News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 08 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 08 April, 2011
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Thein Sein Urges 'Decentralization'
Conflict in Shan State Spreading
Suu Kyi wins global women’s award
Wise man on the hill
Home News Burma seeking membership in ASEAN parliament
Suu Kyi Named 'Voice of the Decade'
Inside the KIA—Ramping-Up and Staying Alert
ASEAN battles ‘hot money’ inflows
Myanmar likely to deport detained Canadian
Time to close Burma camps, says Thai governor
19 'Taliban' Appear in Arakan Court
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Thein Sein Urges 'Decentralization'
By KO HTWE Friday, April 8, 2011

In an address to his union-level, region and state ministers on Wednesday, Burma's new president, ex-Gen Thein Sein, seemed to urge greater government decentralization while at the same time admonishing lower-level organizations to stay within the policy framework set by the central government.

“Now, a new system and new era have emerged. So it is required to make changes in ideas and procedures,” said Thein Sein, according to a report of his speech by The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper.

“Duties and responsibilities have been assigned to the respective ministers of states and regions,” The New Light of Myanmar reported that Thein Sein said. “The centralization has been reduced and states and regions have been entrusted with rights and powers. They will have to take charge of their own duties.”

The president said that ministers need to work with “initiative, dynamism and conviction without waiting for exhortation.”

Thein Sein acknowledged that there would be initial difficulties in distinguishing between the tasks to be carried out at the union level versus the state/regional level, but said that “experience would solve the problem.”

No specific areas of decentralization were mentioned. Thein Sein said that that local ministers should encourage the development of private businesses in their region, and urged both union and state/regional level ministers to perform their respective duties to ensure the country's transportation system was in good condition.

And while speaking in general terms about decentralization, Thein Sein admonished the ministers to toe the national party line in carrying out their local responsibilities.

“Ministries should know the national policy, objectives and goals and should always work within their framework,” Thein Sein said, while warning the ministers that they can be held accountable for what they have done. “Moreover, they should be aware of the acts that may harm the interest of the people and tarnish the reputation of the country and undermine the nation's sovereignty.”

Thein Sein also included people outside of government in his decentralization policy. He urged the people to work on a self-reliant basis for their socioeconomic development instead of relying solely on the government, saying that the only duty of the people is to work and the government on its part should create job opportunities and levy taxes.

For many politicians and observers, Thein Sein's words about decentralization have little hope of becoming a reality because, they say, he himself cannot do anything without the consent of the commander-in-chief.

All Mon Regions Democracy Party chairman Naing Ngwe Thein said, “They [the government officials] have been using a word like that [decentralization] for a long time. Every important thing is controlled by the central government under the new Constitution, but they don’t mention details on decentralization.”

“The new minister of Arakan State calls all the business from the state. After the discussion, he [the Arakan State minister] said that he has to inform the central government and has no right to decide on his own,” said a businessman from Arakan State.

The president must make all important decisions with the agreement of the National Defense and Security Council, so Thein Sein's speech will be remain just talk, said Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese leader.

“The authorities of the state and regional governments and legislatures are centralized and have little chance to change. If they want to change freely they will face threats under the Constitution, so state and regional governments do not dare to do this,” said Aye Thar Aung.

“It is not likely he can build a decentralized system. He [Thein Sein] always capitulates to the commander-in-chief,” said Sai Leik, the spokesperson of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.

“He [Thein Sein] can do nothing without the knowledge of Snr-Gen Than Shwe. It is not easy for his words to take shape because they have many changes to make in the ministries,” said Phyo Min Thein, a politician based in Rangoon. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21107
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Conflict in Shan State Spreading
By KO HTWE Friday, April 8, 2011

The ongoing conflict between Burmese government troops and Shan State Army-North (SSA-North) Brigade 1 has spread to additional townships in southern and northern Shan State, according to sources.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Saengjuen Sarawin, an editor with the Shan Herald Agency for News, said that clashes between government troops and SSA-North Brigade 1 are taking place every day.

“The military operation is named 'Zwe Man Hein.' At first the clashes were limited to 5 townships, but now they have spread to nearly 10 townships,” said Saengjuen Sarawin.

There has been continuous fighting since February between Burmese government forces and SSA-North Brigade 1 in Mongshu, Tangyan and Kyathi townships, causing many residents to flee the area.

Military sources said that the SSA-North may be receiving support from the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South). However, SSA- South spokesman Sai Lao Hseng denied these reports, saying that he had no information about clashes between the SSA-South and government troops.

“If the SSA-North enters our territory, we support them in ways such as sharing information,” said Lao Hseng.

The Burmese army ordered SSA-North Brigade 1 to evacuate its headquarters in Kyethi Township by the end of March.

“The Burmese army placed troops near the headquarters of the SSA-North, so they moved outside their territory and the clashes spread to more townships,” said Saengjuen Sarawin.

Brigade 1 controls territory in Kyethi and Monghsu townships in southern Shan State, as well as Mongyai and Tangyan townships in the northern part of the state.

There are reports that the Burmese government offered to negotiate with the SSA-North, but officials from the SSA-North deny these reports.

Meanwhile, unnamed armed groups fought with government troops in the area of the Golden Triangle on Wednesday, resulting in many Burmese army casualties, said Saengjuen Sarawin.

In addition, one resident was killed and three injured on Monday when an explosion took place in the worker accommodation building for a battalion based in Kali in Kunhing Township, according to residents.

“Unknown people threw hand-grenades into the house of a contractor.

Residents don’t want to talk about the event. The culprit has not yet been arrested. They [officials] say that the perpetrator is from the Shan army because of dissatisfaction among them,” said a resident from Kali.

A breakaway faction of SSA-North Brigade 1 is led by Col Pang Fa and is estimated to be the strongest of the SSA-North's three brigades with some 3,000 troops. Unlike the SSA-North's other two factions—Brigades 3 and 7—Pang Fa's unit refused to join the regime's Border Guard Force (BGF) plan under Burmese army command.

Since last year, the Burmese regime has pressured 17 cease-fire armies to accept the BGF plan, but only a few have joined. The others, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Karen Independence Army, have refused.

The UWSA and the SSA-South, which never signed a cease-fire with the junta, have offered support to SSA-North Brigade 1 since it resumed hostilities with the Burmese army. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21101
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Suu Kyi wins global women’s award
By DVB
Published: 8 April 2011

Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will follow in the footsteps of international dignitaries such as Hillary Clinton and Melinda Gates next week when she is honoured with the prestigious Global Trailblazer Award.

The honour comes as part of the Global Leadership Awards given annually by the US-based women’s empowerment group, Vital Voices.

The 65-year-old Nobel laureate will also be named Voice of the Decade when she receives the award from Clinton, who was last year’s winner, at a ceremony in Washington on 12 April.

Suu Kyi of course will not be present at the ceremony – the Burmese government, which released her from house arrest in November last year, has said she is free to leave the country, but the chances of her being allowed to return are slim.

Vital Voices says that potential honourees include “social entrepreneurs, political representatives, businesswomen, human rights defenders and civil society advocate.

“From remote villages and wired cities, they promote equality, peace and prosperity as innovators who transcend barriers to move whole communities forward.”

The democracy icon is no stranger to awards, having been honoured with the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. The Indian government has also honoured her with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, and Venezuela with the International Simón Bolívar Prize.
http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-wins-global-women%E2%80%99s-award/15240
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Southeast Asia
Apr 8, 2011
Wise man on the hill
By Bertil Lintner

CHIANG MAI - There was hardly a vacant seat in the Protestant church by the Ping River in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai for the funeral. American veterans of the Indochina war mixed with Thai and foreign residents, missionaries and intelligence officers, Lahu and Wa tribesmen, and even some wildlife conservationists.

Wreaths came from a group of people who fought in the secret war in Laos in the 1960s and call themselves the "Unknown Warriors Association 333", former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) workers, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and across the border in Myanmar the rebel Shan State Army.

All of them had come to say farewell to former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer William Young, who on April 1 ended his own life after suffering from severe emphysema and other ailments, aged 76. He was found dead in is home in Chiang Mai with a handgun in one hand and a crucifix in the other. Young was a warrior but also a devout Christian. As the turnout at the funeral showed, Young was a legend long before he died.

His life and that of his family reflected the ups and downs of more than a century of American engagement with Southeast Asia, its most glorious days as well as its most controversial. At the turn of the last century, William Young's namesake, his grandfather William Young, opened a Baptist mission in Kengtung in the eastern Shan states of Myanmar, then known as Burma.

While the staunchly Buddhist plainspeople ignored the Christian gospel he proselytized, Lahu hill-tribesmen flocked to him by the thousands. Like many other hill peoples, the Lahu had a tale about a "white God" with a book who was destined to save them.

The older William Young was indeed white and carried a Bible under his arm. The prophecy seemed to be fulfilled and a record number of baptisms were carried out in the Kengtung hills. His sons carried on his work, Harold among the Lahu and Vincent among the Wa, who were still headhunters when the Youngs first ventured into their area which straddled the border between Burma and China. They founded churches, missionary schools and devised the Roman script for both the Lahu and Wa languages.

Harold's son, William Young, was born during a family visit to California in 1934 but he grew up in the Shan states and became fluent in several local languages, including Lahu and Shan. He later learned Wa, Thai and the northern Thai dialect as well as some Hindi and Chinese. Hindi was added after the Young family was evacuated to India when the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, and young William attended the Woodstock school in Mussoorie in the hills above Dehra Dun.

When the war was over the Youngs returned to Burma, and Harold, although an American, was appointed as administrator of the Wa Hills by the British colonial power. That lasted until Burma's independence was achieved in 1948. The Youngs moved to northern Thailand where the father, Harold, founded the Chiang Mai zoo and the mother, Ruth, built up the American University Alumni (AUA), which is still one of the most popular places in the city to learn English.

By then, however, Harold Young was already closely connected with US intelligence, during the war with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and later the CIA. The recruitment of missionaries into America's spy agencies was not a coincidence. Britain and France had intelligence agencies which were well established in different parts of the world due to their status as global colonial powers.

The US, in comparison, had no coordinated external intelligence agency until World War II, but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 Washington realized that it was of utmost importance to develop one. The need became even more pressing after the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, where espionage was given the highest strategic priority.

The OSS was formed in 1942 and the CIA in 1947. But unlike the colonial powers at the time, the US had no old network of operatives and local intelligence assets from which to draw. There was one exception, though: the Christian missionaries. They had over the years acquired in-depth knowledge of local cultures and languages, and some - among them the Youngs - enjoyed a near-godlike status in their respective communities of Christian converts.

Like father, like son
From their base in Chiang Mai, Harold Young and his eldest son Gordon trained Lahu paramilitary units for intelligence work inside Burma and, more importantly, China, where the communists had seized power in 1949. The younger son, William, was recruited by the CIA shortly after he had finished service with the US army in Germany in the mid-1950s.

When the Indochina war escalated in the early 1960s, William, with his unique linguistic capabilities, was ideally placed to help organize the "secret war" in Laos, which had to be clandestine because Laos's neutrality was guaranteed under the 1962 Geneva Agreement.

No foreign troops were supposed to be in Laos but North Vietnamese forces supported the communist Pathet Lao in the north and northeast, and in other parts of the country CIA operatives were active working alongside Thai special forces known as the Border Patrol Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit (PARU).

The head of the operation, William Lair, was equally legendary and Young became one of his most trusted officers. Alfred McCoy, the author of the classic The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, wrote that "since Young had grown up in Lahu and Shan villages in Burma, he actually enjoyed the long months of solitary work among the hill tribes, which might have strained the nerves of less acculturated agents". Author Francis Belanger referred to Young as "perhaps one of the most effective agents ever".

Young built up a pan-tribal army and recruited a remarkable team of 16 Lahu and Shan operatives he called "the Sixteen Musketeers". He also worked with Vang Pao's ethnic Hmong army - and a little-known unit of Nationalist Chinese soldiers called by its French name, Bataillon Special 111. Manned mainly by ex-prisoners of war (POWs) from the Korean War who chose to go to Taiwan rather than being repatriated to China, they were given special training by the nationalists.

The most trustworthy had been chosen for special operations in the mainland, but to prevent defection they had slogans like "Death to Communism!" tattooed on their arms. A group of them was sent to Laos, where they remained for years as the most secretive of all the mercenary units that were deployed there during the so-called "secret war". Young worked with Bataillon Special 111 in the Phatang area on the Thai-Lao border, from where they were sent north into China to wiretap telephones and collect intelligence.

What had begun as a relatively small but highly effective operation turned into a massive war effort when Theodore Shackley, a new brash CIA station chief, arrived on the scene in 1966. Fresh from the Cuban missile crisis and Germany, Shackley had little or no understanding of local sensitivities in countries such as Laos. Vang Pao's Hmong army was built up into a massive force of tens of thousands of men - and, as Young once told this writer, "People like me became thumbtacks on the map on his wall in his Vientiane office."

Within a year of Shackley's arrival, Young soon fell out with the CIA and the inevitable happened: he left the agency, accused by some of "insubordination". He returned to his family's farm north of Chiang Mai a bitter man and felt that the US government had dealt its hand extremely clumsily in Laos.

Years later he often talked about how "my country", as he always said, should be more understanding of local conditions and cultures. He came across the same problem when in the 1980s he trained security personnel for the Chevron Oil Corporation in Sudan. While Young spent most of his time in the company of Sudanese officers, his colleagues drank and played cards together with little or no interaction with anyone from the host country.

But Young's life was not confined to war and training security personnel. After leaving the CIA in the late 1960s he served as an assistant and interpreter for the American archeologist Chester Gorman, with whom he excavated ancient spirit caves in the backwoods areas of Mae Hong Son and Kanchanaburi provinces in Thailand.

Their findings provided a breakthrough in Thai archeology and Young was proud to have helped fill in the gaps of work previously done by the French in Indochina and the British in Burma. He also ran a guesthouse in Chiang Rai and in later years worked as a consultant for the US DEA.

Many locals in Chiang Mai and elsewhere would argue that Young's passing marked the end of an era. Today's intelligence operatives come from entirely different backgrounds and generally don't have the same experience and local knowledge as Young provided - as the US's many misadventures across the globe are clear and glaring testament.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and the author of Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948 and several other books on Myanmar. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services.

(Michael Black and David Lawitts, who conducted and compiled several hours of interviews with William Young, contributed to this story.)

(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.) http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MD08Ae01.html
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Home News Burma seeking membership in ASEAN parliament
Burma seeking membership in ASEAN parliament
Thursday, 07 April 2011 22:19 KNG

The new government of Burma is trying to become a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), by sending its representatives to the AIPA’s conference in Cambodia, according to a member of the Constitutional Drafting Department of the Burmese Pyitu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament).

He said the representatives attended the conference from April 2 to 5 as part of Burma’s efforts to become a long term member of the AIPA.

The representative group was led by former ambassador and mayor of Rangoon, Hla Myint (also an ex-Brigadier General) and included Immigration Office Director, Khin Maung Than, as well as Amyotha Hluttaw Constitutional Drafting Department Vice President, Mya Nyein and Amyotha Hluttaw Constitutional Drafting Committee Member, Hkyet Hting Nan.

The General Assembly (Pyi Htaung-Su Hluttaw) announced on March 28th it agreed to seek long term membership in the AIPA.

Burma will become the ninth member in the AIPA if approved by the assembly. The present members include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

That would leave Brunei as the last of the 10 ASEAN member countries without membership in the AIPA. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1883-burma-seeking-membership-in-asean-parliament.html
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Suu Kyi Named 'Voice of the Decade'
By LALIT K JHA Friday, April 8, 2011

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will honor Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy icon of Burma, with the Global Trailblazer Award and named “Voice of the Decade” at a glittering ceremony in Washington on April 12.

Aung San Suu Kyi will not be attending the ceremony, said organizers of the event, Vital Voices, the international NGO dedicated to empowering women leaders around the world. The awards honor and celebrate women leaders on the front lines of positive political, social and economic change who are strengthening democracy, increasing economic opportunity, and preserving human rights.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the Burmese democracy movement, Suu Kyi will be honored with the Global Trailblazer Award. The gala will feature a special on-camera interview with Suu Kyi conducted last month by Vital Voices in Rangoon.

Suu Kyi, released from years of house arrest last November, is not guaranteed entry back in to Burma if she leaves the country.

“Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards are unique,” said Vital Voices board of directors chair Susan Ann Davis.

“The awards provide additional credibility and often additional security for courageous women leaders, helping to strengthen their leadership and accelerate progress in their communities,” Davis said.

Among other honorees are: Sunitha Krishnan of India, an anti-human trafficking pioneer and co-founder of the NGO, Prajwala; Liron Peleg-Hadomi and Noha Khatieb of Israel, who have defied the Zionist regime by reaching across the cultural barriers dividing Jewish and Arab Israelis; Kah Walla of Cameroon, a businesswoman and elected official working to advance the economic status of the women in her country; and Fatema Akbari of Afghanistan, an entrepreneur who uses her carpentry business to promote economic independence for the women in her community.

“It is humbling to share a stage each year with these incredible women,” said Vital Voices president and CEO Alyse Nelson.

“They are social entrepreneurs, political representatives, businesswomen, human rights defenders and civil society advocates. From remote villages and wired cities, they are innovators who transcend barriers to move whole communities forward.” Nelson said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21102
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Inside the KIA—Ramping-Up and Staying Alert
By ALEX ELLGEE Thursday, April 7, 2011

LAIZA, Kachin State—Sitting in an airy hall at a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training camp, young cadets take turns explaining to their commander why they joined the ethnic militia. “I joined to follow the revolutionary principles of our leaders and will fight for independence from Burma,” one cadet bellows in a hoarse voice.

The fact that the KIA signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime 16 years ago appears to have had little effect on the young cadet’s fighting spirit, and the rest of the group express similar revolutionary sentiments— all saying they yearn for independence.

The forty-odd young cadets have just completed a two-month-long heavy artillery course. “It’s the first one in six years,” says one of the KIA trainers. “We need to be ready for anything.”

For most of the six-year period since the last artillery training took place, the KIA was reaping the benefits of the ceasefire. In the absence of any raging conflict, a variety of Chinese companies set up business in KIA territory to profit from the resource-rich region.

“We didn’t feel the need for artillery school then, it was a peaceful time,” says the KIA trainer.

During the time of relative peace and quiet, investors in jade mines, logging operations and hydro-dams helped build an infrastructure in parts of the KIA-controlled areas of Kachin State equivalent to that of towns in China. Laiza, where the KIA headquarters is located, has well-built roads, good communications and a string of hotels.

However, in the last year things have taken a turn for the worse and the extended time of relative peace and stability in Kachin State may soon come to an end.

Due to the KIA’s rejection of the regime’s Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal, under which their militia would be placed under the command of the Burmese military, tensions have increasingly escalated with the Burmese generals. In recent months, over twenty KIA liaison offices have closed their doors and all official communication with the regime has ceased.

Now both sides are preparing for war—while the Burmese military reinforces its troops, the KIA is crafting plans to defend against a looming regime offensive

Standing over a trench on “Prostitute Hill”—a title inherited from colonial times when decadent British soldiers allegedly flew in local sex workers by helicopter for the weekend—Maj Aung Myat says the hill would be the first point of attack by the Burmese military.

“They really want this hill, it’s the closest to our headquarters,” he says.

Despite the tensions, life is currently normal on top of the windy hill—but may not remain that way. “This can change at any time,” says the KIA base commander. “We are prepared though, and have reinforcements at the ready.”

At another training camp located down a dusty windy road, men in green boiler suits cram into a one-story lecture hall. The topic is military leadership, and the 150 students furiously scribble down notes—they have come from villages and towns across Kachin State to get leadership training for the purpose of defending their villages in case war breaks out.

Their training commander is Kyaw Pan, an unshaven middle-aged man. While sitting at a bamboo table and sipping tea in what used to be a medical school before tensions escalated, he says the group is being taught combat fighting, Chinese language, first-aid and leadership skills with the intention of organizing thousands of militia troops spread out across Kachin State.

“The purpose of militia training is so in a time of need, manpower across the whole of Kachin State can fight back for our cause,” says Kyaw Pan. “Depending on garrison and guerilla tactics, each of the militia officers can defend their village from a Burmese military attack.”

The renewed KIA training has caught the attention of the junta, which has already issued arrest warrants for anyone suspected of attending the course. In addition, according to Kyaw Pan, searches at checkpoints going in and out of KIA territory have become more vigorous, as has the level of questioning. As a result, none of the students can have their photos taken.

Another long windy drive from the militia training up into the mountains leads to Laison, the former headquarters of the KIA where the cold air and mountainous terrain make for a Himalayan ambiance. Residents wear several layers to protect against the chill and the high cold winds have turned their exposed cheeks dark red.

The KIO’s central committee made the decision to move from this highland stronghold to Laiza in 2003 for commercial reasons. Laison is on the border with China, but on the Sino side there is little for miles, while down in Laiza there is more commercial opportunity as the town has roads leading directly to major trading cities.

Yet for many KIA officers, the near ghost town of Laison remains vitally important because they view it as their last line of defense. “It’s the heart of the KIA,” says Major Aung Myat, while looking admiringly over the town. “Even if we lose Laiza, we could stay here forever, it’s our stronghold. The KIA will never lose this place.”

In fact, the last time there was all out fighting between the KIA and the regime—which occurred before the ceasefire agreement was signed—the hills above Laison were indeed the last line of defense. For months, the KIA defended against advances by junta forces without budging an inch.

Before the move to Laiza, all the ethnic Kachin government and military headquarters were stationed in Laison. Now all the buildings are empty apart from a few soldiers left behind as caretakers. However, things have been busy here this year. In preparation for renewed war, the KIA has built over 40 new buildings in case an emergency evacuation of Laiza becomes necessary.

The Burmese army has also been making preparations. In recent months, reinforcements have been sent to front-line posts and supply shipments have increased. In addition, the KIA reports increased pressure on their troops by the Burmese army.

Sitting in his command post at the KIA's Brigade 5 headquarters, Maj La Din says the main source of recent conflict has been the drug eradication programs the KIA has been attempting to carry out.

“We try to do the drug eradication in our area, but the Burmese junta always disturbs us by telling us not to go there, or going to the area first,” he says. “They want to label us as drug producers in the eyes of the international community.”

According to Naw Bu, who heads up the Kachin anti-drug program, they tried working with the junta before, but it failed.

“They kept taking bribes and not doing the job,” he says while sitting in the drug rehabilitation centre in Laiza, where they are currently treating over 150 patients. “If we let the regime take tax, the drug problem will get out of control and we will lose our Kachin youth and identity.”

The disagreement over drug eradication is not the only dispute igniting conflict. In February, a Burmese military commander was killed when fighting broke out in an area near the Myitsone Dam—which the KIA say the junta has not officially asked permission to build.

Since the incident, armed conflict has nearly flared several times when Burmese troops entered KIA territory.

While the Burmese soldiers used to come freely in and out of Kachin State, this is no longer the case. Strict warnings have been made, and both sides have been arresting soldiers who “trespass.”

In addition, the regime has been utilizing political as well as military means to pressure the KIA. Following a land mine explosion near a dam, state-run The New Light of Myanmar referred to the KIA as ‘insurgents” for the first time since the ceasefire.

Lama Gum Hpan, the secretary of the Kachin Independence Council (KIC), called the renewed labeling of the KIA as “insurgents” by the junta mouthpiece “unacceptable.”

“In the Burmese editions they don’t even use the correct terminology, they just call us a mob, or terrorists,” he says while sitting in a meeting room at the KIO headquarters that overlooks the Laiza valley. “Whatever they call us, we consider ourselves to be a government, with typical governmental structures.”

“We will never sign the BGF,” Lama Gum Hpan says. “It gives us no political power to help our people, it only limits us to the border area and it will mean all our people will lose their Kachin identity and ethnic rights.”

“If we accept it, then the whole struggle by the people for our Kachin land will be in vain,” he adds.

Lama Gum Hpan says that if the new Burmese government were willing to work with the Kachin people to “form a real and authentic federal union,” then the KIO would help them to do so and join the army. The Kachin people, he says, have always been committed to this under the conditions of the Panglong Agreement.

“When our leaders signed the Panglong Agreement,” he says, pointing to a black and white photo of the signed document and another of the signing ceremony, “we agreed to support the union, to join in a whole army and work together to improve the union. We did not agree to become a BGF.”

Despite the high hopes which the KIO and other ethnic groups had for the Panglong Agreement when it was signed, Major Soe Win, the commander of the Burmese army’s Northern Regional Command, was reported to have said, “The age of Panglong has been canceled and it is gone now.”

Lama Gam Hpan completely dismisses Soe Win’s viewpoint, but says that this attitude by the junta was one of the reasons why the KIA decided to work with other ethnic groups to form the United Nationalities Federal Council—Union of Burma (UNFC).

“We are still in the process of preparing the UNFC constitution, but if all goes to plan, all the ethnic groups involved will have to abide by a series of principles to help and support each other,” he says.

If the various ethnic groups are able to come to an agreement on the conditions for working together, the resulting alliance could have a significant impact. For example, the KIA or the United Wa State Army (UWSA) could be bound to provide military support to the Shan State Army-North or any other ethnic group who becomes engaged in conflict with the Burmese army.

At present, however, there are disagreements between “state-based organizations” and “nation-based organizations.” The UWSA is also reported to be reluctant to agree to provide military support to other ethnic groups.

“The idea for the UNFC came about after everyone rejected the BGF—it is a collective effort by the ethnics to find a political situation to Burma’s ethnic problems,” says Lama Gam Hpan.

He says that the KIO hopes that the new Burmese government will work with and seek dialogue with the new coalition “to bring peace and stability in Burma.” However, he wants the UN and other members of the international community to act as mediators in the dialogue.

“If there are no international observers, then Burma will never get peace,” he says.

At a basic training camp down the hill from the KIO headquarters, a rag tag bunch of new recruits, once again in plain green boiler suits, undergo drill training as the sun fades behind a mountain. They are comprised of a mixture of scrawny women and men—some old—and from a variety of ethnicities.

Half the group has wooden guns. “We had to send the others to the front-line in this tense time,” explains a Major.

Owing to the increase in recent tensions, the trainers at the cadet school say there has been an increase in “public interest” in joining the KIA. Another reason for a recent surge in recruits is the announcement by the Burmese government of a military draft.

Aw Pang, a skinny young man from northern Kachin State, says his parents sent him to the camp when they heard about the draft.

“They told me I will either have to fight for the junta or for the Kachin,” he says, before scoffing down a big bowl of rice. “I obviously want to be fighting for my Kachin people when fighting does break out.”

While Aw Pang and other recruits anticipate battle, few are certain when the call to fight will come.

One leader of the officer-training academy—who while ethnically Kachin is a former Burmese military commander who defected to the KIA after a 26-year career fighting ethnic rebels—doesn’t see the regime launching an attack in the next two years.

“They will not be in a political situation to do so—they are trying gain legitimacy from the neighbors,” he says. “Instead they will just try to place more political pressure and economic restrictions on us, they will try to break us down with divide and rule tactics.”

It seems that many in the KIA are under the same impression, as the mood is relatively relaxed around Laiza. Civilians continue to come and go and business is busy as usual. The KIA is even eyeing a plot of land opposite the city to develop a new commercial zone.

But Aung Kyaw Zaw, a military analyst on the Sino Burma border, believes fighting will start after the rainy season is finished in June.

“The Generals are very uncomfortable with this situation,” he says while sitting outside a teashop in the border town of Jiegao. “They can’t deal with the fact there is more than one army, they will take out the Kachin next.”

Aw Pang, the slender cadet from the basic training academy, seems unconcerned about when the fighting will start, but expresses his commitment to the Kachin cause.

“I’m ready to die for my people, and for my land,” he says before marching off to his next drill.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21090
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ASEAN battles ‘hot money’ inflows
By AFP

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan delivers his address during the recent ASEAN Finance Ministers? Investor Seminar in Kuala Lumpur (Reuters)

Southeast Asian finance ministers meet Friday for talks expected to focus on capital controls to shield the region’s booming economies from destabilising “hot money” inflows.

With Europe’s sovereign debt crisis spreading to Portugal and much of the developing world’s economies still in the doldrums after the global financial crisis, Asia has become a magnet for capital seeking better returns.

But much of the foreign capital has been in the form of volatile portfolio investments which can be withdrawn just as quickly as they were injected, raising fears for stability in economies that are leading the global recovery.

“We can intervene but we don’t know exactly how to do so. In the past few days the inflows have been huge,” Indonesian central bank Deputy Governor Hartadi Sarwono told reporters on Thursday.

“The capital inflows are so massive, and they don’t just flow to Indonesia but in the region.”

Indonesia’s rupiah hit four-year highs against the greenback earlier this week and inflation is running at more than 6.5 percent, underlining concerns that the region’s more successful economies may be close to boiling point.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to open the meeting of finance ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the resort island of Bali.

ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan will attend, as will World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati – a former Indonesian finance minister – and officials from the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank.

Indonesia, which holds the current chair of ASEAN, has said the ministers will also discuss food security and progress toward a planned common market in the region of more than 500 million people by 2015.

The ASEAN region grew at around five percent last year, up from 1.5 percent in 2009 in the aftermath of the global credit crunch.

The block includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Analysts say Asia’s emerging economies are poised for another year of solid growth in 2011 even if the impact of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan remains unclear.

But inflation is a key concern for the region, which faces tighter monetary policies as authorities seek to temper price rises including in food staples such as rice.

The ADB warned this week that some developing economies were showing signs of “potential overheating” and said more flexible exchange rates and capital controls could help curb soaring prices.

Governments have tried a range of responses to hot money but capital controls, such as transaction taxes and currency restrictions, have until recently been scorned by economists as unnecessary interference.

In February the IMF recognised that such controls were justified in the face of destabilising imbalances in the global economy.

In a recent report on Asian economies, Standard and Poor’s ratings agency said regional central banks might consider further capital controls and other actions to prevent risky asset bubbles.

Within Southeast Asia, it said Singapore’s growth would moderate sharply to 4.5-5.0 percent from 14.5 percent last year, Malaysia would expand 4.8-5.3 percent and Indonesia would grow 5.9-6.4 percent from 6.1 percent.

The Philippines was forecast to grow 5.1-5.6 percent from 7.3 percent and Thailand’s growth would ease to 4.0-4.5 percent from 7.8 percent.
http://www.dvb.no/news/asean-battles-%E2%80%98hot-money%E2%80%99-inflows/15231
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Myanmar likely to deport detained Canadian
Friday, 08 April 2011 05:13

YANGON: A Canadian man who was arrested in Myanmar after illegally crossing the border from Thailand will probably be deported, Myanmar officials said yesterday.

Ron Zakreski, 61, was detained on March 24, apparently while taking photos of the scene of an earlier battle between Myanmar government troops and Karen ethnic minority rebels. He is being held in the border town of Myawaddy.

He was brought before a court on March 30 and charged with violating Myanmar’s immigration law. “After he’s sentenced, he is likely to be deported,” said a Myanmar official who declined to be named.

A second official said: “He crossed the border illegally so he will be charged as he broke immigration law. The authorities will take him to Yangon.”

Zakreski, a retired psychologist, is described by his family in Canada as a veteran traveller and part-time photojournalist. Canada, which has no diplomatic mission in Myanmar, has said it is aware of the detention of one of its nationals and is gathering information through its embassy in Bangkok.

Australia is also assisting in the matter. Myanmar, where power was recently handed from the long-ruling junta to a military-backed government, usually deports foreigners who enter the country illegally instead of imprisoning them.

In November, a Japanese video journalist was arrested after crossing the porous border from Thailand to cover Myanmar’s first election in 20 years.

He was deported days later, after fighting erupted between government forces and ethnic insurgents near the place he was being held in Myawaddy. AFP http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/148247-myanmar-likely-to-deport-detained-canadian.html
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Time to close Burma camps, says Thai governor

Refugees of the Karen peoole - mainly from southern Burma - at the Mae La refugee camp in northern Thailand. [AFP]

Last Updated: 7 hours 1 minute ago

The governor of Thailand's Tak Province says it is time to consider repatriating voluntarily Burmese refugees along the Thai-Burmese border.

Tak Province hosts thousands of Burmese refugees and many more migrants live and work in the province's main town, Mae Sot.

The comments from governor Samart Loifah came after Burmese dictator Than Shwe announced the dissolution of the State Peace and Development Council - the ruling regime in Burma since it seized power in a military coup in 1988.

AlertNet reported that Samart Loifah said Burma is no longer violent, and Thais should start considering asking the refugees to return voluntarily.

He also urged international donors to reduce funding to the refugee camps to encourage people to leave Thailand, said the report.

There are around 145,000 people in nine Burmese camps along the Thai-Burmese border. http://australianetworknews.com/stories/201104/3185973.htm?desktop
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19 'Taliban' Appear in Arakan Court
By KHIN OO THAR Friday, April 8, 2011

Nineteen Muslim men, who were arrested last month in western Burma for alleged ties with the Taliban, appeared before a court in Maungdaw on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, according to sources in Arakan State.

Burma's Border Security Forces—a combination of army, police, immigration and customs, known commonly in Burmese as the Nasaka—arrested nearly 100 Muslim men in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, in early March, and accused them of belonging to a terrorist ring linked to the Taliban.

A lawyer in Maungdaw told The Irrawaddy that the Nasaka had filed a case against the men under Articles 17 (A) and (B) of the Unlawful Association Act and, on April 6, a jury led by Maungdaw District judge Soe Lwin started questioning 19 of them.

“Three lawyers … are preparing to defend the case of the 19 Muslims,” said the lawyer. “The next court hearing will be around the 23rd of this month.”

He said he heard the Nasaka will also bring its own prosecutors to the court. Although the trial is being presided over by the local court, the Nasaka is taking a leading role in the case, he said.

Maungdaw residents told The Irrawaddy that the suspects were arrested in Kamaungseik Village in Arakan State. The authorities immediately accused them of plotting terrorist activities. They were also accused of organizing secret training in combat and bomb-making, and a seal and documents related to the Taliban were allegedly seized at the time of their arrest, residents said.

However, not everyone is convinced as to the Nasaka's claims that there is a Taliban connection.

“Violence often takes place in this area,” said a Maungdaw resident. “Bombs and other explosives are frequently seized.”

He said the authorities have imposed frequent security checks on travelers and taken other measures aimed at preventing people from coming or going freely from predominantly Muslim areas. The Nasaka is still stopping and searching many Muslims they suspect of having connections with the arrestees.

The Maungdaw lawyer said a Nasaka official told him that there were about 400 people suspected of having political ties with the arrested men, some of whom have fled across the border to Bangladesh. The group had planned to attack religious festivals, government offices and officials, he said.

According to statistics from local organizations, over 95 percent of the population in Buthidaung and Maungdaw areas are Muslims, while the rest comprises Arakan, Burman, Mro, Khami, Chin and other ethnic groups. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21106