http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKLN53110020081223?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
UPDATE 2-
Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:45pm GMT
By Katya Golubkova and Amie Ferris-Rotman
MOSCOW, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's top gas exporter, hosted a meeting formalising cooperation between major gas producers on Tuesday but faced criticism from OPEC for refusing to join in cutting oil output to support energy prices.
With Prime Minister Vladimir Putin presiding, energy ministers from 12 gas exporting countries, many of them OPEC members, agreed to transform an existing gas forum that they said could benefit consumers and would not control output or prices.
The event, partly meant to increase Russia's clout in global energy diplomacy, did not go smoothly for Moscow.
Concern about falling prices and flagging demand quickly surfaced as country representatives said Russia should have sacrificed some of its own output to back up President Dmitry Medvedev's promise to support OPEC oil production cuts.
The Kremlin's critics said an important way to help gas prices is to bolster the oil price, which they reflect.
"We needed to redress the situation to the market of oil so as to redress the situation in the gas market," Libya's top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, told the ministers.
"We are still waiting for a declaration from the Russian Federation that they are cutting their (oil) production not only to support the (oil) market, but also to support the gas market," Ghanem said.
Russia, the world's No.2 oil exporter, has said it is considering all options, including joining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, to defend its national interests.
However it did not make any firm pledges when OPEC ministers, meeting at Oran in Algeria last week, agreed their deepest production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day.
OPEC's President Chekib Khelil told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting that Russia had enjoyed the benefit of OPEC's cuts without sharing the pain.
"If there was no OPEC reductions in September and October, I think we would have seen prices today at maybe $20 (per barrel). So it was because of OPEC that revenues for Russia were at $40 now, not at $20," Khelil said. [ID:nLN490268]
PRICE LATER
The gas group was created out of an existing informal club called the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which includes 16 states such as Algeria, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela, Indonesia, Nigeria and others.
Western consumers are watching the meeting closely, worried that the group will try to set gas prices and manipulate supply.
European consumers, in particular, are edgy about their main supplier gaining more clout at a time when Moscow is threatening to yet again cut supplies to Ukraine as it did in 2006, exposing the continent to gas shortages in the middle of winter.
The forum members deny they are going to control prices and said the gas market is structurally unsuited to such influence.
Nigerian Petroleum minister Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters: "The state of gas development is very different from oil. With oil you have one international oil price, with gas you have domestic, international export price, etc."
They say the main goal of the new group will be to monitor the gas market and conduct joint research.
"The difference between OPEC and the forum is very simple - OPEC looks at today, what happens on the market and makes the decision," Khelil told Reuters.
"The forum...it's more forward looking. It cannot control the volumes and price for the next 10 years because it's locked into long-term contracts and also the price of gas is locked into oil."
Russia's Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told a closing news conference the ministers had agreed on a charter that made GECF a more formal organisation and chose Doha as the headquarters.
Russia had earlier proposed its second largest city of St Petersburg as the headquarters and Shmatko did not say why delegates endorsed the last-minute proposal of Qatar.
"It is unnecessary to make direct links between the new organisation and OPEC. We have a broader vision," Shmatko said adding that no decision had been taken on Tuesday and no discussions took place about gas production quotas.
Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the world's largest gas producer, which supplies Europe with a quarter of its gas, earlier this year signed a deal with Iran and Qatar, setting what it called a "big gas troika" to coordinate market policies. (Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Melissa Akin, writing by Tanya Mosolova and Melissa Akin, Editing by Anthony Barker)
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Russia hosts gas group, faces OPEC ire over oil
America's stop-and-go energy plan
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-energy23-2008dec23,0,7809287.story
Today's cheaper gas is no reason to lose focus on reducing oil imports, activists and executives say.
By Jim Tankersley
December 23, 2008
Reporting from Washington -- Breaking America's foreign-oil addiction was all the rage on Capitol Hill when gas cost $4 a gallon. Now that it's under $2 and falling, history suggests that the enthusiasm for alternative fuels and more efficient cars will subside. It did that in the mid-1970s and again in the 1980s and 1990s.
But this time could be different.
A sense of urgency may still remain, according to congressional leaders and environmental groups, because of a confluence of factors including broad anxiety over global warming, enthusiasm for green elements in economic stimulus packages and President-elect Barack Obama's repeated vows to act.
And in any case, few consumers are convinced that low gas prices will last.
"In the past, when the prices of oil and gas have dropped, it has caused us to lose our focus. I don't think that'll happen this time," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Perhaps nothing illustrates the change in attitude better than a recent survey of 52 oil and gas executives.
Only about a dozen executives expected oil and gas to be America's cheapest energy source in 25 years, and three-quarters considered it a good idea for the U.S. to phase out fossil fuels for transportation.
That's a "sea shift" for the industry, said longtime oil and gas analyst Joseph A. Stanislaw, a senior advisor for the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, which released the survey.
"People are saying, 'Prices go up and prices go down but something's broken here, and we've got to fix it.' "
When Obama announced his energy policy team, he noted how presidents for decades had promised and failed to curb the nation's oil addiction. "This time has to be different," he said. "This time we cannot fail. Nor can we be lulled into complacency just because, for now, the price of gas has fallen below $4 a gallon."
Americans have worried about their dependence on foreign oil since the early 1970s, when Arab oil producers stunned the developed world by halting shipments. The result was soaring energy prices, long lines at gas stations and a shock to the economy that took years to recover from.
President Nixon offered an energy plan for freeing the nation from dependence on imports within a decade. But when the embargo was lifted after a year, prices fell and Nixon's Project Independence faded with a whimper.
The cycle repeated for the next 30 years: When oil prices increased, lawmakers pushed measures to boost wind, solar and other alternative power sources; when prices fell, so did support for those alternatives.
America imports nearly two-thirds of its oil, a 50% increase from the Nixon years, though every president since has pledged to wean the nation from foreign energy.
The problem is partly economic, partly political and partly a matter of consumer preferences.
Personal automobiles offer convenience and freedom that mass transit often cannot. And many consumers seem to like bigger, more powerful cars.
Moreover, for a host of reasons, alternative energy sources cost more and are not financially competitive with oil except when petroleum prices are high. Politicians are reluctant to raise taxes on gasoline, home heating oil and other oil-based products to narrow the price gap.
Now the cycle has started again. Oil prices hit record highs in the summer, fueled by explosive demand in developing nations such as China and India. During the presidential campaign, Obama and his Republican opponent, John McCain, made ambitious pledges to reduce oil use, and statistics suggested Americans were driving less -- and demanding more efficient cars -- to cope with wallet-busting gas prices.
Then the global economy slipped rapidly into recession and energy demand ebbed. Again, prices sank.
Instead of backing off his alternative-energy push, the president-elect doubled down. Since election day, Obama has promised to make green projects a cornerstone of the economic stimulus plan that will anchor his early agenda.
And he has repeatedly pledged swift action to fight climate change, an issue heavily wrapped in the politics of oil.
"At the end of the day, gas prices go up and they go down," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), head of the Environment and Public Works Committee. "In the long run, we need to find an alternative clean-energy source to protect our nation from hikes in gas prices and from the ravages of global warming."
Obama's concern over global warming is increasingly shared by voters. That's a big difference from the 1970s, said Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr., a Democrat who has urged Obama to focus heavily on energy alternatives: "We weren't paying attention to climate policy the way we are now."
Climate change has become "part and parcel" of federal energy policy, said Andy Karsner, a former assistant Energy secretary in the Bush administration who is now at the nonprofit Council on Competitiveness. "You will see climate, as an issue, embedded in the ongoing energy debate."
And once the economy speeds up, oil demand will almost certainly surge again. As the International Energy Agency said in a November report: "The era of cheap oil is over."
jtankersley@tribune.com
Thoughts from Mumbai: A Return to Gandhi’s Dream for India
http://thewip.net/contributors/2008/12/thoughts_from_mumbai_a_return.html
Rupa Chinai
- India -
In the aftermath of Mumbai’s most recent encounter with terrorism, there is the feeling of isolation felt by those pleading for sense and reason. These voices are being drowned out amidst the jingoism and war cries of an “eye for an eye” currently heard on the streets of the city.
In this chilling environment of unreason, I wonder what would be the reaction to people like me, who feel pity for the path chosen by young men like Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving terrorist from the attacks? This sentiment does not seek to justify the heinous crimes he committed or protect him from the punishment he deserves through the due process of law. But how can one find the words to urge people to understand the context from which youth such as Ajmal develop and how civilized society must respond to the challenges they pose?
• Many in India call for peace in response to the November 26th terrorist attacks on Mumbai. •The newspapers here have gleaned information from Ajmal’s interrogations in police custody and reveal that he hails from Faridkot village, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The BBC and Pakistan TV channels have shown Ajmal’s family home, the school where he studied until class four, his father and other villagers who confirmed Ajmal’s links with them. We learned that Ajmal’s training with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (a militant group that seeks the liberation of Indian occupied Kashmir) led to his becoming a crack commando with skills in urban guerrilla warfare. We even know the names of some of the people who trained him.
The Pakistan government responded by bluntly denying Ajmal’s Pakistani nationality, cordoning off Faridkot village and whisking away his family. It has denied Indian government allegations of ISI involvement in terrorist training. This response, apart from inviting Indian ire, has drawn flak from within Pakistan, in particular from Nawaz Sharif, former Pakistan Prime Minister and leader of the opposition.
These reports however, give key insights into how militancy has found a base within Pakistan. They reveal that the militant groups are the only ones imparting skills and professional training to these poor, rural youth, creating illusions of having provided their lives with meaning in an existence otherwise steeped in poverty and misery.
Ajmal has reportedly spoken to the Mumbai police about some of these illusions – he believed that he was on a mission that would earn him a place in jannat (heaven) and in the annals of those who have died for the cause of Islam. He also reportedly said that his sponsors promised to pay Rupees one and a half lakhs (US$3,165) to his family upon completion of his successful suicide mission.
But now from the grave reality of his prison cell, Ajmal has apparently begun to lose some of his swagger and arrogance. We catch glimpses of a young man so typical of those we see in the sub-continent, fascinated by Amitabh Bachhan films and who fancies himself as a hero. It is perhaps this human spark that has kept Ajmal alive when the more hardened of his ilk would swallow a cyanide pill rather than face capture.
As the media tells us about the human face of this terrorist, my thoughts turn to the society that nurtured him. What is one to think of Pakistan’s failure to provide its youth with positive directions, access to skills and a knowledge base that would help them to live meaningful lives? Why did their communities allow mercenaries, masked as men of religion and god, to access their children and brainwash them into the jihad cult?
Meanwhile, are we in India any better off? Do we really believe that hanging terrorists without a trial (because our criminal justice system is imperfect) or arming ourselves with more draconian laws and modern weaponry will make India a safer place? Do we not display our own barbarism every time we question the patriotism of India’s Muslims and attack our minorities? How can we ordinary citizens respond to this situation? Shouldn’t we stop and consider our own unique role? In my mind, this introspection has proven wholly inadequate, and yet represents our only source of real hope. Does the land of Gandhi have nothing more to offer the world as a solution to this situation?
And has our electronic media learned anything from the mistakes made during its coverage of the last terrorist attack? Just a few days ago the Indian government released guidelines for media coverage of terrorist attacks, and yet a Hindi television news channel flouted these norms to grab its latest scoop by broadcasting leaked footage of Ajmal's interrogation by American FBI agents.
With Ajmal’s case now awaiting trial, direct display of his testimony when he has no defense lawyer to guide or protect him, is surely sub judice (under judgment) and prejudicial to the trial. Apart from the impact it could have on public opinion, it could very well pose a grave threat to his safety.
Describing Mumbai’s response in the weeks after the terrorist strike, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan writes, “Terror is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It thrives on reaction, polarization, militarization and thirst for revenge.”
The first victims of this ever-hardening stance are our own neglected and marginalized minorities in rural, tribal and peripheral India. Denied access to justice and blotted out by the media, these alienated sections have turned to violence when they had no other recourse. Without any attempt to listen to their grievances or respect their right to have a dissenting viewpoint and initiate dialogue – an approach that would have won hearts and minds - India has sought to equate them with anti-nationals and terrorists.
Like Kashmir on the western flank, the north-east border states have been engulfed in insurgency and a fratricidal guerilla war since India’s independence. Many of these conflicts are the freedom struggles of small nationalities who believe they have a historical right to determine their own destiny and who have bravely held on to their convictions despite being stamped upon by the might of India. Others have erupted in turmoil and violence because of their neglect by New Delhi, by the loss of their economic, political and cultural identity.
Ordinary people and civil society groups in the north-east, particularly in Nagaland, have often spoken of the need to go beyond New Delhi and reach out to ordinary people in the rest of India. They believe that when there is widespread pressure created by a sensitized Indian public opinion, only then can political solutions begin to emerge. According to my friends who have worked in the region, this plea also comes from the people of Kashmir.
A network of women journalists and writers across India has already mobilized in response to the initiative of young Manipuri women journalists. Early next year, they will attend a meeting in Imphal, Manipur, a state adjoining Burma, where the writ of India simply holds no sway. Its people have lived with urban guerilla warfare for more than a decade and insecurity, extortion, kidnapping and violent death is a daily part of their lives. For most of the visiting journalists, it will be their first visit to this sensitive border area long ignored by mainstream Indian media. It will be an expensive journey and most will spend money from their own pockets because of their deep sense of conviction and desire to learn from the local people.
I hope it will be the first of many such efforts, where we systematically endeavor to include these sections of society, knowing that they in turn have much to teach us about what is important in life. Irrespective of what political solutions evolve for the north-east or Kashmir, we will always remain neighbors and that is a good enough starting point for dialogue. It is through such initiatives that we come back to Gandhi’s dream of an India whose strength lies in its service to its weaker and marginalized populations.
In the present cacophony emanating from Mumbai, thankfully there are some quiet and thoughtful voices calling for ordinary Indians to consider our own minority and marginalized communities. Can we, the privileged Indians - who have skills, education, and a voice - play some role in creating the platforms for dialogue to address common concerns? India is a house divided by caste, class, race, religion and politics, which has made us all vulnerable to attack. Can we create social support systems to deal with their genuine and long suppressed grievances? Will we help our youth find an alternative to violence?
Photograph by flickr user zedvox used under Creative Commons licenses.
About the Author
Rupa Chinai is an independent journalist based in Mumbai, India. She has been writing on health and development issues for the past 25 years and her work has appeared in some of India's leading English language daily newspapers and websites as well as foreign publications. Her basic education was obtained in Mumbai and opportunities for further studies and exposure came through prestigious awards such as a journalism fellowship from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US, amongst others. She is co-author of a book on rural women's health issues and is currently engaged in writing a book on northeast India, based on 20 years of travel and work in that region.
Tags:India Kashmir Mumbai Opinion Pakistan Peace Terrorism War
Burma - Another UN Failure
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/virginia-moncrieff/no-light-in-burma_b_148604.html
Virginia Moncrieff
Posted December 4, 2008 | 10:18 PM (EST)
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said he will not travel to Burma because he has no "reasonable expectations of a meaningful outcome."
Mr. Ban was urged by over 100 former world leaders to visit Burma to petition the military regime to release all political prisoners. The UN Security Council called for the release of all political prisoners in 2007. No need to elaborate here on what happened after that resolution.
Is this an indication - as many fear - that the UN have all but given up on the situation in Burma? To write off any possibility of having even modest progress sounds resigned, exhausted and pessimistic.
The UN added in their statement that Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari would not return to Burma any time soon. (His last trip was August, when Aung San Suu Kyi in a confusing and wrong-headed move refused twice to meet with him).
I have friends who are in jail in Burma for the slimmest of reasons, or for what I see as no reason at all. One has a jail sentence of 142 years.
What is a "meaningful outcome?" How do you qualify and quantify that to people who are starving and desperate? Please explain.
Top Ten Humanitarian Crises of 2008
December 22, 2008
MSF: Top Ten Humanitarian Crises of 2008
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Medicines sans Frontieres (a.k.a Doctors Without Borders) released its annual list if the years' top ten humanitarian crises.
* Somalia's Humanitarian Catastrophe Worsens
* Beyond the International Spotlight, Critical Health Needs in Myanmar Remain Unmet
* Health Crisis Sweeps Zimbabwe as Violence and Economic Collapse Spread
* Civilians Trapped as War Rages in Eastern Congo
* Millions of Malnourished Children Left Untreated Despite Advances in Lifesaving Nutritional Therapies
* Critical Need of Assistance in Ethiopia's Somali Region
* Civilians Killed and Forced to Flee as Fighting Intensifies in Northwestern Pakistan
* No End in Sight to Violence and Suffering in Sudan
* Iraqi Civilians in Urgent Need of Assistance
* HIV/TB Co-infections Posses Health Battle on Two Fronts
Japan PM rejects snap election but meets defiance
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/081224/afp/081224061504asiapacificnews.html
Wednesday December 24, 2:15 PM
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Taro Aso on Wednesday rejected calls for a snap election, pledging to focus on the economic crisis, but was immediately defied by a senior member of his own party.
Aso, who took office just three months ago, needs to hold an election by September next year, and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan has been pressing the premier to dissolve the lower house as soon as possible.
"I'm well aware of talk about elections or a political realignment," Aso told a news conference as he presented his government's record budget.
"Now that we are in the midst of a once-in-a-century crisis, we are not in a position to talk about such things. I think it's impossible," he said.
Aso called on the opposition, which controls the less powerful upper house of parliament, to approve quickly his record 88.55 trillion yen (980 billion dollar) budget for fiscal 2009.
"What the public ask of the parliament, I believe, is whether it can protect the lives of people from this economic crisis. The will and the resolve of the parliament are being challenged," Aso said.
But shortly after his remarks, a ranking member of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) sided with the opposition in urging the premier to call elections.
In a visible show of defiance, Yoshimi Watanabe, the former minister for administrative reforms, stood from his seat in the lower house to vote for an opposition-sponsored resolution telling Aso to call for elections.
The measure was rejected by the ruling bloc which controls the powerful house.
Watanabe, son of a former deputy prime minister, has repeatedly appeared in the media to promote snap elections.
Aso's government's approval rating has plunged below 20 percent in recent polls, with voters giving more support to the opposition than the LDP.
The LDP has been in power for all but 10 months since 1955. But its popularity has rapidly dwindled due to scandals, gaffes and concerns over the handling of the economy, the world's second largest.
Aso is the fourth prime minister from the LDP to lead Japan since 2006.
The LDP's woes have led leading members of the party to openly hint they could defect, either siding with the opposition or reshaping Japan's political landscape.
Thai PM defends foreign minister's airport comments
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/081224/afp/081224064131asiapacificnews.html
Wednesday December 24, 2:41 PM
Thai PM defends foreign minister's airport comments
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Wednesday strongly defended his foreign minister over reported comments that the occupation of Bangkok's airports by protesters was "a lot of fun."
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya meanwhile apologised, but said remarks quoted by Britain's Daily Telegraph about the week-long siege by demonstrators trying to bring down the previous government had been taken out of context.
Kasit played a key role in the People's Alliance for Democracy, which ended the airport blockade after a court disbanded the ruling party loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, paving the way for Abhisit's rise.
"His comments were made before the royal command appointed him as minister. He later explained to me what he had said and that what appeared in media was inaccurate," Abhisit told reporters.
"He merely wanted to convey the message that there was no violence during occupation but the way the media reported it amounted to him endorsing the shutting down of the airports," he said.
The siege of Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang domestic airport left around 350,000 travellers stranded and caused major economic damage, with exports dropping last month for the first time in six years.
Abhisit's appointment of Kasit has proved the most controversial in his new cabinet, especially after Kasit was quoted by the Telegraph as saying last week that during the protests the "food was excellent, the music was excellent."
Kasit, a regular speaker at the protests, reportedly suggested that the protests should be seen as "pushing the process of democratisation forward."
At a separate briefing from the prime minister on Wednesday, Kasit formally apologised to the Thai people and sought to limit the damage from his comments.
"I cannot deny what I have said, but it may have been misquoted or taken out of context to make a misunderstanding. I can reaffirm that whatever I have done or said was to uphold better democracy," he said.
"I apologise to all Thai people if my comments have caused misunderstanding but I can assure them that I have no ill-intentions and I did not mean to hurt our country," he told reporters.
Persons of Year 2008 in hopeless lawless land of Burma
From: "burmadigest"
Persons of the Year 2008
In the Hopeless Lawless Land of Burma
(http://burmadigest. info/2008/ 12/23/hopeless- in-the-lawless- land/)
… BURMA DIGEST magazine, with the support of our readers' online votes, has chosen 'Burma's human rights defence lawyers' as Burma's Persons of the Year 2008 … …
There has been little to nil progress in Burma's pro-democracy politics in the last twelve months. There have not been any significant political activities or movements in Burma's politics recently.
Last year, in 2007, we saw a very massive peaceful people power uprising led by Buddhist monks against oppressive military regime, followed by a bloody brutal crack down on the protestors by the military, and international outcry denouncing Burmese military's cruel and inhumane tactics, and the regime caving in to international pressure to start negotiations with pro-democracy people's leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
In contrast, in 2008, a scary unnerving uncomfortable silence has been an overwhelming feature. A number of very important anniversaries, such as the 20th Anniversary of 8888 people power uprising, the 20th Anniversary of the bloody military coup, the 20th Birthday of foundation of the National League for Democracy and the first year anniversary of the Saffron Revolution has all passed by rather too quietly.
Only two crucially important happenings, and a few other relatively significant events, occurred in Burma in 2008.
The first major crucial happening was the cyclone Nargis in May 2008 which, coupled with poor crisis response and management in its aftermath, killed more than 100,000 people, becoming one of the deadliest storms in the history of the entire South East Asia region.
Cyclone Nargis was deadly not only in physical sense but also in the political sense as well. Nargis caught everybody off guard, not only the victims in Irrawaddy Delta region, but also the military government, the opposition politicians inside and outside the country, and of course the international community. Nargis highlighted Burmese military government as not only brutally oppressive but also futilely inadequate in times of national emergencies and negligently indifferent to people's sufferings. But the opposition politicians also did not score very well in the Cyclone crisis; they did not know either how to best respond to a national natural disaster, some even showed a callous political instinct calling for an American-led invasion into Burma for a regime change grasping the chaotic cyclone aftermath as an opportunity. And the international community, usually focusing solely on democratization in Burma, found a harsh difficulty at the time of unexpected natural disaster to establish reliable channels for delivering humanitarian aid into Burma.
Eventually, despite military government stealing as much as possible from aid supplies, significant amounts of international humanitarian aids successfully went into the disaster region. But, it also paved the way for the military regime to establish rapport and a spirit of engagement with the United Nations. Since Nargis, the international community's hands become tied and bounded by the need to effectively provide humanitarian aid to poverty-stricken malnourished people in Burma. With the regime having total control on all aspects of life and all facets of government function in Burma, the international community now suddenly came to the realization that they could not accomplish their essential humanitarian missions in Burma without maintaining a working relationship with the abhorrent military regime.
Another crucial key political development in 2008 was the passing of a pro-military constitution in a much criticized overtly rigged referendum. It caused a sea-change and a seismic shift in Burma's politics. Not that it was a free and fair referendum, nor was the constitution a really democratic one. But having passed a very favourable constitution in a referendum, albeit by hooks and by crooks, was itself an achievement for the otherwise totally illegitimate military regime having occasional nightmares about having to stand trial in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The new constitution contains many clauses which allow the military to maintain their dominance in Burma's politic, and it also grants blanket immunity to the leaders of the military regime.
Now with a new very pro-military constitution in their hands, the Generals are just ignoring the results on the really free and fair 1990 elections in which the opposition party National League for Democracy won landslide.
Now the main pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy NLD, founded by people's leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is in dilemma. If NLD take part in the coming 2010 elections, it will amount to agreeing with the regime that the results of 1990 election are now invalid and expired. And there is little chance that the 2010 elections will be free or fair. Having learnt their lessons the hard way in 1990, the regime will not allow the opposition parties to win the elections again. And in May 2008 constitutional referendum, the regime has clearly shown that they care very little about freeness, fairness, transparency or credibility.
But, on the other hand, if the NLD refuse to take part in 2010 elections, the regime will force NLD to disband. And also, the regime is preparing to field pro-military parties in the coming elections; if pro-democracy parties boycott the election, it will make things easier for pro-regime parties to gain 100% control of all seats in the parliament.
While the NLD inside Burma is caught in a dilemma, an interesting development happened in the exile community. An umbrella organization based in Thai-Burma border area and consisting of some armed groups and some un-armed groups, known as the National Council of Union of Burma (NCUB), attempted this year to challenge Burmese military regime's credentials at the UN General Assembly. NCUB made a request to the United Nations, in essence, that as Burmese military regime is illegitimate Burma's seat in the UN General Assembly should be handed over to the opposition politicians who were duly elected in 1990 elections. But the problem is, there is already an exile/rival democratic government formed with some leading elected people's representatives of 1990 elections, known as the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB), based in Washington DC. So, if the UN were to hand over Burma's seat in the General assembly to Burmese pro-democracy politicians, it's the Washington based exile government, the NCGUB, who is entitled to take up the seat. But somehow the NCUB and the NCGUB could not reach an agreement and the 'credibility challenge' failed in its inception. The UN just turned down NCUB's 'credibility challenge' request on technical grounds without even considering its merits. Since then there is a big split among exile leaders; politicians from one group seriously criticizing those from the other, with the grass-root junior activists caught in the middle in the crossfire.
With the pro-democracy parties inside Burma trapped in the 2010 election dilemma, and with the growing disunity among exile leaders, the political spirits in exile community is ebbing now, sadly.
Another sad, but rather unavoidable, development in 2008 was the discord between new generation activists, inside as well as outside Burma, and the elderly care-taker leadership of the NLD party. Some younger generation exile NLD activists even made statements in the media that they no longer have, or owe, any allegiance to the elderly caretaker leaders of the party inside the country. Younger generations want more active actions and more intense activities, becoming discontent with the slow reactive 'wait & see' approach of their elderly leaders.
But we saw a glimmer of good news in 2008 with the release of U Win Tin, the right-hand man of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before his imprisonment and her detention. He is renowned to have an inextinguishable spirit of democracy despite his very long and very harsh imprisonment. And he is now apparently taking over NLD's leadership, in the absence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and with the increasing incapacitation of other elderly caretaker leaders. And he seems to be trying at his best to restore solidarity between newer and older generations inside NLD party. It's all very good news for the otherwise bleak and gloomy year.
So, apart from U Win Tin's release from jail, the dominant feature of the depressing year 2008 is the terrible silence of the lambs inside the country and the ebb of political spirits in the exile.
While the good people are in despair, the detestable military regime is gaining momentum on its sham roadmap towards so called disciplined democracy. Recently, as an attempt to clear the field for 2010 elections, the regime and its kangaroo courts have given longer-than- life jail sentences to hundreds of leading pro-democracy activists in Burma. Some activists recently got upto 70-80 years of prison sentences. Here one must not forget that average life expectancy in Burma, with a worse than chaotic health care system under a mendacious megalomaniac military regime, is just about 60 years.
And the regime has severely limited her lawyer's access to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite the regime extending her house-arrest again and again beyond legal limits, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could not even see her lawyer as required to consult with him about the on-going appeal against her unlawful detention.
Moreover, many a lawyer who dared to defend pro-democracy activists in regime's kangaroo courts has got prison sentences themselves for their crimes of being courageous enough to argue against the kangaroo courts' trumped up charges on the pro-democracy activists.
In Burma, currently, the executive branch of the government is swamped with inept and insincere military officers. The legislative Parliament is non-existent, with the Senior General Than Shwe making and unmaking all the laws in any way he likes. And there are only kangaroo courts for judicial matters.
With the vicious military regime TOTALLY oppressing on its people and ABSOLUTELY persecuting the political opposition, and with only crooked kangaroo courts available for any hope of judicial redress, people of Burma are becoming a hopeless people in a lawless land.
But, even if Burma's internationally inspirational peaceful pro-democracy revolution has now failed under a ruthless military regime's brutal persecution, long-suffering people of Burma must one day be able to enjoy their due civil rights and human rights, by one way or the other, by revolution or by evolution.
Whichever way Burma goes henceforth, the "Rule of Law" is an indispensable first step towards establishing a credible and long-lasting democratic system.
So, the United Nations, even though no longer very dare nowadays to harshly criticize the regime, has recently reminded the Generals that if they want international community to take their so called 'disciplined democracy roadmap' with much regard, they must at least, as a basic essential measure, establish a fair just and independent judiciary in Burma.
So, to highlight the need to establish credible free and autonomous judicial and legal systems in Burma, and to show our appreciation of their courageous efforts to legally defend pro-democracy activists facing severe persecution in regime's kangaroo courts, BURMA DIGEST magazine, with the support of our readers' online votes, has chosen 'Burma's human rights defence lawyers' as Burma's Persons of the Year 2008.
- reported by executive editor on behalf of BURMA DIGEST team
Money connection between Singapore and the Myanmar's military junta Options
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.burma/browse_thread/thread/cdd35c400394ca44/3510f40d3a4f0310?lnk=raot&pli=1
Singapore banks are used for illicit money laundering
Quote:
The US told Singapore and its banks last year to sever financial links with
Myanmar's military junta.
Singapore's central bank said confidentiality laws were no shield for
criminal activities and that banks could disclose customer information to
assist such investigations.
http://www.plushasia.com/article/1220
Singapore is being depicted as a haven for the super-rich by a recent
feature of news agency Reuters.
"The sun-drenched Asian city-state, with the highest density of millionaires
in the world, is seeing wealth management prosper as the US and Europe
grapple with the worst slump in a generation," said the report picked by
Forbes, China Daily and a local weblog.
The feature compared Singapore's strict bank secrecy rules to those of
Switzerland which are under assault, following the charging of UBS's wealth
management chief for helping Americans hide money.
Assets under the management of Singapore financial institutions soared by a
third last year to more than US$800 billion (about S$1.17 trillion).
The amount is small compared to Switzerland. Singapore had US$500 billion in
offshore assets under management last year, according to the Boston
Consulting Group, compared to four times as much in Switzerland.
Banks such as Credit Suisse and Macquarie Group are hiring wealth management
staff in Singapore, despite a local recession. Bank of China is one of the
latest to plan a wealth management arm here.
Singapore has a hard line on bank secrecy. It has not agreed to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) standards of
transparency and exchange of information.
Singapore, which is trying to grow financial services to wean dependence on
manufacturing, is on the International Monetary Fund's list of tax havens
and targeted by a proposed new US anti-tax-abuse law.
Another country that had similarly shunned the OECD, Liechtenstein, recently
agreed to a landmark deal with the US, paving the way for the exchange of
bank account details with Washington in cases of tax evasion. The agreement
may pressure Switzerland into similar concessions.
Such scrutiny in the West could lead to more European money flowing here.
But European cash comes with the risk that Singapore too could be targeted
in the crackdown on tax havens.
The US told Singapore and its banks last year to sever financial links with
Myanmar's military junta.
Singapore's central bank said confidentiality laws were no shield for
criminal activities and that banks could disclose customer information to
assist such investigations.
Myanmar to grant surplus rice export through border trade
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/22/content_10542218.htm
YANGON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will grant export of surplus rice through border trade, the local Weekly Eleven News quoted sources with the Ministry of Commerce in Nay Pyi Taw as reporting Monday.
The country's rice export is mainly done through normal trade only but it will also be permitted to do so through border trade if there is surplus rice produced regionally, the sources said, adding that the grant covers surplus rice produced only from Yangon, Sagaing, Bago and Ayeyawaddy divisions.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein has urged agricultural entrepreneurs to make greater efforts for exporting more rice, saying that the country has enough cultivable land to boost paddy production.
Out of 17.6 million hectare of cultivable land, only 11.6 million hectares of paddy or 65.9 percent could be grown, Thein Sein told a recent coordination meeting on development of agricultural sector and boosting of export items held in Nay Pyi Taw.
Last year saw a production of 30 million tons of paddy out of 7.6 million hectares grown, but only about 20,000 tons of rice were exported, Thein Sein said, adding that up to October this year, over 170,000 tons of rice had been exported amid Nargis, which was up from the previous year.
"Although Myanmar's rice production has increased, it can be found that she has not been capable of producing more rice than the nations that are smaller and have fewer farmland than Myanmar," he pointed out, citing the fact that Thailand exports 7 million tons of quality rice and Vietnam 4.5 million tons.
"Myanmar is to strive for ensuring local self-sufficiency in rice and export about 3 million tons of rice annually," he outlined.
Editor: Deng Shasha
Myanmar marine product export drops
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200812221021.htm
YANGON (Xinhua): Myanmar's marine product exports amounted to 353 million U.S. dollars in the nearly three quarters of the fiscal year 2008-09 ending March, a drop of 30 million dollars from 2007-08's 387 million dollars correspondingly, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday.
Citing the figures of the Fishery Department up to Dec. 15, the report attributed the fall to the impact of the global financial crisis.
The department revealed that purchase order from abroad was down by 50 percent compared with normalcy, while domestic purchase power fell by 40 percent.
Along with the reduction of foreign market demand, price of fish also dropped in the domestic market, the report added. Of Myanmar's marine exports, fish, prawn and crab are leading.
In 2007-08, Myanmar exported 352,652 tons of marine products, gaining 561 million U.S. dollars, according to official statistics.
In Myanmar's marine export country line-up, China stood atop, followed by Thailand, Japan and Singapore.
The country's fishery sector remained as the fourth largest contributor to the gross domestic product and also the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earning during the past five years.
Meanwhile, Myanmar is cooperating with a regional organization of the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in conducting survey of marine resources in the country's waters, focusing species with commercial potential, local media said.
With a long coastline of over 2,800 km and a total area of 500, 000 hectares of swamps along the coast, the country has an estimated sustainable yield of marine products at over one million tons a year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agri. & Commodities
MYANMAR: Cyclone survivors benefit from cash-for-work programmes
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82049
INKYUT, 22 December 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of cyclone survivors across southern Myanmar are benefiting from cash-for-work programmes being implemented by the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS).
In collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the projects aim to provide financial support to those left vulnerable by Cyclone Nargis by creating jobs in rebuilding infrastructure.
"Now we are working for ourselves," said Ngwe Thein, 70, one of 150 people working to repair a 1.6km stretch of road between the villages of Mayan, Inkyut and Kyitepat in Kunchangone Township in Yangon Division, one of the hardest-hit areas.
"This is a real opportunity for us," Ngwe Thein said, as two more tractors laden with soil were unloaded. "This road was in a bad condition before the cyclone. Now it will be better and transportation will improve."
Thousands benefit
As part of the programme, launched in November, 34 village groups were put to work in 11 storm-ravaged townships, including Kawhmu, Twante, Kungyangon, Dedaye, Pyapon, Bogale, Kyaiklatt, Mawlamyinegyun, Labutta, Hynegyikyun and Maubin.
MRCS and IFRC hope to complete 44 reconstruction projects, most of them lasting between four and six weeks, by end-December.
Photo: Lynn Maung/IRIN
Ngwe Thein, 70, says he is happy to be doing something for his community
Almost eight months after the cyclone, such activities are seen as vital in assisting local communities get back on their feet, say specialists.
"For three months after the cyclone, MRCS focused on relief operations in the disaster area," U Hla Myint, deputy head of MRCS's disaster management division, said. "Then we shifted to the ongoing recovery phase, and the cash-for-work programme is part of that phase."
Participants are paid 2,000 kyat (about US$1.70) a day.
Under the programme, female-headed families and cash-labourers unable to find work are being prioritised, said one MRCS official at the Kunchangone branch office.
Community involvement in the decision-making process is key to the programme.
"We ask the people what they want to do for their villages, whether they want to dig wells or repair the roads," explained one IFRC official in Dadeye Township, at the extreme southeast corner of the delta.
Slow recovery
However, recovery will take several years given the types of loss suffered and the extent of needs, according to the first of three strategic reviews published on 19 December.
Many people lost their assets and savings, reducing their capacity for recovery and leading to increased indebtedness.
Offering a snapshot of the needs of more than 2,000 households in over 100 communities in the affected area, the report noted that most people in the delta were now involved in casual labour, followed by agriculture, fishing and seasonal work.
The report also noted that changes in patterns of economic activity and livelihood had occurred because of Nargis. Since the storm, there has been a shift away from fishing and agriculture and an increase in casual labour.
"Without the capacity to produce their own food or income, communities will remain aid-dependent," the review stated.
Livelihoods within communities were interlinked and interdependent, the report said, reflecting complex social and economic structures. Casual and agricultural labourers were dependent on the recovery of the landowners for the restoration of their livelihoods, it said.
lm/ds/mw
Theme(s): (IRIN) Aid Policy, (IRIN) Economy, (IRIN) Natural Disasters
[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
North Korean defector asks Myanmar to release her children
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/247501,north-korean-defector-asks-myanmar-to-release-her-children.html
Posted : Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:18:07 GMT
Author : DPA
Asia World News | Home
Seoul - A North Korean woman pleaded with Myanmar to release her two children, who are among a group of 19 North Korean defectors to be tried by Myanmar for illegal entry, news reports said Tuesday. The North Korean group, which includes four children, was arrested on December 2 in Tachilek, a town on the Myanmar-Thai border about 550 kilometres north-east of Yangon after they were forced to shift their boat route from Thailand to Myanmar, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.
After their departure from China's southern province of Yunnan, the group set out towards Thailand, travelling south along the Myanmar-Thai border, but their boat was forced off course.
"Two of them are my children, aged six and 15," said the woman, who had defected to South Korea earlier, in an interview with Radio Free Asia, an NGO broadcaster.
After she heard her children were arrested by Myanmar's authorities, she went to the border to meet her children. "But my requests to see my children were denied (by Myanmar authorities)."
She explained her children had fled North Korea with her mother and two sisters and arrived at China's northern border. "Then, my mother was arrested and deported back to North Korea, and two of my sisters were sold out to local brokers and have since been unheard of," she said.
South Korean NGOs and family members in South Korea are staging a humanitarian campaign to help the defectors, whose trial is expected to take place this week.
The North Koreans face either deportation back to China or Thailand or between six months and two years in prison.
Each year, hundreds of North Koreans attempt to flee the Stalinist state, usually entering a third country like Thailand as a passage towards their final destination, South Korea or the United States.
Myanmar mothers have poor access to healthcare
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081223/hl_nm/us_myanmar_health_maternal_1
Digg Facebook Newsvine del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print Mon Dec 22, 9:30 pm ETHONG KONG (Reuters) – Access to maternal healthcare in eastern Myanmar is inadequate and most expectant mothers suffer from poor nutrition, anemia and malaria, raising the risk of pregnancy complications, researchers said.
In an article in the medical journal PLoS Medicine, they said forced relocation doubled the risk of women developing anemia and greatly decreased their chances of receiving any antenatal care.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the United States and the Burma Medical Association surveyed 3,000 women along the border in eastern Myanmar and found that nearly 90 percent of them delivered their last baby at home.
"Coverage of basic maternal health interventions is woefully inadequate in these selected populations and substantially lower than even the national estimates for Burma, among the lowest in the region," they wrote.
"Considerable political, financial and human resources will be needed to improve maternal health in this region."
A skilled attendant, or midwife, was present at only five percent of births, and only a third of women had any antenatal or postnatal care, they said. Only a third of the women surveyed reported access to effective contraceptives.
Few women received iron supplements or used insecticide-treated bednets. Consequently more than half the women were anemic and 7.2 percent were infected with malaria. Many women showed signs of poor nutrition, they found.
They said human rights violations impacted greatly on women's health. In the Karen region, more than 10 percent of households were forced to move, while in the Shan region many women reported forced labor, forced relocation, threats to food security, and direct attacks.
The odds of receiving no antenatal care services were almost six times higher among those forcibly displaced, it said.
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
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