outrage over the murder of a Japanese journalist, Japan -- one of
the largest providers of aid to Burma -- is likely to suspend assistance.

President Bush has directed the U.S. Treasury Department to freeze the
assets of 14 senior members of the Burmese junta. Our State Department has
identified top junta officials and their immediate families -- more than
200 people -- as subject to a ban on entry into the U.S., and President
Bush is preparing further U.S. sanctions against the dictatorship.

Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies are a friendless regime. They should step
aside to make way for a unified Burma governed by legitimate leaders. The
rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition -- there is room
for a professional military in a democratic Burma. In fact, one of Burma's
military heroes was also a beloved champion of Burmese freedom: General
Aung San, the late father of Aung San Suu Kyi.

As part of a peaceful transition process, the generals must immediately
stop their terror campaigns against their own people. They must commit to
a meaningful, unrestricted dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other
opposition leaders -- including the demonstrating monks, the 88 Generation
Students and members of Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
The junta has taken a small, promising first step by appointing its deputy
labor minister as a liaison to Ms. Suu Kyi. Now, the regime must release
her -- and all members of the political opposition -- so they can meet and
plan a strategy for Burma's transition to democracy.

Meanwhile, the world watches -- and waits. We know that Gen. Than Shwe and
his deputies have the advantage of violent force. But Ms. Suu Kyi and
other opposition leaders have moral legitimacy, the support of the Burmese
people and the support of the world. The regime's position grows weaker by
the day. The generals' choice is clear: The time for a free Burma is now.

Mrs. Bush is first lady of the United States.

____________________________________

October 10, China Post
Status quo on Burma is untenable

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva,
adopted a resolution deploring beatings, killings and arbitrary
detentions, and called for the junta to allow an investigator into the
country.

There is a danger that not much will follow from these developments. For
one thing, China and Russia still oppose sanctions preferred by the United
States and European countries.

Moreover, despite the Human Rights Council resolution, Myanmar refuses to
allow a special rapporteur to visit and there isn't much the council can
do about it.

But while Western countries may be stymied, Asian countries can actually
take action if they want to. The ASEAN has already issued a strong
statement condemning the violence in Myanmar. It should now follow up by
actively considering either the expulsion or suspension of Myanmar at its
summit next month, scheduled for Singapore.

But many Asian countries still appear reluctant to act. At the Human
Rights Council session, the Indian delegate even regretted the fact that
the council had not taken a "non-condemnatory" approach.

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, while
acknowledging that there are serious problems in Myanmar that need to be
fixed, insisted that what was important is the "right approach."

"Pressure will not help address the problem but might lead to mistrust and
confrontation, and even cut off the current channel of dialogue and
cooperation between Myanmar and the United Nations," he said after Gambari
briefed the council on his visit. "The Security Council should adopt a
prudent and responsible approach while handling the issue of Myanmar."

However, this is not necessarily China's last word on the subject. There
is still room for China and other members of the international community
to try to nudge Myanmar into adopting more civilized forms of behavior
toward its own people.

Since a binding resolution appears out of the question, the United States,
Britain and France are working on a draft statement which, while not
legally binding, would carry the moral authority of the Security Council.
If this is approved by all 15 members of the Council, including China, it
could still send a powerful message to Myanmar's generals.

For its part, Myanmar appears to be serious about a meeting with the
opposition leader, who is under house arrest. The government has appointed
a senior official to act as a liaison official for any contacts with her,
a move suggested by Mr. Gambari. This means that there is a chance for the
United Nations to urge the junta to open a dialogue with the opposition
for the purpose of national reconciliation, a goal supported by China.

In fact, since China acknowledges that there are serious problems in
Myanmar, it may be willing to sign on to a statement -- though not a
binding resolution -- that admonishes Myanmar to foster a dialogue as the
first move toward genuine democratization. Both dialogue and
democratization are objectives that are supported by China.

It would help if Indonesia, the only ASEAN country on the Security
Council, could also play a leadership role in the drafting of such a
statement. Indonesia had abstained in January when the Security Council
considered a resolution on Myanmar, but now that ASEAN itself has taken a
position, it should be easier for Jakarta to act.

Even while putting some pressure on Myanmar, China still tries to show
that it is not being judgmental. In fact, it goes so far as to treat the
repressive government and the victims of repression with an even hand. Li
Baodong, China's representative to the U.N. office in Geneva, urged "all
parties to use restraint" at the Human Rights Council meeting.

Whatever China says in public, it should realize that this is a time for
it to be pushing for progress in Myanmar behind the scenes. This is not a
time for restraint. The status quo is clearly untenable. China and other
Asian countries should show the world that they stand on the side of
justice and humanity, not side by side with the junta.

Frank.ching at gmail.com

____________________________________

October 10, Bangkok Post
Dependent on Burma for our gas - Boonsong Kositchotethana

Like it or not, Thailand does not have the luxury of pulling out of the
oil and gas sector in military-ruled Burma, as advocated by activists in
the wake of the bloody crackdown on peaceful demonstrations two weeks ago.

Thailand is facing a dilemma. While it frowns on the repressive Burmese
regime, it has little choice but to be on good terms with them when it
comes to natural gas supplies. The kingdom is and will remain heavily
reliant on gas delivery from its western neighbour, particularly from the
fields in the Gulf of Martaban, to meet its growing appetite for gas,
needed for power generation. By 2012, Thailand will need to raise its gas
supply by roughly 2 billion cubic feet (Bcfd) from 3 Bcfd currently.

Thailand's power demand is projected to grow by 5-6% a year, or an average
of 1,400 MW a year. Thailand's most recent peak power demand registered on
March 28 was at 21,896.4 MW.

Burma's proven gas reserves, at 19 trillion cubic feet at the end of 2006
according to the BP Plc, offer sizable energy supplies for Thailand than
other possible indigenous and overseas sources currently identified.
Furthermore, natural gas from the offshore Burmese fields offers good
economic value and security of supply for Thailand.

The Burmese gas is of relatively good quality, competitively priced at
least when compared to other overseas sources; being closer to us, it can
be economically and securely piped to us for an extended period of over 20
years.

Other gas imports, in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), from Iran
now under negotiation, will be at least twice as expensive as the Burmese
gas when it reaches the shores of Rayong in 2012. LNG supplies from other
sources such as Algeria, Australia, Qatar, Egypt and South Africa are no
less costly.

Meanwhile, the chance of finding any more sizable gas reserves in the Gulf
of Thailand is limited, while there are uncertainties about securing
substantial gas supplies from neighbouring countries including the huge
Natuna gas field in Indonesia.

To bring to Thailand the Natuna gas, which is inferior to the Burmese gas
due to its high carbon dioxide content (70%), a 2,000km pipeline needs to
be laid at a cost of more than 100 billion baht, thus raising the question
of economic viability for such an undertaking.

For these very reasons, which Burma knows very well, Thailand has to close
one eye to the human right abuses and continue to engage in petroleum
development in Burma, which activists say is providing funding for a
repressive regime. Burma has been an important source of gas supply for
Thailand for more than eight years now, with the offshore Yadana and
Yetagun fields, in which Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production Plc has a
stake, delivering about about 1 Bcfd, representing over 20% of the
kingdom's current gas supply.

In fact, Burma would not really care if the Thai state-controlled energy
firms PTT Plc and its exploration arm PTTEP, opt out from its gas scene,
in the knowledge that companies from other countries including China,
Burma's staunchest diplomatic protector and largest trading partner, and
India are keen to take Thailand's place.

There are also firms from South Korea and other countries jostling for
access to the country's hydrocarbon reserves to feed their growing thirst
for energy.

In spite of the economic sanctions, several foreign oil firms are active
in Burma _ nine are engaged in 16 onshore blocks, another nine
international energy groups are operating in 29 offshore blocks.

There is no easy solution out of this dilemma for Thailand, which has no
one but itself to blame for becoming too dependent on natural gas, which
generates over 70% of all electricity. This reliance on gas for power
generation could balloon to as much as 90% if the country does not
seriously engage in conservation and continues to shun alternative energy
such as coal-fired plants and nuclear power, which are being vigorously
opposed by eco-activists.

Any move to curtail current and future gas supplies from Burma needs to be
carefully considered, as it could jeopardise Thailand's energy lifeline.

Also, Thailand will need to play a balancing act between its economic
interests, and politics which are sensitive to the global community's
views regarding Burma.

Boonsong Kositchotethana is Deputy Assignment Editor (Business), Bangkok
Post.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 10, Jewelers of America
JA appeals to Congress and issues advice to members concerning purchases
of Burmese gemstones

New York – Jewelers of America (JA), representing 11,000 member stores in
the United States, has sent letters to Congress and issued an advisory to
its members, detailing its deep concern about the current unrest in Burma
and its military government's longstanding human rights violations.

In light of the continuing lack of democratic freedoms in Burma, as
evidenced by recent events in the country, JA has asked Congress to amend
the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003, which bans the importation of
products from Burma, so that it includes gemstones mined in that country.
JA also has asked that this amendment remain effective until such time as
Burma agrees to the democratic reforms articulated in a proposed January
2007 resolution put before the United Nations Security Council.

The proposed January 2007 U.N. resolution, which did not pass, called for
national reconciliation and democratization in Burma, the release of all
political prisoners, an end to human-rights abuses in the country, and the
inclusion of opposition and ethnic minorities in dialogue leading to a
genuine democratic transition. While the majority of the Security Council
(including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Italy)
supported the resolution, others, including China, exercised their veto
powers to reject it.

"Jewelers of America has also taken immediate steps to inform its members
about the situation in Burma and to advise them to source their gemstones
in a manner that respects human rights," says JA President and CEO Matthew
A. Runci. "JA members believe it is their responsibility to support and
respect the protection of international human rights within their sphere
of influence and to make sure the sourcing of gemstones is not complicit
in human rights abuses, in line with the commitments they assume as
members of Jewelers of America. These commitments include adherence to the
principles of U.N. Global Compact, which JA has agreed to support."

JA members agree to the association's Statement of Principles, which
articulates their support of the U.N. Global Compact. To see the complete
Statement of Principles go to:
www.jewelers.org/aboutJA/responsibility.html

Some of the steps JA has asked its members to take include contacting
their suppliers to ascertain whether any of the gems they supply are from
Burma. Members should also seek, on all future orders placed, written
assurances from their suppliers that they will not knowingly supply any
gems mined in Burma, until the process of democratic reform has started in
that country.

Jewelers of America is committed to the action plan outlined above and
believes this is the quickest way possible to make certain our members can
assure themselves, and their customers, that they are doing their part to
help end the human rights abuses ongoing in Burma.

For more information about Jewelers of America, visit www.jewelers.org.

Peggy Jo Donahue
Director of Public Affairs
Jewelers of America
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: 646-658-5802
Fax: 646-658-0256
e-mail: pjdonahue at jewelers.org
website: www.jewelers.org