From editor at burmanet.org Tue Nov 17 14:15:09 2009 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:15:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News, November 17, 2009 Message-ID: <47432.63.173.78.131.1258485309.squirrel@webmail7.pair.com> November 17, 2009 Issue #3842 INSIDE BURMA AP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi proposes cooperation with junta AFP: At least 50 feared dead in Myanmar ferry crash: officials DVB: Shan culture in Burma being ?erased? Irrawaddy: Possible release of Suu Kyi cheers political prisoners ON THE BORDER Mizzima News: National Park on Thai?Burma border largely deforested The Daily Star (Bangladesh): UN body defers action on Myanmar claim BUSINESS / TRADE Irrawaddy: Why is the value of kyat rising? ASEAN New light of Myanmar: Prime Minister General Thein Sein attends 1st ASEAN-US leaders meeting INTERNATIONAL AP: Corruption watchdog rules Somalia still worst; followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar DVB: France joins calls for Suu Kyi?s release ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA November 17, Associated Press Myanmar's Suu Kyi proposes cooperation with junta Yangon, Myanmar ? Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is ready to cooperate with Myanmar's ruling junta in lifting foreign sanctions but it remains uncertain if the reconciliation efforts will yield results. In a letter to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe released Tuesday, Suu Kyi has requested a meeting to explain how she would cooperate in tasks "beneficial to the country." She does not specify what those might be. "The letter is very significant. It clearly shows Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's willingness to work with the government in the interest of the nation," said her National League for Democracy party spokesman Nyan Win. 'Daw' is a term of respect used for older women. The party, which released the text, had previously described in general terms the contents of the letter, dated Nov. 11. The government has yet to respond. Suu Kyi's initiative is the latest move to try to break the political deadlock that began when the NLD won a 1990 general election. The military refused to allow it to take power and increased repression of the country's pro-democracy movement, causing the United States and another Western nations to isolate it with economic and political sanctions. However, the Obama administration, acknowledging that such moves failed to foster reforms, is now seeking to engage it through high-level talks instead of simply applying sanctions. It's difficult to judge the significance of the latest moves, said Donald Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Japan's Meio University, noting that there have been previous stillborn attempts at reconciliation. "They tend to warm up and then get very cold again, depending upon the general political circumstances," he said. Seekins speculated that the junta's reaction to the U.S. initiative might depend on whether it wants to loosen its close ties with China, its neighbor and closest ally. This is the second letter Suu Kyi sent to the junta leader since August, when she was sentenced to 18 months' more house arrest for harboring an uninvited American citizen. She has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. In September, she wrote to Than Shwe stating her willingness to cooperate with the military government to have international sanctions eased ? an apparent shift in her position. She had previously welcomed sanctions as a way to pressure the junta to come to an accommodation with the pro-democracy movement. In her new letter, she also seeks permission to meet with the NLD's central executive committee members and visit old and ailing party leaders. "She has taken up an approach that cannot be rejected and we are all very hopeful that the government will respond positively to her letter and we hope for a positive outcome," said Nyan Win. Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report. ____________________________________ November 17, Agence France Presse At least 50 feared dead in Myanmar ferry crash: officials Yangon ? At least 50 people are feared drowned after a packed passenger ferry crashed into an oil barge in an area of Myanmar hit by a devastating cyclone last year, local officials said Tuesday. The accident happened late Sunday when the wooden boat carrying nearly 180 passengers was travelling along the Ngawun river in the southern Irrawaddy Delta, the officials said. "The boat sank after colliding with an oil barge. We have recovered 34 bodies and there are at least another 16 people missing who are believed to have drowned," said an official in the area on condition of anonymity. "The other passengers were rescued from the water and have gone back to their home villages," the official said. The vessel, named the Naywintun, or Rising Sun, was travelling between the towns of Pathein and Thetkelthaung when it sank. The oil barge did not sink, officials said. Officials in the former capital Yangon said the Red Cross in the area was helping survivors of the crash. The Irrawaddy Delta was the area that suffered worst when Cyclone Nargis hit southern Myanmar in May 2008. The catastrophic storm killed around 138,000 people and left thousands more homeless. Most people living in the low-lying region -- the least developed part of impoverished Myanmar -- rely heavily on poorly-maintained river ferries for transportation around its flooded plains. At least 38 villagers were killed when a boat sank in the delta in July 2008. In February of the same year ten pilgrims drowned in southern Myanmar after a boat capsized while carrying them to a Buddhist pagoda. Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and sanctions by the United States and Europe coupled with fiscal mismanagement during decades of military rule have battered its economy. ____________________________________ November 17, Democratic Voice of Burma Shan culture in Burma being ?erased? ? Naw Noreen International coverage of state-backed human rights abuses in Burma does not adequately address the subtler forms of abuse that are beginning to erode and distort ethnic cultures, a Shan group has warned. The Burmese military government is replacing ethnic Shan culture with its ?own homogenized and artificially imposed ?Myanmar culture??, say the Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN), in a report released today. The volatile Shan state in northeastern Burma is the country?s largest state and home to an estimated six million people. Low-intensity conflict has eaten away at the region for more than half a century as armed ethnic groups fight for autonomy against the military government. It is also the country?s main drugs producing region, and thus heavily militarized. The report, ?Forbidden Glimpses of Shan State?, warns that tourists visiting the region are forbidden from seeing areas that ?may soon be lost forever due to the regime?s development plans, funded by Thai and Chinese investors?. Oil and gas pipelines that being developed from Burma?s western Arakan state to China?s southern Yunnan province will slice through Shan state, which in August and September was the scene of heavy fighting between an armed Kokang group and the Burmese army. ?The military junta is subtly destroying our cultural heritage in Shan state, such as historical pagodas and palaces, by building dams and gas pipelines,? said Ying Harn Fah, spokesperson for SWAN. Moreover, "Shan State?s beautful forests, hills and rivers are fast being ravaged and polluted by unbridled resource exploitation by the regime and its cronies", it says. The report states that around 150 army battalions are stationed in Shan state, who regularly confiscate farms, extort and tax villagers, and used as ?free labour?. It also claims that between 1996 and 1998, more than 300,000 Shan villagers ?were forced at gunpoint from their homes and lands in an anti-insurgency operation? by the Burmese army. A United States? health academic, Professor Chris Beyrer, told the US House Foreign Affairs Committee during a testimony on US policy to Burma last month that 25 percent of Shan families had been forcibly relocated in the past year alone. The report also highlights the plight of political prisoners being held in remote prisons in Shan state who ?will never be physically seen by tourists but their presence should be a constant reminder to us all of the cruel reality of repression in Shan State and the rest of Burma today?. ____________________________________ November 17, Irrawaddy Possible release of Suu Kyi cheers political prisoners ? Kyi Wai Rangoon ? A 73-year-old mother broke into tears when she heard the message from her son, Tun Tun Oo, who is in Meik-Hitla Prison, one of thousands of political prisoners in Burmese jails. The message was delivered by his brother, who had visited him in prison. Family members of prisoners wait for the release of their loved ones in front of Rangoon?s Insein prison gate in September. (Photo: Reuters) Tun Tun Oo told his mother not to worry about him, and "sooner or later, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be free." "My son preferred to talk about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom rather than his own,? she said, holding back more tears. ?He?s said repeatedly that only Aung San Suu Kyi can bring better times to Burma." After news reports appeared recently saying that the regime might release Suu Kyi, people across Burma?and in prisons?have hoped the news is true, and not just another tactic by the military government to buy time before the 2010 election. The Associated Press news agency reported on Nov. 9, that a senior Burmese diplomat said the junta will release Suu Kyi to take part in the reorganization of her political party. The wife of a political prisoner in Kalay Prison said, "I told my husband, and he was very happy. He didn't ask about home immediately, but he asked about more Suu Kyi news and information about the NLD. He asked me to give him details about his colleagues who are not in prison." She said she knew her husband wanted such news, and she had prepared magazines and journals to give to him, since authorities now allow prisoners to read the news in prison. "They don?t have access to radio, so they don't know the latest news,? she said. ?He told me to bring news. He wants it more than food and medicine. He thrives on it," she said. Similarly, a family member of political prisoner Shwe Maung, who is bedridden in Pyapon Prison with a chronic illness, told The Irrawaddy that his morale improved noticeably when he heard the news of her possible release. "His is suffering. He can't speak much, and he can't walk, but when he heard the news, he started feeling better," said a family member. Rangoon tea shops, popular gathering places for regular gossip and the sharing of information with friends, have been buzzing with speculation about Suu Kyi?s release, and the neighborhood where her compound is located has seen more visitors and tourists. "Since the news came out, more people are coming to the corner of University Avenue [where Suu Kyi lives], and frequenting teashops and restaurants close to Sayar San Road," said a resident who lives on University Avenue. A Rangoon journalist said: ?Some people believe she could be freed, but it will take time, while others have suspicions that the regime is just playing on the news to please the US. Nevertheless, it is obvious everybody wants to see her free." The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma has estimated that there are 2,100 political prisoners in Burma. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER November 17, Mizzima News National Park on Thai?Burma border largely deforested ? Usa Pichai Chiang Mai ? Thai authorities have increased surveillance in the National Park on the Thailand?Burma border in Chumporn Province because of severe deforestation and hunting of wildlife. Karan Supakijvilekakarn, Governor of Chumporn Province said on Monday that the local authorities in the Chumporn Province border with Mon State of Burma would increase restriction after it found a large area of Krom Laung Chumporn National Park was deforested and being trespassed. It could be linked to businessmen and local politicians. ?The Thai cabinet imposed martial law in 2008 in this area to protect the national park. Thai military will send troops to the area on 16, November 2009 because it fears that the problem would increase and affect the bilateral relationship with neighboring countries,? he said, according to a report in a Thai news website Manager. The national park is in Tasae district of Chumporn province in southern Thailand. The deforestation and trespassing was by businessmen who want to be into coffee or palm oil plantation by hiring local Thai and Burmese villagers to cut trees. Currently the destroyed area is about 20 000 rais or 8,000 acres. In addition, Damnern Woraphan, a staff of the Wild Life Rescue Center Chumporn Province, Wild Life Friend of Thailand Foundation said that the problem of wild life hunting for commercial purposes has increased particularly along the Thailand ? Burma border in Tasae district. ?A number of hunters hunt for rare animals and sell them in the local markets. The buyers are both Thai and Burmese. Officials are reluctant to solve the problems,? he said. Damnern added with the holiday season hunting is increasing every year because restaurants on the roadside record a high demand for wildlife products to sell to tourists. Damnern also urged local authorities to increase restriction on hunters and wildlife buyers which is illegal. Recently, Thaweesak Thanadechopol, Chumporn Irrigation Department Director said that currently, 12 small reservoirs in the national park are dry because of deforestation. Last week, Suwaroj Palang, MP said at a press conference on Tuesday that he does not link the case of land trespassing and deforestation in Chumporn Province when a report revealed that there are some politicians who have a nexus. However, the government has set up a committee to resolve the problem and stop deforestation. Cooperation from local villagers was sought to look after the forest in their neighbourhood and inform officials if they see poachers. ____________________________________ November 17, The Daily Star (Bangladesh) UN body defers action on Myanmar claim Unb, Dhaka ? Further action by the UN commission concerned on Myanmar's claim on the outer-limits of the continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal has been suspended. An official announcement from the ministry of foreign affairs here yesterday said the Union of Myanmar submitted their outer-continental-shelf claim on December 16, 2008 to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The presentation on the submission was held on August 24 this year before the commission where the formation of a sub-commission for Myanmar was deferred in consideration of the protest note of Bangladesh, which was communicated to the UN secretary general on June 23 this year. The commission, in its 24th session, heard the explanation of the Myanmar authorities on the basis of their claim and the comments on the protest notes of Bangladesh. It considered Bangladesh's objection with reference to disputes in the area as invoked under paragraph 5(a) of Annex I of the Rules of Procedure. "The commission decided to defer further consideration of the submission and the notes verbale until such time as the submission is next in line for consideration," said the ministry release. The decision was taken by the commission in order to take into consideration any further developments that might occur during the intervening period, including provisional arrangements of a practical nature provided for in the Rules. "Consequently, further action on Myanmar's claim on the outer-limits of the continental shelf remains suspended," the foreign ministry said. The dispute by the neighbour gathered pace, creating tensions across the border, as Bangladesh moved to explore gas in the Bay by leasing out hydrocarbon blocks to two foreign companies-one US and the other one Irish. ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE November 17, Irrawaddy Why is the value of kyat rising? ? Aung Thet Wine Rangoon ? The value of the Burmese national currency, kyat, has suddenly appreciated as millions of US dollars flow into the local market in earnings from the opium and amphetamine trade at the Sino-Burmese border. That?s the opinion of several sources in the Rangoon business community who cite the influx of dollars in the black market as the main reason for the rise of the Burmese currency. At the start of the cold season, most opium farmers harvest their crops and the trade in drugs habitually flourishes at the Burmese border, sources close to border trade said. The illicit trade creates a large influx of US dollars into the Burmese economy and affects the exchange rate. ?The present exchange rate is 990 kyat to the US dollar,? a Rangoon-based money dealer said. ?But this rate is not determined by the circumstances in Rangoon markets. The exchange rate of the Chinese currency versus kyat at the border has affected Rangoon.? At the end of September, when the Burmese government announced it was to introduce 5,000 kyat notes into circulation, the US dollar was trading for 1,200 kyat on the black market and many traders bought US dollars. According to a Mandalay-based currency market analyst: "There are many people who bought US dollars in October at the time when the 5,000 kyat notes were introduced. But US dollars did not run out even though demand increased. According to the nature of the currency market here, the Burmese kyat must start to appreciate when the supply of US dollars enhances.? A Rangoon-based researcher on economy also estimated the rise of the kyat could be due to the influx of foreign cash into local markets from the opium and amphetamine trade at the border. "Laymen could think the US dollar is depreciating worldwide and that could be the reason the US dollar is depreciating in the Rangoon market,? the researcher said. ?But we have few businesses linked to the world economy. I think this assumption is wrong. It is more possible that the kyat is rising because of the money coming in from drugs sales.? As the kyat rises, trade becomes slow because Burmese commodities are more expensive and local merchants confirm that export earnings are low in account transfer exchange rates. A currency broker in Rangoon said, ?As the trade in imports and exports is slow, the trade in foreign currency market is idle.? Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC) notes?issued as a medium of exchange in Burma by the military junta?tell a different story, sources say, with more supply than demand in the market. A US dollar?s worth of FEC is now selling at 985 kyat in the market. A local goldsmith close to U Kyaw Myint, the vice-chairman of Myanmar Goldsmiths Association, said the price of gold in local markets has decreased despite the rise of gold prices globally. He said he believes the cause could be an influx of US dollars and the rising kyat. There could be some other reasons for the recent appreciation of the kyat. Some businessmen in Rangoon are speculating that the rise of the kyat may be due to political factors, such as the recent developments in US-Burma relations and a perceived breakthrough in Burma's political deadlock. They also cite the positive gestures by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as contributing to Burma?s economic environment. Factoring in billions of dollars in income from the sale of natural gas and other resources could also contribute to the appreciation of the Burmese currency, some economists said. ____________________________________ ASEAN November 17, New light of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein attends 1st ASEAN-US leaders meeting Nay Pyi Taw ? Prime Minister of the Union of Myanmar General Thein Sein attended the 1st ASEANUS Leaders Meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, the Republic of Singapore at 3.20 pm yesterday. Also present at the meeting were King of Brunei Darussalam Sultan Haji Hassanul Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, Indonesian President Dr H Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laotian Prime Minister Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Hj Abd Razak, Philippine President Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Singaporean Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Mr Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnamese Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, US President Barak Obama, and ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan. On arrival at the hotel at 3 pm, the Heads of State/ Government from ASEAN countries, the US president, and the US Secretary of State were welcomed by the Singaporean Prime Minister. Before the meeting, they posed for a group photo. At the meeting, Singaporean Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong extended greetings. Alternate Chairman of ASEAN Thai Prime Minister Mr Abhisit Vejjajiva delivered an introductory speech. ASEAN-US Dialogue Coordinator Philippine President Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered a speech. The Heads of State/Government from ASEAN countries, the US president, and the US Secretary of State held talks about matters on ASEAN-US mutual interest. The meeting ended at 5.30 pm. After the meeting, Prime Minister General Thein Sein and party left the Shangri-La Hotel and arrived back at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. ? MNA ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL November 17, Associated Press Corruption watchdog rules Somalia still worst; followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar Berlin ? An international watchdog says Canada is tied for eighth place in a survey that examined levels of corruption in 180 countries. International watchdog says war-ravaged Somalia remains the world's most corrupt country, followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan. Transparency International says New Zealand is the most principled country, followed by Denmark, Singapore and Sweden. It says the top rankings are partly due to political stability and long-established conflict of interest regulations. Canada is tied for eighth place with Australia and Iceland - up one spot from the 2008 survey - while the United States is ranked 19th. The Transparency International website did not include any specific reasons for the Canadian ranking. The annual ranking from the Berlin-based agency drew on surveys of businesses and experts. -With file from The Associated Press ____________________________________ November 17, Democratic Voice of Burma France joins calls for Suu Kyi?s release ? Joseph Allchin Calls from the French foreign ministry to release Burma?s Aung San Suu Kyi have been welcomed by campaigners in France who say that Western engagement with the regime is long overdue. A statement released by the foreign ministry yesterday stated that ?we hope that this call to the Burmese prime minister to release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi will be heard?. Following United States? president Barrack Obama?s call for the release of the imprisoned Nobel laureate last week, the French Foreign Ministry backed US assertions that the upcoming 2010 elections would not be credible unless the junta released the 2,100 political prisoners currently incarcerated in Burma. ?We are particularly glad that France is taking the release of all political prisoners, not only Aung San Suu Kyi, into the perspective of next year?s elections because the release of all political prisoners is essential to these elections,? said Isabelle Dubois, from Info Birmanie. She added that the current Western position of critical engagement with Burma is one that ?we have always called for?. The foreign ministry statement went on to state that ?it is now up to [the Burmese government] to undertake concrete measures in favour of dialogue and national reconciliation.? Ms Dubois also called for western diplomats to ?closely co-ordinate and unify their efforts to secure concrete progress?. France?s position towards Burma came under close scrutiny earlier this year after the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, labeled European Union sanctions on the country ?useless?. French policy makers have also been accused of ambivalence and double standards as the French oil multinational Total declined to halt its controversial business dealings in the Burmese fossil fuel sector. It is an investment that Dubois said had ?terrible impacts on the people of Burma. We have a lot of concerns about the situation?.