From editor at burmanet.org Thu Jan 28 15:34:20 2010 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:34:20 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News, January 28, 2010 Message-ID: <59424.63.173.78.131.1264710860.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> January 28, 2010, Issue #3885 INSIDE BURMA AFP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi rejects minister's release comment: lawyer Irrawaddy: Mongla killing a blow to ethnic cease-fire groups Kachin News Group: Anti-Irrawaddy dam movement gathers momentum Mizzima News: DVB reporter sentenced to 13 years ON THE BORDER Reuters: China a reluctant refuge for people from Myanmar DVB: Armed groups to form parallel Burmese govt Mizzima News: Thailand concerned over agricultural smuggling from Burma BUSINESS / TRADE Financial Times (UK): World Bank considering assistance for Burma Xinhua: Myanmar expands international rice market INTERNATIONAL Irrawaddy: UN still searching for Gambari replacement OPINION / OTHER Irrawaddy: More differences between the Haiti-Burma disasters ISIS: A nuclear wannabe; Suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech procurements and enigmatic facilities ? David Albright, Paul Brannan, Robert Kelley and Andrea Scheel Stricker PRESS RELEASE France Diplomatie: Situation of Aung San Suu Kyi ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA January 28, Agence France Presse Myanmar's Suu Kyi rejects minister's release comment: lawyer Yangon ? Myanmar's detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday described as "unfair" a minister's comment that she would be released in November as it pre-empted a court decision, her lawyer said. Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo reportedly told a meeting of local officials in central Myanmar last week that the release of the 64-year-old, who has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years, would come in November. Suu Kyi "said the home affairs minister's comment was totally unfair," her lawyer, Nyan Win, told AFP after meeting her on Thursday. A decision is expected from Myanmar's top court within three weeks on an appeal against her conviction last August. The conviction related to an incident in which a US man swam to her house and she was sentenced to another 18 months under house arrest. "She said the case has not reached the end yet. She said the court has the right to make its own decision. Saying this is hurting the court decision," Nyan Win said. "She also said this comment is legally not correct." The extension of Suu Kyi's detention sparked an international furore as it keeps her out of elections promised by the regime some time this year. After learning of the minister's comments, her National League for Democracy (NLD) party initially said a November release would be "no strange thing" as that is when her sentence will be completed. But the signal that she would remain locked up for elections sparked the United States on Tuesday to call again for her immediate freedom. "The idea that her release will conveniently come after the election is unfortunate," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. The NLD won a landslide victory in the last democratic elections in 1990, but the junta, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, never allowed the party to take office. The opposition has been deeply suspicious of the election promised by the junta, seeing the poll as a plot to legitimise the generals' iron-fisted rule. In recent months the United States, followed by the European Union, has shifted towards greater engagement with Myanmar, as sanctions have proved unproductive. ____________________________________ January 28, Irrawaddy Mongla killing a blow to ethnic cease-fire groups ? Wai Moe Already under pressure from Naypyidaw over the Border Guard Force issue, the ethnic cease-fire groups faced a fresh blow as a key leader of the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) based in Mongla in eastern Burma was killed on Wednesday. Min Ein, secretary-general of the NDAA was assassinated by unknown gunmen while he was doing regular exercise at the armed group?s headquarters in Mongla in eastern Shan State on Wednesday morning, sources from Burma's border area said. Min Ein in Laogai, 2003 (photo: MRTV) The gunmen have not been arrested and no one has claimed responsibility, the sources said, adding that observers give two reasons for the assassination. Some believe it was a political killing organized by the junta against an ethnic armed group unwilling to join the border guard force plan. A second theory suggests the killing could be related to a business conflict. ?I think Naypyidaw is behind the assassination. As a key player in the NDAA, Min Ein knew how to play the junta politically over the past two decades,? said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burmese border who was with Min Ein as a communist guerrilla in the 1970s and the 1980s. ?The NDAA still does not totally agree to the junta's Border Guard Force proposal, and Min Ein represented his organization in talks with the junta's negotiator, Lt-Gen Ye Myint,? he said, adding that the junta stood to benefit as the Mongla militia had lost a ?good political leader.? Suspicions that the junta was involved would grow within the Mongla group if the gunmen are not arrested in the near future, he said. ?It is a kind of warning to NDAA chairman U Sai Leun, saying 'if you remain a hardliner on the Border Guard Force proposal, your turn will be next,'? Aung Kyaw Zaw said. The eastern Shan State town of Mongla is well known both as a symbol of the struggle for autonomy in Burma and for casinos and other businesses including drug trafficking. An anonymous source in southern Shan State who is close to the ethnic armed group suggested that with many ethnic leaders running businesses in their territory, the death of the Mongla leader could be due to a business conflict. Whether Min Ein, who was also known as Lin Hongshen, was killed for political or business reasons, his death will directly affect the people and leaders in Mongla. Following the killing, security in the casino town of Mongla has been tightened. ?I do not want to comment on the issue before I get detail information. However, if the Mongla leaders distrust each other, it will not be good for unity within the NDAA,? said Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor-in-chief of the Shan Herald Agency for News. Like other towns in Shan State run by ethnic armed groups, the situation in Mongla area known as Special Region 4 Shan State has changed since the military junta expelled the Kokang militia known as Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) from their territory, Special Region 1 Shan State, in August 2009. At that time, Mongla authorities deported dozens of Burmese workers from their territory following reports that government agents had been arrested in Mongla. Both the NDAA and MNDAA cease-fire groups along with the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the New Democratic Army ? Kachin (NDAK) were formed in 1989 after troops separated from the former Communist Party of Burma (CPB). Following the cease-fire with the junta in 1989, Min Ein was a key player when the four former communist groups (NDAA, MNDAA, UWSA, NDAK) formed an alliance known as the Peace and Democracy Front in November 1989. The Mongla and Kokang leaders also have a personal relationship as Mongla leader Sai Leun, who is also known as Lin Mingxian, is a son-in-law of Kokang leader Peng Jaisheng. As a Chinese communist cadre who was a former medical student from Bhamo in Kachin State, Min Ein was good in Burmese compared to other Mongla leaders. Because of this, he used to lead talks between the NDAA and the Burmese junta, and some among the ethnic groups suspected he was close to the Burmese generals. When he was with the CPB, he was a general staff officer with the CPB?s war office in their headquarters at Panghsang. When ethnic troop within the CPB revolted against the communist leadership in 1989, he stood with them and later became the secretary-general of the NDAA. Representing the Mongla group, Min Ein attended the 14-year-long National Convention for the constitution concluded in 2007. During the referendum, he called for genuine autonomous rights for ethnic groups along with the MNDAA and UWSA. The NDAK agreed to accept the Border Guard Force plan in 2009. Min Ein is the second ethnic leader to have been assassinated in the past two years. Mann Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) was killed by gunmen on Feb.14, 2008. Though the Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization, a Karen splinter group, was accused of being behind the killing, many KNU leaders then said they believed Naypyidaw was involved directly or indirectly in the plot. According to confidential military reports from Naypyidaw leaked to The Irrawaddy, agents of the Military Affairs Security (MAS) formerly known as the Military Intelligence Service encourage Burmese commanders to make preemptive strikes against ethnic ceasefire groups if they have a chance. ____________________________________ January 28, Kachin News Group Anti-Irrawaddy dam movement gathers momentum With the anti-Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam movement gaining momentum, signatures collected demanding a halt to the project in Burma?s Northern Kachin State were handed over today by ethnic Kachins in Singapore to the Chinese Embassy in the city-state, said anti-dam activists. The signature campaign letters were signed by 110 Kachins in the city-state and were handed over this morning to Mr. Cheng Hong Bo, Second Secretary of the Political and Press Section of the Embassy of the People?s Republic of China by two representatives of the Singapore-based Kachin Literature and Culture, also called Jinghpaw Laili Laika hte Htunghking Hpung (JLH) in Kachin, the organization?s general secretary Awng Di told Kachin News Group today. Awng Di, one of the two JLH leaders, who delivered the letters to the Chinese Embassy said, ?We talked to the Second Secretary of the Chinese Embassy and he promised a reply?. The two JLH leaders talked to Mr. Cheng Hong Bo in his office from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Singapore time, he added. ?He said this is the first time ever that his office had received such letters so he needed to discuss it with his senior officers and then make a response,? he added. The JLH leaders said the two anti-dam letters with signatures in English and Chinese languages were delivered to the Chinese embassy. It pointed to the damaging effects of the dam construction, where 15,000 villagers will be displaced and millions will face insecurity over flooding if the dam collapses. It detailed the wish of the Kachin people. ?We hope China will consider our request. If they say no, the Burmese junta will go ahead. The decision to continue is in the hands of the Chinese,? said Awng Di. He said they were into the anti-dam movement to save local people, whose lives are threatened by the dam project. Awng Wa, Chairman of the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) on the Sino-Burma border urged all Kachin people inside and abroad to unite in protest against the dam construction because it will destroy not only the place but also put in danger the lives of those living along the Irrawaddy River. ?It is a good thing that Kachin people around the world are becoming involved in the protest. We need to stop it because it threatens not only Kachin people but the ecology and the environment,? he said. On January 19, the Kachin community in the United Kingdom sent the signature campaign to the Chinese Embassy in London. They are to protest against the Myitsone dam project outside the Burmese Embassy in UK on February 5, the 49th Kachin Revolution Day, organizers said. On the same day anti-dam demonstrators also plan to protest outside the Burmese Embassies in Japan and Australia, according to the London-based Kachin National Organization (KNO) which is organizing the movement. For the first time, Kachins in Singapore together urged today China to stop the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam project in Burma's Northern Kachin State. ____________________________________ January 28, Mizzima News DVB reporter sentenced to 13 years ? Phanida Reporter Ngwe Soe Lin of the Norway-based opposition radio station Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment yesterday by the Rangoon Western District Court sitting inside Insein prison, close associates said. According to confidants, Ngwe Soe Lin (28), who lives in Rangoon?s South Dagon Township, was charged under the Electronic and Immigration Emergency Provisions Acts, receiving associated terms of ten and three years imprisonment, respectively. ?Ngwe Soe Lin was yesterday given ten years in prison under the Electronic Act and another three years under the Immigration Act?s section 13(1),? his sister-in-law, Aye Mee San, told Mizzima. Aung Thein, a legal counsel of the accused, said, ?We heard that he was interrogated and sentenced to imprisonment yesterday at about 4 p.m. with cases charged under section 33(a) of the Electronic Act and section 13(1) of the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act. He was given a total prison term of 13 years.? Ngwe Soe Lin, a DVB video reporter, was honored with the the Rory Peck Award for his work in documenting orphan victims of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma in the first week of May 2008. The London-based Rory Peck Trust seeks recipients from across the world based on bravery in covering news. The award is named after British reporter Rory Peck, who was killed by a gunman while reporting from Moscow, Russia, in October 1993. Friends and his wife established the trust in 1995. Giving a long term prison sentence is unjust, DVB (Thai) Bureau Chief Toe Zaw Latt iterated. ?This is an unjust case. I think they would like to give a clear message to other reporters that if they do same, they will be given similar punishment. However, we will expose what?s going on in Burma,? he told Mizzima. Ngwe Soe Lin was arrested on the 26th of June last year as he was leaving an internet cafe in Kyaukmyaung, Tamwe Township. Aye Mee San told Mizzima that Tamwe Township Special Branch (SB) police, ward level Peace and Development Council (PDC) members as well as a police major came to their home and seized a video camera three days later on the 29th. She added that an appeal would be filed against the verdict. Ngwe Soe Lin was arrested along with NLD Youth member Ngaing Ngan Lin, but the latter was later released on August 29th, noted Aung Thein. After being interrogated for over two months Ngaing Ngan Lin was sent to Insein prison and allowed to see family members only after three-and-a-half months. He is suffering from beriberi disease and taking neurotropic drugs, according to his sister-in-law. Aung Tun Myint, elder brother of Ngwe Soe Lin, was also arrested for allegedly taking photographs of a polling booth in Rangoon?s Hmawbi Township during the 2008 constitutional referendum. He was given three years imprisonment, which he is currently serving in western Burma?s Arakan state. According to the Burma Media Association (BMA), at least 14 Burmese journalists were arrested and sentenced in 2009 after the 2007 September Saffron Revolution, in which monks chanted a sutra of ?loving kindness? in protest against the junta. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER January 28, Reuters China a reluctant refuge for people from Myanmar Ruili, China - Ask residents of the dusty Chinese border town of Ruili what they think of their neighbour and supposed friend Myanmar and one word features prominently -- "luan," or chaotic. Ask the Myanmar traders, in their sarong-like longyis and cheap plastic sandals, what they think of China and their answer is completely the opposite -- stable, giving them a chance to escape the poverty and mismanagement of their ruling generals. Yet there is little love lost between the Myanmar businessmen, farmers and massage girls who flock to booming China and their host nation. Many harbour a burning resentment not necessarily of their own government, but of the Chinese. "There are so many Chinese in Mandalay, at least half the population now," said Myanmar jade trader Ye Kaw, speaking in the flawless Mandarin he has picked up after many years living in Ruili, China's main trading post with its southern neighbour. "We hate them," he added, when asked how residents of his home town look upon the Chinese migrants, looking fearfully around to see if any of his customers had heard him. "But we have to come here. There is no future for me at home." Ruili -- its name comes from a word in the local Dai language meaning "a jade green place enshrouded in mist" -- is home to a large population from Myanmar, some legal, and others sneaking across a porous border to sell vegetables, trinkets, or sex. Sitting on the far southwestern tip of Yunnan province, Ruili was once notorious in China for its gambling, prostitution, smuggling, drugs and general lawlessness during the 1990s when border trade really began taking off. CHINA'S HOLD While those heady days may be behind the city, there is little doubt at the sway Myanmar continues to hold over Ruili. The circular Burmese script adorns many shop signs, people squat by the side of the road eating spicy papaya salad laced with pungent fish sauce, and the Myanmar kyat freely changes hands, though China's yuan currency is far more popular. Ruili's residents have become rich on trade with Myanmar, mainly in raw materials such as timber and jade, which once sculpted and polished into intricate and immaculate designs of Buddha or traditional Chinese gods can go for thousands of dollars. This has not, however, engendered much goodwill towards the government of Myanmar. Though nor does it appear to generate Chinese disdain of the often obviously poorer Myanmar citizens in their midst. "We all know how bad the government there is," said Chinese businessman Li Hai. "It's poor and horribly corrupt. If I were from Myanmar, I'd want to come to China too." In Myanmar, there has been growing alarm among some people at illegal mass entry of Chinese into their country through the border controlled by major ethnic armed groups such as the ethnic Chinese United Wa State Army, denounced as a narcotics cartel by the United States. Anti-Chinese feeling in the former Burma is not new. The Burmese kings, who ruled before the British came, had long been wary of their powerful neighbour. More recently, in 1967, anti-Chinese riots in then capital Rangoon -- today called Yangon -- lead to the sacking of China's embassy and dozens of deaths, if not more. Myanmar, believed at independence in 1948 to have a bright future ahead of it due to its rich natural resources, has seen its economy lag far behind China's thanks to almost five decades of inept military rule and international isolation. The United Nations ranked Myanmar 138 out of 166 countries in its 2009 Human Development Report. China, by contrast, is now on track to surpass Japan as the world's second-largest economy. LITTLE CHOICE The flow of people goes both ways. Zaw Mein, an ethnic Rohingya and Muslim from the southeastern Myanmar coastal state of Arakan, has little time for the politics of his sometimes chaotic homeland. He just wants to earn enough for his family back in Myanmar. "What choice do we have but to come to China to work?" he said, standing in Ruili's sprawling jade market. "China gives us visas easily. Not many other countries will." Ask him about Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Myanmar democracy leader and Nobel laureate, and his face lights up, as do those of his friends clustering around. "Everyone wants to vote for her," he said, referring to an election slated for sometime this year, one condemned by rights groups, the United States and the European Union, as a sham. "We know people won't be allowed to vote for her, so what's the point? The military will still stay in charge no matter what, and I'll stay in China." Many Rohingyas, not recognised as an ethnic minority by Myanmar, allege human rights abuse by its authorities, saying they are deprived of free movement, education and rightful employment. Rohingyas have been leaving Myanmar and heading mainly into impoverished Bangladesh since the late 1970s. The biggest influx occurred in 1992. It's not only the Rohingya who come to Ruili, though. Yunnan is home to many ethnic minorities whose populations are on both sides of the border. China's Jingpo are the same as Myanmar's Kachin, many of whom have for decades been involved in armed rebellion in the mountains of northeastern Myanmar. The frontier means little to them, and in any case the two sides are separated by no more than a ditch and scanty bamboo groves in some villages. "We're lucky to live in China," said Jingme, who like many ethnic Dai uses only one name, and whose village is half in China and half in Myanmar. Her aunt crosses every day to look after her nephews. "But we are one people. How can we not feel bad for our friends and relatives on the other side?" (Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in YANGON; Editing by Megan Goldin) ____________________________________ January 28, Democratic Voice of Burma Armed groups to form parallel Burmese govt ? Htet Aung Kyaw Several Burmese armed groups, including the Karen National Union, could soon merge with Burma?s government-in-exile to form a parallel government prior to elections this year. According to a minister with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Khun Myint Htun, a new constitution is currently being drafted which will outline steps to integrate ethnic resistance leaders into a broader coalition. ?We have discussed the plan with [ethnic] groups who met the six qualifications: they must be a group that has a political party, their own territory, and their own public support,? he said. ?They also must have education and medical programmes for the public, and an [armed] resistance wing.? He said that part of the agreement was to ?seek a federal union? in Burma, which is currently ruled by a rigid central military government. The country?s multiple ethnic groups have long called for political autonomy in the volatile border regions. At least four armed groups have reportedly pledged to join the coalition, although only the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Burma?s largest armed opposition groups, has confirmed interest. ?We have always planned to form a parallel government even prior to the election members of parliament in 1990 [Burma?s last elections] so this is just shaping an old idea,? said Saw Hla Ngwe, joint-secretary of the KNU. ?If the negotiations [with the NCGUB] turn out well, then we will form a parallel government to compete with the [ruling junta],? he added. ?This way, there will be more understanding between armed groups and the democratic movement.? The majority of Burma?s opposition parties have not yet announced whether they will participate in the elections, rumoured to be in October this year. Critics of the junta claim that the 2008 constitution will entrench military rule in Burma, thus delegitimising any claims by the generals that elections will be democratic. Conflict is also expected to intensify in the run-up to polling, particularly as the junta attempts to convert ethnic ceasefire groups into border guard forces and bring them under the direct control of Naypyidaw. The KNU is among only a handful of Burma?s 18 armed ethnic groups not to have signed a ceasefire deal with the government, although the pressure of the border guard issue has weakened already tenuous truces. ____________________________________ January 28, Mizzima News Thailand concerned over agricultural smuggling from Burma ? Usa Pichai Chiang Mai ? Thailand has increased surveillance along the Thai-Burma border since the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) came into full effect early this month, over fears of agricultural smuggling, particularly rice, entering the Kingdom. ?The Ministry of Agriculture has asked cooperation from related authorities near the border with neighboring countries to raise surveillance on illegal low-quality rice that may be smuggled into the country that would effect the rice price in Thailand,? said Apichat Jongsakuk, General Secretary of Thailand?s Office of Agricultural Economics, according to a Thai government website. The flooding of the Thai market with low-quality products from Burma negatively impacts Thai farmers in driving down the costs of their products China?s Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday that over the first nine months of fiscal 2009-2010 Burma expanded its rice market by exporting to Russia, Ukraine, Australia and South Korea. According to official figures, Burma's rice exports over the said period totaled over 1.2 million tons. Additionally, Burma is making efforts to export high-grade rice to the Middle East, African and European Union countries. According to official statistics, Burma?s rice surplus is about 5 million tons yearly. With a total area of 676,500 square kilometres, Burma had been the world's largest exporter of rice as recently as the 1930s, but rice exports fell by two thirds in the 1940s, with the country never again reclaiming its dominant status in the international rice trade. Thailand and Vietnam now lead the world in rice exports. A rice trader in Mae Sot in Thailand told Mizzima that demand for imported Burmese rice has nearly doubled since AFTA came into effect, even though the quality is lower. According to Thailand?s Office of Agricultural Economics, Thailand earns approximately 102 billion baht [3.4 billion USD] in agricultural trade with ASEAN. ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE January 28, Financial Times (UK) World Bank considering assistance for Burma ? Tim Johnston The World Bank is considering providing Burma with assistance more than two decades after relations were frozen following the bloody suppression of the 1988 democracy movement. James Adams, a senior World Bank official, told the Financial Times that officials from the bank and the Asian Development Bank had recently travelled to Burma to look at ?possible future analytical work that could have a positive development impact for the people?. But Mr Adams stressed that any co-operation with Burma would be limited. The plan would be for World Bank specialists to head to Burma to provide technical assistance on projects. ?The World Bank has not provided financing to the government of Myanmar since 1987 and we have made clear to government, shareholders and development partners that we have no intention of doing so under current circumstances,? said Mr Adams, the bank?s vice-president for east Asia and the Pacific. While the scope of the co-operation is limited, however, the renewed engagement marks a significant step forward. The World Bank suspended loans in 1988 after soldiers killed thousands of demonstrators who were pushing for greater democracy. ?In and of itself, it won?t lead to a resumption of normal relations, but it is better than having them totally isolated,? said another World Bank official. The move comes amid a general, albeit slight, improvement in relations between Burma and the US. Over the past year, there has been increased engagement between US officials and the generals who run Burma. After concluding that the previous US policy of isolation had not produced democratic reform in Burma, the Obama administraiton decided to re-establish high level contacts, and offered incentives if the junta takes steps towards reform. The European Union followed suit, pledging substantial funds for humanitarian assistance and a geographical extension of the assistance programme originally set up for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which killed about 140,000 people in 2008. However, so far there has been little sign of a softening of the line from the generals in their bunkers in the newly built capital of ?Naypyidaw. The junta have extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate. Also, journalists, democracy activists and regime opponents continue to be imprisoned, and few analysts believe that the elections due to be held this year will yield a democratic outcome. One of the projects being discussed with the World Bank involves updating the country?s antiquated system of preparing its national accounts, which currently still conforms to the 1968 standard. While the World Bank does not intend to provide any finance while the political repression continues in the country, the Burmese regime would need to solve another problem before they could receive financial assistance from the bank. The regime still owes $300m in payments to the international financial institution. ?They understand clearly that, under our formal rules, we will not lend to a country until their arrears are cleared up,? the official said. ____________________________________ January 28, Xinhua Myanmar expands international rice market Yangon ? Myanmar has been expanding its rice market to more countries, exporting the agricultural crop to Russia, Ukraine, Australia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in addition to the present rice exporting countries, rice traders said on Thursday. Though the exported amount to these countries is negligible, Myanmar rice has won more markets in the international, the sources commented. Under its market expansion plan, Myanmar is making efforts to export high-grade rice to Kuwait, Middle East and African and European Union countries. According to official figures, Myanmar's rice export in the first nine months (April-December) of the 2009-10 fiscal year reached over 1.2 million tons against the export target of 1.5 million tons. The nine-month export registered the highest over the past decade against the one million tons recorded in the year 2000. Myanmar's rice export amounted to 700,000 tons in 2008-09. Myanmar's major rice exporting countries went to East Asian countries to where over 50,000 tons were exported in 2009, while over 850 tons to Middle East countries. There are so far 35 private companies in the country undertaking the export of rice to South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirate, South Korea and Egypt. As more companies have come and invested in the rice production sector, the country is expected to export better quality rice during this year, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said. According to official statistics, the country generated about 30 million tons of rice out of 8.26 million hectares of paddy cultivated in the last fiscal year 2008-09. Myanmar enjoyed rice surplus of 5 million tons yearly. ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL January 28, Irrawaddy UN still searching for Gambari replacement ? Lalit K Jha Washington ? UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he is still searching for a replacement for Ibrahim Gambari as the new special UN envoy for Burma. ?I would like to make it quite clear that there is no hiatus in my efforts to have this Myanmar [Burma] issue resolved as soon as possible,? Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. Ban said he has not received any communication from the Burmese military junta about the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, in response to a reporter's question. A Burmese official said this week that Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, would be released in November. ?I can assure you that my chef de cabinet, Mr [Vijay] Nambiar has been continuously engaging himself with the Myanmar authorities, and as soon as we have a clearer picture about what is going on and what their intentions are, then we will have more consultations with them,? Ban said. Nambiar was appointed to coordinate Burmese affairs for the secretary-general at the beginning of this year when Gambari, who was special envoy for the past few years, was transferred to a new assignment in Darfur. Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said the United States would continue to its dialogue with the junta, though no new dates have been fixed for the next round of talks. ?We have had multiple conversations with Burma. I assume we'll continue the conversation, but I just don't know in what form at this point,? Crowley said at a State Department briefing. Early this week, Crowley said: ?It's important for the Government of Burma to reach out not only to those who wish to be politically active, but also to the various ethnic communities within Burma.? ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER January 28, Irrawaddy More differences between the Haiti-Burma disasters ? Simon Roughneen BANGKOK? Haiti President Ren? Pr?val on Wednesday said that the country's legislative elections would be postponed indefinitely due to the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The change of plans stands in stark contrast to the Burmese junta, which didn't let the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 get in the way of a nationwide constitutional referendum that proceeded as planned mere days later. A Haitian girl is rescued by a French team after being in the rubble for more than two weeks in Port-au-Prince on January 27. (Photo: Reuters) Haiti's polls were scheduled for Feb. 28 and were seen as an important next step in stabilizing Haiti's fragile democracy. Brazil-led UN peacekeepers have operated in Haiti since 2004, after politicized gang violence. ?The electoral campaign should have opened tomorrow and for obvious reasons, that won't be able to happen," Pr?val said in an interview at his temporary office. Pr?val has been criticized by many Haitians, particularly in the vocal and influential expat lobby based in the US, for his apparent reticence after the earthquake. A New America Media/Bendixen & Amandi poll surveyed Haitians living in South Florida and across the country and found 63 percent disapprove of how Pr?val's government has responded to the natural disaster. With government buildings destroyed, the government has been forced to meet at a police station and under a nearby tent. Pr?val says he did not want to be seen to be milking the disaster for public relations benefits. He said that as he toured Port-au-Prince the night of the earthquake and the next day, ``A lot of people would have chosen to go and be filmed touring hospitals, to talk to the injured. . . . I chose to get to work and try to find help to deal with the catastrophe.'' Already dependent on foreign aid for around 60-70 percent of the national budget, Haiti's reliance on aid will increase in coming months and years, with 10-year rebuilding plans costing billions of dollars being discussed. Haitian expats remit an estimated US $1.5-1.8 billion per annum, far exceeding the amount of aid and keeping Haitian families afloat amid nationwide poverty. Haiti's Electoral Council offices collapsed in the recent earthquake, while UN staff assigned to work with the commission were killed. The president added: "For human and technical reasons, it is obvious that the electoral process won't be able to proceed as we had planned. Now we have to discuss with the various parties what will happen, what will be the next plan." Just as Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Burma is one of the poorest in Asia? though Burma has a wealth of natural resources that Haiti cannot match. Regardless, the junta put severe limits on international assistance getting to the disaster area. In the days after that disaster, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the referendum to be postponed in full to concentrate on the "national tragedy." The junta was criticized for diverting critical resources from survivors toward the referendum, including evicting refugees from shelters so they could be used as polling stations. "Instead of putting all resources toward saving the lives of the victims, the military is concentrating on legalizing military rule in Burma forever through a sham constitutional referendum," said a joint statement from the All Burma Monks Alliance, the 88 Generation Students and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions released after the Nargis disaster. The referendum and the results?a 93 percent vote in favor of the controversial new constitution?was widely dismissed as rigged and massive fraud and intimidation was reported by Burmese who managed to get information out of the country. The poll was part of the junta's self-styled democracy ?road map,? which includes elections to be held sometime this year. Last week a senior junta official said that Aung San Suu Kyi would remain under house arrest until November, likely to be after the election takes place. However, no electoral law or timetable has been decided upon. The 2008 Constitution and the elections together are expected to put a civilian veneer upon continued military rule in Burma, leaving the main opposition parties undecided on whether or not to participate in the elections. Some of the opposition have called for the 2008 Constitution to be reviewed before talks on national reconciliation can go any further. While the Burmese junta seeks to retain power, irrespective of the human cost, the much-maligned Haitian president says he will not seek to extend his term in office beyond Feb. 11, 2011, the scheduled end of his term. ____________________________________ January 28, Institute for Science and International Security A nuclear wannabe; Suspicious links to North Korea; high-tech procurements and enigmatic facilities ? David Albright, Paul Brannan, Robert Kelley and Andrea Scheel Stricker For several years, suspicions have swirled about the nuclear intentions of Burma?s secretive military dictatorship. Burma is cooperating with North Korea on possible nuclear procurements and appears to be misleading overseas suppliers in obtaining top-of-the-line equipment. Certain equipment, which could be used in a nuclear or missile program, went to isolated Burmese manufacturing compounds of unknown purpose. Although evidence does not exist to make a compelling case that Burma is building secret nuclear reactors or fuel cycle facilities, as has been reported, the information does warrant governments and companies taking extreme caution in any dealings with Burma. The military regime?s suspicious links to North Korea, and apparent willingness to illegally procure high technology goods, make a priority convincing the military government to accept greater transparency. Suspicions about nuclear intentions followed an agreement by Russia to sell Burma a research reactor in 2001 and intensified in 2007 with the resumption of a formal military relationship between North Korea and Burma, known officially as Myanmar. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in July 2009, ?We know there are also growing concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take seriously.?1 According to U.S. officials, these concerns extend to possible nuclear cooperation, but their information is incomplete.2 The evidence supports that Burma and North Korea have discussed nuclear cooperation, but is not sufficient to establish that North Korea is building nuclear facilities for Burma?s military junta, despite recent reports to the contrary. Nonetheless, no one can ignore the possibility of significant North Korean nuclear assistance to this enigmatic, military regime. Because North Korea secretly sold a reactor to Syria, a sale which the world?s best intelligence agencies missed until late in the reactor?s construction, no one is willing to turn a blind eye to the possibility of North Korea selling nuclear equipment, materials, or facilities to Burma. North Korea?s past proliferation activities and the failure to promptly detect the Syrian reactor cannot but lead to more scrutiny over whether North Korea might sell Burma a reactor or other nuclear industrial equipment and facilities, or the means and guidance to manufacture nuclear facilities. When one adds Burma?s own efforts to acquire abroad sophisticated dual-use goods that can be used for nuclear purposes, it becomes essential to determine and constrain as necessary the military junta?s nuclear intentions. Another dimension is whether Burma is helping North Korea obtain items for its nuclear programs. Burma could act as a cooperative transshipment partner for goods ultimately destined for North Korea?s gas centrifuge uranium enrichment program. The military regime?s lack of transparency and repressive actions complicate any effort to investigate suspicions about its nuclear program. A priority is getting the military government to accept greater transparency of its activities. Because Burma is buying a wide variety of suspicious dual-use goods internationally, governments and companies need to be more vigilant in examining Burma?s enquiries, or requests for equipment, whether via Burmese governmental entities, Burmese trading companies, or other foreign trading companies. Companies should treat enquiries from Burma no differently than those from Iran, Pakistan, or Syria. For more, visit: http://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/burma-a-nuclear-wanabee-suspicious-links-to-north-korea-high-tech-procureme/ ____________________________________ PRESS RELEASE January 27, France Diplomatie Situation of Aung San Suu Kyi France reacted with firmness to the further sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi on August 11, 2009 and the European Union toughened its sanctions. It continues to call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and of all the Burmese political prisoners. This is an essential condition for the credibility of the elections planned by the authorities this year. Let?s not forget that Aung San Suu Kyi was deprived of her liberty for 14 of the last 20 years and that the number of political prisoners in Burma is estimated to be approximately 2000. France would like the Burmese government to make concrete gestures in support of the national reconciliation process which would include the opposition and the ethnic minorities. This is particularly urgent prior to the elections planned by the authorities.