BurmaNet News, February 29, 2008

[Editor]

February 29, 2008 Issue # 3413

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: NLD sues Junta
Irrawaddy: Monks and nuns in court over September protests
KNG: Forced attendance at Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's referendum campaign
DVB: Army deserters surrender to Karen rebels
Irrawaddy: Members of Karen breakaway group return to KNU

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Police raid Burmese migrant school in Chiang Mai
Mizzima News: Bomb blast below Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge

BUSINESS / TRADE
Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Insights: PTTEP And CNC Swap Myanmar Assets

HEALTH / AIDS
Khonumthung News: Unidentified disease kills several Mithuns in Burma

DRUGS
SHAN: Junta demands poppy tax

ASEAN
Mizzima News: ASEAN told to be stronger, asked to take lead

REGIONAL
Japan Economic Newswire: Indonesia may host meeting of group on Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
UN News Center: UN’s Myanmar envoy leaves Tokyo, completing Asian
consultations
DPA via Bangkok Post: US envoy sees dark future for Burma regime
Wall Street Journal: US, Britain urge Myanmar to include Suu Kyi in polls
Reuters: Britain tells China don't fear action on problem states
The News & Observer: Burmese refugees need help from more churches, pastor
says

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s referendum—‘History is repeating itself’ - Wai Moe
[News Analysis]
Irrawaddy: No Kosovos in Burma - David Paquette
Washington Post: Olympic Speech [editorial]

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 29, Irrawaddy
NLD sues Junta - Wai Moe

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has attempted to
sue the ruling junta over the government’s failure to adhere to an
existing law and decree that specifies that elected representatives from
the 1990 elections should be responsible for drafting the constitution,
according to a party official on Friday.

Nyan Win, a leading spokesman for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Friday
that the party filed a lawsuit against the ruling junta at the high court
in Rangoon. “According to the electoral law of 1989 and decree 1/90, the
junta has a responsibility to call a people’s parliamentary meeting with
the elected representatives from the 1990 general election,” he said.

NLD headquarters in Rangoon
However, the military junta has never called a parliamentary meeting, and
now the ruling generals have announced laws—1/2008 and 2/2008—for the
referendum on a new constitution and fresh elections. This shows that the
junta broke its promise as well as the law itself, said Nyan Win.

The high court in Rangoon, however, denied accepting a lawsuit by the NLD
against the ruling junta. “The authorities at the high court took more
than one hour. But later staff came and told us that they cannot accept
the lawsuit,” Nyan Win said.

He added that the NLD told the court that the junta’s failure to call
parliament was a national affair and that the case against the ruling
junta was a matter of asking the court to respect the people’s voice.

The NLD had expected the court to reject the lawsuit, but the party
proceeded because it wanted to adhere to the rule of law in the country,
the spokesman said.
In a special statement on Thursday, the NLD dismissed the national
referendum on the draft constitution, which is planned for May, because of
its lack of legitimacy.

In the statement, the NLD said the draft constitution was “not inclusive
and unclear,” because the Burmese military regime had not heeded the calls
of the international community and the United Nations.

The statement also said that the planned national referendum would not be
free and fair because the junta broke its promise to discuss the drafting
of the new constitution with the representatives elected in the 1990
parliamentary elections.

The international community, including the UN and the United States, also
called on the Burmese military junta to put in place conditions for
"inclusive and transparent" voting, ahead of the constitutional referendum
set for May.

Tom Casey, a US State Department spokesman, said in a statement on
Thursday that a credible political transition in Burma must be inclusive
and transparent.

“It must involve universal suffrage, secrecy and security of the ballot,
and freedom of speech and association, among other internationally
accepted standards,” he added.

____________________________________

February 29, Irrawaddy
Monks and nuns in court over September protests – Min Lwin

Nine monks and seven nuns—some of them elderly—were awaiting sentence
after facing charges of involvement in last September’s protests against
Burma’s ruling junta, according to opposition sources and witnesses in
Rangoon.

Witnesses said that eight monks and seven nuns from Thitsar Tharaphu
Monastery and one monk from Hantharwaddy Monastery appeared in North
Okkalapa Township Court on Wednesday, but nothing has been heard of their
fate.

All 16 were arrested in raids on their monasteries on October 6 last year,
accused of participating in monk-led demonstrations that ended after a
bloody crackdown in late September.

According to witnesses, police prevented family members from approaching
the detained clerics—who had been stripped of their robes and dressed in
traditional longyi—as they were taken into the courthouse.

“I met [their relatives] at the courthouse,” said one witness. “They were
so poor themselves that they could only bring small offerings—just a cup
of tea and a cheroot.”

Another witness said that several of the accused were in extremely poor
physical condition.

“One nun in her eighties, Daw Ponnami, had to struggle to walk because she
is half-paralyzed. She had to drag her feet to get to the bar to face
charges,” the witness said, adding that the nun’s normally shaven head was
covered with short white hair.

“The older monks and nuns looked physically exhausted, and one of the
elder monks was suffering from a skin disease,” the witness said.

One paralyzed 70-year-old monk was unable to answer any of the questions
put to him by the judge, according to the witness.

Aung Kyaw Oo, of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), said all 16 were charged with “defamation of
religion” under sections 292, 295 and 295(a) of Burma’s criminal code.
They were also charged with “misuse of the monastery as a guesthouse.”

The monks and nuns have been held in Insein Prison in Rangoon since
October 7 last year. This was their fifth appearance in court.

According to AAPP, there are 196 monks and 10 nuns currently being held in
Burma’s prisons. None of those who played a leading role in last year’s
protests have had public court appearances since they were taken into
custody.

Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon reported that 7 activists involved in the
September uprising had also been taken to court. The 7, including All
Burma Federation of Student Unions leader Sithu Maung, were charged under
section 124(a) of the criminal code with sedition and inciting others to
commit offenses against public tranquility.

According to AAPP, there are more than 1,850 political prisoners in Burma.

____________________________________

February 29, Kachin News Group
Forced attendance at Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's referendum campaign

Residents of a Kachin village face severe threats by village authorities
if they are absent from the welcome ceremony of Brig-Gen Thein Zaw,
Minister of Communication, Posts and Telegraphs of the Burmese regime on
his referendum campaign today in Kachin State, Northern Burma, villagers
said.

All villagers in Mayan village, about 25 miles south of Myitkyina Township
the capital of Kachin State on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway have
received this threat from the pro-junta village administrative chairman
(Ka-Ya-Ka), Lawhkum Zau Hkawng. Residents who are absent at the ceremony
will be driven away from the village and be taken into custody, said
villagers.

Again, families who have not painted their fences near the main road with
white cement will be fined Kyat 50,000 (est. US $ 41) per family by the
chairman Lawhkum Zau Hkawng, the villagers added.

Yesterday, villagers in each family were not only forced to decorate the
village the whole day but were also ordered to rehearse the Kachin
traditional dance called "Htawng Ka" for greeting the Minister Brig-Gen
Thein Zaw, according to villagers.

The exact time of Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's visit to Mayan is not known. 
However, the villagers have been forced to standby along the left and
right flanks of the road in the village.  They have also been ordered to
assemble at the village Kachin Baptist Church where the ceremony will be
held, said villagers.

Brig-Gen Thein Zaw gave two landline auto phones to Mayan village two
years ago but one phone was originally received in a broken condition and
another phone was seized in a short time by the junta's telecommunication
office in Mogaung, the villagers told KNG today.

This time, the Mayan villagers will request Brig-Gen Thein Zaw for about
30 auto phones in keeping with a suggestion from leaders of Union
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) in Mogaung, added villagers.

During Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's visit to Mayan, he will organize the villagers
to support the ensuing referendum on the junta's draft constitution to be
held in May, the villagers said.

Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's trip to the people on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway
is a return trip to Naypyitaw the country's new capital.  He will stop at
different places and deliver speeches on the referendum in Christian
churches and Buddhist monasteries, sources close to Thein Zaw said.

As the telecommunication minister, he mainly offers unlimited GSM mobile
telephones and landline telephones to churches, monasteries and members of
USDA, added local sources.

Brig-Gen Thein Zaw's referendum campaign trail is being mainly organized
in Christian churches and Buddhist monasteries by local USDA leaders and
military bases, said sources close to USDA.

____________________________________

February 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
Army deserters surrender to Karen rebels

Four Burmese soldiers who deserted from the government army surrendered
themselves to the Karen National Liberation Army in a rebel-controlled
area of Karen state on Tuesday, the KNLA said.

Sergeant San Htun Hla, sergeant Soe Thiha, private Kyaw Min Htun and
signaller Thein Min Htike, from the coastal region Light Infantry
Battalion 401's Regiment 1, gave themselves up in territory held by
Brigade 6 Battalion 17 of the KNLA, the armed wing of the Karen National
Union.

They also handed over two MA-2, two MA-3 and one MA-4 assault rifles, 400
bullets and M-79 grenade-launchers, which they had brought with them, to
the KNLA.

One of the soldiers said that they had deserted because of the constant
harassment from their senior officers.

"There is harassment of soldiers by their senior officers on every level,"
said Thein Min Htike.

“We have to do hard labour, such as road construction and cultivation, to
earn money for our superiors.”

"They don't just beat up and torture civilians – in fact, we are being
treated the same way by our officers."

San Htun Hla urged other Burmese army soldiers who remain on the
government's side to do the same as they did and join hands with the
opposition to end the military dictatorship in the country.

"The military government is only good for high-ranking officials. There is
no hope for a lower-ranking soldier," said San Htun Hla.

"I would like to urge all our remaining comrades to leave the government's
side and unite with us to bring this government down."

The KNU secretary of Do Pala Rah district, Saw Lipton, welcomed the
Burmese army deserters and promised the group would do their best to
assist them in setting up their new life in opposition.

"They understood the wrongdoing of their army leaders and decided to
switch sides to join with the oppressed people. We always have to welcome
them," he said.

"We will now see what they want to do next and do our best to give them
assistance in whatever they come up with."

According to KNLA records, a total of 15 Burmese army soldiers and 13 DKBA
rebels joined with the KNLA in 2007, and so far in 2008, seven soldiers
have fled the government army.

____________________________________

February 29, Irrawaddy
Members of Karen breakaway group return to KNU - Saw Yan Naing

More than 20 members of an ethnic Karen breakaway group led by Maj-Gen
Htain Maung returned to the Karen National Union (KNU) on Thursday
evening, fearing that they would be next in a cycle of reprisal killings
that has claimed a number of lives in recent months.

According to the leader of the group, Capt Hser Htee, the escape was
prompted by the execution of Lt-Col Kyaw Aye, under whom he had served.
Kyaw Aye was suspected of being the mastermind behind the killing of Col
Ler Moon, son-in-law of Maj-Gen Htain Maung, in late January.

Htain Maung heads a splinter group that defected from the KNU early last
year. Kyaw Aye was reportedly killed after Htain Maung handed him over to
Burmese government troops in early February, according to Hser Htee.

The returning group, including women, children and eight soldiers, is
currently under the control of Brig-Gen Jonny, commander of the 7th
Brigade of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the military wing of
the KNU.

Htain Maung was the KNLA’s 7th Brigade commander until he defected from
the KNU to form the breakaway group now known as the KNU/KNLA Peace
Council. Ler Moo was killed while sleeping at a communications office near
the KNU/KNLA Peace Council’s headquarters.

Hser Htee told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “He [Htain Maung] doesn’t trust
our group anymore. I received repeated anonymous phone calls telling me
that Htain Maung wanted to see me.”

“They planned to kill not just me, but also my wife and children. When I
realized I was on his hit list, I just tried to escape,” said Hser Htee,
adding that local Karen villagers helped him to escape.

Hser Htee was a senior leader of Battalion 703 under the KNU/KNLA Peace
Council, which was formed after some 300 soldiers from KNLA Brigade 7, led
by Htain Maung, defected to the Burmese army in February 2007.

Two weeks ago, on February 14, the general secretary of the KNU was
assassinated at his home in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 29, Irrawaddy
Police raid Burmese migrant school in Chiang Mai - Saw Yan Naing

Thai police on Thursday raided an unregistered school for Burmese migrant
workers in Chiang Mai, offering courses in languages and computer skills,
according to school staff.

Thein Lwin, an organizer of the school, known as the Chiang Mai Learning
Center, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that Thai police inspected the school
for one and half hours and seized six motorbikes own by students.

One student, Sai Lu, was arrested.

About 300 students—many without migrant registration documents—currently
attend the school, including a number of Thai students.

During the raid, some students without legal documents or a work permit
tried to flee, fearing arrest and deportation.

Thein Lwin said, “They [police] arrested a student who tried to escape,
and they took away six motorbikes that didn’t have proper papers.”

Thai police didn’t demand the closure of the school during the raid, said
Thein Lwin, and the motorcycles will be returned after a fine is paid.

The school has operated with the knowledge of Thai authorities since 2005,
providing free education courses in Thai, English and Burmese, plus
computer training. The school has about 10 teachers.

Sayar Sai, a teacher, said: “So long as we run our school without
registration, we will face such actions. But, we are trying to register as
a formal school.”

The school is financially supported by donors and non-governmental
organizations and operates on a budget of about US $1,500 per month.

The goal is to provide an opportunity for students to broaden work skills
and to study languages, said Thein Lwin.

The school offers two sessions each morning and evening, with two levels
available in all subjects. A computer class is offered at night. A
three-month course of study is offered.

____________________________________

February 29, Mizzima News
Bomb blast below Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge

A bomb exploded on Thursday night below the Thai-Burmese friendship
bridge, which connects Burma's Myawaddy and Thailand's Mae Sot towns.
Sporadic bomb blasts have been occurring in different parts of Burma for
several months now.

The blast occurred at about 11:45 p.m. (local time) below the bridge on
one of the river's delta. However, there were no reports of injuries or
casualties.

Burmese migrants and nomadic sellers reside on the River's deltas.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 29, Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Insights
PTTEP And CNC Swap Myanmar Assets

Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has announced an asset
swap with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNC) for interests in
Myanmar. PTTEP will swap its 20% stake in offshore Blocks M-3 and M-4 in
Myanmar for CNC's Blocks A-4 and C-1, according to the Thai company's
president Maroot Mrigadat. The deal is part of PTTEP's plan to diversify
risk and expand its portfolio so as to increase its reserves base to
account for Thailand's growing domestic consumption. The company has added
that in future it may invest jointly with CNC in other countries.

PTTEP remains active in Myanmar, despite the political unrest within the
country and Western calls to impose sanctions and ban new investment in
the country. PTTEP owns a 100% stake in offshore Block M-9 located in the
Gulf of Martaban. The block is still under exploration, with PTTEP
planning to invest some $1USbn over the next five years with the aim of
bringing the block onstream in 2011. Myanmar's government has previously
estimated the block's reserves at 226.5bn cubic metres (bcm). This could
significantly add to the country's reserves, which the BP Statistical
Review of World Energy, June 2007 estimated at 540bcm at end-2006.

While the US and the European Union (EU) have called on countries to
boycott Myanmar, Thailand and other Asian countries that benefit from
Myanmar's growing gas production have been reluctant to do so. Myanmar's
gas production has increased significantly over recent years, from 1.7bcm
in 1999 to 13.4bcm in 2006, according to the BP Review. Most of Myanmar's
export revenues come from selling gas to Thailand, a trade which doubled
in 2006 to $2US.2bn. In 2006, Myanmar accounted for around 20% of
Thailand's gas supply, most of which is supplied by the Yetagun and Yadana
fields, in which PTTEP holds shares. However, Thailand is facing increased
competition for Myanmar's gas exports and assets from China and India.
These countries' national energy firms, particularly those from China,
have a pragmatic record in dealing with regimes that Western international
oil companies (IOCs) have had to stay out of due to political issues. In
Myanmar, however, Western IOCs Total and Chevron are so far holding on to
their assets, despite increased pressure from shareholders and their
national governments.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 29, Khonumthung News
Unidentified disease kills several Mithuns in Burma

Several Mithuns were killed recently by a strange disease were sore throat
was the symptom. The Mithun is a bovine species (Bos frontalis) found in
Chin state, northwestern Burma. Unidentified disease kills several Mithuns
in Burma.

The unidentified throat disease that killed domesticated animals was
detected in Tlangkhan village in Falam Township, northern Chin state.

Around 27 Mithuns were said to have died of the unknown disease. The sore
throat made it difficult for the animals to swallow food and even water.

"All the afflicted Mithuns were unable to swallow food and water because
of the sore throat they were suffering from," a local in Chin state said.

So far, the local authorities have not official reported the strange
disease that killed Mithuns. Neither has it taken any precautionary step
to prevent the disease spreading to other places, according to locals in
Chin state.

Previously, such a disease in Mithuns was hardly ever found in Chin state.
However, the mouth and foot disease occasionally does break out.

The current price of a Mithun in Chin state ranges from Kyat 200,000 to
Kyat 400,000.

Traditionally, the locals from village areas in Chin state raise Mithuns
for village consumption. Some also raise it for commercial purposes.

In 2003, the Burmese regime initiated commercialization of Mithun raised
in Chin state.

According to Myanmar Information Committee, Information Sheet 28 July 2003
"Development of Agriculture, Livestock Breeding in Chin State", 32,491
Mithuns had been domesticated in Chin state.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 28, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta demands poppy tax

Local Burmese junta authorities are encouraging people to cultivate poppy
and then collecting taxes from villagers in Mongkeung Township, according
to reports from Southern Shan State.

On February 21, 2008, the Mongnai-based Infantry Battalion 245 went to ask
for Kyat 150,000 ($120) as poppy field taxes in Loi Pang Hawk Mountain in
Wan Yart village tract.  Villagers were to pay by February 22, 2008 at Wan
Pa village in Nam Hu village tract.

"They told us to plant poppy and collected tax-money from us," a villager
said.

A source claimed that every District Peace and Development Council (DPDC)
and Infantry Battalion went to look for poppy fields and collected taxes
from every township in Shan State.  It is also reported that since the
beginning of 2008 to the middle of this month, poppy harvesting has been a
success.

"In some places, the crops are not good enough and when such is the case,
the authorities would go and destroy the crops.  They would then video
tape their activities to show it to foreign countries," the villager said.
 "When authorities find a poppy field, it is like a hungry monster seeing
its prey. They count immediately how much they would get from this," he
added.

The military government has declared Burma will be free of
poppy-cultivation by 2014. Meanwhile, drug entrepreneurs say poppy
cultivation in Shan State is back to the level of pre 2001-2002 season,
when the military authorities launched an all-out war on drugs in northern
Shan State.

____________________________________
ASEAN

February 29, Mizzima News
ASEAN told to be stronger, asked to take lead - Christopher Smith

In an address punctuated with diplomatic hedging, a leading United States
representative insisted that ASEAN can play a positive and leading role in
effecting change in Burma.

Ambassador Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian
and Pacific Affairs, stressing that Washington appreciates the unique
history of Burma and its colonial legacy, cautioned today at Chulalongkorn
university in Thailand's capital of Bangkok that "Burma's future is bleak
if the regime does not try to respond" to international initiatives.

The session, entitled 'Perspectives on the United States' Relations with
Thailand and Southeast Asia', was conducted on the campus of university.

Holding up the 40-plus year legacy of ASEAN as an example of success in
community building, Hill maintained that the best way forward for everyone
is for ASEAN "to be stronger" with Burma. ASEAN should "look to set
standards for human rights and democracy that will give Burma no chance"
but to adapt, added the Ambassador. "ASEAN is best able to address the
situation."

The prospect of an ASEAN Charter being formally implemented later this
year, which is to include a human rights component, was put forth as one
mechanism that could effectively be used by the regional bloc when dealing
with the recalcitrant generals in Naypyitaw.

In language befitting a seasoned diplomat Hill also expressed the view
that for ASEAN and Asia, Burma is not only a human rights issue but also a
geo-strategic question, pointing out with respect to trade that "sometimes
neighbors have a lot more to lose." He said it understandable that
regional countries insist on Burma being a member of the regional
community as opposed to other, unspecified, groups.

Regarding China the distinguished civil servant harped on the notion that
"more of China does not mean less of the United States," while furthering
that the United States "welcomes China's role in Southeast Asia." He went
on to say that the United States is working with China in trying to bring
change to Burma.

China is roundly criticized by numerous Burma watchers and interest groups
for its perceived leading role in bankrolling the Burmese junta, both
financially and militarily.

Refusing to declare the mission of United Nations Special Envoy to Burma
Ibrahim Gambari a lost cause, Hill praised the character of the Envoy and
stated that not only does the United States want to see him succeed, but
that it should also be in the interests of Burma's generals to see Gambari
meet with success, as it behooves them not to let a professional of his
caliber exit the stage.

With the junta apparently turning a deaf ear to Gambari's pleas for an
inclusive constitutional and reconciliation process ahead of May's
referendum, not to mention the formation of a poverty alleviation
committee, the sentiment that the Special Envoy's mission is all but
formally defeated has become increasingly prevalent.

The debate over sanctions, which has deeply divided international
approaches to confronting Burma's junta, was forthrightly defined by the
Ambassador as "no one's first choice" and a policy that is compromised
when some members of the international community do not abide by the same
rules. He went on to tell those in attendance that "sanctions don't always
work. They have a mixed record."

But do not look for the United States to reverse its decision to bring an
arsenal of targeted sanctions directed at leading figures in the junta and
their civilian cohorts. According to Hill, and in further deference toward
Burma's position within the ASEAN and Asian communities, it is vital for
the United States to stay engaged through utilizing the "limited tools" at
its disposal.

Ambassador Hill may best be known for his role in the six-party talks
dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions. However Hill's repeated
references to differences between international actors in Burma policy
priorities made apparent that the singular unifying security threat posed
by the North Korean regime does not directly translate to the
international community and Burma. Still, he remains optimistic that there
are constructive roles in dialogue to be played by all parties to the
Burmese crisis.

Occasionally referring to the Southeast Asian nation as Myanmar, as the
junta renamed the country in 1989, the Ambassador left no doubt that at
the end of the day the United States' primary wish is for "a stable and
prosperous Burma."

Hill reiterated the United States' long held overture for the generals to
release all political prisoners, specifically mentioning opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 29, Japan Economic Newswire
Indonesia may host meeting of group on Myanmar

Indonesia may host a meeting of a group of 14 nations assisting U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in his efforts to spur changes in Myanmar,
an official said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo earlier declined to confirm
whether the meeting will take place in Indonesia.

However, when asked whether U.N. special envoy on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari
raised a proposal for the meeting to be held in Jakarta during his visit
last week to Indonesia, Legowo said, "It was touched on, but it's still at
a very early stage."

"We need to discuss it further, for example about the modalities. So, we
want to hear more details," he told a small group of reporters at his
office.

The idea came up following suggestions from Myanmar advocates in the
United States that Ban should convene the next meetings of the group in
such Asian capitals as Jakarta or Beijing, thus making regional countries
more committed and involved in U.N.-led mediation efforts.

The Group of Friends of the Secretary General on Myanmar is a consultative
forum for developing a shared approach in support of the implementation of
the secretary general's good offices mandate for Myanmar.

Consisting of Australia, Indonesia, Russia, the United States, China,
Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, France, Norway, Thailand, India, Portugal and
Britain, the group met in an informal format in the U.N. headquarters in
New York in December and early this month.

Gambari will visit Myanmar next week, during which he will try to meet
with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Last week in Jakarta, Gambari said he intends to discuss with Myanmar's
ruling generals its decision to bar opposition leader Suu Kyi from
multiparty elections to be held in 2010.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win told foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations during a meeting in Singapore early
this month that Suu Kyi will not be allowed to run under the newly crafted
constitution.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo quoted Nyan Win as saying that in
the new constitution, a Myanmar citizen who has a foreign husband and
children will be disqualified from running for public office, as was the
case in the country's 1974 constitution.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past 17
years under house arrest, married Michael Aris, a British citizen who died
in Britain in 1999, and had two children by him who are British nationals.

In an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Thursday, Gambari urged the
junta to "reconsider" the draft constitution for more freedom and to
ensure "freedom of political prisoners including Aung Sun Suu Kyi and
opportunity for free expression of views."

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 28, UN News Center
UN’s Myanmar envoy leaves Tokyo, completing Asian consultations

The United Nations’ top envoy for Myanmar finished his consultations in
Tokyo today, wrapping up his meetings with Asian leaders on efforts to
promote democratization and national reconciliation in the troubled
country, where authorities used force against a wave of peaceful protests
last summer.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari met with
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and other senior Japanese
officials, focusing on Japan's support to the Secretary-General’s good
offices, including ways to help Myanmar address socio-economic and
humanitarian challenges.

Prior to arriving in Tokyo, Mr. Gambari visited Beijing, Jakarta and
Singapore and he will return to New York before heading to Myanmar next
week. Exact dates for that visit are being finalized.

His visit to Myanmar will be the third to the South-East Asian nation
since the authorities cracked down on Buddhist monks and other
pro-democracy demonstrators in protests that began last August.

____________________________________

February 29, DPA via Bangkok Post
US envoy sees dark future for Burma regime

The ruling Burmese junta faces a "bleak" future if it continues to reject
the national reconciliation process being pushed by United Nations Special
Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, a senior US diplomat warned Friday.

"The future of that regime is bleak, so they should try to respond,"
Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific
affairs, told a seminar in Bangkok.

Gambari, who is seeking an international consensus on how to handle Burma,
is due to visit the country next month after being denied a visa for
weeks.

Since 1962, Burma has been ruled by a military regime that has earned
itself one of the world's worst human rights records after two brutal
crackdowns on pro-democracy movements in 1988 and more recently in
September 2007. It has arrested thousands of political dissidents
including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the
past 18 years under house arrest.

The regime has promised to hold a referendum this year to approve a new
constitution, which will institutionalize military rule, and elections in
2010, but there is great skepticism that the processes will be free and
fair.

Instead, many within the international community are hoping that Gambari
will succeed in persuading the military to open a genuine political
dialogue with opposition figures such as Suu Kyi and ethnic groups to
forge a national reconciliation process that could lead to a genuine
democracy.

"There is a good political process out there with Gambari, and it behooves
the Burmese government to try to meet him," Hill said.

The senior diplomat, addressing an audience at Chulalongkorn University,
warned that the US would continue to put diplomatic pressure on Burma,
including sanctions, until a legitimate solution to the country's problems
is found.

"So let's see if the Burmese authorities understand that we have a have a
lot of options for dealing with Burma, but we do not have the option of
turning our backs and forgetting the problem," he said.

____________________________________

February 29, Wall Street Journal
US, Britain urge Myanmar to include Suu Kyi in polls

Senior diplomats from Britain and the U.S. on Friday urged Myanmar's
military junta to include Aung San Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy party in
a promised referendum and elections.

Myanmar's generals earlier this month made a surprise announcement that
they would bring the recently-completed constitution before the public for
approval in May, setting the stage for elections in 2010 - the first in
two decades.

Any hopes of real democratic reform in Myanmar were quickly dashed,
however, when the regime said detained Aung San Suu Kyi could not run,
while her National League for Democracy (NLD) party slammed the
constitution.

Meg Munn, a British foreign office minister, told reporters in Bangkok
that the referendum in the country formally know as Burma must be a
"genuine process" rather than a charade to quell growing world pressure.

"It needs to involve the National League for Democracy, and be a process
which can genuinely lead to democracy, not something that is just put in
place to satisfy the pressure that is there from the international
community for change," Munn said.

"We don't know yet whether it will meet those standards," she added.

After a meeting with Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama in
Bangkok, Munn urged Myanmar's neighbors to help push the repressive regime
toward democracy.

"We believe Thailand, Indonesia, places such as that, can be seen as role
models for Burma," she said. "They have moved from situations of military
involvement to democracy and we'd like to see that happen in Burma as
well." Christopher Hill, the US pointman for East Asian affairs, was also
in Bangkok on Friday and condemned a September 2007 crackdown on
protesters that, according to UN figures, left at least 31 people dead.

"I think we all want to see Myanmar begin to improve its dialogue with its
opposition, especially with the release of political prisoners including
Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

"The process of closing out those people has really left Burma in an
isolated state and not a healthy state for a country of such strategic
importance and size," he told reporters.

The NLD won elections in 1990 with a landslide, but instead of letting
them govern, the junta put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and
continued to rule the once-prosperous nation with an iron fist.

The U.S. has ridiculed Myanmar's proposed constitution, urging the regime
to " start from scratch" and draft a new one with the NLD's participation.

____________________________________

February 29, Reuters
Britain tells China don't fear action on problem states - Ben Blanchard

China should not fear working with other countries to put pressure on
"faltering states", Britain's foreign minister said on Friday in an
indirect plea for Beijing to do more with countries such as Sudan and
Myanmar.

David Miliband, speaking at the tailend of a trip to Hong Kong and China,
said it was in everyone's interest to deal with these countries, lest they
destabilise their neighbours.

China traditionally avoids supporting international sanctions, saying it
prefers dialogue and does not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of
other countries.

"I believe it is in all our interests to address the poor governance that
can give birth to conflict and instability," Miliband told students at the
elite Peking University.

"When the incentives of global engagement do not work, there will be cases
for applying pressure," he added.

"Sometimes, sovereign nations must be prepared to intervene together where
they see a risk to regional stability and where a state is unable or
unwilling to address the problem itself."

Doing so could also help hold back protectionist sentiment against China
in Europe and other parts of the world, he said.

"The more our publics see China using its growing influence around the
world to pursue vital shared interests, from African development and
Korean denuclearisation to low carbon growth, the more greater will be
public support for increased market opening," Miliband added.

A country he suggested China could help with was Myanmar, whose military
violently put down pro-democracy protests late last year.

"Burma is on your border. You know it well," Miliband said, without
specifically calling on China to do more, and outlining Britain's view
that Myanmar's military government is "brutal" and must release Nobel
laureate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

China is one of Myanmar's major trading partners and investors, and at
least one Myanmar opposition group has urged a boycott of this summer's
Beijing Olympics.

But China should not worry too much that U.S. film director Steven
Spielberg's withdrawing as artistic adviser to the Olympics would
undermine the Games, Miliband said.

"Do not believe Steven Spielberg is going to wreck the Olympics, however
much the Olympics focuses the world's attention on China," he said.

"But do recognise that when individuals express concerns over government
policies, this is not born of a desire to pick on China or block its rise,
but instead see its power as a force for good in the world," he added.

Spielberg quit earlier in February, claiming China had failed to use
enough of its sway with Khartoum to press for peace in Sudan's strife-torn
western region of Darfur.

China is a leading oil customer and supplier of weapons to Sudan, and
critics accuse Beijing of providing diplomatic cover for Khartoum as it
stonewalls international efforts to send peacekeepers into Darfur.

Miliband repeated his opposition to an Olympic boycott, saying it would
only harm global cooperation with China on the very issues where Beijing's
help is especially needed.

"Isolation would be a disaster," he said. "Do not boycott the Olympics,
celebrate the Olympics."

____________________________________

February 29, The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Burmese refugees need help from more churches, pastor says - Kristin Collins

Pastor John Luther used to think refugees lived only in distant places.
Then, one Sunday in August, a group of "funny dressed people" showed up at
the door of his church.

They were refugees from Burma, also known as Myanmar, who had been moved
less than two weeks before to North Raleigh.

Luther now knows that the Triangle is home to thousands of refugees --
many of them from the war-torn Southeast Asian country of Burma -- and he
is asking more churches to help them.

Tonight, Luther will invite 1,000 pastors to his church to learn about the
Burmese refugees and the help they need.

The Burmese are one of the largest groups of refugees flowing into the
United States right now. A military dictatorship in their country has
persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of people from minority ethnic
groups.

Lutheran Family Services has moved more than 214 Burmese refugees into the
Triangle over the past year.

Tom Van Dyke, a professor at UNC-Greensboro, has been to Burma twice with
a relief group.

He said the Burmese military frequently burns villages, rapes young girls
and forces minorities to labor without pay. Many families, he said, are
accustomed to makeshift villages in the jungle, moving when they are
attacked.

Those who escape often spend years in crowded refugee camps in Thailand,
in huts with no electricity or running water, not allowed to work or leave
the camp.

When they come to the United States, he said, they don't even understand
the most basic elements of American culture.

"You've got to imagine the culture shock of mountain villagers who've
lived in small bamboo and teak huts," Van Dyke said.

Luther said that volunteers from his church have helped several Burmese
families buy clothes, furniture and food. They have started English
classes for refugees. And they have helped them understand things most
Americans take for granted: toilets and electric stoves.

He said many families here have no community volunteers to help them. He
hopes to change that.

"We're telling churches, 'You need to step up,' " Luther said.

TO LEARN MORE

What: Informational meeting about Burmese refugees

Where: Christ Covenant Church, 6501 Fox Road in Raleigh

When: 7-9 tonight

For more information: Call 878-2070

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 29, Irrawaddy
Burma’s referendum—‘History is repeating itself’ - Wai Moe [News Analysis]

The lack of official tolerance of dissidents in Burma and of openness
gives rise to concern that the planned constitutional referendum will not
be free and fair. The top junta generals seem too confident about the
likely result.

Chapter III of the law providing for the referendum law determines that a
referendum commission is to be formed. But the legislation does not make
clear how the members of the commission and sub-commissions will be chosen
or whether the selection process will be free and fair.

The law provides for the formation of sub-commissions for states and
divisions. District divisions will have 15 members, ward or village
sub-commissions five to 20 members.

Chapter VII of the legislation says that if a situation requiring a
dissolution of referendum voting for any treason, the ward or
village-tract sub-commissions may dissolve some polling booths or all
polling booths within their area.

“This section is really stupid,” a Rangoon political observer told The
Irrawaddy. “The referendum law is full of tricks allowing the regime to do
as it pleases.”

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), in
a special statement on the law on Thursday, said the junta’s approach,
excluding opposition voices, lacked legitimacy and badly affected the
national reconciliation process.

“The NLD won more than 80 percent of parliamentary seats in the 1990
election,” said the NLD. The statement pointed out that a decree passed by
the regime after the 1990 election, known as 1/90, said the work of
writing a constitution would be undertaken by those elected in the 1990
poll.

Critics point out that those who led the National Convention and the
constitution drafting committee would now also lead the referendum
commission. That meant that the junta denied an inclusive process in
drafting the constitution and transition to democracy, ignoring the
reaction of the international community.

In a reaction to the referendum law, the US said on Thursday that the path
to national reconciliation in Burma lies in the release of political
prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the establishment of a
meaningful dialogue between the junta leadership, democratic forces and
ethnic minorities leading to a transition to democracy.

“A credible political transition in Burma must be inclusive and
transparent. It must involve universal suffrage, secrecy and security of
the ballot, and freedom of speech and association, among other
internationally accepted standards,” said US State Department Spokesman
Tom Casey.

Thein Nyunt, a lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that he noticed the
junta referendum law is quite similar to legislation in the early 1970s
providing for a referendum in 1973.

“Under the previous law, anyone who was against the referendum could be
sentenced to one year’s imprisonment,” he said. “But now people can
receive three years imprisonment under the terms of the present law.”

The junta has also not withdrawn decree 5/96, which threatens opponents of
the constitution with prison terms of up 20 years. “Unless the 5/96 decree
is withdrawn, we cannot say the referendum will be free and fair,” Thein
Nyunt said.

Many Burmese say no referendum or election can be held while the junta
ignores the voice of the majority. “After soldiers beat and killed monks
on the streets last September, this call for a referendum on the junta’s
agenda is humiliating,” said a Rangoon school teacher.

In the 1990 poll, local, respected people were able to participate in the
election commissions and sub-commissions. But, according reports in Burma,
members of the junta-backed mass organization, Union Solitary and
Development Association (USDA), will make up the referendum commissions
and sub-commissions.

A journalist in Rangoon, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that
the referendum law seems to close the door on the country’s dissidents,
and a new generation will now have to live under repressive rule.

The question arises: how can the junta be so confident in the referendum
after its brutal crackdown on the September 2007 demonstrations?

The junta displayed a similar confidence in the 1990 election, believing
the pro- junta National Unity Party would win handsomely. Its confidence
now is based on the official claim that the USDA has 24 million members,
making up about two thirds of Burma’s electorate.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese political analyst based on the Sino-Burma border
said the large number of USDA members among Burma’s 32 million voters
“could make the generals think they have the upper hand in the referendum
and election. History is repeating itself.”

Aung Kyaw Zaw said it was “out of question” that students, teachers and
civil servants had been forced to join the USDA.

Analysts at home and abroad say that the junta plans for a constitutional
referendum and a general election are intended to give an impression of
legitimacy and credibility before the international community.

“The referendum is just a fake process, something the junta is doing to
try and legitimize itself,” said a Thai scholar who specializes on
Burma-Thailand history. “If the constitution is approved by a majority,
the junta would have the legitimacy to remain in power and change the
country inn their own way.”

“It would also be a good excuse or reason to prevent the UN or other
countries intervening in Burma’s internal affairs,” said the scholar,
speaking under condition of anonymity.

____________________________________

February 29, Irrawaddy
No Kosovos in Burma - David Paquette

The declaration of independence in Kosovo may or may not mark the final
nail in the coffin for the defunct state of Yugoslavia. The speed of the
dissolution of the amalgamated Slavic state has been remarkable. From one
nation in 1988, there are now seven independently recognized states. Just
like Burma.

However, Burma is not Asia’s Yugoslavia. It may share ethnic diversity,
but its history shares few parallels. And more significantly, it’s the
majority group, the Burmans, that sits on the oil and gas in Burma. In
former Yugoslavia, the new independent states of Kosovo and Montenegro
hold the key to Caspian oil.

Like Iraq, oil is the overwhelming reason why the territory of Kosovo will
be fought over politically and, if necessary, militarily. And it’s the
lack of such a natural resource that denies Burma’s ethnic peoples the
international support they would need to strive for independence.

Teaching a Current Affairs program to Burmese students some years ago, I
was asked not to discuss the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. I was
told: “It could send the wrong message.”

I assumed that this meant that the Balkans War was so brutal that no
positive scenario related to Burma could emerge.

But in fact it was another message that was to be censored from those
young and impressionable Burmese minds—do not encourage nationalism or
entertain notions of breakaway states.

Watching the speed and decisiveness with which the US and several allies
recognized Kosovo’s declaration of independence on February 17, many of
Burma’s ethnic minority leaders must surely marvel at how easily a small
state’s sovereignty can be achieved.

Would the West be so bold in recognizing the aspirations of the Karenni
people, for example, who originally took up arms to fight for an
independent state after British rule in 1948? Would any country recognize
the independence of an ethnic breakaway state from Burma?

Of course not. And it has taken 60 years of maturity and pragmatism for
ethnic leaders in Burma to realize this.

The main ethnic minorities, the Karens, Mons, Kachins, Shans, Chins,
Arakanese and Karennis who are looking on enviously, might well consider
that Kosovo is far from winning true independence or self-government.
Apart from looming bloodshed, the stillborn state has a 60 percent
unemployment rate and most people live in abject poverty.

Real power is wielded by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a terrorist
organization linked to human trafficking, drugs and prostitution. The new
Kosovan prime minister, Hashim Thaci, emerged from the political wing of
the KLA and is frequently linked to local mafia.

The international community that supports Kosovo’s declaration will
attempt to administer its affairs through a High Representative and bodies
appointed by the US, the EU and NATO.

Kosovo’s true independence remains a long way off.


>From 1919 to its dissolution in the late 80s, Yugoslavia was a patchwork

of ethnicities, the majority Serbs making up over 60 percent of the
population.

Serbs and Croats had for centuries occupied the Adriatic coast; the area
now recognized as Kosovo (or “Kosova” in Albanian) was the cradle of the
Serb civilization and is regarded by Serbs as their ancestral homeland.

As Serbs began migrating to more fertile plains, Albanians took their
place. Since the late 19th century the Albanians have been the majority,
yet the Serbs still regard Kosovo as their land.

The orthodox Christian Serbs claim it was their heroism at the Battle of
Blackbird Field in Kosovo in 1389, when they fought the mighty Ottoman
army that saved much of Western Europe from Moslem conquest.

Serbian nationalism was a root cause of the war that ripped the former
Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s and led to NATO intervention. Hostilities
came to an end in 1997, with the signing of the Dayton peace agreement.

That agreement contained the seeds of independence for the former Yugoslav
republic of Montenegro and the province of Kosovo. Both found themselves
being courted by the West.

In 1999, construction began on Camp Bondsteel, a military camp comparable
to the US embassy “Green Zone” in Baghdad. Today, it houses some 7,000 US
soldiers and is the largest employer in Kosovo, employing 5,000 local
people.

The US base also oversees security for the Trans-Balkan pipeline, which
runs from the Caspian Sea via Kosovo and Montenegro to the Mediterranean,
supplying fuel to the US and Western Europe.

Not surprisingly, the US was among the first to recognize Kosovo’s
declaration of independence. Russia, Serbia’s ally throughout history,
opposed it. So did China—while Taiwan found in Kosovo’s independence a
significant signal of support for its own demands for independence from
Beijing.

The realignment now of old Cold War opponents on the Kosovo question
creates a powder keg in the Balkans. If the region explodes it will set
the entire region ablaze, pitting Christian communities and countries
against Muslim ones.

So, what lessons are to be gleaned for the ethnic peoples of Burma?
Firstly: “It’s largely about oil.”

It is also notable that Burmese minorities have never stooped to the
depths that the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians did in establishing ethnically
“cleansed” states.

The other noteworthy point for Burma is that the more the US and its
allies concern themselves with Kosovo and Montenegro, the more Russia and
ultimately, China, will resist. With Western countries locked in
hypocrisy, China will be allowed to develop its gas and fuel pipeline
ambitions in Burma unopposed. Quid pro quo.

____________________________________

February 29, Washington Post
Olympic Speech [editorial]

Athletes should not be muzzled while in Beijing.

Run, high-jump, hurdle or kayak -- but whatever you do, don't speak.
That's the message some countries are sending to their athletes ahead of
the Beijing Olympics.

Last month, the Belgian Olympic Committee announced that it will not
permit its athletes to make political statements, verbally or sartorially,
in Olympic venues. The British Olympic Association similarly muzzled its
athletes, who will be expelled from the team if they talk about political
issues anywhere at all. The New Zealand Olympic Committee has also waffled
about exactly how much freedom of expression its athletes will enjoy.

The decisions must please China, which has been condemning human rights
groups for "politicizing" the Games. The Belgian, British and New Zealand
committees argue that the gag orders are just meant to uphold the Olympic
charter, which declares that "no kind of demonstration or political,
religious or racial propaganda is permitted" at the Games.

It would be nice if the Olympics could transcend politics, but that has
never happened and never will. The Olympic charter is chock-full of
political goals and principles, including feminism, environmentalism and
world peace. And from the 1936 Nazi-hosted Games to the 1964 exclusion of
apartheid South Africa to the 1968 black-power salute to the 1980 U.S.-led
and 1984 Soviet-led boycotts, the Olympics have always been infused with
politics and human rights concerns.

In making its Olympic bid, China repeatedly argued that placing the Games
in Beijing would "help the development of human rights." Yet China's human
rights record has in many ways worsened (as in the appalling arrest of
dissident Hu Jia recently), and China has continued to abet repression in
Burma and Sudan. Belgium's and Britain's orders to athletes not to comment
on China's poor behavior may actually embolden Beijing. They also set a
bad precedent for authoritarian regimes that may host the Games in the
coming years -- including Russia, which is hosting the 2014 Winter
Olympics.

The worst example of all is set for Western democracies. These gag orders
call into question the West's belief in freedom of speech, a value that
democracies should be promoting, not discounting, in China. So far,
Olympic committees in Australia, Canada and the United States have said
they'll allow their athletes to speak freely. We hope other democracies
will follow suit and allow their athletes to express themselves -- about
China or anything else.