Burma Related News - Nov 26, 2005.

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOVEMBER 26, 2005.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - House arrest for Myanmar's Suu Kyi expected to be extended
AFP - Myanmar leader warns of foreign coercion
Pravda - Myanmar opposition calls for release of political prisoners in
National Day
Kyodo News - Myanmar commemorates 85th National Day
The Star Online - 25 with fake work permits arrested
NSTP - Rescued Thai nationals sent home
AI - Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi must be released
IHT ThaiDay - The journalist, the diplomat and the soldier
Xinhuanet - New Myanmar modernized textile factory goes into production
NewKerala.com - Treasure hunting for Burmese rubies at IITF
ABC - Singapore's links with Burma under scrutiny
The Standard - The Burma question
DVB News - NLD & Veteran Politicians repeat call for release of Burmese
prisoners
DVB News - NLD members at Pyinmana interrogated by Burma agents
DVB News - Su Su Nway?s appeal rejected by Rangoon Division court
VOA News - Rights Activists Call for UN Action Against Burma Gets
Attention
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Friday November 25, 5:06 PM
House arrest for Myanmar's Suu Kyi expected to be extended

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will likely
spend another year under house arrest, a source close to the military
said as the country's pro-democracy party demanded the release of
political prisoners.

"Despite strident calls for (Aung San Suu Kyi's) immediate release,
there are signs that the military authorities are preparing to extend
her house arrest for another year," the source told AFP.

"An official delegation is expected to inform her about the extension on
this Sunday," he said as Myanmar celebrated its national day.

Aung San Suu Kyi, secretary general of the National League for Democracy
(NLD), has been under house arrest since May 2003. She has spent more
than 10 of the last 16 years in detention, her supporters say.

Her house arrest was last renewed for one year in November 2004.

The expected extension of her house arrest will come just weeks before
Myanmar resumes its National Convention, where handpicked delegates are
drafting a new constitution as part of the junta's "road map" to
democracy.

The international community has condemned the convention, which has been
boycotted by the NLD, while US President George W. Bush recently
pressured the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a
tougher stance on the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and force the
pace of reform.

The junta still holds more than 1,100 political prisoners, according to
Amnesty International, including NLD deputy Tin Oo.

"The immediate release of Tin Oo, Aung San Suu Kyi, Khun Tun Oo and
other political prisoners is the most important step," to show that
Myanmar's military rulers are serious about reform, the NLD said in a
statement Friday.

About 300 people gathered at the NLD's headquarters to celebrate
national day, which was marked by Myanmar's top military leader with a
warning that foreign powers were trying to discredit the government.

"The neo-colonialists, instead of ... resorting to force, are trying to
encroach on and dominate others through the media, with economic, human
rights and narcotics excuses," Senior General Than Shwe was reported as
saying by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper during national day
celebrations.

"We all need to guard the nation against their preparations with
national awareness that originates in patriotism," Than Shwe said in his
message.

Both the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on
Myanmar for its suppression of the pro-democracy movement as
international pressure on the isolated country mounts.

Earlier this month the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution slamming
systematic human rights violations in Myanmar, including extrajudicial
killings, torture, rape, forced labor and harassment of political
opponents.

The NLD won 1990 elections but was never allowed to govern. Its regional
offices remain shuttered and many of its officers have been detained
over the years.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
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Friday November 25, 4:23 PM
Myanmar leader warns of foreign coercion

YANGON (AFP) - Foreign powers are using accusations of human rights
abuses and drugs trafficking to discredit Myanmar's government and
infiltrate the isolated Southeast Asian nation, the country's leader
warned.

"The neo-colonialists, instead of ... resorting to force, are trying to
encroach on and dominate others through the media, with economic, human
rights and narcotics excuses," Senior General Than Shwe was reported as
saying by the Light of Myanmar newspaper during national day
celebrations.

"We all need to guard the nation against their preparations with
national awareness that originates in patriotism," Than Shwe said in his
message.

US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have
pressured ASEAN to take a tougher stance on the junta in Myanmar to win
the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and force the pace
of reform.

Earlier this month the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution slamming
systematic human rights violations in Myanmar, including extrajudicial
killings, torture, rape, forced labor and harassment of political
opponents.

Both the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on
Myanmar for its suppression of the pro-democracy movement. Myanmar has
been ruled by the military since 1962.
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NewsFromRussia.com
Myanmar opposition calls for release of political prisoners in National
Day
15:55 2005-11-25

The party of detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
marked National Day with calls Friday for the country's military rulers
to free her and other political prisoners. Meanwhile, the chairman of
the ruling junta, officially called the State Peace and Development
Council, used the occasion to call for unity against Western
"neocolonialists."

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, and her deputy Tin Oo have been
detained since May 2003 when a pro-government mob attacked her and her
followers as she toured northern Myanmar. After the attack, the
government launched a crackdown on her National League for Democracy,
closing party offices throughout the country.

"We demand the immediate and unconditional release" of NLD Vice Chairman
Tin Oo and General Secretary Suu Kyi, said a National Day message read
out by party member Win Myint at a ceremony at NLD headquarters in the
capital, Yangon. Some 200 NLD members, veteran politicians and
journalists attended the ceremony, in which the NLD also called for the
release of ethnic Shan political party leaders and other political
prisoners, as well as the reopening of NLD offices outside the capital.

The term "neocolonialists" is usually used for Western nations that
criticize the military regime for its poor human rights record and
refusal to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Western powers also accuse the junta of tolerating a massive trade in
illicit drugs.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a 1990 general
election called by the military, which then refused to convene
Parliament. Than Shwe also urged the people to help make the junta's
planned transition to democracy a success.

In 2003, the junta declared the seven-point road map toward democracy
and convened a National Convention to guide the process. The National
Convention, which adjourned in March, will resume in December. The NLD
has called the convention a sham and has refused to participate, reports
the AP.
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Friday November 25, 5:54 PM
Myanmar commemorates 85th National Day

(Kyodo) _ Myanmar commemorated Friday the 85th anniversary of National
Day, which marks the birth of Myanmar's independence movement, with both
the military government and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy issuing statements.

In a message, junta chief Sr. Gen. Than Shwe urged the people to guard
the country against "neo-colonialists" who are trying to encroach on
other countries and to strive for the successful implementation of a
state-sponsored seven-point road map to democracy.

"The entire national people should make collaborative efforts in unison
with nationalistic fervor, patriotism and union spirit for successful
implementation of the state's seven-point road map," Than Shwe said in
the message reported by state-run newspapers.

The road map, which was declared by the government in August 2003,
includes the resumption of the suspended national convention to write a
constitution as the first step, and the formation of a democratic
government by members elected in a general election.

The NLD, in its statement, reiterated its call for the release of all
political prisoners, including party Vice Chairman Tin Oo and General
Secretary Suu Kyi, to create a favorable environment for dialogue with
the junta.

"As proof of the State Peace and Development Council's objective of
achieving national reconciliation, we demand the immediate and
unconditional release of NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo and General
Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

Win Myint, an NLD member elected in the 1990 general election, read the
message in a ceremony at the party headquarters in Yangon.

After the NLD won 392 of the 485 seats in parliament in the 1990
election, the military government prevented the convening of parliament
to form a new government on grounds that a constitution must be drawn up
before any power transfer.

About 200 NLD members and supporters gathered for the National Day
ceremony Friday afternoon.

National Day is a public holiday that commemorates a boycott by Yangon
University students 85 years ago who protested rigid regulations imposed
on students by British colonial rulers.

On Dec. 5, 1920, students of Yangon University staged a strike
protesting the new regulations.

After the strike spread to all high schools in the country, education
authorities of the British government changed the regulations and the
rebellion inspired Myanmar's independence movement.

National Day is annually celebrated according to the Myanmar lunar
calendar and usually falls in November.
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The Star Online - Saturday November 26, 2005
25 with fake work permits arrested

PUTRAJAYA: Twenty-five foreigners at an ice-cream factory in Balakong,
Selangor, have been nabbed for having fake work permits.

The manager of the factory, a local man, was also detained for hiring
them, said Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed.

The raid on Thursday came after three Myanmar men were arrested at the
KL International Airport as they were departing for home.

?Immigration officials at the airport found that the three had fake work
permit stickers in their passports and they were working at the
ice-cream factory.

?A team went to the factory and arrested 10 Myanmar men, three women,
five Cambodian women, six Indonesian women and a Pakistani man. All had
fake work permits,? Ishak said in a statement yesterday.

Ishak said the manager claimed that the ?work permits? were handled by a
local agent and that he was not aware the stickers were false.

Under the Immigration Act, those found guilty of having fake work
permits can be fined not more than RM10,000 or jailed for five years.

Those who employ more than five persons illegally can be jailed up to
five years, and shall also be liable to whipping.
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New Straits Times - Saturday, November 26 2005, 4:57:33 PM
Rescued Thai nationals sent home
PUTRAJAYA, Fri

Nine Thai women who were rescued after being smuggled here for the
flesh trade, were sent home today.
The women were accompanied by Thai immigration police and Malaysian
immigration officers in an all-night drive from the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport Immigration Depot where they had been kept since
their rescue last month.

Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said they arrived
at the Bukit Kayu Hitam immigration complex at 6am and were received by
Songkhla police. They were later taken to a welfare centre where they
will undergo rehabilitation before returning to their families.

Ishak said the women were found by police in Johor Baru during a raid on
a nightclub early last month. They were then brought to the Immigration
headquarters in Putrajaya for identification and documentation.

There are still 10 more foreign women, at the depots.

Ishak said the department faced difficulty sending them home because the
embassies of their countries here could not supply travel documents for
the women.

"It has something to do with their being from minority ethnic groups
living along the borders of their countries," Ishak said.

In a separate case, 24 foreigners were arrested for working using forged
work permits at the Polar Ice Cream Sdn Bhd factory in Balakong,
Selangor.

Ten men and two women from Myanmar, five Cambodian women, six Indonesian
women and a Pakistani man were arrested yesterday during a raid by 22
immigration officials.

The factory manager, a Malaysian, was also detained. He claimed he did
not know the permits were false because he had used an agent to get the
permits.

Ishak said the department had placed the factory under surveillance ever
since three of its workers from Myanmar tried to leave Malaysia but were
arrested at KLIA for having forged permits.
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Amnesty International
Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi must be released
Press release, 11/25/2005

The Burmese authorities must not extend the house arrest of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi beyond the expiry of the current detention order this Sunday,
Amnesty International said today.

Following media reports that the authorities may be planning to extend
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest for another year, Amnesty
International called for her immediate and unconditional release, along
with other political leaders imprisoned for their peaceful political
activities.

"The detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders
wrongfully imprisoned in Myanmar is a travesty of justice," said
Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia Director at Amnesty International. "The
Burmese authorities should take this opportunity to release all peaceful
critics, and advance measures to allow political dialogue to take place
without fear of recrimination."

The authorities in Myanmar are currently preparing to reconvene the
National Convention to draft a constitution on 5 December 2005. They
plan to adopt provisions on legislative powers and sharing
administrative and judicial powers. The authorities have reportedly
hinted in the past that they may release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at an
unspecified date when the National Convention is finished.

?It is unacceptable that authorities are holding individuals hostage to
the political process and are grossly abusing judicial procedures to do
so. The continued detention of legitimate delegates to the National
Convention removes government critics from the important process of
drafting provisions for the country?s political future. It weakens the
credibility of both this process and its outcome and is a significant
obstacle to resolving Myanmar?s longstanding human rights crisis,? said
Catherine Baber

"Instead of keeping key political figures under lock and key, the
authorities should be advancing measures to allow peaceful political
dialogue without fear of recrimination. They must release all prisoners
of conscience, and repeal laws and practises which have for too long
been used to penalize peaceful dissent."

Background

Opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest
and her detention order expires on Sunday 27 November. She has been
detained for more than ten of the last sixteen years. She has never been
charged or tried. Arrests of political leaders have increased in the
last year, and at least five MPs were given lengthy prison terms,
including U Khun Htun Oo and U Kyaw Min. Other political leaders are
also serving lengthy prison sentences solely for their peaceful
opposition to the authorities. MPs Dr Than Nyein, 67, Daw May Win Myint,
55, and U Shwe Ohn, 82, are amongst those being held without charge or
trial.
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Manager Online | IHT ThaiDay
The journalist, the diplomat and the soldier
By Ian Neubauer - 23 November 2005 15:43

>From outside its borders, three campaigners fight for democracy in
Myanmar, using very different methods

Recent developments in Myanmar ? including the government?s relocation
to a remote jungle compound, the extended detention of Nobel Peace Prize
recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and ongoing reports of forced labor, ethnic
purging and widescale rapes ? have drawn more stringent international
condemnation from world leaders. In light of these events, ThaiDay
speaks to three campaigners about their different opinions and
approaches to restoring democracy to the military-ruled state.

The journalist

In 1997, a team of Burmese exiles based in Chiang Mai began The
Irrawaddy, a magazine covering Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Featuring a
maelstrom of news, commentary, cartoons and interviews, The Irrawaddy is
recognized as one of the foremost voices of dissent against Myanmar?s
regime. And though the magazine is still in its infancy with a monthly
circulation of only 3,000 copies, the publication?s website
(www.irrawaddy.org) is huge. Seven million people visit the site each
month, according to web-hosting company Visual Horizons.

The Irrawaddy?s 23-member team of reporters and support staff is headed
by Aung Zaw, 37, a former student activist who was once imprisoned and
tortured inside Yangon?s notorious Insein prison. Aung fled to Thailand
on foot along with thousands of Burmese after mass demonstrations for
regime change in 1988 led to a military coup and the permanent
imposition of martial law. More than 4,000 protestors were killed, while
thousands more were arrested and imprisoned in lieu of due process.

?I was in prison for only a week but was severely tortured,? Aung
recalls. ?There were all forms of inhumane treatment ? techniques and
methods to make you lose your dignity and integrity.?

Aung began battling the regime from Thailand in the early 1990s. After
teaching himself to write ?journalese? by deconstructing press releases
from rights-based NGOs Amnesty International and Asiawatch, he began
working on a freelance basis for the Bangkok Post and The Nation. In
1992 he set up his own media organization, the Burma Information Group,
from which The Irrawaddy sprung.

?I was an activist but I now see my role as a journalist,? Aung says. He
explains how The Irrawaddy is an independent publication not affiliated
with any political group or organization.

?We do receive funding from groups like the Open Society Institute [a
private grantmaking foundation chaired by US financial tycoon George
Soros] and some other European and American organizations,? he says,
adding that while the publication still runs at a loss, they have begun
to invest more time and effort in the marketing side of the operation to
boost circulation.

Content for The Irrawaddy is fed by a network of covert sources ?
diplomats, students, activists and NGO workers ? who report from
Myanmar, sometimes under grave risk. Aung says that one of his sources
was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in 1996 after the junta
busted him for sending correspondence to Aung?s mailing address in
Bangkok. Despite the ongoing danger, Aung asserts that it is actually
getting easier to procure information from inside Myanmar because people
there are becoming more resourceful and outspoken. ?It?s amazing. We
have so many sources,? he says, ?and our contact list is expanding...so
by default we are encouraging freedom of speech.?

Aung says he is confident that it is only a matter of time until the
regime collapses.

?Last year, if someone was to tell me that the government [in Myanmar]
was about to fall, I wouldn?t have believed it. But this year, with all
the incidents taking place ? bomb attacks, power struggles, economic
problems, international pressure and the move to Pyinmana ? I see there
is hope. The regime is getting old and so is its leadership. They are
reaching a breaking point.

?When this happens we are hoping to go back to Burma and relaunch our
publication there,? he continues. ?That?s our mission.?

The diplomat

UN special rapporteur for Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has the
unenviable privilege of being one of a number of emissaries whom
Myanmar?s military junta refuses to allow into the country. Since
November 2003, he has been forced to report from the Thai-Myanmar border
region and his offices in Bangkok, New York and Geneva. Nevertheless, he
has carried out his duties with an unflinching and diplomatic eye.

?I did not come to Myanmar to teach lessons,? he says regarding his
earlier visits to the country at a packed press conference at the
Foreign Correspondents? Club of Thailand last Friday. ?I try not to tell
authorities I know more than they do, but approach them as an interested
friend with experience to help solve some of their problems.?

And experienced he is. A professor of political science who has lectured
in universities in France, the United States and his native Brazil, the
61-year-old has committed his professional life to the fight for
worldwide democracy and justice. Since 1988 alone, he has published 12
authoritative essays on issues as diverse as urban violence, law and
children?s rights. He has also held human rights monitoring missions in
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Haiti, Burundi and Togo, and
worked as the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burundi between
1995 and 1999.

With his current four-year mandate coming to end in early 2006, Pinheiro
is preparing a final report on progress of the regime?s self-defined
seven-step road map to democracy, as well as a special report for the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

While Pinheiro cites the continued detainment of political prisoners
like Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the Shan ethnic minority to
highlight the appalling state of human rights in Myanmar, he is
guardedly optimistic about the regime?s stated commitment to change.

?It is with this spirit that I continue to appeal to the authorities,?
he says, noting that ?there are no black-and-white solutions? for any
countrywide political transition, that the world should not treat
Myanmar as an especially difficult case.

?Every political transition is complicated [and] no country in the world
has the right to instrumentalize another. That?s not the way things work
in the international community,? he continues, in a veiled reference to
comments like those of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who
regularly chides Myanmar?s neighbors for not doing more to press for
democratic reform there. ?Sometimes I get the impression that [western
nations] are writing a play and [expect] Asian countries must play
along.?

Pinheiro is also highly critical of sanctions as a means to keep the
junta in check, such as those taken in August by the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to stop funding projects in
Myanmar. ?The decision to withdraw aid was wrong,? he says.
?Humanitarian aid cannot be held hostage to political agendas.?

Asked to comment on the effectiveness of his mandate, and whether he has
become frustrated with the lack of improvement and reform in Myanmar,
Pinheiro replies with an equanimous sense of modesty that speaks
volumes.

?It is a special thing to be a rapporteur. We have to operate in fields
of contradictions,? he says. ?Others could have been more competent or
efficient...[But] if [Myanmar?s] victims think I have been useful, then
I?m happy.?

The soldier

Seventeen years have passed since Myint Wai discarded his military
uniform. Yet he still considers himself a loyal soldier of Myanmar, or
Burma, as he prefers to call it.

?Of the people, by the people, for the people,? he says, citing Suu
Kyi?s father, General Aung San, the pro-independence hero who led the
resistance movement that fought the Japanese during World War II, or
recalling the words of Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address. ?This
should be the main objective of the army and I request [Myanmar?s
unelected ruler] General Than Shwe to practice the real responsibility
of a professional soldier.?

Interviewed outside the Bangkok office of the Thai Action Committee for
Democracy in Burma (TACDB), an NGO for which the 47-year-old former Air
Force lance corporal now works as a Burmese affairs officer, Myint
recalls the events that led up to his exile following the August 1988
military coup in Yangon.

?I was providing shelter for dissidents,? he says. ?This was very
important because after the coup they were searching everywhere for
them. But some of my friends found out that military intelligence [was
on to me], so I decided to leave.?

In mid-October of the same year, Myint chartered a small boat to take
nine fellow deserters and himself across the Bay of Bengal, to Ranong in
southern Thailand, where they immediately began planning for their
return journey. ?Our aim when we came was not to seek asylum but to
prepare arms to return to Burma. That was our mission,? he says.

Pragmatism, however, eventually got the better of the proud soldier, and
by 1990 Myint had applied for and received permission to reside legally
at a UNHCR refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border area. But the
inactivity that exiles are often forced to endure in camps became too
much for Myint. In 1993 he canceled his refugee status and moved to
Bangkok, where he was arrested the following year for being an illegal
alien. Myint currently enjoys restricted refugee status under the
auspices of the UNHCR ? so long as he stays in Bangkok.

?I never considered myself an illegal,? Myint says, with accelerating
momentum. ?I am a human being. I should be able to choose where I stay,
where I visit, whenever I want. I am not a criminal. I left my country
because of injustice and persecution.?

Myint says he is extremely grateful to his Thai hosts, particularly his
Thai wife, though he accuses certain high-ranking members of Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra?s administration of prioritizing commercial
dealings with Myanmar?s junta before its pledge to help restore
democracy there.

?This policy is not in the long-term interests of Thailand because
Burma?s problems are being exported to Thailand,? he insists, citing the
continued influx of social and economic ills such as refugees, illegal
laborers, sex workers, methamphetamines and spread of diseases like AIDS
and malaria.

Myint and the three other permanent staff members of the TACDB are thus
focusing their efforts on persuading Thailand to nullify its commercial
contracts with the junta and offer more support to the country?s exiled
democracy movement. The most effective way to accomplish this, Myint
says, is to make Thais more aware of their country?s ?unofficial?
foreign policy.

?Unlike Burma, the Thai government gets its power from the people. If
the Thai people knew what was happening they would force change,? he
states with the confidence of a whistle-blower.

?This is a civilized Buddhist society and I know the Thai people
sympathize with us. They should not allow their government to pursue a
policy that exploits the people of Burma.?
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New Myanmar modernized textile factory goes into production
www.chinaview.cn 2005-11-25 20:21:31

YANGON, Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A new and modernized spinning and weaving
factory in northwestern part of Myanmar went into production Friday.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Myanmar Prime Minister General
Soe Win and several other ministers as well as Chinese Ambassador to
Myanmar Guan Mu and Chinese experts.

Meeting with the Chinese ambassador on the sideline of the ceremony, Soe
Win said Myanmar has a superiority in natural resources, while China
possesses that in capital. Myanmar welcomes Chinese companies to come
for investment and development, he added.

The factory, situated in Salingyi township in Sagaing division, was
built by the China National Constructional and Agricultural Machinery
Import and Export Corporation under a contract signed between the
Myanmar Ministry of Industry-1 and the Chinese company in June 2001.

The factory, designed with 29,760 spindles and 828 auto shuttle looms,
produces 1,705 tons of cotton yarn and 10.37 million meters of cotton
fabrics annually.
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NewKerala.com
Posted on 26 Nov 2005 # IANS
Treasure hunting for Burmese rubies at IITF
By Lola Nayar, New Delhi:

Delectable Burmese rubies, diamonds and other gemstones are casting a
spell on buyers who are rushing to the Myanmar jewellery stalls at the
India International Trade Fair (IITF) with the zeal of treasure hunters.

"I brought my wife here only to buy Burma rubies, which are really
special. I may never visit Myanmar but wanted to buy my wife a ring with
Burma rubies," said Yashwant Singh, even as his wife bargained hard.

In true Asian tradition, Singh's wife did get a discount on her
selection of a ruby and diamond ring -- being the first customer of the
day.

But Kyi Kyi Win of Htike Htike Jewellery of Yangon, the seller, did not
seem too happy with the response this year.

"There are three jewellery companies from Myanmar here this year. The
sales have not been too good, given the high price of gold.
Unfortunately, people here do not factor in the rise in gold price and
seem to expect last year's levels," Win told IANS.

This year jewellers from Myanmar have a vantage position in the
exhibition hall, having taken larger space to better manage the crowds
that mill around their stalls.

People have been thronging right since the morning during business
hours, when barring pass-holders others have to pay a hefty entry fee.

But as one of the buyers said: "The fee is worth it if one can get a
bargain by coming in the morning and also avoid the afternoon rush."

Considering the number of senior officials and trade delegates making a
beeline for the Myanmar stalls, sales might turn out to be pretty good
in the next couple of days before the fortnight-long trade fair draws to
a close Sunday.

The products on offer range from Rs.3,000 to Rs.50,000. While the
preference of most customers is Burmese ruby-studded jewellery articles,
there are many takers for other gemstones from Myanmar as well.

"Exporting jewellery to India is not easy as we do not know the market
too well. We would prefer that Indian importers come to Myanmar to make
the selection. We come here mainly for retail sales and to make business
contacts," said U Sein Win of Say Lwe Jewellery.

Unwilling to bargain beyond a point, Sein Win said: "We cannot sell at a
loss. Many of those who bought from us last year are coming back
expecting the same price but how can that be possible? The price of gold
has gone up from $260 per oz to $485 per oz now."

Convincing buyers about the genuineness of the gemstones is also posing
a problem for the Myanmarese jewellers.

Said Kyi Kyi Win: "Our government does not allow us to bring any product
for exhibition overseas until it is sure of the quality. As such our
products are genuine gemstones."
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1517205.htm
Broadcast: 25/11/2005
Singapore's links with Burma under scrutiny
Reporter: Tom Iggulden

MAXINE McKEW: As with the vast majority of the heroin smuggled in our
region, the drugs Van Nguyen was caught with are believed to have
originated in Burma, also known as Myanmar. And that's refocused
attention on the links between Burma and Singapore. Some accuse the
island state of being tough on couriers while protecting those who
manufactured the drugs he was carrying.

Tom Iggulden reports.

TOM IGGULDEN: Allegations that Singapore protects Burma's drug barons
have been circulating for a decade or more.

DR CHEE SOON JUAN, SINGAPORE OPPOSITION LEADER: It was the Australian
SBS Television itself that actually did a documentary showing the link
between Singapore Government's investments in Burma that are tied in
together with Asia World, a company that's owned and run by the
notorious Lo Hsing Han.

TOM IGGULDEN: And tonight there are new claims that Singaporean banks
are helping Burmese drug lords process profits from the heroin trade.

DR SEAN TURNELL, BURMA ECONOMIC WATCH: Singapore's banks, in conjunction
with some other overseas banks, help the Burmese Government evade US
sanctions.

TOM IGGULDEN: Economics professor Sean Turnell gained deep knowledge of
the Burmese economic system as an analyst for the Reserve Bank of
Australia. Now at Macquarie University's Economics and Finance
Department, he's a world authority on Burma's secretive economy.

DR SEAN TURNELL: Where the Singapore banks are rumoured to come in is to
allow the Burmese regime and the drugs traffickers in Burma to earn
other than US dollars - to convert US dollar earnings into other
currencies - and in so, doing avert some of the sanctions imposed by the
US.

TOM IGGULDEN: That would undermine the determined efforts by the US to
throttle South-East Asia's biggest narcotics producer.

DR SEAN TURNELL: The extent to which Singapore's financial sector could
do that without the knowledge of the Singapore Government I think is
very remote.

TOM IGGULDEN: And money flows from Singapore to Burma in other ways too.
After being the first country to invest in Burma's economy in the
mid-'90s, Singapore remains Burma's biggest foreign investor, despite
recent inflows from neighbours such as China and India.

DR SEAN TURNELL: There's no direct evidence linking Singapore
investments to the narcotics trade, but there is substantial Singaporean
investment in real estate, in hotels, in tourism and other areas of
Burma's economy, which don't seem to make sense on economic grounds.

TOM IGGULDEN: Today, the Singaporean High Commission in Canberra issued
a statement responding to the persistent claims of a close relationship
between the Asian economic powerhouse and Burma.

EXCERPT SINGAPORE HIGH COMMISSION STATEMENT: It is absurd to suggest
that the Singapore Government is covertly collaborating with major drug
producers and traffickers in Myanmar to help them launder drug money.
Our tough laws against drug trafficking are well known, and they include
provisions for the seizure of assets of those convicted of drug
trafficking. This is an old allegation, which had been discredited as
early as 1996."

TOM IGGULDEN: And the Australian Government agrees. A spokesman for
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Lateline: "No-one can be in any
doubt about the Singapore Government's commitment to stamping out the
drug trade. We support them in that, but we don't support capital
punishment."

But that's not good enough for the Greens.

KERRY NETTLE, GREENS SENATOR: I think there's an element of hypocrisy in
the way in which the Singaporean Government is saying we want to be
tough on drugs by killing a first-time drug offender, but we're not
prepared to take the steps that others in our region need to take with
us to ensure that we reduce the opium trade in the region. Rather
they're investing in a country that's one of the significant
opium-producing countries in the word.

TOM IGGULDEN: The Singapore Government has reiterated today all its
investments in Burma are above board.
**************************************************************
The Standard
The Burma question
Lonely Planet's latest guide to the country has reignited the debate on
the link between tourism and human rights abuses, writes Sam Chambers
Saturday, November 26, 2005

Burma will be here for many years, so tell your friends to visit us
later. Visiting now is tantamount to condoning the regime." - Aung San
Suu Kyi

It's one of the most debated questions among the backpacking class, an
ethical dilemma that divides and angers politically conscious travelers
like no other - to go or not to go to Burma.

The issue is in the limelight again this month as Lonely Planet releases
the latest edition of its country guide, the mere presence of which
raises the hackles of organizations opposed to Burma's harsh military
rulers.

It is also something the Australia- based publisher is well-versed in
defending.

"Our aim in publishing this guide," says Anna Bolger, marketing
communications manager for Lonely Planet, "is to provide objective
information to help travelers make informed decisions about whether or
not to visit Burma. No one reading our guide could be in any doubt about
our opinion of the current regime, which we describe as `abominable."'

Many of Burma's democrats, including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide victory in
the parliamentary elections of May 1990 only to see the results thrown
out by the ruling junta, have called for a tourism boycott.

They say tourist dollars simply go to the regime and tourism development
has occasioned large-scale human rights violations. "As long as they
maintain that call, we will support them," says Anna Roberts,
information and campaigns manager for Burma Campaign UK, an activist
group.

"By producing a tourist guide, Lonely Planet helps facilitate and
promote tourism to the country," she maintains.

Lonely Planet argues that theirs is one of very few sources of reliable
information for travelers "to maximize their support for the local
population, and minimize the prospect of any money they might spend
going to the military regime," says Bolger.

"Our decision to publish is not a show of support for the current regime
and we fully support the restoration of democracy. We do not, however,
believe you create new freedoms by stifling information or banning
books."

The argument that tourists play into the hands of a brutal pariah regime
is convincing.

Since Burma opened up to more tourism after the present military junta
crushed massive democracy protests in 1988, over US$1.1 billion (HK$8.5
billion) has been invested in the hotel and tourism industry, according
to the Burma Campaign UK.

That money helps sustain military rule, campaigners say. The capricious
regime is accused of using forced labor and mandatory relocations to
build hotels, restaurants, roads, railways and other facilities.
Official figures estimate Burma earned US$100 million from tourism in
2001-02.

"While foreign investment has flowed into Burma and enabled the regime
to expand the armed forces from 180,000 personnel to around 500,000, the
country's health, education and public services have almost collapsed.
The regime spends nearly half the government budget on the military but
less than 44 pence [HK$6] per person per year on health and education
combined," says Roberts.

She is adamant that by opting to visit Burma, tourists are prolonging
the misery of the population. "The greatest obstacle to prosperity for
people in Burma is the regime itself," she says.

"The more revenue it is able to earn from tourism and foreign
investment, the longer it will be able to stay in power."

This kind of thinking has been behind a number of boycotts of companies
doing business in Burma and helped convince Pepsi, Liz Claiborne, Amoco
and Levi Strauss, among others, to pull out their operations.

But is isolation good for the people? Does a guy selling Buddha statues
to tourists at Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda deserve to lose his meager
income because well-meaning Westerners stay away?

These are tricky questions and Australia-based Voices for Burma says
that sanctions and boycotts only make the regime more introverted,
xenophobic and oppressive, while the people are poorer for the
isolation. The lack of jobs also makes it easier, they say, for richer
neighboring countries like Thailand and China to exploit Burmese
laborers.

"Voices For Burma [VFB] believes that to support Burmese people we need
to be alongside them," writes James Mawdsley on the group's Web site.
"For those who are prepared, it will open up countless opportunities to
give concrete assistance."

Mawdsley has taken this advice repeatedly, traveling three times to the
country to stage one-man protests. Each time he was arrested, the last
time in 1999 when he was sentenced to 17 years in prison but released 10
months later.

It is unclear how Mawdsley helped Burmese democracy activists with his
protests but he became famous worldwide and wrote a book about his
experiences. He was praised in Britain as a hero by some but became an
object of considerable controversy in activist circles.

Writing about Mawdsley in the respected exile publication, The
Irrawaddy, editor Aung Zaw said the Briton's stunts had made life harder
for activists inside Burma and actually hurt their cause. In the same
magazine, Nor Grace, a Burmese woman, said Mawdsley does not speak for
the democracy movement.

"By using Burma and our problems, he has tried to seek fame and personal
gain. He was nobody [in London], but by getting involved in Burma, he
became somebody," she said.

The Mawdsley tale is a cautionary one, perhaps, that visiting is one
thing, but thinking you are helping the democracy movement by doing so,
is quite another.

Still, Andrew Gray, co-director of Voice of Burma, says he is just
trying to minimize the money the regime might make from a given visit.
This can be difficult. It is impossible to know who is part of the
regime - a taxi driver, room clerk or tour guide, for example, might
have links with military intelligence.

Both VFB and Lonely Planet suggest the politically aware traveler stay
in cheaper places to guarantee that if the regime does have some
connection with the establishment, the small amount spent will have only
a small impact.

VFB also asks tourists to maximize their spending on small stalls and
cafes that are unlikely to be a profit center for the generals. It
advises tourists to use private bus companies, private cars and tour
guides, and to buy handicrafts and artwork from local shops instead of
government-sanctioned souvenir shops.

"Tourists can go to Burma as tourists and not visit the tourist sites,"
Gray suggests, although it is hard to imagine a visit to Rangoon without
seeing the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda and coughing up the US$5 entry
fee.

"It is not the attractions that fascinate us, it is the people and the
culture," he says.

"Almost all exile organizations and outside political groups adhere to
Aung San Suu Kyi's call for tourists to boycott the country," says Aung
Ngai Oo, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand. "But they are really
thinking of the big tour groups, the kind that come in on buses and
never have any contact with the people. Those groups help the
government."

The sort of travel that Voices for Burma and Lonely Planet promote is
lower scale and not as offensive, says Aung Ngai Oo. "A more ethical
tourism is better," he says. "and the people inside Burma need the
income."

Clearly, the numbers of tourists entering are limited though they are
growing, up from 62,000 in 1994 to 202,000 last year.

The controversy is a spirited one and, as time has passed, some have
even switched sides.

The Free Burma Coalition, made up of Burmese dissidents in exile,
decided in 2003 that sanctions and travel boycotts were not working.

"Our people are unhappy living in poverty and oppression, but they are
also unconvinced that isolating the country economically, intellectually
and politically will make their situation any better," the coalition
said at the time.

"Putting the country's interests above ideology, and prejudices against
the rulers, we have challenged publicly the orthodoxy of sanctions and
boycotts as the only lever for change in our country."

The debate has prompted Lonely Planet to double the size of the "Should
You Go?" section in the latest edition of the guide book. The authors
aim to help travelers gauge the pros and cons and maximize the money
that reaches locals' hands.

In the directory, for instance, Lonely Planet charts details on how
money is spread around and where to find the best cheap accommodation in
private guesthouses.
They also remind readers that Internet services are entirely in
government hands and note the use of forced labor to build airstrips and
the fact that the government owns the airlines and controls most ferries
and cruise ships.

Still can't make up your mind whether you should visit or not?

I called a couple of Burmese for advice and even they are divided.

"We want as many tourists to come as possible, even though they might be
supporting the regime, so that most of the people outside Burma will
understand us more, not for the revenues," said an exile living in
Singapore.

But another bitter opponent of the regime, exiled in Macau, remained
adamant: "Tourist money only serves to prop up a nasty regime. Stay
away. Wait for the right time."

I am still waiting. But I have penciled a trip in on my calendar for
next year.
**************************************************************
NLD & Veteran Politicians repeat call for release of Burmese prisoners

Nov 25, 2005 (DVB) - Burma?s main opposition party, the National League
for Democracy (NLD) and Veteran Politicians of Burma, on 25 November,
repeated the call for the release of all political prisoners including
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Shan National League for Democracy
(SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo.

In the statements issued during ceremonies marking the 85th anniversary
of the Burmese National Day in Rangoon, the NLD leaders and Veteran
Politicians who fought for the independence of Burma, also urged the
ruling military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to
find an urgent solution to the problems of Burma for the sake of
national unity.

They also warned that the failure to do so in time will increase
discontentment of the people which could lead to violent uprisings. They
also pointed out that there had been no worse situation in the history
of Burma for the national unity like it is now, and urged the junta to
arrange urgent political dialogues which include all national groups in
order to solve the ongoing problems of the country.

But, in the National Day message of the SPDC chairman Gen Than Shwe,
printed in the state-controlled newspapers, the issue of national unity
was never mentioned once. The general only urged readers to ?smash? all
neo- colonialists and ?axe handles? of foreign powers, meaning all those
who want democracy and freedom from oppression.

The historic event was marked by the NLD leaders, members and supporters
at their HQs in Rangoon Shwegondaing Road, by the Veteran Politicians at
the factory of Thakhin Thein Pe in Rangoon and other NLD branches
throughout the country wherever they were allowed to mark the event.
**************************************************************
NLD members at Pyinmana interrogated by Burma agents

Nov 25, 2005 (DVB) - New military intelligence agents who recently
arrived at the new capital at Pyinmana in central Burma, summoned and
interrogated local National League for Democracy (NLD) members and
leaders on 24 November.

These agents are said to be members of No.2, Intelligence Force who were
attached to the Supreme Command at the Military HQs, and they
interrogated Poet Maung Thin Khine, Saya Zaw Win and 15 NLD youth
members, according to a local resident with close connection to the
political circles.

The agents asked the NLD members the strength of their local branch,
what they have been doing and with whom they are having contacts with,
and other unsavoury questions, the resident added.

Moreover, on the following day, the agents repeated similar
interrogations, and local residents are concerned that the military
government is intensifying oppressive measures on local opposition
political activists.
**************************************************************
Su Su Nway?s appeal rejected by Rangoon Division court

Nov 24, 2005 (DVB) - A panel of judges at Rangoon Division court, on 24
November, rejected an appeal lodged on behalf of Burmese human rights
activist Su Su Nway who is being detained at the notorious Rangoon
Insein Jail.

The rejection came after National League for Democracy (NLD) lawyers
submitted a revised appeal which argued that 34-year old Su Su Nway was
wrongfully imprisoned to her detriment.

The lawyers are planning to lodge an appeal at the High Court.

Su Su Nway was sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison on 13 October
by Rangoon Kawmoo Township court, having successfully sued her local
authorities at Htan Manaing over forced labour practices in 2004.
**************************************************************
VOA News
Rights Activists Call for UN Action Against Burma Gets Attention
Claudia Blume, Hong Kong
25 November 2005

Global human-rights leaders are garnering growing international support
for its proposal for the U.N. Security Council to take action against
the Burmese government.

A global coalition of human-rights advocates, led by former Czech
President Vaclav Havel and retired South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, is
urging the U.N. Security Council to intervene to press Burma's military
government to move to democracy.

Mr. Havel and Bishop Tutu released a report in September saying the
human rights and political situation in Burma more than merited U.N.
action.

The report showed that the situation in Burma is worse than seven other
countries in which the Security Council had intervened - including
Rwanda and Afghanistan.

U.S. attorney Jared Genser, one of the authors of the report, told
journalists in Hong Kong this week it has support from elements in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and among Burma's opposition
groups.

"The National League for Democracy and a number of ethnic groups, all
the major ones, have endorsed our report; the ASEAN concourse, a little
over 100 MPs (lawmakers) from different ASEAN countries has come and
endorsed our report. "

The United States is also a strong supporter, and last week the European
parliament passed a resolution calling for Burma to be put on the
Security Council agenda.

Mr. Genser says eight of the 15 members of the Security Council are in
favor of acting on Burma, but the proposal faces probable opposition
from China and Russia - which hold veto power.

Mr. Genser notes that China has close military and economic ties to
Burma, while Russia tends to oppose human-rights interventions, being
sensitive to criticism of its bloody handling of separatist Chechnya. He
believes China remains the key in getting the Security Council to pass a
resolution on Burma.

"Although China is privately threatening to veto any substantive matter
on Burma, the reality is, they themselves know of the dangers coming
from the junta next door, in terms of a massive outflow of drugs,
particularly across their border, HIV/AIDS and other bad things."

Burma's government has been accused of tolerating trafficking in heroin,
methamphetamine, and people. Mr. Genser and the coalition of activists
say they do not expect to get a U.N. resolution soon, but will keep
pressing the matter.

And if they succeed, they acknowledge a resolution will not change the
situation overnight. The military has ruled Burma for more than 60
years, during which it has silenced all opposition.

Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who like President Havel and
Bishop Tutu has won the Nobel Peace Prize, has spent most of the past 15
years under house arrest in Burma.
**************************************************************


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