Thursday, August 28, 2008
Burma: Brutality over Propaganda | The Propaganda Report
http://www.thepropagandareport.com/2008/08/27/burma-brutality-over-propaganda/
By Hughford • August 27, 2008
George Packer writes a fascinating article this week in the New Yorker about the politics of persuasion in Rangoon, and offers an insider’s view of the brutal dictatorship and its opposers. Over the decades, Burma’s military rulers (composed of a cabinet of 10 generals) have systematically destroyed all elements of a functioning society in their country, effectively creating a pre-historic world crippled by superstition, brutality, and poverty.
The sign you see in the picture above was blown down in May by Cyclone Nargis, and hasn’t been put back up - an indication, perhaps, of its ineffectiveness. It seems to be representative of the military junta’s approach to governance: ridiculous, confusing, and contradictory. The messaging certainly doesn’t follow the powerful propaganda tenants established by previous historical dictators: it’s long-winded, poorly constructed, and has no rousing pictures to accompany it. It’s almost pathetic.
So how does the regime maintain control? The Burmese regime has all the characteristics of a totalitarian system, such as secret police, widespread censorship, armed civilian thugs, torture prisons, the atmosphere of distrust, the concentration of wealth in government hands - but there is no overarching ideological message. There is no particular reason provided by the government for the country’s incredible suffering. And the public propaganda machine, as evidenced by the picture, is ineffective.
The following are some reasons provided by Burmese individuals, for the continued rule of the generals:
Christina Fink, author of Living Silence: Burma Under Military Rule: “There are certain cultural practices that help maintain the regime. Burmese society is a hierarchical society, where obedience to authority is taught in the family, in religious institutions, in educational institutions.” Fink points out that education in Burma is based on rote memorization, and she had found that “if you ask Burmese students to paraphrase something they cannot do it.”
Kit Young, an American musician who lived for many years in Rangoon, and who founded a music school there, says that the Burmese word for deference is anade, which involves an unwillingness to make people feel uncomfortable. “You skirt, you go around things,” she says.
A teacher in Rangoon says “We can blame the religion, and we can blame the live-and-let-live attitude of the Burmese. Even people like me, unless we go out of the country from time to time to refresh our minds, we become conditioned to the suppression. We are fearful without knowing we are fearful, and we are submissive without knowing we are submissive.”
A Burmese economist says “Here the government isn’t dependent on the people, and the people aren’t dependent on the government. When there’s no electricity or water, you get it yourself.” In other words, the regime has endured because it is not distracted by an effort to provide good government - crushing the life out of the population is their only task.
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Democratic Voice of Burma
"NLD dismisses Thai PM痴 call to sideline Daw SuuNLD dismisses Thai PM痴 call to sideline Daw Suu"
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Nigeria: Govt may remove key obstacle to Niger Delta talks
"There were indications Monday that the Nigerian government has finally yielded to pressure to drop former foreign affairs minister and UN official Ibrahim Gambari as Chairman of the planning committee of the planned Niger Delta summit, aimed at ending the spiralling violence in the oil region."
OpEdNews-Myanmar: The war criminal was elevated by the United Nations, to the position of UN special envoy to Burma
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Myanmar-The-war-criminal-by-Ashin-Mettacara-080826-828.html
By Ashin Mettacara
Why couldn't the United Nations do anything for Burma?
I looked into the various sources on Mr. Gambari after failing to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Mr. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari was a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University. Later, he became Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations in 1990.
Mr. Gambari is an intelligent man, but he uses his intelligence to defend a notorious Nigerian military leader, Sani Abacha. Sani Abacha is like Burma military leader, Than Shwe, who has continued suppression of the free press , and has overseen the detention of journalists and peaceful protesters who oppose his regime. In 1995, Sani Abacha's regime executed Ken Saro Wiwa by hanging. Ken Saro Wiwa was an author, environmentalist and Ogoni leader who led a peaceful demonstration.
Although the trial was widely criticized by human rights organizations, UN Representative Mr. Gambari told the CNN Abacha had not committed any offence and labeled Ken Saro Wiwa as "a common criminal." And he defended the military regime and said, "Nigeria doesn't need democracy because democracy is not food. It is not a priority now." Isn't that a remarkable word from the United Nations?
After the demise of Abacha, his soccer teams were charged with murder and corruption. Mr. Gambari was also first of eleven players of Abacha's soccer team, but he was not listed, because UN general secretary Kofi Annan elevated him to the position of Under-Secretary and Special Adviser on Africa at the UN. Gambari should be made to face trial because of his roles in the Ogoni affair and mass murders. Instead he has been elevated to the post of UN special envoy to Burma.
Reference sources:
http://www.onlinenigeria.com/articles/ad.asp?blurb=85
http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/africa-news/nigeria:-govt-may-remove-key-obstacle-to-niger-delta-talks-200807078386.html
http://www.oyibosonline.com/cgi-bin/newsscript.pl?record=3891
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa/span/p
http://ashinmettacara-eng.blogspot.com/
I was born in Wun Tho, Sagaing Division, Burma in 16/04/1982. I was ordained a novice in 1994 and a monk in 2000. I studied Buddhism at Khanti Pariyatti Monastery (Wun Tho, Sagaing Division, Burma), Wayalet Pariyatti Monastery (Rangoon, Burma) and Man Aung Monastery (Rangoon, Burma). I passed Buddhist examinations known as Pathamange, Pathamalatt, Pathamagyi in Burma. I arrived Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9th May, 2004. I studied B.A and M.A programme in Colombo, Sri Lanka and has successfully completed B.A and M.A from the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka. While I was studying in the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, in September 2007, there was a Saffron Revolution in Burma. The military regime cracked down the peaceful protestors who mostly are Buddhist monks. As I could not reconcile myself with the current military regime's brutal crackdown to our Buddhist monks, peaceful protestors and human rights abuses, I became involved in the Burmese politics as an exile. http://ashinmettacara-eng.blogspot.com/
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Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations
Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations: "Gambari's Myanmar Visit 'Disappointing,' UK Mission Says, UN Takes No Questions"
BURMA NEWS: MYANMAR /TIBET NEWS , BURMA DISASTER NEWS, FREE BURMA / TIBET NEWS: Burmese army confiscate more land for self-sustenance
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Center for Refugees to Be Built Next Year-koreatimes
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The government will build a refugee-only detention center next year to accommodate the soaring number of asylum seekers during their applications are processed. Those who obtain refugee status will be given a six-month education course there designed to help them settle in Korea.
It is the first facility to be constructed exclusively for asylum applicants and refugees.
``We plan to build the center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province,'' a source told The Korea Times. ``The Ministry of Justice is in talks with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to secure budget.''
Those applying for the status with their visa remaining valid and refugee status achievers will get priority to stay in the center, while asylum seekers who have overstayed their visa will be only allowed to move in if there is room for them, the source said.
The facility will provide inmates with food, medical treatment, and other welfare services for free since Korean law prohibits refugee seekers from working. Many have had no choice but to work illegally at small-scale factories, risking deportation, or seeking financial support from civic groups until the government gives a final decision.
Residents in the new center will be allowed to stay outside the facility after getting approved status.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of asylum seekers has reached 1,951 since 1994. Of them, 77 people have been granted refugee status. The Korean government signed the U.N. Convention on the Status of Refugees in 1992.
The number of refugee applicants jumped from 37 in 2001 to 84 in 2003, 410 in 2005 and 717 in 2007.
By nationality, Nepal topped the list of applicants with 374, followed by China with 302, Myanmar with 192, Nigeria with 151 and Uganda with 132.
Of the total applicants, 701 or 35.9 percent applied for political reasons, while 255 or 13.1 percent applied because of possible persecution in their home countries.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
Angry Reaction to Samak’s 'Suu Kyi is a Tool' Remark
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By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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Burmese opposition politicians and some political observers and commentators have strongly rejected Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s description of Aung San Suu Kyi as a “political tool” of the West.
Samak made the controversial comment to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari when the two met in Bangkok as the Nigerian diplomat was returning from his latest failed mission to Burma.
“Europe uses Aung San Suu Kyi as a political tool,” Samak told Gambari. “If it's not related to Aung San Suu Kyi, you can have deeper discussions with Myanmar [Burma].”
Samak also told reporters after meeting Gambari: “Efforts to engage the military regime would be more productive if Aung San Suu Kyi was left off the agenda.”
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) rejected the Thai premier’s comments as inappropriate.
“As the leader of a country, he should not give such comments about the political affairs of other countries,” said NLD Spokesman Nyan Win.
Nyan Win accused Samak of favoring the Burmese regime and ignoring the Burmese people.
Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior editor of the Bangkok English-language daily newspaper The Nation said, “I think Samak’s comment is ridiculous. And he has tarnished Thailand’s reputation as the chairman of the Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
“He [Samak] doesn’t even understand the situation in Burma. He has a very sadistic attitude in attacking whoever disagrees with him. Look at the manner he attacks the Thai media everyday.”
A Burmese ethnic leader, Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress in Rangoon, accused Samak of “insulting Burmese people.”
Cin Sian Thang charged that Samak “doesn’t support the formation of democracy in Burma.”
A well-known Burmese politician and former ambassador to China in the 1970s, Thakin Chan Htun, said in Rangoon that Samak’s remarks were based on Thailand’s business interests in Burma, which were more important to him than democratic reform.
Although Gambari failed to meet any top Burmese leader or Aung San Suu Kyi on his latest visit, the UN denied the mission was a failure.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s deputy spokeswoman,
Marie Okabe, said in New York on Monday: “One should not make a judgment on the process based on each individual visit.”
During his Bangkok stopover, Gambari urged Samak to continue his support for the UN mission to break the political deadlock in Burma.
Gambari is scheduled to visit Indonesia before returning to New York, where Okabe said he would report to Ban Ki-moon on his latest visit to Burma.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Japanese government to accept Myanmar nationals living in third countries as refugees - Mainichi Daily News
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/archive/news/2008/08/25/20080825p2a00m0na018000c.html
Gov't to accept Myanmar nationals living in third countries as refugees
The Japanese government has decided to accept refugees who have fled from their own countries and reside in other countries, and will receive about 30 Myanmar nationals living in Thailand as early as fiscal 2010, it has been learned.
The government is also considering increasing the number of Myanmarese refugees it accepts in the future, and expanding its measure to cover refugees from other countries.
Up until now, Japan has refused to accept refugees living outside their own countries other than those accepted under special measures covering Indochinese refugees. Accordingly, the new decision could be regarded as a change in Japan's policy regarding refugees.
Under the current Immigration-Control and Refugee-Recognition Act, screening for refugee recognition is carried out in Japan, and there are no presupposed conditions for accepting refugees living overseas. But with the new measure on refugees living in third countries they can apply in the places where they are living.
In 2007, 816 people applied for recognition as refugees in Japan. Five hundred of them (about 60 percent) were Myanmarese living under the military junta. It appears that the government singled out Myanmarese refugees in its latest decision because there were many wanting to immigrate to Japan. The government is reportedly considering accepting groups of families. If Japan does accept them it will be the first country in Asia to do so.
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) August 25, 2008
UN Denies Its Envoy's Visit to Myanmar Was Worthless (Update1)
Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland
By Paul Tighe and Daniel Ten Kate
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations rejected criticism by Myanmar's opposition party that last week's visit by envoy Ibrahim Gambari was worthless, saying it was part of the UN's objective of holding regular talks with the junta.
The visits are a ``process, not an event,'' Marie Okabe, deputy spokeswoman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said in New York yesterday. ``One should not make a judgment on the process based on each individual visit.''
Gambari didn't meet with Myanmar's military leader Senior General Than Shwe or Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the opposition National League for Democracy. The envoy should be more effective and negotiate with the junta and the opposition, Nyan Win, the NLD's spokesman, said by phone from Myanmar yesterday.
Gambari was making his fourth visit since the junta deployed soldiers last September to end the most serious pro- democracy demonstrations in 20 years in the country formerly known as Burma. The U.S. says the military government has failed to meet pledges made after the unrest to pursue national reconciliation and open talks with Suu Kyi.
``Mr. Gambari has told us he has had extensive and open discussions with the government and other interlocutors, which in itself is necessary in order to broaden and deepen the process as expected by the secretary-general,'' Okabe said, according to a UN transcript. Ban intends to return to Myanmar for a visit ``when conditions are right,'' she said.
Political Body
Gambari met with the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a political body set up by the junta that will probably represent the military's interests in elections scheduled for 2010.
``We told Mr. Gambari to do his work, his job and that meeting with other bodies is useless,'' Nyan Win said yesterday. Opposition parties may not support more visits by Gambari in the future, he said.
Suu Kyi, 63, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the 18 years since the NLD won elections that weren't recognized by the military, didn't show up for a meeting with Gambari on Aug. 20. Nyan Win said he didn't know why she didn't attend.
Other opposition members said Suu Kyi was either ill or sending a message she was unhappy with the UN's efforts to promote talks with the regime.
``Suu Kyi didn't show up because Mr. Gambari is going around with the military's agenda and he's being exploited by the military,'' said Zin Linn, a spokesman for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, a government-in- exile formed by winners of the 1990 election, said yesterday.
State of Health
Myanmar's government made the arrangements for the meeting with Gambari, Okabe said at her briefing.
``To his regret, the meeting did not take place,'' she said. ``We are not going to speculate as to why she was not able to attend.''
The junta denied that Suu Kyi is on hunger strike, Agence France-Presse reported from the former capital, Yangon, today. The reports are rumors that aren't true, the news agency cited an unidentified government official as saying.
The NLD is ``very concerned'' about Suu Kyi's health ``because we have no access to her,'' Nyan Win said last week by phone from Myanmar.
Suu Kyi, who underwent gynecological surgery in 2003 and needed treatment in the hospital in 2006, was suffering from low blood pressure and was unable to leave her bed, Japan's Nikkei news agency reported at the time, citing an unidentified person close to the military regime.
The military has ruled the nation of 47 million people since 1962.
To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net; Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 26, 2008 02:33 EDT
Suu Kyi fails to pick up food delivery in Myanmar - International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
Suu Kyi fails to pick up food delivery in Myanmar
The Associated PressPublished: August 26, 2008
YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi rejected food delivered to her home amid speculation that she launched a hunger strike to protest the government's refusal to hold talks on democratic reforms.
Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said Tuesday he could not confirm whether Suu Kyi was refusing to eat, but said bags of food delivered Monday to a checkpoint outside her heavily guarded house were not picked up.
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, and she relies on the NLD's food deliveries for survival. It remains unclear whether Suu Kyi has launched a hunger strike — since her supporters are barred from meeting her.
Nyo Ohn Myint, head of foreign affairs for the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area), which is based in neighboring Thailand, said Suu Kyi has refused the food deliveries since Aug. 15 and will continue doing so until her demands are met.
But he could not say whether that constitutes a hunger strike, since his group has no direct contact with the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
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Suu Kyi told the regime that she wants a resumption of talks with the government on national reconciliation, the installation of a satellite dish in her house and the freedom for her personal assistant, Khin Win, to leave whenever she wants.
It is unclear how Suu Kyi communicated her demands to the regime or passed messages to her party.
"If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to refuse food from her comrades, her health will be of serious concern," the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area), said in a statement.
"Two people living with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are also refusing food. The international community's immediate action is necessary," it said.
The news comes after Suu Kyi repeatedly canceled meetings with U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his six-day visit to Myanmar that ended Saturday. He left without seeing her.
Since refusing to see Gambari, supporters have speculated that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has grown more frustrated with the United Nations' failure to bring about change in the military-ruled nation.
On Sunday, Nyan Win said Gambari had wasted his time in Myanmar. He also criticized the U.N. envoy for failing to meet the country's leader, Gen. Than Shwe, and for being unable to get any commitment from the junta to start talks with the opposition on national reconciliation.
Nyan Win also castigated Gambari for offering to help the junta prepare for planned 2010 elections.
Suu Kyi's party has criticized the planned polls, which follow a constitutional referendum earlier this year that critics say was neither free nor fair. The new constitution guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military, and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won general elections but was not allowed to take power by the military junta.
The United Nations has tried with little success to nudge the regime toward talks with the opposition, hoping the top generals would respond to international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its violent suppression of massive, anti-government protests in Yangon last year.
In October, the regime did appoint retired Maj. Gen. Aung Kyi, the labor minister, as the government liaison to Suu Kyi. The two held five meetings but have not met since January.
China to deepen defence ties with Myanmar
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China to deepen defence ties with Myanmar
Press Trust Of India / Beijing August 25, 2008, 17:22 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?tp=on&autono=45289
China today expressed keen interest to deepen its military cooperation with Myanmar so as to "safeguard regional stability".
Stating this, Chinese Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie said China and Myanmar, as close and friendly neighbours, have increased cooperation in political, economic, cultural and military affairs in recent years.
The Chinese defence ministry is ready to work with Myanmar to further expand bilateral cooperation, so as to help the two nations' military building and to safeguard regional peace and stability, Liang told Tin Aye, chief of Defence Industries of Myanmar.
The Chinese Defence Minister also praised Myanmar's adherence to the one-China policy regarding on the Taiwan issue.
Liang also expressed his sympathy toward the Myanmar people in the cyclone-hit region, Xinhua news agency reported.
Tin Aye said Myanmar values its relations with China, hoping that the two nations would further enhance friendly cooperation.
Myanmar would continue to support the one-China policy, he reiterated.
SFFB Burmese immigrant invests in his neighbors
Aug 25, 2008 (The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- SFFB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The market is still modest, but when a man can make a living selling financial services to his fellow Burmese immigrants, it counts as a milestone on the journey from refugees to settled residents.
That's what Thiha Kyi, 53, has been doing since February as a sales agent for Western & Southern Financial Services in Fort Wayne.
"As new agents, we get to go to our personal markets. My Burmese community is my personal market," said Kyi, who is more widely known as "Ty." Most of the 4,000 to 5,000 Burmese immigrants in Fort Wayne, even those who were professionals or had college educations before leaving their native country, earn modest incomes. Kyi said many work in factories or slaughterhouses. Hundreds of women who sewed for Vera Bradley suppliers lost their jobs recently. Some women find work as cooks or servers.
Another obstacle is the absence of many traditional financial services in Burma. Most Burmese know little or nothing about retirement savings, insurance, home mortgages or interest rates.
So when Kyi makes sales, they are most often small term-life insurance policies, among the least expensive products Western & Southern offers. But Tom Strain, sales manager for the company's Fort Wayne office, said he couldn't be happier with Kyi's progress.
"He's a sales rep, but he's so much more than that," Strain said. "Ty is like an elder in the community. ... When he's not working, he's at the temple or raising money for flood victims." Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, also known as Myanmar, in May _ killing up to 130,000.
Employing a well-respected, well-educated member of an immigrant community gives the company unparalleled access to thousands of people who are beginning to have a little more money to invest.
That's why when Kyi arranges a visit to a Burmese household, it's not the usual meet-the-insurance-agent sales call. Instead, neighbors crowd in to hear him speak, so much so that eight or 10 pack a small room to hear him explain how Western & Southern can help them retire or save money to send children to college.
Those are common-enough goals for investors, but some Burmese have motives for purchasing insurance that would seem unusual to most customers. Strain said he's been surprised at how many single Burmese, without any dependents, purchase life insurance. Should they die, they don't want to create a financial burden for Burmese who would pool money to pay for funeral arrangements.
"They're protecting their community," Strain said.
That's a motivation Kyi can understand. For most of the last 30 years, he's worked to help Burmese people _ first as a dentist in Burma who became an opponent of the ruling military government, then as an early arrival in the wave of Burmese immigration to Fort Wayne.
Because both his parents were on the faculty of a Burmese university, and because he was well-educated (and could speak English), he was better equipped to move into higher-paying jobs than most new arrivals from his country. Soon after he came to Fort Wayne, he enrolled in a dental-technology program at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, but reflecting on his country's history led him on a different course.
"My country became poor because of economic mismanagement," Kyi said. "What is management? If I go back to my country to rebuild, I need to know how to manage," he said.
He earned a master of business administration degree in 2000 and moved up through the ranks of supervisory jobs in various restaurants. But those hours were unpredictable. He began to see how much those wildly shifting work hours cut into time he could devote to helping other Burmese and protesting the actions of Burma's totalitarian government. Working against that government became a freshly urgent necessity after military leaders suppressed a nonviolent protest movement organized around Buddhist monks.
That's when he shifted to financial planning.
Since then, he's found satisfaction in showing fellow Burmese how they can improve their lives with financial planning.
"I've been going house to house," Kyi said. "I tell them, 'You don't have to buy something from me, but you have to learn about this."'
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ဧရာ၀တီ | ၾသဂုတ္ ၂၅၊ ၂၀၀၈အလင္းေရာင္ လက္ျဖာည … သို႔မဟုတ္ … ေလးျဖဴနဲ႔ IC ရဲ႕ နာဂစ္ရန္ပုံေငြပြဲ … The Irrawaddy (Burmese Version)
ညေန ၄ း ၄၀ နာရီ။
မိုးရြာျပီးစ ေကာင္းကင္က ခပ္မႈိင္းမိႈင္းေဖ်ာ့ေတာ့ေနခ်ိန္ သဃၤန္းကၽြန္းျမိဳ႕နယ္ ေ၀ဇယႏၱာလမ္းမၾကီးေဘးမွာရွိတဲ့ သု၀ဏၰၰ မိုးလုံေလလုံ အားကစားရုံၾကီး ေရွ႕မွာေတာ့ သစ္လြင္ေတာက္ပတဲ့ အ၀တ္အစားေတြနဲ႔ လူငယ္ ေထာင္ ေပါင္းမ်ားစြာ စုရုံး ေရာက္ရွိေနၾကတယ္။ သူတို႔မ်က္ႏွာေတြက တက္ၾကြလန္းဆန္းေနတယ္။ သူတို႔တေတြကို လုံထိန္း ရဲကားေတြ၊ အခ်ဴပ္ကား ေတြနဲ႔ ရာေပါင္းမ်ားေသာ လုံထိန္း ရဲတပ္ဖြဲ႕၀င္ေတြက ေစာင့္ၾကည့္ေနတယ္။
ဒါေပမယ့္ ဒီလူငယ္ေတြက လုံထိန္းရဲေတြကိုသတိမမူအား အခ်င္းခ်င္းစၾကေနာက္ၾကနဲ႔ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္လို႔ေနၾကတယ္။ သူတို႔ေတြ ဟာ နာဂစ္ဒုကၡသည္ေတြကိုကူညီဖို႔ ရန္ပုံေငြရွာတဲ့ နာမည္ေက်ာ္ IRON CROSS ေတးဂီတအဖြဲ႕နဲ႔အတူ သီဆိုေဖ်ာ္ေျဖမယ့္ ေလးျဖဴ၊ အငဲ၊ မ်ဳိးၾကီး၊ ၀ိုင္၀ိုင္းတို႔ရဲ႕ စတိတ္ရႈိးပြဲလာေရာက္ၾကတဲ့လူငယ္ေတြပါ။
“လက္မွတ္ေတြ ၁၃၀၀၀ ေနာ္၊ ကုန္ေတာ့မွာ”ဆိုတဲ့လက္မွတ္ေရာင္းတဲ့သူေတြရဲ႕အသံေတြကလည္း ဆူညံ ေနတယ္။ ျမန္မာ ျပည္မွာ ေစ်းအၾကီးဆုံးလို႔ဆိုႏုိင္မယ့္ စတိတ္ရႈိးလက္မွတ္ တေစာင္ က်ပ္ ၁၅၀၀၀ ၊ ၁၀၀၀၀ ၊ ၉၀၀၀ ေစ်းႏႈန္းေတြဟာ မ်ားျပားလြန္းလွတဲ့ ေစ်းႏႈန္းျဖစ္ေပမယ့္စတိတ္ရႈိးငတ္ေနတဲ့ လူငယ္ေတြကေတာ့ ေစ်းႏႈန္းကို ဂရုမထား၊ အံ့ၾသဖြယ္ေကာင္း ေလာက္ေအာင္ ရုံျပည့္ရုံလွ်ံ၀ယ္ယူအားေပးၾကလို႔ ရက္ပုိင္းအတြင္း လက္မွတ္ေတြေရာင္းကုန္သြားတယ္။ မူလ က ၂၄ ရက္ တရက္တည္းက်င္းပဖို႔ စီစဥ္ထားေပမယ့္ လက္မွတ္ မရလိုက္တဲ့ သူေတြအမ်ားအျပားရွိတာမုိ႔ ၂၅ ရက္ကိုပါထပ္ျပီး ပြဲက်င္းပ ဖို႔စီစဥ္ခဲ့တာလို႔ရႈိးပြဲ စီစဥ္သူ ALPINE ေသာက္ေရသန္႔ ကုမဏီက တာ၀န္ရွိသူ တဦးကဆိုပါတယ္။
သု၀ဏၰအားကစားရုံၾကီးေရွ႕မွာ လူေတြ၊ ကားေတြ၊ ေစ်းသည္ေတြ၊ ရဲေတြ ရႈပ္ယွက္ခတ္ေနတယ္။ ရႈိးပြဲက်င္းပမယ့္ အားကစားရုံထဲ၀င္ဖို႔ တန္းစီေနတဲ့ လူတန္းၾကီးကလည္း ရထားတန္းၾကီးပမာ ရွည္လ်ားလြန္းလွတယ္။
ညေန ၅ နာရီ။
သု၀ဏၰမိုးလုံေလလုံ အားကစားရုံၾကီးထဲမွာ ဂီတကို ခ်စ္ျမတ္ႏုိးၾကတဲ့ လူၾကီးလူငယ္ အရြယ္မ်ဳိးစုံ မိမိတို႔လက္မွတ္ ၀ယ္ယူ ထားရာေနရာအသီးသီးကို ေရာက္ရွိေနရာယူၾကတယ္။ တခ်ဳိ႕က ထုိင္ခုံေတြမွာေနရာယူေနၾကသလို တခ်ဳိ႕ ကေတာ့ မတ္တတ္ရပ္ အားေပးဖို႔ ဟန္ျပင္ေနၾကတယ္။
ALPINE ေသာက္ေရသန္႔နဲ႔ ျမန္မာဘီယာဆိုတဲ့ ဆိုင္းဘုတ္ေတြက ရုံအတြင္းမွာ ျပည့္ႏွက္ေနရာယူထားတယ္။ ေတးဂီတ ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖမႈေပးမယ့္ စင္ၾကီးကေတာ့ သံတုိင္ေတြနဲ႔တည္ေဆာက္ထားျပီး ခန္႔ညားလြန္းလွတယ္။ ေတး ဂီတစင္ကို ပရုိဂ်က္ တာေတြနဲ႔တန္ဆာဆင္ထားျပီး အနီေရာင္ i နဲ႔ c ဆိုတဲ့ စာလုံးၾကီးႏွစ္ခုကလည္း စတိတ္ရႈိး စင္ကို ပိုျပီးထင္ရွား ေပၚလြင္ေစ တယ္။ ပရုိဂ်က္တာေပၚမွာကေတာ့ ေလးျဖဴ၊ အငဲ၊ ၀ိုင္၀ုိင္းနဲ႔မ်ဳိးၾကီး တို႔ရဲ႕ ပုံရိပ္ ေလးခု နဲ႔ IRON CROSS ဆိုတဲ့ စာတန္းၾကီး ထုိးထားျပီး ေနာက္ခံ ေရာ့ခ္ ေတးဂီတအသံေတြ က်ယ္က်ယ္ ေလာင္ေလာင္ ထြက္ေပၚေနတယ္။
ညေန ၅ နာရီ ၁၁ မိနစ္။
ပရုိဂ်က္တာေပၚမွာ ျမစ္ျပင္က်ယ္ေတြ၊ ငါးဖမ္းလုပ္ငန္းလုပ္ကိုင္ေနတဲ့ တံငါေတြ၊ ေဆာ့ကစားေျပးလႊားေနတဲ့ ကေလးငယ္ပုံ ရိပ္ေတြက လႈပ္ရွားသက္၀င္ျပသတယ္။ အဲဒီေနာက္မွာေတာ့ လွ်ပ္စီးလွ်ပ္လက္ေရာင္ေတြထျပီး မုန္တုိင္းဒီေရေတြတက္လာ တဲ႔ ပုံေတြ တခုတခုျပီး ျပသတယ္။ ျပီးေတာ့ ငုိေၾကြးေနတဲ့ကေလးငယ္ေတြ၊ ဒုကၡေရာက္ေနတဲ့ လူၾကီးလူငယ္ေတြရဲ႕ပုံေတြက ဆက္တိုက္ဆိုသလိုေပၚထြက္လာတယ္။
“အားလုံးရဲ႕ မ်က္ရည္ကိုယ္စီဆုေတာင္းျခင္းမ်ားနဲ႔…..ဒီကမၻာမွာက်ခဲ့ရ ၊ မိဘမဲ့ကေလးမ်ား အေမေရ ေခၚတဲ့ အသံမ်ားလား …”ဆိုတဲ့“ေနေရာင္ေအာက္က အသက္ရႈသံမ်ား”သီခ်င္းကို မ်ဳိးၾကီး၊ ေလးျဖဴ၊ အငဲ နဲ႔ ၀ိုင္၀ိုင္းတို႔ သံျပဳိင္စတင္သီဆိုလိုက္ခ်ိန္ မွာေတာ့ ပရိသတ္ရဲ႕ လက္ခုပ္သံေတြ၊ သီခ်င္းကို သံျပဳိင္လိုက္လံသီဆိုတဲ့ အသံေတြ က အားကစားရုံတခုလုံးလွ်ံထြက္ ဖုံးလႊမ္းသြားတယ္။
အဲဒီသီခ်င္းျပီးတဲ့ ေနာက္မွာေတာ့ အဆိုေတာ္ အငဲက “အခ်စ္ကခါး” သီခ်င္းဆိုပါတယ္။ ပရိသတ္ေတြက ခုန္ေပါက္ကၾက သလို တခ်ဳိ႕ဆယ္ေက်ာ္သက္ အရြယ္အမ်ဳိးသမီးငယ္ေလးေတြက အငဲ လို႔ေအာ္ျပီး မ်က္ရည္ေတြ က်ၾကတယ္။ တခ်ဳိ႕ ဆယ္ေက်ာ္သက္ အမ်ဳိးသားလူငယ္ေတြကလည္း အက်ႌေတြခၽြတ္လို႔ ကခုန္ၾကတယ္။
နာမည္ေက်ာ္အဆိုေတာ္ေတြျဖစ္တာနဲ႔အညီ ပရိသတ္ရဲ႕အားေပးမႈကလည္း ေၾကာက္ခမန္းလိလိ။ ပရိသတ္ၾကိဳက္ ႏွစ္သက္ ျပီးသား နာမည္ၾကီး ေရာ့ခ္ေတးသီးခ်င္းေတြ၊ အခ်စ္သီခ်င္း ေအးေအးေလးေတြကို အငဲနဲ႔ ၀ိုင္၀ိုင္းတို႔က ဆက္တုိက္ သီဆိုၾကပါတယ္။
ညေန ၅ နာရီ ၃၈ မိနစ္ မွာေတာ့ ...
ဘယ္ေတာ့မွ စတိတ္ရႈိးမဆိုေတာ့ပါဘူးလို႔ ေၾကညာထားတဲ့ အဆိုေတာ္ၾကီး ေလးျဖဴ တကိုယ္ေတာ္ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖသီဆို ဖို႕ျပင္ဆင္ ခ်ိန္မွာ ေတာ႕ ပရိတ္သတ္ေတြက “ေလးျဖဴ” “ေလးျဖဴ”ဆိုျပီး ညာသံေပးေအာ္ဟစ္သံေတြက သု၀ဏၰ အားကစားရုံ ျပင္ပ ထိေအာင္ ဟိန္းထြက္သြားတယ္။
“ခင္ဗ်ားတို႔နဲ႔အတူ နာဂစ္ေလေဘးဒုကၡသည္ေတြအတြက္ ကုသိုလ္ျပဳရတာ အရမ္းေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ပါတယ္။ အားလုံး မဂၤလာပါ”လို႔ ေလးျဖဴႏႈတ္ခြန္းဆက္ျပီးခ်ိန္မွာေတာ့ ပရိသတ္ရဲ႕ လႈပ္ရွားမႈေတြက ေလးျဖဴ သီဆိုတဲ့ ေရာ့ခ္ သီခ်င္းေတြမွာ နစ္ေမ်ာခုန္ ေပါက္ၾကတယ္။ ပြဲစခ်ိန္ကတည္းက ရုံျပည့္ရုံလွ်ံေနတဲ့ လူအုပ္က ပြဲစျပီး ၄၅ မိနစ္ ေလာက္အၾကာမွာ ပို၍ပုိ၍ မ်ားျပား လာပါတယ္။
“ဒီပြဲေလာက္ပရိတ္သတ္မ်ားတာ တခါမွ မျမင္ဖူးဘူး။ အေတာ္ကို အားရစရာေကာင္းတယ္”လို႔ ရုပ္ရွင္ဗီဒီယို သရုပ္ေဆာင္ တဦးက မွတ္ခ်က္ျပဳတယ္။
နာမည္ေက်ာ္ ဟစ္ေဟာ့ အဆိုေတာ္စိုင္းစိုင္းခမ္းလႈိင္ကေတာ့ “အၾကီးက်ယ္ဆုံးနဲ႔ အေအာင္ျမင္ဆုံးပြဲပါပဲ။ အားက်မိပါတယ္” လို႔ စတိတ္ရႈိးပြဲကို ခုန္ေပါက္ အားေပးကခုန္ရင္း မွတ္ခ်က္ေပးတယ္။
ေရာ့ခ္သီခ်င္းေတြသီဆို နာမည္ၾကီးတဲ့ အမ်ဳိးသမီးအဆိုေတာ္ ေကာ္နီကလည္း “ပရိသတ္မ်ားနဲ႔အတူတူ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ရပါတယ္။ ဂုဏ္ယူပါတယ္”လို႔ ရယ္ေမာစြာနဲ႔ တုံ႔ျပန္မွတ္ခ်က္ျပဳတယ္။ စူးရွတဲ့ အသံနဲ႔အခ်စ္သီခ်င္းေတြေရာ၊ ေရာ့ခ္သီခ်င္းေတြပါ သီဆို ႏုိ္င္တဲ့ ပရိသတ္အခ်စ္ေတာ္ ေခ်ာစုခင္ကလည္း “ဘာျဖစ္ျဖစ္ အခုလို ကုိေလးျဖဴစတိတ္ရႈိးျပန္ဆိုတဲ့အတြက္ ပရိသတ္ အတြက္ေရာ ေခ်ာစုကပါ အရမ္းေပ်ာ္တယ္။ ဒီေန႔ ၂၄ ရက္နဲ႔မနက္ျဖန္ ၂၅ ရက္ပါ ၂ ရက္စလုံး ကုိေလးကို အားေပးမယ္။ မၾကည့္ရတာၾကာျပီျဖစ္တဲ့ ကိုေလး ရဲ႕ ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖတာ ျပန္ၾကည္႕ရတဲ့အတြက္ အရမ္းမိုက္ပါတယ္”လို႔ သူမရဲ႕ခံစားခ်က္ကို ထုတ္ေဖာ္ေျပာပါတယ္။
စတိတ္ရႈိးပြဲကိုလာၾကည့္တဲ့ ပရိသတ္အေရအတြက္က ခန္႔မွန္းဖို႔ခက္ေလာက္ေအာင္ မ်ားျပားလြန္းလွတယ္။ ပြဲလုံျခဳံေရး တာ၀န္ယူထားတဲ့ လုံျခဳံေရး၀န္ထမ္းတဦးကေတာ့ အနည္းဆုံး ငါးေသာင္းေက်ာ္ရွိမယ္လို႔ ခန္႔မွန္း တယ္။ ပရိသတ္ေတြထဲမွာ ႏုိင္ငံျခားသားေတြ ေတာ္ေတာ္မ်ားမ်ားကိုလည္း ေတြ႕ရတယ္။
ပရိသတ္အခ်စ္ေတာ္ ေလးျဖဴ၊ ၀ိုင္၀ိုင္း၊ အငဲနဲ႔မ်ဳိးၾကီးတို႔ဟာ သီဆိုေဖ်ာ္ေျဖခိ်န္မွာ ပရိသတ္ဘက္ကို မိုက္ကရုိဖုန္း ကို ထိုးေပးျပီး ပရိသတ္ရဲ႕သံျပိဳင္သီခ်င္းလုိက္လံသီဆိုမႈကို အသိအမွတ္ျပဳရင္း ပရိသတ္ကိုလည္း အရႊန္းေဖာက္ ပါတယ္။
“ပရိသတ္ၾကီး မ်ဳိးၾကီးေျမွာက္ေပးတုိင္း အက်ႌေတြခၽြတ္မေနၾကနဲ႔ အေအးပတ္ကုန္လိမ့္မယ္”လို႔ အဆိုေတာ္အငဲက ေျပာေတာ့ ပရိသတ္ေတြကလည္း ရယ္ၾကတယ္။
ေလးျဖဴကလည္း “ေရာမီေသာေဖာ (တရုတ္ကားထဲကပုံစံအတိုင္းလုပ္ျပ)”ဆိုျပီး ပရိသတ္ကို ေနာက္တယ္။
တျဖည္းျဖည္း အခ်ိန္ၾကာလာတာနဲ႔အမွ် ပရိသတ္နဲ႔ အဆိုေတာ္ေတြ အေပးအယူ မွ်မွ် အတုိင္အေဖာက္ ညီလာ ၾကတယ္။ အဆိုေတာ္ေတြက ပရိသတ္ကို အစြမ္းကုန္ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖ ၾကသလို ပရိသတ္ေတြကလည္း ပြဲကို စည္းကမ္း ရွိရွိ ရန္ပြဲမရွိအား ေပးေနၾကတယ္။
ည ၉ နာရီ မိနစ္၂၀ အခိ်န္က်ေတာ့ …
အဆိုေတာ္ေလးျဖဴက “ဒီညေလးကိုေတာ့ ဘယ္လိုမွေမ့လို႔ရေတာ့မွာမဟုတ္ပါဘူး” လို႔ေျပာျပီး ပြဲကို နိဂုံးခ်ဴပ္ဖို႔ ျပင္ေတာ့ ပရိသတ္ေတြက ေအာ္ဟစ္ျပီး သီခ်င္းေတာင္းၾကတယ္။
ပရိသတ္ ေတာင္းဆိုမႈေၾကာင့္ ေလးျဖဴက ေနာက္ထပ္သီခ်င္းႏွစ္ပုဒ္ ထပ္ဆိုေပးမယ္။ မနက္ျဖန္က်ရင္လည္း က်ေနာ္ဆြဲရ ဦးမယ္ (သီခ်င္းထပ္ဆိုရဦးမယ္)။ အဲဒီေတာ့ ႏွစ္ပုဒ္ျပီးရင္ ပြဲနားၾကပါစို႔လို႔ ေတာင္းပန္ပါတယ္။
ည ၉နာရီ ၃၀ မိနစ္အခ်ိန္ မွာေတာ့ …
အဆိုေတာ္ ေလးျဖဴက ေနာက္ဆုံးပြဲသိမ္းသီခ်င္းအေနနဲ႔ သူ႔ရဲ႕ပထမဆုံးေသာ နာမည္ၾကီး သီခ်င္းျဖစ္တဲ့ “အလင္းေရာင္” သီခ်င္းကို ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖေတာ့ ပရိသတ္ကလည္း သီခ်င္းကို သံျပိဳင္ေအာ္ဟစ္သီဆိုၾကတယ္။ တခ်ဳိ႕ပရိသတ္ေတြက မီးျခစ္ ကိုျခစ္ျပီး မီးေတာက္ေလးေတြကို ေ၀ွ႔ယမ္းျပီး လြမ္းလြမ္းေဆြးေဆြးအားေပးၾကတယ္။
ပဲြကို လာေရာက္အားေပးတဲ့ အသက္၂၀ ေက်ာ္အရြယ္ ျပင္သစ္ႏုိင္ငံသူေလးတဦးရဲ႕မ်က္ႏွာမွာ မ်က္ရည္ေတြ က်ေနတာကို ေတြ႕လိုက္ရတယ္။ ဘာျဖစ္လုိ႔လဲ လို႔ ေမးလိုက္ေတာ့ နာဂစ္မုန္တုိင္း ဒုကၡသည္ေတြအတြက္ သီဆိုၾကတဲ့ အဆိုေတာ္ေတြနဲ႔ အားေပးၾကတဲ့ ပရိသတ္ကို ျမင္ေတြ႕ရတာ သူမအဖို႔၀မ္းသာလြန္းလို႔ မ်က္ရည္က်တာပါလို႔ ေျပာတယ္။
ည ၉ နာရီ ၄၀ မိနစ္ အခ်ိန္မွာပဲ …
နာဂစ္မုန္တုိင္း ဒုကၡသည္မ်ားအတြက္ ေဖ်ာ္ေျဖတဲ့ရန္ပုံေငြ စတိတ္ရႈိးပြဲက ေအာင္ျမင္ေအးခ်မ္းစြာနဲ႔ အဆုံးသတ္သြား ပါေတာ့တယ္။ ။
National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) News Release
Date: August 25, 2008
1. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not accepted any food or visitors for 9 days. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s daily food supply is delivered to her house each day, but the last day Daw Aung San Suu Kyi accepted the food was 15 August 2008. If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to refuse food from her comrades, her health will be of serious concern. Two people living with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are also refusing food. The international community’s immediate action is necessary.
2. During UN Special Envoy Mr. Ibrahim Gambari’s recent six day visit to Burma, Mr. Gambari met with authorities from the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), diplomats, personnel from SPDC-crony organizations, and leaders from the National League for Democracy (NLD). However, Mr. Gambari did not meet with any top officials from the SPDC or with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
3. Over the past 20 years, consecutive General Secretaries of the United Nations have made efforts to solve Burma's crisis; however, these efforts have not resulted in tangible improvements for Burma. This demonstrates that the UN's strategy for solving the crisis in Burma is flawed.
4. During the Saffron Revolution in 2007, Mr. Gambari was successfully lured into the SPDC's political trap: attempting dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and SPDC officials that supported the SPDC's “seven-step road map to democracy.” Daw Aung San Suu Kyi found it very difficult to solve the national crisis using peaceful means as a result of this one-sided dialogue.
5. According to reliable sources, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi informed people that there should be limitations, especially time limitations, for tolerating the SPDC's one-sided approaches. She further informed people that we must sacrifice our lives like martyrs for the people of Burma so as to successfully support Burma’s freedom.
6. Therefore, the National League for Democracy (Liberate Area) appeals to the international community to support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and solve the crisis in Burma using any necessary means. Specifically, we appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations to go to Burma as soon as possible to solve the crisis.
Central Committee
National League for Democracy (Liberated Area)
Contact: U Nyo Ohn Myint
Mobile Phone No. (66) 897003432
Email address: nyomyint@hotmail.com
The Cutting Edge News,Reign of Terror in Burma Requires Genuine U.N. Action - Not Just Official Visits
The Times - Have you met our new friends?(MORE)
"LET us now be proud of our friends. Let us be proud to stand tall, side by side with them and acknowledge them as our friends.
The late Zambian president, Levy Mwanawasa, was not our friend. He dared to condemn the despot Robert Mugabe. Let us not honour Mwanawasa.
Instead, let us now be proud of the democratic states of China and Russia, who stood by us like good friends at the UN when we refused to impose sanctions on Mugabe and his top cronies a month ago.
The UN Security Council did not propose much: a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe and his cronies plus a ban on arms sales to the country. South Africa voted against the adoption of the resolution and lobbied hard until Russia and China vetoed the resolution."
Taipei Times - archives(MORE)
Taipei Times - archives: "McDonald’s, Ma and Hu awarded ‘Olympic’ golds
ONE OF A KIND: Human rights groups gave a unique gold medal to Uni-President for being the only local business to sponsor the ‘Bloody Olympics’ in Beijing
By Loa Iok-Sin
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Aug 25, 2008, Page 2
Activists portraying, right to left, President Ma Ying-jeou, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Ronald McDonald hold up their gold medals and certificates after being named winners for human rights abuses at a mock Olympic closing ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Ronald McDonald were among the gold medal winners for human rights abuses at an unofficial Olympic closing ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
Ahead of the official Beijing Olympic closing ceremony yesterday evening, groups including the Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT), the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Taiwan Free Burma Network organized a “closing ceremony for the Bloody Olympics” yesterday morning."
Al Jazeera English - PEOPLE AND POWER - Myanmar's Future
Al Jazeera English - PEOPLE AND POWER - Myanmar's Future: "Myanmar's Future"
Gambari Burma Mission Not Accomplished, UNSC should intervene more directly | Asian Tribune
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12900
Mon, 2008-08-25 03:34
By Zin Linn, Burmese Journalist in exile
Bangkok, 245 August, (Asiantribune.com): UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's latest shuttle diplomacy ended in disappointment. He could not meet senior leaders of the ruling Junta. And also the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. When Gambari flew in, expectations ran very high.
The visit came at a time optimism was waning about talks between the Nobel Laureate and the Generals who had unveiled a new statute after staging a referendum in May. The international community hoped that he would succeed in persuading the military to open a genuine political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups to create a national reconciliation process that could lead to a genuine democracy.
Gambari failed to have meetings with the senior general. The Nobel laureate was to meet him on Aug20. But she did not 'show up'. The meeting was organised by the Junta. Obviously, Suu Kyi did not want Gambari to overstate that his mission was going well.
This was Gambari's fourth trip to Burma since the deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrators led by Buddhist-monks last September.
Burma came under military rule in 1962. The regime has earned the dubious reputation of being one of the world's worst human rights violators. It brutally suppressed pro-democracy movements in 1988, May 30, 2003, Depayin conspiracy and Saffron Revolution in Sept 2007. There were many more sporadic crackdowns. The junta has arrested over two thousands political dissidents including Suu Kyi, who has been confined to her residence for most of the last 19 years.
The regime has held a unilateral referendum at gun point on May 10 and 24 this year and pronounced mandate for the statute which made the military the final arbiter of the destiny of the Burmese people. The new elections planned in 2010 will legalize military rule. Needless to say, the processes will not be free and fair. Just like the referendum held at gun-point. The socio-economic atmosphere is deteriorating. The junta will not be able to manage the socio-economic situation, which is deteriorating fast. It will soon come face-to-face with a "desolate" future if it continues to reject the national reconciliation process being urged by the opposition the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA).
NLD and UNA point out that the 'ratification' of the constitution staged by the Junta is invalid. Both assert that the ratification was carried out against the will of the people and without observing internationally known norms for referendums. The junta does not show respect the statement issued by President of the UN Security Council issued in October, 2007. The regime also has also negated successive resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) calling for return of democracy in Burma through a tripartite dialogue between the Junta led by Senior General Than Shwe, democratic forces led by Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic nationalities. From turn of events it is clear that Yangoon has no plan to heed the UN call and to release political prisoners, which is a pre-condition to facilitate the tripartite dialogue.
These realities and Junta's adherence to the Seven-step road map towards 2010 elections make the Gambari mission almost nonsensical. Also bring upfront the question: Is Ibrahim Gambari the right person for the delicate job in Yangon.
Pro-changer's reply is a resounding no. "No he's disqualified."
Gambari cannot hope to achieve a breakthrough when he obeys regime's to-do list and spends most of the time with pro-junta groups or their puppets. He should demand to meet the representatives of the group of 92 MP-elect, who had sent letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council. And he should, at least, urge the junta to release two of the group- U Nyi Pu and Dr. Tin Min Htut, who were arrested on 12 August. At least three prominent members of these MPs who are denied their rightful place in Parliament, U Pu Chin Sian Thang, U Thein Pe and Dr. Myint Naing, are accessible in Yangoon but the UN Special Envoy did not try to contact them.
Instead, Gambari met with the leaders of the ruling junta which has identifies itself as the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). It is a gang similar to Hitler's 'Brown Shirts', which carried out an assassination attempt on Nobel laureate Suu Kyi on May 30, 2003. Scores of her supporters were slaughtered during that pre-meditated attack.
What was more, when UN envoy met with the NLDs, he told them the 2010 elections would be free and fair. But when asked for his 'opinion' on the 1990 elections, he ducked for cover. Furthermore, he even did not recognize the purpose of his current mission was to facilitate resumption of a political dialogue that was postponed in the wake of a cyclone.
Hopefully, Ibrahim Gambari will re-evaluate the purpose and direction of his mission as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy. He should not consider advocating or supporting the military dictators' sham constitution and sham 2010 elections. It will damage not only his mission but also the dignity of the world body.
Is it too much for the democratic forces in Burma to expect that the United Nations will quickly come to grips with the Yangon crisis in a more direct manner?
Zin Linn: The author, a freelance Burmese journalist, lives in exile. He is vice-president of Burma Media Association, which is affiliated with the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers.
-Asian Tribune -
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thailand tells the UN to broaden focus in Burma
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200808/s2346151.htm?tab=asia
Updated August 26, 2008 00:08:00
Thailand's Samak Sundaravej tells the UN to stop focussing on Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. [Reuters]
Thailand's prime minister Samak Sundaravej has told the western countries not to pin their efforts to bring democracy to Burma on the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Sundaravej told visiting UN envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, that he would have more success engaging the military regime if Ms Suu Kyi was left off the agenda.
Mr Sundaravej says instead of focusing on Aung San Suu Kyi the international community should focus on the constitution and elections as a means of bringing democracy to Burma."
Note by-Phone Hlaing -fwubc-He is trying to interfereing in our country affair without really knowing our country.
BURMA DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT: News Hour: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi refused to accept the food supplies#links#links
Sunday, August 24, 2008
yax-925 Singapore shows Burmese dissidents the door(MORE)
"Their core philosophy seems to be: 'Autocrats of the world, unite!'
Six Burmese have been thrown out of Singapore in the last month or so when their residency passes were denied renewals. While the immigration office has not provided any explanation for any of these cases -- and the silence itself can be read as sinister -– 'they had some commonalities', said Myo Myint Maung at a press conference on 22 August.Their core philosophy seems to be: 'Autocrats of the world, unite!'
Six Burmese have been thrown out of Singapore in the last month or so when their residency passes were denied renewals. While the immigration office has not provided any explanation for any of these cases -- and the silence itself can be read as sinister -– 'they had some commonalities', said Myo Myint Maung at a press conference on 22 August."
YouTube - Singapore Police video-taping protestors at Burma Embassy
YouTube - Singapore Police video-taping protestors at Burma Embassy: "Singapore Police video-taping protestors at Burma Embassy"
Singapore warns Myanmar activists to stop protests : Asia World, シンガポールはミャンマーの運動家に抗議を停止するように警告する:
Singapore warns Myanmar activists to stop protests : Asia World: "Singapore- Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs warned political activists from Myanmar not to ignore repeated police orders to stop illegal public protests and anti-Myanmar activities, the The Strait Times newspaper said Saturday. A spokesman of the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP), a group of Myanmar activists, said the Singapore government has not renewed immigration passes for five of its members that had participated in a public protest in November.
'We do have suspicion that the rationale for the rejections might be because of the protests and our activities,' Myo Myint Maung said.
An ministry spokesperson said 'the right of a foreign national to work or stay in Singapore is not a matter of entitlement or a right to be secured by political demand and public pressure' and that activists repeatedly ignored requests from government officials to meet to discuss the group's conduct."
シンガポールシンガポールの内務省は違法公共の抗議を停止するために無視しないべきミャンマーからの政治運動家が警察の発注を繰り返し、反ミャンマーが活動、海峡の時間新聞土曜日を言ったことを警告した。 シンガポールの政府が11月の公共の抗議に加わったメンバーの5のための移住のパスを更新しなかったことを海外ビルマの愛国者(OBP)のスポークスマン、ミャンマーの運動家のグループは、言った。 ' 私達は拒絶のための理論的根拠が抗議および私達の活動のためにそうなったものであるかもしれないこと疑い'を有する; Myo Myint Maungは言った。 大臣のスポークスマンは'を言った; 外国国民またはシンガポールの滞在の権利は働く政治要求および公衆pressure'によってしっかり止められている資格賦与または権利の問題ではない; そして運動家はグループconduct."を論議するために会う繰り返し国家公務員からの要求を無視したこと;
Dh’s Burma trip « Ramtree’s Runarounds II(MORE)
Dh’s Burma trip « Ramtree’s Runarounds II: "August 24, 2008Dh’s Burma trip
Filed under: Misc., School — by ramthree @ 10:35 am
“Hell on earth,” that’s how he described it. Of course this wasn’t a pleasure trip to see the country. The real intent was charity. There were 15 people on this mission. Everyone has some connection to the Brickfields temple. Mrs. Poon handled the paper work. I said the red tape was taken cared of by the Myanmar Embassy. Actually, the Sri Lankan counter part should be given credit. The Chief Rev. Damaratana is from Sri Lanka and he’s considered quite highly ranked by his countrymen. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Myanmar gave them a nice welcome. The group travelled as diplomats and were treated as such at the airports. Thank goodness, I can’t imagine if they got in trouble in Myanmar. In case of anything, dh took several grand US$(the Malaysian ringgit is not recognized) to get the hell out of the country if there were any violence or uprising."
Suu Kyi's party: UN envoy to Myanmar wasting time,Suu Kyi党: 時間を無駄にするミャンマーへの国連公使
By mckj
AP -
Sunday, August 24YANGON, Myanmar -
U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was "wasting his time" in Myanmar because he did nothing to end the political stalemate in the country, the opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi charged Sunday.
国際連合の特使イブラヒムGambariは"だった; 彼のtime"を無駄にすること; ミャンマーでは彼が国の政治行き詰りを終えることを何もしなかったのでAung San Suu Kyiの野党は日曜日を満たした。
The unusually harsh criticism comes a day after Gambari ended his six-day mission to Myanmar without meeting Suu Kyi nor the country's top general. He left for Singapore on Saturday.
珍しく粗い批評は日ミャンマーにSuu Kyi国上大将に会わないでGambariの後の終えた彼の6日間の代表団を来る。 彼は土曜日にシンガポールのために去った。
Gambari told diplomats Saturday that it was Suu Kyi and not the government who refused the meeting. The news adds to speculation that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate may be dissatisfied with the United Nations' thus far unsuccessful efforts to bring about change in the military-ruled nation.
Gambariはそれが会合を断ったない政府およびSuu Kyiだったこと外交官に土曜日を告げた。 ニュースは推測にノーベル平和賞受賞者が国際連合'と不満を抱くかもしれないことを加える; これまでに軍支配された国家の変更をもたらすための不成功な努力。
On Sunday, the spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League For Democracy, Nyan Win, had little good to say about Gambari's mission. He criticized Gambari for failing to meet the country's leader, General Than Shwe, and being unable get any commitments from the regime to start talks with the opposition toward a national reconciliation.
日曜日で、民主主義、NyanWinのSuu Kyiの国民リーグのためのスポークスマンに、Gambariの代表団について言うことよい少しがあった。 彼は批判したShweより一般的なのためのGambariを国のリーダーに会わないことをおよび国民の和解の方に反対の話を始めるためになくてがあって政体から責任を得なさい。
He also criticized Gambari for offering to help the junta prepare for the planned 2010 election. Suu Kyi's party, known as the NLD, has criticized the planned polls, which will come as a result of a constitutional referendum earlier this year that critics say was neither free nor fair.
彼はまた会議が計画された2010年の選挙のために準備するのを助けることを提供のためのGambariを批判した。 NLDとして知られているSuu Kyi党は評論家がだった自由、また、公平言わない体質性の国民投票の結果として今年初めに来る計画された投票を批判した。
"We have made very clear to the U.N. envoy that the mission should not discuss the upcoming 2010 elections as the NLD does not recognize the military-backed constitution," Nyan Win said. "The U.N. envoy was wasting his time on matters that he was not supposed to deal with."
" 私達はNLDが軍支持された憲法を確認しないので代表団が次の2010の選挙、"を論議するべきではないことU.Nの公使に非常に明確に作った; Nyanの勝利は言った。 " U.Nの公使は彼がwith."を対処するために仮定されなかったこと問題の彼の時間を無駄にしていた;
Diplomats who met with Gambari echoed the concerns of the NLD, saying that he has achieved very little.
Gambariに会った外交官は彼が少しだけ達成したことNLDの心配を、言エコーした。
Suu Kyi's refusal to meet Gambari is the latest stumble in his bid to promote democracy in Myanmar and secure her release from house arrest.
Gambariに会うSuu Kyiの拒否はミャンマーの民主主義を促進し、自宅軟禁からの彼女の解放をしっかり止める彼の入札の最も最近のよろめきである。
Gambari has met with Suu Kyi on previous visits, but his trips have resulted in little more than photo opportunities.
Gambariは前の訪問のSuu Kyiに会ったが、彼の旅行はで写真の機会より少しもっと起因した。
Gambari's troubles are part of a larger struggle by the U.N. to convince the junta to change its ways. The military has ruled the nation since 1962 and has been widely criticized for suppressing basic freedoms.
Gambariの悩みは方法を変えるように会議を確信させるU.Nによってより大きい苦闘の一部分行う。 軍隊は1962年以来の国家を支配し、基本的な自由を抑制するために広く批判された。
U.N. envoys have visited the country nearly 40 times since 1990, along with other senior officials, while the U.N. General Assembly has passed numerous resolutions calling for change.
U.N. 公使は他の高官と共にほぼ40回変更を求めているU.Nの総会多数の議案を可決したが、国を1990年以来の、訪問した。
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won general elections but was not allowed to take power by the military.
Suu Kyi党が圧倒的に総選挙に勝ったが、軍隊によって力を取る許されなかったときに、ミャンマー、別名ビルマは1990年以来の政治行き詰まりに、あった。
The regime has promoted a democratic road map that will culminate with the 2010 elections. But the new constitution guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency.
政体は2010の選挙と絶頂に達する民主的な道路図を促進した。 しかし新しい憲法は軍隊に国会の議席の25%保証し、大統領が緊急事態の軍隊にすべての力を引き渡すことを可能にする。
WFP closes Bangkok relief air bridge for Burma
NARGIS' IMPACT WFP closes Bangkok relief air bridge for Burma
http://www.mizzima.com/nargis-impact/18-nargis-impact/942-wfp-closes-bangkok-relief-air-bridge-for-burma
WFP closes Bangkok relief air bridge for Burma
Zarni
Saturday, 23 August 2008 21:08
Chiang Mai - With the last of aid flight flying into Burma on Friday, the United Nations World Food Programme said, it is closing Thailand's Don Mueang airbase as an air bridge for aid supplies into the Cyclone-hit nation.
"We will no longer need to base in Bangkok as most of the supplies can be brought in by air cargo plane directly to Yangon [Rangoon] or it can come by ships to the port of Yangon [Rangoon]," Paul Risley, WFP's spokesperson in Bangkok, told Mizzima on telephone.
Don Mueang Airport has been used as a logistic hub to speed up the transfer of humanitarian assistants to the victims in time since cyclone Nargis hit Burma in early May.
According to WFP's reports, nearly four million kilograms of cargo were delivered through the Don Mueang air hub to Burma, including shelter material, medical supplies, mosquito nets and water purification equipment.
Risley added that WFP has delivered almost 28,000 tons of relief supplies to more than 700,000 people in the cyclone hit areas.
WFP also withdraw its eight helicopters out of ten.
"Two are enough for carrying the relief materials to the delta region. On the other hand, we will use trucks and boats to move them," Risley.
But a Christian pastor, who has been involved in distributing relief aid to victims, said, more than three months after the cyclone hit, victims are still struggling to recover and food remains the most important needs for them.
"There are many more villages that need support, though, most have received initial support, the amount for them is too little to sustain them," the pastor, who visited Bogale and Laputta Township in the Irrawaddy delta said.
He added that with many domestic donors and volunteers stopping their activities, victims are left much to themselves to recover.
"But there are still a few more international agencies operating in the region," he said.
"But I think that is not enough," the pastor added.
UN envoy ends Myanmar trip, fails to see Aung San Suu Kyi - Summary : World(MORE)
"Yangon - UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari left Myanmar Saturday after six days in the country but failed to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Gambari, who added a sixth day to his five-day trip in an effort to meet with the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Suu Kyi, gave no reason why they didn't meet.
State-run television Saturday evening said it was Suu Kyi who refused twice to meet Gambari after they arranged for the UN envoy to meet with her."
Myanmar stresses continued implementation of 7-step roadmap - People's Daily Online(MORE)
"Myanmar Minister of Information Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan has stressed that the government will continue the implementation of its seven-step roadmap as a transitional government in accord with the mandate of the people, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday."
The Eyes Have It
Cataracts, night blindness, conjunctivitis and reduced sight are just a few of the vision impairments that descend with age—and poor nutrition. But it's never too late to keep an eye on these problems. A review of studies in the journal Eye confirms that certain foods and vitamins can help fend off these ailments. Those that Ophthalmologist Nicholas Brown deems most useful:
Vitamins
People with cataracts are often low in vitamins C, E and beta-carotene. Brown concludes that they are most helpful in smokers or people with poor nutrition. They can be found in green vegetables, fruits and nuts. In pills, he suggests an upper limit of 10 mg of beta-carotene, 1000 mg of C and 600 mg of E.
Zinc
Deficiency of this metal can lead to night blindness. Studies also show that taking zinc leads to better visual acuity. Find it in meats, eggs, whole cereals and seafood. As a supplement, 20 mg is safe.
Carotenoids
These yellow pigments color fruits and vegetables like melon and spinach and are essential to eye health. Carotenoids seem to be particularly useful in protecting the eye against macular degeneration.
Essential fatty acids
Because the body can't synthesize them, it is crucial to get fatty acids through food or supplements. A remedy called Evening Primrose Oil, which contains gamma linolinic acid (GLA), is useful in treating conjunctivitis and dry eyes. Omega-3 fatty acids like docosahexanoic acid (DHA), can be found in oily fish such as mackerel and are crucial to maintaining the health of the retina.
Last Updated: 05/30/2006
Copyright © 1991-2007 Sussex Publishers. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Countdown to U.S. Democratic VP candidate announcement starts_English_Xinhua(MORE)
"Despite all principles followed by prior VP selection, Obama noted that he wanted a running mate who was 'prepared to be president' and who will be 'a partner with me in strengthening this economy for the middle class and working families.'
'I want somebody who's independent, somebody who can push against my preconceived notions and challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House.'"
Free Buram's Political Prisnoers campaign WORLD NEWS MyNews.in:(MORE)
"There are over 7,000 people detained during and after the protests. Among those detainees were 13 leaders of ‘the 88 Generation Students’ who previously served long jail sentences, surviving torture and solitary confinement. The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), which monitors prison conditions in many conflict settings, has not been able to visit Burmese prisons since late 2005 because authorities have prevented visits in accordance with the ICRC’s usual procedures that include carrying out private interviews with detainees, is still unable to visit the detainees."
BURMA NEWS: MYANMAR /TIBET NEWS , BURMA DISASTER NEWS, FREE BURMA / TIBET NEWS: Burma's children still forced into army(MORE)
BURMA NEWS: MYANMAR /TIBET NEWS , BURMA DISASTER NEWS, FREE BURMA / TIBET NEWS: Burma's children still forced into army: "He said that he came from a very poor family and at the age of seven or nine, he started working. While he was on the way to sell garden produce in Rangoon, he was recruited.
“I lost my travel pass from the ward leader, and at Bago railway station and some soldiers came on board and asked everyone for ID cards. I realized I'd lost my recommendation letter, and they took me in. The same day they sent me to the Mingaladon Su Saun Yay in handcuffs”."
US Campaign for Burma » In a Five-Day Trip to Burma, UN Envoy Spent only 20 Minutes with Representatives of Burma’s Democracy Movement(MORE)
US Campaign for Burma » In a Five-Day Trip to Burma, UN Envoy Spent only 20 Minutes with Representatives of Burma’s Democracy Movement: "In a Five-Day Trip to Burma, UN Envoy Spent only 20 Minutes with Representatives of Burma’s Democracy Movement
Envoy Ignores Most Democracy Groups, Makes Meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi Virtually Impossible"
Lower ranking Military Affairs Security Unit disarmed for security reasons(MORE)
Wed 20 Aug 2008, IMNA
Lower ranks of the Military Affairs Security Unit (Sa Ya Pha), which replaced the former Military Intelligence, were disarmed after three Lt. Generals of the Bureau of Special Operation and Lt.Gen Aung Htwe were removed.
Ranks lower than Captain in the Sa Ya Pha have been disarmed because top generals believe that some Sa Ya Pha members loyal to Lt. General Ye Myint would be a security risk after his dismissal. Lower ranking Military Affairs Security Unit disarmed for security reasons
Wed 20 Aug 2008, IMNA
Lower ranks of the Military Affairs Security Unit (Sa Ya Pha), which replaced the former Military Intelligence, were disarmed after three Lt. Generals of the Bureau of Special Operation and Lt.Gen Aung Htwe were removed.
Ranks lower than Captain in the Sa Ya Pha have been disarmed because top generals believe that some Sa Ya Pha members loyal to Lt. General Ye Myint would be a security risk after his dismissal."
Bangkok Post | General news | Oppressed Burmese deserve better from the world(MORE)
THAUNG HTUN
The Burmese people have had to maintain a sense of optimism after 46 years of military dictatorship. But, as the first anniversary of the Saffron Revolution approaches and in the midst of yet another visit by the United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Rangoon, optimism is waning. The international community has expressed its commitment to promoting democracy in Burma, as this latest visit by Mr Gambari underlines. However, commitment in its expression is easily undermined by its failure in practice."
Migrants Flow out of Burma as Economic Woes Deepen
Migrants Flow out of Burma as Economic Woes Deepen: "Burma’s economic troubles have been a boon to human traffickers in recent months, keeping them busy at a time of year when wet conditions traditionally slow the flow of migrants across the border into Thailand.
A source who is involved in smuggling migrant workers from Burma to Thailand estimated that about 300 Burmese migrants are illegally transported to Bangkok each day from border areas such as Mae Sot, Three Pagodas Pass, Mae Sai and Ranong."
VOA News - UN Secretary-General Plans December Visit to Burma(MORE)
Burma's opposition party, the National League for Democracy, says the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is to visit Burma in December to hold talks on the country's political problems. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, the NLD was told of Mr. Ban's scheduled visit during talks with the U.N. special envoy currently on a five-day official visit."
Rejection of the meeting means ‘NO’ to 2010 election
BURMA DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT: "BDD
Regardless of UN special envoy plays the SPDC agent role, NLD seniors questioned him about 1990 election result and why not getting honor. Who will be sure that if regime’s proxies would lose in 2010 and another redoing constitution under new national convention banner?
Sham UN’s negotiation process which is carrying without having a single word of 1990 election result that might not pave the way to another election.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi started moving against the SPDC's game plan and carefully deal with both UN and SPDC, said source close to NLD. She watches how combination of UN's failed mission and SPDC’s dirty game. Her message was clear, without getting any positive progress, UN should pack its bag and allow SPDC to play without favoring from UN, said NLD source.
International community should be aware the worst Burmese political situation and stop dancing with the SPDC's tune regardless of safe-employed lobbyists from inside and outside. Many political bystanders and academics have joined the bandwagon of 2010 election reality. But it's unlikely to improve the political situations and unable to extend the civil society space, a well-known Burmese journalist stressed from Rangoon.
Posted by BURMA DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT at 8/22/2008 02:56:00 PM"
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UN ends Bangkok 'air bridge' to Myanmar .:. (MORE)
UN ends Bangkok 'air bridge' to Myanmar .:. NewKerala - India's Top Online Newspaper: "Bangkok, Aug 22 : The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Friday shut down its 'relief air bridge' to Myanmar after delivering four million tonnes of cargo from Bangkok to the victims of Cyclone Nargis."
Myanmar: UN Envoy Extends Visit | (MORE)
Myanmar: UN Envoy Extends Visit My Sinchew: "YANGON, MYANMAR: U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, hoping to promote democratic reform in Myanmar, will extend his five-day visit until Saturday (23 Aug) in an apparent effort to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi failed to appear at a scheduled meeting Wednesday (20 Aug) amid speculation that she may be dissatisfied with the United Nations' hitherto fruitless efforts to affect change in the military-ruled nation."
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