Victory over KNU, new order on Thai-Burma border

by Brian McCartan

Mae Sot, Thailand (Mizzima) - The victory of the Burmese Army and its proxy, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), in attacks on bases of the Karen National Union (KNU) last month, puts the regime in firm control of a major portion of its border with Thailand for the first time in 60 years. Success brings with it a whole new order of forces along the border.

Burmese and DKBA forces took the border camps of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, after a month-long battle in June. The fighting was relatively light with many of the 200 Burmese and DKBA casualties the result of landmines. Fighting, the threat of landmines and fear of being taken as porters by the attackers resulted in over 3,500 Karen villagers fleeing their homes to take refuge on the Thai side of the border.

The Burmese regime and the DKBA have big plans for the border now that it is under their control. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has long aimed to establish several economic zones along the stretch of the border from Myawaddy north to the confluence of the Salween and Moei Rivers. One of these special economic zones is slated for construction on the outskirts of Myawaddy and another to the east of the township capital of Hlaing Bwe.

Past Thai governments have given their verbal support for these plans, although little money has of yet been put into them. Now that the area is in firmer control and the threat from the KNLA reduced, the economic zone plans may be dusted off again. Burma hopes to entice Thai investment and develop an otherwise economically poor area, while Thailand sees the economic zones as a way of using cheap Burmese labour without having to deal with a large influx of migrant workers. At one point, the area around Hlaing Bwe was also seen as a potential repatriation point for Karen refugees in the Mae La refugee camp.

A component of the DKBA’s acceptance of the junta’s border guard programme is that the DKBA will be allowed to keep, and possibly even expand, its economic activities. Although details of the concessions are still unclear, notes from internal DKBA meetings in May and June seen by Mizzima, indicate that the DKBA is moving some of its tax gates and setting up new units as a part of a major expansion. Certain officers, including Colonel Maw Tho who is already heavily involved in legal and black market trade with Thailand from his base in Myawaddy, will be reassigned to specifically economic activities.

A greatly expanded DKBA taking control of a large portion of the border is likely to make Thai security officials nervous. Following the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in January 1995, DKBA troops carried out a reign of terror along the border, burning refugee camps, kidnapping and sometimes killing Karen and Thai civilians, looting Thai shops along the border and even attacking Thai army and police forces. Although the attacks largely stopped in 1998, occasional incursions have taken place since.

This year DKBA incursions increased as it made itself felt along the border. In January 2009, DKBA troops burned down field huts, stole livestock and looted houses along the border in Umphang district of Tak province. During and immediately following the recent attacks on the KNLA’s 7th Brigade, Karen sources say DKBA troops crossed the border several times to demand rations for their troops and to eat and drink in local shops around Mae Salit.

An ambush on June 26 on the Moei River that killed five DKBA soldiers including Colonel San Pyone and wounded another 20 has many Karen worried about possible retaliatory attacks. San Pyone is widely believed to have been the leader and triggerman in the assassination of KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha La Phan on Valentine’s Day last year. The KNLA military officers claim it was not a revenge attack because they have no troops in the area. This leaves open the possibility of involvement of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, another splinter Karen group, the SPDC or Thai security forces. Whoever carried out the attack, the incident shows that despite greater DKBA and government control, stability is far from assured.

The transformation of the DKBA into a border guard under the central command of the Burmese Army may bring some stability, even if it costs the regime a scapegoat for cross-border incursions. The SPDC has been careful in the past to blame all cross-border attacks on the DKBA and say that it has very little influence on the group’s actions. Recent fighting against the KNLA’s 7th Brigade was described in the state-run media as Karen-on-Karen fighting. With the DKBA’s transformation into a border guard force within the Burmese Army, this pretext will no longer be possible.

One area Thai security forces will be keen to keep a watch on is the effect greater territorial control and legitimization as a unit of the Burmese military will have on the DKBA’s drug trafficking activities. Karen military sources allege the DKBA operates several amphetamine, or yaba, laboratories in areas near the border. While DKBA production and trafficking activities are not at the same level as groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Shan State, Thai narcotics officials and opposition sources say the DKBA moves both yaba and heroin through its border camps near Myawaddy and Three Pagodas Pass. The group’s transformation into a border guard unit would make the military regime directly complicit in any continued drug activities.

Recent media reports describing the KNU as all but finished following the loss of its border camps last month are rather premature. KNLA sources say that they intend to continue to operate as guerrilla units in north central Karen State. The loss of the central border region, however, will make it harder for the KNU to communicate and supply its units as well as arrange supplies for villagers and internally displaced villagers that it cares for. The KNLA still has the bulk of its forces in northern Karen State as wells as in parts of Pegu Division and Mon State as well as maintains forces in areas of southern Karen State and Tenasserim Division.

Within Karen State itself, firmer control by the DKBA and Burmese government means that many Karen who still sympathize with the aims of the KNU will now be forced to work with the new rulers. Human rights monitors in the area for several years have said the greater DKBA presence has made their work much more dangerous. DKBA threats of retribution have made many villagers afraid to speak out about abuses.

A KNU source says that greater DKBA control will have little effect on Karen representation in the 2010 elections. The DKBA is different from other ethnic insurgent groups in that it has no political wing. Minutes of a May 7 meeting of DKBA commanders indicate that the DKBA has been told they may participate in politics, but in order to do so, DKBA members, or any other Karen, must either form a new political party or contest the election as an individual. KNU source, however, say it is irrelevant since the SPDC has already decided who the winning candidates are.

The KNU’s position in central Karen State has certainly been greatly weakened by the loss of its border camps last month. Whether firmer government and DKBA control of the area will translate into greater peace and development for the local population is far from clear. Fighting with the KNU in this area may be almost over, but new border tensions may only be beginning.

READ MORE---> Victory over KNU, new order on Thai-Burma border...

With No Clear Path Out of a Diplomatic Thicket, a Push to Redraw the Map

Memo From Myanmar

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

YANGON (NYT), Myanmar — Some people from this country despair at the rigid choreography of what might be called the Myanmar diplomatic minuet. United Nations interlocutors come and go, declaring that the moment is at hand for the military junta to release the endlessly prosecuted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but the generals do not budge.

Over the weekend, it was Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, who, despite the weight of his personal intervention, failed to secure so much as a chat with Asia’s most famous political prisoner, much less any concessions.

The fact that Mr. Ban emerged empty-handed after his two-day visit that ended Saturday provides the strongest evidence yet that a different approach is overdue, analysts of Myanmar said.

Rather than tying negotiations, not to mention sanctions, to the treatment of just one figure, say policy analysts, humanitarian workers and exiles, the world should engage the junta on a broad range of economic, humanitarian and ethnic issues that will return electoral politics to its rightful place as one concern among many. They admit that borders on heresy, considering Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s virtual beatification in the West, but they consider it a shift she would readily accept given her lifelong commitment to solving Myanmar’s problems.

“People are angry with the U.N. because how many missions have we seen over the past 20 years jetting in and out,” said Aung Zaw, who went into exile after the bloody 1988 uprising and is now the Thailand-based editor of Irrawaddy magazine. “Have they produced any progress?”

Mr. Ban took a stab at articulating a new policy toward Myanmar, formerly Burma, in an unusual speech on Saturday to the humanitarian and diplomatic community. He called on the government to respect human rights, address the dire humanitarian needs in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that killed about 130,000 people in May 2008 and try to join the rest of Asia’s economic tigers.

But for the bulk of his visit, Mr. Ban focused on pushing for free and fair elections, and the release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and some 2,000 other political prisoners.

What is missing from this approach, analysts note, is a vision of Myanmar as seen by Senior Gen. Than Shwe and the other four generals who together make up the ruling State Peace and Development Council. General Than Shwe views himself as having shut down a failed socialist system; opened up the country to foreign gas companies that discovered reserves worth billions of dollars; signed cease-fires with some 20 ethnic groups in guerrilla wars that lasted since independence from Britain in 1948; and pushed through a new Constitution that enshrines military control of the country behind a civilian leadership.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sweeping national following makes her a threat to this plan. But analysts said they believed that as military men, the generals worry far more about insurgent armies financed by narco-trafficking, including the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army in the north and the Kachin Independence Army, with 10,000 men.

Senior United Nations officials are dismissive about addressing the armed conflicts, saying their General Assembly mandate covers only political matters. But critics argue that they are being too timid.

“I think we need a more general view of the problems in the country,” said Thant Myint-U, the author of a Burmese history titled “The River of Lost Footsteps” and a former United Nations official. “Some new agreement between the Burmese Army and its armed opponents is essential for new elections. The opponents with the guns are in many ways more important to them than the opponents who are locked up.”

Western attempts at isolation combined with the endless domestic civil war have made the generals comfortable in their siege mentality, analysts said. A prime way to bust through that would be humanitarian aid, though analysts say the United Nations has failed to convince donor nations of its importance. In Mr. Ban’s “Five Plus One” pillars for Myanmar, humanitarian aid comes after various aspects of political freedom and economic development.

Given Myanmar’s pariah status, countries have balked at providing aid for recovery and reconstruction. Emergency relief after Cyclone Nargis came quickly, but donors have pledged only about $100 million of the more than $600 million sought for the next phase, said Catherine Bragg, the deputy United Nations humanitarian coordinator.

A report last fall by the International Crisis Group said that aid should be seen not only as a means to alleviate suffering, “but also as a potential means of opening up a closed country, improving governance and empowering people to take control of their own lives.”

It has worked that way at least in the Irrawaddy Delta — the area hit hardest by the cyclone — where villagers have adopted a modicum of self-governance through being consulted by foreign or local organizations on issues ranging from divvying up donated tractors to revamping school curriculums.

As a result, the junta has grown wary, clamping down on visas for foreign aid workers. There is a backlog of more than 200, and 100 recently granted were just one-month extensions, Ms. Bragg said.

While some advocacy groups support lifting sanctions, they want it done in a way that helps economically vulnerable groups like textile workers and farmers. “It shouldn’t be about automatically repealing the sanctions and giving a lot of money to the regime — that would be folly,” said David Mathieson, the Myanmar researcher for Human Rights Watch.

United Nations members are deeply divided over Myanmar, with important trading partners like Russia and China protective of the regime and other Asian neighbors often mute. The United States is reviewing its own policy of economic and other sanctions. At his confirmation hearings last month, Kurt M. Campbell, the highest State Department official for East Asia, said that the review had been enormously complicated by the fact that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was again on trial, but that Washington was looking for “a more constructive approach.”

The hurdle, of course, is that the country’s star dissident has developed a worldwide following. “Aung San Suu Kyi is the 800-pound gorilla in Burma,” said Maureen Aung-Thwin of the International Crisis Group. “Everything that happens — elections, the political process, reconciliation — is inexorably linked to her.”

READ MORE---> With No Clear Path Out of a Diplomatic Thicket, a Push to Redraw the Map...

Ban Ki-Moon's remarks on Burma

by Mizzima News

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
REMARKS ON MYANMAR TO DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS,
UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES, INTERNATIONAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Yangon, 4 July 2009

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests and colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is my second visit to Myanmar in just over a year. Both visits have been at critical times for the country’s future.

My first visit was in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. This devastating natural disaster, which took so many lives and created so much hardship, touched hearts across the globe. In Myanmar’s moment of need, the world responded generously.

I want to personally thank everyone here today for your remarkable contributions to the relief and recovery effort.

You have saved lives, rejuvenated communities and made it possible for many thousands of people to reclaim their livelihoods. You have helped Myanmar to overcome adversity. It is important that this work continues.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I felt the tragedy of Cyclone Nargis deeply -- as a fellow Asian and as Secretary-General .

I am Asia’s second Secretary-General. The first was Myanmar's U Thant. I revere his memory. I also recall his wise words.

U Thant said: “The worth of the individual human being is the most unique and precious of all our assets and must be the beginning and end of all our efforts. Governments, systems, ideologies and institutions come and go, but humanity remains.”

This is why I have returned.

As Secretary-General, I attach the highest importance to helping the people of this country to achieve their legitimate aspirations.

The United Nations works for people – their rights, their well-being, their dignity. It is not an option. It is our responsibility.

I have come to show the unequivocal shared commitment of the United Nations to the people of Myanmar.

I am here today to say: Myanmar – you are not alone.

We want to work with you for a united, peaceful, prosperous, democratic and modern Myanmar.

We want to help you rise from poverty.

We want to work with you so your country can take its place as a respected and responsible member of the international community.

We want to help you achieve national reconciliation, durable peace and sustainable development.

But, let me emphasize:

neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights

Kyae zoo tin bar tae.

Myanmar is no exception.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The challenges are many. But they are not insurmountable.

We know from experience that securing Myanmar’s peaceful, democratic and prosperous future is a complex process.

None of Myanmar’s challenges can be solved on their own. Peace, development and human rights are closely inter-related.

Failure to address them with equal attention will risk undermining the prospects for democracy, durable peace and prosperity.

However, we also know that where there is a genuine will for dialogue and reconciliation, all obstacles can be overcome.

The question today is this:

how much longer can Myanmar afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights?

The cost of delay will be counted in wasted lives, lost opportunities and prolonged isolation from the international community.

Let me be clear: all the people of Myanmar must work in the national interest.

I said this yesterday when I met with representatives of Myanmar’s registered political parties and with those armed groups that have chosen to observe a cease-fire. I encouraged them respectively to honour their commitments to the democratic process and peace.

Nonetheless, the primary responsibility lies with the Government to move the country towards its stated goals of national reconciliation and democracy.

Failure to do so will prevent the people of Myanmar from realizing their full potential.

Failure to do so will deny the people of Myanmar their right to live in dignity and to pursue better standards of life in larger freedom.

These principles lie at the core of the United Nations Charter, whose opening words are “We the peoples”.

The founding Constitution of independent Myanmar echoes these noble words. We must work together to ensure that Myanmar’s future embodies these principles too.

With this in mind, I bring three messages.

First, respect for human dignity is the precondition for peace and development everywhere.

Myanmar was one of the first United Nations Member States to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It subscribed early on to the consensus that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is indispensable to political, economic and social progress.

Unfortunately, that commitment has not been matched in deed. Myanmar’s human rights record remains a matter of grave concern.

The Government has articulated its goals as stability, national reconciliation and democracy.

The upcoming election –the first in twenty years – must be inclusive, participatory and transparent if it is to be credible.

Myanmar’s way forward must be rooted in respect for human rights.

This is why I say that all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released without delay.

When I met General Than Shwe yesterday and today, I asked to visit Ms. Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that he refused.

I believe the government of Myanmar has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness.

Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be allowed to participate in the political process without further delay.

Indeed, all the citizens of Myanmar must be given the opportunity to contribute fully to the future of this country.

National reconciliation cannot be complete without the free and active participation of all who seek to contribute.

The country must embark on a process of genuine dialogue that includes all concerned parties, all ethnic groups and all minorities.

People must be free to debate and to engage in political dialogue, and they must have free access to the information that will help them participate meaningfully in the democratic process.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Any transition is difficult. Myanmar has already undergone transitions from sovereign kingdom, to occupied colony, and now independent State.

This history carries a twin legacy of armed conflict and political deadlock, including recent painful events: the repression of demonstrators in 1988, the cancellation of the 1990 election results, and the clampdown on peaceful dissent that continues to this day.

At the same time, there have been some positive efforts that should be recognized.

Although still fragile, the cease-fire agreements between the Government and armed groups have reduced the level of conflict. The United Nations has wide-ranging experience in making such gains irreversible.

Sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity are legitimate concerns for any government.

We contend that opening and broadening the political space is the best way to ensure that each group and each individual becomes part of the greater collective project.

The military, all political parties, ethnic minority groups, civil society, and indeed every son and daughter of Myanmar has a role to play in this country’s transition.

Only mutual compromise, respect and understanding can lay the foundations for durable peace, national reconciliation and democracy.

My second message is on addressing the humanitarian needs of Myanmar’s people.

I am glad I have been able to return to see the progress made in the Irrawaddy Delta. The loss of some 130,000 people was tragic, but the rebuilding I saw today was impressive. (JEG's: ??? who for? the new settlers? or the real victims?)

The tragedy showed the resilience of the people of Myanmar. It also demonstrated that people throughout the world care deeply about Myanmar and its people.

Above all, the response to Cyclone Nargis proved the value of engagement over isolation.

The unprecedented cooperation between Myanmar, the United Nations and ASEAN through the Tripartite Core Group, with the support of the donor community, has demonstrated that humanitarian imperatives and the principles of sovereignty do not conflict.

Humanitarian assistance -- in Myanmar as elsewhere -- should never be held hostage to political considerations. We can and must work together to ensure access to humanitarian and development assistance to all those in Myanmar who need it.

This brings me to my third message. It is time for Myanmar to unleash its economic potential.

Myanmar sits in the middle of Asia’s economic miracle. Harnessing Myanmar to the rapid advances taking place around it is the surest way to raise living standards.

I welcome the Government’s policy of opening up to outside trade and investment, and its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, control HIV, combat human trafficking and curtail opium production.

But the reality is that millions continue to live in poverty. Standards of living in Myanmar remain among the lowest in Asia.

The people of Myanmar need jobs, they need food security and they need access to health care.

We must work to ensure that the people of Myanmar can benefit from and contribute to the regional and global economy.

We must recognize that the region and the world have much to gain from a stable, prosperous and democratic Myanmar. We must work together for that goal.

The Government of Myanmar must seize the moment.

It must take advantage of the opportunities that the international community is prepared to offer to the people of Myanmar.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I came here as a friend.

My duty is to uphold the ideals and principles of the United Nations Charter.

My role is to encourage all of you – the Government, political parties, ethnic groups, civil society – to move forward together as one people and one nation.

Nothing is insurmountable or impossible when the people’s interest is placed above divisions.

The region and the world are changing fast. Myanmar only stands to gain from engagement -- and from embarking on its own change.

The Government of Myanmar has repeatedly stated that cooperation with the United Nations is the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy.
We ask it to match deeds with words.

The more Myanmar works in partnership with the United Nations to respond to its people’s needs and aspirations, the more it affirms its sovereignty. (JEG's: this is something to think about... sovereignty through partnership... read the hidden message)

Similarly it is incumbent on the international community as whole to work together to help Myanmar meet our shared goals: a united, peaceful, prosperous and democratic future, with full respect for the human rights of all the country’s people.

Kyae zoo tin bar tae.

READ MORE---> Ban Ki-Moon's remarks on Burma...

N Korea Using Malaysian Bank for Burmese Weapons Deals: Yonhap

By ARKAR MOE
The Irrawaddy News

North Korea sought payment through a bank in Malaysia for a suspected shipment of weapons to Burma being carried on a freighter tracked by the US Navy, according to a source quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Yonhap reported on Saturday that the source said a US envoy would visit Malaysia this weekend to focus on ways to cut off the payment to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

“Kim will have a hard time collecting his money,” said the high-level source.

The revelation comes as the North Korean freighter Kang Nam 1 is apparently returning home after being tracked by a US Navy destroyer that suspected it of carrying cargo banned under UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which toughened sanctions imposed after North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.

Philip Goldberg, the US coordinator for the implementation of the resolution, which was passed on June 12 to punish North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test, is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia on Sunday. Goldberg is in China ahead of his visit to Malaysia.

The White House said that US President Barack Obama discussed North Korea and financial regulations with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razakon by phone late last month.

According to another source in Seoul, the Kang Nam 1 is believed to be carrying small Soviet-era arms such as AK-47 rifles and RPG-7 anti-tank launchers manufactured in North Korea.

Adm Gary Roughead, the chief of US Naval operations, told reporters on Saturday that the Kang Nam 1 was being closely watched and is now in the East China Sea.

“I believe we are seeing the effects of the UN Security Council resolution,” he said.

On Friday, South Korean news channel YTN quoted an unidentified diplomatic official as saying that Burma requested that the Kang Nam 1 turn around.

The US State Department announced on Tuesday that it had frozen the US assets of Namchongang Trading Corp and Iran-based Hong Kong Electronics to curtail North Korea’s ability to trade in missiles and nuclear materials. Namchongang Trading Corp is allegedly connected to the Burmese arms industry.

READ MORE---> N Korea Using Malaysian Bank for Burmese Weapons Deals: Yonhap...

Thai PM to meet UN chief after his Burma visit

(The Nation) -Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is ready to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon who will be in transit from Rangoon to New York late Saturday.

Abhisit said the meeting will be about ties between Asean grouping, United Nations, Burma and Thai-Cambodia dispute.

Ban will end his two-day official visit to Burma late Saturday and will make a stop over at Suvarnabhumi Airport at about 10pm.

According to foreign media, Ban reportedly asked Burmese government to free political prisoners including democracy icon; Aung San Suu Kyi.

Abhisit told reportes that he is well-prepared to talk with Ban about the current Thai-Cambodia disputes which have Preah Vihear Temple at the heart of the problem.

Thai PM said he believed a joint inauguration on the construction of a highway in Cambodia with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, held early Saturday, would help lower border tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

But troop reductions at the border, especially at the ancient Preah Vihear temple will have to depend on talks between military commanders of the two countries, Mr. Abhisit said.

Meanwhile, Suthep told journalists on arriving from Cambodia that his brief visit was only aimed at promoting bilateral relations and that he had discussed with Mr. Hun Sen neither Preah Vihear temple nor troop reductions.

READ MORE---> Thai PM to meet UN chief after his Burma visit...

Wa nab suspected spies

By S.H.A.N.

Two Burman civilians, one a retired Burma Army man, were taken into custody last week in Mongphen in the Wa territory, according to a source close to the Wa leadership in Panghsang.

The unidentified men were arrested on 24 June after they were found visiting locals without authorized escorts. “They told the villagers they were there to see how they could help to improve their crops,” he said. “On their persons were military maps, marking coordinates of our positions.”

Mongphen is in the disputed Mongpawk area. While the Wa claim it has been under their control for more than 30 years, Naypyitaw insists it is in Mongyang township, 102 km north of Kengtung, the capital of eastern Shan State.

“We have information that the Burma Army has placed big guns in Mongkhark (south of Mongphen),” he added. “Even Chinese authorities have warned them (the Burma Army) that the guns have put the people on the Chinese side of the border at risk.”

The Wa and its allies, Kokang (to its north) and Mongla (to its south) have been on the alert since the Burma Army demanded in April that they become border security forces under the Burmese command. Their other ally National Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) has already accepted the proposal, according to Mizzima and Kachin News Group.

READ MORE---> Wa nab suspected spies...

Shan party meets UN chief, non-party activists might be released

By S.H.A.N.

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Burma’s second largest winning party in the 1990 elections, that had together with other registered parties met Ban Ki-moon yesterday, said he did not appear to have secured any promise to release the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the SNLD leader Khun Htun Oo.


SNLD leader Khun Htun Oo

A source close to the SNLD leadership told SHAN this morning the party representatives had asked the UN chief to put “appropriate pressures upon the junta to accept and implement the imperative steps of:

a. all political prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally
b. negotiation between the junta, democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic nationalities led by Khun Htun Oo”

The letter was written by the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), the umbrella group for ethnic parties that had won seats during the 1990 elections.

“It seems Than Shwe may be releasing only non-party activists like Zagana, Venerable Gambira and such,” he said. “If he’s going to release any Shans at all, that will be (Major General) Hso Ten (leader of the ceasefire group Shan State Army “North” who was sentenced to 106 years at Khamti prison).”

Hso Ten was arrested together with 8 others on 8-9 February 2005. Khun Htun Oo was sentenced to 93 years and the rest 79-85 years.

Khun Htun Oo, 66, a scion of the former princely Hsipaw House, is known as the “voice (representing) not only that of the SNLD party but also the millions of Burmese people,” according to the exile National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.

Ban Ki-moon met all the parties’ representatives, including the NLD, together at Myat Taw Win Hotel in Naypyitaw at 16:45. “Each of the parties got only 10 minutes with him,” said the source.

“He is expected to meet the Senior General again this morning,” he added.

The UN Secretary General’s mission includes securing the release of all political prisoners, dialogue among Burma’s main stakeholders and credible elections in 2010.

All winning parties in the 1990 elections are said to be in the same dilemma: “If they are going to enter the elections, they can expect all-out attempts to prevent them from winning. And if they refuse to contest, they are in danger of being dissolved,” said a political analyst in Rangoon.

READ MORE---> Shan party meets UN chief, non-party activists might be released...

Two pro-junta Kachin ethnic groups invited to meet Ban

by KNG

Leaders of two pro-Burmese military junta Kachin ceasefire groups were invited to meet the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the country's capital Naypyitaw yesterday.

Ban met 10 registered political parties, including the country’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's the National League for Democracy and seven ethnic ceasefire groups in the country, the junta-sponsored media reported.

Only Zahkung Ting Ying, leader of the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) also called the Kachin Special Region I by the ruling junta based in Kachin State and Mahtu Naw, leader of Kachin Defense Army (KDA) also called the Northeast Shan State Special Region 4 were invited to the meeting with the UN Chief, said the state-run media.

The junta only invited leaders of the NDA-K and KDA which agreed to convert their armed-forces to junta-proposed forces last month. The NDA-K is to transform as a battalion of the Border Guard Force whereas the KDA is to change to a local militia group.

Kachins do not view the NDA-K and KDA as political organizations. The two organizations are bent on working for their own prosperity rather than adhering to any commitment for the political liberation of Kachins in military-ruled Burma.

The junta, however, did not invite the main Kachin ceasefire group the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the main Kachin democratic party, the Kachin State National Congress for Democracy (KNCD) to the meeting with the UN Chief, said sources.

The KNCD is the only Kachin democratic political party which won three seats in the 1990 general elections in Kachin State. The party is also a member of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) based in the country and is an ally of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

The KIO has refused to convert its armed-wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to the junta-desired battalion of a Border Guard Force (BGF). They, however, are willing to transform to a "State Security Force". Currently, the KIO/A based in Kachin State and Northeast Shan State have over 20,000 men and women in service.

The military activity of both the KIA and the Burmese Army are silently on the rise in Kachin State and Northeast Shan State even as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is visiting in the country, said local sources.

READ MORE---> Two pro-junta Kachin ethnic groups invited to meet Ban...

Than Shwe Denies Ban's Request to See Suu Kyi

By JOHN HEILPRIN / AP WRITER
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he was "deeply disappointed" after Burma's military ruler rejected his second and final request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban met with Snr-Gen Than Shwe for another inconclusive round of talks that failed to win any immediate concessions or accomplish one of the main goals of his trip—to see Suu Kyi in jail.

In this image released by the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) meets with former armed groups at the Myat Taw Win Hotel in Naypyidaw. (Photo: AFP)

"I pressed as hard as I could," Ban told reporters. "I had hoped that he would agree to my request, but it is regrettable that he did not."

Their meeting took place in Naypyidaw, the junta's remote administrative capital, and lasted about 30 minutes. Ban then flew to Rangoon and was scheduled to leave Burma on Saturday evening.

Ban said the junta chief told him repeatedly that "he really wanted to agree to my request" but because Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process—or being pressured by the outside world.

"I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity," Ban said.

Suu Kyi has been detained by the ruling generals for nearly 14 of the past 20 years and is now on trial charged with violating her house arrest. She faces five years in prison if convicted in a trial that has sparked global outrage.

Ban embarked on the two-day trip saying he hoped to win freedom for Suu Kyi but predicted it would be "a very tough mission."

The UN chief talked for two hours Friday with Than Shwe, who rarely meets with world leaders. He left that meeting saying his initial request to see Suu Kyi was not granted but he was still awaiting a final reply.

It was Ban's second visit to Burma since Cyclone Nargis devastated much of the country last year. His first visit managed to persuade the military government to ease access for hundreds of foreign aid workers who had been restricted from entering cyclone-affected areas. He also oversaw a conference that raised up to $150 million in emergency relief funds.

However, the UN has been unable to budge the junta on its refusal to free its estimated 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

Ban was scheduled to fly over the cyclone-devastated zone Saturday afternoon and then meet with foreign diplomats in Rangoon before leaving.

Suu Kyi's widely criticized trial was set to resume after a monthlong delay on Friday, the same day the UN chief arrived. But the court met for a brief session to adjourn until July 10.

In May, Suu Kyi was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.

Suu Kyi is being detained at Burma's notorious Insein Prison, where 53-year-old John William Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, the intruder who is charged with trespassing, also is being held.

The trial has sparked outrage from world leaders, other Nobel laureates, human rights groups and Hollywood celebrities who say the military-controlled government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi behind bars through elections scheduled for 2010.

The elections are part of the junta's "roadmap to democracy," which critics say is a sham designed to cement the military's four-decade grip on power.

Ban said he also urged Than Shwe to "accelerate the process of democratization" in talks Friday.

Senior UN officials who participated in Friday's talks described them as far-ranging, with "a lot of back and forth" between the world's top diplomat and the military rulers.

Than Shwe was accompanied by four other generals and the foreign minister, among others in his entourage. Ban kept a few aides by his side, though he prefers one-on-one talks with world leaders in contrast to Than Shwe—who also refuses to take Ban's phone calls.

Suu Kyi's opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Burma's generals refused to relinquish power. Her latest six-year round of house arrest was to expire last month.

READ MORE---> Than Shwe Denies Ban's Request to See Suu Kyi...

Burma's Frustrated Generation Looks Abroad

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON — Armed with a law degree from the University of East Rangoon, 22-year-old Win is clear-eyed about his job prospects: Practically speaking, there are none. For him, the future lies overseas.

Abroad there is "some hope, some opportunity. But in our country, there's no hope left," said Win, who is applying to go to Australia for further studies.

Unlike the students who hit the streets in 1988 in big demonstrations against the military government, the generation now emerging from college is focused on avoiding political activism, learning English and seeking opportunities in a world they have come to know through TV and the Internet.

Two decades ago, it was very difficult to emigrate from the country. Today it's much easier, and every day long lines of people, many of them students, form outside the government office that issues passports.

There are no solid statistics, but historian Thant Myint-U estimates the number of emigrants over the past couple decades is in the millions.

"The main way young people express their unhappiness today is to leave the country. Before there was no possibility of emigration. That is a huge change. ... For more and more young people inside, their first desire is find work abroad," said the historian, who lives in Thailand and is author of "The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma."

"We are frustrated by the lifestyle, the opportunities and the politics here. But we don't care too much about political things because we can't do anything to change the situation. So we avoid it, we try to escape it," said Win, a thin lanky youth who spends his free time playing computer games. Like most people interviewed in Burma, he chose not to give his full name for fear of angering authorities.

The government has labored long and hard to disempower a university system that once produced its strongest opponents. It was students who led the August 1988 uprising that brought tens of thousands into the streets, only to be crushed by military might.

Authorities set out to fragment the student body, moving colleges at least 15 kilometers (10 miles) out of cities and forcing students to find their own housing rather than live together on campus and find strength in numbers.

Elite Rangoon University, which nurtured independence leader Aung San and the late UN Secretary General U Thant, was closed for several years and reopened as Yangon University, the new name the generals had given to the city of Rangoon.

Many of the university's buildings are in disrepair, and only a small number of graduate and doctoral students attend classes; undergraduates are not admitted.

Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, is Burma's modern-day symbol of the democracy struggle. She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, and went on trial last month, accused of violating the terms of her house arrest.

Student activists from the '88 generation managed to make their voices heard again in 2007 in the uprising led by Buddhist monks, and last fall many of them were given prison sentences of 65 years.

Experts insist student political action has not died out, but has largely shifted to "low-risk activism" or gone underground because of the military government's repression.

There is still a "widespread dissident movement" inside the country that includes student groups, bloggers, monks and others, but their activities are much less centrally organized, said David Mathieson, a Burma researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.

There's no direct confrontation, but there are "still a lot of activities by people who are either directly trying to challenge the government or just by people who are trying to get on with their lives and do a whole range of things," he said.

Students concerned with the country's politics know better than to voice it publicly.

"I really care about politics and the future of the country but I feel I am not free to participate. Sometimes we talk politics in cafes but we have to be careful. Even walls have ears," said Wai, a 23-year-old graduate who majored in English.

Students today have much more exposure to the outside world through the Internet, television and movies, said Naing, a 40-year-old teacher at a private school in Rangoon.

"They can see more of the world than during my time. They know their country's problems. That's the big problem—everyone wants to leave," he said.

Another teacher, 48-year-old Maung, runs a private English language school and says most of his 85 students come wanting to learn enough English to function abroad. They head for neighboring Singapore and Thailand, and dream of the West, he said.

"They like America because it's so free," he said. "Even my son and daughter, they both want to go abroad if they have the chance. The future is so dark here."

Even with a college degree, most students have little hope of landing a decent-paying job if they stay in the country, said Myat, 22, a Dagon University graduate with spiky brown hair and a diamond ear stud.

The few jobs available are low-paid—$50-100 a month. International non-governmental organizations pay double or triple, but only hire top students.

Overall, the situation remains bleak, said Myat, so he too is applying to study abroad.

"When we see students in other countries, we feel envy," he said. "They can choose whatever they want to do in their life."

READ MORE---> Burma's Frustrated Generation Looks Abroad...

UN chief set for fresh talks with Myanmar leader

By Herve Couturier

(SMH) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to hold an unexpected second meeting with Myanmar's junta leader as he presses the regime to free the pro-democracy leader and allow him to see her.

Ban pushed iron-fisted military ruler Than Shwe to release all political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition when they met in the bunker-like capital Naypyidaw on the first day of his visit on Friday.

But the reclusive Than Shwe stalled on the UN chief's request to meet detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on trial for breaching the terms of her house arrest and faces up to five years in jail.

"There will be a second meeting at 9:30 am (0300 GMT) on Saturday," UN spokesman Marie Okabe announced late Friday. Only one meeting had been scheduled previously.

Ban's visit had been considered diplomatically risky because of its timing during her trial, and rights groups warned that it would be considered a major failure unless he managed to win Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom.

The 64-year-old opposition leader was transferred from house arrest to Yangon's notorious Insein prison in May to face trial after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.

She has been in detention for most of the past two decades since the junta refused to recognise her party's victory in the country's last elections in 1990.

There was no indication however about whether Than Shwe would grant Ban's request to meet Aung San Suu Kyi in prison, where the physically frail icon is being held in a so-called "guest room".

"I told him that I wanted to meet her in person. He told me that she is on trial but I told him this is my proposal, this is important and I am waiting for their consideration and reply," Ban said on Friday.

"I am leaving (Saturday), so logically speaking I am waiting for a reply before my departure," he added.

Ban said he had also sought the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners that the UN says are held in Myanmar -- including Aung San Suu Kyi -- ahead of elections promised by the ruling generals for 2010.

UN officials travelling with Ban later said there had been a "very lively exchange of views" after Ban proposed a five-point agenda for reforms.

There was "considerable resistance" to the proposals, including the establishment of a UN "good offices" bureau in Yangon to provide a permanent structure for Ban and his special UN envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari.

Ban would also give an unprecedented public address in Myanmar before his departure on Saturday evening, although the format had not yet been established, said the UN officials.

Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court in Yangon on Friday but the trial was adjourned for a week because the judges had not received an earlier judgement barring two defence witnesses, her National League for Democracy said.

Critics have accused the junta of using the trial to keep her locked up for the elections, although Ban said that Than Shwe assured him that the elections would be held in a "fair, free and transparent manner".

The case has sparked international outrage, with US President Barack Obama calling it a "show trial" and a host of world leaders and celebrities calling for her release.

Ban has faced recent criticism for his softly-softly approach to the job of secretary general, but diplomats say he hopes his quiet brand of diplomacy will pay dividends with Myanmar's generals.

The visit is Ban's first to Myanmar since he persuaded the junta to accept international aid following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed around 138,000 people.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.

READ MORE---> UN chief set for fresh talks with Myanmar leader...

A legacy of mismanagement: the state of Burma's economy

If the money's not going to infrastructure development and rural credit systems, where is it going? How much is being spent on military hardware?


A Legacy of Mismanagement Jul09

READ MORE---> A legacy of mismanagement: the state of Burma's economy...

UN chief meets Burma leaders to discuss Suu Kyi

By: Bangkok Post-AFP

UN chief Ban Ki-moon met the reclusive head of Burma's military junta on Friday for what he said would be "tough talks" aimed at securing the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban flew into Naypyidaw, the remote stronghold of Senior General Than Shwe and his regime, shortly after a prison court adjourned the widely condemned trial of the detained Nobel Peace laureate for another week.

"This is my second time in your country and I am very pleased to continue our discussions. I appreciate your commitment to move your country forward," Ban said in his opening statement to Than Shwe.

"I would like to contribute, to work together, for peace and prosperity," he added.

The UN secretary general earlier said he would urge Than Shwe for permission to visit the 64-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred from house arrest to Rangoon's notorious Insein prison in May.

She has spent most of the past two decades in detention and now faces five years imprisonment if convicted on charges of violating her house arrest, after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.

"It is a very tough mission," Ban told reporters shortly after arriving in Rangoon earlier Friday.

"One of my objectives is to obtain the release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi," he said, adding that he would also "convey the concern of the international community" and press for reconciliation and democracy.

Rights groups warn that the trip will be a "huge failure" if he does not secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. Critics have accused the junta of using the trial to keep her locked up for elections promised in 2010.

She appeared in court Friday but the trial was adjourned for a week because the judges had not received an earlier judgement barring two defence witnesses, said Nyan Win, spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD).

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended the trial this morning but the court said that as they haven't got the case from the Supreme Court the trial is suspended to July 10," Nyan Win said.

The case has sparked international outrage, with US President Barack Obama calling it a "show trial" and a host of world leaders and celebrities calling for her release.

Ban earlier made an apparent reference to concerns over the timing of his visit while her trial is under way, saying he was aware that he was coming to Burma "under certain uncertainties."

"I will try to meet with representatives of all registered political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi, that's my hope. But I have to raise this issue with the senior general directly, in person," he said in Singapore on Thursday.

Ban will also meet with Prime Minister Thein Sein and representatives of all registered political parties and former armed groups while in Naypyidaw.

Ban has faced recent criticism for his softly-softly approach to the job of secretary general, but diplomats say he hopes his quiet brand of diplomacy will pay dividends with Burma's generals.

The visit is Ban's first to Burma since he persuaded the junta to accept international aid following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed around 138,000 people.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention or under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's victory in Burma's last elections, in 1990.

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Ban should not accept the apparent concession from the junta of returning her to house arrest, instead of imprisoning her, as a sign of a successful visit.

"Time and again, the UN has politely requested Aung San Suu Kyi's release, but her 'release' back to house arrest would be a huge failure," said Kenneth Roth, New York-based HRW's executive director.

Burma, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.

READ MORE---> UN chief meets Burma leaders to discuss Suu Kyi...

Two arrested, tortured without evidence after Three Pagodas bomb blast

HURFOM (Rehmonnya): Because two bombs exploded in Three Pagodas Town, the Burmese army ordered the residents to increase the security.

Some locals and ceasefire leaders told HURFOM that they expect that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) will attempt to use this event to ensnare cease-fire groups to act as Border Guard Forces (BGF).

The two bombs exploded on June 28th—the first at 8:20 p.m. near SPDC’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 32 and the second in the compound of the Military Intelligence Bureau about 3 minutes later. No injuries were reported.

Prior to the explosion, the SPDC arrested two people and later claimed they were responsible for the bombing. They tortured and detained them for a total of 5 hours.

One resident said, “The SPDC arrested two people, U Myo (55) and his son Pho La Pyae (20), who live in quarter No. 3, before the explosion happen at 8 p.m.…they were asked about the Karen National Union (KNU) Major Kyaw Htoo who came to their house.”

The resident added that the two men explained how they’d spoken to the KNU officer about trading wood and nothing more, though the SPDC nonetheless tortured and detained them until 1 a.m.”

A witness from the area told HURFOM, “the KNU Major Kyaw Htoo just came and talked about wood trading in U Myo’s house—everybody in Three Pagodas, who works with furniture shops and wood trading had been communicating with the KNU, because they get the wood from the KNU territory areas. If they didn’t have communication with the KNU, they couldn’t run their business easily in the area.”

A source in the area said, “the SPDC forced 5 residents and 5 soldiers to provide security in each quarter (1, 2, 3).”

He added that LIB 32 intimidated residents by saying that if they wouldn’t act as security, they would have to leave the area; he suspected that the explosion must be connected with the SPDC’s own activities.

The 58-year-old resident, who lives in quarter No. 3 said, “Because the security is very tight around those areas, it’s impossible for the others groups to explode [a bomb] in front the Military Intelligence Bureau compound and the in front of the IB 32. There is 24 hours security perimeter set up….most people think these may be the military’s [methods] of making the border seem insecure.”

According to the KNU brigade No.6, “The exploded bombs’ serial numbers were 99. We never use with our troops. We always use N81.”

The local people consider the explosion a scare tactic by the SPDC to force the cease-fire groups to become a Border Guard Force (BGF).

A source told HURFOM, “The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) spiritual leader abbot U Thuzan didn’t agree with becoming involved in the [SPDC-organized] BGF. Therefore, they have a problem making the decision to become a BGF. It seemed that this explosion would force them to take action [by becoming] a BGF.”

According to a former captain from the cease-fire group Karen Peace Force (KPF), “Even though [KPF] No. 3 battalion lieutenant colonel Lay War agreed to be a Border Guard Force, some still don’t agree with him. If our troops make a BGF troop, our troops become the SPDC. On the other hand, we don’t have [enough] Karen troops to defend our people. In my perspective, the SPDC [tries to] make the people scared and show reasonable cause for the ceasefire groups to participate in the BGF.”

The former KPF captain added that lieutenant colonel Lay War left the morning of June 30th to travel to the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw.

READ MORE---> Two arrested, tortured without evidence after Three Pagodas bomb blast...

Victims of the Great Dividing Game

By Joseph Allchin

(DVB)–When the pro-Burmese junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army commander San Pyone fell to an ambush on the Moei river last week, many assumed that he was the victim of a revenge attack.

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) opposition group was perhaps seeking retribution for his alleged involvement in last year’s assassination of Pado Mahn Shah, the then secretary of the Karen Nation Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA. Mahn Shah was said to have been a peaceable, diplomatic leader whose passing was strongly felt amongst the KNU members and followers.

Rumours are now circulating, however, that the KNLA may not have been involved in the ambush. Vice president of the KNU, David Thackrabaw, stops short of outright denial of KNLA involvement but has claimed in conversation with the author that they did not have forces in the area at the time, adding that “we don’t want to point fingers”.

Tellingly victims of the ambush have washed up in Mae Sot general hospital on the Thai side of the border, but they are not just from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). Amongst the injured is a Karen Peace Council (KPC) member whose wounds bare witness to an attack from both sides of the Moei river which separates Burma from Thailand. The KPC is a small group who splintered from the KNU with the aim of negotiating with the junta. Despite this, DVB has received an anonymous tip-off in the form of a letter that it was the splinter group who was responsible for the attack. The letter details Karen Peace Council anger at being excluded from lucrative smuggling concessions.

If the KNLA don’t have forces in the region and the ‘third front’, the KPC, have members amongst the attacked, this leaves a further two possible culprits. The Thai government was said to have had a warrant for the arrest of San Pyone for connection with the murder of Mahn Shah on Thai territory, but the likelihood of them taking to extra-judicial killings on both sides of the river seems slim despite recent skirmishes between the DKBA and Thai border forces.

Another possibility remaining is the Burmese government which, according to sources close to the KNU, has moved into the newly annexed camps of the KNLA and has forces near the would-be destination of the boat convoy.

After weeks of painful jungle advances, with troops falling to land mines, could the DKBA have had their crown pulled from their head?

This week a letter purportedly from a senior DKBA commander in Myaing Gyi Ngu was handed out in Mae La refugee camp in Thailand. The letter, whilst detailing a brief history of the politics of the region, took the form of an apology. It berated Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for their callous killing of Buddhist monks in the Saffron Revolution in 2007. It goes as far as apologising to the Karen people for collaborating with the SPDC.

It also noted some of the reasoning behind the DKBA;s existence; that the KNU was a Christian-dominated organisation, a divide no doubt sewn and encouraged by the SPDC. Whether this letter was mere propaganda, as many in Mae La suspected, its wider implications are hard to guess. But it certainly draws the eye to a potential antagonism or lack of harmony between the two allies.

Meanwhile, in the wards and corridors of Mae Sot hospital the soldiers of the DKBA lie outstretched, young boys feeling for where their limbs used to be. Next to them lie their countrymen of the KNLA, now united in the ignominy of being crippled fighting one another.

Why the DKBA do not seek treatment with their Burmese allies in Myawaddy explains a lot about the tragedy of this conflict. While the Burmese military receive proper treatment for their battle wounds, the Karen of the DKBA do not.

Therein lies a motive for the SPDC to annul their allies on the threshold of victory. San Pyone was viewed as an ambitious leader, perhaps too much so, and thus a risk for the SPDC. No faction or leader should be allowed to maintain power with which to compete for control, certainly not a leader who could command nationalistic sentiments.

Or could the ambush be a deliberate attempt by the KNLA not only to avenge but to sew divisions between two potent allies?

Whoever killed San Pyone, the history of Burma it seems is a continuous struggle between the centre and the various ethnic groups, with the former forever attempting to dominate the latter.

The ethos of divide and rule has been a spectacular success in Karen state for the SPDC. The province is a difficult area for demoralised troops to fight in, and the past 15 years have seen the Karen consume themselves and put an end to the most potent armed opposition the country has known.

Many of the DKBA claim their struggle is simply now to put an end to the war and live under an SPDC government. The divisive tactics of the SPDC are plain to see in almost every ethnic region where it is seeking to turn former independence armies into ‘border security forces’ under direct control of Naypyidaw. The fact of the matter seems to be that the SPDC will never allow autonomy to flourish here. Their aim of domination by whatever means necessary will always entail the full extent of coercive power.

READ MORE---> Victims of the Great Dividing Game...

INGOs Kept Waiting for Visas

By WAI SANN
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON—International aid workers are being kept waiting several weeks to get visas to enter Burma, according to international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) that are working for the recovery of cyclone-affected areas.

"This is a big headache for us,” an official from one of the INGOs told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. “I don't know why the TCG (Tripartite Core Group) stopped facilitating the process of visas for international aid workers.”

Until March this year, INGOS reported that the process for obtaining visas for their staff had become easier and did not take much time. They attributed this efficiency to the efforts of the TCG, which was established in May 2008 as a working mechanism for coordinating, facilitating and monitoring the flow of international assistance into cyclone-hit areas.

The TCG comprises a joint assessment team of representatives from the Burmese military government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United Nations.

The military government drew international criticism and condemnation for not allowing many international aid workers into the country in the wake of the Cyclone Nargis disaster on May 2-3 last year, which killed some 138,000 people in Burma and affected more than two million.

However, in the months following the cyclone, the TCG was relatively successful in persuading the military junta to allow international aid workers to obtain visas and get access to the cyclone-affected areas.

However, since March this year, the group has not been in a position to help the INGOs, forcing the aid workers to apply for visas by themselves in the traditionally slow and bureaucratic old system whereby aid workers have to apply for visas through the Burmese line ministries, which in turn submit their applications to the Foreign Affairs Policy Committee (FAPC).

The FAPC handles all kinds of visa applications, and reportedly meets only once a week to consider the INGO visa issues.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)/ Rangoon, there are over 200 visa applications pending with the FAPC.

“This bureaucracy mechanism certainly holds back our work, and slows down recovery efforts,” said an international aid worker working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

According to UN sources, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is currently frustrated by being unable to operate a helicopter for recovery efforts because one of its pilots has been waiting for a visa in Bangkok for more than three weeks.

“We UN personnel, and some NGO personnel, use this helicopter to go to places like Bogalay and Laputta. It will have a huge impact on our traveling to the cyclone-affected area, which in another way will also have impact on the recovery work,” an official from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said.

"My impression is that the government no longer wants to cooperate with us, and doesn't want us to be involved in the recovery efforts," said an official from an NGO that is helping cyclone survivors in Laputta Township.

He said that some of their international staff have been waiting outside the country for Burmese visas for over four weeks, but none of them has been informed why the FAPC has taken so long to process or review their visa applications.

"We're used to this sort of bureaucracy in Burma,” an NGO official said. “But the government should know this is a very important time for the cyclone survivors. We are helping those cyclone survivors whom they [the junta] don't want to help.

”The recovery phase has just begun,” the official added. “We need more assistance and more international aid workers.”

READ MORE---> INGOs Kept Waiting for Visas...

Aung San Suu Kyi supports Ban’s agenda: Lawyer

by Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is in complete agreement with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s three main points to resolve Burma’s political imbroglio during his two-day visit to Burma on Friday.

Speaking to Mizzima on Thursday, Nyan Win, lawyer of Aung San Suu Kyi said the detained Burmese democracy leader supports Ban’s major agendas to address the political deadlock in military ruled Burma.

“She said the three issues are worthy of discussion,” Nyan Win said.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s comment came because the UN Secretary General, during his stay in Burma, plans to resolve the issues of political prisoners, bring up the issue of resumption of dialogue between the government and the opposition, persuade the junta to initiate national reconciliation, and set the stage for credible elections slated for 2010.

Ban is due to meet Senior General Than Shwe and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD). However, it is uncertain whether he will get to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi met her lawyers Nyan Win, Kyi Win, Khin Htay Kywe and Hla Myo Myint in a guest house in Burma’s notorious Insein Prison at 1 pm on Tuesday.

“We discussed her case and how to deal with it during the trial to resume tomorrow,” Kyan Win said.

During the meeting with her lawyers, Aung Sang Suu Kyi said that she disagreed with some statements made by Khin Ye in a press conference held in Nayphidaw, the new jungle capital of Burma in the last week of June, regarding the cleaning of flotsam plant growing on the edge of Innya lake alongside her house and the her alleged non-cooperation with authorities over an American man John William Yettaw’s intrusion into her home in early May.

“The police chief said there is regular cleaning of flotsam on Innya Lake near her house. Suu Kyi said, the authorities had cleaned the plants once in six month after she complained to them several times,” Nyan Win said.

“She said that she reported about the first visit of Yettaw in 2008 to her house. But no investigation team came. In this situation, she said, how could she cooperate with them?” Nyan Win quoted her as saying.

Aung San Suu Kyi is being charged for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest and allegedly sheltering Yettaw, who swan to her lakeside home and stayed there for two nights.

If convicted, she is likely to face up to five years in detention. The testimony of the second defence witness, Khin Moh Moh will be heard on Friday.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial has sparked global and domestic outrage, followed by repeated calls for her immediate release.

READ MORE---> Aung San Suu Kyi supports Ban’s agenda: Lawyer...

Malaysia urged to stop caning immigrants

(news.com.au) Kuala Lumpur - Agence France-Presse

HUMAN rights watchdog Amnesty has urged Malaysia to abolish caning, saying that tens of thousands of migrants have received the "inhuman and degrading" punishment in recent years.

Amnesty cited a statement in Malaysian parliament last week that said local authorities had caned at least 34,923 migrants between 2002 and 2008, 60 per cent of them from neighbouring Indonesia.

"Amnesty International urges the Malaysian government to rid the country of this cruel punishment," the London-based group said.

"Whipping someone with a cane is cruel, inhuman and degrading, and international standards make clear that such treatment constitutes torture."

Apart from Indonesians, those caned were also from Bangladesh, India, Burma, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand.

Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third largest economy, has 2.2 million migrant workers in Malaysia, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.

The caning sentence was added to Malaysian immigration laws since 2002, amid concern over the ramifications of having a large migrant workforce. Under the laws, those staying in Malaysia illegally are subject to a mandatory whipping of up to six strokes of the cane, fines and up to five years in jail.

Caning is also carried out for serious offences including rape and drug trafficking.

"The practice is humiliating, and causes such pain that people have reportedly fainted. Those caned often carry scars, psychological as well as physical, for years," Amnesty said.

READ MORE---> Malaysia urged to stop caning immigrants...

North Korea fires four short-range missiles

By Lim Chang-Won
News.com.au - Agence France-Presse

* North Korea reportedly fires missiles
* US says they're not worried about attack
* Efforts to reign in rogue state continue

NORTH Korea has reportedly test-fired four short-range missiles, further fuelling tension sparked by its nuclear standoff with the international community, in a move the White House has called the latest in a string of "provocative" acts.

South Korean military officials said the missiles - apparently surface-to-ship ones - were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) between 5.20pm (6.20pm AEST) and 9.20pm (8.20pm AEST) local time. All were launched on Thursday from a base at Sinsang-ri, near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, a spokesman told the Yonhap news agency.

Other officials told the agency on condition of anonymity they landed about 100km off the coast, where the North has imposed a maritime ban until July 11 for what it calls a military drill.

Spokesmen from the defence ministry confirmed the first three firings but could not be reached for comment on the fourth.

It was the first military action the hardline communist state had taken since the United Nations on June 12 imposed tougher sanctions for its May 25 nuclear test.

South Korea's Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper, quoting an intelligence source, said the North was likely to fire a series of short-range missiles - including Scud-B missiles with a range of 340km - in the coming days. The North may also fire Rodongs, whose 1300km range would likely be shortened to about 400km for the current round of testing.

In the days after its atomic test - the second since 2006 - Pyongyang fired six short-range missiles and renounced the truce brokered on the Korean peninsula after a civil war in 1950 to 1953. In response to the UN resolution tightening curbs on its missile and atomic activities, it vowed to build more nuclear bombs.

World condemnation

US and South Korean officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, is staging a show of strength to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan involving his youngest son.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that broadly-backed international sanctions imposed on North Korea were starting to take effect and raised hopes that Pyongyang will yield to the pressure.

"The North Koreans said they were going to launch these missiles. I don't think that's surprising that they've launched these missiles. I take the North Koreans at their word that they're going to continue their provocative actions."

Washington has said it is not ruling out the possibility of a long-range missile launch toward Hawaii on or around July 4, the US Independence Day, although the Pentagon has expressed doubts about such a scenario.

A spokesman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Government is "very concerned" about the missile launches and called on North Korea to immediately desist.

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso also condemned yesterday's launches, saying: "We have repeatedly warned that such a provocative act is not beneficial for North Korea's national interest."

The commander of US Northern Command, General Victor Renuart, told The Washington Times he did not think Pyongyang's missiles posed any real threat to the US.

"The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defence capability. Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California ... give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that I've got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any US territory," he said.

In Beijing, a US delegation met officials yesterday for talks on giving the UN sanctions more teeth.

The support of China, the North's sole major ally and largest trade partner, is seen as crucial in making the sanctions stick.

Warships tracking suspected weapons

US warships have since mid-June been tracking a North Korean ship suspected of carrying weapons. The Kang Nam 1 was reportedly headed for Burma but US officials said on Tuesday it has now turned back.

China said its top envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue, Wu Dawei, had begun a visit to Russia, the United States, Japan and South Korea.

They are members of a forum which has tried since 2003 to persuade the North to scrap its nuclear programmes in return for energy aid and diplomatic and security benefits.

The North announced it was quitting the talks after the UN censured its long-range rocket launch on April 5.

North and South Korea meanwhile held more talks about the fate of their last major joint business project, the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial estate just north of the border.

But they failed to narrow differences or set the date for their next meeting, Seoul officials said.

READ MORE---> North Korea fires four short-range missiles...

Suu Kyi trial postponed as UN chief arrives in Burma

(DVB)–Judges at the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi have adjourned the next hearing until 10 July on the day UN Secretary General arrives in Burma for high-profile talks with government leaders.

The trial was due to resume today, and would have coincided with the first day of a two-day visit to the country by Ban Ki-moon, during which he will meet with Senior General Than Shwe and members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Pressure on Ban Ki-moon to achieve results is huge, although he told the BBC recently that he “[does] not believe my trip should be seen as a make or break event”, although said yesterday that the trip would be “very difficult”.

In the face of near certainty that Suu Kyi’s trial will end in a guilty verdict, Ban has said he will strongly urge the ruling junta to release all political prisoners and create conditions necessary for free and fair elections next year.

Earlier this week an appeal to allow two of Suu Kyi’s witnesses to testify in her defence, following their disqualification in May, was rejected, leaving her with just two witnesses.

The Insein prison courtroom where Suu Kyi is on trial announced this morning that the next hearing had been adjourned until 10 July.

“We arrived to the courtroom around 10am [today], as scheduled for the hearing, and a judge told us we are reappointed to July 10,” said one of the remaining witness, Khin Moe Moe.

The reason, she said, was that Suu Kyi case file “has not yet arrived back from the central court”.

“There is no huge distance between the central court and this court [in Insein prison] but I don’t understand why it has to take them so long transferring a case file,” she said, adding that they had been allowed to meet with Suu Kyi.

All four defendants – Suu Kyi, her two caretakers Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, and John Yettaw – were present this morning, Khin Moe Moe said.

Reporting by Naw Say Paw

READ MORE---> Suu Kyi trial postponed as UN chief arrives in Burma...

Burmese elite enjoy times of plenty

By Amy Kazmin

(FT) -It’s nearly midnight on Saturday and the dance floor of DJ’s Bar in Rangoon is packed with Burmese youth, grooving to throbbing house music as red, green and yellow light beams flash and slice across the room.

The revellers – young men with hair gelled into modish styles and young women wearing mini-skirts and clutching mobile phones – have each paid a $10 cover charge to enter, a steep price in a land where university lecturers earn just $80 (£50, €57) a month.

Yet the hefty charges are no barrier for these affluent, well connected members of an emergent Burmese elite with money to burn.

“People are spending money – and it’s not just a half a dozen of the regime cronies,” says one foreign diplomat in Rangoon.

Burma’s resource-rich economy, a treasure trove of natural gas, precious gems and valuable hardwood, has long been squeezed by the twin pressures of western sanctions and a military junta with a weak grasp of economics and little faith in civilian technocrats.

That no-win combination has left most of Burma’s 52m people struggling to get by, with their frustration boiling over into mass protests in 2007.

Yet amid the widespread hardship, Rangoon, the dilapidated former colonial capital, is acquiring a veneer of wealth, as a privileged elite enjoys unprecedented times of plenty, two decades after the military abandoned its autarkic “Burmese way to socialism”.

Today, Burmese with the right military connections are profiting from access to natural resources, government construction contracts and privileges including the right to engage in international trade, still tightly controlled by the regime.

In the commodity boom, Burma’s agricultural exports soared to $2bn, up from $300m a few years earlier, doing little for farmers, but enriching urban traders. “There is economic activity going on,” the foreign diplomat said. “The vast majority of trade is with Burma’s immediate neighbours, and there is a lot of investment and a lot of exports.”

Growth in tourism and other forms of commerce has created a small cadre of professionals. “More people are getting management roles and seeing salaries rise,” said the diplomat.

Meanwhile, signs of affluence are everywhere. Stylish-looking new condominiums are sprouting near the city’s lakes, and prime real estate prices have tripled over the past five years. Colonial-era wooden bungalows are being replaced by ostentatious mansions with Greco-Roman columns.

Young men drive souped-up Jeeps painted lemon yellow or ultra-violet while their elders display their wealth in expensive imported Land Cruisers and Pajeros. Swanky boutiques proliferate, with names such as the Sky Princess beauty salon, We and We interior design, and She Shines jewellery.

Yet some savvy Burmese business people say Rangoon’s spurt of highly conspicuous consumption reflects the economy’s deep malaise – including its dysfunctional banking system and rampant inflation – rather than its fundamental health.

Although Burma has about a dozen private banks, they are hampered by regime rules that cap their deposit-taking at just 10 per cent of their paid-in capital, preventing them from channelling surplus household cash into productive investment. According to the IMF, the ratio of bank deposits, and credit to the private sector, to gross domestic product has fallen sharply over the past eight years.

With inflation running at about 30 per cent, many Burmese are pouring their surplus cash into hard assets that they feel will at least hold their value – if not appreciate. “You can’t put it in the bank so you put your money in cars or a nice new house to keep the value of the money,” said one business person.

But Burma’s asset bubble may be about to burst. Many of the Rangoon condos have been developed by companies that received prime urban land as part of their payment for helping to build the junta’s new capital city far to the north and its $3.5bn new airport. Many of the units are unsold, leaving the companies struggling to recover costs.

Senior General Than Shwe, the junta’s head, has apparently ordered the government to balance its budget, which has been in deficit for years, ahead of the regime’s planned elections next year, which could create a squeeze on liquidity and bring the spending spree to a halt.

“No one is getting any more money,” said one economist. “Businessmen are also quite fed up. They want change.”

READ MORE---> Burmese elite enjoy times of plenty...

UN Chief Denied Suu Kyi Visit

By JOHN HEILPRIN / ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
The Irrawaddy News

NAYPYIDAW—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that Burma’s junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe rejected his initial request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a rocky start to what he has called "a very tough mission" to win her freedom.

Ban emerged from a two-hour meeting with Than Shwe, saying he still hoped to meet the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate before he leaves the country on Saturday.

"I told him that I wanted to meet her, but he told me that she is [on] trial," Ban told reporters afterward. "But I told him that this is my proposal, and this is important, and I'm waiting for their reply."

The two met in an ornate reception hall with a colonnaded walkway and an indoor waterfall in Naypyidaw, the junta's remote administrative capital.

If Ban is allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, he will be the first UN secretary-general to do so since her first period of detention started in 1989.

Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest.

In May, she was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man allegedly swam to her lakeside home in May and stayed for two days. She has pleaded not guilty and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

The trial has sparked outrage from world leaders, Hollywood celebrities, other Nobel laureates and human rights groups who say the military-controlled government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi behind bars through elections scheduled for 2010.

The elections are part of the junta's "roadmap to democracy," which critics say is a sham designed to cement the military's four-decade grip on power.

Ban said he also urged Than Shwe to "accelerate the process of democratization" and reiterated calls for the junta to free its estimated 2,100 political prisoners ahead of the elections.

"I was assured that the Myanmar authorities will make sure that this election will be held in a fair and free and transparent manner," he said, without elaborating.

Shortly after the UN chief arrived on Friday, the court presiding over Suu Kyi's widely criticized trial announced an adjournment until July 10. The trial had been set to resume after a month-long delay during which lawyers appealed the court's decision to ban three key defense witnesses, one of whom was reinstated by an appeals court.

Defense witness Khin Moe Moe — a lawyer and member of the NLD— was due to testify on Friday, but the presiding judge told lawyers that the case file had not yet been returned by the appeals court that had ruled to reinstate the witness, said attorney Nyan Win.

Suu Kyi is being detained at Burma’s notorious Insein Prison, as is 53-year-old John William Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, the intruder who is charged with trespassing.

Suu Kyi's opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Burma’s generals refused to relinquish power. Her latest six-year round of house arrest was to expire last month.

Her supporters fear that Suu Kyi will be found guilty because the courts are under the influence of the ruling junta and usually mete out harsh punishment for political dissidents.

Ban was also scheduled to meet ethnic minority groups and leaders of political parties, including senior members of the NLD, who were driven to Naypyidaw, government officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the itinerary.

Ban had previously said his talks would focus on "three of the most important issues for the future of Myanmar." They are gaining the release of all political prisoners including Suu Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the military government and its opposition; and creating conditions for credible elections.

Human Rights Watch urged Ban to make the trip "meaningful" after years of failed UN attempts to win Suu Kyi's freedom and promote democratic reforms.

"Time and again, the UN has politely requested Aung San Suu Kyi's release, but her 'release' back to house arrest would be a huge failure," Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "He should make it clear that the time for stalling and playing games is over and that real change is needed now."

READ MORE---> UN Chief Denied Suu Kyi Visit...

Junta Itself is Main ‘Sanction’ on Burma: Expert

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

The economic policies of Burma’s ruling junta have done far more damage to the country’s prospects for development than international sanctions, according to Sean Turnell, a specialist on the Burmese economy from Australia’s McQuarie University.

“Burma is not poor because of sanctions,” said Turnell, who produces Burma Economic Watch, a periodical that monitors economic developments in one of the world’s poorest countries. “The biggest sanction on Burma is the Burmese regime itself.”

Turnell told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the junta’s “willful mismanagement” of the economy, including its refusal to respect property rights, is the main obstacle to Burma’s economic development.

In a wide-ranging discussion on the current state of the Burmese economy, Turnell said that the regime has “deliberately suppressed the history of Burma’s economic success” during the parliamentary period (1948-62), when the newly independent nation made a remarkable recovery from the devastation wrought by the Second World War.

“Burma doesn’t need a foreign model of development,” he said. “It just needs to look at its own history.”

After more than four-and-a-half decades of military rule, however, Burma’s rulers have completely lost touch with economic reality, he said, making the country a “very, very high-risk environment” for potential foreign investors.

Burma has been subject to Western economic sanctions since the current regime seized power in a bloody coup in 1988. Since then, however, the junta has strengthened its economic ties with its neighbors, particularly China and Thailand.

Singapore has also played a key role in supporting the regime, providing the generals with an offshore shelter for revenues from Burma’s exports of gas and other natural resources, according to Turnell.

The generals are believed to have pocketed at least US $2.5 billion from the sale of natural gas to more developed countries in the region. None of this money has been used to alleviate poverty or build a stronger economy, said Turnell.

Burma has been designated one of the world’s least developed countries by the United Nations for more than 20 years. On a UN Web site, Burma is described as “a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty.”

“[T]he military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the ‘Burmese Way to Socialism,’ but those efforts have since stalled,” according to the UN Web site.

In the Human Development Index 2008 Update, Burma’s per capita GDP (US $881 in 2006) ranked 163th out of 178 countries in the world.

Although the junta’s official statistics claim that the Burmese economy is growing at around 10 percent annually, Turnell said that various indicators, including weak domestic energy consumption, suggest that the economy is actually contracting.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest report on Burma, the country’s real GDP growth for 2009 is projected to be only one percent, “owing to a combination of domestic factors and the impact of the global downturn.”

READ MORE---> Junta Itself is Main ‘Sanction’ on Burma: Expert...

Weekly Eleven lambasts RFA and Mizzima

by Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- A weekly Journal in Rangoon has lambasted the Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Mizzima News over the report of a journalist who tried to photograph an A/H1N1 patient in the military ruled Southeast Asian country.

Weekly Eleven on its website (www.first-11.com) criticized the two media outfits saying it was an “act of violating the journalistic code”, for allegedly using a second source based story related to its reporter Win Myint Kyaw, saying neither sought confirmation from the journal.

The reporter, on June 28, sneaked into the room, where the A/H1N1 virus infected school girl had been confined, in Rangoon General Hospital in a bid to collect information and to take her picture.

The authorities arrested Win Myint Kyaw and took him to ‘Waibarge’ Epidemic Hospital in Rangoon.

Regarding the incident, Washington based RFA’s Burmese programme on Wednesday quoted a reporter in Burma, who said that authorities detained Win Myint Kyaw when he was trying to take a picture of the patient in the hospital.

However, Weekly Eleven in its website said that the reporter was not arrested but on the request of the authorities, was taken to hospital in Rangoon for tests to find out whether he was also infected by A/H1N1.

Similarly, Mizzima News report on June 29, which quoted one of the medical specialists in Rangoon General Hospital, said the authorities detained a reporter (without mentioning the journal’s name), who secretly entered the quarantine room and tried to take photographs after bribing the duty guard. The reporter was taken in so as to be quarantined as he was not well protected with preventive equipment.

Though, Weekly Eleven contended that Win Myint Kyaw used a surgical mask when he went in for collecting information, the journal failed to mention the suspension of the hospital guard which Mizzima News mentioned.

Moreover, RFA also reported that the authorities will take action against Weekly Eleven’s reporter who entered into a quarantined area of the hospital without permission.

However, Weekly Eleven said there is no A/H1N1 virus found in Win Myint. He will be released after 10 days of being kept under surveillance.

READ MORE---> Weekly Eleven lambasts RFA and Mizzima...