BurmaNet News, September 26-28, 2009

[Editor]

September 26-28, 2009 Issue #3806

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Burma's Suu Kyi party calls for her freedom
AFP: Myanmar opposition unsure on election boycott
Irrawaddy: Monks’ struggle continues behind bars
NLM: Senior General Than Shwe sees off Prime Minister General Thein Sein
on PM's departure for USA to attend 64th UNGA

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Border guard deadline nears
Mizzima News: Tensions on the rise inside refugee camps

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Australia's Jetstar defends Myanmar flights

ASEAN
AP: UN urges Asian nations to get tougher on Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Xinhua: UN chief reiterates call for Myanmar's release of all political
prisoners
Mizzima News: Activists fling shoes at Burmese FM in New York
AP: US links talks with Myanmar to NKorea
AP: At UN, Myanmar blasts sanctions, pledges democracy

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Faint hopes for Myanmar – Philip Bowring
Washington Post: Burma Review – Editorial

PRESS RELEASE
USCB: Obama Administration supports sanctions on Burma



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 27, Agence France Presse
Burma's Suu Kyi party calls for her freedom

Burma's leading opposition party marked its 21st anniversary Sunday by
calling on the country's military regime to free its detained leader,
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Around 250 party members, diplomats and former political prisoners
attended a gathering at the National League for Democracy's headquarters
in Rangoon, amid tight security, to celebrate the party's formation in
1988.

"On our anniversary day I want to say that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be
allowed to take part freely in politics. She herself is a politician and
our party is acknowledged by the government," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told
AFP.

The party also called for the release of other detained political
prisoners and the reopening of its regional offices around the country.

The NLD won a landslide in 1990 elections but the junta refused to
recognise the victory, and pro-democracy icon Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the
past 20 years under house arrest or in jail.

The ruling generals extended her house arrest by 18 months in August after
convicting her of breaching the terms of her detention, after an American
man swam uninvited to her house.

The sentence keeps her out of the way for elections promised by the junta
in 2010. The NLD has not yet said if it will take part in the polls, which
critics say are a sham to legitimise the generals' grip on power.

But Suu Kyi has written to military regime leader Than Shwe with
suggestions about how to get Western sanctions against the country lifted,
after years of espousing punitive measures against the junta, it emerged
Saturday.

The move came just days after the United States unveiled a major policy
shift that would see Washington engaging with the ruling generals in a bid
to push for democratic reform in Burma.

Nyan Win said she wrote the letter "expecting to start a dialogue".

"There can be no stability for the economic and social sectors without
political stability. Dialogue is a sign of positive development," the
NLD's anniversary statement said.

According to party sources, Suu Kyi has asked in her letter for meetings
with top Western diplomats in Burma to discuss the sanctions imposed by
their countries.

____________________________________

September 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar opposition unsure on election boycott – Didier Lauras

Bangkok — Myanmar's junta has not yet fixed the dates for elections in
2010 but the opposition is already debating whether to boycott them and
lose all influence or take part in what critics say is a sham.

The military regime forced through a new constitution in 2008 -- just days
after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country leaving 138,000 people dead --
under which the first national polls for 20 years will be held.

But so far the conditions are acceptable only to the junta. Critics say
the sole aim of the elections is to legitimise the generals' grip on power
and entrench their proxies in parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the
main opposition party, has just had her house arrest extended past the end
of next year, keeping her out of the picture for the polls.

The NLD, which celebrates its 21st anniversary on Sunday, won the
country's last elections in 1990 but the military refused to recognise the
results.

More than 2,200 other political prisoners are languishing in jail.

Rights groups meanwhile say the new constitution discriminates against
ethnic minorities, many of which have faced renewed offensives by the
military in recent months in an apparent attempt to crush them ahead of
the polls.

But despite this context, the respected International Crisis Group said in
August that the elections could still help open up the political situation
in Myanmar.

"The constitution may inadvertently provide the tools to open up a little
space as the post-Than Shwe era grows closer," the Brussels-based group
said in a report, referring to the 76-year-old head of the regime.

"A boycott could play into the hands of the military government, since it
would not prevent the election from going ahead and would mainly deprive
non-government candidates of votes, potentially narrowing the range of
voices in future legislatures," the ICG report said.

Win Min, an activist and scholar in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai,
said he too believed the military may have to give some ground.

"They are trying to control as much as they can but there is a little
chance that they might not control 100 percent," Win Min said.

"There are some good people in the military also. Some might not be
pro-military in terms of managing the economy."

For now, the opposition is waiting for the regime to pass laws relating to
party registration and electoral campaigning.

"The regime has been clever in delaying the announcement of these laws, so
that even though they give some freedom, the opposition would not have
time to campaign," Win Min said.

In Yangon, the parties are still making up their minds.

"The NLD has not decided yet. We cannot decide now," said NLD spokesman
Nyan Win, who is also Suu Kyi's lawyer. "We need to see the election law
and party registration law. We have to see their rules and regulations."

In a surprise move, Myanmar's second largest political party, the National
Unity Party, urged the NLD not to boycott the elections. The party won 12
seats in the 1990 elections, in which the NLD won 392 seats.

In another unexpected development, the daughters of two former prime
ministers, U Nu and Ba Shwe, said earlier this month that they would set
up a new group called the Democratic Party.

But Sunai Phasuk, an analyst for Human Rights Watch based in Bangkok, is
doubtful.

"There has been a lot of wishful thinking about a possibility of open
space in Burma. The last time was in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, but
what happened at the end was the opposite," he told AFP, using the
country's former name.

The junta allowed foreign aid into Myanmar under international pressure
but swiftly closed up again.

Sunai said it was up to the people of Myanmar to decide, and that it was
important for opposition parties to provide information on the standard of
elections.

But he added: "I don't see, anyhow, that elections in Burma if they happen
under the current conditions will lead to any improvement."

____________________________________

September 28, Irrawaddy
Monks’ struggle continues behind bars – Wai Moe

Two years after the Saffron Revolution, Burma’s ruling regime is showing
no signs of relenting in its efforts to suppress dissent among the
country’s 400,000 Buddhist monks.

Although the Burmese junta released 7,114 prisoners in an amnesty last
week, it included only 128 political prisoners—and just four out of more
than 200 monks now behind bars.

Saffron-robed monks chant the “Metta Sutta” in central Rangoon during a
September demonstration (Photo: Myat Moe Maung/The Irrawaddy)
Meanwhile, according to the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a human rights group based in Thailand, the junta
continues to round up monks suspected of subversive activities.

“About 20 monks were arrested in September. We are still in the process of
identifying them,” said AAPP Joint Secretary Bo Kyi, adding that the
Burmese authorities are still keeping a close eye on monks.

Thousands of monks were arrested following the crackdown on the mass
protests of September 2007, known as the Saffron Revolution because they
were led by saffron-robed monks demanding political reforms. Most were
released after a brief period of detention, but at least 237 monks remain
in prison, some serving sentences of more than 60 years.

Although Burma’s ruling generals are avowed Buddhists, this has not
prevented them from coming down hard on the monks, who are traditionally
revered in Burma’s predominantly Buddhist society.

“The junta doesn’t treat the detained monks with respect. They tortured
and abused them when they raided the monasteries, and have continued to
mistreat them in the prisons,” said Bo Kyi. “Their only thought is that
anyone who challenges them is their enemy.”

Former political prisoners interviewed by The Irrawaddy said that prison
life is especially hard on monks.

“After they arrested me, I suffered many humiliations. The first was when
they disrobed me by force,” said Pyinnya Jota, one of the leaders of the
Saffron Revolution, who was imprisoned twice and later fled to Thailand.

Although the monks are stripped of their status when they are put in
prison, most try to continue to observe monastic rules. This includes
eating only twice a day, both times before noon.

However, the monks’ first meal of the day, normally eaten shortly after
the dawn alms round, when food is collected from devout laypeople, is not
available in prison. This means that monks can eat only once a day, at
midday, resulting in malnutrition and other health problems.

Some monks try to solve this problem by setting aside their afternoon
meals for the following morning. However, under prison regulations,
prisoners are forbidden to refuse food when it is given to them.

“Some prison officials will let us hold on to our dinner so we can eat it
the next morning. But others punish us for keeping food in our cells,”
said a monk in Rangoon who is a former prisoner.

“If that happens, they try to force-feed us. This is why it is so
difficult to keep our monastic vows in prison,” said the monk, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

Some monks also complained that their jailers refused to address them by
their monastic names—an act of disrespect that they saw as more than just
a personal affront.

“This is an insult to the entire Buddhist community, like referring to the
Buddha by his lay name,” said a young monk in Rangoon who was briefly
detained during the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution.

Another monastic practice—shaving the head as a symbol of severing worldly
ties—is also forbidden in prison, effectively denying the monks of any
recognizable sign of their religious identity.

Ironically, monks detained for political reasons were treated much better
during the British colonial era than they are today. At that time, monks
were separated from other prisoners so they could maintain their vows.

This changed under the dictatorship of Ne Win, whose Burma Socialist
Programme Party (BSPP) abolished the separation of lay and monastic
prisoners, declaring that “socialism treats all people equally.”

The BSPP also made it a rule to forcibly disrobe monks arrested for
political offenses—a practice the current regime applies zealously in its
efforts to deprive its monastic critics of their moral authority.

Besides their unique status, another reason the junta is especially
fearful of monks is that the monastic community, the sangha, is the only
institution that rivals the military in size and organization.

There are estimated to be around 400,000 monks in Burma, compared to
350,000 soldiers. Apart from performing religious duties, they also play a
key role in education, social work and disaster relief efforts, as
witnessed during the aftermath of last year’s Cyclone Nargis.

“Monks are highly respected by Burmese people, for many reasons,” said Bo
Kyi. “But the regime thinks that by arresting, disrobing, torturing and
mistreating them, it can reduce them to something less than they are.”

____________________________________

September 26, New Light of Myanmar
Senior General Than Shwe sees off Prime Minister General Thein Sein on
PM's departure for USA to attend 64th UNGA

Nay Pyi Daw — Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Than Shwe saw off
Prime Minister General Thein Sein who left here for the United States of
America by air at 1 pm today to attend the 64th General Assembly of the
United Nations, at Nay Pyi Taw Airport.

Together with Senior General Than Shwe at the airport were Vice-Chairman
of the State Peace and Development Council Deputy Commander-in-Chief of
Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Vice-Senior General Maung Aye,
Member of the State Peace and Development Council General Thura Shwe Mann,
Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council General Thiha Thura
Tin Aung Myint Oo, member of the SPDC Lt-Gen Tin Aye, Commander-in- Chief
(Navy) Vice-Admiral Nyan Tun, Commander-in-Chief (Air) Lt-Gen Myat Hein,
Lt-Gen Ye Myint of the Ministry of Defence, Commander of Nay Pyi Taw
Command Maj-Gen Wai Lwin, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Maung
Myint, departmental heads, Coordinator of the UN agencies Mr Bishow B
Parajuli and officials.

Prime Minister General Thein Sein was accompanied by Minister for Science
and Technology U Thaung, Deputy Attorney-General Dr Tun Shin and
departmental heads. Member of the Myanmar delegation Minister for Foreign
Affairs U Nyan Win had left for the United States of America in advance. –
MNA

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 28, Irrawaddy
Border guard deadline nears – Law Weng

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) held a meeting at its
headquarter in Laiza on Monday to prepare for talks with the junta's
northern regional commander Major-Gen Soe Win, according to sources on the
Sino-Burma border.

The junta expects the KIO to respond to its border guard proposal by October.

Awng Wa, a Kachin youth leader who lives on the border, told The Irrawaddy
that KIO leaders will travel to Myitkyina on Tuesday  to meet Soe Win.

The KIO was told by Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the Burmese Military Affairs Security
Chief, to provide an answer in October to the border guard force issue
when they met in Myitkyina on Sept. 9.

KIO leaders have already rejected the junta’s demand to transform their
troops into a border guard force under the command of government military
officers.

Instead, Kachin leaders have proposed a Kachin Regional Guard Force in
place of a government-backed border guard force. They have met junta
officials at least seven times since April.

Meanwhile, the junta has mobilized more troops in Kachin State as the
deadline nears and tension has increased.

Awng Wa said the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has placed its troops on
alert, and soldiers completed military training courses this month, he
said.

Only three ethnic ceasefire groups have agreed so far to transform their
troops into border guards (the Pa-ao National Organization, the Democratic
Karen Buddhist Army and the Karenni Nationalities Peoples’ Liberation
Front).

Fourteen ethnic armed groups have refused to become a border guard force
including the largest ethnic armed force, the United Wa State Army in
northeastern Shan State.

Mai Aik Phone, who is close to the Wa, said that the UWSA has sent more
troops to Panlong, south of Laogai Township, where an estimated 10 Burmese
battalions were recently deployed.

Many residents in Kachin and Shan states fear war will break out between
the junta’s troops and ethnic ceasefire groups if the junta continues to
demand that they become a border guard force.

According to the Kachin News Group based in Chiang Mai, Chinese
authorities have set up three refugee camps in northwestern Yunnan
Province, to shelter refugees if there is fighting in Shan and Kachin
states. More than 30,000 Kokang refugees fled to China after the recent
clashes between junta and Kokang troops.

The Burmese authorities meanwhile have improved roads in Shan and Kachin
states, in preparation for moving troops, say observers.

China has warned its citizens on the China-Burma border to return to China
because the area may be subject to imminent hostilities.  There have been
reports that Burmese authorities in Laogai have forced Chinese citizens to
leave the area.

Meanwhile, China has asked Burmese authorities to respect the right of
Chinese citizens who live in the Burma border area and has asked Burmese
authorities to investigate and punish who abused or stole property from
Chinese citizen in Laogai during the fighting between junta and Kakang
troops.

An estimated 80 percent of Laogai market is owned by Chinese citizens,
according to border sources. Many Chinese-owned properties were reportedly
looted by junta troops during the August attack.

Another ethnic armed ceasefire group, Thai-Burmese border-based the New
Mon State Party (NMSP), is also under pressure to transform into a border
guard force. Junta’s troops are reportedly setting up a new artillery base
in the border town of Three Pagodas Pass.

Burmese regime also asks to set up a check point in the NMSP-controlled
area near Halockinee refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.

According to the NMSP, if the junta sets up any military bases, the
ceasefire agreement of 1995 will be broken.
____________________________________

September 28, Mizzima News
Tensions on the rise inside refugee – Don Talenywun

Umphang, Thailand– Trouble is brewing among the refugees of Burma’s civil
war. Stranded in northern Thailand, fed on rations donated by the
international community, unable to travel freely and not allowed to work,
tensions among refugees in camps strung out along Burma’s border are ready
to blow.

Umpheim Mai refugee camp is on tenterhooks, with violence threatening to
break out among residents at any time. A football game on Saturday
afternoon descended into crowd violence at
game’s end, with gangs of young men attacking each other. Some camp
residents described it as a mini riot. The current trouble started earlier
this month, with the murder of a Burmese resident after he allegedly
failed to pay for a cow.

When it became obvious the buyer could not pay, the owner is said to have
sought his money back, only to find that the beast had already been
slaughtered. The dispute escalated rapidly from a verbal altercation
between two groups of men into physical violence.

Whatever ensued, the alleged buyer is now dead. The camp, situated in
Thailand’s Tak Province to the south of Mae Sot and officially home to
about 15,000 people, spent months earlier this year on high security alert
in anticipation of an attack by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a
militia allied with the Burma Army – and these latest events have done
nothing to ease tensions.

Rumors ran wild that the remote camp would be destroyed by hostile forces,
forcing much of the population to pack-up and be ready to flee at moment’s
notice. It only takes a rumor for a large group of isolated, traumatized
people to react unpredictably to minor events.

Law and order in the camps has long been a taboo subject with Thai
authorities, charged with policing communities that would not exist but
for the grinding war of attrition in Burma’s ethnic minority-dominated
periphery.

Thai authorities maintain stringent guidelines for allowing Burmese
citizens to become part of the camps, requiring them to be fleeing
fighting. Economic migrants or those fleeing human rights abuses do not
qualify as refugees, inadvertently creating a vast pool of people who have
quietly slipped over Burma’s borders to form an illegal workforce.

This workforce, satisfied to work for as little as half the wage of a Thai
worker, is estimated by some organizations to number as many as two
million. But for those who do qualify as people who have literally run for
their lives, containment in a refugee camp and an inability to achieve
anything for themselves results in a frustrated existence.

In Umpheim Mai refugee camp on Saturday that frustration bubbled over into
mob violence.

“Football is banned now,” said one refugee. “And rumor from on high is
that the Palat [Thai camp commander] may close the gates [put the camp
into total lockdown]. I’ve never seen it like this before. Thai patrols
through the camp are clipped up and ready to go [carrying live ammunition
in the event they have to quash a riot],” he added.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 28, Agence France Press
Australia's Jetstar defends Myanmar flights

Sydney — Australian budget airline Jetstar defended its flights into
Myanmar on Monday after rights campaigners said the service was helping
prop up the country's military regime.

Jetstar defended its four weekly flights from Singapore to Yangon as a
"positive for the people of Myanmar" and denied making payments to
officials in the Southeast Asian country.

Singapore-registered Jetstar Asia, a Jetstar affiliate, was one of eight
companies named by Burma Campaign Australia -- which uses Myanmar's old
name -- as directly or indirectly backing the junta to the tune of up to
2.8 billion US dollars in revenue.

"Jetstar believes the provision of viable air links for the people of
Myanmar and the carrier's humanitarian contributions, including the
assistance with flights for charitable organisations... have been a
positive for the people of Myanmar," it said in a statement.

"While Jetstar Asia is obliged to meet normal aviation and airport charges
in every country it operates in, it does not make payments to officials of
the government of Myanmar, and has not," it added.

Zetty Brake, a spokeswoman for the Burma Campaign Australia, said every
time the airline landed in the country it would be paying taxes which make
their way back to the military regime.

Brake said most Myanmar residents would be unable to afford the flights.

"The people that are using these services from Burma are people with links
to the regime," she told AFP.

Trade unions chief Sharan Burrow said all eight companies named by the
campaign were contributing to the junta.

"The people there are subjected to the worst abuses of human rights and of
course lack democracy," Burrow, president of the Australian Council of
Trade Unions (ACTU), told reporters.

"We say to those companies, cancel your operations. It will have a real
impact."

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 27, Associated Press
UN urges Asian nations to get tougher on Myanmar – Will Weissert

United Nations — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged a ministerial meeting
of southeast Asian nations late Saturday to take a tougher line with
fellow member Myanmar in hopes its military junta will free political
prisoners and hold fair elections.

Ban said it is in the best interest of the rest of the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to lean on Myanmar to free
political prisoners, including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate has been in detention for 14 of the
last 20 years, since leading a pro-democracy uprising that was crushed by
Myanmar's military junta.

ASEAN members generally refrain from criticizing one another, however.

"Our collective interest is to find ways to encourage Myanmar to free Aung
San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, start a genuine political
dialogue and create conditions conducive to credible elections," Ban said.

Last week, Myanmar's ruling junta released at least 25 political detainees
as part of an amnesty, but that figure was believed to be only about 1
percent of all political inmates being held. Authorities want the former
prisoners to participate in next year's vote.

Ban called the amnesty "a step in the right direction (that) falls short
of expectations" and said next year's election has to be credible.

"Next year will be critical," he said. "The first planned election in two
decades must be held in an inclusive and credible manner if they are to
advance stability, democracy, reconciliation, national development and
respect for human rights."

Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein is scheduled to speak at the U.N.
General Assembly's ministerial meeting on Monday, the highest-ranking
junta official to do so in 14 years.

"Myanmar has an opportunity to demonstrate to its people and to the
international community its clear commitment to an inclusive political
transition," Ban said. "It is an opportunity Myanmar should not miss."

"ASEAN countries have an important role to play in this effort — first and
foremost to ensure the well-being of the people of Myanmar, but also in
the wider interest of peace and security in the region," he said.

Washington has traditionally been Myanmar's strongest critic, applying
political and economic sanctions against the junta.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday sanctions
against Myanmar will continue, but that "engagement versus sanctions is a
false choice in our opinion, so going forward we will be employing both of
those tools."

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 28, Xinhua
UN chief reiterates call for Myanmar's release of all political prisoners

United Nations – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on
Myanmar to "create the necessary conditions for credible and inclusive
elections, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political
prisoners."

In a bilateral meeting with Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein Monday
morning at the UN headquarters in New York, Ban "reiterated his clear
expectation that Myanmar will respond in a timely manner to the proposals
he left with the senior leadership of Myanmar during his visit," according
to a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson.

"In particular, the secretary-general made clear that the onus was on the
government to create the necessary conditions for credible and inclusive
elections, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political
prisoners, as well as dialogue with all stakeholders," said the statement.

Ban reiterated his intention to work through his good offices with the
government and people of Myanmar to address the political, humanitarian
and development challenges facing Myanmar, a role which was strongly
endorsed again last week at the High-level Meeting of the Group of Friends
on Myanmar, the statement said.

Sein, who was here for the annual debate of the General Assembly, said in
his address on Monday morning that Myanmar "is taking systematic steps to
hold free and fair elections."

"Electoral laws will be promulgated, and an election commission will be
formed so that political parties can be formed and contest the elections,"
he told the General Assembly.

He said Myanmar released 7,114 prisoners on Sept. 17, and "they too will
be able to participate in the general elections next year in accordance
with the law."

Ban issued a statement on Sept. 17 to welcome Myanmar's move, calling for
the release of remaining political prisoners.

In his address, Sein said the international community can best assist
Myanmar's emergence as a new nation, "based on the principles of justice,
freedom and equality enshrined in the new State Constitution, by
demonstrating understanding."

He also urged Western countries to lift sanctions and allow the country to
achieve greater social-economic progress.
____________________________________

September 28, Mizzima News
Activists fling shoes at Burmese FM in New York – Mungpi

New Delhi – Burmese activists in New York on Monday threw shoes at
visiting Foreign Minister Nyan Win, an act of opposition against his
representation of the Southeast Asian nation at the 64th United Nations
General Assembly.

Moe Thee Zun, a former student leader and activist, said he, along with
nearly 20 friends, laid in wait of the Burmese Foreign Minister near his
guest house and flung shoes and other objects toward the car conveying
Nyan Win to United Nations headquarters.

“I took off my shoes and flung them at Nyan Win, the sight of him makes me
angry,” said Moe Thee Zun, who as a student leader in 1988 took to the
streets in Rangoon, leading mass protests demanding democracy.

“These men should not be representing our people, whom they are brutally
killing and suppressing,” he added, satisfied that he and several of his
friends flung shoes and other materials at the Burmese FM.

One protester “threw his coffee and there were stains on the car, though
it did not get on Nyan Win,” he added.

Both Nyan Win and Prime Minister Thein Sein, who are attending the General
Assembly, are lodged in East Gates Hotel on 39th Street in New York, and
are the first Burmese generals to attend the annual congregation in14
years.

On Monday, Thein Sein delivered a speech at the General Assembly, prior to
which he met with Senator James Webb, a strong advocate of engagement with
the military regime, to discuss US-Burma relations.

“We did not realize that Thein Sein was in a separate car. We thought he
was along with Nyan Win in the same car, but later we saw him in another
car,” said Moe Thee Zun.

He said, the Burmese generals should not be representing the people of
Burma, as they are not the legitimate government elected by the people.

Moe Thee Zun said he and his friends are gearing up for another round of
surprise attacks on the Burmese delegation when they return to their hotel
in the evening.
____________________________________

September 28, Associated Press
US links talks with Myanmar to NKorea – Foster Klug

Washington — The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia said Monday that direct
U.S. engagement with Myanmar's military leaders could provide crucial
answers on the junta's dealings with North Korea.

The Obama administration's seven-month policy review has resulted in a
decision to engage in direct high-level talks in an effort to promote
democracy in Myanmar. That is a sharp break with the former Bush
administration's policy of shunning Myanmar to protest repeated crackdowns
on attempts to reinstate democratic government in the Southeast Asian
nation.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters that the U.S.
policy change on the country, which is also known as Burma, is a
recognition that neither isolation nor engagement had improved miserable
living conditions or political freedoms in Myanmar.

"For the first time in memory, the Burmese leadership is showing an
interest in engaging with the United States, and we intend to explore that
interest," Campbell said.

He also highlighted the ability to look into what he said were recent U.S.
concerns about military ties between Myanmar and North Korea that "require
greater focus and dialogue."

When asked about those links, Campbell would not provide specifics.

In July, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed worry during
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations forum that North Korea, with
its history of illicit sales of missiles and nuclear technology, had begun
developing ties to Myanmar's military dictatorship.

U.S. officials also have mentioned the possibility that North Korea could
be cooperating with Myanmar on a nuclear weapons program, although they
have said intelligence on the matter was incomplete.

International unease escalated recently when a North Korean freighter
headed toward Myanmar with undisclosed cargo. Shadowed by the U.S. Navy,
it eventually reversed course and returned home.

Campbell said that although the United States is willing to begin "a long
and difficult process" of engagement, any improvement of ties between the
countries will depend on how willing Myanmar is to release almost 2,200
political prisoners and allow democratic changes.

Tough U.S. sanctions, Campbell said, will remain in place until the United
States sees "concrete progress toward reform" in Myanmar, which has been
ruled by the military since 1962; more sanctions could be imposed if
changes are not forthcoming.

"Lifting sanctions now would send the wrong signal," he said.

Campbell said details still are being worked out, but contact between
himself and Myanmar officials could happen at the United Nations this
week. On Monday, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations subcommittee on East Asia, was to meet with Myanmar Prime
Minister Thein Sein in New York City.

Webb recently visited Myanmar and met with the country's ruling general
and with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National
League for Democracy party handily won the country's last elections in
1990. The military never honored those results.

Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years, and a global
groundswell of international pressure to release the 64-year-old
opposition leader has kept the country under sanctions in recent years.

Last month, Suu Kyi was sentenced to another 18-month stint under house
arrest for allowing an American intruder to stay at her home. The sentence
ensures that she cannot participate in next year's election.

Campbell said that the United States is skeptical that elections next year
"will be either free or fair, but we will stress to the Burmese the
conditions that we consider necessary for a credible electoral process."

Aung Din, executive director for the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said his
group supported the new U.S. policy but urged the Obama administration to
support an arms embargo against Myanmar, investigate "mass atrocities" and
impose other new sanctions if Myanmar's leaders do not cooperate with the
opposition and stop abusing civilians.
____________________________________

September 28, Associated Press
At UN, Myanmar blasts sanctions, pledges democracy – John Heilprin

United Nations — The highest-ranking official from Myanmar's military
government to appear before the U.N. General Assembly in 14 years lashed
out Monday against Western sanctions on his country, but promised to take
"systematic steps to hold free and fair elections" next year.

Defiance of the West underpinned the speech by Myanmar's prime minister,
Gen. Thein Sein, even as he outlined the military junta's plans for its
"transition to democracy" long sought by the United States, Britain,
France and their Western allies.

"Sanctions are being employed as a political tool against Myanmar and we
consider them unjust," Thein Sein said during the General Assembly's
annual high-level gathering that began last week at U.N. headquarters in
New York. "Democracy cannot be imposed from the outside and a system
suitable for Myanmar can only be born out of Myanmar society."

His speech came two days after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged a
ministerial meeting of southeast Asian nations to take a tougher line on
Myanmar, also known as Burma. Ban's own diplomatic efforts during two
high-profile trips there since last year have yielded few tangible
short-term results.

The United States has traditionally been Myanmar's strongest critic,
applying political and economic sanctions against the military regime.

The U.S. and other Western nations have been pressing the sanctions
because of its poor human rights record and its failure to turn over power
to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
party, which won general elections in 1990.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced last
week a new policy of engagement, including direct high-level talks with
the military regime to promote democracy, instead of simply trying to
isolate it. She said U.S. sanctions against members of Myanmar's
leadership would remain in place.

Clinton also attended Ban's so-called "Group of Friends on Myanmar" at the
foreign minister level. Afterward, Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo
told reporters that re-engaging "will enable the U.S. and Europe to have
more influence in the political evolution of the country."

China and Russia, two of Myanmar's main weapons suppliers and trading
partners, oppose the idea of a U.N.-backed international arms embargo, and
they also blocked the U.N. Security Council from anything more than a weak
protest of Suu Kyi's return to house arrest on Aug. 11.

Thein said new electoral laws will be fashioned and a new election
commission will be formed "so that political parties can be formed and
contest the elections."

A bicameral legislature is planned, he said, and a government will be
formed under a new Constitution. The adoption of the new and disputed
Constitution — approved in a nationwide referendum pushed through in May
2008 despite the wreckage and chaos of Cyclone Nargis weeks earlier — is
intended to return Myanmar to civilian rule after four and a half decades.

Thein Sein said it "is envisaged that the president would be elected by a
presidential electoral college" and the nation "will be composed of seven
states, seven regions, five self-administered zones and one
self-administered division." There also would be 14 state and regional
legislatures.

The army has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Several U.N. efforts to promote a
dialogue between the pro-democracy movement and the junta led by Senior
Gen. Than Shwe have failed. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been in
detention for about 14 of the past 20 years and continuously since May
2003.

The Security Council and Ban have repeatedly urged the military junta to
free the 64-year-old Suu Kyi and 2,200 other political prisoners, and to
hold fair elections in 2010. Than Shwe has largely ignored those four
Security Council statements and direct entreaties by Ban and a top envoy.

Nor has Myanmar's government released all the 200 political prisoners that
Ibrahim Gambari, Ban's top envoy, told The Associated Press he expected
would be freed after Ban's most recent visit in early July.

Myanmar's ruling junta last week released at least 54 political detainees
as part of an amnesty, only about 1 percent of the 7,114 prisoners planned
for release around the country, according to Aung Din, executive director
of Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma.

U.S. Sen. James Webb, a Virginia Democrat, paid a rare visit to Myanmar
over summer and, after an audience with Than Shwe, won the release of the
American whose intrusion at Suu Kyi's home caused her continued house
arrest.

Webb's office said Monday he was to meet with Thein Sein in New York.

Thein Sein complained to the U.N. that Myanmar has received "only half" of
the $691 million pledged over three years by international donors for the
post-Nargis rebuilding. Experts cite the global financial crisis and Suu
Kyi's trial as factors in the slowing donations.

"We have been carrying out many of the rehabilitation activities relying
on our own funds and resources," the prime minister said, adding that the
promised money would make the rebuilding "speedier and more effective."
____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 28, New York Times
Faint hopes for Myanmar – Philip Bowring

Hong Kong — The U.S. decision to engage with Myanmar’s generals is a
recognition of reality, however brutal. Years of sanctions have failed.
Emotional support for the jailed opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and admiration for the bravery of the monks who challenged the regime in
2007 have come up against harsh facts.

The first is that neighboring countries have commercial reasons for making
deals that bolster the coffers and self-confidence of the regime. Thailand
profits by buying Myanmar’s gas, as does Singapore by acting as a key
trading link and safe haven for the generals’ wealth. China has used
commerce and informal migration to carve out an influence that will likely
remain whoever is in power in Myanmar. Japanese and South Korean companies
continue to do whatever business they can, and though several Western
companies have pulled out, Total’s key role in Myanmar’s gas industry
makes European Union sanctions seem hypocritical.

On the diplomatic front, modest attempts by the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations and by the United Nations to persuade Myanmar to free Aung
San Suu Kyi have been ignored. India’s pro-democracy instincts long ago
yielded to the need to engage the generals to counter China’s overwhelming
influence. New Delhi fears that Beijing’s support for Myanmar would be
rewarded with Chinese military access to the Bay of Bengal. India wants to
counter China’s commercial influence and has invested in a big Myanmar gas
project, hoping to pipe gas across Bangladesh to its energy-short eastern
states.

For sure, Myanmar’s state-driven economy is never going to prosper under
the present regime. But there are enough easily exploited resources to
attract foreign investment and which supply enough cash to keep the regime
in place and to support the generals’ armament needs and their wives’
shopping habits.

So what can a shift in the U.S. posture achieve? In the short run, the
answer is probably little. Sanctions are insufficiently onerous, so the
possibility of their removal carries little weight. However, there are
some glimmers of light. The regime has promised elections in 2010. There
is only slight hope that Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy will be permitted to participate, but it is possible she will be
released, if only as a token gesture in response to U.N. and Asean pleas.

Elections will neither be free nor fair, but might be more than just a
rubber stamp. The military, for which 25 percent of seats in the new
Parliament are reserved, will continue to dominate, but enough new voices
may emerge that can start a process of change, and provide Myanmar’s
senior general, Than Shwe, with a path from dictator to figurehead.

Than Shwe is now 76 and may be ailing. His deputy, Maung Aye, is 71. The
military will not readily surrender power. But it may be a good time to
engage with younger regime figures who may be less paranoid than Than
Shwe, know more of the outside world and may be willing to consider moves
to a more dynamic economy, end Myanmar’s near-isolation and reduce its
dependence on China. Some may feel that the nationalism that has always
been at the heart of the military’s self-image has been compromised by
that dependence.

Indeed, strains with Beijing may already be showing. China has been upset
by a Burmese military campaign in a border area long effectively
controlled by former insurgent groups. The campaign disrupted trade and
sent 30,000 people fleeing into China. The incident is a reminder of how
China has used Myanmar’s problems with its many ethnic minorities to its
own advantage.

While there are some faint hopes of change, do not imagine that this is
another Indonesia in the making. President Suharto’s authoritarianism was
more personal than the Myanmar version, which is based on a
self-perpetuating military elite that has been in power since 1962.
Indonesia’s post-Suharto transition was possible only because of the
social effects of an open economy and years of gradual relaxation of media
and other controls. Myanmar is more like Vietnam 25 years ago — rigid,
socialist and suspicious of the world.

Change may prove as elusive as it has been in North Korea. A popular
revolution looks unlikely. Events in 2007 showed how ruthless the regime
can be in the face of direct confrontation. Sanctions were worth trying
but they have clearly failed. So willingness to talk to the generals just
might open up chinks in their armor and reason to seek some accommodation
with Aung San Suu Kyi, the monks and the outside world.

____________________________________

September 28, Washington Post
Burma Review – Editorial

HAVING SPENT much of a year reviewing U.S. policy toward Burma, the Obama
administration soon will unveil a reasonable new strategy, as far as it
goes. It doesn't yet go far enough, however.

The review was sparked by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's apt
observation that U.S. policy hasn't been very successful. Burma (also
known as Myanmar), a Southeast Asian nation, remains under the thumb of
one of the world's most odious regimes. Its population of 50 million, once
relatively prosperous, languishes in dire poverty while its rulers plunder
the country's natural resources and get rich. Peaceful efforts by
students, Buddhist monks and others to win a measure of freedom are met
with brutal repression; the regime holds more than 2,000 political
prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won
overwhelmingly the last time Burma held genuine elections, in 1990,
remains under house arrest.

U.S. policy has consisted of applying economic sanctions and
half-heartedly trying to persuade other nations to do the same; shunning
diplomatic contact with the government; vigorously supporting, in
rhetoric, Burma's democrats; and, particularly since last year's
devastating Cyclone Nargis, providing modest amounts of humanitarian aid.
According to a senior administration official, the new policy will
continue the sanctions. It will continue, and perhaps deepen, the
humanitarian aid, making sure that none flows to the government or
government-front organizations. And it will allow diplomatic engagement.

If engagement proceeds, U.S. officials will seek to put two topics on the
agenda. One is democracy, including the need to release Aung San Suu Kyi
and other political prisoners, allow her party to operate freely, hold
elections in which the opposition participates and stop attacking ethnic
minorities. The second is international security, and particularly U.S.
concerns about Burma's burgeoning relationship with North Korea.

Those are the right topics, as long as U.S. officials discuss them with
Burma's democrats as well as its dictators. We hope that discussions lead
to tangible progress, in which case the United States might begin to
consider easing sanctions. But what if they lead to no change in the
regime's behavior or in its plan to stage phony elections in 2010 that
only entrench military rule? U.S. officials acknowledge that the latter is
likely, but so far there is no Plan B, no thought of sticks to hold
alongside the carrots of eased sanctions. Stricter, more effective, more
targeted sanctions; measures that take aim at the regime's rich earnings
from natural gas sales; a U.N. investigation of the regime's crimes
against humanity, which have been amply documented: These, too, should be
on the table.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 28, US Campaign for Burma
Obama Administration supports sanctions on Burma

Washington, DC – A leading United States-based human rights organization
today welcomed the Obama Administration's decision to maintain existing
sanctions on Burma, as well as pursue further sanctions as circumstances
warrant.  The State Department said that unilaterally lifting sanctions
would send the wrong signal to Burma's military regime, and that sanctions
would only be lifted if the regime makes concrete changes.

"We strongly commend the Obama administration for its pledge to implement
sanctions on Burma until there is concerete progress toward democracy and
human rights," said Aung Din, Executive Director of the U.S. Campaign for
Burma.

The Obama administration today concluded a 7-month policy review aimed at
invigorating U.S. policy toward Burma.  In addition to maintaining
sanctions, the Administration said it would engage in a dialogue with the
military regime aimed at a transition to democracy.

"High-level level talks with the military are a good thing," added Aung
Din. "However, this can not be a never-ending process.  There must be a
timeframe and clear benchmarks for change, especially given the Burmese
regime's practice of engaging in never-ending diplomacy without any
measurable results."

While 66 U.S. Senators recently co-sponsored legislation renewing
sanctions on Burma, a single U.S. Senator -- Jim Webb (D-VA) -- has called
for the lifting of sanctions.   Through the policy review, U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton  has rejected Webb's approach, further saying
"Engagement versus sanctions is a false choice."

Contact: Jeremy  Woodrum (202) 246-7924