Burma Related News - Aug 19, 2005.

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - AUGUST 19, 2005.
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HEADLINES
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Reuters - Global AIDS fund quits Myanmar, cites restrictions
AFP - UN envoy due in Myanmar to meet junta leaders
AFP - UN envoy to meet with Myanmar's junta leader
UN News Centre - Envoy on UN reform meets top Myanmar officials
BBC News - UN Aids organisation leaves Burma
ABC Online - UN envoy meets with Burma's military leader
The Star - U.N. envoy in Myanmar ducks politics, Suu Kyi
The Malay Mail - Jewellery heist figures don?t add up
PD - Myanmar PM stresses development of private industries
DVB News - List of detained Karen villagers from Tagu Seik, Einme
DVB News - Shan leader faces court in Lashio
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Global AIDS fund quits Myanmar, cites restrictions
19 Aug 2005 13:54:33 GMT
By Darren Schuettler

BANGKOK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria has pulled its funding for programmes in army-ruled Myanmar,
blaming travel and other restrictions imposed by the junta, the Fund
said on Friday.

The Fund, which agreed in August 2004 to spend nearly $100 million over
5 years fighting all three diseases in Myanmar, said its decision was
regrettable given the serious epidemics threatening the impoverished
Southeast Asian nation.

The former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962 and receiving little
Western aid after decades of sanctions, has up to 610,000 people living
with HIV/AIDS and one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in the world.

But new travel curbs imposed in July on U.N. staff overseeing
Fund-financed programmes and bureaucratic hurdles to procuring medical
supplies had violated Yangon's agreement with the Fund, said spokesman
Jon Liden.

"Obviously we are extremely sorry and concerned that we have to do
this," Liden told Reuters. "But you cannot work at this scale
effectively if you can't even travel around to watch what you are
doing".

Foreign aid workers in Myanmar criticised the move.

"Global Fund or not, the world should be providing assistance to this
country. To abandon this country and its people, I can't see how it is
justified," said a worker at one NGO that was due to receive $2.5
million from the Fund.

Liden said anyway that funding had not reached the point where it was
supporting drug treatments for HIV/AIDS patients, meaning no one would
be cut off.
The Fund said it had already disbursed $11.8 million in Myanmar.

POLITICAL PRESSURE?

The Fund -- an independent organisation of governments, business and
private groups first proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in
2002 -- has so far committed $3.5 billion to more than 300 programmes in
127 countries.

In recent weeks other international NGOs and U.N. agencies have
complained of restrictions on their staff and humanitarian activities in
Myanmar.

The head of the U.N. World Food Programme, James Morris, flew to Yangon
earlier this month to press for the free movement of aid workers and a
lifting of barriers to delivering food aid.

It is the first time the Global Fund has withdrawn from a country in
which it was working, and the move is likely to stir controversy within
the NGO community.

Critics have accused the United States, a major contributor to the Fund
and a staunch critic of the junta, of seeking to limit its activities in
a country labelled an "outpost of tyranny" by U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice.

They say the Fund's safeguards, aimed at ensuring monies go to affected
people and not the government, are too restrictive and politicised the
delivery of humanitarian aid.

But Liden said the system has worked well in 45 so-called "fragile"
countries so far.

"They are not draconian. If you can't watch your own programme
activities unhindered, that's not an unreasonable safeguard," he said.
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UN envoy due in Myanmar to meet junta leaders
Thu Aug 18, 3:33 AM ET

YANGON, (AFP) - Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas was due in
Myanmar as a special envoy of the United Nations, which two years ago
appointed him to push for the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

Alatas was scheduled to meet the top leaders of the military government,
UN officials said in Yangon on condition of anonymity.

They said the trip was linked to next month's summit of world leaders at
the UN headquarters in New York.

In Jakarta a UN spokesman said Alatas's visit was aimed at promoting
reform in the world body.

"The visit is part of his duty to tour several Asia-Pacific nations in
relation to UN reforms," said a spokesman who gave his name as Adila. He
could not provide further details.

Alatas was appointed in 2003 as a special envoy to Myanmar to negotiate
the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The popular Nobel
peace laureate has been detained by Myanmar's junta since May the same
year.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, said it
only learned of Alatas's trip from overseas reports on short-wave radio
but it hoped to meet with him.

"NLD is expecting to meet with the special envoy if we have a chance to.
We are excited to see him," NLD spokesman Nya Win said.

Alatas is the first special UN envoy allowed into the country since
March 2004, when Malaysian Razali Ismail visited.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win snubbed Razali last month when he
declined to meet him on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos.

At that meeting the junta agreed to skip its turn at ASEAN's rotating
chairmanship amid intense international pressure for Aung San Suu Kyi's
release from house arrest.

Two weeks ago the junta allowed the head of the UN's World Food Program,
James Morris to visit the country. He met with NLD leaders as well as
Prime Minister General Soe Win.
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Friday August 19, 1:46 PM
UN envoy to meet with Myanmar's junta leader

YANGON (AFP) - Visiting UN envoy Ali Alatas is to press the reclusive
leader of Myanmar's military government for the freedom of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, during a visit.

Senior General Than Shwe was to meet former Indonesian foreign minister
Ali Alatas at a military guest house, said the official, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
Alatas is the first UN envoy admitted into the military-run country
since March 2004, when Malaysian Razali Ismail visited.

On arriving Thursday, Alatas said he carried a message from UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan for the nation's military rulers, but declined to
give details.

Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said
it had not had any contact with Alatas but hoped to meet him during his
three-day visit.

Alatas had dinner Thursday with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win and
discussed United Nations reforms due to be debated at the UN
headquarters in New York next month, the world body said in a statement.

Nyan Win snubbed Razali last month when he declined to meet him on the
sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) in Laos.

At that meeting the junta agreed to skip its turn at ASEAN's rotating
chairmanship amid intense international pressure for Aung San Suu Kyi's
release from house arrest which began in May 2003.

During his Myanmar visit, the envoy was also due to meet organizers of a
national convention charged with drafting a new constitution as part of
the junta's "road map" to democracy, and with government-backed social
groups, the UN said.

The European Union, the United States, the United Nations and human
rights groups consider the national convention a sham because it has
been boycotted by the NLD.
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United Nations News Centre
Envoy on UN reform meets top Myanmar officials

18 August 2005 ? Ali Alatas, Indonesia?s former Foreign Minister and one
of Secretary-General Kofi Annan?s envoys for United Nations reform, met
today with senior officials in Myanmar on ways to help forge a global
consensus on development, security, human rights and UN renewal ahead of
next month?s World Summit in New York.

Mr. Alatas met in Myanmar?s capital, Yangon, with Foreign Minister U
Nyan Win. They discussed the proposals laid out in the General Assembly
President?s draft Summit ?outcome document,? drawn up after
consultations among Member States to incorporate their reactions to
proposals for global action on a host of fronts outlined in Mr. Annan?s
report ?In Larger Freedom.?

During his trip, Mr. Alatas is also expected to meet with Senior General
Than Shwe, as well as with members of the National Convention Convening
Commission and Government-related social groups.

Mr. Alatas is one of five world leaders helping to promote the
Secretary-General?s reform agenda during the run-up to the Summit,
scheduled for 14-16 September at UN Headquarters in New York. Mr. Annan
has called the three-day event, which also marks the UN?s 60th
anniversary, a ?once in a generation? opportunity to make the world body
more efficient at tackling today?s global problems.
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BBC News - Friday, 19 August 2005
UN Aids organisation leaves Burma

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria says it will
stop funding programmes in Burma, due to increased travel restrictions.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said that aid workers were unable to
carry out their work properly in the country.

It is the first time the Geneva-based organisation has withdrawn from a
country in which it is operating.

It said its decision was regrettable, given the serious epidemics
threatening the impoverished Burmese population.

Last year the Global Fund agreed to spend $100m over five years
combating disease in Burma.

According to UNAids, an estimated 600,000 people in Burma have HIV or
Aids, and the country is thought to have one of the highest rates of
tuberculosis in the world.

"We have terminated the grants to Myanmar [Burma] as of yesterday,"
spokeswoman Rosie Vanek told The Associated Press on Friday.

She added that it was the organisation's "basic principle" to ensure
that the money it was given was well spent.

"The travel restrictions appear to be the most recent manifestation of a
gradual change in the government's attitude towards international and
national humanitarian efforts in Myanmar over the past few weeks," the
group said in a statement obtained by Reuters news agency.

"The Global Fund has now concluded that the grants cannot be implemented
in a way that ensures effective programme implementation."

All the group's activities in Burma are set to cease by 1 December.

The Global Fund - an independent organisation of governments and private
groups set up by the UN - works in more than 100 countries, trying to
combat deaths from Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

It is not the only organisation to complain of restrictions in Burma.

The head of the UN World Food Programme, James Morris, flew to Rangoon
earlier this month to ask the government to let aid workers move more
freely to deliver food aid.
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ABC Radio Australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
UN envoy meets with Burma's military leader
19/08/2005, 22:57:18

A United Nations envoy has held a meeting with the leader of Burma's
military government, Senior General Than Shwe.

However, Ali Alatas, a former Indonesian foreign minister, says domestic
politics and the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were not
discussed.

Mr Alatas is the first UN envoy admitted into the military-run country
in more than a year.

Mr Alatas says he and Senior General Than met for about 90 minutes at
the office of Prime Minister Soe Win in Rangoon and discussed reforms at
the United Nations.

Global leaders are meeting in New York next month for a summit on UN
reforms.

Mr Alatas says his latest trip is different to his visit two years ago
when he was sent to discuss the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has
been under house arrest since May 2003.
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The Star Online - August 19, 2005
U.N. envoy in Myanmar ducks politics, Suu Kyi

YANGON (Reuters) - Former Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, in
military-ruled Myanmar as a special United Nations envoy, said he would
not push for democratic reform when he meets junta number one Than Shwe
later on Friday.

"I am not in a position to do so. I am very clear about my mandate,"
Alatas told Reuters in Yangon, capital of the former Burma, which has
been under military rule since a 1962 coup.

The veteran diplomat said he would hand over a letter to Senior General
Than Shwe from Secretary General Kofi Annan and discuss proposed reforms
to the United Nations with the leader of one of the world's most
isolated and reviled regimes.

His refusal to raise the issue of political prisoners is bound to
disappoint pro-democracy activists, who had hoped Alatas would push for
access to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been
under house arrest for much of the last 15 years. Alatas did not say
whether he had a reply from Annan to Than Shwe's invitation, extended in
April, to visit Yangon later this year.

"The Senior General has already extended an invitation to him when they
last met," Alatas said.

A U.N. statement made no mention of any potential visit by Alatas to
members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Alatas was appointed in 2003 as a special envoy to Myanmar to negotiate
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
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The Malay Mail
Jewellery heist figures don?t add up
MARHALIM ABAS

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19: Police are trying to ascertain the value of
jewellery stolen at a hotel in Ampang last Sunday.

The Malay Mail learnt that investigations have shown that the two
Myanmar traders had declared the value of the jewellery as RM370,000
when they entered the country early this month.

The traders were here for a jewellery exhibition at a hotel in Ampang
from Aug 11 to 14.

They had declared the value of their exhibits as RM75,000 to the
exhibition organisers.

However, when the jewellery was stolen on Sunday, the traders said their
loss was RM3.2 million.

Sources told The Malay Mail that police have yet to make a decision on
the value of the jewellery pending further investigations.

So far, the police probe has not revealed a link with another jewellery
heist which occurred several hours later in Jalan Genting Klang the same
day.

In the second incident, another Myanmar trader claimed that RM1 million
worth of gems was stolen from a car while he was having dinner with six
friends.

The driver of the car, a Myanmar man married to a local woman, was
detained in connection with the case.

City deputy CID chief Assistant Commissioner Ramli said the man was
released on police bail yesterday. The 38-year-old man was detained at a
hotel in the city centre about 1am on Monday ? several hours after the
jewellery was stolen.

He said no new suspect had been arrested in connection with the case but
investigations are still on-going.
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People's Daily Online - August 18, 2005
Myanmar PM stresses development of private industries

Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win has stressed the development of
private industries through establishment of industrial zones which are
foundation of the development.

Soe Win, who is also Chairman of the Industrial Development Committee,
made the remarks in a recent inspection tour to some industrial zones in
northern part of the country, the official newspaper New Light of
Myanmar reported Thursday.

"Only when private industries improve, will industries of the state
develop with greater momentum and will the nation lead to a modern and
developed one," Soe Win said.

Noting that there are good prospects in three industrial zones of
Monywa, Mandalay and Ayethaya, he emphasized the need to introduce
modern machines to produce parts of high standard and good quality.

He called for cooperation between the state and the private sectors for
the progress of the indusrtries.

According to statistics, there are 19 industrial zones in total across
Myanmar. The industrial sector represents the second largest contributor
to the gross domestic product after agriculture with 10.7 percent in
2004-05 and its GDP grew 24 percent annually in the past four fiscal
years of 2001-02 to 2004- 05.

The achievement of the sector's production value was attributed to the
establishment of these industrial zones across the country.

With over 11,800 industrial enterprises having been established over 10
years' period from 1995 to 2005, the production value increased from
31,843 million Kyats ( 35.38 million dollars) in 2001-02 to 285,736
million kyats ( 317.48 million dollars) plus 556 million dollars in
March 2005.

With a working force of over 152,000 in the industrial sector, further
development of private industries, especially small and medium-sized
ones, is being stressed. Source: Xinhua
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List of detained Karen villagers from Tagu Seik, Einme

Aug 18, 2005 (DVB) - DVB has obtained a list of the names of Karen
villagers from Tagu Seik, Einme Township, Irrawaddy Division, who have
been detained by the Burmese army at a special interrogation centre in
Rangoon.

On 7 July, Burmese soldiers from Infantry Battalion - 93 surrounded and
raided Tagu Seik on suspicion of villagers hoarding weapons and
explosives sent from the Karen Nation Union (KNU). The soldiers searched
every nook and cranny of the village including the village chapel and
cemetery, but no weapons were said to be found. Several villagers,
reportedly up to one hundred, were arrested and detained for
interrogations. One schoolteacher named Saw Stanford was killed during a
torturous interrogation. The following people were transferred to a
special military interrogation centre, and the fates of around 80 other
villagers are still not known.

1. Saw Myo Chit (Einme Township NLD organising member)
2. Saw Pho Dine (Tagu Seik Village NLD chairman)
3. Saw Soe Lwin (Tagu Seik Village authority chairman)
4. Naw Sa Phaw (Saw Soe Lwin?s wife)
5. Saw Talan Aing (Tagu Seik Village authority member)
6. Saw Soe Naing (Einme)
7. Saw Ngoyi (Tagu Seik Villager)
8. Naw Kapaw Htoo (Tagu Seik Villager)
9. Naw Rebecca (Naw Kapaw Htoo?s daughter)
10. Saw Tapleh ( Naw Kapaw Htoo?s son-in-law)
11. Saw Yawya (Tagu Seik Villager)
12. Saw Taletset (Tagu Seik Villager)
13. Saw Toe Toe (Tagu Seik Villager)
14. Saw Wai (Tagu Seik Villager)
15. Saw Ko Ko Naing (health official from nearby Athoke) and
16. Unknown doctor from nearby Athoke

The village is still surrounded from nearby Thayetkone Village by the
soldiers and no one is allowed in or let out. Villagers from
neighbouring villages and guests are also being detained for
'questioning'. The main opposition party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD) and pro-democracy groups, have urged the ruling military
junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to investigate into
the incident but there has been no response from the junta.
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Shan leader faces court in Lashio

Aug 18, 2005 (DVB) - A member of Shan State advisory council, Sa Oo Kya
who has been detained since 3 August by Burma?s military junta, State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC), was tried at the township court of
Lashio in northeast Burma on 17 August.

Oo Kya was charged with meeting tourists illegally and various other
acts. He is a cousin of Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD)
chairman Khun Htun Oo who is being tried with treason and ?creating an
illegal organisation?. Oo Kya attended a Shan youth meeting and Shan
State Day ceremony in February as a representative of Thibaw (Hsipaw)
Township.

Meanwhile, the SPDC authorities in Rangoon recently removed Myat Thein,
the judge who had been presiding over the trial of 10 Shan leaders
including Htun Oo, and appointed a new judge named Sit Tin. It is not
known why the changeover was made amid the trial. Nevertheless, National
League for Democracy (NLD) legal advocates told DVB that it is nothing
unusual or new about the practice during the rule of the SPDC.
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