News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 28 October 2011-uzl

News & Articles on Burma Friday, 28 October 2011 ---------------------------------------- Burma Plays the Asean Card Yawdserk: Ceasefire with one must be ceasefire with others 23 govt soldiers killed by KIA during fighting in three areas Hampstead actress Emma Thompson meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma Political Prisoners Are Burma's Unsung Heroes Rome Film Festival Opens With Suu Kyi Biopic Suu Kyi, Zarganar to host film festival Large-scale gold mining on rivers to be shut down; panning ok Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register Thailand 'protecting migrants' as water rises Myanmar police charge 7 for staging land protest 9 Burmese soldiers killed on Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road ----------------------------------------- Burma Plays the Asean Card By LARRY JAGAN Friday, October 28, 2011 BANGKOK --- Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has arrived in Burma on the start of a three-day visit ahead of next month's Asean summit in Bali where the 2014 chairmanship of the regional bloc is expected be decided. Natalegawa is going to see what political progress has been made and whether the country will be able to host the three major annual meetings associated with the chairmanship, said a senior diplomat on condition of anonymity. At these meetings, the bloc's foreign partners including the EU and the US will participate, and it is feared they may boycott if summits are hosted by Burma---many of whose leaders appear on Western sanctions lists. Natalegawa will meet Burmese President Thein Sein and other senior ministers while in the capital Naypyidaw. He is also scheduled to meet the powerful speaker of the Lower House, Shwe Mann, as well as the vice-president and the speaker of the Upper House. He is also scheduled to meet representatives of the various political parties, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, before he leaves the country on Sunday afternoon. The Indonesian foreign minister recently said he wanted to get a detailed "snapshot" of developments in Burma. As part of that mission he is scheduled to meet members of the business community and civic society, notably including Burma's recently formed human rights' commission. In Rangoon he will meet several groups of businessmen and representatives of NGOs with a view to learning more about developments in agriculture, education, health and youth affairs, said a senior Indonesian diplomat. "He [the foreign minister] is also keen to learn more about the country's efforts to end the ethnic conflict," he said. The most important meeting may yet prove to be with Suu Kyi. Her views may influence whether Indonesia pushes for Burma to be given the Asean chairmanship in 2014. The fact that Natalegawa has insisted on meeting The Lady is significant in itself. The Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declined to do so on her recent visit to Burma---reportedly because former junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, a close partner of her brother's when he was the Thai premier, refused to sanction a meeting. Thailand's former premier, Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva---while he was the chair of Asean in 2009---was refused permission to visit Burma because he insisted on meeting Aung San Suu Kyi who was then under house arrest. When he did visit Burma a year later---no longer as head of the bloc---he dropped that condition. However, he became the second Asean leader to speak to Suu Kyi last year after she was freed from house arrest. The Indonesian foreign minister's visit is crucially important to Burma, as its leaders appear anxious to be given the Asean chairmanship as soon as possible---2014 being the first vacancy. Since his appointment as president, Thein Sein has been pushing for the chairmanship, and was disappointed---according to senior Burmese diplomats---that the Asean summit in Jakarta earlier this year deferred the decision. "Thein Sein is looking toward Asean both diplomatically and economically," a former senior Burmese diplomat told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. The US special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, made an unannounced visit to the country earlier this week. He met senior government officials in Naypyidaw on Monday and Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday morning for around 90 minutes. He then flew back to Washington, only stopping in Bangkok to change planes. He did not, as reported, earlier return via Jakarta. US views on Burma's chairmanship may determine whether Naypyidaw is appointed for 2014, the Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told The Irrawaddy in Jakarta earlier this year. If Washington were to boycott the summits because they were held in Naypyidaw, this would be a major slap in the face for the bloc---especially as it prepares to launch its regional economic zone in 2015. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22342 ----------------------------------------------------- Yawdserk: Ceasefire with one must be ceasefire with others Friday, 28 October 2011 15:46 Stephen Perraud / Hseng Khio Fah Lt-Gen Yawdserk of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), generally known as SSA South says ceasefire with Shan State Army (SSA) South, should also be ceasefire with SSA North, which will bolster mutual confidence and lead the way to peaceful resolution of the country's woes. Stop fighting only in our RCSS controlled areas, but continue in SSPP's areas is cannot be accepted, Yawdserk said. Now both RCSS and SSPP are preparing to meet Burma movement for peace talks. The core of its planned proposition would be "political problems should be resolved by political means. But before holding political talks, fighting must be stop first. "As we had declared in May there is only one SSA. Therefore, if RCSS negotiates with the Burma government it means it is representing the SSPP. We both represent each other," he said. He however conceded that when it came to political negotiations, the two might choose to negotiate separately, as the SSA North is part of the 12 member alliance known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4150:yawdserk-ceasefire-with-one-must-be-ceasefire-with-others&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266 ----------------------------------------- 23 govt soldiers killed by KIA during fighting in three areas Created on Friday, 28 October 2011 08:29 Published on Friday, 28 October 2011 08:29 Written by KNG A civilian fighter of Kachin People's Army under KIA. At least 23 government soldiers were killed and more than 22 were injured during fighting in three different locations on Thursday, in Kachin State, said witnesses. Sixteen were killed and more than 22 injured during an ambush by the Kachin People's Army Thursday afternoon in southern Kachin State, local people said. At least three military horses were also killed, said witnesses. A government military column was ambushed near Ja Ing Yang, on the road to Sinbo, according to local witnesses. It was largest loss of Burmese troops this week in that area, said local people. The ambush was carried out by civilian fighters under the Kachin Independence Army, KIA officers at the Laiza headquarters confirmed. Three Burmese soldiers from the Sarhmaw-based Infantry Battalion No. 105, from the Kai Htik Post on the Manmaw (Bhamo)-Kai Htik-Nam Hkam Road were killed in the quick attack by the KIA's Battalion 1, said witnesses. Burmese soldiers responded by firing mortars at the KIA for an hour. A Kachin soldier received minor injuries, according to a KIA officer. Four Burmese soldiers from the Dawhpumyang-based Infantry Battalion No. 142 were ambushed and killed by KIA troops from Battalion 24, when government troops tried to transport rations to the frontline near Dawhpunyang, from Num Lang Village, said witnesses. The fighting continued on Friday as Burmese troops continued to fire 120 mm mortar rounds at the KIA positions, said local people. According to KIA officers, over 6,000 government troops are now deployed around the headquarters but cannot overrun Laiza because of KIA resistance. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2121-23-govt-soldiers-killed-by-kia-during-fighting-in-three-areas.html --------------------------------------- Hampstead actress Emma Thompson meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma By Josh Pettitt, Reporter Friday, October 28, 2011 11:00 AM Hampstead actress Emma Thompson is campaigning to raise human rights awareness in Burma after meeting newly-liberated pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Oscar-winning actress spoke to the democracy leader almost a year after she was freed from 15 years of house arrest. Thompson, who has campaigned for human rights in the Middle East in the past, travelled to Burma this month with her adopted son Tindy, as the country finally begins to relax its censorship laws and release political prisoners She said: "Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi was a remarkable experience. She's an extraordinary woman and with a resilient, wise, witty, dignity. "Fascinated by the arts, we talked a lot about films and books and, very perspicacious as you might imagine, about the political movement in her country, what's really happening -- very cautious but optimistic." She continued: "The phrase she used to me about what was happening now was 'it is very important that we do not proceed with indecent haste'. And I thought that was incredibly telling, redolent and right." Burma has had a military-led government since 1962. But recent elections and the appointment of a new president have seen the release of some political prisoners, the easing of censorship, and a greater sense of hope for the future. Thompson was in the country as an ambassador for Action Aid, a charity working to help women and young people in some of the country's poorest communities. http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/hampstead_actress_emma_thompson_meets_aung_san_suu_kyi_in_burma_1_1108641 --------------------------------------- Political Prisoners Are Burma's Unsung Heroes By Christian Papesch/IPS NEW YORK, Oct 27, 2011 (IPS) - In a move that highlighted its sub-par human rights record, the government of Burma announced Oct. 11 that it would release 6,359 prisoners, but how many of these will be drawn from the country's estimated 500 to over 2,000 political prisoners remains uncertain. The following day, Burma, officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, set free the first 200 prisoners. Among them was comedian and activist Zarganar, who was arrested in June 2008 for speaking to foreign media about the precarious situation of millions of Burmese left homeless in the Irrawaddy delta following a devastating cyclone. Five months later, Zarganar had been sentenced to 59 years in prison for public order offences. Even though international activists and organisations such as New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) generally appreciated the initial wave of releases, they remain critical about the actual reach of the announcement. "It is a positive step in terms of those individuals and their families, but in terms of bigger amnesties they should really release all prisoners unconditionally," Elaine Pearson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, told IPS. "It is really quite a small step forward. These people are not bargaining chips or hostages for the military to play with. They're people who have been unjustly imprisoned." "Into the Current", a documentary by Bangkok-based American filmmaker Jeanne Marie Hallacy, portrays some of those prisoners and gives an overview of the political and social situation in Burma, a country that was under military rule from 1962 to 2011. "The most challenging aspect of the film was that we knew that we had to rely upon memory," the director said in an interview with IPS. "It was really challenging for us to find a way that we could be provocative and evoke the kind of deep emotion and passion that people experienced in prison without having visual evidence of what they actually experienced," she explained. But this lack of visual imagery also lends itself to the oppressive and alarming atmosphere of "Into the Current". By relying on statements made by former prisoners, the political terror of an oppressing regime acquires a face, a voice and a destiny. One of the thousands of prisoners who endured the cruelty of Burma's jails is Thet Moo, imprisoned for seven years for being a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), which helped organise the 1988 pro-democracy national uprising that was violently suppressed by the military junta. In prison, "we don't know our future," Moo told IPS. "I don't know if I can get out alive or not." Not only are mental and physical punishment the order of the day for the majority of prisoners, but filmmakers like Hallacy along with journalists supporting her work in Burma also face serious daily threats. "Working inside the country is extremely difficult for journalists and media," the director, who has not been granted a Burmese visa since the late 1990s, said. "We have seen Burmese journalists who have been sentenced for 65 years for one story. And we have gotten corroborated information that they have been tortured in order to have them spill out other information about their colleagues in this underground network of media who gather information." For this reason, a lot of the material used in the film is old footage shot by Hallacy during the 1990s, secretly filmed recordings or personal statements and objects -- portraits of families, letters to friends or a song sung by a prisoner himself. "People respond to stories of individual human beings -- people who are fathers or mothers or have sisters or brothers who are in prison," Hallacy said. "They're numbed by numbers," she elaborated. "If you cite a statistic, it's meaningless to most people. But if you try to bring into focus a few of these heroes and heroines and their acts of courage it speaks on behalf of the whole." The broader image that "Into the Current" draws of Burma is a negative one, but the film's message is not completely pessimistic. At the end, protagonist Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner who is currently in exile in Thailand, finally gets to see his wife and little daughter again. Even though their family cannot yet lead a normal life in Burma, hope for a better Burma does exist, especially after last year's election of a new government. "The problem of the new government is that their bureaucracy is very slow," Thet Moo explained. "We are waiting for them to change. If they are changing, everybody would want to return to Burma." For Pearson, the second largest country in Southeast Asia still has a very long way to go. "Burma has one of the most desperate human rights situations in the world," she said. "We haven't seen the new government really putting in the effort to effect change in the country." The great white hope of Burma -- and one of the characters to which the film repeatedly refers -- is Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and 1991 winner of the Nobel Peace Price "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights". "The message of the film was to convey that non-violence is their path," Hallacy pointed out. "That's what will prevail change -- not vengeance, not hatred, not retribution but actual inclusion and responding to cruelty with kindness, because that's what changes people. When you change people's hearts, you change people's politics." Aung San Suu Kyi has never been in jail, but she has been under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years. This is one of the reasons why the politician has become a symbol of opposition against oppression for many Burmese, especially those who still remain in prison for their resistance against the governing system. "We saw the release of 200 political prisoners, there is still another 1800 that remain in prison," Pearson concluded. "These are people who have criticised the government, written controversial articles in the media, participated in demonstrations. They are not people who should be in prison. They are people who should be part of the community." (END) http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105633 -------------------------------------- Rome Film Festival Opens With Suu Kyi Biopic VOA: Posted Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 5:55 pm A movie about the life of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi opened the international film festival in Rome Thursday. French director Luc Besson arrived at the opening of the film titled "The Lady" with actress Michele Yeoh who portrayed the Burmese pro-democracy icon. The Hong Kong-based actress began her career in martial arts films. Aung San Suu Kyi did not attend the festival, but she issued a statement for the occasion. She said "concepts such as truth, justice and solidarity cannot be cast off when these are often the only bastions that stand between us and the brutality of power." The Nobel Prize laureate was released last November after spending about 14 of the last 20 years in detention. The film, shown out of competition, focuses on her private life rather than politics. British actor Daniel Thewelis plays Aung San Suu Kyi's husband Michael Aris. The 15 works competing for the Marcus Aurelius prize will be presented from Friday until November 4. Among works competing for prizes are U.S. director Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria" about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England; "Hotel Lux'' by German director Leander Haussmann; and psycho-thriller "Babycall" by Norwegian director Pal Sletaune. Hollywood star Richard Gere will receive an acting award. The festival will conclude with a screening of a restored classic movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to mark its 50th anniversary. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/10/27/rome-film-festival-opens-with-suu-kyi-biopic/ --------------------------------------- Suu Kyi, Zarganar to host film festival By THUREIN SOE Published: 28 October 2011 Burma's independence day in January next year will be marked with the launch of a film festival organised by two of the country's leading pro-democracy luminaries, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and comedian Zarganar. Billed as the Art of Freedom Film Festival, it will open on 31 December and showcase both short films and documentaries. Suu Kyi is due to present awards to the festival's winners on Independence Day on 4 January. "The main theme is the idea that art can be created only when there is freedom, and film makers are to define freedom in their piece in whichever way they see it," Zarganar, who was recently released from prison, told DVB. He added that a number of entries were also likely to focus on the day Burma achieved independence after nearly a century of British rule. "Our main focus is about freedom and it doesn't matter if they talk about history or not," he said. Also helping to organise the festival is former award-winning Burmese actor and director Kyaw Thu, whom since being banished from the film world has headed the highly-praised Free Funeral Service Society. The three will be joined by fellow film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. Zarganar, who served three years of a 35-year sentence after criticising the Burmese government's woeful response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, said he will be entering his own film focusing on the life of Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi, the wife of Burmese independence hero General Aung San and mother of Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi herself is the subject of French director Luc Besson's latest offering, The Lady, which stars Michelle Yeoh and which yesterday opened the Rome film festival. http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-zarganar-to-host-film-festival/18434 --------------------------------------- Large-scale gold mining on rivers to be shut down; panning ok Friday, 28 October 2011 14:02 Min Thet Rangoon (Mizzima) -- Small-scale panning for gold will be allowed on Burma's rivers and streams, but permits for large-scale mining will not be renewed when they expire in one year, according to the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River System (DWRIRS). A woman gold miner pans for gold using one of the oldest traditional methods. Photo: Mizzima A woman gold miner pans for gold using one of the oldest traditional methods. Photo: Mizzima "The lifetime of gold mining permits is just one year. In the past, they could renew a permit. Now, gold mining permits cannot be renewed. So, it is not allowing gold mining [in the future']," an official from Mining Enterprise No. 2 said. In the past, the government allowed three types of gold mining along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers: small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale. In September, Mining Enterprise No. 2 announced that it would not allow large-scale gold mining in the rivers, streams and creeks of Burma. But, traditional small-scale panning for gold would still be allowed. "We cannot forbid people who have to rely on traditional panning for gold from doing it. As usual, there will still be people who pan for gold by using pans and sieves, but they cannot harm the river," an official from DWRIRS told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. The government banned gold mining to prevent rivers from being damaged, according to officials. Most of the companies along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers operate gold mines using machinery, and their practices can cause water pollution and harm the environment. Small-scale gold miners pay 260,000 (about US$ 360) kyat per year; medium-scale gold miner pay 35 per cent of the gold discovered; and large-scale gold miners pay 50 per cent of the gold discovered as taxes to government, an official from the Ministry of Mines said on condition of anonymity. According to environmental NGOs and other groups, in 1997, the Burmese government began giving gold mining concessions to Burmese businessmen. Land was often confiscated and villagers were denied access to upland farms. Many villagers had no alternative source of livelihood so they formed small groups and sold their land to invest in machinery and obtained gold mining permits. Traditionally villagers depended on rivers and forestlands for their livelihoods and cultural practices. The local environment has been severely affected in many areas. A report by the Burma Environmental Working Group in June 2011 said gold mining operations have drained water sources, increased soil erosion, and polluted rivers with mercury and other chemicals. Mercury is highly toxic to the environment and poses serious risks to public health. The vast majority of toxic wastes from gold extraction processes is disposed of untreated directly onto land and into waterways, effectively poisoning the soil and compromising water quality. Mercury and other toxics are biomagnifying in food chains and accumulate in the tissues of living organisms, with negative effects on flora and fauna, local biodiversity and human health. http://www.mizzima.com/business/6115-large-scale-gold-mining-on-rivers-to-be-shut-down-panning-ok.html ---------------------------------------- Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:32 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- Burma's Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw on Thursday approved a draft law that amends three clauses of the Political Parties Registration Law including cancellation of the clause that restricted serving prisoners from being a member of a political party. The amended party registration law clears the way for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to contest candidates in the election. Photo: Mizzima The amended party registration law clears the way for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to contest candidates in the election. Photo: Mizzima The existing party registration law says that a political party needs to contest in at least three parliamentary seats in an election. The amended law says that clause is not related to any new party that registers after the general election. Moreover, there was a change in the wording that all political parties must "protect" the country's Constitution. It was amended to "respect" the Constitution. "There is a difference between 'protect' the Constitution and 'respect' the Constitution. We have to respect all rules of law and the Constitution," said the NLD spokesperson Nyan Win. The amended act was approved in the Upper House on October 5 and sent it to the Lower House for approval. Observers said the amendments are designed to pave the way for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, to re-register as a political party. The NLD decided not to re-register to run in the 2010 election, saying there were elements in the new Constitution that were undemocratic. The amended act now awaits the president's signature to become a law. Recently, Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that her party would consider re-registration after studying the amended registration law. Both Aung San Suu Kyi and party Vice Chairman Tin Oo were under house when the former military regime announced the election and party registration law. Political parties had 60 days to comply. There were intense debates within the National League for Democracy, which would have had to oust many of its members who were imprisoned, if it wanted to re-register as a party. The decision not to re-register led to some top party leaders breaking away from the NLD to form a new political party, the National Democratic Force (NDF). The NDF won 16 parliamentary seats in the 2010 November election. http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010-/6114-amended-party-registration-law-opens-way-for-nld-to-re-register.html ------------------------------------------------ Thailand 'protecting migrants' as water rises By MAHN SAIMON Published: 28 October 2011 A worker from Burma carrying her son wades through floodwaters during an evacuation from a flooded market in Bangkok (Reuters) Thailand's labour minister says the government is working to ensure undocumented migrant workers can take shelter at relief centres and safely travel back to their home countries as the flooding crisis worsens. Phadoemchai Sasomsap was visiting a migrant shelter in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok, on Wednesday. His proclamation follows reports that Burmese migrants have been subject to arrest as they try to flee affected areas in central and southern Thailand. Sein Htay, spokesperson of the Thailand-based Human Rights Development Foundation, who met with Phadoemchai at the shelter, said the labour ministry would contact migrants' "respective embassies for a form confirming their national identity and to ensure they get safe passage back to Burma". "So basically this is to protect them from getting arrested during this time of distress," he said. Thailand is currently experiencing its worst flooding in 70 years, with the death toll now standing at more than 370. Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra said there is a 50 percent chance Bangkok city centre will be submerged as thousands attempt to flee the capital. Sein Htay said the ministry had also directed migrant employers to return legal documents to their workers and requested that the immigration department provide an extension to those whose visas are about to expire. Thai law dictates that migrant workers are forbidden from travelling outside of the areas they were registered in, but police have now been ordered not to arrest those who flee their permitted zones to escape flooding. The Nakhon Pathom province shelter currently houses around 500 migrants, the majority fromBurma, although that figure is expected to rise as more escape Bangkok. Water levels on the Chao Phraya River, which weaves through Bangkok, today reached a record high, swamping the Grand Palace. Shops are running low on supplies as people stock in lieu of weeks of chaos. Up to three million Burmese migrants live in Thailand, making up 80 percent of the country's total migrant population, which accounts for five percent of its total workforce and seven percent of the country's GDP. The majority work in low-skilled factory jobs and without the legal safety net enjoyed by Thai nationals, resulting in lengthy struggles to access compensation for injuries and lay-offs. http://www.dvb.no/news/thailand-%e2%80%98protecting-migrants%e2%80%99-as-water-rises/18443 ------------------------------------- National / World News 7:06 a.m. Friday, October 28, 2011 Myanmar police charge 7 for staging land protest The Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar --- Police in Myanmar have filed charges of unlawful assembly against seven people who staged a peaceful protest in Yangon against land confiscation. Police said Friday that those charged included labor rights lawyer Pho Phyu, who was with more than 30 farmers who staged a sit-in Thursday in front of the government housing department. They are also charged with refusing a police order to disperse. The protest came as the outside world is watching the government's commitment to democratic reforms. The United States and other Western nations are maintaining political and economic sanctions against the repressive former ruling junta. But they have indicated they would respond positively to liberalization moves, such as a mass release of political prisoners. http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/myanmar-police-charge-7-1211813.html ------------------------------------- 9 Burmese soldiers killed on Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road Created on Thursday, 27 October 2011 08:22 Published on Thursday, 27 October 2011 08:22 Written by KNG A KIA post based in Putao district, northern Kachin State. Nine government soldiers, including military post Commander Captain Zaw Zaw, were killed on Wednesday during an attack by the Kachin Independence Army, at a frontline post on the Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road, near Sumprabum, according to sources at the frontline. Only a sergeant escaped, according to witnesses in the attack. It's was highest number of casualties for the Burma Army in the war in northern Kachin State against KIA troops from the N'Gumla-based 1st Brigade since June, KIA officers in the brigade said. Those soldiers, based near Daru Hka River, secured the river bridge. They were from the Mung Lang Shidi (Putao)-based Infantry Battalion No. 138, said local residents. A KIA soldier was killed during the fighting, added KIA sources. The KIA seized one soldier, 3 guns, 3 Kenwood R/T, one wireless transmitter and over 1,000 bullets after the fighting, said KIA officers from the KIA's Laiza headquarters. http://kachinnews.com/news/2120-9-burmese-soldiers-killed-on-myitkyina-sumprabum-road.html __._,_.___