Myanmar's Suu Kyi positive about sanctions meetings: lawyer
AFP - Saturday, October 17
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her recent meetings about sanctions with diplomats and a junta minister were positive, her lawyer told AFP Friday.
She held a rare meeting last Friday with top Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the military-ruled nation, having earlier in the week met twice with Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta.
The pair had not met since January 2008.
The meetings followed a letter she wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, which offered suggestions on getting sanctions lifted, marking an easing of her stance after years of advocating punitive measures against the ruling generals.
"Daw Suu sees the meetings as positive and also she expects the meeting process to be effective," her lawyer Nyan Win said, after meeting with the opposition leader for an hour on Friday. "Daw" is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The Nobel Peace Laureate wants to meet with diplomats again to get more facts and figures about sanctions, Nyan Win said, adding that they would not be releasing any more details of the talks for the moment.
On October 2, Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest was rejected by judges, who upheld her August conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
The guilty verdict for the frail 64-year-old, who has spent around 14 of the past 20 years in detention, earned her an extra 18 months' house arrest and provoked international outrage.
Nyan Win said they would now prepare a revision of the appeal to submit to the Supreme Court, which they also discussed with Suu Kyi Friday.
The junta refused to let Suu Kyi take power after the country's last elections in 1990, which her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide, leading Western countries to impose sanctions.
Her extended house arrest keeps her off the scene for elections promised by the regime next year, adding to criticism that the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the military regime's grip on power.
The US recently unveiled a major policy shift to re-engage the junta but warned against lifting sanctions until progress is made towards democracy.
AFP - Saturday, October 17
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her recent meetings about sanctions with diplomats and a junta minister were positive, her lawyer told AFP Friday.
She held a rare meeting last Friday with top Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the military-ruled nation, having earlier in the week met twice with Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta.
The pair had not met since January 2008.
The meetings followed a letter she wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, which offered suggestions on getting sanctions lifted, marking an easing of her stance after years of advocating punitive measures against the ruling generals.
"Daw Suu sees the meetings as positive and also she expects the meeting process to be effective," her lawyer Nyan Win said, after meeting with the opposition leader for an hour on Friday. "Daw" is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The Nobel Peace Laureate wants to meet with diplomats again to get more facts and figures about sanctions, Nyan Win said, adding that they would not be releasing any more details of the talks for the moment.
On October 2, Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest was rejected by judges, who upheld her August conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
The guilty verdict for the frail 64-year-old, who has spent around 14 of the past 20 years in detention, earned her an extra 18 months' house arrest and provoked international outrage.
Nyan Win said they would now prepare a revision of the appeal to submit to the Supreme Court, which they also discussed with Suu Kyi Friday.
The junta refused to let Suu Kyi take power after the country's last elections in 1990, which her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide, leading Western countries to impose sanctions.
Her extended house arrest keeps her off the scene for elections promised by the regime next year, adding to criticism that the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the military regime's grip on power.
The US recently unveiled a major policy shift to re-engage the junta but warned against lifting sanctions until progress is made towards democracy.
***********************************************************
Bangladesh reinforces Myanmar border: officials
AFP - Saturday, October 17
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP) – Bangladesh has reinforced its border with Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.
Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.
"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.
"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by Myanmar forces," he said.
Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon reserves.
"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed the troop deployment.
"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.
It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to the border area.
Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension along the border.
She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri Lankan capital earlier in the week.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.
AFP - Saturday, October 17
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP) – Bangladesh has reinforced its border with Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.
Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.
"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.
"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by Myanmar forces," he said.
Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon reserves.
"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed the troop deployment.
"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.
It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to the border area.
Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension along the border.
She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri Lankan capital earlier in the week.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.
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EarthTimes - Myanmar opposition leader to appeal sentence at Supreme Court
Posted : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:52:39 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday agreed to allow defence lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court against her recent sentence to 18 months under house detention. "We will appeal the case up to the Supreme Court level and are preparing the appeal now," said Nyan Win, one of four attorneys in Suu Kyi's defence team.
Nyan Win met with Suu Kyi Friday afternoon at her house-cum-prison in Yangon, where she had spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention.
On October 2, the Yangon Division Court rejected Suu Kyi's appeal against a lower court's verdict on August 11 that found her guilty of violating the terms of her previous imprisonment by allowing US national John Yettaw to swim to her house of detention, a family compound that sits on Inya Lake.
Originally the Insein Prison Court sentenced Suu Kyi to three years in jail, but the term was commuted to 18 months under house detention by Myanmar's junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.
The detention term is sufficient to keep Suu Kyi, who heads the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, out of the picture while the junta stages a general election some time next year.
The election is expected to be neither free nor fair.
The NLD won the last election of 1990 buy a landslide, but was blocked from assuming power by the military which has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
Posted : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:52:39 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday agreed to allow defence lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court against her recent sentence to 18 months under house detention. "We will appeal the case up to the Supreme Court level and are preparing the appeal now," said Nyan Win, one of four attorneys in Suu Kyi's defence team.
Nyan Win met with Suu Kyi Friday afternoon at her house-cum-prison in Yangon, where she had spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention.
On October 2, the Yangon Division Court rejected Suu Kyi's appeal against a lower court's verdict on August 11 that found her guilty of violating the terms of her previous imprisonment by allowing US national John Yettaw to swim to her house of detention, a family compound that sits on Inya Lake.
Originally the Insein Prison Court sentenced Suu Kyi to three years in jail, but the term was commuted to 18 months under house detention by Myanmar's junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.
The detention term is sufficient to keep Suu Kyi, who heads the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, out of the picture while the junta stages a general election some time next year.
The election is expected to be neither free nor fair.
The NLD won the last election of 1990 buy a landslide, but was blocked from assuming power by the military which has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
***********************************************************
Bangladesh reinforces Myanmar border amid new tensions
Posted: 16 October 2009 2156 hrs
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh ( Channel News Asia )- Bangladesh has reinforced its border with Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.
Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.
"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.
"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by Myanmar forces," he said.
Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon reserves.
"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed the troop deployment.
"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.
It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to the border area.
Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension along the border.
She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri Lankan capital earlier in the week.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.
Posted: 16 October 2009 2156 hrs
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh ( Channel News Asia )- Bangladesh has reinforced its border with Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.
Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.
"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.
"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by Myanmar forces," he said.
Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon reserves.
"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed the troop deployment.
"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.
It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to the border area.
Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension along the border.
She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri Lankan capital earlier in the week.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.
***********************************************************
South Korean film festival opens in Yangon
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-16 15:23:21
YANGON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean film festival was inaugurated at the Thamada Cinema in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon Friday, drawing a large number of Myanmar cinema goers who take great interest in Korean film and TV.
During the four-day 5th Korean film festival, which lasts until next Monday, four Korean movies, namely Summer Whispers (romance), Mom's Way (Drama), Marathon (Drama) and Oseam (Animation) are on the screen.
The Korean embassy has arranged a meeting between Myanmar interesting audiences and visiting famous Korean actress, Lee Young Eun, who played the main role in the "Summer Whispers", as well as two Korean film directors on the two weekend days.
Korean film festivals were held in Myanmar for four times in 1998, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively under the cultural exchange program between Myanmar and South Korea.
During the last Korean film festival in November 2008, five Korean movies - Le Grand Chief, Hello, Goodbye, Little Brother and My Love were screened.
Meanwhile, a 10-day European film festival, organized by the French Embassy, will be also launched in Yangon next month, aimed at boosting cultural exchange between Myanmar and European countries
The European film festival will take place from Nov. 20 to 29 at the Naypyitaw Cinema and two films each from Britain, Italy, France, Germany and the European Commission (EC) will be screened, the embassy sources said.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-16 15:23:21
YANGON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean film festival was inaugurated at the Thamada Cinema in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon Friday, drawing a large number of Myanmar cinema goers who take great interest in Korean film and TV.
During the four-day 5th Korean film festival, which lasts until next Monday, four Korean movies, namely Summer Whispers (romance), Mom's Way (Drama), Marathon (Drama) and Oseam (Animation) are on the screen.
The Korean embassy has arranged a meeting between Myanmar interesting audiences and visiting famous Korean actress, Lee Young Eun, who played the main role in the "Summer Whispers", as well as two Korean film directors on the two weekend days.
Korean film festivals were held in Myanmar for four times in 1998, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively under the cultural exchange program between Myanmar and South Korea.
During the last Korean film festival in November 2008, five Korean movies - Le Grand Chief, Hello, Goodbye, Little Brother and My Love were screened.
Meanwhile, a 10-day European film festival, organized by the French Embassy, will be also launched in Yangon next month, aimed at boosting cultural exchange between Myanmar and European countries
The European film festival will take place from Nov. 20 to 29 at the Naypyitaw Cinema and two films each from Britain, Italy, France, Germany and the European Commission (EC) will be screened, the embassy sources said.
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SamayLive - Hundreds being tossed across Bangladesh-Myanmar border: Report
(Source: IANS)
Published: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 at 10:49 IST
Dhaka: Bangladesh and Myanmar are tossing hundreds of Muslim tribal Rohingya families across their border, where they are reinforcing troops for the past one week, a media report said.
Alleging that Myanmar border force Nasaka is pushing out the Rohingyas, Bangladesh says it has adopted the policy of pushing them back. But it finds that the same people are being sent back again.
Dhaka says Yangon is preparing for "an all-out armed conflict" and has moved three more battalions Thursday.
A convoy carrying cannons, artillery guns and other armaments from Comilla and Chittagong were moved to the border.
The trouble began with Myanmar erecting barbed wire fence despite Bangladesh's objections and reinforcing troops to support that operation.
"Push-ins and push-backs are going on across the border with Myanmar amid tensions following mobilisation of a huge number of Myanmarese troops along the border for erecting barbed wire fence," The Daily Star newspaper reported from Bandarban, a border area in Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The two share a 300 km border that remains volatile due to what Dhaka alleges to be attempts by Nasaka to push out the Rohingyas, most of them inhabiting the western flank of the Arakan ranges. The Rohingyas are opposing the military junta ruling Yangon.
This has been a recurring phenomenon in the last three decades. Bangladesh hosts a large population of refugees in its southeastern region.
The newspaper quoted unnamed Bangladeshi intelligence sources as saying that Nasaka gathered about 10,000 Rohingyas at several border points opposite Naikhongchhari last week in a bid to push them into the Bangladesh territory.
Local people said even after receiving the Rohingyas from the Bangladesh authorities, Nasaka forced them again to enter the country using other border areas of the hill district.
(Source: IANS)
Published: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 at 10:49 IST
Dhaka: Bangladesh and Myanmar are tossing hundreds of Muslim tribal Rohingya families across their border, where they are reinforcing troops for the past one week, a media report said.
Alleging that Myanmar border force Nasaka is pushing out the Rohingyas, Bangladesh says it has adopted the policy of pushing them back. But it finds that the same people are being sent back again.
Dhaka says Yangon is preparing for "an all-out armed conflict" and has moved three more battalions Thursday.
A convoy carrying cannons, artillery guns and other armaments from Comilla and Chittagong were moved to the border.
The trouble began with Myanmar erecting barbed wire fence despite Bangladesh's objections and reinforcing troops to support that operation.
"Push-ins and push-backs are going on across the border with Myanmar amid tensions following mobilisation of a huge number of Myanmarese troops along the border for erecting barbed wire fence," The Daily Star newspaper reported from Bandarban, a border area in Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The two share a 300 km border that remains volatile due to what Dhaka alleges to be attempts by Nasaka to push out the Rohingyas, most of them inhabiting the western flank of the Arakan ranges. The Rohingyas are opposing the military junta ruling Yangon.
This has been a recurring phenomenon in the last three decades. Bangladesh hosts a large population of refugees in its southeastern region.
The newspaper quoted unnamed Bangladeshi intelligence sources as saying that Nasaka gathered about 10,000 Rohingyas at several border points opposite Naikhongchhari last week in a bid to push them into the Bangladesh territory.
Local people said even after receiving the Rohingyas from the Bangladesh authorities, Nasaka forced them again to enter the country using other border areas of the hill district.
***********************************************************
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Daily Star - Border sees push-ins, push-backs
Rohingyas driven into Bangladesh territory every day
A Myanmar national with her child crosses over to Bangladesh territory at Naikkhangchhari of Bandarban avoiding detection by Bangladesh Rifles personnel and persecution by Nasaka on the other side. Inset, these people end up at the Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia. Photo: Anisur RahmanOur Correspondent, Bandarban
Push-ins and push-backs are going on across the border with Myanmar amid tensions following mobilisation of a huge number of Myanmarese troops along the border for erecting barbed wire fence.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has sent in more reinforcements on the border with Myanmar to strengthen its strategic position in the face of massive military build-up by the latter's junta.
Sources at the intelligence agencies said Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, gathered about 10,000 Rohingyas at several bordering points opposite Naikhongchhari last week in a bid to push them into the Bangladesh territory.
Local people said even after receiving the Rohingyas from the Bangladesh authorities, Nasaka forced them again to enter into the country using other borders of the hill district.
Some 154 Rohingyas were pushed back to their country in last two weeks through the Naikhongchhari border, BDR sources said.
The Rohingyas who returned from their country after the handover to the Myanmar authorities said they were compelled to enter into Bangladesh as Nasaka men tortured them and forced them to work like building barbed wire fence, bunkers, etc.
Against the backdrop of this trend, police and BDR have taken the policy of pushing the Rohingyas back to Myanmar instead of filing cases against them to avoid the problems in jails created by their continued infiltration into Bangladesh.
A source in Bandarban district police said 550 accused and convicts, most of them Rohingyas, are staying in the Bandarban jail with a capacity of 114.
The source said the pushing back policy has been taken following directives from the high-ups in the government.
Wishing anonymity a BDR official told The Daily Star that they cannot stop Rohingya infiltration due to lack of surveillance on 288 km long border as the geographical location is unfavourable and the number of border out post (BoP) insufficient.
Police and BDR in separate drives held 44 Rohingyas from the district this week. Of them, 12 Rohingyas were held from Ali Kadam upazila on Sunday night, 21 from Sadar upazila on Tuesday while 11 from Lama upazila on Wednesday.
MORE TROOPS MOBILSED ON BORDER
Bangladesh has sent in more reinforcements on the Myanmar border to strengthen its strategic position in the face of massive build-up and repeated provocative actions by the military junta on the other side, border sources said.
They said three more battalions were mobilised yesterday. A convoy carrying cannons, artillery guns and other armaments from Comilla and Chittagong were moved to the border. They were stationed in Barabil of Ramu and Fashiakhali in Bandarban.
Tension arose on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as Myanmar augmented its forces in the border area with tanks, artillery guns and warships in the adjacent waters.
People in the bordering villages said Myanmar constructed bunkers to fortify the border area and its forces were patrolling with heavy weapons.
Earlier Bangladesh sent a brigade to Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar. It was moved in to the bordering area yesterday.
Sources in Bangladesh army said Myanmar would not be able to intrude into our territory, as the soldiers of BDR remain on high alert.
The Daily Star - Border sees push-ins, push-backs
Rohingyas driven into Bangladesh territory every day
A Myanmar national with her child crosses over to Bangladesh territory at Naikkhangchhari of Bandarban avoiding detection by Bangladesh Rifles personnel and persecution by Nasaka on the other side. Inset, these people end up at the Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia. Photo: Anisur RahmanOur Correspondent, Bandarban
Push-ins and push-backs are going on across the border with Myanmar amid tensions following mobilisation of a huge number of Myanmarese troops along the border for erecting barbed wire fence.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has sent in more reinforcements on the border with Myanmar to strengthen its strategic position in the face of massive military build-up by the latter's junta.
Sources at the intelligence agencies said Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, gathered about 10,000 Rohingyas at several bordering points opposite Naikhongchhari last week in a bid to push them into the Bangladesh territory.
Local people said even after receiving the Rohingyas from the Bangladesh authorities, Nasaka forced them again to enter into the country using other borders of the hill district.
Some 154 Rohingyas were pushed back to their country in last two weeks through the Naikhongchhari border, BDR sources said.
The Rohingyas who returned from their country after the handover to the Myanmar authorities said they were compelled to enter into Bangladesh as Nasaka men tortured them and forced them to work like building barbed wire fence, bunkers, etc.
Against the backdrop of this trend, police and BDR have taken the policy of pushing the Rohingyas back to Myanmar instead of filing cases against them to avoid the problems in jails created by their continued infiltration into Bangladesh.
A source in Bandarban district police said 550 accused and convicts, most of them Rohingyas, are staying in the Bandarban jail with a capacity of 114.
The source said the pushing back policy has been taken following directives from the high-ups in the government.
Wishing anonymity a BDR official told The Daily Star that they cannot stop Rohingya infiltration due to lack of surveillance on 288 km long border as the geographical location is unfavourable and the number of border out post (BoP) insufficient.
Police and BDR in separate drives held 44 Rohingyas from the district this week. Of them, 12 Rohingyas were held from Ali Kadam upazila on Sunday night, 21 from Sadar upazila on Tuesday while 11 from Lama upazila on Wednesday.
MORE TROOPS MOBILSED ON BORDER
Bangladesh has sent in more reinforcements on the Myanmar border to strengthen its strategic position in the face of massive build-up and repeated provocative actions by the military junta on the other side, border sources said.
They said three more battalions were mobilised yesterday. A convoy carrying cannons, artillery guns and other armaments from Comilla and Chittagong were moved to the border. They were stationed in Barabil of Ramu and Fashiakhali in Bandarban.
Tension arose on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as Myanmar augmented its forces in the border area with tanks, artillery guns and warships in the adjacent waters.
People in the bordering villages said Myanmar constructed bunkers to fortify the border area and its forces were patrolling with heavy weapons.
Earlier Bangladesh sent a brigade to Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar. It was moved in to the bordering area yesterday.
Sources in Bangladesh army said Myanmar would not be able to intrude into our territory, as the soldiers of BDR remain on high alert.
***********************************************************
Oct 16, 2009
The Straits Times - Suu Kyi positive about meeting
YANGON - MYANMAR'S detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her recent meetings about sanctions with diplomats and a junta minister were positive, her lawyer told AFP on Friday.
She held a rare meeting last Friday with top Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the military-ruled nation, having earlier in the week met twice with Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta. The pair had not met since January 2008.
The meetings followed a letter she wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, which offered suggestions on getting sanctions lifted, marking an easing of her stance after years of advocating punitive measures against the ruling generals.
'Daw Suu sees the meetings as positive and also she expects the meeting process to be effective,' her lawyer Nyan Win said, after meeting with the opposition leader for an hour on Friday. 'Daw' is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The Nobel Peace Laureate wants to meet with diplomats again to get more facts and figures about sanctions, Nyan Win said, adding that they would not be releasing any more details of the talks for the moment.
On October 2, Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest was rejected by judges, who upheld her August conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
The Straits Times - Suu Kyi positive about meeting
YANGON - MYANMAR'S detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her recent meetings about sanctions with diplomats and a junta minister were positive, her lawyer told AFP on Friday.
She held a rare meeting last Friday with top Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the military-ruled nation, having earlier in the week met twice with Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta. The pair had not met since January 2008.
The meetings followed a letter she wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, which offered suggestions on getting sanctions lifted, marking an easing of her stance after years of advocating punitive measures against the ruling generals.
'Daw Suu sees the meetings as positive and also she expects the meeting process to be effective,' her lawyer Nyan Win said, after meeting with the opposition leader for an hour on Friday. 'Daw' is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The Nobel Peace Laureate wants to meet with diplomats again to get more facts and figures about sanctions, Nyan Win said, adding that they would not be releasing any more details of the talks for the moment.
On October 2, Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest was rejected by judges, who upheld her August conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
***********************************************************
Myanmar denies troops build-up
bdnews24.com, Dhaka
Myanmar foreign minister Nyan Win has said his country had not mobilised troops along Bangladesh border, the foreign ministry said in a media release yesterday.
During his meeting with foreign minister Dipu Moni, Win said Myanmar border security force was in "regular" exercise in the border.
Dipu Moni, now in Colombo, met her Myanmar counterpart on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue on Thursday.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these were routine exercise by their border security force," said the press statement.
During the last couple of days, Bangladesh media reported from the frontier that Myanmar's border guards backed by the military were making provocative movements over construction of barbed-wire fence.
Bangladesh's also puts its paramilitary BDR on alert, the reports say.
But foreign minister Dipu Moni earlier said Myanmar had not made military build-up along the border.
Moni, according to the statement, requested Win to give Bangladeshi businessmen visa for 30 days instead of 14 days.
"During the talks, Bangladesh foreign minister proposed joint-venture projects for generation of hydro-electricity and production of fertilizer from gas imported from Myanmar," said the statement.
Moni raised the issue of resolving the Rohingya problem.
Both the ministers underlined the need for increasing bilateral interactions to consolidate and strengthen relations between the two countries.
"In this context, they stressed the need for frequent consultations between the two sides at all levels to dispel any misperception on either side," the statement added.
She also saw India's state minister for external affairs Preneet Kaur.
"She (Dipu Moni) emphasized the early commencement of bilateral talks on the sharing of waters of Teesta River.
On the maritime boundary delimitation issue, the foreign minister stressed that Bangladesh wishes to continue negotiations with India bilaterally as a parallel process to the UN arbitration.
The foreign minister also met Iranian foreign minister Manoucher Mottaki.
bdnews24.com, Dhaka
Myanmar foreign minister Nyan Win has said his country had not mobilised troops along Bangladesh border, the foreign ministry said in a media release yesterday.
During his meeting with foreign minister Dipu Moni, Win said Myanmar border security force was in "regular" exercise in the border.
Dipu Moni, now in Colombo, met her Myanmar counterpart on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue on Thursday.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these were routine exercise by their border security force," said the press statement.
During the last couple of days, Bangladesh media reported from the frontier that Myanmar's border guards backed by the military were making provocative movements over construction of barbed-wire fence.
Bangladesh's also puts its paramilitary BDR on alert, the reports say.
But foreign minister Dipu Moni earlier said Myanmar had not made military build-up along the border.
Moni, according to the statement, requested Win to give Bangladeshi businessmen visa for 30 days instead of 14 days.
"During the talks, Bangladesh foreign minister proposed joint-venture projects for generation of hydro-electricity and production of fertilizer from gas imported from Myanmar," said the statement.
Moni raised the issue of resolving the Rohingya problem.
Both the ministers underlined the need for increasing bilateral interactions to consolidate and strengthen relations between the two countries.
"In this context, they stressed the need for frequent consultations between the two sides at all levels to dispel any misperception on either side," the statement added.
She also saw India's state minister for external affairs Preneet Kaur.
"She (Dipu Moni) emphasized the early commencement of bilateral talks on the sharing of waters of Teesta River.
On the maritime boundary delimitation issue, the foreign minister stressed that Bangladesh wishes to continue negotiations with India bilaterally as a parallel process to the UN arbitration.
The foreign minister also met Iranian foreign minister Manoucher Mottaki.
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