BurmaNet News, November 15, 2007

[Editor]

November 15, 2007 Issue # 3343

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Pinheiro meet prominent Burmese political prisoners
BBC News: Burma monks not ready to forgive
Irrawaddy: Leading monk charged with treason
Irrawaddy: 80,000 Karenni villagers become IDPs
Irrawaddy: Ethnic ceasefire groups told to sign statement against Suu Kyi
DVB: Ethnic parties welcome Daw Suu statement

BUSINESS / TRADE
Bangkok Post: The politics of doing business with a brutal regime
The Daily Telegraph: Burma's 'desperate' military junta to sell pounds
150m gems

ASEAN
Bloomberg: Myanmar junta thinks country has democracy, Ong says

REGIONAL
Bloomberg: Sudarsono says elections in Myanmar wouldn't reduce army's role
The Korea Times: DJ to call for ‘Myanmar Democratization’

INTERNATIONAL
USA TODAY: 'Rambo' is on a mission in Burma; Stallone goes for redemption
Mizzima News: Canada joins the sanctions train
BBC Burmese Service: The British government expected Mr Gambari to achieve
more

OPINION / OTHER
The American Prospect: Burma post- clampdown: what should be done?

OBITUARY
Irrawaddy: Ralph Bachoe, journalist, dies

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 15, Associated Press
Pinheiro meet prominent Burmese political prisoners

A UN human rights investigator said he was able to meet with several
prominent political prisoners before ending his five-day mission to Burma
on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro went to Insein Prison in
Rangoon, Burma's largest city, where he was able to talk with several
political detainees, including labor activist Su Su Nway, who was arrested
Tuesday, he told a news conference at Rangoon's airport.

He also met with 77-year-old journalist Win Tin, held since 1989, and
members of the 88 Generation Students group, who have been especially
active in nonviolent anti-government protests in recent years.

Pinheiro did not reveal details of their conversations.

Pinheiro was sent by the UN to investigate allegations of widespread abuse
during the junta's bloody September crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
His five-day mission, which ends Thursday, was aimed at determining the
numbers of people detained and killed by the regime.

The military government said 10 people were killed when troops opened fire
on crowds of peaceful protesters September 26 and 27. Diplomats and
dissidents, however, say the death toll was much higher.

The government has acknowledged detaining nearly 3,000 people but says it
has released most of them. Many prominent political activists, however,
remain in custody. Pinheiro had said he was determined to gain access to
prisons and other sites to assess allegations of abuse.

Pinheiro told diplomats Wednesday that the junta had assured him he could
interview detainees at Insein Prison before leaving, according to one of
the diplomats, who asked not to be named, citing protocol.

Pinheiro already visited the prison Monday, but was only given access to
officials.

Insein has held numerous political prisoners over the years. Many former
inmates describe torture, abysmal conditions and long stretches in
solitary confinement.

Reporters who followed his convoy Thursday saw Pinheiro enter the prison
compound but could not accompany him further.

Pinheiro's trip has otherwise been dominated by meetings with junta
officials. He had been given access to several detention centers in
Rangoon, but had not been allowed to meet any prisoners.

Despite worldwide criticism, the junta continued its crackdown on
suspected protesters during Pinheiro's visit.

The latest to be nabbed were three people handing out anti-regime
pamphlets Wednesday at a fruit and vegetable market in Rangoon, witnesses
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared government
reprisals.

The incident followed earlier arrests of two prominent dissidents.

Su Su Nway, a prominent activist who had been on the run for more than two
months, was arrested Tuesday morning in Rangoon as she tried to place a
leaflet near a hotel where Pinheiro was staying, said exiled Burmese
dissidents in Thailand.

U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped spearhead the pro-democracy
demonstrations in Rangoon, was arrested several days ago, said Stanley
Aung of the Thailand-based dissident group National League for
Democracy-Liberated Area.

Monks inspired and led the movement until it was brutally crushed in
September. The authorities began their crackdown by raiding several
monasteries in Rangoon in the middle of the night and hauling monks away.

____________________________________

November 15, BBC News
Burma monks not ready to forgive

Burma’s ruling generals have targeted Buddhist monks as they seek to
silence dissent following September’s protests. On a recent trip to the
city of Mandalay, reporter Reena Sethi was given rare access to a
monastery.

A small door in the wood-carved panelled wall creaks open to reveal a
startled monk, his maroon robe hanging loose around his waist. The door
closes again.

A minute later, the monk reappears fully dressed and gestures us to squat
on the smooth teak floor of the ancient temple. He seats himself on a
stool.

For any casual visitor it looked as if he was teaching - but he had other
things on his mind.

“As monks, we see everything. When we beg for our food we see how the rich
live and the poor
 we see how everything is getting worse and worse,” he
says.

It is hard to meet a monk who is prepared to talk to foreign journalists.
Many have gone into hiding or are under guard - either in their
monasteries or in detention centres.

“More and more people struggle to give us rice. They want to, but they
have to spare it for their own mouths.”

To protest against the worsening hardship, monks took to the streets
during September in Mandalay, as they did in other towns across Burma.

When asked if the protests were over, the monk’s eyes sparkled and around
his lips flickered a mischievous smile.

“We are half-way - if nothing changes we will go on the streets again,” he
says.

Although his monastery did not join the thousands of young monks in their
street protests, he says they supported the movement, which “was very well
organised”.

‘Empty monasteries’

In contrast with Rangoon, the soldiers and government thugs in Mandalay
did not kill any monks or raid the monasteries.

“The soldiers didn’t shoot us because it is still more a community here.
We all know each other and in every family there is a monk, a soldier, a
government worker and a dissident,” the monk says.

When the security forces threatened to arrest the young monks, the abbots
gave them permission to travel, despite a religious prohibition on
travelling during Buddhist Lent.

“Of the 2,800 monks in one of the main monasteries, only 200 remain,” he
adds.

As one Rangoon-based intellectual puts it: “Never in our history have the
monasteries been so empty.”

The sense of desolation is especially acute in Mandalay, Burma’s cultural
and religious heartland, and the centre of the monastic community, or
sangha, of monks and nuns.

The most influential Buddhist universities are in and around the city and
in nearby Sagaing, across the Irrawaddy river.

The young monks from these training institutes took part in the marches.

“They are sophisticated, well informed young men - partly because of
access to the internet, partly because of foreign teachers, many of whom
are Japanese,” according to a journalist who met some of them a year ago.

They had been working for some time on a strategy to get rid of the regime
in co-operation with veterans of the abortive uprising of 1988.

The monks had been studying Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience philosophy
and the Buddhist scriptures.

One triumphantly points to a passage giving monks the obligation to
intervene when Buddhism is under threat or when rulers breach moral laws
and the people suffer too much.

In Burma’s case, as one young monk who fled to the border with Thailand
argues, all of those conditions apply.

The Buddhist clergy in Burma have served as a counter-weight to oppressive
government throughout history - a point conspicuously ignored by the
Burmese state media, which labelled the protesting clergy “bogus monks”.

Banishment call

Aware of the power of the sangha, successive military regimes have courted
the clergy, yet have attempted to diminish its influence.

The current regime, lead by Gen Than Shwe, has taken both policies to new
heights.

It has developed a role for itself, in mimicry of ancient kings, as a
religious patron.

The generals queue almost daily to offer donations and oversee openings of
new religious institutions.

In a country with as many monks as soldiers, people in the teashops joke:
“In Burma we have only two colours on our televisions - orange and green.”

Simultaneously, the government exercises control through its own council
of carefully groomed senior monks - or Sangha Nayaka.

Despite this, resistance continues to emerge. Last month, a new group, the
All Burma Monks Alliance, called for nationwide protests.

It described the junta as a “common enemy of all our citizens” that needed
to be banished from Burmese soil forever.

The ultimate sanction - the most powerful weapon the sangha has against
the regime - is to deny it merit.

The monk in the Mandalay monastery says he refuses to accept alms from the
anyone serving in the army, the police or their families.

As elsewhere, soldiers and police officers come to the monastery begging
for forgiveness for hurting the monks.

“But we can not forgive them,” the monk says.

“They have committed a capital sin and that is unforgivable.”

____________________________________

November 15, Irrawaddy
Leading monk charged with treason - Wai Moe

A 29 year-old leading monk in the recent mass demonstrations, U Gambira,
has been charged with treason by the Burmese junta, according to his
family. The punishment for high treason in Burma is a life sentence or
death.

His mother told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that authorities told U
Gambira’s family that he is charged with treason for his leading role in
the September mass demonstrations.

U Gambira was arrested from a hiding place in Kyaukse, central Burma, in
early November. “They [the security forces] also arrested his father at
the time,” said U Gambira’s mother.

U Gambira, leader of the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks, which
played a significant role in the September demonstrations, had been in
hiding since the demonstrations were violently suppressed by the
authorities.

U Gambira was born in the town of Pauk in central Burma. He has three
brothers and one sister.

“I am very worried,” said his mother. “I am so sad for my son and my
husband. They might be tortured during interrogation. But I am proud of
him [U Gambira]. Since his childhood, my son has been active in helping
other people.”

The monk’s father, Min Lwin, is believed to be in Burma’s infamous Insein
Prison, said U Gambira’s mother.

U Gambira’s brother, Kyaw Kyaw, was also arrested in October as an
exchange while the monk was in hiding. But his brother has not been freed
since the monk’s capture. His mother and three other family members were
also detained and interrogated before he was arrested.

In October, the mother and mother-in-law of an activist, Thet Thet Aung,
were also detained as the authorities called for an exchange with the
fugitive activist. Human rights organizations claim this form of arresting
activists’ family members is simply “taking hostages.”

In the past, monk leaders have been charged with treason for their leading
roles in peaceful demonstrations. In 1989, U Kawira, a leading monk from
Mandalay, was sentenced to death for treason. He was a monk leader during
the 1988 uprising.

____________________________________

November 15, Irrawaddy
80,000 Karenni villagers become IDPs - Saw Yan Naing

More than 80,000 Karenni people have become Internally Displaced Persons,
currently hiding in new villages, rebuilt villages and forced relocation
sites, following Burmese army operations, according to the surveys of
field sources in Karenni State.

The survey said that those IDPs were from Mawchi and Pasaung villages in
western Karenni State, as well as urban areas such as Bawlake, Demawso,
Pruso, Loikaw and Lawpita in Karenni State, according to field relief
teams.

Khu Oo Reh, Joint Secretary of Karenni National Progressive Party, told
The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “Those IDP are from all over Karenni State, not
only in the jungle, but also in the urban areas. They [the civilians] have
been surviving as IDPs for years. Some are still hiding in the jungle and
some have escaped to the Thai-Burmese border,” said Khu Oo Reh.

The coordinator of the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Centre, Khu
Daniel, who is also member of the relief team, Free Burma Rangers, said
that about 30,000 displaced persons are still hiding in the jungles in
Karenni state, aided by internal relief teams, humanitarian organizations
and Karenni rights groups. “We help them by offering food. Some relief
groups help them with education as well,” said Khu Daniel.

Khu Oo Reh also said that fighting between Burmese and KNPP armies has
broken out at least six times in the past month and more than 150 clashes
have occurred since the beginning of 2007.

Meanwhile, Pasaung-based Burma army units, such as infantry battalions 134
and 135, and Light Infantry Battalion 530, are currently operating in
southwestern Karenni State, according to a report by the internal relief
team, the Free Burma Rangers.

The Burmese troops are providing security for the construction of the
Mawchi—Pasaung Road and the Mawchi goldmines, as well as patrolling north
from Pasaung and Bawlake in Karenni State, added the report.

A curfew in those areas has been enforced and villagers are not allowed to
move at night or stay overnight in their farm huts, said sources.

According to the FBR report, the Burmese army also uses two proxy armed
forces, the Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front and the Karenni
National Solidarity Organization, to control local trade and civilians,
and attack the KNPP.

There are a total of 28 Burmese army battalions presently operating in
Karenni State, says the report.

Meanwhile, more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma—mainly in Karenni and
Karen states—have been documented as being forcibly displaced between 1996
and 2007, according to a survey by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.

An estimated 81,000 people are currently displaced within Karenni State,
the majority of those living in chronic poverty in ceasefire areas
administered by Karenni ceasefire groups, including the KNPLF.

The most vulnerable of the internally displaced civilians are about 10,000
villagers who are hiding from joint-Burmese -Karenni ceasefire groups in
Shadaw, Pruso and Pasaung townships, according to the survey.

____________________________________

November 15, Irrawaddy
Ethnic ceasefire groups told to sign statement against Suu Kyi - Wai Moe

The Burmese government has coerced several ethnic ceasefire groups and
other ethnic parties to sign a written statement saying Aung Suu San Kyi’s
has no leadership role among ethnic nationalities, according to reliable
sources.

State-run newspapers have recently run statements from several ethnic
groups' which are critical of Suu Kyi. Observers say the statements are an
effort to drive a wedge between pro-democracy groups and ethnic groups.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Kachin Defense Army (KDA), the Kokant
Army and the Shan State Army (North) met with government officials in
Lashio in northern Shan State. Military officials called the leaders to
sign a statement that was already written by unknown parties, sources
close to the ceasefire groups told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

“Three days ago, the junta’s Minister of Culture, Brig-Gen Khin Aung
Myint, arrived to Lashio. On November 12, officials of the North-East
Regional Command told leaders of ceasefire groups to come to Lashio by
November 13. Wa’s deputy chairman was among them. The leaders of four
ceasefire groups met with minister Khin Aung Myint and the regional
commander on November 14,” said the source.

“The military officials brought anti-Daw Aung San Suu Kyi statements,
already written, to the meeting. Leaders of the groups were told to sign
the statements,” the source said.

Two ceasefire groups, the UWSA and Kokant, did not sign the statements
during the meeting, and the SSA told authorities that it would reply to
their request by November 15. UWSA is said to have an estimated 20,000
troops which is the biggest ceasefire group.

Meanwhile, the state-run-press has published the statements of other
ethnic groups.

The statements in The New Light of Myanmar said they welcomed the meeting
between Suu Kyi and the liaison officer, ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi. The
statements said Suu Kyi does not represent ethnic groups, referring to her
statement on November 8, which was conveyed by UN envoy Ishmael Gambari.

In the statement, Suu Kyi said, “In this time of vital need for democratic
solidarity and national unity, it is my duty to give constant and serious
considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of
political organizations and forces as possible, in particular those of our
ethnic nationality races.”

Nyan Win, a spokesperson of the Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy,
denied the allegations in junta newspapers that Suu Kyi claimed to
represent ethnic groups.

“This kind of allegation is delaying ongoing dialogue and the national
reconciliation process,” said Nyan Win.

On November 10, twelve ethnic parties based inside  Burma issued
statements that welcomed Suu Kyi’s November 8 statement and called for
tripartite dialogue.

“We welcome dialogue between the ruling, pro- democracy forces led by Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic nationalities,” said the
statement.

The exiled ethnic umbrella group, Ethnic Nationalities Council, also
welcomed Suu Kyi's November 9 statement.

____________________________________

November 15, Reuters
Myanmar ferry capsizes, 23 missing

Another 147 passengers were rescued on Tuesday night when the vessel sank
in the Chindwin River.

At least 23 people were missing and presumed drowned when a ferry capsized
in a river in northwest Myanmar, official newspapers reported on Thursday.

Another 147 passengers were rescued on Tuesday night when the vessel sank
in the Chindwin River, 890 miles (1,400 km) northwest of Yangon, the
former Burma's main city, the Myanma Alin reported.

It was the third major boat accident reported by state media this year in
the army-ruled country where sinkings and collisions involving overloaded
vessels are common.

At least 10 people died in a boat accident near Yangon in May and 20
passengers were killed in March when their vessel capsized in the Toe
River near the former capital.

____________________________________

November 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Ethnic parties welcome Daw Suu statement

An alliance of ethnic political parties has issued a statement welcoming
detained National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s
willingness to cooperate with the junta in constructive dialogue.

The United Nationalities Alliance, an umbrella group made up of 12 ethnic
political groups, said in their statement, dated 10 November, that they
were very pleased to hear of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s commitment to “pursue
the path of dialogue constructively”.

“We, the ethnic political parties, which are committed to the cause of
promoting democracy and national reconciliation, full enjoyment of human
rights for all citizens, peace and unity among the people of all
nationalities, and dialogue between the Government, forces led by Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, and representatives of the ethnic nationalities to find a
solution, issue this statement to wholeheartedly welcome her statement,”
said the statement.

The statement was signed by all the ethnic parties represented in the UNA:
the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the Mon National Democratic
Front, the Zomi National Congress, the Arakan League for Democracy, the
Chin National League for Democracy, the Karen National Congress for
Democracy, the Kachin State National Congress for Democracy, the Kayah
State All Nationalities League for Democracy, the Democratic Organization
for Kayan National Unity, the Mara People's Party, the Shan State Kokang
Democratic Party and the Arakan People's Democratic Front.

In her statement, which was read by United Nations special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari on 8 November, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stressed the importance of
taking the views of ethnic political groups into account in any
negotiations with the regime.

The state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar has tried to counter this
support for the NLD leader by publishing five statements today from
“political parties and national race armed groups that have returned to
the legal fold” objecting to the suggestion that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
would represent them in talks.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 15, Bangkok Post
The politics of doing business with a brutal regime - Matthew Smith

In the 5th century BC a group of intellectuals emerged in Greece teaching
the art of rhetoric. Dubbed the sophists, from the Greek sophos, meaning
wisdom, the group specialised in teaching and practicing the skills of
persuasion. To be well-versed in sophistry meant that you got what you
wanted through sophisticated arguments. But as Plato and others
recognised, a problem with sophistry was that it often had nothing to do
with truth and justice. Since Sept 26-28, when the regime in Burma opened
fire on monk-led protesters and intensified its campaign against suspected
dissidents, private and national oil and gas corporations have publicly
defended their interests and investments in Burma.

Some are better sophists than others.

Chevron Corporation of the US, Total of France, China's CNOOC, and
Thailand's PTTEP, all with large interests in Burma's oil and gas
deposits, have separately claimed that their projects benefit the people
of Burma. PTTEP and CNOOC did not say specifically why they think so, but
Chevron and Total did, citing arguable statistics about public health and
educational improvements.

Despite these claims, the repression in Burma is now clear to the entire
world. And despite the junta's abuses, Burma is home to the fastest
growing oil and gas industry in Southeast Asia.

Companies from Thailand, France and the US have been there for years, but
it was a huge natural gas discovery in Burma's Bay of Bengal by South
Korea's Daewoo International in 2004 that provided other firms with the
confidence they had previously lacked. This ushered in a veritable gas
boom that now involves 23 companies from 14 countries, operating 33
onshore and offshore projects in Burma, according to official statistics.

These investments require by law a 50:50 joint-venture partnership with
the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

Foreign companies receive a contractual right to explore for oil and gas,
and bring the capital and expertise the junta lacks. In the event of a
commercially viable discovery, MOGE steps in at the production phase to
collect half the revenue, having risked nothing in the process. Nearly all
the natural gas is exported.

Approximately 35% of foreign direct investment in Burma is in the oil and
gas sector, and exports to Thailand last year generated US$2.16 billion
(73.44 billion baht). According to the Shwe Gas Movement report Supply and
Command, and later corroborated by Human Rights Watch, another US$12-17
billion (408-578 billion baht) is on the way from the Daewoo-led Shwe gas
project.

Theoretically, the regime would starve in the absence of corporate
backing. Unfortunately, losing this support is not a real threat to the
junta for at least two reasons, both of which present deep problems in
terms of human rights.

First, Burma has resources everyone wants. Financial incentives created by
the rising cost of oil and regional energy demands have so far trumped
ethical challenges to the corporations, even amidst nationwide manhunts,
the killing of pro-democracy protesters, and direct human rights and
environmental impact from previous natural gas projects. There's money to
be made and economies to expand, notably those of India, China and
Thailand, Burma's largest trading partners.

Second, most corporations prioritise one legal duty above all others, and
that is to maximise profit for their shareholders. If backing a murderous
junta is profitable, then corporations like Daewoo and Chevron will do
this in service to their bottom line.

And like good sophists, they will attempt to defend their interests in
other, more respectable and socially conscious terms.

Consider Chevron and Total. During construction of their Yadana gas
pipeline, their hired security force, the Burma Army, committed human
rights abuses such as forced labour and forced displacement, rape, torture
and murder of people who lived in the path of the pipeline. Chevron and
Total, as well as partner PTTEP, now extol the purported virtues of their
involvement in the gas project, citing it as consistent with corporate
responsibility.

The least thoughtful response to the ongoing crackdown in Burma came from
Daewoo International of South Korea, a country which, like Burma,
languished under autocratic regimes and repression, only to become a
stable democracy and home to the world's 11th largest economy. When asked
if the crisis in Burma would lead the company to reconsider its
billion-dollar investment in the Shwe gas deposit, a Daewoo spokesman
responded, ''Politics is politics. Business is business'', implying that
the business of oil and gas is apolitical.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Historically, the idea of ''energy security'' dates back to World War One,
when Winston Churchill decided to transition from coal to oil to give
British combat ships an advantage over its adversaries' slower,
coal-powered ships. This required securing the delivery of oil, which was
not part of Britain's natural heritage.

In 1937, Japan started the Sino-Japanese War, which eventually became part
of World War Two, by invading China in order to secure access to that
country's vast natural resources. And more recently, with oil revenue
enabling genocide in Darfur, war raging in Iraq, and US-Iran tensions
rising, the business of oil and gas weighs heavily on the scales of peace
and conflict.

And of course, there is Burma, where the ongoing protests began in
September after the regime increased the price of fuels by up to 500%.

But the politics of the business don't stop there. Private oil companies
in democratic countries like the US and France routinely lobby lawmakers
on issues where business and politics meet, in areas ranging from climate
change legislation to tax laws to economic sanctions.

National oil companies (NOC), which globally control approximately 77% of
the world's oil, don't have to lobby the government because they are
usually owned or controlled by the government.

This is especially true of the NOCs in countries like China, which has all
three of its major oil and gas companies involved in Burma.

Other NOCs in Burma include Korea's KOGAS and India's GAIL and ONGC
Videsh, all of which are stakeholders in the Shwe natural gas project in
Burma's Bay of Bengal.

The question is not whether oil and gas is political or apolitical. The
question is what are the companies in Burma going to do now to help stop
the regime's campaign of injustice and support efforts toward national
reconciliation?

They could start by fulfilling their duty under international law to
respect, protect, and promote human rights, and by recognising that their
presence in Burma is not neutral.

____________________________________

November 15, The Daily Telegraph
Burma's 'desperate' military junta to sell pounds 150m gems - Thomas Bell
in Kathmandu

The Burmese junta began an auction of gem stones yesterday which could
raise pounds 150 million of "desperately needed'' currency for the regime.

Burma produces more than 90 per cent of the world's rubies, almost all
jade - which is highly prized in China - and is also abundant in sapphires
and other jewels. The industry is closely controlled by the generals and
their cronies.

The army sometimes confiscates the best gems, and the best mining sites,
and uses forced labour to work them. In recent years, the regime has
increased the frequency of the sales which provide Burma's third greatest
source of hard currency, after natural gas and teak.

"The mere fact that this is the fifth auction [this year] shows the junta
is really desperate for money,'' said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese analyst
exiled in Thailand.

Many coloured stones originate in Burma and are cut in third countries
such as Thailand and India. Neither Europe or America currently bans
imports of Burmese gems. The last gem sale in Rangoon, in July, was
attended by five British jewellers.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations human rights envoy, is on his
first visit to Burma in four years, but that did not deter the regime from
arresting three activists in Rangoon yesterday. Su Su Nway, a 35-year-old
woman activist who had been on the run since August, was captured on
Tuesday.

The Irrawaddy Magazine, published by exiled journalists, reported
yesterday that a monk called Gambira, who helped lead September's
protests, was arrested on Nov 4. "There is no going back. It matters
little if my life or the lives of colleagues should be sacrificed on this
journey. Others will fill our sandals, and more will join and follow,''
Gambira wrote in a Washington Post article.

Amnesty International claims that 700 people are being held over the
pro-democracy demonstrations that gripped the country last month. The
junta claims there are only 91.

____________________________________

November 15, ICSURREY Online
Tour firm hits back at Burma 'dirty list' - Nicole Le Marie

A travel company has defended itself after it was put on a"dirty list" by
a human rights group.

Bales Worldwide,in Junction Road, Dorking, was placed on the internet list
by The Burma Campaign UK in a bid to get the company to sever its business
ties with the south-east Asia state.

Burma is ruled by a military regime frequently condemned for human rights
abuses.

The campaign believes that by trading with Burma companies keep the regime
in power. It attacked Bales Worldwide for bringing money into the country
through tourism .

A spokesman said: "We are calling for companies not to invest in Burma as
the regime uses their income for doubling the size of the military."

The organisation is particularly upset about companies supporting tourism.

The spokesperson said: "Many human rights in Burma are directly related to
tourism. The rulers use forced labour to beautify the cities and build
hotels. Directly and indirectly money is going to the regime.

"We are calling for tourists not to visit Burma until we have democracy."

And the campaign believes that the "dirty list" works. A spokesperson
said: "Some companies have found out they are on it and have withdrawn
from Burma. But some are still investing and their profits come at the
pain of the Burmese people."

However, a spokesman from Bales Worldwide strongly disagreed. She said:
"There are conflicting and well-documented views on whether or not British
tour operators should promote tourism to Burma.

"Bales Worldwide is a non-political organisation and we believe that there
is as much potential harm inflicted by isolating the country as by
allegedly supporting the regime by sending tourists."

She added: "We use a privately owned Burmese ground agent for all of our
services and only use internationally managed non-government hotels.

"Tourism brings essential employment to the local communities and we
believe this important point should not be overlooked.

"That said we are at present not going to Burma due to Foreign Office
travel advice. However, we will return to Burma when safe to do so."

Louise Hector, a spokesperson for Dorking group of Amnesty International,
said Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world.

She said: "Amnesty does not call for boycotts on tourism, but we do hope
that people only travel to Burma in the full knowledge of the appalling
situation there and with a commitment to do something about it on their
return.

"Forced labour is used to build tourist facilities like hotels and golf
courses and the military government takes a share of profits, with the
money going back into the military in order to suppress the sort of
dissent seen recently.

"The use of torture in Burma is widespread and systematic. People are
arrested and imprisoned because of their opinions.

"There is widespread use of forced labour, rape is used by the military,
there's forced relocation, the use of child soldiers, and civilians are
used as porters carrying equipment through minefields."

http://icsurreyonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200surreyheadlines/tm_headline=tour-firm-hits-back-at-burma-dirty-list%26method=full%26objectid=20112122%26siteid=50101-name_page.html#story_continue

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 15, Bloomberg
Myanmar Junta thinks country has democracy, Ong says - En-Lai Yeoh

The government in Myanmar, under fire for a crackdown on democracy
protests in September, believes it is governing democratically and
respects human rights, Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said.

``As far as they are concerned, they believe they have democracy and human
rights,'' Ong told reporters in Singapore ahead of next week's Association
of Southeast Asian Nations summit. ``What they don't want to see is
someone else's rule of law and democracy'' from a ``Western liberal
world'' point of view, Ong added.

General Than Shwe's regime has faced international condemnation since it
deployed soldiers Sept. 26 to crush the biggest anti-government protests
in almost 20 years. As many as 110 people were killed and hundreds
detained in the crackdown across Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Anti-government protests, led by Buddhist monks, began in August when the
government doubled some fuel prices.

Yesterday, Myanmar's deputy minister for defense, Maj. Gen. Aye Myint,
said in Singapore more than 90 people arrested during the crackdown may be
charged with terrorism.

``Myanmar is now stable,'' Maj. Gen. Aye Myint said. ``We look forward to
the positive and constructive assistance and understanding from Asean
countries, all other countries in the world and also the UN.''

The situation in Myanmar will be discussed when the 10 leaders of Asean
nations meet next week, Ong said. The discussion will not focus on the
crackdown, but Burma's self-defined ``roadmap'' to democratic rule.

`On the Agenda'

``Asean has been discussing the seven-point roadmap, an agenda item since
the 2003 summit in Bali,'' Ong said on the sidelines of the Asean Defense
Ministers' Meeting. ``Every year we sit down to discuss and they brief us
as to what has transpired since we last met.''

Leaders may also issue a statement on Myanmar next week, the Asean
secretary general said.

``I don't think we will see strong statements or outrage'' on Myanmar next
week in Singapore, said Hiro Katsumata, a regional analyst at Singapore's
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. ``I don't think Asean is
very serious about addressing the issue of Myanmar.''

Asean follows a policy of ``non-interference'' in its member nations'
affairs. Asean leaders meet Nov. 20. Myanmar will be represented by Prime
Minister Thein Sein, officials say.

``Why is there a need for us to take action when we are having discussions
about it?'' Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in the
administrative capital of Putrajaya today. ``I don't want to pre-empt
anything. We will have to wait for the latest report. There have been some
positive developments. Let's see how things go.''

UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari is scheduled to be in
Singapore next week to brief top Asean officials and their regional
partners.

Asean includes Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the
Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

To contact the reporter on this story: En-Lai Yeoh in Singapore at
eyeoh1 at bloomberg.net

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 15, Bloomberg
Sudarsono says elections in Myanmar wouldn't reduce army's role - Haslinda
Amin and Arijit Ghosh

Indonesia's Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said forcing Myanmar to hold
elections wouldn't reduce the role of the military, even as the United
Nations asked the ruling junta to agree to a timetable for political
change.

The world can't force a system ``that is alien to the local culture,''
Sudarsono, 65, said in an interview in Jakarta. ``For all its faults, the
military at the moment remains the unifying force and covers most of the
levers of power, political, economic and also cultural.''

International pressure on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has increased
after General Than Shwe's regime cracked down on the biggest
anti-government demonstrations in almost 20 years in September, resulting
in more than 100 deaths, according to the UN. The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, has refused to impose
sanctions on the military, which has been shunned by western nations over
its human rights record.

``I don't think Asean is very serious about addressing the issue of
Myanmar,'' said Hiro Katsumata, an analyst at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies.

In the interview, Sudarsono said that elections in Burma could be one way
of moving toward democracy. ``But it must be followed by (the new
government) having the levers of power, political, administrative as well
as economic,'' Sudarsono said.

Asean is keen to keep Myanmar in its fold and avoid allowing China to
expand its influence in the Indian Ocean, Katsumata said.

`Asean Loses Out'

If Myanmar is spurned by Asean and looks toward China ``Asean will loose
out in its geopolitical interest and influence,'' Katsumata said.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the junta for 45 years, shares its border
with China, India and Asean members such as Thailand. The nation walked
out of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1979 and only returned when Indonesia
took over chairmanship of the organization in 1992.

``We have been engaging Myanmar persuasively and quietly to implement its
own road to democracy as distinct from the west's sanctions,'' said Ali
Alatas, an adviser to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a
former foreign minister. Still, ``both the sanctions approach as well as
the Asean approach have failed to move the Myanmar government.''

Myanmar has been under international sanctions since it rejected the
results of elections in 1990 won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party. Suu Kyi, 62, has spent 12 years detention since then.

`Transition Period'

``There is a need for a transition period in which, in some way, the
military would play a power-sharing role and gradually get out of the
picture, as happened in Indonesia,'' said Alatas, who was the UN's special
envoy to Myanmar in 2005. Indonesia was controlled by its military from
1965 to 1998.

Lawmakers from seven countries urged Asean to impose sanctions on Myanmar
and also called on the group to adopt a strong charter at its summit in
Singapore this month to better deal with Myanmar.

A draft of the charter obtained by Bloomberg News calls for an extension
of Asean's four-decade-old policy of decision by consensus and
non-interference in individual country's affairs.

To contact the reporters for this story: Arijit Ghosh in Jakarta at
aghosh at bloomberg.net ; Haslinda Amin in Jakarta at hamin1 at bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 14, 2007 17:14 EST

____________________________________

November 15, The Korea Times
DJ to call for ‘Myanmar Democratization’ - Kim Yon-se

The Kim Dae-jung Peace Center will host an event, dubbed the ``Evening for
the Democratization of Burma,'' next month to support the peace movement
in Myanmar.

To commemorate the seventh anniversary of former President Kim's receiving
the Nobel Peace Prize, the event will be held at the 63 Building in
Yeouido, Seoul, Dec. 4.

A Kim Dae-jung Peace Center official said the meeting is aimed at
denouncing the armed repression of the people's movement for
democratization last September and giving aid to Myanmar's people.

``About 600 dignitaries from various walks of life will attend and all
admission fees will be sent to pro-democracy leaders in Myanmar,'' the
official said.

Among the participants will be Nobel Peace Laureate Kim; Harn Yawnghwe,
director of the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office; and Bertil Lintner, a
Swedish journalist and author of several books on the Southeast Asian
country.

Kim and the participants are expected to reiterate their call for an early
democratization of Myanmar. They plan to express deep anxiety over the
worsening situation in the country during the event.

Kim has urged Myanmar's government to guarantee the free political
activities of dissidents, including Aung San Suu Kyi whose house arrest
was lengthened in 2005.

The former president also called on military leaders in Yangon to allow
free entry and activities of United Nations representatives and other
international NGOs, and to take appropriate measures so that humanitarian
assistance from abroad can safely reach their suffering people.

During his five-year presidential term from 1998 as well as during his
time as an opposition leader in the 1980s and 1990s, Kim sent letters to
the leaders of Myanmar and met with them in person to call for
democratization, and to ensure the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi and other
democratic advocates.

The Kim Dae-jung Peace Center stressed that the international community
should make Myanmar's government take appropriate measures to give hope
and relief to all people upholding human rights and democracy there.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 15, USA TODAY
'Rambo' is on a mission in Burma; Stallone goes for redemption - Anthony
Breznican

Rambo has become a nihilist.

Sylvester Stallone's Green Beret, who started as a tragic representation
of Vietnam veteran neglect in the original film and morphed into a
superhero soldier by the third, is back for a fourth outing.

This one plunges John Rambo into the gun sights of the brutal military
dictatorship of Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as
Burma, where in real life the ruling junta recently received international
condemnation for its violent suppression of a pro-democracy uprising led
by Buddhist monks.

The movie's story, which borrows from tales of real-life atrocities but is
otherwise fictional, involves Rambo reluctantly helping missionaries
traverse the wilderness of the Salween River on their way to deliver
supplies to camps of war-ravaged refugees.
Rambo has spent the past two decades living in the region as a hermit, one
who has shed patriotism, lost his faith and given up on humanity.

"He realizes his entire existence has been for naught," Stallone says.
"Peace is an accident, war is natural. Old men start it, young men fight
it, everybody in the middle dies, and nobody tells the truth. He says,
'You think God's going to make it all go away? What has he done and
changed in the world? He has done nothing. We are an aggressive animal and
will never be at peace.' That's how he feels."

When he encounters the human-rights workers, they "somehow touch the last
remaining nerve in Rambo's body," Stallone says.

The movie is titled simply Rambo, without any sequel number, similar to
Stallone's recent Rocky Balboa, the sixth film in that franchise, which
was praised by critics and fans for restoring integrity to the iconic
underdog boxer.

Similarly, this fourth Rambo seeks to rehabilitate the tortured soldier's
tale that even Stallone acknowledges strayed too far into fantasy when
Rambo III came out in 1988.

Stallone, 61, says he let fame get to his head with some of those previous
sequels and didn't maintain the heart that made the originals iconic.

"When you're a kind of nondescript, unknown, inconsequential actor and all
of a sudden you're famous, it's very easy to lose touch there," Stallone
says.

"You keep pushing the envelope, but there is a limit, and the audience
retreats."

____________________________________

November 15, Mizzima News
Canada joins the sanctions train

Not to be left behind, Canada, believing there is no opportunity for
compromise with Burma's ruling generals, has ratcheted up its sanctions
policies against junta members and Burmese economic activity.

Speaking yesterday in Toronto, Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier
told attendees at the Economic Club that "Canada has long had measures
against Burma. Now we are going to impose the toughest sanctions in the
world."

"The strongest message has to be sent. Sanctions are the means by which
we, not just Canada, but the international community, can best exert
pressures against the military junta," added Bernier.

Describing the regime as "abhorrent to Canadian values," Bernier said that
the new sanctions would include a ban on all new investment and the
transfer of technological data. Additionally, sanctions will greatly
restrict the potential export of Canadian goods to Burma and completely
rule out the importation of Burmese goods. Financial assets of individuals
connected with the Burmese regime are to be frozen and no Burmese planes
or boats will be permitted to harbor in Canadian territory.

There is, however, an exception made for the export of "humanitarian
goods" to Burma.

Despite the strong verbal diatribe delivered by the Foreign Minister in
denouncing the Burmese generals, the sanctions are likely to have little
impact on the state of affairs in Burma.

According to Canadian government statistics, the first nine months of 2007
saw a mere $5.8 million in imported products from Burma, while exports
were listed as negligible.

Following September's brutal crackdown on the streets of Rangoon, the
United States, European Union, Australia and Japan all took measures to
increase or enact their own sanctions policies.

The title of Bernier's address was "Reclaiming Canada's Place on the World
Stage."

____________________________________

November 15, BBC Burmese Service
The British government expected Mr Gambari to achieve more

The British government has said Mr Gambari would have achieved more
progress and would have got more opportunity to see people.

In the interview with BBC Burmese service, British FCO minister Meg Munn
said she wished Mr Gambari to open his office within Burma.

The foreign Secretary, David Miliband also commented on last night’s
developments on Burma at the UN. He said the signs of progress were
welcome but there remained major steps that need to be taken to ensure
that the people of Burma have their voice heard about their own future.

He also said the Burmese regime had taken small steps that now need to be
followed up by larger steps.

Some British officials are going to attend a major meeting of ASEAN next
week.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 14, The American Prospect
Burma post- clampdown: what should be done? Kyi May Kaung

The world watched in horror as images of the September crackdown leaked
out of Burma. Now it's time to start picking up the pieces and talking to
the junta leaders.

As an exiled Burmese, I watched in horror as the events of September's
violent military crackdown unfolded. Starting in mid-August, the streets
of Rangoon, Mandalay, and a few other cities and towns began filling with
Buddhist monks and civilian demonstrators, walking in the monsoon rain to
protest the military junta that has ruled Burma with an iron hand for 45
years.

The demonstrations began with the protests of a few committed dissidents
in response to the government's fuel-price hike of up to 500 percent,
which hit hard in this diesel-dependent country with a command economy.
The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), an Orwellian name
in a country where George Orwell was once a police officer, used thugs
from an organization it set up called Swan Arr Shin (Possessors of
Strength) to break up and arrest the demonstrators.

Then monks began to demonstrate in Pakokku, a small town in mideast Burma.
They were lassoed by the Swan Arr Shin, beaten, and arrested, and even
more monks took to the streets to demand an apology. As a symbol of the
strike, they carried their begging bowls upside down. (As adherents of the
Theravada branch of Buddhism, the Burmese monks beg for their food in the
neighborhood in order to give the lay population a chance to gain merit by
donating to them. A begging bowl turned upside down means the monks are
not accepting alms from the military junta, and so it is a severe
statement of moral censure against the brutality of military rule.)

The monks set a deadline for the army to apologize, but that day came and
went with no word from the military regime. On the second and third days,
more and more monks came out to protest, walking at a fast clip through
the flooded streets. As happened in Burma in 1988 and also with other
lesser-known crises since 1962, the demonstrators quickly progressed from
demands for a system change to demands for democracy. Their numbers grew
exponentially, and by Sept. 25, a reported 100,000 demonstrated in
Rangoon.

This appears to have frightened the ruling junta, and as rumors of troop
movements emerged, the violent crackdown of Sept. 26 and 27 started. By
all accounts, the brutality is continuing, with more arrests and the
torture and mistreatment of those under detention.

As I watched these events unfold from afar, the most exasperating part of
all this was being unable to do anything much about it -- even as I was
sure on Sept. 25 that the crackdown would come in the next 24 hours. To my
dismay, I was right. In the following days, civilian demonstrators and
monks were shot at with live ammunition and rubber bullets, sprayed with
tear gas, and beaten with sticks. There were also widespread reports of
torture and mistreatment in prison and in the closed university campus
buildings into which the arrested were herded. The buildings were so
cramped that the detainees all had to stand, as there were up to a hundred
people in each small classroom.

In the post-crackdown Burmese world, Ibrihim Gambari, U.N. special envoy
for Burma, made a trip to Rangoon from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2. He was
immediately "abducted" by his military guides and taken off to Naypyidaw,
the government's new Brasilia-type capital city in central Burma. Then
Gambari was spirited off to Lashio, near the Burma-China border, to see a
stage-managed mass meeting, which the SPDC had allegedly coerced or paid
civil servants to attend. No observer has ever been taken in by these
junta "shows," and yet the military persists in staging them.

It was assumed Gambari would stay at the Traders Hotel in downtown
Rangoon, so the Burmese people tried to rally there. But the junta changed
the bus routes to prevent protesters from reaching the site, and cleaned
up the broken glass, abandoned flip-flops, and bloodstained streets
outside the hotel. When bus drivers who weren't aware of the route changes
let off passengers in front of the Traders, they were set upon by the
police and beaten with batons.

Gambari met with both Gen. Than Shwe and the other important members of
the junta in Naypyidaw, as well as democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize
winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the government guesthouse on Inya Road. But
it was unclear what Gambari and the junta members spoke about, let alone
agreed upon, during the brief visit -- even though, on Oct. 5, Gambari
debriefed the U.N. Security Council in New York on his trip to Burma.

Gambari said his mission had been to assess the situation, deliver clear
messages from the U.N. secretary general to the Myanmar authorities, and
to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition. He stressed
that night raids and arrests should end and the curfew should be lifted.
(And indeed, it has since been lifted.) Gambari also told the Security
Council that his mission was a process, not an event, and so one mission
by itself could not solve the fundamental challenges facing Burma. This
may have been the understatement of the year.

At the debriefing, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad requested
an immediate end to the violent crackdown, for all citizens to be released
as well as all political prisoners, and for the SPDC to restore all public
communication links such as the Internet. Other similarly strong
statements came from Italy, Panama, Peru, and Qatar, countries which don't
have much contact with Burma. The SPDC's U.N. representative, Kyaw Tint
Swe, followed by TV cameras, shambled shamefacedly out of the assembly,
pointedly ignored by the other delegates who crowded around Khalilzad. Swe
had insisted that the situation had returned to normal, and "people all
over Myanmar were holding peaceful rallies." These were, of course,
coerced mass rallies. Smuggled-out video of the events shows stony-faced
people sitting stoically in rows.

Using its time-honored tactic of arresting everyone on the scene,
including street vendors, the SPDC is reported to have arrested up to
3,000 people, only some of whom it has released. Independent and dissident
sources say up to 200 were killed in the first days of the crackdown, and
organizations such as the Association for the Assistance of Political
Prisoners, Burma (AAPPB) are keeping lists with names. Yet the junta
insists, ridiculously, that only 10 people were killed, including the
Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai (who was shot at point-blank range).

Gambari's second post-crackdown trip to Burma ended last Thursday, and
things did not seem to be going well on the diplomatic front. Moreover,
with the junta apparently afraid that more photographs of the atrocities
will leak out, Internet communications have been placed under the control
of the Burmese ministry of defense. To my mind, that says it all.

Throughout its 45-year history and especially since 1988, the junta has
arrested and then released people in waves, but the numbers of prisons and
prisoners are increasing. Most dissidents served very long sentences that
were imposed without proper trials. Many have died in prison, including at
least one prisoner who died of torture recently. The people are cowed, but
a few days ago about 200 monks in Pakokku again demonstrated silently. The
U.S. Campaign for Burma's Aung Din said at a Senate hearing on Oct. 2 that
local authorities were going door to door with photographs from video
taken during the demonstrations. They typically can spend months trying to
find "the leaders."

Meanwhile, other distressing news items are emerging daily. A source who
wishes to remain anonymous told me that all the Pakokku citizen
journalists who first sent word of the monks' protests to the outside
world were arrested. One journalist was reportedly taken into custody upon
stepping outside an Internet café, after he spoke with a foreign radio
station.

So what is the way forward? There are a few important steps toward
resolving the crisis in Burma. A mix of targeted sanctions, diplomacy,
both first track and second track, and activism should be used, and this
seems to be what is happening now. (On Oct. 19 President Bush announced he
was extending sanctions on Burma.) These policies are not contradictory
and can be fine-tuned and finessed to be used together. I am also grateful
to see that, this time around, international players are paying a lot more
attention to India and China, which are strongly emerging industrialized
nations with superpower ambitions in both Asia and the world. India and
China are also increasingly cozy with each other, while more economically
linked through trade and outsourcing to the United States.

Gambari, the U.N. Special Envoy, has so far traveled a great deal to New
Dehli, Beijing, and Singapore, and seemed to be making progress, but since
his second trip to Burma, there appeared to be a good deal of backsliding
on the part of the junta. Even before he arrived, the SPDC sent a letter
to the U.N. Development Program resident representative Charles Petrie,
telling him he was no longer welcome in Burma. The U.N. insists the
development projects will go on without Petrie, but this is clearly the
Burmese generals flexing their muscles again.

Gambari should continue his diplomatic missions to Burma. His mandate must
be broadened and deepened, and his role amped up from mere facilitator to
negotiator. He may need to continue this process for the next 18 months to
five years. It is unrealistic to expect instant results, as questions of
political culture and practice are involved. In Rangoon, and perhaps also
in Mandalay and Pakokku, Gambari needs to have his own local office and
staff, along with international human rights monitors. (He now works out
of the UNDP office.) Official photos of his arrival at Rangoon airport
showed him being greeted inside the building only by Petrie, so apparently
there was no official welcome. This is a classic cold-shoulder technique
often used by the junta.

During his second post-crackdown visit, Gambari did not get to meet Sr.
Gen. Than Shwe, but he did meet some junior generals. He sat on the floor
to meet some high-ranking Buddhist abbots, but he did not get to see any
of the 1988-generation political activists, nor any political prisoners.
Gambari did manage to see Aung San Suu Kyi for an hour before he left for
the airport. In Singapore Gambari read a statement from Suu Kyi to
reporters.

In her statement Suu Kyi reiterated her willingness participate in
dialogue: "In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with
the Government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and
welcome the necessary good offices role on the United Nations." But Suu
Kyi has always said this. The junta, not she, is the real barrier to
change.

The SPDC continues to allow UN representatives into the country. UN Human
Rights Envoy professor Sergio Pinhiero was to start a five-day visit this
Sunday. This is the first time in four years that Pinhiero has been
granted an entry visa. (A previous visit was cut short when the professor
discovered a listening device under the table while he was talking to a
leading Burmese dissident inside Insein Prison.) Gambari has also been
told by the SPDC authorities that he is welcome to come to Burma again.

At the same time, there are many reasons why Gambari, or Suu Kyi, for that
matter, has not been seen smiling in recent news photographs. The monks'
leader, U Gambira, was arrested on Nov. 4, the day his op-ed appeared in
The Washington Post. And Su Su Nway, a leading dissident in hiding, was
arrested today. (Burma is 12 hours ahead.) Earlier Reuters reported that
the SPDC rejected Gambari's proposal of three-way talks between the junta,
Suu Kyi and the UN facilitator.

But Ko Htike, a London-based blogger who obtained many images during the
crisis from his contacts inside Burma, says the Burmese people knew all
this already. It is what they have come to expect from the junta.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 15, The Shwe Gas Movement
Activists outraged at lenient sentencing of Daewoo international
executives for arms export to Burma

Chiang mai/New Delhi—This morning at trials in Seoul, two Daewoo
International executives and twelve other South Koreans were found guilty
of arms exports to Burma, but were given only lenient sentences. Taeyoung
Lee, former Daewoo International President was given a US$10,000 fine and
it's former Managing Director given a one-year suspended sentence.

In May 2002, Lee Tae-yong and representatives from six other South Korean
corporations signed a US$ 133.8 million contract with the Burmese military
regime. Between October 2002 and October 2006, nearly 480 pieces of
equipment and parts were exported and used to build a weapons factory in
Pyay, Burma. Korean law prohibits the unauthorized export of strategic
materials to Burma.

"Although we welcome the verdict, such lenient sentencing will only invite
similar corporate crimes in the future," says Kim of the Shwe Gas Movement
in India. "These sentences should more closely reflect the seriousness of
the crime. Burmese civilians struggling for democracy are being killed by
weapons sold to the Burmese army."

According to Wong Aung from the Shwe Gas Movement in Thailand, "Daewoo's
complicity doesn't stop at weapons manufacturing. The company's investment
in Burma's natural gas under the current regime will directly lead to
deaths and displacement, regardless of any better intentions the company
may have."

Daewoo International is the main operator of the Shwe Natural Gas project
in western Burma, projected to generate the regime US$12-17 billion over
the next 20 years. The gas is planned for export to China through gas
pipelines scheduled for construction in 2008. The construction of past gas
pipelines in Burma by the US company Chevron – formerly Unocal - and
France's Total were allegedly connected to serious human rights abuses,
including forced labor, displacement, rape, and murder, committed by the
Burma Army, which secured the pipeline.
A growing number of investment funds are evaluating their financial
holdings in Daewoo International and other oil and gas corporations for
their operations in Burma. In late October, the Danish Pension Fund
announced that it had divested its holdings in oil companies working in
Burma.

International attention has been squarely focused on Burma since
September, when the military regime opened fire on monk-led peaceful
protestors who called for national reconciliation, the release of all
political prisoners, and lower fuel prices. A 500 per cent increase in the
price of natural gas was said to have sparked the protest.

"South Korea needs natural gas, but Daewoo International is risking
further complicity in grave abuses for natural gas that will not even make
it to South Korea. The company should suspend its involvement in the Shwe
Gas Project until Burma is under a stable democratic government," says
Wong Aung.

The Shwe Gas Movement is a coalition of non-governmental organizations
with offices in Thailand, India, and Bangladesh.

Contact: Mr. Wong Aung (Thailand) +66-85 032 2943 and global at shwe.org ;
Mr. Kim (India) +91-9810476273; www.shwe.org

____________________________________
OBITUARY

November 15, Irrawaddy
Ralph Bachoe, journalist, dies - Shah Paung

Veteran journalist Ralph Bachoe, 63, a native of Burma, died on Wednesday
at Theptarin Hospital in Bangkok after a long illness.

According to the English language newspaper The Nation, Bachoe worked for
several leading English-language newspapers in Thailand including The
Bangkok World, The Bangkok Post and The Nation.

Bachoe and his family fled from Burma to Thailand in the mid-1960s. He was
known as a journalist who worked for a free press and who supported his
native Burma.

“Ralph was a kind of father figure for many journalists, and he always
made new staff feel welcome," a colleague, Graeme Loveridge, wrote in The
Nation. "He was very popular for the way he treated them with typical
Burmese hospitality.”

He worked at The Bangkok Post for nearly 20 years as a senior editor on
the sports desk and the main news copy desk until he retired in 2004. He
worked at The Nation from the mid-1980s to 1990 as chief sub-editor.

A memorial prayer service will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30
pm at the Holy Redeemer Church. The funeral service will be held on Monday
at 1 pm at Wat That Thong. He is survived by his wife, his daughter and
three grandchildren.