News & Articles on Burma-Monday 13 June, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Monday 13 June, 2011
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Aung San Suu Kyi: People 'hungry' for justice
Thein Sein government ignites a fresh civil war in Burma
Burma missile shipment turned back
U.S. Navy turned back North Korean ship bound for Myanmar: report
US intercepts North Korean ship
Embattled alliance vows to keep up the fight
Kachin army signals official end to truce
Shan army loses another base
Burmese selling gold, stockpiling kyat
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Aung San Suu Kyi: People 'hungry' for justice
By Associated Press
June 13, 2011
By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press

GENEVA – Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday her nation yearns for justice and progress, and the international community must help lift its workers' grim conditions.

"Burma must not be allowed to fail and the world must not be allowed to fail Burma," the 65-year-old Nobel laureate told a U.N. labor conference by videolink, using the Southeast Asian country's former name.

The pro-democracy icon, freed last November after spending much of the past 20 years under house arrest, said her nation once seemed the most likely success story in southeast Asia but "has fallen behind almost all the other nations in the region."

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace prize for her nonviolent struggle for democracy. She led her National League for Democracy to victory in 1990 elections, but the military junta that led the government refused to recognize the results.

The former junta changed the nation's name to Myanmar, but many democracy supporters and Suu Kyi still call it Burma.

After elections in November that were swept by a party close to the ruling junta, military leaders turned over control to a nominally civilian government in March.

In recent months Suu Kyi has been turning to videolinks and other means to get her message out, fearing — as she has for years — that if she were to leave the country she might not get back in.

Suu Kyi, seeking to revive her party, said its members and other groups and people struggling for political change created a "people's network" six months ago to focus on social and humanitarian projects that spread democracy and human rights.

"The growth, rapid beyond our expectations, of this network is evidence of the indivisibility of social, economic and political concerns, and of the hunger of our people for a society secured by acceptable norms of social justice joined to political and economic progress," she said.

Suu Kyi also addressed the International Labor Organization's involvement in Myanmar.

In February, the military government extended an agreement allowing the ILO to investigate complaints from inside the country of forced labor.

A 2007 agreement with the country's labor ministry allows the ILO maintain an office in Myanmar enabling victims of forced labor to seek redress. The government says it is trying to eliminate the practice.

At the time of the original agreement, Myanmar faced international sanctions because the ILO — the U.N.'s labor agency — had accused Myanmar since 1998 of using forced labor to aid the military and build roads and other projects. In a November 2009 report, it said it was "deeply concerned" that the country continues to imprison people who have complained of forced labor.

"We look to the ILO to expand its activities in Burma to help usher in an era of broad-based social justice in our country," Suu Kyi said. "We are particularly concerned that our workers should be enabled to form trade unions, concerned with the highest international standards as soon as possible. Labor rights are integral to the triumphant development of a nation." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110613/ap_on_re_eu/myanmar_suu_kyi
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Thein Sein government ignites a fresh civil war in Burma
By Zin Linn - Jun 13, 2011 11:51PM UTC

Warfare has continued for two straight days between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) at Sang Gang position. The post is in N’mawk (Momauk) Township, in Manmaw (Bhamo) District of Kachin State, northern Burma, Kachin News Group [KNG] said.

On June 11 Yesterday, the battle took place at 3 p.m. through mid-night. Today June 12, the battle started at 7 a.m. in the morning, said KIA officers at the frontline. Although both sides have casualties, the exact numbers cannot be known.

Local sources said that over and above 500 Burmese troops from more than three battalions have been deploying right through Sang Gang area. Burmese battalions in Manmaw District are also marching into the battle zone so as to reinforce their armed forces.

The Manmaw-based Infantry Battalion No. 237, N’mawk-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 437 and Dawhpumyang-based Infantry Battalion No. 142 are taking position among the Burmese troops in the combating area, according to the KIA source.

Fighting on 9 June ended resulting both sides made an agreement of captives exchange. However, the Burmese troops allegedly break a promise on an agreement to withdraw its troops from Kachin territory in Manmaw District. As an alternative, Burmese side insisted that KIA troops located on a nearby mound close to their base have to move away.

As Kachin troops refused to withdraw, heavy artillery fire hit the KIA on Saturday afternoon. Due to heavy artillery bombardment, the KIO decided to close its last liaison office in the state capital, Myitkyinya. According to Kachin officials, the shutting down of its final liaison office indicates the official end to diplomatic contact channel with the Thein Sein government. The liaison officials were called back because of security concerns, KIA said. KIO’s liaison personnel arrived back at their headquarters in Laiza Saturday midnight.

It’s a sign of beginning of an all-out war between KIA and the Burmese government armed forces. In hope of setting up political dialogue, the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the central government on February 24, 1994 and supported the military-favored 2008 constitution.

No political dialogue happened in the 16-year ceasefire time and the KIO was intimidated to remove weapons by transforming into the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF). The KIO’s closure of its liaison office in Myitkyinya indicates that over 16-year old truce has been cancelled to start a new civil war again.

According to some analysts, this incident of breaking a truce by the Burmese government is a total stupidity. Although Thein Sein government has guaranteed democracy, it even does not want to allow equal political rights toward the ethnic people.

More evidences were found also in the Shan State. Yesterday, Burma Army attacked the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) with its MA-10 mortars forcing the SSA to move back from its postion, quoting local sources, Shan Herald Agency News (SHAN) said.

The Burma Army reportedly fired dozens of shells on the Kawng Sao Merng base, located one mile east of its former HQ Hsengkaew, Hsipaw township, with its MA-`10 mortars and other types of heavy weapons from around 5:00 to 9:00, said a source from Hsengkaew militia group, formerly SSA base security force.

In the attack, the Burma Army Military Operations Command (1) used three battalions from Kyaukme based to crack down the SSA’s hundred-fighter unit.

It was hard to resist such heavy weapons as the strengths were also lopsided, said Colonel Sai Htoo, Assistant Secretary General-2, Shan State Progress Party, the political arm of the embattled Shan State Army North. SSA also did not want local villagers to be the victims of counter attacks if it did not leave the area first.

According to the SSA, its strategy on war is never to stick to a static defensive. It is instead to be on a mobile defensive as the strengths between the two sides are unbalanced. So far the number of death tolls and injuries of the two sides is still unknown. But one villager identified as Sai Htun, 30, from Hsengkaew village, was killed by the Burma Army.

To date, the Burma Army side is still reportedly deploying more troops to SSAs new HQ Wanhai, according to local eye witnesses from Kehsi Township, Shan Herald Agency News (SHAN) said. Fighting between the two sides have been three months long since 13 March and had killed dozens of civilians including at least 300 casualties on the Burma Army side in the conflict zones. Most of the civilians were reportedly killed and injured by the Burma Army’s heavy shells, claimed the SSA.

Without addressing and honoring the political aspiration of ethnic people, the new Burmese government seems to be unwilling to end political and civil conflict throughout ethnic regions. So, it is clear that Thein Sein government is not heading toward democracy; instead it is attempting to protect a military-centered sham civilian administration. http://asiancorrespondent.com/57333/thein-sein-government-ignites-a-fresh-civil-war-in-burma/
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BANGKOK POST
Burma missile shipment turned back

Published: 13/06/2011 at 07:45 PM
Online news:

The US Navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missiles or other weapons to Burma and made it turn back, a senior US official said Monday.

The comments by Gary Samore, special assistant to President Barack Obama on weapons of mass destruction, confirmed reports of the incident, which happened last month, in The New York Times and South Korean media.

The New York Times said the ship was intercepted south of the Chinese city of Shanghai by a US destroyer on May 26.

In an interview with Yonhap news agency, Samore identified the cargo ship as the M/V Light and said it may have been bound for Burma with military-related contraband, such as small arms or missile-related items.

"We talked directly to the North Koreans. We talked directly to all the Southeast Asian countries including Burma, urging them to inspect the ship if it called into their port," he was quoted as saying.

"The US Navy also contacted the North Korean ship as it was sailing, to ask them where they were going and what cargo they were carrying."

North Korea is subject to international and United Nations sanctions designed to curb its missile and nuclear programmes.

UN Resolution 1874, adopted in June 2009, one month after the North's second nuclear test, toughened a weapons embargo and authorised member states to intercept such shipments.

Another North Korean ship, the Kang Nam I, was forced to reverse course in 2009 after being suspected of trying to deliver military-related supplies to Burma. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/242028/burma-missile-shipment-turned-back
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U.S. Navy turned back North Korean ship bound for Myanmar: report
LOU KESTEN
Washington— The Associated Press
Published Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 6:40AM EDT

The U.S. Navy forced a North Korean ship on its way to Myanmar to return home after a standoff two weeks ago, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The Times said the U.S. suspected the North Korean cargo vessel, the M/V Light, was carrying missile technology to Myanmar. The Navy destroyer McCampbell was sent to track its movement.

On May 26, the Times reported, the McCampbell caught up with the ship and asked to board it. The North Koreans refused, and since the U.S. did not want to force its way aboard, it could not confirm whether its suspicions were true.

Nonetheless, a few days after the Navy approached it, the North Korean vessel stopped well short of Myanmar and returned to its home port.

A White House official contacted Sunday by The Associated Press confirmed the substance of the Times story. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the incident, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Joseph Yun, the United States’ deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visited Myanmar last month and expressed concerns about its military relationship with North Korea.

A UN Security Council resolution bans all North Korean arms exports, authorizes member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo, and requires them to seize and destroy any goods transported in violation of the sanctions.

Arms experts say Myanmar, which faces an arms embargo from many Western countries, gets weaponry from Pyongyang. Some analysts have suggested North Korea shares missile and nuclear technology with Myanmar, though the evidence is thin.

A recent UN report, obtained last month by The Associated Press, said North Korea remains “actively engaged” in exporting ballistic missiles, components and technology to numerous customers in the Middle East and South Asia in violation of UN sanctions.

The report said prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected of being transferred between North Korea and Iran on regularly scheduled flights of Air Koryo and Iran Air, with trans-shipment through a third country that diplomats identified as China. China denies such activity.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/us-navy-turned-back-north-korean-ship-bound-for-myanmar-report/article2058074/
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US intercepts North Korean ship
Last updated 23:36 13/06/2011

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The US navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying an illegal shipment of missile parts to Myanmar two weeks ago, the New York Times reported, citing senior American officials.

The North Korean cargo ship was forced to return home after a standoff at sea and several days of diplomatic pressure from Washington and Asian nations, the newspaper reported.

Officials for the US navy and the State Department were not immediately available for comment late on Sunday.

UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 include a ban on trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea. A UN resolution adopted last year authorised UN member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo.

According to the Times, the destroyer USS McCampbell caught up with the cargo ship MV Light south of Shanghai on May 26 after American officials began tracking the vessel, which was believed to have been involved in previous illegal shipments.

The destroyer asked to board the vessel under authority given by Belize, but the North Koreans refused, the Times said.

An American official told the newspaper the ship was North Korean but flagged in Belize. Authorities in Belize gave the United States permission to inspect the ship, the newspaper said, citing American officials. (Reuters)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/5139296/US-intercepts-North-Korean-ship
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Embattled alliance vows to keep up the fight
Monday, 13 June 2011 11:48 S.H.A.N.

The 3-day 6th Congress of Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) held on the Thai-Burmese border, 9-11 June, ended with a resolution to struggle on in cooperation with other alliances especially the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) formed in February with the aim to set up a “Federal Union Army”

The new chairman Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, a new face to many, said, “The UNFC is still in its early stages. We cannot afford to dissolve the ENC at least at this critical period.”

Saw Kwe Htoo Win (photo: Maxmilian Wechsler)
The review by Dr Suikhar, who was later elected as Secretary General, and adopted by the meeting credited the state-based grouping for outstanding achievements in foreign affairs, the ongoing federal and state constitution drafting process and the founding of the UNFC following its year long shuttle diplomacy.

Asked by SHAN whether some of the leaders who are concurrent members of the UNFC and ENC are “having one’s foot on two gunwales,” a Burmese expression which corresponds to “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds,” Hkun Okker, President of the PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO), associate member of UNFC, gave an emphatic No.

“We should understand that these gunwales are not of different boats but of the same boat. One rows on the left and the other rows on the right and the boat moves forward.”

Despite success in foreign campaign and lobbying activities that have helped the international community to understand the key role the non-Burman ethnic nationalities are playing, there are new challenges, added Suikha. “These days few of the foreign dignitaries are talking about 2008 constitution (which is considered undemocratic) and the 2010 elections (considered sham),” he reported. “Nowadays, even the United States have become more and more national interest centric than principle centric.”

Dr Suikhar (photo: msu-media.webs.com)
The alliance's reputation was somewhat tainted last year by “misunderstandings” brought about by the leak of its secret message to Senator Jim Webb, who visited Burma August 2009, and its decision not to boycott the ethnic parties that were set up to contest the November elections.

The ENC was the outgrowth of the 1994 UN resolution to support a tripartite (Military, Democratic forces and Ethnic forces) dialogue, the 1997 Metharawhta seminar (later named the First Congress) that adopted a genuine federal and democratic union. It emerged as the Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee (ENSCC) in 2001 and became the ENC three years later.

Its vision is a federal democracy and not just democracy, according to Dr Khin Maung, an Arakanese representative. Its mission is to serve as the voice of the ethnic nationalities, based on the 4 values: unity in diversity, internal self determination (meaning non-secession), equality and democracy. Its priorities are said to be to promote intra-inter ethnic understanding, capacity building for the ethnic peoples and to seek a peaceful solution for Burma’s problems. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3764:embattled-alliance-vows-to-keep-up-the-fight&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Kachin army signals official end to truce
By AYE NAI
Published: 13 June 2011

Burmese troops pounded Kachin Independence Army bases over the weekend with heavy artillery, forcing the ethnic insurgent group to close its last liaison office in the state capital, Myitkyinya.

The fighting deals a blow to any hopes of salvaging a 15-year truce between the two sides that begun to unravel following the KIA’s refusal last year to become a Border Guard Force.

Although fighting on 9 June ended after both sides agreed to a hostage swap, the Burmese army reportedly reneged on a pledge to withdraw its troops from Kachin territory in Bhamo district and instead demanded that KIA troops positioned on a nearby hill close to their base pull out.

That resulted in a burst of heavy artillery fire against the KIA on Saturday afternoon. Kachin officials told DVB yesterday that the closure of its final liaison office signalled the official end to diplomatic communication with the government. Liaison officials arrived back at their headquarters in Laiza around midnight on Saturday.

La Nan, a central committee member of the KIA’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), told DVB that it had fought back, and that further retaliation was not out of the question but would depend on the intensity of the Burmese assault.

“They are firing artillery at us from about five or six miles away and shells are landing around our base, so we also had to use heavy weapons in response,” he said. “We learnt that they have suffered heavy casualties but we can’t give any details.”

It marks the latest in a string of clashes over the past week in Kachin state that have prompted observers to speculate that outright war in the border regions may be imminent. The Burmese army also appears to be intensifying its presence close to other insurgent groups, such as the Shan State Army (SSA), that have shunned the Border Guard Force proposals.

The Kachin fighting is likely to concern China, with the Bhamo base only around 20 miles from its border with Burma. China has warned Burma that border stability must be made a priority, with trade along the frontier increasing.
http://www.dvb.no/news/kachin-army-signals-official-end-to-truce/16092
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Shan army loses another base
Monday, 13 June 2011 16:23 Khio Fah

The Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) yesterday was attacked by the Burma Army with its MA-10 mortars forcing the SSA to retreat from its base, according to local sources.

The Burma Army reportedly fired dozens of shells on the Kawng Sao Merng base, located one mile east of its former HQ Hsengkaew, Hsipaw township, with its MA-`10 mortars and other types of heavy weapons from around 5:00 to 9:00, said a source from Hsengkaew militia group, formerly SSA base security force.

In the attack, the Burma Army used three battalions from Kyaukme based Military Operations Command (MOC) #1, some 300 strong against the SSA wiht a hundred men.

“It was hard to withstand such heavy weapons as the strengths were also unbalanced and on the other hand we were afraid local villagers would be the victims of our counter attacks if we did not leave the area first. We therefore decided to retreat,” said Colonel Sai Htoo, Assistant Secretary General #2, Shan State Progress Party, the political arm of the embattled Shan State Army “North”.

According to the SSA, its strategy on war is never to stick to a static defensive. It is instead to be on a mobile defensive as the strengths between the two sides are unbalanced.

So far the number of death tolls and injuries of the two sides is still unknown, he said. But one of the villagers, identified as Sai Htun, 30, from Hsengkaew village, was killed by the Burma Army.

To date, the Burma Army side is still reportedly deploying more troops to SSA’s new HQ Wanhai, according to local eye witnesses from Kehsi township.

Since March, the Burma Army has been using around 20 battalions of strength attacking on the Shan State and has occupied 4 of the SSA’s core bases plus the last one. The Burma Army was alleged for using chemical weapons in its attack against the SSA, on 3 June in Tangyan township, leaving three of the SSA personnel feeling dizzy and yet to feel better to date, according to the SSA.

The weapons used by the Burma Army produced an abnormal amount of black smoke, while the explosion was quieter than normal mortar shells, said the SSA.

Fighting between the two sides have been three months long since 13 March and had killed dozens of civilians including at least 300 casualties on the Burma Army side in the conflict zones. Most of the civilians were reportedly killed and injured by the Burma Army’s heavy shells, claimed the SSA.

Some hundreds of people are still seeking shelter in the jungle in fear of possible new attacks. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3767:shan-army-loses-another-base-&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Burmese selling gold, stockpiling kyat
By THUREIN SOE
Published: 13 June 2011

Gold traders in Burma are reportedly selling off their stocks for local Burmese currency the kyat, which has decreased in circulation following a recent spike in its value.

In recent months the US dollar has significantly weakened against the kyat, with the exchange rate now at around 750 to the dollar, down from 860 a couple of months ago. This has triggered alarm among the millions of labourers and exporters who are paid in dollars but who convert their earnings into kyat.

“Now they [gold traders] are selling all the gold they previously kept in stock as the Burmese currency is becoming strong,” said a businessman in Rangoon, speaking to DVB on condition of anonymity. He added that shops were also running low on gold, which is traditionally stockpiled by Burmese as a more financially stable alternative to the kyat.

From early in the morning on Friday last week to late in the evening the same day, the price of gold in Burma dropped by one percent, mirroring a similar fall in international prices. But given the dependence on gold, which is horded due to widespread distrust of Burma’s banks and to keep up with high inflation rates, the drop in price becomes more palpable.

A large source of the problem has been the woeful economic mismanagement of the Burmese regime, whose habit of printing money to fund spending has caused rampant increases in consumer prices.

The dip in circulation of the kyat is also, according to economist Khin Maung Nyo, a result of the government pocketing the produce from the mass sale of state-owned property last year, part of a privatisation drive that pre-empted the November elections.

Traders have also begun to stockpile Thai Baht, which as the dollar weakens can achieve better exchange rates with the kyat.

Although dollar-dependent exporters and labours have been the hardest hit, there are fears that a ripple-effect could see farmers suffer as demand for increasingly expensive agricultural exports falls. The phenomenon has also reportedly sparked a hike in basic foodstuffs and transportation charges.
http://www.dvb.no/news/burmese-selling-gold-stockpiling-kyat/16087