BurmaNet News, April 5-7, 2008

[Editor]

April 5-7, 2008 Issue # 3438

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: ABFSU joins calls to vote “No” in referendum
DVB: Second NLD member attacked in Hlaing Tharyar
Kaladan News: Girls threatened, asked to support draft constitution
SHAN: Junta stopped by Wa, Mongla from issuing ID's

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup
Mizzima News: Import duty hike creates stalemate on Sino-Burma border

REGIONAL
Jakarta Post: Than Shwe assures SBY of reforms
Times of India: Myanmar looks to get a satellite with India's help

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Commentary: Happy New Year Burma! Goldie Shwe
Irrawaddy: Weak words from the UN Security Council - Yeni
Straits Times: It's really all about economics - Michael Richardson

STATEMENT
ENC: Statement on the forthcoming SPDC's referendum

OBITUARY
DVB: Ludu Daw Amar dies aged 93

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
ABFSU joins calls to vote “No” in referendum

The All Burma Federation of Student Unions has joined other pro-democracy
groups in calling on the Burmese people to vote “No” in the constitutional
referendum in May.

In a statement released on Friday, the ABFSU urged people to stand up to
the pressure and manipulation by the military government by going to the
polls to vote against the new constitution.

The statement said that only a constitution drawn up with the
participation of all parties and ethnic groups would be respected by the
public.

Ko Linn Htet Naing, an ABSFU leader, said the ruling State Peace and
Development Council was an illegitimate government and therefore lacked
the authority to draft a constitution.

“We are urging the people of Burma to vote ‘No’ against the SPDC
referendum. They are the government that stole power from the people’s
hands, so they are not legitimate,” he said.

“People have already appointed their representatives to write the basic
constitution. The SPDC government with its twisted mind is trying to make
changes to it and that can never be legitimate.”

Linn Htet Naing said the group would encourage people to look out for any
signs of vote-rigging.

“We have told our operatives and contacts to monitor the voting at the
polling station where they go to vote and to keep reporting to the world
any suspicious behaviour by the SPDC.”

The ABFSU statement follows similar announcements by the National League
for Democracy, the All-Burmese Monks Alliance, the 88 Generation Students
group and others, who also called for a “No” vote.

Some other activists have called for a boycott of the referendum or urged
action to stop it taking place.

The government and its supporters have been running a campaign of
incentives and coercion to persuade people to vote in favour of the
constitution.

____________________________________

April 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Second NLD member attacked in Hlaing Tharyar

National League for Democracy member U Tin Yu needed more than 20 stitches
in his face after being attacked early on Friday morning in what he said
was a premeditated assault.

Tin Yu, a 50-year-old member of the Hlaing Tharyar township NLD organising
committee, said he was attacked at around 2.20am on 4 April while waiting
for a bus to go to San Pya market.

“While I was waiting at the road junction at around 2.20am, a motorcycle
with two riders pulled up,” Tin Yu explained.

“The pillion passenger was a young man with a yellow shirt and the man in
front had a walkie-talkie at his waist.”

Motorcycles are banned in Rangoon, and are usually only ridden by
government officials or supporters.

“As I was standing, they rode past me and went to a shop selling betel
nut,” Tin Yu continued.

“After I had been standing for a while, I sat down and that was when they
headed back towards me and hit me in the face,” he said.

“I needed more than 20 stitches under my right eye and some more in the
centre of my forehead.”

Tin Yu said he could not see out of his right eye, and had been given eye
drops and medication.

“I have to go back to the hospital on 24 March when I will get my results.
They said I was bleeding from my eye,” he said.

U Tin Yu said he believed the attack was premeditated because the
authorities had been keeping him under surveillance.

“About three days before I was attacked, two local surveillance men came
to my home at around 2am to watch me go to the market,” Tin Yu said.

“They have been doing that about every other day. The last time I left for
the market, there were two or three of them waiting for me,” he said.

“There were trishaw drivers and passengers at the bus stop, so they didn't
do anything then. Today, there was only one trishaw driver and the place
was very quiet. No other bus passengers were there at the bus stop. That
was when they attacked me.”

Tin Yu said he believed the authorities were involved in the attack.

“The only people who have walkie-talkies are Swan Arr Shin, the Union
Solidarity and Development Association, and the Fire Services Department,”
he said.

“Of course, the police and the military intelligence also have them. So,
who can it be except them?”

Tin Yu said he had reported the attack to Hlaing Tharyar police station.

Tin Yu has been arrested by authorities on several occasions, and said the
attack would not stop him working for democracy.

“As long as I live, I will continue working for democracy until it is
achieved. I will always keep my morale up,” Tin Yu said.

“I have been detained several times, my son has been detained, and now I
have been attacked. We are like the living dead. There is no law or
justice in our country,” he said.

“We cannot rely on anyone. Even if we go and report our case, no one will
take it up seriously.”

This is the third time a political activist has been attacked since 27 March.

On 31 March, Hlaing township NLD member U Myint Hlaing, a close friend of
Tin Yu, was hospitalised with head wounds after being attacked by an
unknown assailant while walking near his home.

This followed an attack on Human Rights Defenders and Promoters network
member U Myint Aye on 27 March, in which he also sustained head injuries.

No arrests have so far been made in connection with the attacks.

____________________________________

April 8, Kaladan News
Girls threatened, asked to support draft constitution

Maungdaw, Arakan State : Local military junta authorities in Maungdaw
Township , Arakan State are ordering Rohingya girls over 18 to support the
new constitutional referendum in May. The directive comes with threats not
to cast a 'no' vote, said a local schoolteacher.

On April 2, the District Peace and Development Council (DPDC) Chairman
called a meeting through the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC)
chairmen and secretaries. They called girls from "Nwah Yon Taung" village
tract, "Bag Gone Nah village tract", "Ay Tah Li Yahtilla village tract" of
Maungdaw Township to VPDC office and the primary school of Nwar Yon Taung
village tract for a meeting. All the girls of 18 and above had to be
present at the meeting.

The DPDC chairman was absent from the meeting though other staff of the
DPDC office attended. One of the officers from DPDC office explained to
the girls how to vote in the referendum and that local authorities would
observe them.

"The local authorities will check the ballots after the polling station is
closed. If the authorities find those against the draft constitution, it
will detain him or her to be interrogated instantly as to why he or she
cast a 'no' vote, said one of the girls who attended the meeting.

Besides, the officer added that they would provide Identity (ID) cards to
all the girls and youths who are 18-year old. After that the girls could
move freely could live peacefully and there would be no marriage
restrictions. But the girls have to promise to cast the 'yes' vote in the
ensuing constitutional referendum. If they (girls) fail to keep the
promise, in future, they would face many kinds of trouble.

In Burma , local authorities are busy urging people to renew ID cards and
asking them to support the new constitutional referendum to be held in May
2008, sources said.

Burma's Chief Justice and Chairman of the Constitution Drafting
Commission, Aung Toe, said the draft was drawn up with the objective of
ensuring a leading role in politics for the military, which has always
insisted that it alone can hold the country's many fragmented ethnic
groups together.

____________________________________

April 7, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta stopped by Wa, Mongla from issuing ID's - Hawkeye/ Lieng Lern

Burmese officials visiting Mongla and Wa areas in eastern Shan State last
month to issue temporary ID cards to local people were detained by the
ceasefire groups, according to sources.

The reason for their dissatisfaction was that the white cards issued to
them were only "temporary safe conducts" and not the standard pink cards
regarded as permanent IDs.

The nine registration teams, each with nine officials, were all being
detained at the school compound in Mongpawk, just south of the Wa capital
Panghsang on the Sino-Burma border from March 2 to 29. Only 20 to 30
Chinese citizens from Daluo, opposite Mongla, were able to obtain
temporary cards before the officials were rounded up and sent to Mongpawk.

"Till the end of March, the stalemate continued with one side demanding
permanent ID cards while the other said they were only authorized to issue
temporary ones," said a local source.

The white card, a copy of which SHAN has received, states clearly that it
cannot be used to prove one's citizenship.

Another reason for the ceasefire groups' dissatisfaction was the
designation of townships which they regard as not in keeping with the
actual situation on the ground.

Saleu, for instance, is the headquarters of Mongla's 369th Brigade, but it
is not in Mongla Township but in neighbouring Mongyang. Mongpawk also has
not been designated Wa territory although Markmang (Metman in Burma) under
Burma Army control since 1980, was named as a township in the Wa
Self-Administered Region by the junta-sponsored National Convention.

Wa and Mongla, better known as United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National
Democratic Alliance Army Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), had ceasefire
agreements with Burma's ruling military council in 1989.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 5, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup - William Boot

Thaksin’s lawyer defends state loan to Burmese junta

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra approved a state loan of US
$120 million to the Burmese junta to secure a gas deal and not to enrich
his family business, his lawyer claimed this week.

The disclosure was made by lawyer Chatthip Tanthaprasat to reporters in
Bangkok after the Thai Assets Examination Committee decided to recommend
Thaksin’s prosecution for allegedly ordering the loan via the
Export-Import Bank to enrich his Shin Satellite telecommunications
company.

It’s alleged that the Burmese regime intended to use the money to buy Shin
equipment.

Chatthip said Thaksin will make a statement refuting the allegation. The
Thaksin family no longer owns Shin Satellite.

The loan was suspended after Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in
September 2006 for other alleged corruption.

It’s unclear how much of the money had already been paid to the Burmese
junta.

Two weeks ago, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Thai
Export-Import Bank was free to pay the remaining loan to Burma.

Noppadon said only 25 percent—about $31 million had been given to Burma
before the suspension. But Bangkok media reports last year quoted ASC
officials saying only about $10 million was outstanding.

Thaksin and his wife are due to appear before a Thai court on April 29 to
face charges surrounding a land deal.

Stalemate in Burma-Bangladesh sea border talks

The first negotiations in 22 years between Burma and Bangladesh on sea
border boundaries have ended without any progress.

Two days of talks in Dhaka were inconclusive, according to Bangladeshi media.

There was agreement only to conduct further joint sea surveys of disputed
offshore territory and to meet again in June.

The two countries are under renewed pressure from the United Nations’
Convention on the Law of the Sea to define their boundaries.

Observers say the issue is especially urgent because of increased offshore
exploration for oil and gas in the disputed Bay of Bengal area.

“With global demand for gas now high, both countries are prospecting in
uncertain waters, and this creates problems for foreign companies invited
to take development concessions,” explained Bangkok-based energy industry
consultant Collin Reynolds.

Impetus for the first talks since 1986 has resulted from a complaint by
Bangladesh that Burma is encroaching on its maritime waters in the hunt
for gas.

Renewed interest in the Bay of Bengal is prompted by extensive gas finds
in the Burmese Shwe field.

The Burma regime recently refused a bid by Dhaka to buy Burmese gas to
fill an energy shortage.

After a major international lottery involving India, South Korea, Thailand
and Japan, the state Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise chose to sell the gas
so far discovered in Shwe to China.

Burma committed to East-West economic corridor road

The Burmese regime has affirmed its commitment to the East-West Economic
Corridor of connecting highways linking Asia with Europe.

The commitment was given at the summit of the six countries of the Greater
Mekong Subregion in Vientiane earlier this week.

The GMS group meeting was held to emphasize economic cooperation.

Burma now sees itself as playing a pivotal role in the corridor, which is
also being pushed by neighbor India, say observers.

The Vientiane commitment by Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein underlines
statements earlier in March by Minister for Commerce Brig-Gen Tin Naing
Thein.

“In the not-so-distant future, it is likely that we’ll resume transit
trade along the border region to benefit from the advent of the Greater
Mekong Sub-Region’s East-West Corridor,” Tin Naing Thein told
state-controlled media.

Central to this transit trade will be sea ports, say observers, noting
that India and Burma this week finally agreed on a deal in which New Delhi
will redevelop the western port of Sittwe.

China is separately developing a port on the central coast on Ramree Island.

Inflation, Economic slump overshadow East Asian Financial Summit

Finance ministers of the 10 Asean countries met in Vietnam on Friday to
endorse the view of financial experts that the region will weather the
economic downturn and spiraling price rises—but face inflationary
uncertainties.

The countries include the faltering economies of Burma, Laos and Cambodia
where fuel and rice price increases have hurt ordinary citizens.

The Asian Development Bank has warned that average inflation across the
Asean countries will top 5 percent in 2008—meaning some of the most
vulnerable countries will suffer a higher inflationary trend.

Inflation and economic slump fears dominated meetings between Asean and
China, South Korea and Japan in the Vietnamese port city of Danang aimed
originally at promoting closer financial services links in the region.

____________________________________

April 7, Mizzima News
Import duty hike creates stalemate on Sino-Burma border - Myo Gyi

Ruili – Import duty has been increased as of this morning in Laiza, an
area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization .

Import duty was hiked by nearly 300 per cent on goods imported from China
in Laiza, a border town on the Sino-Burma border. Traders unhappy with the
increase of import duty returned in empty trucks without buying any goods.

The duty was increased on textiles, foodstuff and four other commodities.
On some goods it was hiked from Kyat 4,000 to over Kyat 10, 000.

There was a dispute between Zaw Tan, the manager of the Wung Raut Company,
contractor of the KIO on import taxation and traders and truck drivers.
The KIO reached a ceasefire agreement with the military regime and is the
largest ethnic armed group in Kachin State.

The KIO has, however, categorically denied that it has anything to do with
the dispute.

"KIO has nothing to do with the dispute. Traders and truck drivers went
back without buying any goods in empty trucks following a dispute with
Wung Raut Company which increased the import duty. But it's not a protest
against the duty hike. Six empty trucks have just left. Zaw Tan is not a
KIO member, he's just a layman," a KIO official said.

Earlier, the KIO Customs Department collected import taxes on its own on
the Laiza-Bah Mo-Myitkyinar border trade route. Then this was replaced
with a contract system after corruption among the rank and file was
revealed.

There are about 20 contractors in Laiza collecting import duty on
different items.

Similarly the Border Trade Department and Customs Department of the
military junta also levy taxes in Laiza in the KIA controlled area.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 5, Jakarta Post
Than Shwe assures SBY of reforms - Abdul Khalik

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received a letter from Myanmar
military junta chief Sr. Gen. Than Shwe assuring him of a continuing
democratic process in the country, Presidential spokesman Dino Patti
Djalal said Friday.

"The President received a letter from Gen. Than Shwe on Thursday
afternoon. This is a reply to a letter by the President. Gen. Than Shwe
has expressed commitment on the roadmap to democratic process," he said at
the Presidential office.

In his letter, the junta chief conveyed his willingness to continue his
correspondence and communication with Yudhoyono.

"This is a unique process as every one of the President's letters has been
replied by Gen. Than Shwe," Dino said.

Yudhoyono has repeatedly underlined the importance of his continued
communication with Than Shwe, citing that the link could improve
Indonesia's interaction with Myanmarese generals.

The President has expressed belief the Myanmar's military junta should be
given a chance to implement its democratic roadmap, urging the
international community to empathize with the junta's fears of Myanmar
disintegrating should their grip slacken.

Myanmar's military junta has proposed a constitution that is set to go
before voters during a referendum next month, and it has said it aims to
hold a 2010 general election.

The international community has criticized the junta for being opaque in
the formation of its constitution and for not letting the National League
for Democracy (NLD), a party led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, join the election.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The NLD won a landslide
victory during elections held in 1990, but the junta forbade them to take
office. Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest for 12 of the last 18
years.

____________________________________

April 5, Times of India
Myanmar looks to get a satellite with India's help

During his current visit to India, Myanmar's senior general Maung Aye had
an important agenda on his checklist. Apart from inking a strategic
waterway and road pact opening India's north-east to the Andaman Sea, the
general was keen to see if his hosts could help Myanmar acquire a
satellite of its own.

Myanmar having a space programme might seem a little like a sci-fi plot,
but reality can beggar fiction. The general, ranked number two in the
Myanmarese junta, had slotted a visit to Bangalore. And it was not just
the city's IT prowess that interested him as it was an engagement at Isro,
India's premier space agency, which held his attention.

India's known capacity in space launches of its own and foreign satellites
has been a object of admiration and sometimes envy in its neighbourhood.
Improved ties between India and Myanmar led the junta to take up what is a
fascination for the junta — a presence in outer space — with India.

But while the prospects of India helping Myanmar's junta in fulfiling its
ambitions are still somewhat nascent, cooperation between the two
countries took a big leap forward with the signing of the Rs 545.85 crore
Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project. This far-reaching project
will provide India's north-east access to Myanmar all the way to the
Andaman Sea.

What is sometimes overlooked, sources said, is that Myanmar is just 25
minutes away from the Andamans. The Kaladan project will establish an
Indian beach head at the historic port of Sittwe. From there, a 225-km
waterway will be developed till Kaletwa and a 180-km road onwards to the
Indian border. The project is expected to be completed in five years.

The strategic and commercial benefits to India are considerable. For one,
it will help India get a foothold in a country where China has already
established itself. Then India will get around, as the official proposal
presented to the Cabinet notes, Bangladesh's "continued intransigence" in
providing transit rights through its territory. With Bangladesh holding
India to ransom, government has felt that the project will convey a strong
message that India does not lack alternatives.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Happy New Year Burma! - Goldie Shwe

One of the courageous members of the National League for Democracy who
gathered to protest on the 63rd Anniversary of Anti-Fascist Revolution Day
on 27 March said, “They may beat us or they may arrest us but we will keep
on protesting”.

And the protests will go on.

The bad news for the junta is that instead of being intimidated, the NLD
and other protesters are getting tougher and more resilient to the usual
beatings and arrests.

The timing also seems to be all wrong for the junta, who couldn’t have
chosen a worse time for their much publicised referendum in May, too soon
after Thingyun, the famous water festival.

Traditionally, Thingyun is the time when people expose and deliver their
suppressed feelings, by performing topical antiphonal chants, in public.
The Burmese, who are usually non-confrontational, get involved
enthusiastically in the amusing satirical responses to the witty lead
lines.

The mocking and ironically taunting chants are usually aimed at strict
school headmasters, flamboyant movie stars, strangely behaved monks,
greedy shop owners and mean mothers-in law.

This year, every chant that has emerged is aimed at one target – the hated
military junta.

It seems as though the people of Burma are unable to think of anything
else but the torture and bullying they have suffered at the hands of the
junta for the last 50 years.

While the horrifying memories of last September’s protests are still vivid
in the minds of the people, the lies, the threats and the force used by
the junta in preparation for their referendum in May have made it all the
more revolting and outrageous.

And what can you do when you feel revolted and outraged in Burma? You
protest, even though everyone knows that “protest” in Burma means violent
beatings and arrests, certainly followed by long-term imprisonment.

Fortunately for the protesters, the timing is just right for them.

Thingyan Festival, equivalent to the West’s Christmas and New Year rolled
into one, is just around the corner.

And during this important festival, people normally do what they like and
jokes, humour and less inhibited behaviour are all-pervading.

No one will be too surprised to see a normally restrained and reserved
person getting drunk and dancing all around the town, for example.

Everyone, alone, in pairs, or in small and bigger groups, walking,
dancing, riding a trishaw or in a decorated cars, buses and coaches will
be singing or chanting.

The wittiest of the writers would have composed and prepared the
antiphonal chants, which would be led by the most exuberant and spirited
person, and echoed by a chorus of passionate and zealous followers.

Passers-by will stop to listen, admire and encourage the chanters. The
Householders will open their doors and balconies to look at the performers
before offering them drinks and snacks. More wealthy people will donate
generously to the chanters.

The best thing about the antiphonal chants for the Water Festival is that
the anti-government slogans could be all hidden amongst the traditional
ones and could be passed off as mishearing, or a slip of a tongue.

The clever writers would write ambiguously and or slightly obliquely so
the chanters and the listeners will be giggling and laughing helplessly
about the vitriolic and critical language but the junta will just have to
watch impotently and take the ridicule.

It is a protest, an outward and open protest, yet no one can arrest them
because it is Thingyun and people are supposed to be chanting.

More importantly the chants will not only refresh the memories of the
long-suffering people over the abuse to which they have been subjected by
the ruthless and malicious junta, but also to remind them of their cunning
and deviousness and their efforts to trick people into voting for the sham
referendum in May.

Happy New Year Burma!

____________________________________

April 5, Irrawaddy
Weak words from the UN Security Council - Yeni

According to reports from the United Nations, three permanent members of
the UN Security Council—the United States, Britain and France—are seeking
to produce a UNSC presidential statement calling on Burma’s ruling junta
to allow all factions to participate in the country’s political process
“in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct
support of the United Nations.”

Before releasing the statement, however, it must be approved by every
member of the UNSC. Observers say that the Burmese regime’s allies in the
council, China and Russia, are likely to stand in the way of any move to
shame the military government.

Most Burmese are already thoroughly disillusioned with the UN’s efforts to
facilitate a meaningful political dialogue in their country. Recently, one
of Burma’s most respected journalists, Ludu Sein Win, echoed the
sentiments of many of his compatriots when he said that “there are no
countries in the world which have gained liberation through the help of
the United Nations.”

Even if the Security Council releases a consensus presidential statement
calling on the Burmese generals to ensure that a constitutional referendum
in May “will be free and fair and that all will be allowed to participate
on equal terms,” it will be too little, too late.

A “Vote No” campaign is currently gaining momentum throughout Burma, as
activists and citizens in Rangoon, Mandalay and other main cities are
pushing for the public to take a stand against the military’s draft
constitution.

All leading opposition and activist groups—the National League for
Democracy (NLD), the 88 Generation Students group and the All Burma Monks
Alliance—have urged voters to cast a “No” vote in the constitutional
referendum.

In response, the military regime is trying to ensure that the NLD and
democracy activists have no room to maneuver. Local authorities have been
training members of state-backed organizations how to crack down on crowds
if protests break out, while pro-junta thugs have been carrying out
attacks on critics of the constitution.

The latest incident occurred on Friday, when Tin Yu, an NLD member from
Rangoon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township, was beaten with a stick by an
unidentified attacker. He received serious injuries requiring fifteen
stitches to his face.

This was the second attack in this area in less than a week. On Monday
evening, the NLD chairman for Hlaing Tharyar Township, 74-year-old Myint
Hlaing, was assaulted by an unknown attacker near his home. He was
hospitalized for a two-inch cut on his head.
Last week, Myint Aye, a leading human rights activist, was beaten by two
unidentified men near his home in Rangoon. He also required medical
treatment for head wounds.

Such attempts to intimidate critics of the junta should provoke a strong
reaction from the international community. However, only the US government
has responded. “These blatant human rights abuses contribute to the
climate of fear and repression in Burma as the regime prepares to conduct
a referendum on its draft constitution,” said US State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack in a statement on March 29.

The rest of the world’s silence on these cowardly attacks only serves to
embolden the regime to continue using brute force rather than genuine
dialogue to resolve Burma’s political problems.

If the UN does not move beyond empty expressions of “concern” about the
situation in Burma, those who oppose the junta’s attempts to impose a
“discipline-flourishing democracy” will be forced to continue risking
their lives and their freedom with little hope of help from the outside
world.

____________________________________

April 7, The Straits Times (Singapore)
It's really all about economics - Michael Richardson

The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar is coming under fire for
failing to nudge the country's military rulers towards real political
reform. But it is wrong to blame Professor Ibrahim Gambari. After all, his
mandate is from the UN and he reports to its Security Council.

The blame should fall squarely on others. First, on the recalcitrant and
incompetent junta in Myanmar. Second, on Myanmar's three key immediate
neighbours - China, India and Thailand. And third, on the world community
for being at cross-purposes over Myanmar.

The result of this disarray is obvious. Free of any effective pressure,
Myanmar's government can continue to thumb its nose at the world. Prof
Gambari was rebuffed by the generals last month for the third time since
their bloody crackdown on peaceful protests in September drew global
condemnation. The regime's strongman, General Than Shwe, refused to see
him.

The visit came after the regime's announcement in February that it would
hold a national referendum next month on a controversial new Constitution,
to be followed by a general election in 2010.

Critics say the Constitution will entrench and validate military rule.
Prof Gambari suggested the draft be changed to ensure that opposition
rights were protected and that credible election observers be allowed into
Myanmar. These and other proposals were rejected.

After his visit, Prof Gambari gave a glum report to the Security Council,
where the military regime is shielded by China and Russia. Both argue that
what is happening in Myanmar does not constitute a threat to world peace
and security, and should therefore not be a concern of the Security
Council. The other three powerbrokers on the council - the United States,
Britain and France - have imposed a range of measures designed to hurt and
isolate the Myanmar regime.

Asean opposes sanctions, arguing that they are counterproductive and would
harden the resolve of the military government. Underlining this stand,
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej led a delegation to Myanmar
last month and signed bilateral investment and trade deals. China,
Thailand and India have strategic interests to pursue and protect in
Myanmar.

China has won the rights to buy natural gas from a giant Myanmar field in
the Bay of Bengal. The gas will be piped north through Myanmar to
land-locked Yunnan province in south-western China. A parallel pipeline
will carry Chinese oil shipped from the Middle East and Africa, while a
highway will provide a trade route connecting Yunnan to a deepwater port
on Myanmar's coast.

The backdoor energy shipments into China will ease its dependence on
South-east Asia's shipping straits, which Beijing fears may be vulnerable
to closure in a crisis.

China's and Thailand's interests in Myanmar appear to overlap to an
increasing degree. Once the pipeline is operational, China will overtake
Thailand as the biggest buyer of Myanmar's gas. But both countries are
working together to develop Myanmar's gas and hydropower potential. Each
will take substantial parts of the new gas and electricity that Myanmar
will export, adding more revenue to the regime's coffers.

Not to be outdone, India last week hosted a visit by General Maung Aye,
the second most senior officer in the regime. India has been more critical
of the junta's crackdown than either China or Thailand and put arms sales
to Myanmar on hold last November. But it is anxious to find more gas in
Myanmar's offshore zones and has proposed spending more than $100US
million ($140S million) to deepen the port of Sittwe, on Myanmar's
north-west coast, and the Kaladan River to make a vital transport and
trade link with India's isolated, under-developed and restive north-
eastern states.

The Kaladan River flows through India's Mizoram state into Myanmar. Once
completed, the project will enable cargo vessels to sail between Mizoram
and Sittwe.

Many Asian countries want Prof Gambari to continue his seemingly fruitless
mission to Myanmar. It supports their engagement policy, and holds out
hope that things will eventually change for the better. It is also a
diplomatic veil behind which hard-nosed games of national interest can be
played.

The writer is a security specialist at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

April 7, Ethnic Nationalities Council
Statement on the forthcoming SPDC's referendum

1.      The current political crisis in the Union of Burma is not just a
common ideological conflict, rather it is a constitutional problem
instigated by failing to implement the Panglong Agreement signed by
General Aung San and leaders of ethnic nationalities on February 12, 1947.

2.      Constitution is a covenant between the people, who have Sovereign
Power of the country and the government, which govern the country on
behalf of the people. In other word, it is a contractual agreement between
both the government as ruler and the people as being ruled.

3.      The SPDC is planning to hold a referendum to adopt the
constitution that has written without the participation of the people's
representatives. Ignoring the people's role is an insult to the people,
who own the sovereign power of the country.

4.      The effort of writing and ratifying a constitution unilaterally by
a clique of military dictators without the desire of the people is nothing
other than trying to protect the military dictatorship by means of
constitution.

5.      The attempt to protect the military dictatorship by means of a
constitution is a breach to the "Panglong Agreement." It is an act of
diversion from General Aung San's principles and the Union's spirit. It is
an attempt by the military cliques, who held a "Burmese Chauvinism," as a
systematic strategy to annihilate the non-Burman ethnic nationalities in
the Union.

6.      The attempt to adopt a constitution to lengthen the military
dictatorship will escalate more problems to the political crisis of the
country. It will also lengthen the 60 year long civil war caused by
breaching the self-determination rights of the ethnic nationalities. It
will increase political oppression, economic recession, and social crisis
including all kinds of human rights violation.

7.      Therefore, we would like to urge all citizens including students,
youth, monks, etc. who esteem democracy, human rights, equality and
peaceful co-existence among all nationalities, to vote against the coming
SPDC's referendum by casting an absolute 'Vote No'.

Contact persons:

Dr. Lian H. Sakhong                             David Taw
General Secretary                               Joint General Secretary
Tel: +66-081-029-6100                   Tel: +66-081-306-4351

ENC Statement No. 2008-3
ENC Information Team
www.encburma.org

____________________________________
OBITUARY

April 7, Democratic Voice of Burma
Ludu Daw Amar dies aged 93

Ludu Daw Amar, one of Burma’s most celebrated writers and journalists,
passed away in the cardiac ward of Mandalay general hospital this morning
at the age of 93, her son Ko Nyein Chan said.

Born in 1915, Ludu Daw Amar was well known for her political activism,
beginning with her involvement in the student movement against the British
government.

She was co-publisher of the Ludu [People’s] daily newspaper, along with
her husband Ludu U Hla, from its establishment in 1946 until its
suspension in 1959.

The newspaper resumed publication but was permanently shut down in 1967 by
Ne Win’s government, who also imprisoned Ludu U Hla.

Ludu Daw Amar was also known for her biographies of revolutionary leaders
and famous artists, and published her first book while studying at Rangoon
university.

She is survived by two sons, Ko Nyein Chan and Ko Pho Than Chaung, and two
daughters, Dr Than Yin Mar and Daw Tin Win.

Nyein Chan is a well-known writer under the pen name Nyi Pu Lay, while Pho
Than Chaung is a spokesperson for the communist party.

Ludu Daw Amar’s husband Ludu U Hla died in 1982 and her son Soe Win, a
member of the communist armed movement, was killed in a clash in 1967.