Burma Related News - Apr 14-18, 2006.
- From: "Tin Kyi" <maungtinkyi@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:46:12 +0000 (UTC)
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BURMA RELATED NEWS - APRIL 14-18, 2006.
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HEADLINES
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Channel NewsAsia - Malaysia says Myanmar holding ASEAN hostage
AFP - Myanmar adds dissidents, US groups to "terrorist" list
Reuters - World Bank, IMF name 11 nations for new debt relief
The Star - Hamid: Be firm on Myanmar
The China Post - Burmese protest Daewoo oil exploration in Myanmar
Kyodo News - Myanmar raises interest rates
Jakarta Post - Editorial - How long can ASEAN wait?
Jakarta Post - Opinion - ASEAN cannot afford to lose nerve on Myanmar
Aljazeera.net - Malaysia urges Myanmar junta to reform
Zee News - China gives green light to Myanmar oil pipeline
Xinhua News - 3 killed in collapse of water-throwing pandal in Myanmar
DVB News - Residents forced out of their homes in Rangoon
DVB News - An international seminar on Burma to be held in Tokyo
DVB News - Wa under pressure to surrender their weapons by Burma junta
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Channel NewsAsia - Posted: 18 April 2006 1234 hrs
Malaysia says Myanmar holding ASEAN hostage
KUALA LUMPUR : Military-run Myanmar is holding Southeast Asia hostage,
hampering progress and bringing the region into disrepute, Malaysia's
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said according to a report on Monday.
Syed Hamid visited Myanmar last month as an Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) envoy amid increasing unease over its lack of
democratic reforms, but was barred from seeing detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I think there is a feeling that Myanmar is dragging us down in terms of
our credibility and image," he told The Star newspaper.
Syed Hamid said the Myanmar issue was a major distraction at
international meetings, where the region was forced to "search for a
special formula" to include Myanmar.
"There is that feeling that we are being held hostage by Myanmar on some
of the progress," he said.
"We started with a very soft approach but it is getting firmer. ASEAN is
the last hope before people get impatient and stronger views are taken."
Syed Hamid, who will brief ASEAN foreign ministers at their meeting in
Bali this week, said Myanmar's ruling generals must provide proof of
their claims that they are shifting away from four decades of military
rule.
"They must convince people, and not only ASEAN, that their plan is on
track, that it is really going to happen... But we are not seeing it as
yet."
"At present we have nothing to hold on to. We have been listening to
them, we have been told by them, but we cannot verify for ourselves," he
said.
While Southeast Asian governments are growing openly impatient over the
Myanmar issue, they say there is no mechanism to eject the region's
black sheep from the grouping.
"We do not want any ASEAN member to decide that it will leave ASEAN,
that is not a solution. We do not want Myanmar isolating itself," Syed
Hamid said.
The military regime has spelled out a "road map" for democracy,
including talks on a new constitution, but Aung San Suu Kyi's party has
boycotted the process, which critics have called a sham.
The military crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years
later rejected the result of national elections won by Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
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Saturday April 15, 4:53 PM
Myanmar adds dissidents, US groups to "terrorist" list
YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's military rulers have added four exiled
dissident groups, including US-based organisations and an offshoot of
the political party headed by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
to its list of "terrorist groups".
The move comes days before a Monday deadline the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD) set for the junta to respond to its offer to
resume a stalled national reconciliation process legalising the
generals' rule.
Myanmar's rulers have accused the four groups of being behind a series
of bomb blasts across the country, including the May 7, 2005 attack in
the capital Yangon which killed 23 people.
The groups include the NLD (Liberated Area), which is active mostly
along the Myanmar-Thailand border, comprising parliamentarians who won
seats in the 1990 elections in a landslide. The military refused to
recognise the election.
Also listed were the National Coalition Government for the Union of
Burma and Federation of Trade Unions of Burma which are based in the
United States, and the All Burma Students Democratic Front located on
the Myanmar-Thailand border.
Myanmar in August 2005 classified the latter three groups plus an ethnic
rebel group as "illegal" organisations.
The updated list of "terrorist" groups, which was announced in
state-media Friday but signed by interior ministry officials two days
earlier, can be considered an attempt to lean on the opposition, a
prominent politician said.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is just one more instance of keeping up
the pressure on the NLD," Win Naing told AFP in Yangon Saturday.
The NLD wants the junta to respond by Monday, the Buddhist new year day,
to its offer which includes legalising the military's rule by
parliamentary decision once the junta takes steps to convene a
parliament.
In a commentary in state media last week, the junta said the NLD should
forget the election and instead back the generals' seven-point "road
map" if they want to see a quick transition to what Yangon has called
"disciplined democracy."
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 16 years in detention.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
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Tuesday April 18, 8:50 AM
World Bank, IMF name 11 nations for new debt relief
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank and International Monetary Fund
have identified 11 countries that could qualify for $21 billion (11.85
billion pounds) in debt relief under a new round of the 1996 global
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative.
A World Bank document released on Monday said the Central African
Republic, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Eritrea,
Haiti, the Kyrgyz Republic and Nepal met income and indebtedness
criteria for HIPC.
The countries will have to implement economic policies and follow
reforms to qualify for the debt relief at the end of three years.
The bank document is to be discussed by finance leaders at the Spring
meetings of the World Bank and IMF member countries in Washington this
weekend.
The World Bank said it was unable to decide if Afghanistan was eligible
for debt relief because a large part of its debt is either "unverified
or in dispute". Only debt that has been verified and confirmed by the
authorities can be treated under the HIPC initiative.
Afghanistan could, however, still qualify if the disputes over its debts
were resolved, the bank said.
It also said Myanmar could not be included in the list due to a lack of
available data.
The latest exercise to forgive the debt of the world's poorest countries
comes months after the World Bank and IMF agreed to write off the debt
of 18 impoverished countries under an agreement launched by the Group of
Eight industrialised countries in June last year.
The 18 countries had previously qualified for HIPC debt relief and
completed the list of reforms needed to graduate.
The World Bank document said both the IMF and bank would need additional
resources to finance the costs of the new round of debt relief for the
11 countries.
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The Star Online - Tuesday April 18, 2006
Hamid: Be firm on Myanmar
By MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR
PUTRAJAYA: Asean must be firm with Myanmar as the feeling is that the
grouping has been held hostage by that country's military junta, said
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
Syed Hamid, whose recent mission to Myanmar failed, is to submit a
report on the visit to the Asean Foreign Ministers annual retreat in
Ubud, Bali, tomorrow.
?I think there is a feeling that Myanmar is dragging us down in terms of
our credibility and image,? he said in an interview here yesterday.
?Even when we try to have sideline meetings during Apec or Asia-Europe
summits, we need to search for a special formula to include Myanmar.
?There is that feeling that we are being held hostage by Myanmar on some
of the progress.
?We started with a very soft approach (towards Myanmar) but it is
getting firmer. Asean is the last hope before people get impatient and
stronger views are taken.?
Syed Hamid visited Myanmar last month after Asean leaders decided to
send a delegation to pressure the junta into producing tangible results
from its promised democratic reforms.
The trip was a failure because he was unable to meet opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
?Asean must discuss this matter frankly. We are not asking Myanmar to
change radically; we are asking it to evolve towards change,? he said.
?The Myanmar authorities are supposed to have a road map and implement
it.
?But you must be believable. If you have a good story to tell, you must
not be fearful of the things you have done.
?They must convince people and not only Asean, that their plan is on
track, that it is really going to happen.
?But we are not seeing it as yet.?
Asked whether Asean believed that Myanmar was implementing its reforms,
Syed Hamid said the grouping had yet to verify it.
?At present we have nothing to hold on to. We have been listening to
them, we have been told by them, but we cannot verify for ourselves,? he
said.
?We told them if we cannot verify, how can we argue convincingly for
them??
However, Syed Hamid said, Asean was not giving up hope on Myanmar and
would continue to encourage it towards democracy.
?We do not want any Asean member to decide that it will leave Asean,
that is not a solution. We do not want Myanmar isolating itself,? he
said, adding that countries with strong ties with Myanmar should assist.
Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong had asked China and India to
persuade Myanmar towards reforms as both countries are major trading
partners of Myanmar and exercise great influence over its economy.
Asked whether Asean was getting impatient, Syed Hamid replied in the
affirmative, saying the ball was in Myanmar?s court.
?At one point or another Asean has to make a decision,? he added.
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The China Post
Burmese protest Daewoo oil exploration in Myanmar(Updated 02:20 p.m.)
2006/4/18
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)Burmese protesters rallied outside the South
Korean Embassy in the Thai capital on Tuesday, calling on Daewoo
International Corp. to halt its multimillion dollar (euro) exploration
and production of natural gas in Myanmar.
Thai activists joined Burmese demonstrators who held signs that read
"Daewoo Out of Burma" during the protest in Bangkok, which has a large
population of Burmese exiles who have fled their military-ruled country.
After a 30-minute demonstration, an embassy official accepted a letter
from protesters that denounced the venture as one the government's many
efforts to exploit the country's people and natural resources for its
own enrichment.
"Despite economic sanctions imposed by the United States and some
European countries, the junta has been able to survive on the revenues
derived from exporting the country's inexhaustible natural resources ...
and offering slave or cheap labor to foreign companies," said the
letter.
It added that revenue would be funneled to the junta and not help the
country's impoverished people.
South Korea's Daewoo International holds a 60 percent stake in the
natural gas field in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of western Myanmar.
The company has said it expects to begin commercial production in 2010,
envisaging an annual profit of 100 billion won (US$106 million; ?87
million).
India's ONGC Videsh holds 20 percent. Korea Gas Corp. and Gail India
have 10 percent each in the consortium.
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Sunday April 16, 12:17 PM
Myanmar raises interest rates
(Kyodo) _ The Myanmar central bank and the country's commercial banks
raised their interest rates by 2 percentage points effective April 1,
the country's state-run press reported Sunday.
The central bank raised its rates to 12 percent from 10 percent per
annum, while rates at private banks were raised to 17 percent from 15
percent for ordinary loans, and from 13 percent to 15 percent for
special loans for agriculture and industry.
The interest rate on savings account was raised from 9 percent to 12
percent per annum.
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The Jakarta Post - April 18, 2006
Editorial - How long can ASEAN wait?
When the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) open their two-day meeting Thursday in Ubud, Bali,
they should consider that like a living organism, the organization will
cease to exist if it fails to adapt to its environment and implement the
fundamental principles of democracy.
ASEAN risks becoming irrelevant if it does not respond to the huge
challenges it faces today, nearly 40 years after it was first formed.
The foreign ministers have the task of convincing the international
community that the regional grouping continues to be relevant by taking
strong action against any members who threaten the existence of the
association.
Established with a grand vision, ASEAN is increasingly seen as
ineffectual. Apart from becoming a never-ending talking circuit -- it
sometimes seems not a day passes without a meeting linked to ASEAN -- it
has done very little in the way of practical action.
In the glory days of ASEAN, the association helped bring about the
necessary peace for unimpeded economic growth in the region. Now the
grouping must focus on developing strong roots among the populace. This
will not be an easy task. As an organization created by those in power,
ASEAN is largely viewed as an elitist organization. Much work needs to
be done to remedy this perception.
Although the association's leaders insist they have adapted to the rapid
growth of democracy in Southeast Asia, they still find it impossible to
turn away from the obsolete principle of noninterference in the domestic
affairs of the grouping's members.
One of the most embarrassing issue for the association since it accepted
Myanmar as a member in 1997 has been its failure to deal with the brutal
junta which rules that country. Try as it might, for obvious reasons the
association has been unable to convince the public about Myanmar's
contributions to peace, democratization and stability in the region.
It would be much easier to recite the damage Myanmar has caused to the
region than its contributions. ASEAN has become the target of criticism
from the international community, particularly the United States and the
European Union, for its reluctance to take on Myanmar's military
leaders. The grouping continues to shield Myanmar not because the
country is so rich and powerful it cannot be ignored, but simply because
the association continues to cling to the belief that outsiders have no
right to interfere in Myanmar's domestic affairs.
In recent years ASEAN has become a virtual hostage to Myanmar, which has
figuratively hijacked the association for its own advantage. When
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the country last month, he
failed to take advantage of the window of opportunity opened to him.
Yudhoyono instead presented the image of an outdated Indonesia, talking
up Myanmar while failing to comment on the obvious issue of the
country's repressive government.
This from the leader of a country that recently threw off its own
repressive regime and is now in the process of democratization. Why
should Myanmar be expected to respect ASEAN if the leader of one its
founding members, a country of 230 million people, fails to impress on
it the need to change and respect the principles of the association?
Yudhoyono failed to embarrass a host badly in need of embarrassment.
Worse, ASEAN's special envoy to Myanmar, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed
Hamid Albar, also returned empty-handed from a recent visit to Yangon.
The junta basically told him everything in the country was fine, they
did not need help and they did not want to be bothered by outsiders.
The ASEAN foreign ministers will only further embarrass the association
if they fail to punish Myanmar by suspending its ASEAN membership. The
generals there have cheated ASEAN for too many years with empty promises
to restore democracy and to stop suppressing the voice of the people.
It would be nothing short of shameful if ASEAN simply sings the same old
song that Myanmar should be give more time to change, while again
refusing to take tough action against the country.
If member countries want to see ASEAN flourish, they will have to work a
lot harder in a world where globalization and terrorism have become two
of the most pressing issues.
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The Jakarta Post - April 18, 2006
Opinion - ASEAN cannot afford to lose nerve on Myanmar
Mario "Mayong" Joyo Aguja, Manila
ASEAN's Special Envoy to Myanmar Syed Hamid Albar will be briefing his
counterparts this week at a retreat in Ubud on his recent visit to
Yangon.
However, the Malaysian Foreign Minister's report is not likely to
provide any new information or good news that somehow, the Myanmar
military authorities have miraculously fulfilled their promises to ASEAN
concerning economic and political reforms.
Already, the statements emanating from ASEAN capitals after Syed Hamid's
premature departure from Yangon on March 24 indicate that ASEAN leaders
may be considering backing off from the bold advocacy they initiated
last year, which induced Myanmar to withdraw from the ASEAN chair. ASEAN
ministers are giving the impression that they may be losing their
resolve, perhaps even their nerve, when it comes to negotiating with the
reigning generals.
History is written by the decisive, not the jittery. ASEAN leaders must
be able to see that the stone facade set up by the Myanmar regime is a
thin and teetering one.
The sudden move of Myanmar's capital to a semi-completed bunker last
November, in which civil servants were given 48 hours' notice, does not
signal strength.
The regime's dwindling grip on the economy, even as it exposes its
inability to understand the bird flu epidemic has further eroded
business confidence to the point of despair.
Even the annual military parade to mark Armed Forces Day on March 27 was
conducted in front of an audience of military men and their families,
under tight security, away from the direct gaze of the general public.
Despite the increased distance from democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
home, where she remains under house arrest, the authorities continue to
isolate her for fear of her national and international influence.
On April 4, the news service Kommersant reported that Gen. Maung Aye had
arrived in Russia bearing "an extensive list of Russian arms and
military hardware" to acquire. Such extravagance is outrageous when most
of Myanmar's people suffer extreme impoverishment. It's also a hint that
the generals feel far from secure.
This is why ASEAN cannot afford to shy away from taking leadership in
solving the Myanmar question. The current crisis is partly a result of
the ASEAN's prior dithering over Myanmar, which saw ASEAN becoming
Myanmar's greatest defender even as the regime flouted its most basic
values. If ASEAN fails to garner sufficient political will to solve this
problem, it will undermine its role as the guardian of regional
security. How then will it be able to maintain its credibility in the
region, let alone internationally?
The Myanmar authorities have so far modified their behavior and rhetoric
in response to those who willing to exercise leverage and determination,
such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United States
government. It had, until last year, treated ASEAN with contempt.
Now, the Myanmar generals would have us believe they are totally in
control. They would prefer ASEAN to cease its advocacy and revert to the
thankless job of defending the indefensible. They want ASEAN to campaign
against pressure without delivering any tangible benefits. Such extreme
and selfish demands are an insult to the spirit of ASEAN solidarity.
We must see beyond their bluff. Regional players, such as India and
China, now realize that it is not in their economic or security
interests to allow Myanmar's instability to deteriorate further. ASEAN
could lead a regional strategy to ensure that pro-reform forces, inside
and outside, of Myanmar are able to deliver outcomes that will benefit
the peoples of this region.
If isolation of Myanmar is not the solution for democratic reform,
surely meaningful reform cannot be initiated when the Myanmar regime
acts in remoteness. That is why ASEAN has to assert for an inclusive
political process where the NLD, along with other pro-democracy parties
that won the 1990 elections and ethnic nationality leaders be an
integral part in the long-term solution for Myanmar.
ASEAN is capable of skillfully harnessing both diplomacy and pressure in
a mutually reinforcing manner. Such an approach will lead to a practical
and sustainable solution that is all-inclusive. If it shrinks away from
this challenge, ASEAN risks delivering our regional destiny into the
hands of irrational dictators.
Now, more than ever, an ASEAN strategy of principled engagement backed
by international pressure is needed. If ASEAN is indecisive, it will not
only be Myanmar's 50 million people who suffer.
Congressman Mario "Mayong" Joyo Aguja of the Akbayan "Citizens" Action
Party is a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippine
Congress and an active member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar
Caucus (AIPMC).
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Aljazeera.net
Malaysia urges Myanmar junta to reform
Tuesday 18 April 2006, 10:40 Makka Time, 7:40 GMT
Malaysia has expressed frustration with Myanmar's ruling generals,
accusing them of showing little progress on democratic reforms.
The remarks were made by Syed Hamid Albar, the foreign minister of
Malaysia on Tuesday, on the eve of a meeting of the foreign ministers
from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, in
Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
Syed Hamid Albar urged Myanmar's junta to show "more credible, more
visible action" to prove their commitment to democracy, stressing that
the issue has "inundated many of our (regional) meetings, even at the
international community level."
Myanmar is ASEAN's most vilified member, largely due to its regime's
failure to fulfill its promises to restore democracy and free Aung San
Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader.
Embarrassment
The country has become a source of embarrassment to most other ASEAN
members, which initially defended it against Western criticism.
In an interview with The Star newspaper published on Tuesday, Syed Hamid
said there was a "feeling that Myanmar is dragging us down in terms of
our credibility and image."
"We started with a very soft approach (towards Myanmar), but it is
getting firmer. ASEAN is the last hope before people get impatient and
stronger views are taken," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying.
"We need to search for a special formula to include Myanmar," he said.
Syed Hamid's visit last month to Myanmar, also called Burma, was
wrangled after pressure on the junta by ASEAN, which itself has been
under Western pressure over Myanmar's membership.
However, Syed Hamid was not allowed to meet Suu Kyi, who is under house
arrest. She has spent 10 of the past 16 years in custody.
The junta, in power since 1962, refused to hand power to Suu Kyi's party
after it won elections in 1990.
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Zee News
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
China gives green light to Myanmar oil pipeline
Beijing, Apr 17: China's Planning Ministry has approved an oil pipeline
linking Myanmar's deep-water port of Sittwe to Kunming in the landlocked
southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, state press said today.
The National Development and Reform Commission gave the green light to
the project at the beginning of April, the China business newspaper
reported, citing official sources.
The long-expected pipeline would provide an alternative route for
China's crude imports from the Middle East and Africa and help reduce
its dependence on traffic through the Strait of Malacca.
The paper did not give the cost or the capacity of the pipeline but said
construction was slated to begin this year.
It could also serve as a conduit to transport crude to China's populous
inland provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and the Chongqing Municipality.
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3 killed in collapse of water-throwing pandal in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-15 14:19:23
YANGON, April 15 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed with over
two dozen others injured on Friday when a water-throwing pandal stage
collapsed in Myanmar's Yangon city, police sources confirmed Saturday.
The accident occurred on the second day of the country's four-day
Thingyan traditional water festival.
The festive activities at the four-storey water-throwing wooden pandal
stage, built on a concave ground and accommodates about a hundred
overjoyed revelers, is sponsored by Aung Kyaw Kyaw, famous goalkeeper of
Myanmar National Football Team, the sources said.
The accident was attributed to the weak withstanding load of the pandal
stage designed, on which huge and heavy audio instruments were placed,
and revelers jumped heavily in consonancewith the hip hop and rap music
which became popular in recent years in Myanmar.
The pandal is one of the 45 set up by private companies and groups along
the Inya Road near the Yangon Institute of Economics for holding the
festival. The location is known as the most crowded and lively one
during the festival in Yangon this year despite far less number of such
pandal stages in the rest of Yangon.
It was the first ever accident of its kind in the history of Myanmar's
water festival that claimed human lives from the collapse of pandal
stage, Yangon residents said.
The erecting of pandal stage to throw water and give entertainment is a
traditional way of Myanmar people to celebrate the festival.
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Residents forced out of their homes in Rangoon
Apr 17, 2006 (DVB) - Some residents of Rangoon Mayanggone Township?s
Ward (6), have been forced to dismantle their homes and leave the area
by the order to the local army commander, causing them untold miseries
and difficulties and leaving them homeless as they are not given new
places to live.
The residents were forced out of their homes after the Great Nile
jewellery company and Nang Htaik Taw restaurant bid for the area in an
auction.
?The houses were forced to be dismantled by the order of Maj-Gen Hla
Myint Htay, the commander of Rangoon Division,? a resident in the
receiving end of the order told DVB. ?After the order of dismantlement,
no place for rebuilding was given. Moreover, the problem is, the those
whose homes were dismantled were dragged onto prison vans with the
ruins.?
?We are sleeping on the ground. There is not cover or protection. The
weather is very bad,? the homeless resident told DVB.
************************************************************
An international seminar on Burma to be held in Tokyo
Apr 17, 2006 (DVB) - An international seminar/conference aimed at
finding solutions to the problems of Burma is to be held in Tokyo on 26
April.
The seminar, titled ?The Way Forward? is to be organised by exiled
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) and it will
also be attended by some Japanese members of parliament (MPs), director
of Burma Affairs ? Japan, Dr. Min Nyo told DVB.
?If current problems of Burma are not solved by peaceful means and
democracy is not substantiated as demanded by the NLD (National League
for Democracy), (we) want the problems of Burma to reach the level of
the UN Security Council,? said Min Nyo. ?In order to do that, we want
not only the Japanese government but also the people of Japan and
(Japanese) MPs to know about the real problems of Burma? NCG(UB) leaders
and women leaders will come and explain the situation of Burma. The
Japanese governments? officials will join the discussions. The
parliament will join the discussion and there will be talks with
workers? unions? leaders. Based on these discussions, the Japanese
government and parliament will understand the problems of Burma and we
are holding this seminar because we want to (show) that Burma?s problems
inevitably need to be presented at the Security Council.?
The conference is to be attended by Japanese government?s No.1,
Southeast Asia Department?s director-in-chief, Mr Mishi Oshi and team,
and the MPs will be presented by the official of Japanese parliament
under Prime Minister Mr. Hata and a ruling party MP Mr. Oshima, and
figures from Japan-based diplomatic circles.
************************************************************
Wa under pressure to surrender their weapons by Burma junta
Apr 17, 2006 (DVB) - One of the most powerful armed ethnic national
groups which signed ceasefire agreements with Burma?s military junta,
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) has recently been "invited to exchange arms for perpetual peace?,
according to a report by Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) citing
Thai and Wa sources.
According to the report, the "invitation" came during a meeting held in
Tachilek, opposite Thailand?s border town Maesai, on 9 April a Thai
source who is in the logging business told S.H.A.N.
?When I contacted (phoned) them (UWSA), I was told that it was not
surrender of the weapons as such; but exchange of arms for perpetual
peace,? S.H.A.N editor Khun Seng told DVB. ?Therefore, I asked them if
there is any plan for them to surrender their weapons. It will be very
difficult for us (to do that), I was told.
So I asked them the details. When the meeting was held, where and who
attended it, I asked them. They told me that they have no rights
(permissions) to say that.?
Khun Seng added that there are two significant points about the report
as the meeting took place three days after the visit in the city by
Lt-Gen Kyaw Win, who commands three military regions: Lashio-based
Northeastern, Taunggyi-based Eastern and Kengtung-based Triangle.
?Another thing is, this month is the same as the time when SSNA (Shan
State National Army) and Palaung (State) Liberation Front were forced to
surrender their weapons.? When the offensives jointly carried out by the
UWSA and Burmese troops were not successful against the Shan State Army
? South last year, the UWSA was also under pressure to lay down their
weapons, said Khun Seng.
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