Britain's Brown writes to Suu Kyi pledging support
Wed Dec 30, 12:30 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has written a personal letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, pledging his ongoing support for Myanmar's pro-democracy icon and praising her courage.

Brown also reiterated his call for Myanmar's military rulers to ensure elections promised for 2010 were free and fair, warning anything less would condemn the impoverished country to more hardship and isolation.

"If the scheduled elections proceed under a rigged constitution, with opposition leaders excluded and with no international oversight, the military rulers will be condemning Burma to more years of diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation," he said in the letter released by Downing Street Tuesday.

The premier said Britain stood "immovably" with the Nobel peace laureate, and urged the regime to start a "genuine dialogue" with her.

"Your continuing detention is only the most visible evidence of the bad faith of a regime which has so far shown no signs of listening to regional or international calls for an end to its violent behaviour," he said.

"I continue to call upon the regime to engage with you and allow you further contact with diplomats in Rangoon, and to start a genuine dialogue that can give the Burmese people back their future and their hope," he said.

Brown's letter has been passed to authorities in Myanmar -- which has been under military rule since 1962 -- by the British embassy in Yangon.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been locked up for 14 of the past 20 years and was ordered in August to spend another 18 months in detention after being convicted over an incident in which an American man swam to her house.

The extension of her detention sparked international outrage as it effectively keeps her off the stage for the elections promised by the regime some time in 2010.

If the polls go ahead they will be the first since 1990, when the junta refused to recognise her party's landslide victory.

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Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh refuse repatriation
Wed Dec 30, 7:12 am ET

DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh's plans to repatriate 9,000 Myanmar Muslim refugees to their homeland hit trouble on Wednesday when a leader of the minority said they would refuse to leave.

Bangladesh's top foreign ministry official, Mirajul Quayes, said Tuesday that neighbouring Myanmar had agreed to take back 9,000 Rohingya refugees in what was seen as a breakthrough in a decade-long problem.

Quayes, the foreign secretary, said during talks with Myanmar deputy foreign minister Maung Myint in Dhaka that the military regime had agreed to accept nearly one-third of the officially recognised refugees now in Bangladesh.

Jalal Uddin, who is the secretary of the UN-recognised Kutupalong camp, said Rohingya refugees "are always ready to go back home" but stressed that rights as Myanmar citizens could not be guaranteed.

"(But) we don't have any rights in Myanmar," he told AFP by phone. "If we go back, the armed forces will use us as bonded labour.

"Many will be sent to jail. There are still curbs on practising our religion or movement from one place to another without the army's permission."

Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities, some 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh in the early 1990s. But some 230,000 were later taken back by Myanmar following a UN-brokered deal.

Since then, thousands of Rohingyas from Buddhist-majority Myanmar's northern Rakhaine state have streamed across the border every year and are now estimated to number nearly 400,000.

But only 28,000 of them have been granted official refugee status and are allowed to stay in two UN-assisted camps in the country's Cox's Bazar district just miles (kilometres) across the Myanmar border.

"Some 9,000, are ready to be repatriated following verification, as the Myanmar government has assured us today that they are also ready. And it can begin within the shortest possible time," Quayes said Tuesday.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni last August said the undocumented refugees put a "heavy burden" on Dhaka, causing major social, economic problems.

Quayes expressed his concern about the increased influx of Rohingyas in recent months and urged Myanmar to take them back. "We've pressed the Myanmar government to take steps to get them back," he said.

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UN News Centre - Britain’s ‘Curry King’ shows Myanmar refugees way to nutritious food at UN event

30 December 2009 – Britain’s renowned “Curry King” has been giving poor refugee women in Bangladesh lessons on concocting nutritious dishes using United Nations food rations along with locally grown fruit and vegetables.

“I believe that the tips and stories that I have shared will give women leaders the confidence to develop positive health behaviours in their homes and community,” star chef Tommy Miah said, thanking the UN World Food Programme (WFP) for organizing the event at Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, eastern Bangladesh, home to some 11,000 Rohingya Muslims refugees who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.

Mr. Miah, a British celebrity chef of Bangladeshi origin, involved women community leaders in the demonstration as he cooked mushroom fried rice, pumpkin and lentil soup, vegetable pakora, garlic mushrooms, spinach with potatoes and banana fritters – a dessert consisting of banana, sweet syrup and WFP’s fortified Wheat Soya Blend (WSB) formula.

Looking at the tiny kitchens available to refugee women, he passed on tips on how to cook nutritious food with locally available cheap ingredients, while WFP field monitor Masing Newar explained the types of vitamins and minerals found in the foods and educated them on the causes and consequences of under-nutrition.

“I have learnt that to retain the nutrition content of vegetables it’s better not to wash them after cutting [as I currently do] but they should be washed beforehand,” said Jahura, a 45-year-old mother with eight family members to cook for.

Sobmeraj, a 35-year-old mother with seven family members to provide for, said she had never thought before that such a nutritious and tasty meal could be prepared with such limited and cheap items. “I realized that cleanliness and good presentation are important in enjoying our meals, and I believe they're good for our health as well,” she added.

WFP runs its programmes in the two refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in conjunction with a number of UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.

“Today’s experiences and demonstrations, if practised widely in the camp, can make needed changes at the community level, without disturbing traditions,” said Selina Akhter, Nutrition worker of Action Contre la Faim (ACF), a NGO providing a package of nutrition services including assisting mothers of undernourished children to grow vegetables in their homes.

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Published: Wednesday December 30, 2009 MYT 3:11:00 PM
Malaysia Star - Myanmar mamasan fails to strike out detention order

KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar woman, who is a member of a prostitution ring, failed in her bid to get a release from two-year detention order issued by the Home Ministry.

Ra Himah and her accomplice were said to have resorted to using electric shock, among others, to force prostitutes to follow their orders.

Judicial Commissioner Zainal Azman Ab Aziz on Wednesday ruled that the detention order dated Dec 12, last year against Ra Himah was valid.

He said Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh had taken into account facts in a report against Ra Himah before making such an order.

He said Wan Ahmad signed the detention order in accordance to Section 4(1) of the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime Ordinance 1969. "It is clear that the minister had observed the facts in the investigations and have applied his mind properly to the facts when signing the order," he said in rejecting an application by Ra Himah for her release.

Documents filed by the ministry stated that Ra Himah and her accomplice had organised prostitution activities in Bukit Mertajam, Penang and forcing Thai and local women to become prostitutes since 1994.

Wan Ahmad had stated that the order against Ra Himah was made on grounds to prevent her from committing any actions that would affect public order, to eliminate violence and avoid crime involving force.

Justice Zainal Azman said Ra Himah failed to show to the court that she has sufficient cause for her release.

Her lawyer Karpal Singh said he would file an appeal against the court ruling.

Ra Himah was ordered to be detained at a rehabilitation centre in Batu Gajah for two years from Dec 12 last year.

Ra Himah filed a habeas corpus (wrongful detention) application and named Wan Ahmad and Batu Gajah rehabilitation centre superintendent as respondents.

In her affidavit, Ra Himah claimed that there had been procedural non-compliance by Wan Ahmad with the provisions of Section 4(1) of the Ordinance.

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Florida Baptist Witness - Myanmar refugees find spiritual ally in cultural maze
Dec 30, 2009
By BARBARA DENMAN
Florida Baptist Convention

JACKSONVILLE (FBC)—They escaped the jungles of Asian country once known as Burma a persecuted people, fearing death from a hostile and Buddhist dominated Myanmar government.

Exiled to refugee camps along the Thailand border, many waited for decades for God to deliver them.

Now living in low-income housing in the shadows of Jacksonville’s skyscrapers, the Karen people are coping with a new life in a foreign land unable to speak the language and ignorant of the culture.

In their times of crisis, they have found an ally, willing to walk with them while interpreting their journey; a companion ready to make personal sacrifices in Christ’s name.

“We call her ‘Pi.’” explains Ta Yah Htoo, a 19-year-old mother who was born in a border refugee camp. “It means grandmother and great honor.”

“We feel like she is our mom. We call her at midnight and she answers. We love her so much. We know that God gave her a spirit and heart for the Karen people and he gave us a special mom.”

Brenda Forlines, or “Pi” as she is endearingly called, retired three years ago as director of the Florida Baptist Convention’s Church and Community Ministries department,
where she spent 23 years on the road, crisscrossing the state assisting congregations develop ministries to their community.

Once retired, the North American Mission Board missionary spent the next nine months recuperating, “cleaning house” and visiting friends and family. But she was not destined to sit still in retirement.

“I began praying that God would give me a ministry, but I wanted a community ministry,” she explained. When asked to take over the ESL (English as a second language) ministry at her church, Southside Baptist Church in Jacksonville’s San Marco community, she discovered the Karen people, eager to learn as they took careful steps to assimilate into the community.

“I started to be available and become involved in their lives,” recalled Forlines. One young woman asked Forlines to help her pick out wedding rings; another asked her to read and explain a letter.

It evolved from there into 40-plus hours of volunteer ministry each week. The day begins with Forlines armed with a calendar of daily appointments on the Karens’ behalf.

A life-long single adult, Forlines has assisted in the delivery of at least 14 babies, translating doctor’s orders in the delivery room. She now has a car seat in her SUV to transport mothers and children to their medical appointments for immunizations and physicals.

Medical and government offices know Forlines by name as she helps the Karen navigate the health care and social services maze. She reads and explains bills, letters from schools, insurance forms and government paperwork. She helps them complete job applications and drives them to interviews. If a child is sick, the local elementary school calls Forlines.

When they have needs or experiences crises—no furniture, no jobs, not enough money to pay the rent—Forlines steps in, finding resources to help, even paying some expenses out of her own pocket. She is always amazed at how God provides the financial resources, “This is not my ministry,” she said. “It’s God’s ministry and if He wants it to happen, He will touch the hearts of people.”

The Karen are “hard working,” Forlines said, “but it has been tough for them without a lot of job skills and without the ability to speak English. They are frugal and sweet, precious people. I don’t know how they survive but they do.”

Upon entering the states, resettlement agencies provide the newly arrived refugees with three months’ financial assistance for rent and electricity. But with the faltering economy, unskilled jobs are difficult to find that will provide the nearly $600 required for the fourth month’s rent. Some of the fathers move to other states to find work.

According to Forlines nearly 300 Karen live in Jacksonville. But the First Coast city is also home to other Burmese refugees, including the Chen and Ka’Chen people groups.

Other Baptist churches in the city—Cedar Hills, San Jose and Crown Point—minister to them.

These groups, like the Karen, are Christians—which is a source of the intolerance in their primarily Buddhist country—and seek out Baptist churches, having been evangelized by Burmese Baptist churches, the legacy of Adoni­ram Judson, pioneer Baptist missionary.

Nearly 110 Karen worship each Sunday at Southside Church, in services in their own “heart language,” and along with the Anglo congregation. Their children are assimilated in the church’s English-speaking Sunday school program.

Southside Pastor Gary Webber said the church must “think more globally in the 21st century. That doesn’t just mean international missions or travel to foreign countries, but beginning to find out that God is bringing the world here with immigrants seeking refuge here.”

Understanding that, Forlines continues to dedicate her time and resources to the “precious people.”

“Imagine if every church would establish on-going ministries as a way of meeting needs and sharing Christ with the people in their community,” she said. “Perhaps like the early disciples, we would turn our portion of the world upside down and people would be drawn to the church and Christ.”

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The Australian - US passport is no protection from Rangoon goons
Wa Wa Kyaw
From: The Australian
December 30, 2009 12:00AM

EARLY on September 3, my phone rang. I picked up, thinking it might be my fiance, Nyi Nyi Aung, who was visiting family in Bangkok, Thailand. But it was Nyi Nyi's brother.

Nyi Nyi, he said, had boarded a plane to our native Burma earlier that day, hoping to visit his mother, who has cancer. But according to friends waiting at the baggage claim, he never arrived. In all likelihood, agents of the military junta seized him. Nyi Nyi is an American citizen, I thought. How could this happen? Then, it hit me: I might never see him again.

I called the US embassy in Rangoon; I wrote to our congressional representatives. And I waited. On September 20, 17 days after Nyi Nyi disappeared, the junta acknowledged his arrest. The charge, according to the state-run newspaper, was "plotting riots and sabotage". I felt sick but not surprised: although Nyi Nyi has always been a nonviolent activist, the junta will say anything to justify its actions. Then, after the embassy was allowed a brief visit, I learned the worst: he was tortured. He was denied food for over a week. Kicked in his face. Beaten on his back. Not allowed to sleep.

As a peaceful participant in the 1988 Burmese student protests, Nyi Nyi had once before been detained and tortured by the junta. I, too, had been involved in the student uprising and fled to Thailand after the brutal August 1988 military crackdown. That's where Nyi Nyi and I met. While in Thailand, he worked with organisations helping refugees, while continuing to advocate on behalf of Burmese democracy and human rights.

In 1991, drawn to the US, I decided to resettle there; he followed two years later. He received a computer science degree and started working for hi-tech companies. He became a naturalised US citizen, like me. We became engaged. But he never forgot Burma. He continued quietly assisting groups organising peaceful opposition to the junta. As part of this work he returned to Burma five

times, each time with his US passport and a valid visa. The first four trips he went unmolested. The fifth trip was different.

Nyi Nyi is to stand trial in Burma. The terrorism charges have been dropped, but he is facing sham charges of fraud and forgery relating to his alleged possession of a fake Burmese identity card even though he clearly had no need of fake identification, given his US passport and valid visa.

He has also been charged with illegally importing Burmese currency and failing to declare US currency at customs. But he was arrested before he had a chance to go through customs. He faces a maximum sentence of 17 years. The courts in Burma are tools of the junta, and there is little doubt that he will be convicted.

Recently, the Barack Obama administration completed its Burma policy review. Sanctions will remain, but the administration has signalled that it will pursue greater engagement with the junta. Recently, US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell travelled to Rangoon, becoming the most senior US diplomat to visit Burma in more than a decade. I hope and pray he raised Nyi Nyi's case.

But Nyi Nyi is far from alone. He is the only American political prisoner in Burma, but there are more than 2000 Burmese prisoners of conscience. This number includes my nephew, Nyi Nyi's mother and two of his cousins. Their crime? Peaceful support for freedom and human rights.

Several months before his arrest, Nyi Nyi went to New York City to deliver a petition to the UN urging the release of all political prisoners in Burma. Now I must speak for Nyi Nyi, as he has so often spoken for others. His arrest, detention and treatment has been condemned by the international community. And so I say: your words show you take this issue seriously. But what will you do?

Wa Wa Kyaw is the fiancee of imprisoned Burmese-American human rights activist Nyi Nyi Aung.

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The Irrawaddy - Burma Very High Risk: The Economist
By WAI MOE - Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Military-ruled Burma is one of 22 countries in the world that is at very high risk of social unrest in the coming year, according to influential magazine The Economist.

According to a chart coined “Global Tinderbox” published on Monday by the UK-based magazine, Burma and 21 other countries are at a “very high risk” of social unrest in 2010 while 52 countries are classified as “high risk.” only 37 countries are ranked at a “low risk of unrest.”

Burma is joined by neighbors Bangladesh and conflict-ravaged countries in South Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

Thailand, Cambodia and China are among the 52 countries which are estimated to be at high risk of social unrest in 2010.

The magazine said the world will see 60 million more people unemployed than in 2008, and about 200 million workers worldwide will be living on less than US $2 a day.

The rate of development in Burma, which is rich in natural resources, is one of the worst in the world. The United Nations Development Programme has warned that most people in Burma survive on less than $1 a day. Many people in the outskirts of cities survive on a day-to-day basis, according to NGO workers in Burma, and many people under the poverty line are suffering from malnutrition.

“But poverty alone does not spark unrest— exaggerated income inequalities, poor governance, lack of social provisions and ethnic tensions are all elements of the brew that foments unrest,” The Economist said.

Burma is ranked as the third most corrupt country in the world after anarchic Somalia and war-torn Afghanistan, according to Berlin-based Transparency International.

Burma is scheduled to hold a general election in the year ahead. However, the ruling junta still keeps more than 2,000 political prisoners under arrest, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military government has yet to announce an electoral law and a timetable for the election. To date, any dissident opinions and political activity are forcefully suppressed.

Ethnic tensions around the country are also running high. The Burmese ruling generals have called on all ethnic ceasefire groups to join the central government’s border guard force plan. With the exception of three groups, all the ethnic cease-fire groups have yet to agree to the plan.

The junta extended the deadline for the ethnic groups to accept the border guard proposal to the end of December. With one day to go and no word of any compromises, many observers say that conflict is inevitable with the government forces preparing to launch fresh offensives on resistance groups.

However, leaders of the United Wa State Army, the largest cease-fire group in the country with an estimated 20,000 troops, have reportedly vowed that they won’t give up an inch of their territory or disarm.

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The Irrawaddy - Living Poor on Soldiers' Pay
By KYI WAI - Wednesday, December 30, 2009

RANGOON — Sgt Aung walks through Mingladon market, searching for ammunition to restock his cartridge magazine, which he sold when he needed some extra money to support his family.

He quickly found several shops in the military equipment area, selling all types of military hardware: uniforms, field equipment, cartridges, magazines and various brands of weapons.

Similar shops can be found in many markets around military installations in Rangoon, such as Htauk Kyant, Hlegu and Hmaw Bi markets.

Most of the shops rely on poor soldiers, who are often forced to sell their army-issued property when they need money and then must repurchase it when they have funds.

Sgt Aung (not his real name) sold his cartridges six months ago for 8,000 kyat (US $7) when he needed money. They cost 15,000 kyat to buy back now, but the shop owner offered a 2,500 kyat discount. Still, Sgt Aung is put off by the price.

He earns 35,000 kyat ($32) a month. He decides to walk around the market and think about it. Finally, he decides he can't afford to replace the cartridges.If he has an inspection and is found out, he could be suspended from duty or imprisoned.

"The poverty of soldiers isn't even comparable to civilians,” he said. “We suffer from scarcity not only on the front line, but also in rear-base areas. We see almost no money."
As a sergeant in the Burmese army, he could earn an extra 5,000 kyat a month if he serves in a high-risk area.

However, his pay is never enough to meet the needs of his four family members, Aung said.

Since 2007, he has been indebted. His wife and children try to cut back on everything, but he still can't afford to buy even the cheapest toothpaste or tooth brushes.

The economic strain is showing. Sgt Aung is haggard, weary and his cheek bones sharply outline his face. His uniform is faded. He said he can't recall how many times he has repaired family members' flip-flops.

A lance corporal also shared his story with The Irrawaddy.

"I earn less than 40,000 kyat (US $37) a month including regular salary, hazardous duty pay and other assistance. My family can't survive on my salary. We have no more possessions to sell. I can't even provide school fees for my children, and my wife sends them to her relatives for schooling," he said.

The army provides 3,000 ($2.70) kyat for each dependent child to help with school fees, but it's still insufficient to pay expanses, he said.

Soldiers are not allowed to work outside the military, but if their wives can work, many find it almost possible to stay even financially. However, he said the army sometimes demands full-time labor from family members on army farms and other production facilities.

"The family members of army men are like slaves,” he said. “Not only do we soldiers serve, but our family members are often required to work for the army too."

Some servicemen receive an extra benefit when officers allow a few family members to start small businesses within an army unit's area, such as snack or tea shops while others sell groceries or illegal liquor.

Some families breed poultry and pigs for extra income, and some earn money with illegal or underground businesses such as selling illegal lottery tickets or betting on soccer matches. Some soldiers run short-haul, motorcycle-taxi services.

A private in a battalion in Mingladon Township said, "You can buy illegal lottery tickets in our unit. Some army families just keep books for the tickets. If you want to bet on a soccer match, they will help you to access outside book makers."

Since April 1, 2006, a private earns 16,000 kyat ($14) a month; a major-general earns 800,000 kyat ($$750) a month. The army pays 5,000 kyat a month for hazardous duty pay for the ranks of private through colonel.

"The salary gap between the generals and ordinary soldiers is very large, and the privileges are also very different. The generals earn 1 million kyat extra a month for state defense and administration fees," said a colonel who asked for anonymity.

Since 1988, the regime has raised the salary scale four times for public employees and military servicemen, in order to cope with inflation and raising commodity prices.

Sometimes the government or army officers order an army unit to be self-reliant. A soldier said a military commander in northern Shan State ordered the units under his command to find operational cost on their own, and the army units cut and sold timber in the area.

"It was not only our unit, but almost all army units in that area that cut and sold logs,” he said.

Nowadays, many servicemen are given oral orders by officers to try to find girls to marry from well-off families, who can help support an army man's family.

A captain said, "For army officers, it's an unwritten law that we should marry a rich lady or an educated lady."

Typically, the army will summarily dismiss soldiers infected with AIDS/HIV, Hepatitis B or those who sustain physical disabilities, sources said.

A medic said there are many cases of suicide if a soldier contracts AIDS/HIV or Hepatitis B, because they can't face returning to their native region.

"If the infected person is an officer, he may be transferred to a civil administration post, but if the patient is a non-commissioned soldier, he is kicked out. For those who are injured in a fighting, they are treated at a national rehabilitation hospital and then asked to retire," the medic said.

A veteran who lost a limb said: "If they can still walk, the veterans may try to sell books and magazines on the street. They sell things in market. If the veterans can't walk, they knit rattan furniture and some work as carpenters. Some go out to the streets as beggars. The veterans get no assistance anymore from the government, and they are not even recognized as army veterans. They say we disgrace the pride of the Tatmadaw."

A veteran who is now surviving by begging in Insein Township said military officials told him not to beg while wearing any military clothing and not to say he was a veteran. He was then ordered not to beg in a public park.

Ironically, a lance-corporal from a Than-Lyin-based battalion said, "We would be better off if I resigned from the army and begged on the street. I could earn more money."
Pay scale for army servicemen (April 1, 2006):

1. private: 16,000 kyat basic pay. after two years, 21,000 kyats

2. lance-corporal: 22,000 kyat; after several years, 27,000 kyat.

3. corporal: 28,000 kyat; after several years, 33,000 kyat

4. sergeant: 34,000 kyat; after several years, 39,000 kyat

5. company sergeant: 40,000 kyat; after several years, 45,000 kyat

6. warrant officer II: 46,000 kyat; after several years, 51,000 kyat

7. warrant officer I: 52,000 kyat; after several years, 57,000 kyat

8. second lieutenant:100,000 kyat

9. lieutenant: 120,000 kyat.

10. captain: 130,000 kyat; after two years, 140,000 kyat

11. major: 150,000 kyat; after several years, 160,000 kyat

12. lieutenant colonel: 170,000 kyat; after several years, 180,000 kyat

13. colonel: 190,000 kyat; after several years, 200,000 kyat

14. brigadier general: 300,000 kyat

15. major-general: 400,000 kyat

16. lieutenant-general: 600,000 kyats

17. general: 800,000 kyat

18. vice-senior general : 1,000,000 kyat

19. senior-general: 1,200,000 kyat

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NLD keen on holding CEC plenary meet
Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:34 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The National League for Democracy party is keen on holding its CEC plenary meeting with all 11 members for reorganizing and expansion of the CEC.

“This is related to our party’s future plan so the regime must permit us. Even if they don’t allow us we will hold the meeting when the political parties’ registration law and other related laws and regulations are declared,” party spokesman Khin Maung Swe told Mizzima.

“If the junta does not allow us to hold such a meeting, the current CEC must go ahead with the plan and inform Aung San Suu Kyi,” he added.

Ageing party leaders Chairman Aung Shwe, Secretary U Lwin and CEC member Lun Tin agreed to expand the current CEC when they met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on December 16 at Green Bank State Guest House in Rangoon.

Aung San Suu Kyi who has been detained for over 14 of the past 20 years sent a letter to the junta supremo Senior Gen. Than Shwe in November, requesting him to let her meet all 11 CEC members including detained Vice-Chairman Tin Oo. But she has not yet been allowed to meet the CEC members.

Though the party elders agreed to expand and reorganize the current CEC, they could not take a final decision without holding a plenary CEC meeting because they are awaiting permission from the military regime, Khin Maung Swe said.

On December 9 the NLD announced the list of current CEC members. They are Aung Swhe (Chairman), Tin Oo (Vice-Chairman), Aung San Suu Kyi (General Secretary), U Lwin (Secretary) and members Win Tin, Than Tun, Soe Myint, Hla Pe, Lun Tin, Nyunt Wei and Khin Maung Swe.

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Authorities demand data on opposition party

Dec 30, 2009 (DVB)–Opposition party members in Burma are being forced to divulge personal details about their families and jobs to intelligence officers, reportedly on instruction from senior government.

Lists of National League for Democracy (NLD) members in Mandalay division, Kachin state and Bago division have been drawn up, while birth dates of divisional members of Mandalay’s Chanmyayttharzan township were collected recently, NLD organizing member Myo Naing said.

“They didn’t come openly; local authorities came to ask our dates of birth,” he said. “They said they did it under order of senior authorities. I saw the list of the names of four to five NLD members in our ward.”

Another NLD member in Mandalay division, Tun Tun, said that it was not clear why surveillance was being stepped up.

“They are mainly collecting [data] in rural areas. In urban areas, they collect them in satellite towns,” he said. “When I asked them they said they do it under instruction from the top.”

In Kachin state’s Mohnyin, NLD members are being photographed and told to answer questionnaires. They are also told to list their siblings, their addresses and jobs.

At the same time, NLD leaders in Mandalay sent a directive to colleagues not to reveal data of party members, Mandalay Northwest township MP-elect Tin Aung Aung said.

Khin Maung Swe, from the NLD’s information wing, said that authorities have no right to collect data.

“It is not in accordance with the law for non-NLD party members to collect details of party members,” he said. “If they did, we will investigate it and carry out appropriate action.”

The Burmese government is preparing to hold elections next year, although the NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate.

Critics of the government say that the 2008 constitution will entrench military rule in the country, while detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from running for office.

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet

US citizen in solitary confinement in Myanmar
Tue Dec 29, 3:48 am ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – An American jailed in Myanmar was placed in solitary confinement after ending a 12-day hunger strike, prompting the U.S. Embassy to request his return to a standard prison cell, an embassy official said Tuesday.

Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested Sept. 3 when he arrived at Yangon airport and has been jailed since without facing formal charges.

He started a hunger strike on Dec. 4 to protest conditions of political prisoners in Myanmar, according to human rights groups.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin told a consular officer, who visited Monday, that he ended his hunger strike Dec. 15 and was subsequently placed in solitary confinement, said embassy spokesman Richard Mei.

Mei said the embassy sent a diplomatic note to authorities in the military-ruled country asking "to have him returned to a normal prison cell."

Kyaw Zaw Lwin, who is also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, said he was receiving regular medical care, Mei said. The U.S. Embassy was last granted consular access on Dec. 3.

"His health has improved and he looks much better than he did at our last meeting," said lawyer Nyan Win, who said the court based inside the notorious Insein Prison would decide Jan. 1 whether to charge him. Insein is known for holding political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was tried in the prison's court earlier this year and sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest.

When Kyaw Zaw Win made a court appearance in court on Dec. 18, lawyers said he looked thin and weak.

Kyaw Zaw Win was initially accused of trying to stir up unrest — which he has denied. Prosecutors later asked the court to charge him with forgery and violating the foreign currency exchange act.

Under Myanmar's legal system, defense and prosecution spend initial sessions presenting their case so the judges can determine whether to formally charge the defendant and proceed with the trial. Nine prosecution witnesses have testified so far.

His mother is serving a five-year prison term for political activities and his sister was sentenced to 65 years in prison for her role in the 2007 pro-democracy protests, activist groups and family members said.

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INTERVIEW-Bangladesh to import power, gas from Myanmar
Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:36pm IST
By Serajul Islam Quadir

DHAKA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh intends to import gas and electricity from Myanmar, a senior government official said, as it looks to boost energy supplies to help spur faster economic growth.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said the issue would be a focal point of two days of secretary-level bilateral talks starting in Dhaka on Tuesday.

"They will include Dhaka's plans to import natural gas and power -- which Myanmar has in excess and is ready to sell -- to meet our growing demand," Quayes told Reuters in an interview.

"We will discuss establishing a hydroelectric plant in Myanmar to import power from there ...

"We will also discuss ways to send back Myanmar Muslim refugees huddled in and outside camps in Bangladesh, who are proving to be a formidable burden on this poor and crowded country."

More than 28,000 Myanmar Rohingya Muslims have been living in two UNHCR-run camps in Bangladesh's south-eastern Cox's Bazar district.

Officials and experts have said Bangladesh needs to increase power and gas supplies from sources within and outside the country to spur development, fight poverty and push economic growth beyond a figure of around 6 percent.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, which took office in January vowing to address these issues, is hopeful of substantially adding power to the national grid over the coming years.

Bangladesh now produces up to 3,800 megawatts (MW) of electricity daily, leaving a shortfall of between 1,200 and 1,500 MW, energy officials said.

Bangladesh has 7.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas and 5.5 tcf probable gas reserves, which will be exhausted over the next few years, they said.

Some 250,000 Rohingya who fled across the border from Myanmar in early 1992 trying to escape alleged persecution by Yangon military junta, but majority of them had been repatriated by the UNCHCR late that year. The others refused to go back.

Cox's Bazar officials say around 300,000 Rohingyas are also living illegally outside the camps -- often mingling with local Muslims and competing with them for a meagre supply of jobs.

"The Rohingyas will be a major issue in the discussion (on Tuesday-Wednesday)," Quayes said, giving no details.

Dhaka and Yangon will also discuss ways to eliminate problems relating to business visas and about introducing direct letters of credit for augmentation of trade.

Trade volumes between the two countries are currently very low.

Myanmar and Bangladesh share about 320 kilometres (200 miles) of border, partly demarcated by the Naf river.

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ONGC to Lend $857 Million to Unit for Myanmar Project
By Rakteem Katakey

Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp. will lend 40 billion rupees ($857 million) to its overseas unit investing in a gas project off Myanmar’s coast as India’s biggest explorer seeks to meet rising fuel demand at home.

“For us it makes more sense to invest in assets through ONGC Videsh Ltd. than put the money in banks,” ONGC Chairman and Managing Director R.S. Sharma said in a telephone interview today. The interest-free loan has no maturity date, Sharma said.

ONGC, the New Delhi-based producer of almost 25 percent of the crude oil used by Asia’s third-largest energy-consuming nation, is seeking to diversify its supplies and keep pace with India’s growing fuel needs. The company plans to get the equivalent of 60 million metric tons of oil, or more than double its output in India, from overseas fields by 2025.

“There are limited number of opportunities at home,” said Apurva Shah, head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in Mumbai. “Given that there is going to be some serious growth in domestic demand in the years to come, ONGC needs to get its hands on whatever assets it can get.”

India is competing with China for energy assets worldwide as output from domestic fields declines. ONGC bought Imperial Energy Plc for 1.4 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) this year to gain access to oilfields in Russia. Chinese companies have announced plans to spend at least $16 billion on oil and gas fields in Africa.

ONGC declined 1.3 percent to close at 1,181.55 rupees in Mumbai trading, compared with a 0.2 percent gain in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock has climbed 77 percent this year.

Myanmar Gas

ONGC has a 17 percent stake in the Shwe, Shwe-Phu and Mya areas in the A-1 and A-3 blocks in Myanmar, estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Daewoo International Corp. is the leader of the group that’s developing the fields and owns a 51 percent stake. Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise holds a 15 percent share, while GAIL India Ltd. and Korea Gas Corp. have 8.5 percent each.

The group will supply 500 million cubic feet of gas a day from the fields to China National Petroleum Corp., Daewoo International said on Aug. 25. The venture plans to start deliveries in May 2013.

“ONGC Videsh will start repaying the loan when they start generating cash from the project,” Sharma said. The loan requires the approval of the Cabinet, he said.

Project Infrastructure

The group is in talks with China National Petroleum to build an 825-kilometer (513-mile) overland pipeline to transport the cleaner-burning fuel to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. ONGC has the “option” to buy a share in the pipeline, R.S. Butola, managing director of ONGC Videsh, said on Oct. 6.

Daewoo International awarded a $1.4 billion contract to Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. to build an offshore production platform, offshore pipelines and a land terminal at the Myanmar fields by 2012, the South Korean company said on Nov. 2.

Proven reserves in the country formerly known as Burma reached 17.5 trillion cubic feet at the end of last year, equivalent to a fifth of Australia’s reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review.

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India eyes stake in Chinese gas pipeline
Published: Dec. 29, 2009 at 11:17 AM

NEW DELHI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Gas Authority of India Ltd. could take a 12.5-percent stake in a Chinese gas pipeline in the Bay of Bengal.

Government officials are said to be considering a $251 million investment for GAIL and ONGC Videsh, the overseas division of ONGC, for the 540-mile gas pipeline planned by the China Petroleum Corp.

CNCP is considering the pipeline in Myanmar to supply natural gas from offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal, The Economic Times of India reported.

Daewoo recently doled out a $1.4 billion contract to develop pipelines and onshore infrastructure at the Myanmar fields.

CNPC is offering a 49.9 percent stake in the pipeline to developers of two gas fields in the region, the Times said.

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New York Times - In Southeast Asia, Unease Over Free Trade Zone
By LIZ GOOCH
Published: December 28, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR — When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, China and 10 Southeast Asian nations will usher in the world’s third-largest free trade area. While many industries are eager for tariffs to fall on everything from textiles and rubber to vegetable oils and steel, a few are nervously waiting to see whether the agreement will mean boom or bust for their businesses.

Trade between China and the 10 states that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has soared in recent years, to $192.5 billion in 2008, from $59.6 billion in 2003. The new free trade zone, which will remove tariffs on 90 percent of traded goods, is expected to increase that commerce still more.

The zone will rank behind only the European Economic Area and the North American Free Trade Area in trade volume. It will encompass 1.9 billion people. The free trade area is expected to help Asean countries increase exports, particularly those with commodities that resource-hungry China desperately wants.

The China-Asean free trade area has faced less vocal opposition than the European and North American zones, perhaps because existing tariffs were already low and because it is unlikely to alter commerce patterns radically, analysts say.

However, some manufacturers in Southeast Asia are concerned that cheap Chinese goods may flood their markets, once import taxes are removed, making it more difficult for them to retain or increase their local market shares. Indonesia is so worried that it plans to ask for a delay in removing tariffs from some items like steel products, textiles, petrochemicals and electronics.

“Not everyone in Asean sees this F.T.A. as a plus,” said Sothirak Pou, a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Asean and China have gradually reduced many tariffs in recent years. However, under the free trade agreement — which was signed in 2002 — China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei will have to remove almost all tariffs in 2010.

Asean’s newest members — Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar — will gradually reduce tariffs in coming years and must eliminate them entirely by 2015.

Most of the goods that will become tariff-free in January — including manufactured items — are currently subject to import taxes of about 5 percent. Some agricultural products and parts for motor vehicles and heavy machinery will still face tariffs in 2010, but those will gradually be phased out.

In recent years, China has overtaken the United States to become Asean’s third-largest trading partner after Japan and the European Union. The overall trade balance has shifted slightly in China’s favor, although there are significant differences among Southeast Asian countries’ trade balances, said Thomas Kaegi, head of macroeconomic research for the Asia-Pacific region at UBS Wealth Management Research.

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have only small trade deficits with China, while Vietnam’s has grown substantially in recent years. In 2008, Vietnam exported items worth $4.5 billion to China but imported about $15.7 billion worth of Chinese goods.

In Indonesia, the textile and steel industries are particularly nervous about the lifting of tariffs, prompting the government to say that it would ask for a delay on some provisions. No time frame for submitting the request was given, but the Asean secretariat said it had not yet received an official request.

While competing with more Chinese imports may pose new challenges for Asean manufacturers, analysts say increasing their access to the 1.3 billion people of China could produce significant benefits.

Rodolfo Severino, who was secretary general of Asean from 1998 to 2002, identified Malaysia — which already exports palm oil, rubber and natural gas to China — as one of the countries that might benefit most from the removal of tariffs.

But nations like Vietnam that focus on the production of cheap consumer goods are more likely to be hurt, said Mr. Severino, head of the Asean Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Those countries may need to look for new export products and identify new niche markets, he said: “This is the nature of competition.”

Song Hong, an economist, expects that China will import more agricultural goods, like tropical fruit, from countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam when the trade area takes effect. That could hurt Chinese farmers in southern provinces like Guangxi and Yunnan, said Mr. Song, director of the trade research division at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Mr. Sothirak, who was Cambodia’s minister of industry, mines and energy from 1993 to 1998, said the removal of tariffs might help increase Cambodia’s agricultural exports to China. Cambodia needs to diversify its export markets because its exports to the United States and Europe have declined, he said.

While he does not hold much hope that Cambodian textile exports would be able to compete with China’s highly developed garment industry, he said he believed the free trade area might entice more Chinese garment factories to set up operations in Cambodia, where production costs and labor are cheaper.

Pushpanathan Sundram, deputy secretary general of Asean for Asean Economic Community, acknowledged that there would be “some costs involved” for some countries when the free trade area took effect, but he said he believed China and Asean would “mutually benefit.”

Despite the expectations for increasing trade, Mr. Severino predicted that the introduction of the trade zone would not be a “breakthrough event” setting off a dramatic surge in commerce come January.

“There are many factors that traders and investors consider, and the trend has been going this way anyway,” he said. “What this does is to send out good signals and show the determination of governments to make things easier.”

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Dec 29, 2009
Straits Times - Myanmar frees 130 fishermen

YANGON - MILITARY-RULED Myanmar has released 130 foreign fishermen who were jailed last month following their arrest for illegal fishing, a prison official told AFP on Tuesday.

The group, which was held in Yangon's notorious Insein jail, was made up mostly of Indonesians and included 14 Filipinos, one Chinese and four Taiwanese nationals, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Taiwan's foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that an unspecified fine had to be paid before its four nationals could leave, but the prison official did not reveal the conditions for the release of the other foreigners.

The group were arrested last month from 10 illegal fishing vessels and sent to Insein prison for poaching in Myanmar's waters - the country's largest arrest for illegal fishing in decades, officials said. They were later charged with violating immigration laws.

The official said the Indonesians were still waiting at the prison 'as their embassy has to arrange air tickets for them'. Seven Myanmar nationals who were arrested with the group were also being released, he said.

An Indonesian embassy source confirmed that they were planning to send the 111 Indonesian fisherman back home soon.

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Moderate earthquake hits Myanmar NW division
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-29 19:21:57

YANGON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale struck Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing division Tuesday afternoon, according to the Meteorology and Hydrology Department.

The earthquake, which occurred at 3:34:12 p.m. local time (about 0904 GMT) was centered at 24.4 degrees north latitude and 94.858 degrees east longitude, about 8 kilometers northeast of Paungbyin township and 56 km south of Homemalin township.

No further report about the casualties is immediately available.

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Myanmar agrees to take back 9,000 of its nationals from Bangladesh
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-29 19:44:00

DHAKA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Tuesday agreed to take back soon around 9,000 of its nationals out of 28,000 who are staying in two camps as registered refugees in Bangladesh's southeastern district of Cox's Bazar, 391 kms southeast of capital Dhaka.

Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint who held talks with Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Misarul Quayes in Dhaka agreed to repatriate the refugees soon as Bangladesh side handed over a list of 28,000 Myanmar nationals registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as refugees.

Briefing reporters on the outcome of the 4th Foreign Secretary level consultations, Quayes said remaining registered refugees will also be repatriated after verification by the Myanmar government about their nationality.

Quayes said apart from 28,000 registered refugees, many Myanmar nationals sneaked into Bangladesh on economic reasons and are staying in makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar as undocumented refugees.

The Foreign Secretary said they raised the matter during the talks and the Myanmar side agreed to repatriate them back after verification.

The refugees, popularly known as Rohingyas, from Myanmar started entering Bangladesh since early 1990s. So far 236,000 refugees were sent back over the decades with the help of the UNHCR.

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12-28-2009 16:31
Korea Times - Asian Monetary Fund to Debut in March
By Yoon Ja-young, Staff Reporter

Korea will join in the creation of an Asian version of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next March by teaming up with with ASEAN member countries and China and Japan, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday.

The fund based on the Chiang Mai Initiative is expected to enhance member countries' ability to cope with short-term foreign currency volatility triggered by external shocks..

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the ASEAN member states and Korea, China and Japan announced the signing of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) Agreement, Monday.

The multilateral financial support program, which will make an official debut on March 24, includes the 10 member countries of ASEAN - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and three Northeast Asian countries of Korea, China and Japan.

It is based on the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), in which the countries in Asia agreed to support each other with dollar liquidity in times of crisis. The need for the safety net especially increased following the Asian financial crisis, which also hit Korea in 1997.

While the CMI was a Bilateral Swap Arrangement between Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, and Myanmar, and Korea, China and Japan, the agreement this time is a multilateral one between the 13 countries.

"At this time, we reiterate the importance of the CMIM in strengthening the region's capacity to safeguard against increased risks and challenges in the global economy," the ministers and central governors of the member countries said in a joint statement.

"The CMIM, with the total size of $120 billion, will provide financial support through currency swap transactions to CMIM parties facing balance of payments and short-term liquidity difficulties," they added in the announcement.

If a member country seeks support, central banks of other member countries will provide dollars, while the recipient country will give its domestic currency in exchange.

For the $120 billion fund, Korea contributed 16 percent or $19.2 billion, while China and Japan provided 32 percent, each. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore gave 3.97 percent, while the Philippines gave 3.07 percent. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam accounted for less than 1 percent of the fund.

When Korea suffers a dollar shortage, it can seek up to $19.2 billion in support from the fund.

"Korea took a bigger share in the fund compared to its economic size, setting up ground to expand its influence within the region," the ministry said.

Among ASEAN plus three, Korea accounts for 8 percent of total GDP, and 6.4 percent of the region's total foreign exchange reserves.

"The launch of the CMIM is an important accomplishment upgrading intraregional financial cooperation, including the capability to cope with a short-term liquidity crisis," the ministry added.

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Bangladesh News 24 hours
Myanmar deputy minister arrives for talks
Mon, Dec 28th, 2009 9:14 pm BdST

Dhaka, Dec 28 (bdnews24.com)—Myanmar deputy foreign minister Maung Myint arrived in city on Monday to lead his country's delegation at foreign secretary-level talks, which are likely to feature the thorny issue of Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh from the neighbouring state.

The two-day talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar starts on Tuesday at foreign ministry.

"Deputy foreign minister Maung Myint and two officials of Myanmar have already arrived," Saida Muna Tasneem, a foreign ministry director general (external publicity), told bdnews24.com Monday.

She said foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will lead Bangladesh side while Myint, who holds the status of foreign secretary, will head the five-member team of his side.

Quayes recently told journalists that Bangladesh would press its neighbour to stop pushing Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh territory.

Myanmar's Muslim people from the Northern Rakhain state have been crossing into Bangladesh in large number since 1991 to escape persecution by the rulers there.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees set up camps in Bangladesh to repatriate the Rohingya people.

Some 28,000 out of 500,000 Rohingya refugees registered in 1992 have been living in the refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district. But many of those repatriated under the UNHCR returned into Bangladesh and now mingle with local people for fear of repression in their homeland.

Local officials say almost all of the repatriated Rohingyas have intruded into Bangladesh again and have been creating social problems.

According to international law, host country cannot force repatriation of refugees.

The foreign secretary also said the discussion will also feature introduction of banking facilities between Bangladesh and Myanmar to increase business activities between the two counties.

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The Nation - PTT can sign natural-gas MoU with Burma
By Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul
Published on December 29, 2009

The PTT Group has received permission to sign a memorandum of understanding to purchase natural gas from Burma's Zotica Block, as part of Thailand's natural-gas supply plan.

The block can produce 300 million cubic feet per day. Of that, 240 million cubic feet will be supplied to Thailand and the rest used in Burma.

The MoU is worth more than US$1 billion (Bt33.29 billion) and will see a supply of gas for 25-30 years starting in 2013, said Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul.

Wannarat yesterday chaired a meeting of the National Energy Policy Committee, which endorsed a five-year supply plan. Demand is expected to increase to 5.142 billion cfpd by 2015.

The plan will help alleviate the Kingdom's electricity consumption of 6,890 megawatts, as per a second revision of the 2007 power-development plan (PDP).

Natural-gas demand is forecast to grow 6 per cent a year overall, with annual demand from power plants to expand 3.3 per cent, the industrial sector 11 per cent and the transportation sector 23 per cent.

The natural-gas supply plan is scheduled to be ready early next year.

The committee yesterday also approved a tariff MoU between the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and Laos, aimed at purchasing electricity from the Nam Nguem 3 power plant in that country.

"We plan to collect a fee of Bt2.65 per unit of electricity, but Egat must negotiate the MoU with all of the stakeholders again," Wannarat said.

The Nam Nguem 3 project has a capacity of 440MW and will start operations in 2017. There are four stakeholders: GMS Laos (27 per cent), Marubeni (25 per cent), Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding (25 per cent) and the Lao government (23 per cent).

The PTT Group will have to shoulder a Bt20-billion burden for liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas for vehicles next year.

Of that amount, Bt15 billion will be spent on imports of LPG and the rest for the loss incurred in maintaining the retail NGV price at Bt8.50 a kilogram.

President and CEO Prasert Bunsumpun yesterday said domestic demand for LPG was expected to increase next year in line with the Kingdom's economic growth, or 3 per cent.

"Isn't it about time the government considered adjusting fuel prices to reflect the real cost?" said Prasert, adding that crude oil was expected to be quoted at US$70 to $80 (Bt2,300 to Bt2,700) per barrel next year.

Oil demand will increase to 1 million barrels per day, or 90 per cent of the Kingdom's refinery capacity.

The 3-per-cent rise in LPG consumption will have to be met by imports.

The petrochemical industry uses 100,000bpd of oil, the export sector 100,000-200,000bpd and domestic consumption 700,000bpd.

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Burmese-American charged with another case
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 20:11 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) – US citizen Nyi Nyi Aung standing trial in Insein Prison was charged with yet another case today, this time by the Immigration Department, his lawyer said.

He is facing trial in three cases in Rangoon South District court sitting inside Insein prison. During today’s hearing the Botataung Township Immigration Department filed another case against him.

“Another case was filed against him today under section 6(3) of the 1949 Immigration Act, for making a wrong statement and entering with his ID. The Botataung Township Immigration Department Officer lodged a direct complaint in court. The court will pronounce its views on this complaint on 1 January 2010,” his lawyer Nyan Win said.

The defence lawyers argued on the first three cases today on behalf of their client Nyi Nyi Aung a.k.a. Kyaw Zaw Lwin (40) on whether he should be formally charged by the court as the public prosecutor had accused in the indictment or the charges dropped. Today’s trial was attended by the Vice-Consul from the US Embassy in Rangoon.

The former student activist fled to the Thai-Burma border after the army staged a coup in 1988. He resettled in the US later. He was alleged to have entered Burma eight times. Intelligence personnel arrested him when he arrived at the Rangoon Mingaladon airport via Bangkok on 3 September this year.

First he was charged under section 420 (fraud), 468 (forgery of national ID) of the Penal Code and under section 24 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Now the Immigration Department has filed another case against him today under section 6(3) of the Immigration Act.

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The Irrawaddy - Will DKBA Join Border Guard Force?
By SAW YAN NAING - Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Burmese regime's main ally in eastern Burma, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), was the first armed ethnic group to announce its support for the military government's plan to order all cease-fire groups to join a united border guard force under Burmese army command.

However, since its enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal, the DKBA has shied away from official statements regarding its stance, while other armed ethnic cease-fire groups, such as the New Democratic Army-Kachin and the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front, were officially received at ceremonies in November marking their participation in the border guard force plan.

The DKBA has been strongly allied with the Tatmadaw––the Burmese name for the country's armed forces—since it signed a cease-fire agreement with the junta in 1995 following a split from its mother organization, the Karen National Union (KNU).

But now that other ethnic armies, such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), have rejected the junta's plan, the DKBA is under pressure to define its terms of allegiance to the Tatmadaw.

Burma analysts and observers who spoke to The Irrawaddy were divided on whether the DKBA would agree to the border guard scheme with several predicting that splits in the ranks will force the DKBA to rethink its policy.

General secretary of the KNU Zipporah Sein said that some DKBA battalions will become border guard forces under the Tatmadaw, but others will return to the KNU.

Several hundred DKBA members have defected to the KNU since April, reportedly in disagreement with the leadership's acceptance of the border guard plan, a move they see as submitting to the junta, their traditional enemy.

Sources close to the DKBA said the leadership aims to expand the number of the militia's troops from 6,000 to 9,000 in preparation for a transfer to border guard force units.

Under the border guard order, each battalion would be made up of 326 troops, including 18 officers, many of whom would be installed from the Tatmadaw's regional command.

Hsa Paw, a DKBA soldier who defected recently to the KNU, said that even though their leaders agreed to become border guard forces, many DKBA soldiers did not agree with the order. Many refuse to wear the insignia of the Burmese government army, he added.

Hsa Paw said that most of his friends who remained in the DKBA had told him that they would also defect to the KNU if forced to become border guard forces.

Karen sources in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border agreed that many DKBA soldiers wanted to return to the KNU, but feared arrest or execution if caught deserting.

“I think it is difficult for them to return en masse,” said a Karen reporter in Mae Sot. “They will likely return a few at a time.”

Sources said disagreements are growing among the DKBA leaders over whether to accede to the junta's order.

Paw Kay, the editor of the Karen Information Center, said DKBA hardliner Col Chit Thu has previously stated that his organization is not “clever” at political maneuvering, but has agreed to serve as a border guard force commander with the aim of the DKBA controlling the entire Karen State, as promised by Naypyidaw.

Observers said cease-fire groups like the KIO, the UWSA and others have shown their hands on the issue, while the DKBA appears to lack any clear vision of whether to launch a military or political stand against the junta.

One DKBA source close to the leadership said the DKBA's political wing, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization (DKBO), will not contest the general election in 2010.

If the DKBA become border guard forces, the name of their organization will be changed by the junta and their monthly salaries will be provided by the Burmese government, according to Karen sources. Trade in DKBA areas will be controlled by the central government and the DKBA troops will generally only be assigned to border guard duties.

The Burmese regime, for its part, appears to be willing to allow the DKBA time to come round to its way of thinking. Naypyidaw is currently engaged in negotiations with cease-fire groups in northeastern Burma, such as the UWSA, to persuade them to become border guard forces. Many observers expect the UWSA and its allies to refuse the order, and a military confrontation to be ignited.

The same observers generally concur that the Burmese regime must concentrate on facing down the Wa and its allies in the north before turning its attention to the DKBA.

The DKBA leaders may therefore have a window of opportunity to persuade their commanders to accept the border guard proposal, but many sources doubt they can successfully convince enough troops to work and fight under the Burmese army's flag.

U.N. assembly condemns Myanmar rights record
Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:28pm EST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. General Assembly condemned wide-ranging human rights violations in Myanmar in a resolution adopted early on Thursday.

The resolution on the country formerly known as Burma, voted through by 86-23 with 39 abstentions, "strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar."

It also called on Myanmar's military rulers to immediately release opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, as well as freeing more than 2,000 other prisoners of conscience.

In November, Myanmar's U.N. envoy, Than Swe, rejected the non-binding resolution, then in draft form, calling it "glaringly deficient" and little more than "another means to maintain pressure on Myanmar in tandem with sanctions."

Swe could not be reached for comment on Thursday's vote.

Assembly condemnations of the human rights situation in North Korea, Myanmar and Iran have become an annual ritual in recent years.

This year's vote came after U.N. special rights investigator on Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana told the General Assembly in October that "the situation of human rights in Myanmar remains alarming."

Envoys from nations that rights groups have also accused of having poor human rights records -- including China, Russia, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and Zimbabwe -- say they generally vote against such resolutions because they oppose singling out specific countries.

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Washington Post - Little word from U.S. on Nyi Nyi Aung, jailed in Burma
By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 24, 2009

After his arrest in September, the American was held for 17 days in a dank Burmese jail and denied food, medical treatment, sleep and the chance to speak with a U.S. government official. Even after he finally met with a representative from the U.S. Embassy, the American was transferred to solitary confinement in a cell for military dogs.

But the harsh treatment on what advocates say are trumped up charges has barely merited a peep from the Obama administration.

Nyi Nyi Aung, a Montgomery Village resident and Burmese democracy advocate who has traveled there often, appears to be politically inconvenient for both the United States and the Burmese military dictatorship at a moment when the two countries have taken tentative steps toward engagement after years of stormy antagonism.

"It is shocking to me that an American citizen has been treated this way and higher U.S. officials are silent on that," said Wa Wa Kyaw, Nyi Nyi's fiancee and also a U.S. citizen and Maryland resident. "It will let the generals think, 'We can do whatever we want, even torture and inhumane treatment of a U.S. citizen,' because America wants to do the engagement policy."

In one apparent concession to American sensitivities, the Burmese government in October abruptly dropped charges of instigating unrest in concert with pro-democracy groups. Instead, it accused Nyi Nyi of purely criminal acts -- allegedly possessing a forged Burmese identification document and failing to declare U.S. currency totaling more than $2,000. His lawyers say he is innocent of both offenses; they note that he appears to have been seized by authorities before he even made it through customs, where he would have had to declare the currency.

Officials at the Burmese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is regarded as one of the world's most oppressive nations, ruled by generals who have enriched themselves while much of the country remains desperately poor. The National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide electoral victory in 1990, but the military leadership refused to accept it. Since then, she has been under house arrest for most of the time, as have hundreds of her supporters.

The 40-year-old Nyi Nyi was one of the leading organizers of demonstrations against the junta in 1988 and fled the country after a violent crackdown, eventually settling in the United States as a political refugee in 1993. He became a U.S. citizen in 2002 and earned a college degree in computer science, but he also remained deeply involved in Burmese democracy efforts.

Wa Wa said that her fiancee managed to often travel to Burma to visit his family and work with the Burmese underground because his U.S. passport is in his legal name, Kyaw Zaw Lwin. In his professional and personal lives in the United States, he has used Nyi Nyi Aung -- an amalgam of a childhood nickname and his father's first name -- and for years the Burmese government never made the connection.

But last summer Nyi Nyi's profile was raised when he helped deliver a petition to senior United Nations officials with 680,000 signatures calling for the release of all political prisoners in Burma.

Wa Wa, who has lived with Nyi Nyi since 2005, also has secretly traveled back to Burma even though she is a political refugee. "We have taken the risk because we want to organize and train the new generation for democracy and freedom," she said.

Nyi Nyi's mother and sister are serving prison sentences of five years and 65 years, respectively, for their involvement in 2007 anti-government demonstrations known as the "Saffron Revolution." Wa Wa said that he tried to enter the country again in part to see his ailing mother. But he appears to have been seized as soon as he landed at the airport in September.

Nyi Nyi's treatment in prison has attracted worldwide attention, with both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issuing statements on his case. Fifty-three members of the House of Representatives, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), sent a letter last week to Senior Gen. Than Shwe calling for Nyi Nyi's immediate release and return to the United States.

On Nov. 6, Sen. Barbara Milkulski (D-Md.) sent Wa Wa a letter saying she had asked Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to condemn the detention in the "strongest terms possible." But Clinton -- who over the summer called for the release of another American, John Yettaw -- has been silent. Yettaw, who was tried for entering Aung San Suu Kyi's compound, eventually was freed through the intervention of Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), when he traveled to Burma and met with senior leaders in August.

Sources also said that Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell did not raise the case when he met with senior Burmese officials in a rare high-level visit to Burma last month, though it has been raised at lower levels. Jared Gensler, a Washington lawyer who is assisting Wa Wa, said Westerners put on trial in Burma are usually treated well and then deported, but Nyi Nyi appears to be the first American of Burmese descent on trial, which might account for the rough treatment.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the department is handling the case as it would for any American citizen. "Embassy representatives have monitored his court appearances and been able to talk with him in that setting," he said. "We continue to press the Burmese government for ongoing consular access as required by the Vienna Convention so that we can ensure that he is treated appropriately."

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Strategy Page - Death Watch For MiG

December 24, 2009: Myanmar is buying twenty MiG-29s from Russia. Myanmar bought its first twelve MiG-29s in 2001. This new sale will earn Russia some criticism, because Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a military dictatorship with a very bad international reputation. But Russia is desperate to keep the MiG-29 from fading away. To that end, Russia also ordered 24 MiG-29Ks for its sole aircraft carrier, to replace the Su-33s that currently serve on the ship. However, most of the current news about the Mig-29 has been bad.

Malaysia, for example, admitted that it is getting rid of its MiG-29 fighters because the aircraft are too expensive to maintain. It costs about $5 million a year, per aircraft, to keep them in flying condition. Three years ago, Malaysia bought two more MiG-29s, in addition to the 18 it got in the 1990s. Two of those were lost due to accidents.

Malaysia has since ordered 18 Su-30 fighters, and will apparently order more to replace the MiG-29s. Malaysia also bought eight F-18Ds in the 1990s, and is getting rid of those as well. Russia has offered better prices on maintenance contracts for new Su-30s, in addition to bargain (compared to U.S. planes) prices.

Most of the MiG-29s provided satisfactory service. Malaysia was long a users of U.S. aircraft, so they have been able to compare Russian and American warplanes. The Russian aircraft cost less than half as much as their American counterparts. The Malaysians find that an acceptable situation, even though they face better trained pilots flying F-16s in neighboring Singapore.

The MiG-29 entered Russian service in 1983. Some 1,600 MiG-29s have been produced so far, with about 900 of them exported. The 22 ton aircraft is roughly comparable to the F-16, but it depends a lot on which version of either aircraft you are talking about. Russia is making a lot of money upgrading MiG-29s. Not just adding new electronics, but also making the airframe more robust. The MiG-29 was originally rated at 2,500 total flight hours. At that time (early 80s), Russia expected MiG-29s to fly about a hundred or so hours a year. India, for example, flew them at nearly twice that rate, as did Malaysia. So now Russia is offering to spiff up the airframe so that the aircraft can fly up to 4,000 hours, with more life extension upgrades promised. This won't be easy, as the MiG-29 has a history of unreliability and premature breakdowns (both mechanical and electronic).

In the last year, Russia grounded has grounded its MiG-29s several times, in order to check for structural flaws. Compared to Western aircraft, like the F-16, the MiG-29 is available for action about two thirds as much. While extending the life of the MiG-29 into the 2030s is theoretically possible, actually doing so will be real breakthrough in Russian aircraft capabilities. The Indians are going to take up the Russians on their upgrade offer. But the Malaysians are going to go with the more highly regarded Su-30.

Malaysia expects to have all its MiG-29s out of service in about a year. If they can't be sold, they will simply be scrapped. Algeria, and several other nations, have turned down the MiG-29, which has acquired the reputation of being second rate and a loser. Russia, however, wants to preserve MiG as a brand, so it is not solely dependent on Sukhoi for its jet fighters. At this point, it looks like an uphill fight. MiG and Sukhoi are now both divisions of a state owned military aircraft company (United Aircraft). Technically, the MiG division is bankrupt. Sukhoi is profitable.

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Avon Messenger - Avon Middle High School Amnesty International sponsors letter writing campaign to free prisoner
Thu Dec 24, 2009, 08:00 AM EST

The Avon Middle-High School chapter of Amnesty International has just sponsored a letter writing campaign to free a prisoner of conscience in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Over 300 letters were collected and sent to both the Myanmar government and to the Myanmar embassy in Washington, D.C.

On Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, students in grades seven through 12 wrote letters to the Myanmar government on behalf of Daw Ayung San Suu Kyi. Kyi, co-founder of the National League for Democracy, was imprisoned by the military junta after winning a democratic election in 1990. She has spent 14 of the last 20 years under some form of detention, including a recent sentence of eighteen months of house arrest.

Amnesty International’s mission is to promote human rights for everyone worldwide. It primarily targets governments, but also reports on non-governmental bodies and private individuals. To accomplish their goals, Amnesty International has developed several techniques. Letter-writing is one of the most effective ones used to free prisoners of conscience.

The Avon Middle High School chapter of Amnesty International will be planning more events in the future.

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Construction of Myanmar new capital continues
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-24 13:27:43

YANGON, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The construction of Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw continued after emergence of departmental buildings, houses, main roads, markets, hotels, motels and resorts around the region as the early phase over the past four years.

Some five new towns in the capital region are being developed in addition to the existing three -- Pyinmana, Lewe and Tatkon in the post-move period of the administrative capital there from Yangon.

The five new towns, named as Oathara Thiri, Dekkina Thiri, Poppha Thiri, Zapu Thiri, Zeyar Thiri, will bring the total number of townships constituting the district-level capital region to 8, deleting it as a township from Mandalay division.

Meanwhile, Myanmar continued to move its remaining government ministry offices from the former capital of Yangon to the new administrative capital as the final phase after most of the offices were well relocated there.

The offices of ministries' directorates will be left in Yangon as the ministries' offices in southern Myanmar, according to local reports.

Myanmar shifted its former administrative capital of Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw, about 390 km to the north, in November 2005. Nay Pyi Taw is located between middle mountain range of Bago Yoma and eastern mountain range of Shan Yoma.

The new capital covers an area of 7,054.37 square-km and has a population of 924,608, according to official figures.

More than a year after the move, the government formed a committee, chaired by U Soe Tha, Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, for auctioning some state-owned buildings left behind in Yangon.

The auction also covers some housing project buildings being implemented under government supervision and related land plots.

The Myanmar government has made arrangement to allot lands in Nay Pyi Taw to long-service government employees as part of its efforts to develop the new capital, giving priority to such government employees, who have at least 10-year civil services and two years' in Nay Pyi Taw, to buy the allotted lands.

Since 2006, the Nay Pyi Taw City Development Committee has also invited investment from local nationals to develop the capital city, offering to allot them land plots for the purpose.

These allotted land areas are designated to build new living quarters, shopping complexes, highway terminals and car workshops.

According to the committee, on completion of all the buildings,30 years of land lease will be granted which is not transferable within the initial 10 years' period.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has also been striving for the improvement of transport link with Nay Pyi Taw as part of its development of the new capital.

A new 8-lane motor highway linking Yangon with Nay Pyi Taw directly and built by 12 giant private construction companies, has been put into service since March this year.

The Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw highway, which extends as 323.2 km, represents the prior part of the 563 km-long overall Yangon- Nay Pyi Taw-Mandalay highway.

Moreover, Myanmar is planning to build one more railway station in Nay Pyi Taw next to the existing Pyinmana station to facilitate rail transport to the new capital, saying that feasibility study and land survey are underway for the move.

The new station will be the second one after the first new being built since 2006 which is reportedly nearing completion.

In addition to zoological garden, water fountain garden, herbalgarden, national landmark garden and Ngalikekantha resort which have been in place, Myanmar local private companies have also constructed 42 new shopping complexes there, aimed at attracting more visitors to the city.

In Nay Pyi Taw, some modernized buildings such as governmental departments, residential quarters, private hospital, private bank,Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and Shwe Pazun bakery house have been constructed.

Meanwhile, other construction companies group are also implementing some international-level shopping center projects. Among them, the first private-run "Junction Center - Nay Pyi Taw" was built by the giant Shwe Taung Development company and was opened in August this year.

It is expected that Nay Pyi Taw will be further developed in the next decade to possess the characteristics of a city.

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Genocide plagues Burma, agency reports
Mission Network News - 12/24/2009

Myanmar (MNN) ― Atrocities are mounting in Burma--the country now known as Myanmar. Thousands of people have been killed by the military-led government. And many human rights workers say there's no end in sight.

President of Vision Beyond Borders Patrick Klein just returned from the border of Myanmar and Thailand and says the situation is desperate. "The government seems like it's intent on genocide. 500,000 people have died already. They say it surpasses Darfur because they document more than 3,300 villages that have been completely burned to the ground."

According to Klein, this is a strategic political move. "The government is trying to get rid of everybody who is in opposition to this current military regime. So, it's not just the Karen, but the Karen seem to be receiving the brunt of it."

The issue has been addressed by the Harvard Law School's report, "Crimes in Burma," but the rest of the world is ignoring it. Klein says, "It's baffling to us because we can't figure it out. Nobody seems to know what's going on. Nobody seems to be interested. When we talk, people in the States say, 'Really? That's happening in Burma? Well, we need to know that.'"

I asked Klein if he thinks it's genocide. "I heard one of the Burmese generals say, 'By the year 2010' (which isn't that far away) 'there will be no more Karen people left. We're going to wipe them off the face of the earth. The only ones you'll see will be in the photographs in the museums.'"

Klein says the international media seems to be ignoring the situation.

He says the Myanmar military isn't the only offender. Burmese orphans, refugees in bordering Thailand, are being threatened by Thai officials. "The Thai border police want to send them back into Burma. There are land mines everywhere. They're killing these people. And they want to send these kids back because they're kind of working with the government, underhandedly, to get money kickbacks from the government to send these kids back in, to slaughter them."

Klein says the stories of evil abound. "We heard a story about an eight-year-old boy who was told by the Burmese military, in front of his family, to climb a tree and climb as high as he could. They held him at gun point. He climbed as high as he could, and they told him to jump down, or they would shoot [his family]. So, he jumped to his death in front of his family."

Vision Beyond Borders was able to take in rice, medical supplies, toys for Christmas, and Bibles. Klein says, "Even in the midst of all these atrocities, many people are getting saved. So we want to keep providing Bibles."

Klein says nobody expects the situation to improve. "The elections are coming up in Burma in March. They believe 50,000 to 100,000 more refugees will come into Thailand before the election, and probably 150,000 more after the election."

Christian actor Kirk Cameron has agreed to be the narrator for a documentary on the situation in Burma. "We want to get that out around the nation," says Klein, "to call the churches to pray and ask God to intervene in the country to bring down this wicked government."

If you'd like to help Vision Beyond Borders with Bible and aid distribution, click here.

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Pravda - Russian MiG-29 Jets 'Attack' China in Myanmar
24.12.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru

Russia will deliver 20 MiG-29 fighter jets to the Air Force of Myanmar (Burma). The deal is evaluated at nearly $600 million. Burma preferred Russia’s renowned jets to China, although its J-10 and FC-1 fighters are cheaper.

The deal became the largest contract to sell MiG-29 jets after Algeria terminated a similar contract with Russia in 2007. Russia has sold only six MiGs to Sri Lanka and gave away ten others to Lebanon since then.

As for Burma, China has been this nation’s major partner in commerce, including the defense industry, during the recent 20 years. The European Union and the United States have been practicing sanctions against Burma for decades. Burma is governed by a military junta, and nearly all opposition activists in the country are jailed.

It is China that eases the consequences of the political and economic blockade of Burma. It is worthy of note that the EU and the US are interested in Burma’s natural resources – its oil, natural gas and non-ferrous metals.

Why did Burma offend its long-term and close partner, China? How will the West react to Burma’s choice of Russian arms?

“In spite of the scandal, which occurred in 2007 during the shipment of MiG jets to Algeria, the MiG-29 jet is much more reliable and efficient than what China offered to Burma. It’s not Russia’s first deal with Burma – we delivered 12 MiG-29 fighters to this country in 2001,” Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis told Pravda.Ru.

“It goes without saying that China is not going to be happy with such a turn of events. China gradually ousts Russia from the countries with which Russia traditionally has relations in the field of defense cooperation. However, I do not think that Russia has a good reason to celebrate. The situation in the Russian defense industry becomes worse, which affects the export of arms.

“The deal with Burma will definitely trigger a harsh reaction from the West, which does not recognize the Burmese regime,” the expert added.

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Junta stocking up on weapons for rainy day: observer
Thursday, 24 December 2009 19:49 Mungpi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta’s decision to purchase armament from Russia may have been triggered by their fear of budget constraints under the new government to be elected in 2010, an analyst said.

Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said the junta’s decision to purchase MiG 29 Fulcrum D fighter jets from Russia at a time when they should be busy preparing for next year’s elections, could be driven by its fear of budget constraints under the new government that will largely restrict them in their wild pursuit of weapons.

On Wednesday, Russia’s business daily Vedomosti told Mizzima, that Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29 K/KUB and about 8 to 10 Mi-35 attack helicopters, worth a total of US$ 640 million. The delivery will commence in 2010.

The arms purchase news comes days after the Nobel Peace Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz’s visit to the military-ruled country, where he had advised the military government to reduce their spending on the military but to invest on education as the Burmese economy needs education to revive.

Stiglitz also advised the junta to use revenue, from the sale of natural resources including oil and natural gas, for opening a new era for the country, but warned that if they are not used wisely “valuable opportunities would be squandered.”

But Win Min said he believes the junta is acting on its worry that “it may not be able to buy this way after the 2010 elections under the new government’s budget constraints.”

The junta is also expanding the government-owned enterprises including the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) to ensure that the military has its own budget, which cannot be controlled by parliament, even after a new government is formed after the 2010 elections, Win Min added.

The UMEH is run by the Defence Ministry’s Directorate of Procurement and is engaged in almost all joint ventures. The MEC funnels revenue from private enterprise into defence spending while the UMEH provides opportunities for secondary incomes for military personnel and their families.

Win Min said, “generally all armed forces want new weapons like all kids want toys,” but it is sad to see that the Burmese military junta, despite expert advice given by Prof Stiglitz to reduce defence spending and to increase investments on education and health, is only concerned about its insatiable needs of purchasing new toys.

Protesting against the weapons transfer contract, nearly a dozen Burmese pro-democracy activists in New Delhi, India held a rally on Thursday afternoon in front of the Russian embassy.

“Burma has no enemy and there is no need to purchase weapons. And these weapons will only be used to intimidate and suppress the Burmese people,” Salong, a member of the Shwe Gas Movement, told Mizzima.

Shouting slogans – “We want peace, not MiG-29’ “Hey Russia we want peace” – the activists said, the Burmese junta, instead of spending on development projects, is spending revenue earned from the sale of oil and natural gas to purchase armaments.

According to the Vedomosti, the Burmese junta had also purchased 12 MiG-29 K/KUB fighter jets in 2001. Burma had also imported US$ 2 billion worth of weapons since 1989, mainly from China.

Burma’s military rulers, which has ruled the country for the past two decades, is known to spend less than 3 per cent of its GDP per annum for health and education while the military spending is about 40 per cent.

Another reason for the junta purchasing the fighter jets, Win Min said could be the junta’s wish to strengthen its air force on the borders generally and on the Chinese and Bangladesh in particular.

“The military might want to improve its air force on the borders generally, but especially on the China and Bangladesh borders, since they want to threaten the ceasefire [armed] groups, especially Wa [United Wa State Army] to agree to their proposal of transforming into the border guard force,” Win Min said.

He added that the purchase of MiG-29 Fulcrum D could also be “to have better bargaining power with Bangladesh on their disputed maritime areas, which has natural gas.”

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Junta lobbies hard on international fora
Thursday, 24 December 2009 23:03 Mungpi

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma’s state-owned newspaper New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday reported the return of Foreign Minister Nyan Win from Denmark after attending the UN Climate Change Conference.

The newspaper said Nyan Win, besides delivering a speech at the conference, also met Foreign Ministers of the European Union led by the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and hosted by Danish Foreign Minister Per-Stig Moller at the sidelines of the Copenhagen Conference.

In a press statement, the EU said during the meeting, also attended by the EU special envoy to Burma Mr. Piero Fassino, European Union Foreign Ministers reiterated their willingness to continue a dialogue aimed at substantial improvements towards a transition to democracy and respect of human rights in Burma.

The ministers also told Nyan Win that “the elections in 2010 are an important opportunity for allowing inclusiveness and showing serious progress on national reconciliation, which is necessary to address the political and socio-economic problems facing Burma/Myanmar.”

The ministers also urged the Burmese military junta to take substantive steps towards free and fair elections.

The report about Nyan Win’s December 16 to 18 trip to Denmark, which came after a week, is among the many stories that the Burmese junta’s mouthpiece newspaper is reporting relating to activities of junta officials.

The English version of the newspaper, which usually carries stories of the military general’s development work, has for the past few weeks been carrying reports of foreign officials including a few heads of states, and deputies visiting the pariah state.

On Thursday, the newspaper reported the visit of a delegation led by Mr Li Chao, Chairman of the Central China Power Grid International Economic & Trade Co Ltd, and their meeting with Burmese Minister for Electrical Power (2) Maj-Gen Khin Maung Myint.

On Wednesday, the newspaper reported the visit of Japanese Deputy Minister for Economics, Trade and Industry Mr. Hiroyuki Ishige and his meeting with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein.

On Tuesday, the newspaper reported the visit by Chang Zhenming, Chairman and President of CTTIC Group of China and his meeting with Burmese Minister for Transport Maj-Gen Thein Swe.

Monday’s newspaper was filled with the visit of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping and his meetings with Burmese military supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe, and Vice Snr Gen Maung Aye.

While most of the visiting officials are not heads of states and do not carry significant weight, the fact that many foreign officials are visiting the country, which is under Western sanctions, is significant, a Burmese analyst said.

Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand, said lately more countries are interested in visiting and dealing with the Burmese junta, and the new United States policy on the regime could be a factor contributing to the change.

“The US’s new policy on engagement with Burma (while maintaining the sanctions) may also partly encourage other country representatives to visit,” Win Min added.

The US in September announced a new policy on Burma’s military regime. Under the new policy, the US is willing to directly engage with the junta, while existing sanctions would remain.

As a first step in US-Junta relations, the Assistant Foreign Secretary Kurt Campbell led delegation in November visited Naypyitaw and held talks with junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe.

“I think it shows that many countries want to see if there can be an impact from their visits to open up the election process, while some countries may also want to secure their business interests before the elections,” Win Min said.

He said, as the Nobel Prize Winning economist Joseph Stiglitz concluded a visit to Burma, during which he was able to advise the Burmese generals on economic reforms, Japan may also be interested in checking out the possibilities a more open economy.

Win Min added that the visits by foreign officials could indicate that the junta has been working hard to gain international support for their roadmap, of which the fifth step is the general elections slated for 2010.

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The Irrawaddy - Dissident Dies in Prison
By BA KAUNG - Thursday, December 24, 2009

Tin Tin Htwe, who was arrested during the 2007 Saffron Revolution, died in Insein Prison hospital on Wednesday night, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPP), a Thailand-based organization working for the rights of political prisoners in Burma. .

Tin Tin Htwe, 38, from Bahan Township in Rangoon, reportedly died of a heart condition.

Her neighborhood, located within a kilometer east of Shwedagon Pagoda, was the scene of the first deadly crackdown during the Saffron Revolution when security forces fired on Buddhist monks.

She was arrested on Sept. 26, 2007, accused with 14 others of hurling stones at riot police. She was charged under sections 332 (hindering public servants from carrying out their duties) and 294 (obscene acts and songs in public), and released on bail. In November 2008 she was sentenced to three years and three months with hard labor, according to AAPP.

She was incarcerated in Pegu Division's Tharrawaddy Prison in 2008 before her recent transfer to Rangoon's Insein Prison hospital due to her deteriorating health.

The healthcare system in Burma's prisons is notoriously inefficient. “There are not enough medications in prison hospitals. There is no timely response to prisoners' health problems,” said Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of AAPP.

Two other political prisoners also died in 2009––Salai Hla Moe, a member of the National League for Democracy, and Saw Cha Leik, a member of Karen National Union, who died in Myingyan and Thayet prisons respectively.

Tin Tin Htwe's death increased the number of political prisoners who have died in Burma's prisons to 143 since 1988.

According to AAPP, her body was moved on Wednesday night to her family home in Bahan and was to be cremated the following day.

A total of 2,173 political prisoners are being held in prisons throughout Burma. The military government stopped allowing visits of International Committee for the Red Cross personnel to prisons in 2005.

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US Demands Immediate Access to Jailed Citizen
By LALIT K JHA / WASHINGTON - Thursday, December 24, 2009

The United States on Thursday urged the Burmese military junta to provide immediate consular access to Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, the US national who was arrested on arrival at the Rangoon airport on Sept. 3 and is currently being subjected to a “military dog confinement” in the infamous Insein Prison.

“We call on the Burmese government to grant the United States immediate consular access as required by obligations under the Vienna Convention,” a State Department spokesman, Mark C. Toner, told The Irrawaddy.

A well-known democracy activist, Lwin was arrested by the Burmese authorities on Sept. 3, when he was attempting to visit his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist who has cancer. Later he was accused of using a forged Burmese identity card and illegally importing currencies into the country.

It was on Dec. 3 that he was lasted granted consular access. On Dec. 4, he went on a hunger strike, which he has now ended.

“We confirm that he ended his hunger strike,” Toner said, adding that the State Department is maintaining close communication with his family members and his representative.

“Because, we have not been granted consular access, it is difficult to say exactly how his health is,” he said. “We continue to seek ongoing access to him and do all we can to ensure that.”

On Wednesday, Washington-based international counsel of Lwin sought immediate intervention of the US Special Rapporteur on Torture, alleging that he was being tortured by authorities in Burma.

“Nyi Nyi Aung, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Burma since Sept. 3, 2009, is being subjected to torture by prison officials in Burma’s notorious Insein Prison. The torture is punishment for his hunger strike earlier this month protesting the conditions of Burma’s political prisoners,” said Lwin’s international counsel, Jared Genser and Beth Schwanke, of Freedom Now.

Last week as many as 53 US Congress members also wrote a letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe urging Lwin's release.