http://www.rightsidenews.com/200812273114/global-terrorism/pakistan-jama-t-ud-da-wah-the-saudi-wahabbi-influence.html
December 27, 2008
Pakistan - Jama't-ud-Da'wah (JuD)
The Saudi Wahabbi Influence [1]
Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Fighel - ICT Senior Researcher
Institute for Counter-Terrorism
In the wake of the Mumbai attack on 10th December 2008, the UN Security Council's al-Qaeda/Taliban Sanctions Committee (the "1267 Committee") took several actions related to the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET). It listed four of its members of the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET) for targeted sanctions, including asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
These individuals are Muhammad Sayeed a.k.a. Hafiz Muhammad Sayeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq. It added a new alias for the group: Jama't-ud-Da'wah (JUD), which is an LET front operation.[2] On 11th December 2008, Pakistan government closed 11 offices of Jama't-ud-Da'wah, the Islamic charity that has been linked to the deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Hafiz Sayeed, the leader of the organization Jama't-ud-Da'wah, was put under house arrest in Lahore while protesting his imprisonment and the imposition of sanctions with a news conference at his Lahore headquarters, hours before he was placed under house arrest. He denied reports that he had met with a Mumbai attacker and said his group had split from Lashkar after Pakistan banned Lashkar following a 2001 attack on India's Parliament.[3]
Already back in August 2006,the JuD leader Hafiz Sayeed was arrested in connection with a series of Lashkar train bombings in India then released and placed under a two-month house arrest. Since then, Sayeed has been active in expanding Jama't-ud-Da'wah's reach across Pakistan by a Da'awa network, providing education and medical treatment at schools and clinics located in 66 cities across the country.
On December 15th 2008,in reaction to the closure and the arrests, Jama't-ud-Da'wah published on its English web site a respond statement, which unsurprisingly employed the humanitarian element and motives as an emotional attempt for requiting emotions and solidarity feelings of the supportive reader.
In past cases, when it was proven over and over again that radical Islamic charities acted as front organization for radical Islamic terror organizations (Saudi based Al Haramain, IIRO, BIF and Hamas affiliated charities), spokesmen reacting on behalf of the radical Islamic charities (that were scrutinized or legal lawful actions are taken against them by governments) have reacted in the same perpetual pattern of wretchedness complaining about government oppressive actions aiming to target the poor unprotected population.
Within the pattern of reactions used by radical Islamic charities, a manipulative sophisticated maneuver is employed by raising claims which hopeful will evoke pangs of conscience and remorse within the international public domain while "pointing a finger" on "conspiracies and oppressive measures" taken by governments and law enforcement agencies whenever actions are taken against them. The prevalent motive in using the emotionality appeal, is by describing acts taken against them as "un human", targeting of the poor the widows and the weak population, when actually the radical Islamic Wahabbi oriented charities themselves were and still are using and abusing the population for their own radical Islamic goals through the Da'wah social-economic network activities. While creating increased dependency and ideological seizure of radicalization on the grass roots' "hearts and minds" within the battle of ideas, the population is mobilized and recruited by the overt arms of the terror organizations by their Da'wah and benevolence activities, building increased commitment and dependency to the terror organization to its ideologically and political violent objectives. Similar projects of radicalization are the strategic goal of all violent local Islamist groups in Jihad active zones such as in the south Philippines, Chechnya, the Maghreb, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Palestine, Egypt, Africa, Kashmir and more. The Lebanese "Al Tawhid" opposition leader, former minister Wiam Wahab, recently accused Saudi Arabia for its responsibility in financing terrorism and for the events occurring in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine.[4]
"Who will suffer from Jama't-ud-Da'wah's closure?"
In the wake of its designation, On 15 December 2008, the JuD published on its English web site a reaction statement to the UN designation under the title "Who will suffer from Jama't-ud-Da'wah's closure?"[5] The statement was emphasizing the JuD humanitarian aspects of its relief work that will be affected by the closure.
The JuD announcement accuses that the designation and closure will effect its humanitarian work noting that "thousands of survivors of the devastating 2005 and 2008 earthquakes, hundreds of whom receive free medical assistance every day in various quake affected areas, thousands of people of flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces, 6,000 poor and deserving people who receive medical treatment and medicines at Jama't-ud-Da'wah's free dispensaries throughout the country because they cannot afford to go to a regular clinic, thousands of patients, who benefit from Jama't-ud-Da'wah's fleet of modern, fully equipped ambulances, 5,000 poor, destitute, and orphan children, for the assistance of whom Jama't-ud-Da'wah spends around 5,000,000 (five million) rupees every month, thousands of unfortunate people who come to Jama't-ud-Da'wah's medical camps and hospitals for surgeries, 5,000 students who receive assistance for their educational fees every month and other kinds of humanitarian assistance".[6]
It should be noted that according to JuD on line publication, donations and contributions for the quake victims were also used by the JuD to build 62 new mosques in which the Wahabbi-Salafi purist doctrine was introduced mainly in regions dominated by the Sufi sect (which according to the Wahabbi doctrine are regarded as polytheists like the Hindus, Buddhists, the Ahmadiyya school, the Qadians, the Dervish and even Shia' Muslims)[7]. According to the publication, this activity was intended to" promote for the first time the Salafi Da'wah in these regions" [8], whereas the humanitarian disaster was exploited and manipulated by JuD as a platform to "set a foot at the doorstep" and increase its influence through relief and Da'wah activities.
The perpetuate pattern used by the Saudi humanitarian aid through local "Zakat" and Islamic organization, was intentionally focused in promoting Wahhabi Islam (through humanitarian aid as a platform) while cynically rejecting and discriminating people in need who belong to other traditional schools of Islam. In an article published in April 1980, and entitled "Duty of Implementing the Resolutions", Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Harakan (the Saudi based Muslim World League general secretary) declared: "Jihad is the key to Muslims' success and felicity, especially when their sacred shrines are under the Zionist occupation in Palestine, when millions of Muslims are suffering suppression [sic], oppression, injustices, torture and even facing death and extermination campaigns in Burma, Philippines, Patani, USSR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cyprus, Afghanistan.
This responsibility becomes even more binding and pressing when we consider the malicious campaigns being waged against Islam and Muslims by Zionism, Communism, Free Masonry, Qadianism, Bahaism, and Christian missionaries."[9] The Muslim World League, also has declared in its 1988 Constituent Council 29th session, declared" Extensive campaigns were also launched by the League against the perverse, deviationist and anti-Islamic movements, trends, cults and groups such as Zionism, Communism, Qadianism, Bahaism and also against the vicious programmes of the Christians missionaries".[10]
The sharp-sighted reader could have noticed that on the very same home page of the Jama't-ud-Da'wah web site, within the featured "Da'wah section", a posture of the " The Ideological Attack" book was presented. This famous book consists the teachings and Fatwas of the late Saudi Grand Mufti and the prominent Wahabbi scholar, Sheikh Abd Al Aziz Bin Baz. (Ready to be down loaded or heard in an audio format). Ironically and unsurprising, the very same radical Islamic charity which advocates for humanitarian work, simultaneously promotes within the rage of its activities the most radical Islamic ideology of the Wahabbi school of thought, the same ideology that was, and still is, the bedrock of the radical political Islam with its devastating violent manifestations executed by Al Qaeda and its affiliated global Jihad groups as recently demonstrated in the Mumbai attack.
Sheikh Bin Baz teachings and Islamic jurisprudence are to be found in many Islamic centers, mosques around the world, they are posted on hundreds of radical Islamic entities and radical Islamic terror organizations web sites, his teaching and books are available and have been part of the radical Islamic indoctrination curriculum in Jihadi training camps.[11] According to the Center for Religious Freedom, a US based research institute, "his Fatwas, which carry considerable weight, have been also circulated through official Saudi diplomatic channels to mosques and schools throughout the world, including some in the United States, and have been particularly influential in radicalizing Muslim youth at home and abroad. Similarly".[12] Similar to other radical Islamic groups, Bin Baz's publications are highly regarded also by Jama't-ud-Da'wah as one of the most authoritative sources in the Muslim world actually perceived as a manifestation of the Saudi Islamic Wahabbi-Salafi ideology. Bin Baz radically dichotomous mode of thinking, coupled with his persistent demonizing of non-Muslims and tolerant Muslims, runs through his Fatwas' publications. The Saudi doctrinal sources of Jihadi-Salafism which was led by the prominent Sheikh Bin Baz and a large class of his disciples, created among other issues, the "Movement of Awakening" (Harakat al-Sahwah), led by the two Sheikhs Salman al-Awdah and Safar al-Hawali which contributed as well to the globalization of the Saudi Whahabbi Da'awah.
The Ideological Radicalization
The past two decades has seen a steady radicalization of Muslim separatist movements within the Kashmiri conflict. What began in as a nationalist struggle against Indian rule evolved under the influence of Arab Jihadists into a struggle to establish an Islamic state throughout the "Muslim lands" in the subcontinent. The Kashmir arena provided a fertile ground for an increasing influx of Muslims volunteers (particularly Arabs) who professed radical Salafi-Jihadist ideology, most of whom had trained in the Afghan terrorist camps of Osama bin Laden and others who formed the emerging Al-Qaeda network.
The foreign Jihadists regarded the war of Kashmir not as a national liberation movement but as a part of the global pan-Islamic struggle - a gateway for instigating revolution throughout the Kashmiri Jihad front and beyond. Already back in 2002,according to Al Qaeda affiliated publication, posted on November 2002,among other issues it was mentioned, "the human strategic depth of Islam is to be found in the Eastern Muslims [Southeast Asia]. The population census of the Muslim world [indicates that their number] is a billion and three hundred million (among whom are three hundred million Arabs. Therefore, the [strategic] human depth of the Muslims is in our brothers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and the nation must take them into account. [meaning] that we must translate our "Jihad" culture for them."[13]
Jama't-ud-Da'wah as a radical Sunni-Wahabbi oriented Islamic organization, led by Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, the Emir of the Jama't-ud-Da'wah JUD), which is the "political" wing and the overt front organization of the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET), influenced by the Whahabbi-Salafi Pan-Islamic doctrine, committed to spread its ideology advocating armed Jihad, as well as virulent rhetoric condemning the United States, India, Israel, and other perceived enemies. Its ideology is highly inspired and influenced by the above mentioned Wahabbi-Salafi school of thought, the actual brand of purist Islam practiced and promoted by Saudi Arabia through its worldwide network of charities as a tool in promoting the Saudi-Wahabbi political and religious influence in the Sunni Muslim world.
According to Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., who was an adviser to the late Benazir Bhutto, also reports the Saudi funding of this terror-under-cover-of-religion operation. In 2005, Haqqani wrote a paper for the Hudson Institute [14] in which Haqqani wrote as follows: "The most significant Jihadi group of Wahabbi persuasion is Lashkar-e-Taiba (The Army of the Pure) founded in 1989 by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Backed by Saudi money and protected by Pakistani intelligence services, Lashkar-e-Taiba became the military wing of Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (Center for the Call to Righteousness)"[15]. According to Haqqani, "Saeed created a large campus and training facility at Muridke, outside the Pakistani metropolis of Lahore. After the U.S. froze Lashkar-e-Taiba's assets and called for it to be banned, Saeed changed his organization's name in Pakistan to Jamaat-ul-Dawa (the Society for Preaching).... Under U.S. pressure, [then-President] General Musharraf placed Jamaat-ul-Dawa on a watch list in November 2003."[16]
Saudi Arabia created a network of charities, preachers and teachers who have enormous financial resources, which they utilized in order to advance and disseminate their version of Islam. Their standing, as the keepers of the Holy places and their oil income, gave the Wahhabis an influential capability on a worldwide scale. The local communal Islamic organizations, care for public life, education, knowledge, and rituals, (where public education is slack) were controlled and financed by the Wahhabis.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa-the Saudi Wahabbi Ideology contribution
Ideas are one of the most important exports of Saudi Arabia in its quest for Islamic dominance as it regards itself as the "spearhead of the Muslim world" as the "Guardian of the two Holy Places" committed to take care of Muslim communities and minorities around the world. Saudi Arabia had a network of preachers and teachers who have enormous financial resources, which they utilized in order to, advance and disseminate their version of Islam around the world.[17]
Saudi finance to radical Islamic institutions, among them Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has heavily influenced the contents of the vast amount of literature that they produce and distribute. Many of them produce low-priced books, and, now, audiotapes, videocassettes and compact discs, and some even operate their own web sites. Local scholars were influenced by the vision and understanding of Islam is indelibly shaped by their own experiences in Saudi Arabia.
They see the Saudi Wahhabi version of Islam as normative and other forms of Islam as deviant. A principle purpose of these publications is to attack the west and rival Muslim, including Sunni, groups, and to sternly condemn them as 疎berrant' on account of differences in their methods of performing rituals and their rules governing a range of issues related to normative personal and collective behavior. Another interesting feature of the literature that is directly linked to the close association with the Saudi Wahabbis is a fierce hostility to local beliefs and practices.
Identifying themselves with the Saudi Wahhabi Ulama, enabled Jam'at-ud-Da'wah to present themselves as faithful allies of the Saudis, which in turn helps earn them recognition as well as monetary assistance from Saudi sponsors. In addition, such publications also serve the purpose of presenting the Saudi Wahhabi version of Islam as normative, and in putting forward the claim of the Saudi regime to being the only one in the world sincerely and seriously committed to 組enuine' Islam.
Despite the attempt of the Saudi government to blur the direct aid to Jihad groups, from time to time there are reports in the inter-Arab and the international press that indicate that the Saudi Based charities transfer funds for Jihad causes in Kashmir, Saudi leaders meet with the leaders of the Jihad groups in the country, and they support the Jihad activity of the Muslims in Kashmir including training Jihad fighters.
The Saudi activities in this field does not happen in a vacuum, rather as an integral part of the Saudi policy of exporting Wahabbism outside the borders of Saudi-Arabia while utilizing penetration routes into the Islamic communities that are in distress, especially conflict regions or disaster-stricken regions. In the Kashmir context, it should be noted that the Saudi policy with regard to the Jihad arenas is identical. That is, the Saudis see the Jihad arena in Kashmir equal to the other Jihad arenas, such as: Chechnya, Bosnia, the Philippines and Palestine.
The Late Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Bin Baz - "The Ideological attack"
Cynically and ironically, while advocating compassion in the name of the deprived population that JuD is so concerned about, the very same population has been exposed for years to the intense radical Islamic Saudi Wahabbi Da'awa indoctrination led by Jama't-ud-Da'wah through the radicalization process as demonstrated within the example of Bin Baz "Ideological Attack" book. Bin Baz's writings were published around the world and some of them were translated into several languages, both printed copies and digitally. Their translation and distribution were an integral part of the Saudi system for spreading radical Wahabbi Islam around the world. The means for distribution included Saudi worldwide operating charities, the Internet, video and audiotapes and books. Following his death in 1999, the Bin Baz Institute was founded and it commemorates and spreads his teachings.[18]
The concept of Jihad plays an important role in Bin Baz's scholarship. He dealt with defining Jihad, the types of Jihad and in what circumstances Jihad should be used. Bin Baz dedicated a special emphasis on Jihad against the infidels. Bin Baz perceived Jihad as a continuation of the Da'awa efforts. According to Bin Baz, Islam spread through the Da'awa and was supported by the sword. In places where Da'awa efforts to spread Islam fail, then the sword should be used. In Bin Baz's opinion, the greatest Jihad is with one's life, after that with money and after that Jihad with Da'awa and guidance. According to Bin Baz, Da'awa is also a type of Jihad.[19]
When Bin Baz was asked: "is protection of the country, land and honor considered Jihad?" Bin Baz issued a religious edict that protection of Muslim territory, family, honor, religion and standing at the fighting front is considered a form of Jihad and will reward the Muslim with the title of "Shahid"(Martyr) and entrance to paradise. Bin Baz stressed to the fighters in the front that they must fear Allah, purify their intentions, pray with the group five times a day, mention Allah's name often, strive for unity and be patient in order to receive tranquility and beware of disobedience to Allah. For this, he quotes verses 45-46 in the "grants from the spoils chapter" in the Qur'an.[20]
Being that the defense of the Islamic country, land and honor is a supreme value in Islam, Bin Baz issued an edict, as did others before him, that if the youth was commanded by the Muslim ruler to go on Jihad, then the Muslim youth, who very much wants to go and fight in the holy war (Jihad), should obey the ruler and not his mother if she refuses (it should be noted that obedience to one's parents is a very important value in Islam).[21]
In his book "The Ideological Attack", (published in 1998 and a short time before his death) Bin Baz again expresses his views in a very hostile manner towards the Jews and the Christians. He contended that the Muslim world was exposed to a barbaric attack on the part of the Christians, the Jews, the Communists, the atheists, the secularists and others. With regard to the Christians, Bin Baz stated that: "The Christian crusaders' attack today is most violent.... Muslims whose brains have not been corrupted, cannot tolerate the fact that the heretics are coercing...therefore, such a Muslim tries with all his might to banish them - even if he has to sacrifice his life." With regard to the Jews, Bin Baz said: "The Jews' plot after taking over the Muslims' lands is to take over other lands. They have realized some of their plans and are continuing to try and materialize the rest".[22]
Sheikh Bin Baz defines the "Ideological Attack" as "a set of efforts, undertaken by a particular nation, in order to conquer or influence another nation, such that [the attack nation] is steered in a particular course of direction because of it". Bin Baz claims that Muslims are under an "ideological attack" from three main sources: 1. The attack of the Christian crusaders 2. The Zionist attack and 3. The communist and atheistic attack. Of the three, Bin Baz points to the Christian attack as the most threatening to Islam. He explains that an "ideological attack" is more severe than military warfare because the attacked is unprepared to counter it.
The attack comes in the form of school curriculums, general education, media, etc. Bin Baz lays the authority in the hands of the leaders of the Muslims, both religious and political, to explain to their population "what they have fallen into" and to lead the counter-attack measures. Bin Baz determines that a crucial factor in halting the attack is to guide the society to truly comprehend the realities of Islam, which can by achieved by correct Islamic guidance in the home and in educational institutions, in addition to the call for Da'wah.
On the official Bin Baz Arabic website [23], a warning was posted against travel to countries of "heretics". An example is given, stating that travel agencies advertise study abroad summer programs in Europe and America where young Muslim students are exposed to a "heretic" host family, music, dancing and entertainment sites, all which may have severe influence on the traveler. The article discloses the effects these types of activities may have: provocation to stray from the righteous path, moral corruption, doubting of faith, admiration for the "heretic" culture, adoption of "heretic" culture, and finally, the recruitment of young Muslims to serve as preachers in their home countries. The warning calls for parents to deny their children's' request to travel abroad.
Even though Bin Baz attributes importance to all types of Jihad, he especially emphasized the Jihad against the infidels, both in Jihad with one's life and with money. In a manuscript published by the Saudi National Guard in 1973 titled "the Jews stance towards Islam and the merit of Jihad and Mujaheedin", Bin Baz claimed that Jihad for Allah (in the fighting sense) is considered the most preferable amongst good deeds and commandments. According to Bin Baz, Jihad is divided into two: offensive and defensive Jihad. Its goals are to bring victory to Muslims, uplift Islam, subdue the hypocritical heretics, calling on people to return to Islam, facilitate the spread of Da'wah, raising the horn of Allah etc'. Bin Baz brought examples from the Qur'an and the Hadith for the merits of Jihad for Allah through funds and sacrificing one's life.
It should be noted that in the 80's and 90's the Saudis adopted the religious - ideological concept of "Jihad with Money"(al Jihad bil- Mal)[24], which enabled the support and spread of Da'wah and the Jihad concepts around the world.[25] Bin Baz called on all Muslims, especially Arabs, to help their brethren being attacked as much as they could, with money and with life.[26] Bin Baz also sanctioned, "Faith and Jihad are the ones that will free the Muslim from the tormenting of Allah" and stressed that Jihad through money is the broadest, since through money one can recruit manpower, purchase arms, propagandists, and cloths for the fighters, food and tents.[27]
In his article, "Cultural Attack: A Complementary Interpretation of Usama bin Ladin"[28] Uriya Shavit, explains the process through which the Saudi Ulama identified a phenomenon which they labeled as the "cultural attack" or "intellectual attack" by the West, whose intention was to weaken the Muslim faith and eventually conquer Muslim land, until all Muslims were subordinated with Western culture and values. In order to counter this attack the Ulama (Saudi Islamic scholars/clerics), conceived of a two-pronged strategy: The first is to eliminate Saudi Arabia of any Western influences by Islamization of all aspects of Saudi life. The second is to launch a counter-attack in the Western world.
The Muslim World League published a book entitled "The Means of Combating the Intellectual Attack on the Muslim World", to deal with the issues outlined by the Ulama. The Ulama saw the Saudi Kingdom as a potential leader of the struggle against the Western attack, and the Kingdom did not oppose this concept. The Saudi discourse of the "cultural attack" emphasized the need to shift the struggle into the international arena, launch a multidimensional counter attack and harm the West in the same way that the West harms the Muslim world. The practical implementation of this ideology was noticed also in the sub continent when local radical Islamic groups and organizations were mobilized towards this effort.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the largest charity in Pakistan is now being linked to the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, especially that the charity is considered the political wing of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.What is important is that we are facing fresh reminder of the old accusations of the exploitation of charitable work in the support and financing of terrorism, a fact that was well known for years and nothing was done to realize and take actions against the financing and the ideological exploitation carried out for more than two decades.
The Mumbai attack was another waking call demonstrating how charitable and Da'wah work is being used in promoting radical Islamic ideological and its political agenda around the Muslim world and within Muslim communities around disputed regions such as in Iraq acts as a mask for Iranian influence, Hezbollah in Lebanon acts in promoting Iran's influence, and how Hamas used charities in promoting terrorism and suicide attacks.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa as the front parent organization of Lashkar-e-Taiyyba was and still is since the beginning of the 90's a part of the evolving global Jihad phenomenon although it focused in operating within the local Kashmir dispute. Their global approach was largely enhanced by the Saudi Wahabbi-Salafi ideology which was embraced by its prominent Jihadi leaders in promoting its global outreach as an Islamic local entity bonded within the framework of the general world wide Islamic solidarity of the "Ummah"(the Islamic Nation) concept.
The increasing use of technology, especially the use of the Internet, by Islamic extremist groups including the JuD, has led to a new phenomenon known as "Glocal" issues, whereas global issues are now becoming local issues.[29] Osama bin Laden could not have his current, and increasing, level of success, if Muslims did not believe their faith, brethren, resources and lands, to be under attack by the United States and, more generally, the West. The Internet has helped to spread Al-Qaeda's global Jihad concepts to reach Muslim communities around the world with this very message.[30]
The concrete violent confrontation with the Christians and the Jews, as manifested in the Mumbai attack, was carried out and materialized as a tool to counter the Western ideological attack conspiracy. The attack should be perceived within the larger context as a direct manifestation and translation into action items of Bin Baz's and other purist Islamic scholars influenced by the Wahabbi-Salafi ideology that played as a major contributing factor to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar's global Jihad state of mind as a motivational and spiritual "engine".
Therefore, killing Americans, British and Jews should not come as a surprise to anyone, whereas Lashkar, which once focused on the local India-Pakistan fight over Kashmir - hit a "new threshold" [31] of terror. Study of the Mumbai attack reveals the critical role played by the JuD as the overt front of Lashkar-e-Taiyyba and its connections to the Da'wah social-welfare infrastructure of clinics, schools, mosques and charities in recruiting and pushing young local Kashmir Muslims to the point of committing acts of terrorism.
Jama't-ud-Da'wah statement following its' designation
http://www.jamatdawah.org/ accessed on 18 December 2008 Jama't-ud-Da蜘ah English web site
The Saudi Wahabbi Ideology Influence ・"The Ideological Attack"
http://www.jamatdawah.org/ accessed on 18 December 2008
Quotations from the 的deological Attack・/strong>
http://www.jamatdawah.org/
(Note: English misspellings appear in the original, copied as is).
"From those treatises and verdicts are:
A Critique of [Arab] Nationalism (1/284)
The Importance of Knowledge in Combating Destructive Ideologies Such as Atheism, Capitalism and Freemasonry (4/59)
Concerning the Need to Form a United Front By the Various Islaamic Groups In Sudan Against the Secularists (4/166)
The Obligation of Jihad in Afghanistan (5/I58)
Concerning the Baabaree Mosque of India and Respecting Muslim Sentiments (7/349)
Concerning Muslim Minorities in Europe and America and the Need to Support Them (2/370)
Causes For the Weakness of the Muslims In Front of their Enemies and the Means To Cure This (5/101)
A General Call to All Governments and Organizations to Aid the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina With Manpower, Wealth, Weapons and Supplications (7/356)
Concerning the Merits of Jihaad and That It is Not Only Defensive (3/171)
A Letter to the Afghaan Mujaahidoon and the Efforts of the Enemies of Allaah in Seeking To Split Their Ranks (7/348)
The Ideological Attack by the Christians, Zionists and Communists and the Methods Employed By Them (3/438)."
"Question: The enemies of Allaah are very eager to enter into the Muslim lands by various methods. So what efforts do you believe should be exerted in order to put a stop to this surge that has threatened the Islaamic societies?"
"Answer: This is not something strange coming from the callers to Christianity, Judaism, or the other religions of unbelief. Since Allaah, the Most Perfect and to Whom belongs all praise, informed us about this in His clear Revelation when He said:" Never will the Jews and the Christians be pleased with you until you follow their ways of life. Say: Indeed the
Guidance of Allaah that is the only Guidance. And if you were to follow their false desires after what you have received of the knowledge of Revelation, then you would have neither a guardian, nor any helper against Allaah."
Allaah, the Most Perfect, also said: "And they will never stop fighting you, until they turn you away from your Religion, if they can."
"0 you who Believe! Enter into Islaam completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Shaytaan, because he is to you a clear enemy."
"Question: Are the Arabs generally subjected to this type of warfare, in particular the kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Answer: Yes, the Muslims in general, including the Arabs, the kingdom, and other than them, are all subject to a great ideological attack from the various nations of unbelief (Kufr); from both the east and the west. The severest and most serious of these [ideological] attacks are: - The attack of the Christian crusaders the Zionist attack, the communist and atheistic attack."
"After numerous case studies and assemblies they arrived at [something] that was far more dangerous and destructive than military warfare; which was that the Christian nations, both individually and collectively, should launch an ideological attack on those Muslims who were just beginning to grow and develop. This is because conquering the hearts and thoughts of a people is far more permanent than conquering their lands! The Muslim whose mind has not been corrupted cannot bear to see the unbelievers wielding authority, and ordering and prohibiting in his own country. Therefore such a Muslim strives his utmost to expel and distance them - even if he has to sacrifice his own life, or his most cherished possession for this cause; and this is what happened after the major conquest of the crusaders."
"As for the Muslim who is exposed to this filthy attack, he becomes ill in thought and desensitized to this disease; he may not even see any danger with the presence of Christians in the lands of the Muslims. Indeed, he may even think that their presence is a source of goodness, which aids and advances civilization."
"So the Christians have sufficed themselves with this ideological attack, as opposed to the military one, because it is more effective and more permanent...they resort to this in situations where speed is sought; such as what happened in Uganda and Pakistan. Or when there is a need to stabilize the advancement, or establish centers, or to establish bases, which engage in destructive ideological warfare; such as what happened in Egypt, Syria, Iraaq, and other countries, before their expulsion".
"Also what Allaah, the Most High, mentions in His statements:" Never will the Jews and the Christians be pleased with you until you follow their way of life."
"The Zionist war is just the same. The Jews strive their utmost to corrupt the beliefs, morals and manners of the Muslims. The Jews scheme and crave after possessing the Muslim lands, as well as the lands of others. They have fulfilled some of their plans and continue striving hard to implement the rest of them. Even though they do engage the Muslims in warfare involving strength and arms and have occupied some of their lands, they also fight them by spreading destructive thoughts, beliefs and ideologies; such as Freemasonry, Qadiaanisim, Bahaaism, Teejaanism and others - seeking the support of the Christians and others, in order to fulfill their objectives."
"The peace between the Muslim leaders of Palestine and the Jews does not mean that the Jews will permanently possess the lands that they possess now. Rather, it only means that they will be in possession of them for a period of time, until either the truce expires, or until the Muslims become strong enough to force them out of the Muslim lands -in the case of an unrestricted peace. Likewise, when we have the ability, it is obligatory to fight the Jews until they enter into Islaam, or until they give the Jizyah (a tax levied from those non-Muslims who are permitted to live under the protection of the Muslim state) in servility..."
-------------------------------------
Founded in 1996, the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) is the leading academic institute for counter-terrorism in the world, facilitating international cooperation in the global struggle against terrorism. ICT is an independent think tank providing expertise in terrorism, counter-terrorism, homeland security, threat vulnerability and risk assessment, intelligence analysis and national security and defense policy.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Pakistan - Jama't-ud-Da'wah, The Saudi Wahabbi Influence
Stand up and be counted on Burma -BDD
http://burmadd.blogspot.com/2008/12/stand-up-and-be-counted-on-burma.html
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Opinion:
'We shall have no [personal] business deals with the [Burmese] junta; we shall observe human rights and environmental concerns'
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling on the Burmese military leadership to free all political prisoners, including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The UN's chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ then went on to criticise the human rights record of the regime, singling out incidents of torture and sexual abuse and the crackdown on peaceful protesters in September 2007. The resolution also decries the failure of the regime to include other political parties, in particular the National League for Democracy of Suu Kyi, and representatives of ethnic political groups in the planned general election.
The measure was approved by a margin of 80 votes to 25, with 45 abstentions, one of which was registered by Thailand. The abstention, which comes in the first days of the Abhisit government which many had hoped would play a leading role in the areas of human rights and democracy in the region, was a perfect example of the fence-straddling on Burma by successive governments such as those led by the Thai Rak Thai and People Power parties, and including the interim government installed by the September 2006 coup leaders.
In abstaining, Thailand may have been adhering to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of fellow member states. After all Thailand was joined by fellow Asean members Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore in abstaining, while Brunei, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam voted against the resolution. The Cambodian representative was not present.
New Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cannot really be expected to make a major policy shift on Burma or on any of a number of other important areas in these very early days of his government, but it could be hoped he would quickly push on with the new direction he has indicated he will pursue in Thai-Burmese relations.
In an interview with the Al Jazeera news network, Mr Abhisit said he would try to convince Asean nations of the importance of human rights to the international community. He said that unless the organisation's efforts to enshrine human rights are credible in the eyes of the international community, Asean will not be able to achieve its objectives. He added that the ''West and Asean have a common objective. We want to bring good change in Myanmar
[Burma].''
The last Democrat prime minister, Chuan Leekpai, who is sometimes referred to as Mr Abhisit's mentor, is well known for having taken a principled stand on Burma. In a break with tradition, he refused to make any state visits to that country during his second term as PM from late 1997 to early 2001. Also his foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan, now secretary-general of Asean, proposed in July 1999 that Asean become more open to discussion of human rights issues in member states and in particular take a more proactive stand on Burma.
If Mr Abhisit can be taken at his word that he is truly committed to moving Burma to a position where it is willing to open up and make concessions, he has little choice but to work within Asean, at least at this time. And if Asean is to become a credible force for human rights it will have to take positive steps in that direction rather quickly.
On the other hand, there are some important things Thailand can do on its own to push the Burmese leadership towards democracy and human rights, and as well to improve the lot of the two million Burmese migrants in Thailand.
New Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at an academic conference on Dec 19, said Thailand would now run an ethical foreign policy, in contrast to that of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his hand-picked successors. ''From now on, there will be no personal business dealings on the side,'' Mr Kasit said. ''This government will not mix business and politics. We shall have no [personal] business deals with the [Burmese] junta; we shall observe human rights and environmental concerns; we shall treat Burmese as we do Thais.''
Of course, living up to these pledges is much easier said than done in the face of the vested interests and entrenched attitudes that have shaped dealings with Thailand and Burma over the years. But they do provide at least some hope that the past errors of our ways will be corrected.
Source: Bangkok Post
Posted by BURMA DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT at 12/28/2008 06:32:00 PM
Links to this post
Computer glitch disrupts Japan's bullet trains
TOKYO (AFP) – Services on dozens of Japan's bullet trains were disrupted Monday due to a computer glitch, delaying more than 65,000 passengers during the busy New Year's season, the operator said.
East Japan Railway Co. halted five lines of the bullet train in northeastern Japan for three hours before restarting them, a company spokesman said.
"We had a problem with our operating system and an investigation is under way," the spokesman said.
A total of 79 services were cancelled and 37 others were delayed, affecting 65,400 passengers in the morning.
The trouble came a day after heavy snow and strong winds separately forced the company to suspend 35 bullet train services, also in eastern and northern Japan, affecting more than 30,000 passengers.
New Year's Day is the most important holiday for many Japanese, who pack trains and planes as they travel across the country to spend time with loved ones.
The bullet train -- or Shinkansen -- was introduced as the world's fastest rail service in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, showcasing Japan's technological prowess as it rebuilt from World War II.
U.N. Mulls Reengaging Burma With More Aid
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/27/AR2008122701128.html
Diplomacy Unable to Yield Political Reforms
By Colum Lynch and Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 28, 2008; A16
UNITED NATIONS -- International sanctions and Laura Bush's personal intervention did not make Burma's generals ease their political oppression. Neither did quiet diplomacy, nor the devastation of a cyclone.
So the United Nations is attempting a new approach: It is trying to entice the generals with fresh promises of development money.
According to senior U.N. officials, special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has proposed that nations offer Burma financial incentives to free more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and to open the country to democratic change.
In the months ahead, the U.N. leadership will press the Obama administration to relax U.S. policy on Burma and to open the door to a return of international financial institutions, including the World Bank. The bank left in 1987 because Burma, which is officially known as Myanmar, did not implement economic and political reforms.
"It cannot be business as usual. We need new thinking on how to engage with Myanmar in a way that will bring tangible results," Gambari said in an interview, adding that the United Nations cannot rely simply on "the power of persuasion with too little in the [diplomatic] toolbox."
But critics characterize the strategy as a desperate attempt to salvage a diplomatic process that has so deteriorated that Suu Kyi and Senior Gen. Than Shwe, Burma's military ruler, declined to meet with Gambari during his last trip there, in August. Gambari, critics say, is simply grasping to show progress in moving a regime that has no intention of embracing democratic reform.
The United States and Britain have resisted financial perks, arguing that Burma should not be rewarded for bad behavior. They are not "under any illusions that sanctions would solve Burma's problems," said Jared Genser, Suu Kyi's Washington-based attorney and president of the advocacy group Freedom Now. But "if you flood them with development assistance, it will only go to the junta's favored few," Genser said.
Gambari outlined his strategy in a confidential paper he presented last month to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In it, according to senior U.N. officials who have seen the document, Gambari endorses building on the relations Burma established with the outside world after Cyclone Nargis struck the country in May. He also calls for an increase in development assistance to Burma and proposes that wealthy countries expand the nation's access to foreign investment, the officials added.
One key initiative involves the establishment of an Economic and Social Forum to serve as a vehicle for channeling money and coordinating international development efforts. To prevent Burma from steering assistance to its supporters in the government, the United Nations has begun discussing with Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway how to ensure that money would go to the neediest Burmese.
Gambari and other top U.N. officials are also urging countries with influence over Burma, especially China and India, to lean on the government to release political prisoners and to provide a political opening for the opposition in upcoming elections. "What we need is for the U.S. and the U.K. to be softer and for the Chinese and the Indians to be harder," one senior U.N. official said.
Gambari reportedly hopes to detail the United Nations' latest thinking to Burmese leaders early next year, but only if the country's ruling general agrees to meet with him. If Gambari's strategy receives a positive response, Ban, the first U.N. chief to visit Burma in more than 40 years, would make his second trip to the country.
Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962, when Gen. Ne Win expelled foreigners and broke with the outside world in pursuit of "Burmese socialism." Pro-democracy demonstrations 20 years ago offered the promise of a new government elected by the people, but the generals put Suu Kyi under house arrest in July 1989 and ignored national elections in 1990 that her party, the National League for Democracy, won in a landslide.
Burma has one of the world's worst living standards, despite holding sizable oil and natural gas reserves and the world's largest deposits of precious gems. Nargis, which killed more than 100,000 people and left 2.4 million homeless, only added to the challenges.
The Burmese leadership has recently consolidated its power in advance of national elections in 2010. As Burma buckled from Nargis's blow, the military pushed through a referendum on a new constitution that would effectively exclude the National League for Democracy from the election.
The Bush administration's position is that it makes no sense to engage with the Burmese government until the generals signal that they are interested in reconciling with the opposition. That could include, for instance, releasing Suu Kyi from house arrest or freeing other political prisoners.
"We have not been against dialogue, but we have felt that dialogue needed to be preconditioned," said Dennis Wilder, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council. "We just feel that it's egregious that for two decades Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest. We find it very hard to perceive a direct dialogue with the Burmese under those circumstances."
In recent years, the administration has tried to ratchet up pressure on Burma through sanctions aimed at restricting the income of the military rulers and their associates. In the summer, Congress banned the import of Burmese jade, a key source of income for Burma's government.
At the same time, the United States stepped up humanitarian efforts in the wake of Nargis, sending about $75 million in aid both inside the country and to refugee camps on the border with Thailand.
All these efforts appear to have made little headway with the generals, who have increased arrests of dissidents in recent months, according to U.S. officials and human rights advocates. Bush administration officials suspect that Burmese authorities are stalling in the hopes that they might be able to work with the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has repeatedly made clear his interest in opening dialogues with countries scorned by Bush.
But Burma is far from a priority for the incoming administration, and it is not certain that new officials would change course.
Obama, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton co-sponsored the jade bill, and few expect that they will move to relax sanctions soon after taking office.
The Obama transition team declined last week to comment on the Gambari strategy or a new thrust in U.S.-Burma relations.
Some international diplomats note that the United Nations' push to bring about political change in Burma has been undercut by the inability of influential governments, principally the United States and China, to agree on a strategy.
"One of the main problems is that we are split and the junta can play us against one another," said Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former Norwegian prime minister.
"China and India today have huge investments in Burma, with no preconditions as far as I know on delivering democracy," Bondevik said.
Some U.N. delegates remain skeptical that Gambari would be able to deliver on promises of increased assistance. "I don't think any country now is in a position to offer financial incentives to Myanmar, in view of the financial crisis," said a senior diplomat from a neighboring country.
Post a Comment
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Report item as: (required) X Obscenity/vulgarity Hate speech Personal attack Advertising/Spam Copyright/Plagiarism Other Comment: (optional)
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
Ads by Google
Taiwan Government Site
Official Government Site in English Info On Business, Trade & Policies.
english.www.gov.tw
MBA Public Governance
Study at MODUL University Vienna 2-Year Executive Degree in Austria
www.modul.ac.at/pgm/mba
The $700 Billion Blunder
Why the Senate’s Bailout Bill Will Fail Our Fragile Economy.
MoneyMorning.com/bailout
Turning Racism into International Law: The UN’s Durban II Conference
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/Turning_Racism_into_International_Law__The_UNs_Durban_II_Conference_122808.html
By Michelle Bernard, Examiner Contributor
- 12/28/08
One thing the United Nations well is hold conferences. Another is generate paper. The result usually is just a waste of time and money.
But with the Durban Review Conference planned for 2009, the UN will be more than wasteful, it will promote anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. The U.S. should boycott the proceedings.
The United Nations long has targeted Israel. There are legitimate criticisms of Israel, but human rights abuses there pale compared to violations elsewhere in the world.
Consider China’s pre-Olympics crackdown. Recall the military junta that misgoverns Burma and brutally suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations a year ago.
Observe the horror of Zimbabwe, where a vicious and incompetent government has wrecked the economy and cannot stop a spreading cholera epidemic. Worst of all may be North Korea, a national gulag in which starvation is the norm.
Of these cases, the UN thinks Israel is the most serious. In fact, more serious than all of the others combined, at least in terms of the number of resolutions passed.
For years the so-called Human Rights Commission made a mockery of its name. Two years ago the Commission was turned into the Human Rights Council. The latter is no different, dominated by leading human rights abusers who divert attention from themselves by attacking Israel.
Most famously, the United Nations passed a resolution years ago equating Zionism with racism. Although the UN General Assembly eventually repealed the measure, the organization has promoted the same idea in other ways.
One was the 2001 Durban conference, formally known as the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
Naturally, Israel was targeted. Reparations for slavery were demanded—though from the West, not Arab states. The U.S. was even attacked for refusing to adopt UN treaties, no matter how extreme, without reservations to protect Americans.
Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation reports: “the 2001 Durban conference degenerated into a noxious series of speeches and statements dominated by anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism.”
Washington’s delegation finally walked out in frustration. Seven years have passed and the UN is planning the “Durban Review Conference” to, naturally, evaluate the results of the first event. The objective, explains the UN, is “the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.”
Obviously, no fair-minded person could be in favor of any of those, but the United Nations channels George Orwell when it defines its terms. The so-called Preparatory Committee—established by the new Human Rights Council—is headed by the same Libyan ambassador who earlier chaired the Human Rights Commission. Libya, of course, is a dictatorship which spent years promoting terrorism against Israel and the U.S. and attempting to develop nuclear weapons.
The Committee’s vice chairs include Cuba, home of the Western Hemisphere’s oldest dictatorship; Iran, which has threatened to wipe Israel off of the map; Pakistan, where religious minorities are widely persecuted; and Russia, which is rediscovering its authoritarian past. Little good is likely to emerge from the cooperation of these nations.
So what is the UN’s agenda for Durban II? Reports Claudia Rosett of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies:
“In a series of preparatory meetings over the past 16 months, the organizers have already taken aim at Israel as their prime target. Increasingly, the organizers are also priming the conference for a broader attack on other democratic nations, especially the U.S. Some are pushing for a UN-backed gag order that would enlist Islamic anti-blasphemy laws to stifle free speech worldwide.”
Washington has been voting against Durban II preparations and funding, and refusing to participate in the organizing activities. But the UN doesn’t care: American taxpayers still are footing 22 percent of the tab. And if the U.S. attends, it will give the conference credibility.
America’s departure from Durban I came too late to limit the damage. Washington shouldn’t make the same mistake at Durban II.
Argues Heritage’s Schaefer, “the best approach would be for the U.S. to come out, as Canada has done, and simply say that it will not participate in Durban II. It makes little sense for the U.S. to consider going when the expressed purpose of Durban II is to review the implementation of the Durban Declaration, which the U.S. walked away from in 2001.”
This latest UN farce illustrates a larger problem: What was once referred to as the last, great hope of mankind is an enormous disappointment, most known for pervasive incompetence and corruption.
Unfortunately, the UN’s performance never has met popular expectations. Without the support of the U.S. and a handful of other Western nations, the UN can accomplish nothing. Yet the organization spends much of its energy demonizing these very same countries.
As UN ambassador, John Bolton fought valiantly, but futilely, to reform the UN. If the UN is to play a positive role in coming years, it must be transformed. A good starting point would be a U.S.-orchestrated boycott of the upcoming Durban II conference, which threatens to become a forum promoting global intolerance. President-elect Obama has promised change. He needs to apply the same principle to the United Nations.
Michelle D. Bernard is president and CEO of the Independent Women’s Forum and Independent Women’s Voice and is an MSNBC Political Analyst.
Myanmar might get more aid
http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/1,5620,705273510,00.html?printView=true
By Colum Lynch and Michael Abramowitz
The Washington Post
Published: December 28, 2008
UNITED NATIONS — International sanctions and Laura Bush's personal intervention did not make Myanmar's generals ease their political oppression. Neither did quiet diplomacy, nor the devastation of a cyclone.
So the United Nations is attempting a new approach: It is trying to entice the generals with fresh promises of development money.
According to senior U.N. officials, special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has proposed that nations offer Myanmar financial incentives to free more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and to open the country to democratic change.
In the months ahead, the U.N. leadership will press the Obama administration to relax U.S. policy on Myanmar and to open the door to a return of international financial institutions, including the World Bank. The bank left in 1987 because Myanmar, also known as Burma, did not implement economic and political reforms.
"It cannot be business as usual. We need new thinking on how to engage with Myanmar in a way that will bring tangible results," Gambari said in an interview, adding that the United Nations cannot rely simply on "the power of persuasion with too little in the (diplomatic) toolbox."
But critics characterize the strategy as a desperate attempt to salvage a diplomatic process that has so deteriorated that Suu Kyi and Senior Gen. Than Shwe, Myanmar's military ruler, declined to meet with Gambari during his last trip there, in August. Gambari, critics say, is simply grasping to show progress in moving a regime that has no intention of embracing democratic reform.
The United States and Britain have resisted financial perks, arguing that Myanmar should not be rewarded for bad behavior. They are not "under any illusions that sanctions would solve Myanmar's problems," said Jared Genser, Suu Kyi's Washington-based attorney and president of the advocacy group Freedom Now. But "if you flood them with development assistance, it will only go to the junta's favored few," Genser said.
Gambari outlined his strategy in a confidential paper he presented last month to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In it, according to senior U.N. officials who have seen the document, Gambari endorses building on the relations Myanmar established with the outside world after Cyclone Nargis struck the country in May. He also calls for an increase in development assistance to Myanmar and proposes that wealthy countries expand the nation's access to foreign investment, the officials added.
One key initiative involves the establishment of an Economic and Social Forum to serve as a vehicle for channeling money and coordinating international development efforts. To prevent Myanmar from steering assistance to its supporters in the government, the United Nations has begun discussing with Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway how to ensure that money would go to the neediest in Myanmar.
Gambari and other top U.N. officials are also urging countries with influence over Myanmar, especially China and India, to lean on the government to release political prisoners and to provide a political opening for the opposition in upcoming elections. "What we need is for the U.S. and the U.K. to be softer and for the Chinese and the Indians to be harder," one senior U.N. official said.
Gambari reportedly hopes to detail the United Nations' latest thinking to Myanmar leaders early next year, but only if the country's ruling general agrees to meet with him. If Gambari's strategy receives a positive response, Ban, the first U.N. chief to visit Myanmar in more than 40 years, would make his second trip to the country.
Myanmar has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962, when Gen. Ne Win expelled foreigners and broke with the outside world in pursuit of "Myanmar socialism." Pro-democracy demonstrations 20 years ago offered the promise of a new government elected by the people, but the generals put Suu Kyi under house arrest in July 1989 and ignored national elections in 1990 that her party, the National League for Democracy, won in a landslide.
Myanmar has one of the world's worst living standards, despite holding sizable oil and natural gas reserves and the world's largest deposits of precious gems. Nargis, which killed more than 100,000 people and left 2.4 million homeless, only added to the challenges.
The Myanmar leadership has recently consolidated its power in advance of national elections in 2010. As Myanmar buckled from Nargis's blow, the military pushed through a referendum on a new constitution that would effectively exclude the National League for Democracy from the election.
The Bush administration's position is that it makes no sense to engage with the Myanmar government until the generals signal that they are interested in reconciling with the opposition. That could include, for instance, releasing Suu Kyi from house arrest or freeing other political prisoners.
"We have not been against dialogue, but we have felt that dialogue needed to be preconditioned," said Dennis Wilder, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council. "We just feel that it's egregious that for two decades Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest. We find it very hard to perceive a direct dialogue with the Burmese under those circumstances."
In recent years, the administration has tried to ratchet up pressure on Myanmar through sanctions aimed at restricting the income of the military rulers and their associates. In the summer, Congress banned the import of Myanmar jade, a key source of income for Myanmar's government.
At the same time, the United States stepped up humanitarian efforts in the wake of Nargis, sending about $75 million in aid both inside the country and to refugee camps on the border with Thailand.
All these efforts appear to have made little headway with the generals, who have increased arrests of dissidents in recent months, according to U.S. officials and human rights advocates. Bush administration officials suspect that Myanmar authorities are stalling in the hopes that they might be able to work with the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has repeatedly made clear his interest in opening dialogues with countries scorned by Bush.
But Myanmar is far from a priority for the incoming administration, and it is not certain that new officials would change course.
Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton co-sponsored the jade bill, and few expect them to move to relax sanctions soon after taking office.
The Obama transition team declined last week to comment on the Gambari strategy or a new thrust in U.S.-Myanmar relations.
Some international diplomats note that the United Nations' push to bring about political change in Myanmar has been undercut by the inability of influential governments, principally the United States and China, to agree on a strategy.
"One of the main problems is that we are split and the junta can play us against one another," said Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former Norwegian prime minister. "China and India today have huge investments in Burma, with no preconditions as far as I know on delivering democracy."
© 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Recession fears rise on Japan's output data
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008563230_japanoutput27.html
Japan's industrial output tumbled at a record pace last month, stoking fears that the world's second-largest economy was headed for a deeper and more protracted recession than previously expected.
By V. Phani Kumar
MarketWatch
HONG KONG — Japan's industrial output tumbled at a record pace last month, stoking fears that the world's second-largest economy was headed for a deeper and more protracted recession than previously expected.
Industrial production fell as much as 8.1 percent in November from the previous month — the biggest drop in the measure since the government started releasing comparable figures in 1953 — as Japanese companies produced fewer automobiles and machinery on vanishing demand.
The drop was steeper than the 6.8 percent fall expected by economists, and came after a 3.1 percent decline in October.
"Industrial production in Japan is falling off the cliff," wrote Merrill Lynch Economist Takuji Okubo in a note.
"Adding to this massive cut in November is manufacturers' plan to cut even further in the next two months. They now plan to cut their production by 8 percent in December and by 2.1 percent in January," Okubo added, referring to the result of a survey published by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The survey findings showed that transport equipment, including cars and trucks, ranked among the top three contributors to the decline from November through January, suggesting the impact of weak automobile sales in the U.S. and elsewhere was severely hurting Japanese carmakers.
"With these cuts, the transportation-machinery makers will have cut their production by almost 40 percent between October and January," Okubo wrote.
Weakening industrial production also appears to be taking a toll on employment in Japan.
Official data released separately Friday showed Japan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate climbed to 3.9 percent in November, rising 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
The number of unemployed people increased by 100,000 during the month to 2.56 million.
Economists had expected the monthly unemployment rate to jump to 4 percent.
Meanwhile, Japan's core consumer-price index, also released Friday, rose by a lower-than-expected 1 percent during the month on higher food charges.
The core data, which excludes fresh-food items because of their price volatility, had risen 1.9 percent in October.
The data estimated that consumer prices in the Tokyo metropolitan area could rise 0.8 percent in December from the year-earlier month.
Information from The New York Times is included in this report
Japan’s action changes Asia’s image(BURMA RELATED)
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/14866
Sun, 2008-12-28 02:22
By Nehginpao Kipgen
Japan’s humanitarian decision on 18th December 2008 to accept refugees from the military-ruled Burma has significantly changed Asia’s image. The move, which is unprecedented in the history of Japan, conveys a message to the international community that there is a country in Asia which opens its doors to asylum seekers and refugees.
Japan’s policy toward Burma has traditionally been engagement. This principle was stated in uncertain terms by the then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in January 1997 as: "Japan does not feel international isolation is the optimal way for the improvent of domestic situation in Myanmar.”
Ryutaro also added that: “Japan thinks it important to give Myanmar incentives to behave in line with international norms by drawing it out as a member of the international community. Japan also thinks that ASEAN membership should not provide a smokescreen for oppression in Myanmar."
Its engagement policy toward the Burmese military regime fundamentally differentiates Japan from many of her western allies, most notably the United States’ isolationist policy. These conflicing approaches have not helped both the economic giants to achieve their desired goals, but have instead prolonged the military rule.
Japan’s initial hope for ASEAN leadership to address the situation in Burma has also turned out to be fruitless. Despite Japan’s years of engagement policy, the oppresion in Burma continues unabated. The recent arressts and the long-term prison sentences to peaceful protesters was an indication of a failed strategy.
It is, however, intriguing to see that Japan simultaneously opens lines of communication with both the Burmese military regime and the pro-democracy opposition groups. Like many other nations, Japan has also endorsed the role of the United Nations Secretary General’s good offices.
With the political stalmate continuing to plague Burma, Japan’s policy has seemingly vacillatied in recent months. Japan’s biggest western ally, the United States, has also theoretically shifted its policy. The U.S. Congress created a post for policy chief for Burma to increase pressure on the junta; the White House nominated Michael Green for the position on November 10.
A noticeable strained bilateral relation between Japan and Burma was witnessed in the aftermath of the 2007 uprising, which was popularly coined by many as “saffron revolution.” A Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai was shot and killed by the Burmese military in broad-daylight while covering the demonstration.
The troubling issue surfaced again on the 17th January 2008 meeting between Japan’s Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura and his Burmese counterpart Nyan Win. Japan expressed its displeasure in a statement: “The Japanese side has not been convinced yet by the account given by the Myanmar police.”
If this major humanitarian policy gets implemented, the Japanese government will accept about 30 Burmese refugees from Thailand starting 2010. This development not only surprises the international community, but also gives a new hope to the Burmese democratic movement.
This bold decision makes Japan to become the first country in the region to launch such an initiative. Not only was the move welcome by the Burmese democratic movement, but also by the chief of United Nations humanitarian agency.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said, “I am glad that Japan is starting with a small programme. As such, I am confident that the pilot project will develop and expand into a regular and large programme.”
Japan’s decision has broken the traditionally held perception that refugees are resettled only in western countries. This sets a good example for many other Asian nations. As long as no democratic society, which equally treats all ethnic nationalities, can be established in Burma, there will be more Burmese refugees.
Her status as an economic giant of Asia and the historical relationship the two countries had during Burma’s independence struggle, Japan’s involvement in Burmese democratic transition is essential.
In the absence of a coordinated international approach, Burma’s military leaders will continue to have the upper hands in suppressing the aspirations of the Burmese people.
Both engagement and sanction imposing groups must come together to find amicable solution to decades-old Burma’s problems.
It is high time for the international community to realize that neither engagement nor sanction alone, without a coordinated action, is effective enough to bring change in Burma.
Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).
- Asian Tribune -
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Maternal Health Problems In Burma Widespread
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134066.php
Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 27 Dec 2008 - 1:00 PST
The maternal health care issues facing women in eastern Burma (also known as Myanmar) are widespread and underreported, according to surveys by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers report that more than 88 percent of women had a home delivery during their last pregnancy and displaced women were more than 5 time as likely to receive no antenatal care. Human rights violations, like displacement and forced labor, were are also widespread and found to affect access to maternal health care. The findings are published in the December 2008 issue of PLoS Medicine.
"Health indicators are poor and human rights violations are widespread in eastern Burma," said Luke Mullany, PhD, MHS, lead author of the study and assistant professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of International Health. "In conflict-affected regions of Burma, research indicates that infant and child mortality rates are higher than other areas due to widespread exposure to gross human rights violations."
According to the study, among the women surveyed, 60 percent expressed an unmet need for modern contraceptives and nearly 95 percent gave birth without the assistance of a skilled attendant or someone with labor and delivery training. Many of these women displayed signs of poor nutrition and very few received vital iron supplements or utilized insecticide-treated bed nets. In addition, more than half of the women were diagnosed as anemic and more than 7 percent tested positive for the malaria parasite.
For the study, the researchers conducted two-stage cluster sampling surveys among reproductive-aged women (15 to 45). The surveys were conducted between September 2006 and January 2007 in the Shan, Mon, Karen, and Karenni communities in eastern Burma. Mullany, along with colleagues, documented access to antenatal care, skilled attendants at birth, postnatal care, family planning services and recent exposure to human rights violations such as displacement and forced labor. With the assistance of trained survey workers who spoke the local language and were known in the community, researchers explored strategies to increase access to maternal health interventions and examined the estimated coverage of maternal health services prior to the Mobile Obstetric Maternal Health Workers (MOM) Project, a program designed to assist in providing maternal health care in eastern Burma.
"The indicators and coverage estimates provided here are strikingly worse than the already low national estimates for Burma that have been provided by various institutional reports," said Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, senior author of the study and professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Epidemiology. "Increased access to antenatal, labor delivery and newborn care services in eastern Burma is essential to improve the overall health status of these vulnerable populations. In addition, considerable political, financial and human resources are necessary to improve access to care. There needs to be emphasis on maternal and more comprehensively, reproductive health services in health programs targeting these communities."
"Access to Essential Maternal Health Interventions and Human Rights Violations among Vulnerable Communities in Eastern Burma" was written by Luke C. Mullany, Catherine I. Lee, Lin Yone, Palae Paw, Eh Kalu Swe Oo, Cynthia Maung, Thomas J. Lee and Chris Beyrer.
The researchers were funded by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Foundation for the People of Burma.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N Wolfe St., W1600
Baltimore
MD 21205
United States
http://www.jhsph.edu
RM1 million aid for cyclone victims-MALAYSIAN BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/12/27/north/2889948&sec=north
IT has been almost seven months since Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar but help continues to pour in.
One of the latest efforts was initiated by the Malaysian Buddhist Association (MBA) which raised a total of RM1.05mil through the Burma Cyclone Relief Fund.
MBA advisor Ven. Seck Boon Keng said the committee would channel all the funds through the Burmese Shangha Organisation to launch the Myanmar Cyclone Recovery Project.
“These funds were collected through our branches and members from the public within the fastest time to ensure help arrives for the needy as soon as possible,” he told a press conference when presenting the cheque to the Burmese Shangha Organisation on Wednesday.
The organisation advisor Rev. Sayadaw U. Rajinda, who was authorised to receive the funds, said the funds were expected to be distributed in stages within two years.
“Of this, RM60,000 have been used to purchase 10 tractors for affected farmers to help them in agricultural rehabilitation including re-cultivation.
“We are also giving out a monthly RM30 voucher each for 51 orphans for 12 months and RM93 monthly each for 38 university students for 10 months,” he said.
The purpose of the Myanmar Cyclone Recovery Project was to assist flood and Nargis storm victims in Laputta and Kyaiklat with provision of aid for plantation and agricultural rehabilitation.
It is also aimed at rebuilding the schools for the affected village children who are facing problems of daily survival and difficulties in continuing their education.
“Receiving quality education has been a problem for many children due to many schools having been destroyed by the cyclone,” Sayadaw said.
He said the committee was in the midst of constructing two primary schools and one lower secondary school.
He added that a total RM255,000 was needed for the construction of the schools, each measuring 167 sq m.
They were sheduled for completion in four months’ time, he said.
Russia starts to deliver advanced surface-to-air missiles to Myanmar
http://baganland.blogspot.com/2008/12/russia-starts-to-deliver-advanced.html
Russia has started to fulfil a US$250-million deal to deliver surface-to-air missiles to seven countries including Libya, Syria and Venezuela, the Vedomosti business daily reported Friday. Russia will also deliver the S-125 Pechora-2M missile batteries to Egypt, Myanmar, Vietnam and Turkmenistan under the contract, the newspaper said, citing a source in the state-owned Russian Technologies corporation.
The Pechora-2M -- known as the SA-3A Goa in NATO parlance -- is an upgraded version of a surface-to-air missile originally developed in the 1960s that was widely shared with the Soviet Union's allies around the world.
UN secretary-general must visit Burma to begin the end-game
http://www.bangkokpost.net/opinion/opinion/8771/un-secretary-general-must-visit-burma-to-begin-the-end-game
By: THAUNG HTUN
Published: 27/12/2008 at 12:00 AM The United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon seems to be waiting for a miracle before he will visit Burma. Like a scientist afraid of his own experiment, he aims to plot the result before he begins the process. For months now he has been ducking and weaving around increasingly vocal calls for him to visit this failed state with its military despots in charge, and to bring the full weight of the global community to bear on the many and on-going human rights violations occurring there. He seeks, he says, an assurance there will be an outcome. This is an untenable position, overly cautious by far for such a critical situation as Burma.
The UN is willing to allow the Burmese military junta to ride roughshod over international standards of human rights, political practice, economic sustainability and foreign relations.
The global body is allowing the regime to push on towards a sham election in 2010, which will inevitably bolster their power and defer the development of democracy in Burma.
While the shortcomings of the UN indicate a global system that is failing Burma, the UN is not alone.
Regionally, a virtual free-for-all has erupted as investors from China, Russia, Korea, Thailand and elsewhere rush into Burma. A resources and energy assets boom has given the military regime an opportunity to open the flood-gates. Sanctions in place in the US and the EU have ensured Burma's neighbours have few serious competitors, or watchdogs.
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, as the legitimate and mandated de jure government in Burma has outlined a step-by-step plan for more focussed and successful engagement with Burma.
The first vital and unavoidable step would be for Mr Ban to visit the country as soon as possible. This would be an opportunity to present and embody the international community's concern over widespread human rights violations and the volatile actions of the country's rulers.
Second, the UN Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari must go to Burma again to meet officials and establish infrastructure to:
a) ensure the release of all political prisoners;
b) facilitate open negotiations between Aung San Suu Kyi and the SPDC;
c) to set up a permanent liaison office in Burma to pursue the direct intentions of the Secretary-General; and
d) to bring solutions to Burma's economic crisis.
Third, a process on on-going engagement needs to be rolled out. The generals need to be obliged to meet and engage appropriately with the UN Special Envoy and must grant all relevant UN officers unlimited access throughout the country.
Fourth, the UN should kick-off a process of national reconciliation, capitalising on the work already done by the NCGUB in this direction. This process must be inclusive of all opposition parties, the military and all ethnic groups. This must take place before the proposed elections in 2010 to head-off the usual ruses of the generals to exploit international goodwill, to marginalise authentic opposition voices in Burma and to ensure the irrevocably flawed 2010 election can never take place.
Fifth, all such processes need to have the full-backing of the UN and have their agenda set by the UN. This needs the backing of the UN member states, who must stand up and act on Burma more than they are, and should be a priority as the run-in to the 2010 election looms closer.
Sixth, this process has to be fully open, the dialogue made public and the results known to all, so as to ensure full accountability and the good governance of the initiative.
These are concrete steps, not idle thoughts. Such a programme will have the means of bringing progress to Burma. The international community understands these mechanisms and can work within them. Yet, there is inaction; a sense the rhetoric is there to knit a veil for international leaders.
Recently, Mr Ban said the actions of the junta are "abhorrent and unacceptable" and called for "bold action" on the generals' part to move towards democracy. But, the words will sink quickly without being forcefully backed by Mr Ban himself.
This is not the time to be overly fastidious in the interests of protocol or Realpolitik, or to protect the perceived dignity of the secretary-general's office. Our people are in grave danger. They and the world will forgive Mr Ban should he try hard and fall short. History will look more harshly on not trying at all.
As Mr Ban considers the moment, Burma drifts further and further away.
Thaung Htun is the United Nations representative for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.
Canada-based Party Linked to Controversial Businessman -IRRAWADDY
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14852
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, December 26, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-MAIL
PRINT
TEXT SIZE
Burmese exiles were surprised to learn through an Internet newsgroup recently that the former chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) has joined a new political party linked to a Canada-based businessman accused in the past of laundering drug profits for the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
According to widely read email messages circulating among Burmese exiles, former ABSDF chairman Htun Aung Gyaw recently joined the United Democratic Party of Myanmar (UDP), founded in Vancouver, Canada.
In response to the rumors, which include allegations that Htun Aung Gyaw, who is currently living in the United States, received US $50,000 to join the UDP, the party issued a statement saying that discussions between party leaders and the former ABSDF chairman were still at the “confidence-building” stage.
But the reports have raised further questions about the UDP itself. Burmese exiles living in Canada and the US say they don’t know what the party’s objectives are, and many wonder about the motives of the man seen as the driving force behind the party.
According to Burmese opposition sources in Canada, the UDP has no chairman, but is led by well-known Burmese businessman Kyaw Myint, a.k.a. Michael Hu Hwa.
Kyaw Myint’s company, NAH Development Group Inc, is involved in “energy, mineral, agriculture, building materials, finance and real estate industries,” according to its Web site, www.nahdg.com. The site also provides a contact address in Vancouver.
A former colonel in the UWSA—a group named by the US State Department as “the world’s largest armed narcotics-trafficking organization”—Kyaw Myint is a familiar name in Burmese business circles.
After the UWSA reached a ceasefire agreement with Burma’s ruling military junta in 1991, Kyaw Myint became the head of Myanmar Kyone Yeom Group, a Rangoon-based company with extensive interests in construction, mining, real estate and forestry.
In an article published by the now-defunct Asiaweek magazine in January 1998, Myanmar Kyone Yeom was accused of acting as a “money-washing machine” for the UWSA.
According to an article published in Jane’s Intelligence Review in November 1998, the company was blacklisted by the Burmese regime because “Michael Hu Hwa (a.k.a. Colonel Kyaw Myint), who claimed to be a deputy minister of finance for the UWSA, openly and brazenly flouted Burmese business laws and regulations.”
Soon after, the company was shut down and Kyaw Myint was imprisoned. He did not stay in prison for long, however, as he received help from some influential intelligence officers.
Kyaw Myint left Burma and appeared in Bangkok in 1999. From there, he relocated to the United States and then Canada—a move reportedly arranged by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
He later set up United Democratic Party of Myanmar and began to recruit young activists, who received stipends and allowances, according to exiled Burmese sources in Vancouver. Kyaw Myint also reportedly financed some Burma-related conferences in Canada.
Burmese struggle to survive
http://democracyforburma.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/burmese-struggle-to-survive/
December 26, 2008 · No Comments
Hla Hla Htay
The Friends of Newin faction has been lavishly pampered by the Democrat leadership to the extent that some Democrats feel belittled or disappointed.
Fisherman Htein Lin Aung, a father of three, says a new roof is out of the question as he fixes the engine of his boat beneath the tarpaulin covering of his bamboo tent outside the town of Kungyangon.
“We have been in difficulties since Nargis. The weather is also unusual now,” said Htein Lin Aung, 37, whose house was one of hundreds of thousands destroyed by the cyclone.
The storm left 138,000 people dead or missing and affected more than 2.5 million, while the Burmese military junta provoked outrage by initially hampering international aid efforts with red tape.
The military government relented after a visit from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. But rebuilding the southwestern Irrawaddy Delta, which suffered the brunt of the cyclone, is dragging on. continue http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=135590
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Brother's Plea: Remember Burma-The Saffron Revolution must not be forgotten.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123025716276634733.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
By MIN ZIN
On Nov. 28 my brother, Thet Zin, a Burmese journalist brave enough to remain in his country, was sentenced to seven years in prison by the military junta there. His crime? Possession of a U.N. report about the military's crackdown on demonstrations by monks and democracy activists in September 2007 -- known around the world as the "Saffron Revolution."
He's not alone. In the past two months the junta has sentenced more than 230 political detainees to lengthy prison sentences, some as long as 68 years. The total number of political prisoners in Burma is now more than 2,100, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007, before last year's protests, according to Amnesty International and other human-rights groups.
The terrible irony is that when I tell my Burmese friends and colleagues about my brother's sentence the typical response is, "Only seven years?" How far we've fallen that we consider anything less than decades in prison to be somehow a blessing.
The Opinion Journal Widget
Download Opinion Journal's widget and link to the most important editorials and op-eds of the day from your blog or Web page.
My brother is the editor in chief of a weekly journal you've likely never heard of called the Myanmar Nation. On Feb. 15, the military raided his office and dragged him and his office manager, Sein Win Maung, away. They were eventually charged with crimes against the state under the regime's Printing and Publishing Law. All this for being in possession of a U.N. report widely available on the Internet.
Torture and interrogations followed. He was sent to Burma's notorious Insein prison. He nearly died there when Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in May, claiming more than 80,000 lives. Now he's facing a term in a filthy, disease-ridden prison that could result in his death.
The reality is that my brother did get a lighter sentence -- the maximum under the law which he was charged with violating. Nowadays, high-profile dissidents usually receive prison sentences from 20 to 70 years. Since November, the special courts held inside the Insein prison compound have rushed to complete the hearings against Burmese democracy activists, Buddhist monks, student leaders, ethnic minority youth, labor activists, journalists, poets, bloggers, and even comedians and musicians who were arrested during and after last year's peaceful protests.
These hearings and sentencing continue in the absence of their attorneys. Worse yet, three defense lawyers were imprisoned for between four and six months for contempt of court after transmitting their clients' complaints of an unfair trial. (Another defense lawyer convicted of contempt of court fled to the Thai border to evade arrest.) Four other defense lawyers were barred from representing their clients.
The military is immediately transferring those who receive sentences to prisons in remote areas. Earlier this month, my brother was sent to a prison in Kalay, 680 miles from his home in Rangoon in Burma's northwestern frontier -- far from all those who care about him.
The goal of such harsh punishments is clear: to eliminate potential opposition in the run-up to the 2010 election, which is the last step in the junta's "Seven-Point Roadmap to Democracy."
In Today's Opinion Journal
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Obama's Secretary of EarmarksBridges to EverywhereStill Oklahoma's Most Wanted
TODAY'S COLUMNIST
Declarations: A Year for the Books
– Peggy Noonan
COMMENTARY
Obama Picks a Moderate on Education
– Collin LevyThe Economic News Isn't All Bleak – Zachary KarabellDonor Disclosure Has Its Downsides
– John R. Lott Jr. and Bradley SmithBush Is a Book Lover
– Karl RoveA Brother's Plea: Remember Burma
– Min ZinThe junta is mocking the U.N. Security Council, which issued a statement in October 2007 calling for the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. In response, 112 former presidents and prime ministers from more than 50 countries signed a letter this month urging U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to return to Burma for the first time since his visit after Cyclone Nargis and press for the release of political prisoners.
Indeed, Mr. Ban, who recently expressed his "disappointment" and "frustration" with progress in Burma, should go back and tell junta leader Gen. Than Shwe what he told the press not long ago -- that the "status quo ante is not acceptable and politically unsustainable," and that all political prisoners must be released by 2010.
Meanwhile, my brother and thousands of other political prisoners in Burma continue to languish behind bars. The world was watching during the "Saffron Revolution." Is it still?
Min Zin, a Burmese journalist in exile, is a teaching fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Journalism.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
China moves to make yuan global currency
http://www.domain-b.com/finance/general/20081226_yuan_global_currency.html
26 December 2008
Armed with a staggering $1,89 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, the Chinese government announced the first step towards making the yuan, its currency, an international currency, by allowing it to be used as a mode of payment in business deals with some neighboring countries. The move would also curb the effect of the volatility of the dollar on trade settlements.
With trade settlements being done mainly with the dollar and also the euro, the yuan, currently not a freely convertible currency, this pilot project will be first tested by allowing the yuan to be used to settle trade payments between the delta regions of China's Pearl and Yangtze rivers and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Yunnan province will be allowed to use the yuan to settle trade payments with ASEAN countries like Thailand, Laos, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam and Indonesia.
However, the Chinese government did not specify how and when the pilot project would start.
The recession in the US, Japan and many EU nations, led to decline of China's exports declined by 2.2 per cent in November, the first decline in more than seven years. Chin now plans to boost its sagging export sector by allowing the yuan to settle trade payments with neighboring countries along with a series of other measures.
After a meeting of China's State Council yesterday, the cabinet released a document announcing a raft of more measures to encourage domestic spending by doling out more subsidies for buying household appliances and other merchandise to the rural people and increasing the number of stores and distribution centres in the hinterland.
The government will also renovate the urban food markets, provide more variety of goods, build new second-hand markets, encourage distribution companies to merge and consolidate by giving them more incentives, and shore up small and medium-sized business.
Export tax rebates for high-technology products will be hiked, foreign investment will be encouraged and lower the inspection fee for exports.
As ASEAN countries, Hong Kong and Macau constitute 20 per cent of mainland China's total trade volume and has reached $402.7 billion last year, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central bank said last month that trade settlements using the dollar is not feasible due to the high volatility of the dollar and once the yuan is accepted in Asia, then it would be easier for China to make the yuan an international currency in the future.
In its effort to boost the appeal of the yuan among other countries as a currency to hold as foreign exchange reserves, China had already signed trade settlement agreements with Mongolia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Russia among others to voluntarily use the yuan as a currency of choice to settle trade payments and had let Chinese banks issue yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong earlier this year.
With China's foreign exchange reserves rising at a rapid pace and standing at $1.89 trillion, the yuan had been getting greater acceptance from its neighbours in recent years and there has been many Chinese economist who were advocating making the yuan an international currency, with the weakening dollar having caused a decline in China's foreign exchange reserves.
China is now looking towards expanding the yuan to other financial markets by make the yuan fully convertible and giving yuan holder's investment channels and also allow the currency to enter the country freely for investment in stock or real estate.
Some Chinese experts are hesitant on fully converting the yuan citing the Asian crisis of 1998 where the country came unscathed because the yuan was not fully convertible under capital accounts and was also the main reason why it has not been affected fully in the current global financial crisis.
They also believe that by liberalizing the fund flow, the economy will be susceptible during regional or global economic crisis.
Posts
