Exiled Dissident Visits Burma
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By WAI MOE Friday, September 5, 2008
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An exiled Burmese dissident who recently traveled back to his troubled homeland said that the purpose of his visit was to gain a better understanding of the economic and humanitarian challenges facing the country, not to talk politics.
Zaw Oo, head of the Vahu Development Institute, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, told The Irrawaddy that he made a four-day trip to Burma in July as an economist interested in the weaknesses exposed by Cyclone Nargis, the biggest natural disaster to strike the country in generations.
Zaw Oo, head of the Vahu Development Institute
The prominent exiled dissident added that he did not discuss politics during his visit. He also confirmed that he was planning to return to Burma again in the near future.
Returning to Burma for the first time in nearly two decades, Zaw Oo said he was saddened by the widespread poverty that he witnessed there.
As a former policy advisor to the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the government in exile, and director of the Burma Fund, the NCGUB’s think tank, he was once an outspoken opponent of the regime. He was also a leader of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, an insurgent group formed by Burmese students in 1988.
Some Burmese activists in exile compared Zaw Oo’s trip to one made by Zarni, co-founder of the Free Burma Coalition, in May 2004. Sources close to the Burmese authorities said, however, that the two trips were handled very differently by officials.
During his one-day trip, Zarni met with high-ranking military intelligence officers, including members of a think tank formed by Brig-Gen Than Tun and Col Hla Min, deputies of the former spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt.
Zaw Oo, by contrast, met mainly with lower ranking figures, including an officer of the Military Security Affairs, which replaced the Military Intelligence Service after the ouster of Gen Khin Nyunt in Oct 2004. Sources also said that Zaw Oo faced some problems applying for a visa.
Zaw Oo denied this, and said that he was well-treated by the authorities when he was in Burma. He said that he met with all of the officials he needed to meet, adding, however, that the meetings were not held formally.
He declined to provide any details about the ranks of the officials he met.
Yin Yin Oo, the sister of Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu and an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reportedly played a significant role in helping Zaw Oo to get a visa, according to sources in Rangoon.
Zaw Oo said that his trip wasn’t like Zarni’s because he didn’t go to Burma to talk about politics. “I only talked about Nargis and economic issues there,” he said.
He said that the impact of Cyclone Nargis made many government officials realize that there is a need for change. He added that UN relief experts now have ministerial-level access to the government.
He also said that his trip made him realize that many exiles don’t have a complete picture of the situation inside Burma.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Exiled Dissident Visits Burma -IRRAWADDY
Thai voters to decide on stand-off
Thai voters to decide on stand-off
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
Published: September 4 2008 03:10 | Last updated: September 4 2008 16:36
Thailand’s embattled prime minister plans to hold a referendum to resolve a stand-off between his administration and protesters seeking to oust him and prompt an overhaul of the political system.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
New guise as defender of Thai democracy - Sep-04Pressure mounts for Thai PM to quit - Sep-03Thai PM declares state of emergency - Sep-02Thai protests seek overhaul of democracy - Sep-02Editorial comment: Thailand must resist mob rule - Sep-02Fall in oil boosts jittery Asian markets - Sep-02On Thursday, after firmly rejecting suggestions that he dissolve parliament and call fresh elections, Samak Sundaravej said he would ask voters to decide how the crisis should be resolved.
The cabinet approved the referendum plan in a special meeting, although a government spokesman said ministers had not yet decided precisely what questions should be on the ballot. The Senate must also approve a referendum law before the vote can take place.
In an early-morning radio address, Mr Samak said Thais must choose between parliamentary democracy and the so-called “new politics” proposed by the People’s Alliance for Democracy, whose supporters are disillusioned with “one man, one vote” and want to see a primarily appointed legislature.
“I will not resign and I will not dissolve parliament. I will stay on to protect democracy,” Mr Samak said. “I control this boat and I will not jump ship.”
However, members of the PAD, who led the 2006 protests against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, that precipitated a military coup, made it clear that the referendum proposal was not sufficient for them to end their 10-day occupation of Government House, Mr Samak’s office.
“As long as he insists on staying on, we will not go anywhere,” said Sondhi Limthongkul, a media boss who is one of the key PAD leaders. “It doesn’t matter how many days or years, or even into the next life.”
After half-hearted police efforts to evict the protesters and a clash between PAD members and government supporters that left one person dead, Mr Samak declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Tuesday, in effect handing control of the capital to the military to restore order.
The army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, has refused to use force against PAD supporters, who are armed with machetes, golf clubs and some firearms. They have erected tyre and razor-wire barricades around Government House.
Chaturon Chaiseng, deputy prime minister under Mr Thaksin, said the army’s refusal to obey orders and enforce the emergency edict was “80 per cent of a coup already”.
In another setback, Mr Samak confirmed that Tej Bunnag, a career diplomat with close ties to the palace, had resigned as foreign minister, a fresh blow to the administration. “Mr Tej is a bureaucrat,’’ Mr Samak said. “He doesn’t have the kind of toughness politicians have.’’
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Burma’s junta ‘gave best help in cyclone’
Note by Phone Hlaing-These doctors and nurses are doing their best but not by the order of Burmese Junta so we cannot give the Junta credit here .I believe that there is a some kind of misinterpretation.
Burma’s junta ‘gave best help in cyclone’
By Andrew Jack in London
Published: September 3 2008 17:18 | Last updated: September 3 2008 17:18
The Burmese authorities were by far the greatest providers of medical assistance to its population after cyclone Nargis despite the widespread international criticism of a poor response by the military junta, according to an analysis released on Wednesday.
A report summarised in the latest issue of the World Health Organisation’s Bulletin says government doctors, nurses and midwives were far more active in offering treatment and medicines to cyclone survivors than non-governmental organisations and individual volunteers.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Laura Bush urges China to act on Burma - Aug-07Beijing holds key to change in Burma - Aug-07In depth: Burma - Nov-15Activists accuse insurers on Burma - Jul-29Burma aid lost to regime - Jul-25Burma cyclone ‘caused $4bn in damage’ - Jul-21The findings partially contradict perceptions based on the reluctance of the Burmese authorities to reveal the extent of the crisis and its slowness in allowing foreign official and private charitable assistance to help with relief operations.
While there were widespread unmet medical needs after the cyclone in May, Richard Garfield from the WHO’s health and nutrition tracking service, who co-ordinated the study, said: “We discovered to our surprise because of such bad PR that there was large-scale mobilisation by government around the country.”
Although the study was conducted on behalf of the Burmese authorities, the UN and Asean, Mr Garfield insisted that the findings were objective.
The study, which covered nearly 3,000 households most affected by Nargis in south-west Burma, also identified that among the survivors, diarrhoea and the common cold were by far the most widespread problems, rather than trauma, wounds and more serious infectious diseases such as cholera, as some experts had warned.
Of the 85,000 estimated killed and a further 54,000 missing after the cyclone last May, there were twice as many women who died as men. That confirms for the first time anecdotal evidence never previously quantified from other natural disasters, including the 2004 Asian tsunami which claimed more than 200,00 lives.
Mr Garfield said the reasons included the fact that many women in the region had never learned to swim, were killed while trying to save their children, or were too weak to hold on to trees and other objects to keep them safe over long periods until water levels dropped.
He said one set of lessons from Nargis should be the introduction of swimming lessons for women, and family evacuation training designed to encourage men to look after older children – which requires greater strength – while women should care for babies.
The study also found that the most effective assistance came from countries near Burma. “It was more culturally appropriate and got there in time,” he said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
David Cameron: Democracy should be the work of patient craftsmanship
"I am delighted to be here in Islamabad. In three days' time Pakistan will elect a new President. He will inherit serious challenges. But he will also inherit the hopes of the 160 million people of this country, hopes that there's now a chance to entrench democracy and bring rising growth and prosperity.
"We in Britain stand foursquare with those who want democracy to succeed in Pakistan. Almost one million British citizens of Pakistani origin live in Britain. Every year hundreds of thousands travel between Pakistan and Britain. Those facts alone mean that the futures of our two countries are intertwined.
"But it's not just the future of Pakistan, or Britain, that I want to talk about today. Because I believe that some of the questions that Pakistan and Britain most urgently need to address are also among the greatest - and gravest - questions for the 21st century world:
"How best to sustain democracy in places where it has a chequered history - or indeed no history.
How to tackle the rise of violent extremism, and the threat posed by modern terrorism.
How to re-build failing or failed states.
How to prevent nuclear proliferation.
And how to tackle social injustice in a world where globalisation has lifted millions out of poverty, but where millions remain stranded and apparently forgotten.
"In eight weeks, Americans will elect a new President. These great questions will crowd in on the new occupant of the Oval Office. And of course I hope that before too long, following elections in my own country, there will also be a new occupant of No.10 Downing Street. Today I want to explain how I would approach some of these great questions of our time.
LIBERAL CONSERVATISM
"My starting point is the philosophy that I believe in the philosophy that I would apply to international affairs if elected. I am a liberal Conservative. Liberal - because I believe in freedom, human rights and democracy, and I want to see more of these things in our world. But Conservative, because I believe strongly in the continued relevance of the nation state and because I am sceptical of grand utopian schemes to re-make the world according to a politician's timetable. My instinct is to work patiently with the grain of human nature; with the flow of culture, tradition and history.
DEMOCRACY
"Those of us who believe in the goal of spreading democracy need to explain why we believe this is important before we explain how.
"For me, democracy is not just a goal in itself. It is our best available mechanism for lasting good government that delivers economic, social and environmental progress. Democracies tend not to go to war with each other. Democracies offer a structure in which differences - including territorial and ethnic disputes - can be debated and resolved. Democracy gives every citizen a say.
"But the case for democracy needs to be remade and refreshed in every generation. Because there are always powerful forces which seek to stifle the universal human hunger for freedom. And I use the word "universal" because democracy is not the property of the West, nor an import to the East, it's not a system we impose, nor a value unique to any culture.
"Two hundred years ago in Britain it was argued that the vote was so important it could only be handled by men of property. But the argument was won for reform. Then it was argued that while all men could vote it would be too dangerous to extend democracy to women - but the argument was won for reform.
"But while some prejudices were being dismantled - others remained. They said democracy could never take root in countries like Germany or Japan. They were, apparently, too militarist, too authoritarian, too anti-liberal. But both are now flourishing, exemplary, democracies - standing rebukes to the prejudices of the past.
"It has been argued that there's really no appetite for democracy in Asia that the great nations of the East have their own special way, a path which leads away from democracy. Tell that to the people of Burma. Or Thailand. Or the Philippines. Tell that to the dissidents of China. Those who argue that democracy is somehow un-Chinese should brush up on their Confucius. As the Master says in the Analects, "One may rob an army of its commander-in chief: one cannot deprive the humblest man of his free will."
"Today people say that democracy can never take root in Muslim lands, or that democracy is un-Islamic. I regard that view as another prejudice, like all those prejudices from the past, which seek to deny human dignity. As Benazir Bhutto argued so powerfully in the book she wrote before she was murdered, there is nothing in Islam, and nothing in Islamic nations, which means that those nations cannot be democracies.
"Quite the opposite. There are majority Muslim nations like Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey which are all democratic. There are Muslim voices, in Iran, in Egypt, in Lebanon and in Palestine which speak up for democracy.
"After Communism fell, it became widely accepted that the forward march of democracy and liberal values was both desirable and inevitable. The pace and the route might have been uncertain, but the ultimate global destination was clear.
"Things do not seem so certain today. Robert Kagan and others argue that the rise of China, and the resurgence of Russia, call into question the assumption that the growth of economic liberty would eventually lead to a global embrace of liberal political values. The rise of these autocracies, some believe, offers an alternative political model rising living standards in a framework of order, unencumbered by the chaotic inefficiencies of Western democracy.
"At the same time, the Western democracies have faced problems of their own. The experience of trying to build democracies in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and the way in which Western democracies have conducted some aspects of the fight against terrorism have undermined our standing in the world.
"So faced with these challenges, what is the liberal Conservative response? I believe there should be five essential steps to our response.
"First, we must hold fast to our values. Second, the democracies must stick together. Third, we need to understand the full nature of the threats that face us. Fourth, we must display stamina and patience. And finally we must always strive to act with moral authority.
"Let me take each in turn. Holding fast to the basic idea not losing confidence in freedom, human rights and democracy that is the liberal part of liberal Conservatism, and we should welcome the opportunity to make the case for the open and plural society once again. But we should also remember the Conservative part. We should accept that we cannot impose democracy at the barrel of a gun; that we cannot drop democracy from 10,000 feet - and we shouldn't try.
"Put crudely, that was what was wrong with the 'neo-con' approach, and why I am a liberal Conservative, not a neo - Conservative. I believe we should work patiently and steadfastly to advance liberal values wherever we can to build the characteristics of an open society wherever we can confident that in time, democracy will result.
"Yes we want to see more democracy in the sense of free and fair elections. But true democracy is not just about elections - far from it.
"That's why we should also press for the other essential components of a genuinely democratic state. For the rule of law, backed by an independent judiciary, which is the best protection against the arbitrary abuse of power. For open markets, which open minds as well as produce prosperity. For free media, the best weapon against corruption. Without these, democracy exists in virtual form only.
"The right to vote without the right to speak, to organise and to criticise is not real democracy. The right to vote without the right of every citizen to be equal before the law, administered by judges acting without fear or favour, is not real democracy.
"Last week the Russian foreign minister claimed that "a real, competitive environment has taken shape in the market of ideas". But Russia is closing independent newspapers, shutting down internet chat rooms, and intimidating those who disagree with the state. And Russia's recent invasion of Georgia provides the second element of the liberal Conservative approach to sustaining democracy.
RUSSIA
"The second essential step is one of solidarity: the democracies must stick together. They are stronger when they stand together.
"As a country that has recently reasserted its democracy, you understand that very well. The importance of standing together is one reason why I felt so strongly about what has happened many miles away from here in the Caucasus and why I felt it was important to go to Tbilisi and underline my support for Georgia at this decisive moment in its history.
"Russia's invasion of a sovereign neighbour has served as a brutal wake-up call. So too has its behaviour after the invasion totally ignoring the terms of the agreement which President Medvedev signed up to issuing military threats to Poland and boasting about being prepared for a new Cold War.
"According to the Russians, as Philip Stephens has noted, this is somehow all our, or rather the West's, fault. If only we hadn't provoked the Russians by welcoming the likes of Ukraine and Georgia into the democratic community of nations. If only we had, instead, slammed the door shut when they - and the former subjects of the Soviet Empire from the Baltic to the Balkans - had sought to protect their security as part of NATO and enhance their prosperity by joining the EU. That is Russia's claim. There are some who echo it.
"We need to show greater understanding of Russia's position, they argue - of her historic anxieties about encirclement, and her difficulties in adapting to the loss of empire. I take a different view. What Russia has done is profoundly wrong. It cannot be excused, condoned or explained away. Russia's actions in Georgia throw into sharp relief the new shape of old powers.
"Russia, like China, is a formidable nation with a great history and understandable pride in its rich culture. They are both nations whose weight on the world stage is growing - and adjusting to that will be one of the central foreign policy challenges of the new century. But we would be foolish to do so by abandoning our principles or forgetting our history.
"So we cannot accept that Russia is merely re-asserting the principle inherited from the Tsars and from Stalin that what happens in its 'near abroad' is Russia's business and that those unfortunate countries who inhabit its borders have only limited sovereignty.
"The democratic choices that states like Georgia or Ukraine, or Poland or Estonia, make today are matters for them and their electorates. They are not tributary nations.
"Russia has nothing to fear from these democracies, or from the European Union or NATO. But Russia's invasion of Georgia has convinced its neighbours that they have plenty to fear. At one go, it has confirmed the continuing relevance of NATO and of the transatlantic bond. But this attitude should not be misread - by Russia or anyone else. We want a decent relationship with Russia. We have not attempted, as it is alleged, to humiliate Russia over the last twenty years. We have tried to welcome her into international institutions like the G8. We have held out the hand of friendship to post-imperial Russia, and we want to continue to do so. But we cannot conduct business as usual with a country that invades its neighbours.
"Now is the time to take a long-term and united view, particularly in Europe. There must be no more scurrying of European leaders to Moscow to compete for Mr Putin's favours. This got us nowhere. And let's be clear the EU does not need a new Treaty to work out an agreed policy on Russia, taking account of the views of Russia's neighbours in Eastern Europe, who are now our full partners.
"It was right that the EU summit two days ago sent a firm message that it is not business as usual with Russia while it behaves in this way. We cannot start talks on a new EU-Russia strategic partnership against this background. And at the same time, we must step up our support for Georgia, for example by accelerating its free trade agreement with the EU and helping to rebuild what Russia has destroyed.
"That is the liberal Conservative way: patiently but firmly upholding the principles of freedom, human rights and democracy confident that these liberal values will in the end prevail.
TERRORISM
"The third essential step is to ensure we understand the true nature of the modern threats we face. Today none is greater than that posed by terrorism. We can see that clearly in both Britain and Pakistan.
"Pakistan has suffered terribly at the hands of terrorism. 56 suicide bombs in 2007, over 640 dead and injured. It is an appalling - and rising - toll of misery. In Britain, we have had our own attacks, and many more attempted attacks which have been thwarted - some thanks to co-operation with Pakistan, for which we are grateful.
"Let's be clear that the threat we face - principally from Al Qaeda and its affiliates - remains a formidable danger to your society and to mine. So there is no choice but to face up to that fact, and to act. This is not the same as previous terrorist threats, as they are prepared to use any weapon and kill any number. There is no set of legitimate demands that can be acceded to in order to make the terrorists go away. You have a new, elected government, with the legitimacy it needs to take on the extremists.
"As Ahmed Rashid and others have argued, whatever the roots of the Taliban, whatever the encouragement and sanctuary they may have been given in the past, today they are a threat to Pakistan as much as any other country. The longer the Taliban can operate with relative freedom in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, the more they will threaten not just the future of Afghanistan but the future - some would say the survival - of Pakistan itself.
"Forgive my candour. But it is the candour of a friend. The truth is that we will only tackle this scourge successfully if we work together.
"Bluntly, we need each other. We need you to bear down on extremists, including those madrassas that are indoctrinating and recruiting young people. We need you - and I do not underestimate the difficulty of what I am saying - to bring greater governance and control to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, to disrupt Taliban activity there, and to deny them as a safe haven for terrorists. We need your continued co-operation on counter-terrorism, and we need to be sure that all your governmental agencies are fully committed to this goal.
"Because - and I say this not in a spirit of recrimination - it is on your commitment to delivering these goals that Pakistan's international reputation will depend. So for your own sake, as well as ours, this is an issue on which there is no room for ambivalence. Since democracy does indeed require the rule of law, it must also involve unrelenting efforts to defeat terrorism. But when I say we need each other, I mean it. We are in this together, as equal partners, two sovereign countries working shoulder to shoulder to deal with a problem that affects us both. It must be a partnership that takes proper account of local sensitivities and cultures. A co-operation which implements solutions both our countries can get behind.
"You are fully entitled to expect us to step up to the plate too. By doing more to tackle extremism in Britain. By enforcing our own laws properly, including for terrorists who threaten Pakistan from the UK. By instituting effective border controls which monitor the movement of people across them and do not allow individuals who are wanted to slip through the net. By striking the right balance between liberty and security. By working much harder, as Sayeeda Warsi and others in my party are doing, to foster greater community cohesion, and a greater sense amongst minority communities of belonging to a country in which they too can be proud, not least by celebrating the huge contribution that British citizens with links to Pakistan make to our country.
STEADFASTNESS
"This brings me to my fourth essential step: in both our promotion of democracy and in our fight against extremist terror we must demonstrate patience and humility; commitment and stamina.
"Freedom, human rights and democracy take root over decades, not years. A liberal Conservative approach recognises that democracy must be built around the institutions, habits and culture of each country. Democracy should be the work of patient craftsmanship and not of a uniform mass production line, if the final product is to be of a quality that endures.
"We need to learn from the mistakes that have been made in the recent past, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. A failure to plan properly a naïve and unrealistic assessment of the scale and the speed of the progress that would be possible a lack of understanding of the situation on the ground and a failure to appreciate that establishing security must be the absolute and over-riding priority from day one.
"One of the many unfortunate side effects of the invasion of Iraq was that we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan. We failed to roll out security beyond Kabul from the very beginning. And our approach to development, to better governance, to building up the Afghan National Army was half-hearted in the first few years, when there was enormous goodwill towards the international community. We missed that opportunity.
MORAL AUTHORITY
"And we are letting ourselves down - all of us, everywhere - if in addressing these complex and challenging international questions whether in relation to the spread of freedom, human rights and democracy or the fight against terrorism or dealing with failed and failing states if we forget the fifth vital step. We must uphold moral authority.
"Of course the conduct of international affairs must always be tempered by realism. But these great international challenges of the 21st century they are moral questions, not just questions of realpolitik. We must strive to address these questions in a way that is consistent and enhances our reputation rather than undermines it.
"A moral mission requires moral methods. We must not stoop to illiberalism, whether at Guantanamo Bay or by passing legislation for excessive periods of detention without trial. We must not turn a blind eye to the excesses of our allies - abuses of human rights in some Arab countries, for example. Otherwise might becomes the only standard of right, we open ourselves to charges of hypocrisy, and we sink in the eyes of the world.
"Indeed, having just come from Helmand Province, I've seen how badly the essential steps of a liberal Conservative approach are needed on the ground. Confident support from fellow democracies. Understanding the threat we face and understanding that it is not a question of a security response alone. Showing patience, humility, commitment and stamina. And acting with moral authority.
"Afghanistan is an example of how this should apply in practice. Afghanistan needs Pakistan's help and support, and that is in your interests too: solidarity with a democratic Afghanistan is what will deliver strategic stability in this region. An unstable Afghanistan is a threat to Pakistan, because Taliban extremism and links to terrorism are the biggest threat to the stability of this country.
"Pakistan's support helps make clear that our effort in Afghanistan is about extending universal values, not western values. But we need Pakistan's support to help us work with the grain of tribal culture and tradition in this region. We cannot and must not - seven years on - simply abandon Afghanistan to its fate.
"Our over-riding objective remains as valid today as it did then. To prevent Afghanistan from ever again being a failed state that is a base for Al Qaeda to train terrorists to strike on the streets of London, Madrid, New York or Islamabad. To accomplish that task we need some urgent changes, as I have argued for some time.
"We cannot impose a purely military solution to Afghanistan's problems. But what we must do is deny Afghanistan to Al Qaeda, and save Afghans from a return to the brutality of the Taliban, who handed the entire country to Al Qaeda as a base for logistics and training. That means working closely with Pakistan, so that the problems are not just displaced to and fro across the porous border. And it means holding the ring while we steadily build up Afghanistan's own army and its own police force. That build-up of the Afghan National Army needs to be accelerated and expanded, something I very much hope the incoming US President will make a priority. It is those forces - especially the Afghan National Army -which hold the key to a more stable Afghanistan, together with better governance at the central and especially the local level.
"To help them, we need to do three things: First, we need a strategy that combines politics more effectively with military force. We must work harder to ensure that local shuras and tribal elders take on more responsibility. In a place like Sangin, where I took part in a shura yesterday, local governance and security are a more immediate concern to local people than the prospect of voting every few years in a big national election.
"Second, we need to organise the international effort better. Right now, it lacks the most basic requirement for success in stabilisation operations - unity of purpose and unity of command. On the civilian side, I argued hard for the appointment of a senior, high-profile figure to grip it and to provide leadership. Such a position now exists, but its role needs to be strengthened. Similar problems of co-ordination exist with the military effort. NATO's international assistance force (ISAF) and the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom work alongside each other - but one is focused on long term stability, the other on targeted counter-terrorist operations. It is time to merge the two, or at the very least put them under the same commander. And NATO allies urgently need to curtail the plethora of national caveats that are crippling the effectiveness of the forces they deploy, and which exasperate operational commanders.
"Third, we need to make sure that Britain's own contribution in Afghanistan is properly organised. Having just seen the UK effort on the ground, I'm pleased to see progress - at last - in joining up our military, diplomatic and development efforts. But more needs to be done, especially to support our Armed Forces properly in the field. They are doing a superb job, risking their lives every day. We owe it to them to make sure they have the equipment and support they need.
"That applies particularly in the case of helicopters. Even though we now have nearly twice as many troops on the ground as we did when I first visited, our troops still desperately lack helicopters. There are still only 8 Chinook support helicopters for 8000 troops. Contrast that to the 70 or so helicopters we had in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles.
"Helicopters are the safest and most effective way to deploy troops fighting a counter-insurgency, and far preferable to transport by road with the growing risk of road-side bombs and ambush. Two years on, Ministers must make sorting this out this their over-riding, round the clock priority. This is a NATO mission. NATO has hundreds of helicopters nominally at its disposal. We need to put more pressure on our allies to free up helicopters that are sitting in Europe to help in Afghanistan.
"Likewise, we must see what more scope there is to contract helicopters commercially to do some of the routine tasks, and free up helicopters for the frontline. What is clear is that the present situation is unacceptable and is increasing the risk to our forces: we are letting our servicemen and women down.
CONCLUSION
"Britain and Pakistan have a long and complex history. Because of the challenges we both face, and the ties of kinship that we share, that story is destined to continue well into the future. It will be central to any Government which I hope to lead, and beyond it.
"I have tried to explain to you today the importance that I attach to the relationship between our countries and to the challenges that confront us both. We wish you well, in your efforts to entrench democracy and in your continuing dialogue with India, including over Kashmir. If I have given the impression in what I have said that I have easy answers to hard questions, it is a misleading impression. If I have given the impression that we in Britain have a unique store of democratic wisdom, that too would be wrong.
"If we have wisdom, it is often because we have learned from our mistakes. But what I do believe is that Britain has a valuable role to play in the world, standing on the side of those who are struggling for democracy and justice. That is our continuing duty and responsibility. To stand, as one of the world's oldest democracies, alongside some of the world's newest democracies. And I earnestly hope Pakistan will join us in that endeavour."
Time For A Revision
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Time_For_A_Revision/articleshow/3441750.cms
Caught between engagement and isolation, Burma, renamed Myanmar by its dictatorial military junta, is in a state of decline. What was once the richest land in South East Asia is now one of the poorest. What was once a vibrant nation is now subject to strict control by a clique of generals determined to countenance no dissent.
Although two political crises have rocked Burma recently, neither has loosened the tight political grip of the junta. Rather, each has amply exposed the impotence of western powers in dealing with a regime widely viewed as odious.
Last September, nascent monk-led democracy protests were brutally crushed. This May, attempts to mount a rapid global response to cyclone devastation in the Irrawaddy delta were severely hampered. In neither case, however, were the US and the EU able to develop an effective policy response.
Indeed, it was striking that even a natural disaster of the magnitude of Cyclone Nargis did not create an opportunity to unlock a closed political process. When the tsunami hit Aceh in December 2004, a window for dialogue and communication among opposing parties opened up and became one of the key catalysts for peace. In Burma, despite loud calls from many western powers for global engagement with humanitarian relief efforts, no such political shift has taken place.
The inability of western powers to craft a viable Burma policy means that attention turns back to Asia. In both crises, China used its unrivalled access to open up some communication channels and facilitate a measure of engagement with Burma's reclusive junta. ASEAN moved beyond its standard practice to express 'revulsion' at the state-sponsored violence against monks, and to lead humanitarian responses to cyclone damage. However, real change inside the country seems unlikely to come by either route.
There is, then, an important opportunity here for India. Following a brief flirtation with Burma's democracy movement in the late 1980s, New Delhi has since the mid-1990s taken a hard-nosed strategic interest in building close ties with the military government. To date, however, those efforts have met with limited success.
This is chiefly because a security dynamic has been allowed to predominate. India is determined to defeat insurgents in its restive north-east who find refuge across the porous Burmese frontier. It is also keen to counter what it sees as a creeping Chinese security presence in Burma. For these reasons, military links are now well developed, and Indian supplies to the Burmese army have passed from the non-lethal to the lethal.
Yet there can be much more to the bilateral relationship. New Delhi is interested in Burmese oil and gas reserves, and has had some success in securing contracts. In addition, the Look East Policy launched some 15 years ago must run through Burma if links with South East Asia are to be enhanced. India is also involved in infrastructure projects designed to upgrade major roads and port facilities.
At present, however, these are little more than necessary foundation stones for a comprehensive Burma policy.
Trading links can be pursued not just through natural resources, but also through small-scale cross-border commerce that helps to enrich marginalised and impoverished parts of both Burma and India. Currently, however, such trade is constrained by restrictive travel regulations informed by security concerns rather than development perspectives.
Cultural diplomacy is another important area that should rise up the agenda. Only 60 years ago, India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Burma's first premier, U Nu, were good friends and often consulted each other on international issues. Twenty years ago, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was a personal friend of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. However, several decades of xenophobic rejection by successive Burmese generals mean that New Delhi must now work hard to re-establish friendly relations.
Education also holds the key. The shambolic state of teaching and learning in Burma means that the country is in desperate need of outside help to train future generations. Indian schools, which have been successfully opened in many parts of the world, have a crucial role to play.
The Burma problem runs deep and will not be solved in a matter of months or even years. To build a platform for long-term engagement with its strategic neighbour, India's foreign policy elite needs to be more creative.
By taking its Burma policy beyond military and natural resource issues, New Delhi can both enhance its security leverage, and recapture a relationship that was once cordial. Promoting this policy shift is also in the interests of the wider world that desperately wants to facilitate long-term change inside Burma. Indeed, if India were able to gain the confidence of military leaders in Burma through multiple strands of engagement, it could start to promote multilateral talks bringing ASEAN, China and Japan from Asia together with the EU and US from outside to engage in talks with the Burmese junta and, ultimately, leading opposition forces.
In charting a new Burma policy for India, it has to be acknowledged that greater engagement by New Delhi will not generate immediate political reform. However, it will mean that when fresh crises create new opportunities for mediation, India will be better placed to step up to the plate.
Ghoshal is senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and Holliday is dean of social sciences, The University of Hong Kong.
'Tis better to step aside to move forward
PHILIP J CUNNINGHAM
The time has come, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, to step down for the good of your country.
I give you this, my personal opinion, not as a supporter of righteous protesters who demand that you resign - they have much to answer for themselves; nor do I give it out of malice towards you. I am an admirer of your plucky style, much as I am a critic of your careless off-the-cuff words.
You are proud and sometimes virulent in your nationalism, so I will not advise you to look at my country, America, with its very own flawed version of democracy, as a model. But you might look to Asia for inspiration.
Not to Burma, the least democratic of your Asian neighbours, certainly not to paramount dictator General Than Shwe. Although you reportedly admire the cruel and vain Burmese dictator because of his apparent devotion to Buddhist ritual, we have come to understand that sort of incendiary comment as Samak-speak, a trademark random comment that manages to shock and enrage, rock the boat and assault the intellect - only to fall harmlessly by the wayside because you are not taken seriously as an intellectual.
Yet your silver tongue has the power to inspire and incite, and you have built a solid career on this talent.
We only met once, when you were running for Bangkok governor. I was impressed that a man of your fame and stature would visit the predictably unsympathetic venue of the Foreign Correspondents Club at all, but the fact that you did so completely on your own, no aides, no assistants, no personal secretary, not even a driver, truly impressed. You just walked in and started talking.
On the other hand you disappointed when you summarily dismissed the topic of your involvement in the bloody crackdown of Oct 6, 1976 by turning the question on the questioner, who happened to be me.
"You, when you come to Thailand?" you challenged, as if a foreigner who had the temerity to ask such a question could be ridiculed for his relatively recent arrival in the country.
"In the year 2514, khrub," I answered in Thai. Stating the year 1971, when I first came as an exchange student, bought a rare interlude of silence from the silver tongue.
"You been here long time, you speak Thai well." (Phud Thai taekchan, were the exact words, I believe.)
"Aren't you ashamed of Oct 6?"
"No."
And that was that.
I still admire your pluck and tenacity and accept that, for whatever reason, talking with you about Oct 6 is not going to be constructive. Similar journalistic exchanges took place in the past year upon your becoming prime minister. I could only note with wistful nostalgia your deft ability for turning questions back on the questioner.
But enough of that, there's too much going on in the present to dwell in the past.
You are between a rock and a hard place, Mr Prime Minister. For inspiration, I suggest you look to the most democratic of your Asian neighbours, Japan.
You, a prime minister hanging on by a thread, were scheduled to fly to Tokyo and meet Japan's prime minister, also hanging in there by a thread. That meeting was, of course, cancelled because of unrest in Bangkok. But in the interim, your Japanese interlocutor resigned.
You have political karma that enables and inhibits you. Since Thailand's Government House has been occupied by your political opponents - an understandably annoying development that might have caused a less confident leader to resort to more extreme measures - you have been uncharacteristically calm, almost unruffled in your public response. Despite your unwillingness to talk about it, the shadow of Oct 6 does hang over you, in the positive sense that you want nothing of the sort to happen again. There's less bravado and more nuance in your recent presentation of self as prime minister, suggesting a swift, self-corrective learning curve.
Under ordinary circumstances you might grow into the role, though it could also be argued that you reached the natural peak of your abilities as a governor and should be content with that.
The necessary humility and willingness to compromise, inherent to being an effective prime minister at a delicate time such as this, does not mix well with your brash, populist style, nor that of your patron-in-exile, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, a political blueblood and veteran party stalwart of considerable skill, knew better than to fight the inevitable. When it became clear to him that he could not serve his country as he might like to because of unfavourable deadlocks, logjams and impasses in his own party and in Japan's parliament as a whole, he quietly resigned.
"Sorry for causing so much trouble with this abrupt announcement," said Mr Fukuda, stepping down with grace and good manners that have characterised his career.
Each person has his or her own style and no one would expect you, Mr Samak, to follow the mild-mannered Mr Fukuda to the word. But there are lessons that can be drawn from the Japanese cultural penchant for humility and dignified resignation in the face of intractable difficulty.
Sometimes the best way forward is to step aside.
Philip J Cunningham is a free-lance writer and political commentator.
Burma Expects Better Power Supplies After Hydro Plant Completion
Text of report in English by Burmese newspaper The Myanmar Times website on 1 September
BETTER electricity supply should be just around the corner said U Win Kyi, director general of the Ministry of Electric Power's (1) hydropower implementation department.
He said the increased supply would come from the Shweli River hydroelectric power plant that began feeding electricity into the national grid in early August and should be complete by the year's end.
Located 17 miles (about 27 kilometres) southwest of Mantet
village in Namkham district, northern Shan State, the 600-megawatt plant is 90 per cent finished, U Win Kyi said.
"One of the six hydraulic generators started producing electricity in the first week of August," he said, adding that the other five generators would come on line one after the other.
He said the plant will be inaugurated by the end of the year. The plant is being built under a joint venture with a consortium of Chinese companies and Myanmar's Department of Hydroelectric Power under the Ministry of Electric Power (1).
The Chinese consortium, which named itself Yunnan United Power Development Company Limited, includes Yunnan Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Company, Yunnan Power Grid Company and Yunnan Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Company Limited (YMEC).
"The second generator started operating in the last week of August; the third one will commence in October; the fourth in December; the fifth in February next year and the last one should start in April," a Yunnan United Power Development Company representative in Yangon said last week.
The Shweli plant is likely to be followed by two other hydropower projects on the river, which are slated to produce 500MW and 400MW respectively when they are finished. Both are located in Shan State's Momeik district.
A 288km-long powerline links the Shweli plant to the towns of Shweli, Namkham and Muse to Mandalay, where it will be wired into the national grid by the Ministry of Electric Power No (2).
Construction of the plant started in 2003 by the Myanmar government but the Chinese side did not sign the joint venture until December 31, 2006.
According to the agreement, Myanmar will get 15pc of the electricity generated by the plant for free and the rest will be sold to China. However, what price the electricity will be sold for remains unclear.
"Detailed cost plans have been under negotiation but no decisions have yet been made," she said.
Other construction undertakings for the project have included an approach road, the Shweli Bridge, a huge concrete embankment, a diversion tunnel, a pilot channel and a power intake building and an approach tunnel at the river's first hydroelectric plant.
According to the contract, the Chinese side supplied the hydraulic steel structure and electromechanical equipment including turbine generators and transformers.
YMEC's involvement in the project dates back to 2003 and the company later signed an additional memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Electric Power (1) for the project. The company has held a branch office in Yangon since 1990, where it has arranged the import of equipment for hydropower stations, railway engines, railway tracks and container wharves.
YMEC was also involved with the Hupin, Keng Tung, and Kunhein hydropower projects with the Ministry of Electric Power (1) in 1990 and took part in over 20 hydropower projects nationwide, including the Paunglung station, which was inaugurated on March 25, 2005.
The Paunglung hydropower station, with the total capacity of 280MW, is currently the largest in the country.
According to official statistics, Myanmar's hydroelectric power generation capacity in 2007 was 1750MW. It supplies about 45 per cent of all electricity generated, with gas turbines contributing another 35pc, coal-fired steam turbines 15pc and diesel engines the final 5pc.
Originally published by The Myanmar Times website, Rangoon, in English 1 Sep 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Tej's resignation deepens political crisis
By The Nation
Published on September 4, 2008
Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag's abrupt resignation sent a strong signalto Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej that his Cabinet's days arenumbered. It is an open secret that Samak had made a personal requestto HM the King to allow Tej to serve as foreign minister in hisgovernment. At the time, the former foreign minister served as anadvisor to the principal royal secretary to HM the King. Hisresignation represents Samak's lowest point in his sixmonth term.Throughout yesterday afternoon, Samak tried unsuccessfully to preventTej's resignation, which was effective immediately.
Tej's appointment had reclaimed Thailand's foreign policy credibilityand confidence after months of questionable conduct by hispredecessor. Noppadon Pattama's role in the Preah Vihear Templedispute stirred up protests both in Bangkok and the border provincesadjacent to the temple. It also led to the ruling by the ConstitutionCourt that the joint communique he signed with Cambodia in May wasagainst the constitution. It was the first such case in Thailand'sdiplomatic history.
During Tej's short 40day stint, he managed to improve the morale ofthe ministry's staff and rehabilitated three senior officials to theirformer positions, in particular directorgeneral of protocol VeerachaiPhalasai. He also took part in the two rounds of negotiations over thetemple, which ended with positive results. Both sides agreed to meetfurther. The next round of talks was postponed due to the politicalsituation in Thailand. Tej also accompanied Samak to China during theOlympics opening ceremony and visited Laos and Burma.
Suu Kyi Continues Legal Battle
Irrawaddy
By WAI MOE
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Burma’s detained democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, met with her lawyer yesterday to discuss a legal challenge to the ruling junta’s decision to extend her house arrest earlier this year.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy on Monday that Suu Kyi’s meeting with her lawyer—the third since early August—concerned a lawsuit that she is mounting against her continuing detention, which was extended in May. She has been under house arrest since May 2003.
Nyan Win said that time constraints made it impossible for Suu Kyi and her lawyer to finish their business.
“Her discussions with her lawyer couldn’t conclude because the meeting was limited to just 30 minutes,” he said, adding that it was not clear when the authorities would allow Suu Kyi and her lawyer to meet again to discuss her case.
Political observers in Rangoon noted that this was the first time that Suu Kyi had attempted to use the courts to challenge the junta’s right to keep her under house arrest. Some also said that she was in touch with members of her party and the authorities to discuss the case.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic source suggested that Suu Kyi could be released before the end of this year. However, other sources said that Suu Kyi would also demand the release of all political prisoners if the junta decides to free her.
Suu Kyi’s meeting with her lawyer came amid rumors that she had begun a hunger strike.
Her lawyer, Kyi Win, said that Suu Kyi made no mention of a hunger strike, and in response to questions about her condition, quoted her as saying: “I am well, but I have lost some weight. I am a little tired and I need to rest.”
This was not the first time that Suu Kyi was rumored to be on a hunger strike. There were reports in September 2003 that she was refusing food. Those rumors proved to be inaccurate.
Observers suggested that the current rumors were also unlikely to be true, since the junta wouldn’t allow her to meet with her lawyer if she were staging a hunger strike.
Suu Kyi’s colleague, veteran journalist Ohn Kyaing, said that she takes meditation and other Buddhist practices seriously, and may be losing weight because she is abstaining from eating dinner for religious reasons during the three-month Buddhist Lent.
Thakin Chun Tun, a veteran politician in Rangoon, said Suu Kyi needed to be healthy so she could engage in a genuine dialogue with the regime to break the ongoing crises in the country.
“Burma’s crises can only be resolved through a genuine dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, head of the ruling junta,” he said. “I hope she will take care of her health.”
The veteran politician said that while hunger strikes were an effective non-violent tactic during the country’s colonial period, they are less likely to succeed today.
“The current political environment is totally different from the colonial period,” he said.
“Burma is now ruled by the military—human life has less value now than under British rule.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article4.php?art_id=14157
Myanmar builds motor road deep into cyclone-hard-hit area
19:46, September 03, 2008
Myanmar has started building a new motor road directly running from Yangon deep into cyclone-hard-hit Pinzalu in Ayeyawaddy delta where waterway is only accessible, the local weekly 7-Day News reported Wednesday.
The new motor road, which extends as Yangon-Mawlamyinegyun-Pinzalu, remains one of the five key highway projects being implemented in the storm-ravaged region.
The prior part of the road from Yangon to Mawlamyinegyun takes 10 hours to travel by using the waterway and the new road, on completion, will save much of the traveling hours in transport and benefit commodity flow, local residents were quoted as saying.
Myanmar has worked out five key highway projects in cyclone-hard-hit Ayeyawaddy delta region as part of its prevention program against natural disaster in the region.
The five highways respectively stretch as Maubin-Mawgyun, Mawlamyinegyun-Pinzalu, Laputta-Pinzalu, Bogalay-Katonkani and Laputta-Teikzun.
These roads, which is being or will be built as concrete ones within three years, will have facilities to resist storm and tide, reports said, adding that some of these roads will be built a height of 20-30 feet (6-9 meters) near villages to create shelter for villagers in case of natural disaster onslaught.
During a recent cyclone storm in early last May, communications and road transport in the hardest-hit Ayeyawaddy delta region and villages near the sea were severely disrupted, creating much difficulties for carrying out relief work.
Meanwhile, Myanmar will also build and renovate 37 embankments in the cyclone-hit areas to prevent from flood in the future, according to earlier local report.
The embankments, to be built up to 1.5 meters higher than the height of the original ones, are estimated to cost about 110.56 million U.S. dollars and the project will be implemented in ten townships in Yangon and Ayeyawaddy divisions, it said, adding that the new embankments can prevent 484,109 acres (196,064 hectares) of farmland from being flooded in case of storm.
Due to early May's cyclone storm, over one million acres (405,000 hectares ) of farmland in 7 townships in Ayeyawaddy division, 3 in Yangon division, 2 in Bago division and 3 in Mon state were flooded by sea water with more than 200,000 cows and cattle killed, earlier statistics showed.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has set up an emergency telecommunication center (ETC) in Yangon to help for quick communication access in disaster relief and restoration works.
The UN's World Food Program (WFP) was using the center in distributing ration aid supply to such storm-hit areas as Laputta, Bogalay, Phyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Pathein soon after the cyclone storm hit Myanmar.
The program has benefited a total of 29,000 survived population of 9 village tracts out of 50 in Ayeyawaddy's Laputta alone, reports said.
Myanmar is now entering into a second phase of resettlement and reconstruction.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states --Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
Myanmar: Suu Kyi Wants To Meet Myanmar Rep, Says Lawyer
YANGON, MYANMAR: A report that detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet with the government minister who acts as her liaison officer is misleading, her lawyer said Wednesday (3 Sept).
The state-run Myanma Ahlin daily reported Wednesday that the government had arranged a meeting between Suu Kyi _ who has been detained without charge since 2003 _ and Relations Minister Aung Kyi on Tuesday (2 Sept) but that she had refused to meet him.
Lawyer Kyi Win, who met Suu Kyi at her lakeside house on Monday (1 Sept), said she had conveyed a message through him that she wished to see the minister but said "she was a little tired and needed some rest."
"I am very upset because Daw Suu had politely conveyed the message through me that she wanted to see U Aung Kyi and also sends her regards to him," Kyi Win said. 'Daw' and 'U' are honorifics conveying respect.
"I am very upset because the message was a misrepresentation by omission," he explained added.
Myanmar's junta appointed Aung Kyi last year to facilitate talks aimed at bringing political reconciliation and democratic reforms to the impoverished and isolated country.
Earlier Wednesday, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said on the basis of the newspaper report that any reluctance on Suu Kyi's part to have a meeting indicated her continued frustration at the slow pace of reform in the military-ruled country.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is dissatisfied with the lack of progress from the talks and also unhappy with the lack of a time frame," said Nyan Win.
The 63-year-old Suu Kyi has made several gestures recently whose intention has not been clear. She has repeatedly turned away food deliveries to her house in recent weeks and refused to meet U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari when he visited Myanmar last month.
After Kyi Win visited her on Monday he said she had lost weight and was shunning food deliveries. He would not comment on rumors that the opposition leader had gone on a hunger strike.
The lawyer said Suu Kyi had asked for "certain living conditions to be solved and that has not happened yet."
He said some of the living conditions involved granting greater freedom of movement to two female companions who live with her and help take care of the house. She also wishes to be allowed access to some publications, Kyi Win said.
Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest for years and relies on food delivered to her home by her party. Supporters said last week she had not accepted food deliveries since 15 Aug.
Kyi Win declined to say why Suu Kyi was refusing food deliveries.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won general elections but was not allowed to take power by the military.
The United Nations has tried with little success to nudge the government toward talks with the opposition. But the junta has not responded to international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its violent suppression of massive anti-government protests last year. (AP)
All ceasefire groups to surrender in 2009
Shan Herald Agency for News: All ceasefire groups to surrender in 2009: Shan State commander
Wed 3 Sep 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Gen. Yar Pyay, the Shan State military commander has said that ceasefire groups and local militia groups have to surrender in 2009 before the 2010 elections. He said this at a meeting with government servants in Ho Mueng. The meeting was held in the middle of August, said a border news source from Mae Hong Song.
“All ceasefire groups and militia groups must surrender in 2009. If the groups don’t want to surrender, they can emerge with Shan State Army- South of Col. Yward Serk,” said a Ho Mueng local.
The commander visited Ho Mueng region for reviewing the Thai-Burma border situation on August 18. He said this at the meeting with government staff on August 20 at the Sung Mauk (Park) meeting hall which was owned by the former MTA leader Khun Sa. Maha Jar, the SSS company chairman and Ho Mueng regional defence army leader, accompanied Gen. Yar Pyay on the tour. Maha Jar himself can not do anything about the matter of surrender, said Ho Mueng locals.
“Maha Jar doesn’t live in Ho Mueng. He mostly lives in Nam Zang. He has a house in Taung Gyi. His son, Khun Nu, has controlled the Ho Mueng defence army for 3 to 4 years. He seemed to be accompanied by the Gen. Yar Pyay because the SPDC commander would go to inspect hill no. 19 and 20 of his the army which is based opposite WNA (Wa National Army) headquarter at Loi Wahayt near the Thai border. The SPDC commander said that (Maha Jar) defence army at hill no. 19 and 20 would be replaced with the Burmese Army soon. Maha Jar would face difficulties, said a local driver.
Replacing 200 strong Maha Jar’s defence militias with the Burmese Army in this region was because the SPDC commander seemed to have doubts about secret connections between Maha Jar’s defence militias and WNA and SSA-s, said a Ho Mueng news source.
The Ho Mueng militias based on hill no. 19-20 was a battle filed where fighting between Loi Maw (SUA-Shan United Army) and Koumintang army (KMT) took place in 1985-86. Although government staff has worked in the Ho Mueng region after Khun Sa surrendered in 1996, Maha Jar’s militias group (under the name of local development army) had strong influence in the region. Ho Mueng became a sub township of Larn Khur district.
Gen. Yar Pyay, the middle Shan State commander, and his companies left for Taung Gyi on August 20.
Likewise, Gen. Aung Than Htut, the north eastern military commander, called representatives from Mahtu Naw led Kachin Democratic Army (KDA) based in Kaung Khar, Kut Khaing township, Lt. Moon led Want Pang militias (about 700-800 men) based in Tang Yang township and Law Mar led Mueng Ha militias (about 300-400 men) based in Mueng Rel township to Lasho and talked to them on August 24.
He explained to the representatives that if SSA-S (Shan State Army-South) penetrates to northern Shan State, those groups must be together with the Burmese Army. Therefore those groups should prepare and take training to be ready to fight and go to the front lines.
Gen. Kyaw Phyo, the commander of Triangle based in Keng Tung, visited the U Sai Linn led special 4 region (National Democracy Alliance Army - NDAA) headquarter in Mueng Lar. He told him about the transition of armed forces in 2009. The triangle commander said it was the order of the armed forces general headquarters from capital. “Gen. Kyaw Phyo who personally talked about his financial difficulty to leaders of Mueng Lar. Therefore leaders from Mueng Lar gave him 40-50 thousand Yuan as pocket money”, said a young Keng Tong who is close to the special 4 regional organization.
Gen. Kyaw Phyo said in a meeting that Col. Yard Serk’s SSA is the fence of Thailand when he toured Mueng Tong border region from August 16-18, 2008.
The triangle commander said that government officials and staff must not take bribes from smugglers and drug traffickers. If evidence is found those who take bribes will be removed. Although he said it, he himself took Kyat 38 lakh as bribe from UWSA’s 171 bridge. The UWSA bribed the commander in exchange of not to building an artillery camp in their rubber plantations. Local Wa leaders bribed o him on the day the new primary school was opened on August 18.
Aung San Suu Kyi honoured with Dundee freedom award
Solomon
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 22:42
New Delhi - Burma's imprisoned pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been honoured with the 'Dundee freedom award' for her courageous struggle to restore human rights and democracy in Burma by the Dundee City Council of Scotland in a ceremony on Wednesday night'.
"The Freedom of Dundee [award], made in recognition of her [Aung San Suu Kyi] achievements in the service of democracy, is the highest honour that the city can bestow," a spokesperson of the Dundee City Council told Mizzima in an email message.
But being under house arrest, the Burmese democracy icon, will not be able to receive the award. The award will be received on her behalf by Anna Roberts the director of the Burma Campaign United Kingdom, a group that has been vigorously advocating for human rights and democracy in Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under some form of detention or the other for more than 12 of the past 18 years. Her latest incarceration was in May 2003, following a brutal attack on her motorcade by junta-backed mobs in upper Burma.
The City Council spokesperson said the award is a symbol of support to Aung San Suu Kyi in her struggle and is a signal calling for her immediate release.
"It [the award] signals the council's support for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release from house arrest and the restoration of a democratic government in Burma," the spokesperson said.
Anna Roberts, in a telephone interview with Mizzima, said the award helps in keeping Aung San Suu Kyi's ongoing detention in the spotlight and also helps in spreading awareness about other political prisoners in military-ruled Burma.
"This is a very prestigious award from the Scottish council," Roberts said.
The award was initially proposed by Lord Provost of Dundee, John Letford in a meeting of City Councillors in June. The councillors unanimously decided to grant the award to Aung San Suu Kyi as her struggle is similar to the former South Africa leader Nelson Mandela, who was honoured with the same award in 1985, the spokesman said.
The spokesperson quoted John Letford as saying "For many years Aung San Suu Kyi has been the best, and perhaps the only, hope, that Burma will be free from oppression."
The award came amidst widespread rumours among Burmese as well as the international community that Daw Aung san Suu Kyi is refusing to accept food supplies, which has led many to speculate that she might be on hunger strike.
While the information remains unconfirmed, her spokesperson said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has refused to accept her weekly food supplies since mid-August.
Another action that sparked speculation is her refusal to meet the visiting UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in August.
Nyan Win said it might be because she is frustrated with the UN's mission as it has failed to make any political breakthrough in the country.
"We know that she is increasingly frustrated with the UN's process," said Roberts, adding that all the UN envoys that have visited Burma for the past 20 years have failed to initiate a process of reform.
Roberts said the international community needed a much stronger action on Burma, by setting a timeframe to implement reforms, for which the matter needs to be discussed at the UN Security Council.
May Shin Dies
MAY SHIN
OBITUARY
May Shin Dies
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By MIN LWIN Thursday, September 4, 2008
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May Shin, a well-known Burmese singer and actress, who was popular as far back as the British colonial period, died at 11:30 on Wednesday night in Mandalay. She was at 91.
“May Shin suffered from no disease, she died simply from old age,” said Zaw Myint, an owner of the Mandalay-based Yee Myint Film Company, who had helped look after her since 1980.
May Shin 1917-2008
May Shin was born on March 10, 1917, in Mandalay. The daughter of businessman Khin Lay and Daw Pwa Yon, she began a career in the arts soon after passing seventh grade.
When she was 18 years old, May Shin joined Rangoon A1 Film Company as an aspiring actress. She was soon highly acclaimed for her soft gentle singing voice.
May Shin’s first movie was called Phu Sar Shin (“Be My Lover”), but she became known in 1938 when she starred in Burma’s first film with soundtrack, Myar Nat Maung (“Cupid”).
As a radio presenter at the Burmese Broadcasting Service in the 1950s, she actively supported U Nu’s government against the left-wing campaign by appealing to armed insurgents to surrender.
In 1958, she was awarded the title Wunna Kyaw Htin, the highest honor given to an artist by the Burmese government in that time.
In 1962, at the age of 45, May Shin gave up acting and singing and withdrew from public life. She became devoutly Buddhist and practiced dhamma until the day she died.
In 2004, purged Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt visited her in Mandalay shortly before he was arrested.
In her old age, the venerated actress and singer spent most of her time in Buddhist contemplation at her residence in Mandalay.
Win Win Myint (aka Nandaw Shay), author of May Shin’s biography, Pan Pwint Ye Yin Khon Than (“The Heartbeat of a Flower”), said that she never married and that she loved to uphold Burmese traditional culture and religion.
“She was stubborn with her family and she passed every milestone in her life that she ever set herself,” he told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
A funeral service for May Shin is to be held at Kyarnikan cemetery in Mandalay on Friday.
AIPMC to Ban Ki-moon
ASEAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY MYANMAR CAUCUS
18-2 Commercial Centre, Taman Abadi Indah,
Off Old Klang Road, 58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603-7984 7318, +603-7980 1393
Fax: +603-7983 7318, +603-7981 7782
http://www.aseanmp.org email: info@aseanmp.org
28 August 2008 Via facsimile and post
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
Dear Secretary General,
We the members of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) are
writing to request your urgent intervention in Myanmar with regards to the well-being of
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
It has come to our knowledge that she might have been refusing her daily food supply
since the 16th of August 2008. While these reports have been denied by the current
military government, it has been reported to be true by several people close to her. The
members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) had issued a news release on the
25th of August stating the very same concern.
We would like to remind you of the promises that you made when you took office as the
Secretary General of the United Nations. You had stated that you will play the role of an
honest broker in conflict situations and that you will help bring justice to those who are
being discriminated against. You also stated that you would do everything in your power
to deliver humanitarian assistance to those in need. We now ask that you make good on
these promises.
Therefore, we appeal that you make an urgent visit to Myanmar to ascertain for yourself
the condition of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We remind you
that her continued well-being is vital for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Myanmar.
Yours sincerely,
Serving Parliamentarians
Kraisak Choonhavan (Thailand)
Charles Chong (Singapore)
Son Chhay (Cambodia)
Djoko Susilo (Indonesia)
Lorenzo Tanada (Philippines)
Teresa Kok (Malaysia)
Alongkorn Ponlaboot (Thailand)
Ana Theresia Hontiveros (Philippines)
Nursyahbani Katjasungkana (Indonesia)
Eva Kusuma Sundari (Indonesia)
Saumura Tioulong (Cambodia)
Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Singapore)
Michael Palmer (Singapore)
Inderjit Singh (Singapore)
Former Parliamentarians
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Malaysia)
Loretta Ann P. Rosales (Philippines)
An Appeal Letter from Joint Action Committee of the Burmese Community in Japan.
Dated 1st September 2008
To His Excellency Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
We have every reason to believe that our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike began on
Aug. 15 that she hasn't accepted food since. According to U Nyan Win, spokesperson for the National
League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi failed to retrieve food delivered to her home. She has
been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, and she relies on the NLD's food deliveries for
survival. We are very worried that if she continues to refuse food from her comrades, her health will
became a serious concern for all of us. We are deeply concerned for her safety and well-being.
Moreover, according to her lawyer who saw her for 30-minute meeting, yesterday, announced that
Aung San Suu Kyi has lost some weight though she is feeling well. His evasion on making any comment
on hunger strike is a very strong reason that deepens our concern. He also informs that she says she has
lost some weight and feels little tired and need to rest. These are the strong indications of seriously
deterioration of her health conditions.
We believe that you are very much aware that our courageous leader of the National League for
Democracy and proponent of non-violent political change have placed herself at risk on many occasions
in pursuit of democracy and respect for basic human rights in Burma.
We would like to appeal Your Excellency to take immediate action to this matter before it was too late.
Your Faithfully,
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