Burma Related News - Aug 27-28, 2005.

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - AUGUST 27-28, 2005.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Myanmar minister says junta chief in charge and healthy despite
rumours
Xinhuanet - Myanmar govt formally denies coup for first time
NFB - 30-point deal with Myanmar for augmenting trade
IHT - News Analysis: Truth goes missing in murky Myanmar
OGJ - Thailand in talks for Myanmar Block A1 gas
The Peninsula - Rebel threat forces closure of tax office
Newkerala - Myanmar leader in Singapore for medical treatment
Financial Express - Donors reaffirm stand against Aids in Burma
DVB News - Tax hikes in Burma cause increasing problems for people
DVB News - Rumour of coup is Burma junta?s way of warding off evil
BBC News - UN envoy says junta chief was healthy when they met
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Myanmar minister says junta chief in charge and healthy despite rumours
Sunday, Aug 28, 2005 1:30 PM ET

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe remains in good
health and in charge of the country, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan
said, denying rumours to the contrary that have circulated this week.

"Senior General Than Shwe's health is good and he continues to handle
his responsibilities," Kyaw Hsan told a press conference.

"These are concerted efforts by dissidents, with the manipulation of
foreign powers, to try to destabilise the nation by coming up with all
these fabrications," he said.

"Everything is normal here," he added. "Myanmar is being ruled under a
collective leadership with Senior General Than Shwe at the head."

Rumours of a coup within the military regime emerged on Tuesday,
apparently triggered by an interview on the BBC's Burmese-language radio
that said the junta's number-two General Maung Aye had overthrown Than
Shwe.

Later in the week, stories began circulating that 73-year-old Than Shwe,
who has a history of ill-health, had been flown to Singapore for medical
treatment.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday discounted the
rumours, and diplomats in the capital Yangon said they were extremely
sceptical that there had been any change in the leadership.

The speculation died down by the end of the week, but not before causing
the kyat currency to weaken and sending the price of gold higher as
citizens reacted to the uncertainty.

Kyaw Hsan told a press conference that three officials, at the foreign
ministry, information ministry and home ministry, had been appointed to
handle any such queries from the media in future.

"These three people will have been given the responsibility to answer
any questions by anybody who is interested to know the truth," he said.
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Myanmar govt formally denies coup for first time
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-28 13:46:10

YANGON, Aug. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The Myanmar government formally denied on
Sunday for the first time that a coup had taken place during the past
week, refuting that the rumor was a plot against the country.

The denial was made by government spokesman Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan,
who is Minister of Information, at a special press conference here.

It was also for the first time that the Myanmar government broke the
silence after the rumors circulated for the last several days internally
and externally.
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News From Bangladesh
30-point deal with Myanmar for augmenting trade
Saturday August 27 2005 08:00:17 AM BDT

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed on a 30-point deal for withdrawing a
dual-tax system to start formal business in a bigger way and also
enhance co-operation in other fields between the two neighbouring
countries.

The two sides signed agreed minutes on the umbrella agreement here on
Wednesday in the second phase of negotiations. In the first phase of the
negotiations, held September 15-17, 2003 in Yangon, the two sides agreed
on 10 articles of the deal. The remaining 20 articles were finalised in
Dhaka on Wednesday.

AJ Jahir Mohammad, National Board of Revenue (NBR) member (Income and
Tax Policy), and U aye Ko, Myanmar Internal Revenue Department (IRD)
Deputy Director General, signed the agreed minutes for the two sides.
NBR Chairman Khairuzzaman Chowdhury and Myanmar IRD Director Zaw U were
also present at the signing ceremony.

According to NBR sources, it was the 25th agreement on withdrawal of
dual-tax arrangement of Bangladesh with other individual countries. The
major ones of the 30 articles are on shipping and air communications,
dividend, interest, royalty, capital profit and student-trainees.

In the minutes it is stated that the native air authority would pay the
tax in the respective country. The tax would be paid for ship plying at
half the applicable rate. The dividend-recipient person will pay his tax
in his native country while the income from the interest will be payable
in the country wherein the money earned and for royalty the rule will be
the same as of interest.

Students and trainees would be exempt from paying tax on earnings up to
$2,000. After the signing ceremony, AJ Jahir Mohammad told the news
agency that this agreement would now go to the Law Ministry for further
verification and then it would be placed with the cabinet for final
approval.

"Then the last agreement at the highest level of government would be
struck either in Bangladesh or in Myanmar within a possible quick time,"
he said. He also hinted that the Foreign Minister has directed them to
move the agreement in the shortest possible time. "To facilitate
business between the two countries this agreement is very much
essential," the NBR member said.

He hoped that Myanmar could be the alternative source of Bangladesh for
importing various types of essential goods like onions, rice in the
crisis moment. Myanmar IRD Director Zaw U told the news agency that both
Bangladesh and his country would be "benefited through this agreement."
He also hoped that investment would increase in both Bangladesh and
Myanmar as a result of this agreement. (The Independent)
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The International Herald Tribune
News Analysis: Truth goes missing in murky Myanmar
By Seth Mydans, International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2005

BANGKOK Rumors of a coup among the generals who rule Myanmar, Thailand's
closed and repressive neighbor, flared briefly in the past week and then
died away just as suddenly.

Wishful thinking, said Aung Zaw, an émigré journalist from Myanmar who
has seen it all before many times.

Like the rumors in the past, they were plausible. Things have been so
bad for so long in Myanmar, the country once known as Burma, that people
have been saying for years that something has to change.

"There could have been some background to the rumor," said Josef
Silverstein, a specialist on Myanmar at Rutgers University in New
Jersey. "And if not, Burma right now is at a point where it is probably
ripe for some kind of change."

Things do seem to be getting steadily worse for the generals at the
moment. But it remains as unclear as everything else in Myanmar whether
a change in leadership would mean a change of any sort in policy.

Myanmar was forced last month to give up its turn to take the rotating
chairmanship in 2006 of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a
humiliation for Myanmar's leaders, whatever the hidden dynamics behind
it.

In addition, major aid groups have begun withdrawing funds or warning of
cutbacks as the regime tightens restrictions on their operations.

For the past year, since one of the troika that rules in Yangon was
arrested - along with the entire military intelligence empire he
controlled - experts on Myanmar say there has been an atmosphere of
uncertainty and resentment among many military and civilian officials.

The wholesale removal of the country's spy apparatus has left the
government further isolated from the population and blind in the face of
events that have included a rash of bombings earlier this year.

At this point, the military government is more isolated and ostracized
than ever from political and economic contacts with the outside world,
and it continues to share a mutual fear and distrust with its people.

The coup rumor, which first surfaced in a Thai newspaper report, pitted
the remaining two members of the ruling group against each other.

Reports suggested that the No. 2 leader, General Maung Aye, who commands
the army, had seized power from the longtime leader, General Than Shwe,
now 73, who has led Myanmar since 1992. "They are now 18 years governing
the country and they remain deeply unloved by the majority of the
population," said Aung Zaw, who edits Irrawaddy Magazine, a
Thailand-based émigré journal. "That's amazing."

The question was whether having a new man at the top would make much
difference in a country that has been isolated from the world since 1962
and whose ruling junta has harshly suppressed political opposition since
seizing power in 1988 and annulling an election it lost in 1990.

"That's the $64,000 question," said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of
Altsean-Burma, a regional human rights group. Will "Than Shwe - if and
when he is succeeded - will he be replaced by someone more pragmatic and
disposed to dialogue with the opposition?"

There has been no apparent voice for a more modulated approach toward
the opposition since the arrest last October of Lieutenant General Khin
Nyunt, the prime minister and head of military intelligence. As tough as
the rest of them, he had nevertheless appeared to advocate something a
bit more creative than simply locking up the pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. She had been released from house arrest for a year before
being physically attacked and confined again to her home in May 2003,
for the third time in 14 years.

But that does not mean there are not other advocates for change within
an ossified leadership structure that has pursued few new policies as
the country has sunk deeper into poverty and isolation over the past two
decades.

"We are not going to see the true colors of people until they come into
power," Stothard said. "Obviously there are people in the regime who are
more business-minded and pragmatic. But you can't be open about having a
moderate position. Any general who says 'I like dialogue' is basically
someone who has a death wish."

Curiously, Khin Nyunt appears to not have been entirely excluded from
possible future developments in Myanmar. He was sentenced last month to
44 years in prison, but the sentence was suspended and he is believed to
be under house arrest now.

He was convicted of corruption, a rather audacious charge coming from a
government that sustains itself through corruption.

It is unclear whether his removal was the result of a pure power
struggle or of differences over policy. The leniency of his sentence
could be a sign that he still has influential supporters within the
leadership, according to analysts.

Meanwhile, the men in power continue to play on what seems a
one-stringed instrument. Whenever they are faced with criticism, they
retreat into talk of democracy, calling attention to a constitutional
convention that has been held, off and on, since the early 1990s.

In the face of what they clearly see as a threatening world, these
generals educated in jungle warfare retreat, literally, into plans for a
bunker.

According to unofficial reports, they are spending tens of millions of
dollars to move the military headquarters from the capital, Yangon, 580
kilometers, or 360 miles, north to Pyinmana.

For the men who rule this closed and suspicious nation, life has become
a bunker within a bunker.
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Oil & Gas Journal
Thailand in talks for Myanmar Block A1 gas
By an OGJ correspondent

BANGKOK, Aug. 26 -- Thailand has become another potential market for
natural gas from Bay of Bengal Block A1 discoveries off Myanmar (OGJ
Online, May 18, 2005).

Thailand's PTT PLC has begun preliminary discussions with the
five-company consortium that holds a production sharing contract for the
block, near the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh, about delivery of 1
bcfd of gas. South Korea's Daewoo International leads the consortium.

Discussions also include a proposal for PTT's exploration arm, PTT
Exploration & Production PLC (PTTEP), to have a 15% stake in the acreage
and field development venture, according to a senior PTT executive.

The gas would be transported to Thailand through a 1,000-km subsea
transmission line, estimated to cost $2 billion.

PTT and the Block A1 Group expect to discuss the proposal in greater
detail early next year, when further reserves appraisals and the
conceptual plan of A1 field development are available.

Current data indicate the block holds 13.4-47.3 tcf of gas reserves and
can sustain production of 2.1 bcfd for 2 decades.

The PTT executive said the earliest the gas could be delivered to
Thailand is 2012, subject to early conclusion of the gas sales agreement
and farm-in deal.

The A1 consortium has also been in talks with India about gas from the
block through a 550-km pipeline and has considered of an LNG plant,
depending on how much gas is found.

Daewoo obtained a production-sharing license for the block from
Myanmar's Ministry of Energy in August 2000. Daewoo holds a 60% stake.
India's Oil &
Natural Gas Corp. has 20%, and Gas Authority of India Ltd. and Korea Gas
Corp. each holds 10%.
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Peninsula On-line
Rebel threat forces closure of tax office
Web posted at: 8/28/2005 2:36:20
Source ::: IANS

Imphal: Extortion demands by militants have forced the entire taxation
department in this Manipur capital to shut down with employees availing
mass earned leave until the end of this month.

The headquarters of the taxation department was locked since Thursday
after several rebel groups slapped huge extortion demands on officials.
Some of the militant groups have set August 31 as the last date for
meeting their demand.

?Five to six groups have given us extortion notices and the total amount
put together could be Rs7-8m,? an official said.

According to reports, the rebels have threatened to take ?serious
action? if the officials fail to pay up the extortion money before the
deadline. There are some 100 employees in the main office in Imphal. ?We
have been forced to go on leave as the rebels could do anything. They
might even come and kill us in the office,? another official said.

Earlier rebels kidnapped three officials of the department although they
were released later after ransom was apparently paid.

Despite the closure of the office, the state government has done very
little to ensure security, officials complain.

There are some 20 rebel groups active in Manipur, bordering Myanmar,
with demands ranging from secession to autonomy.
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NewKerala.com
Posted on 26 Aug 2005 # IANS
Myanmar leader in Singapore for medical treatment:

Yangon: Myanmar's military leader, Senior General Than Shwe, who was
earlier this week rumoured to have been ousted in a coup, has been flown
to Singapore for medical treatment, a source said Friday.

Than Shwe, 73, was flown to Singapore Wednesday for treatment of an
unspecified illness, the source close to the military leader said.

General Maung Aye - vice chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), as Myanmar's military junta styles itself - is leading
the country in Than Shwe's absence.

Than Shwe has led Myanmar's military regime since 1992.

He was last seen in public Aug 19, when he met with former Indonesian
foreign minister Ali Alatas, who was visiting as a special envoy of UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Rumours have circulated in Yangon since Monday that Than Shwe was either
gravely ill or had been ousted in an internal coup.

The coup rumour was denied by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Thursday.

Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win has reportedly cancelled his
planned goodwill trip to China in response to Than Shwe's sudden
departure.
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FinancialExpress
Donors reaffirm stand against Aids in Burma
Amy Kazmin, FT Syndication Service
8/28/2005

BANGKOK: UN agencies, European governments and international aid
organisations have recently affirmed their commitment to fighting
Burma's Aids epidemic, despite an earlier decision by the Global Fund to
Fight HIV/ Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria to withdraw from the
military-ruled country.

In Rangoon, UN agencies and humanitarian aid donors are discussing how
to fill the financial gap left by the Global Fund, which was to have
spent $98m (euro79.5m, £54m) over the next five years in Burma.
International charities say they will continue to tackle one of
south-east Asia's most serious Aids epidemics.
"It is very regrettable the fund has been terminated but it doesn't mean
that we can't work in Burma in other ways," said Claire Moran, Burma
programme manager for the UK's Department for International Development.

"These diseases are critical humanitarian problems for Burma and ... the
international community as a whole has to look at what can be done," she
said. "We can't wait for a change in the political context."

The Global Fund, a public/ private partnership that has raised $3.7bn in
127 countries, decided recently to terminate its grants for Burma,
citing new travel curbs on foreign aid workers.

The move angered many aid workers, who have advocated more humanitarian
support for Burma despite the country's virtual pariah status in the
west.

"Programmes were just getting started," said Roger Walker, Burma country
director for World Vision. "To have the plug pulled like that has been
devastating,"

Statistics about Burma are sketchy, but up to 610,000 of the country's
50m citizens are living with HIV, about 46,000 of whom are in urgent
need of life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. Multi-drug resistant TB is
also spreading rapidly.

While UNAids is nearing the end of a $24m three-year programme to fight
Aids in Burma, the Global Fund's project was the biggest health
initiative envisioned for the country. The programme was to have
provided anti-retroviral drugs to about 5,000 people over two years,
vastly expand existing condom promotion programmes, increase HIV
testing, provide mosquito nets to prevent malaria, and strengthen TB
controls.

Yet since the funds were approved in August last year the initiative has
been under attack from some US congressmen, who oppose any increase in
aid to Burma, especially if channelled through government officials such
as public health workers.

Some in Rangoon believe the junta's new travel restrictions -- which
have undoubtedly made life more difficult for foreign aid workers --
were a convenient excuse for the fund to back away from the politically
controversial programme.

But one western Aids professional said the Global Fund's initiative for
Burma had been misconceived from the start, and probably would have been
terminated because of its inability to meet stringent performance
benchmarks.

"What we had here was a package of assistance for $98m that was not
viable and not defendable," said one worker. "It was an extreme package
that over-funded government, service in an irresponsible way, and was
not viable from a political, ethical perspective."
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Tax hikes in Burma cause increasing problems for people

Aug 25, 2005 (DVB) - The authorities of Burma?s military junta, State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) have increased taxes on water,
electricity and land eight folds, causing more problems to the
impoverished people of the country.

At Rangoon, tax on a unit of water has risen from 6 kyat 60 pya to 55
kyat and municipal tax has gone up six folds. Despite the tax hikes,
water and electricity shortages are still regular events while garbage
collectors never do their jobs regularly, local residents complained.

Meanwhile, the price of basic consumer commodities such as rice, cooking
oil and salt has been rising steadily.

Residents from Rangoon and Moulmein told DVB that the number of beggars
has also been increasing steadily in their cities. These so-called
beggars range from very young children to frail, old people who not only
beg for money but also food leftovers, by going from house to house.

At the Thai border town of Maesod near Myawaddy in southeast Burma,
thousands of poor and desperate Burmese people flocked to a Chinese
temple on 25 August, to beg for donations from the Chinese community
whose members are celebrating a traditional festival of feeding the
ghosts of ancestors. An eye witness said the place was jam-packed with
legal and illegal Burmese scrambling for free snacks and monetary
donations.
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Rumour of coup is Burma junta?s way of warding off evil

Aug 25, 2005 (DVB) - Recent rumours of the ouster of Burma?s military
junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman Gen Than
Shwe, were deliberately spread by the junta as part of a ploy to ward
off evil, according to fortune-tellers and astrologers in Rangoon.

The junta is warding off evil because on 26 & 27 August Tuesday Planet
(Mars) is approaching Earth to the nearest point. According to the
astrologers, the Burmese generals believe that when Mars was at the
nearest point to Earth there were examples of rulers fighting among
themselves for power.

?They spread a piece of news of the change of rulers in Burma as a way
of warding off evil. They ?broadcast? a piece of false news of some
kings creating a new one,? an astrologer said. ?They also used to ward
off evil this way by spreading false news or rumours in ancient times.
As a result, they say that if your warding off evil is good, you make
pretenders disappear.?

Many people believe that the warding off evil was initiated and carried
out by Than Shwe?s wife Kyaing Kyaing who is said to be very
superstitious. While Than Shwe is apparently not very healthy, his wife
seems to be more worried by the approach of Mars to the nearest point to
Earth. When DVB asked the astrologer why Mars should affect Burma, he
said the planet would not only affect Burma, there could be some
extraordinary events throughout the world.

?By nature, when there was an influence of Mars on Burma or when there
were changes in the position of Mars, there were examples of
extraordinary events occurring in Burma. We regard that there is a
psychological connection with Mars when it comes to the events in
Burma.?

He added that Mars also affected Burma when she won independence from
Britain in 1948. After independence, many Burmese politicians consulted
astrologers, but the practice became more established among Burmese
rulers since Gen Ne Win seized power in a coup in 1962.
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BBC News - 27 August, 2005 - Published 23:14 GMT
UN envoy says junta chief was healthy when they met

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy Mr. Ali Alatas told the
BBC that Senior General Than Shwe was in good health when they met on
August 19.

There is a mystery over the whereabouts of the junta strongman as he has
not been seen in public since his meeting with Mr. Alatas. A popular
belief in Rangoon is that he is in hospital because of failed health.

Mr. Alatas said General Than Shwe was in his usual self and they
discussed matters of UN reforms at length.

Mr. Alatas said he did not talk about domestic politics with junta
leaders.
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