Burma Related News - Apr 20, 2006.

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - APRIL 20, 2006.
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HEADLINES
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Reuters - Myanmar capital hit by small blasts, no casualties
Reuters - Myanmar tells ASEAN it doesn't like pressure
AFP - ASEAN fails to find Myanmar strategy
AFP - ASEAN FMs huddle for retreat as Myanmar question still looms
Channel NewsAsia - ASEAN lets Myanmar manages its own pace of political
reform
Jakarta Post - ASEAN faces tough test over Myanmar
Khaleej Times - Time to rein in Myanmar
Khaleej Times - 'No Myanmar elections for at least two years'
TMC Net - 5 bombs explode in Myanmar capital, no injuries
The Telegraph - Myanmar gas heat on Delhi
The Telegraph - Myanmar rail link on cards
OutLook - Myanmar, Indian army stress on better coordination
PD - Myanmar airline to open air routes to Cambodia
The Nation - Bangkok joins censure of junta
DVB News - ASEAN to take action on Burma?
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Myanmar capital hit by small blasts, no casualties
20 Apr 2006 04:47:44 GMT

YANGON, April 20 (Reuters) - A series of small explosions hit central
Yangon on Thursday, causing some property damage but no casualties in
the Myanmar capital, police and witnesses said.

Three blasts occured at around 2:15 am (1945 GMT) in Kyauktada Township,
including one outside a post office that shattered windows and damaged a
power control box.

"If there were people nearby, they could have been severely wounded or
killed," a policeman told Reuters.

The cause of the blasts was not immediately known, police said.

Security was beefed up in the area where some government offices were
located before the ruling military junta decamped to a new
administrative capital north of Yangon late last year.

A series of bomb blasts in Yangon last May killed 23 people and wounded
162.

The military, which has ruled the former Burma in various guises since
1962, has blamed the bomb attacks on exiled opponents of the regime.
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Myanmar tells ASEAN it doesn't like pressure
Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:03 PM IST
By Achmad Sukarsono

TAMPAKSIRING, Indonesia (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations have made
their views known to military-ruled Myanmar on its lack of progress
towards democracy, but cannot force it to speed up the process, regional
foreign ministers said on Thursday.

Myanmar, which ignored an overwhelming victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy in 1990, has proposed a seven-step
"roadmap to democracy" and the junta says step one, drafting a new
constitution, is under way.

But its ASEAN neighbours think the process has been too slow and sent
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid to meet the Myanmar rulers last
month.

At the end of a two-day informal meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on
the resort island of Bali, Syed Hamid said democracy in the former Burma
had been discussed and was "an issue of importance".

"We hope there will come a day when Myanmar will be able to move to the
direction other ASEAN countries are moving," he said, but added: "They
do not want to get interference in their domestic process.

"They have assured us that they are on track with democracy. They don't
like pressure. They like suggestions from us."

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said that at least Myanmar
could listen to what its neighbours think.

"I think this past day, especially last night, has shown that we in
ASEAN can talk openly. We were able to be frank and Myanmar has
listened. It's a very healthy situation."

ASEAN, a group known for its emphasis on consensus and non-interference
in members' internal affairs, has shown rare displeasure in recent years
with foot-dragging on reforms in Myanmar, ruled by the military for more
than 40 years.

Criticism of Myanmar's human rights and democracy records and a
reluctance of some Western countries to participate in meetings that
include Myanmar have hit ASEAN's own relations with others.

At the same time some worry that pushing things too far could drive
Myanmar out of ASEAN and into the arms of other nations, or into even
further disregard of world opinion.

"I think there is a certain element of impatience to see some concrete
step forward. But we cannot isolate Myanmar," ASEAN Secretary-General
Ong Keng Yong told reporters on Wednesday.

Apart from Myanmar, ASEAN groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.
*******************************************************
ASEAN fails to find Myanmar strategy
2 hours, 6 minutes ago

UBUD, Indonesia (AFP) - ASEAN foreign ministers failed to emerge with a
strategy for dealing with recalcitrant member Myanmar at an annual
retreat on the
Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who visited the
military-ruled regime in March as ASEAN's envoy, also said Myanmar's
generals were in no hurry to hold democratic elections, which could
still be more than two years away.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been expressing
growing frustration with the regime, which has held democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for most of the last 16 years.

But as ASEAN has traditionally adhered to a policy of non-interference
in the affairs of member states, Syed Hamid said the bloc was only able
to "express our views in very clear terms" about the country's
direction.

"Of course we don't want to interfere in domestic affairs but ... if it
impacts on ASEAN as a whole, we have an interest to express our view and
see what types of action Myanmar has taken," he said.

"I think when you're dealing with a country you can say so much, but you
can't force anything upon a country," he said.

The generals have announced a "road map" to democracy but there has been
little progress on beginning steps, such as a national convention to
help establish a constitution.

The latest rounds have been internationally condemned for failing to
include the opposition, which is boycotting the convention to demand the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

The constitutional talks were suspended in January and no date was given
for when its 1,000 handpicked delegates would resume their work. The
sputtering process began more than a decade ago and has achieved few
tangible results.

"I imagine it will take them another two years on the completion as
Myanmar's foreign minister informed us it will be when they have a
referendum to adopt the constitution," Syed Hamid said.

"After that referendum, they will be having an election."

The minister said that nine chapters of the constitution had been
completed with six more left.

Myanmar agreed at last year's ASEAN summit to invite Syed Hamid in the
face of growing international pressure for evidence of democratic
progress, as well as embarrassment among some members over its 1997
inclusion in the bloc.

"They don't want interference in their domestic process. We'll leave it
at that and see how we can assist them in whatever way we can," Syed
Hamid said.

"They don't like pressure but they like suggestions from us, so we give
suggestions to them. We hope they can convey our suggestions to their
own government."
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda told the press briefing
that the bloc had only "agreed to continue to engage Myanmar".

Ministers as well as ASEAN's chief had earlier expressed frustration
with the slow pace of Yangon's reform efforts.

"There is a certain impatience because the people around the region as
well as around the world say, 'You keep talking, you keep going there --
and then what happened?'" secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said
Wednesday.

"People want to see some concrete steps forward."

Ong and several ministers have also said that regional powerhouses China
and India should use their economic clout -- considerably mightier than
ASEAN's -- to nudge Myanmar towards reform.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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ASEAN FMs huddle for retreat as Myanmar question still looms
Thu Apr 20, 2:09 AM ET

UBUD, Indonesia (AFP) - ASEAN foreign ministers are meeting for their
annual informal retreat amid increasing unease over recalcitrant member
Myanmar's refusal to produce evidence of democratic reform.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) arriving on the resort island of Bali ahead of the talks, as
well as the bloc's chief, expressed frustration with the military-ruled
regime.

"There is a certain impatience because the people around the region as
well as around the world say, You keep talking, you keep going there --
and then what happened?" secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said.

"People want to see some concrete steps forward."

The ministers held a working dinner Wednesday during which Malaysia's
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar briefed them over his trip to Yangon,
an Indonesian foreign ministry official told AFP.

The official declined however to give details of the Myanmar
discussions.

Myanmar agreed at last year's ASEAN summit to invite Syed Hamid in the
face of growing international pressure for evidence of its democratic
progress, as well as embarrassment among some members over its 1997
inclusion in the bloc.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Ubud, Syed Hamid said he was
"not totally happy" with progress in Myanmar.

"There are still more things to be done," he said. "Our intention was to
engage with everybody. So, since we were not able to, in that respect
you can see that," he said, referring to his failure to meet with
Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ministers appeared meanwhile to agree that regional powerhouses China
and India should use their economic clout -- considerably mightier than
ASEAN's -- to nudge Myanmar towards reform.

"The Myanmar issue is difficult for ASEAN. We must admit that, but we
should not see it as solely the burden of ASEAN. There are also major
key players that have significant influence: China and India,"
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda told reporters.

"They can help by promoting democracy in Myanmar."

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo also said last month that
China's and India's open policy on Myanmar diluted the impact of Western
sanctions.

Ministers were due to lunch with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and a press briefing was expected at 0530 GMT.

Myanmar's junta has spelt 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.
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Channel NewsAsia - Posted: 20 April 2006 1947 hrs
ASEAN lets Myanmar manages its own pace of political reform
By Channel NewsAsia's Indonesia Bureau Chief Sujadi Siswo

ASEAN foreign ministers have asked Myanmar to keep to its road map on
democracy, while giving Yangon room to manage its own pace of political
reform.

The issue political reform in Myanmar topped the agenda at the ASEAN
Foreign Minister's retreat at the resort island of Bali.

But the 10 Southeast Asian ministers emerged after nearly three hours of
frank discussions with little consensus on the matter.

Attempts were made to engage Yangon last month when Malaysian Foreign
Minister Syed Hamid Albar visited Myanmar on behalf of the regional
grouping.

But he received a lukewarm reception and returned empty handed.

Mr Syed Hamid Albar said: "They don't like pressure. They like
suggestions from us. So we've made suggestions and we hope they can
convey to their home governments."

Some ASEAN members prefer to give Myanmar more space to resolve its own
internal issues and to work towards national reconciliation.

George Yeo, Singapore Foreign Minister, said: "Others felt that this
would be too standoffish and where we could, we should try to engage
them and help them move forward to the extent that this is within our
power."

Myanmar pointed to the grouping's policy of non-interference in each
other's domestic affairs.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister appealed to his ASEAN counterparts for deeper
understanding of internal difficulties faced by his country and to
continue to act in solidarity.

In response, the other foreign ministers decided not to proceed with any
action to get Myanmar to speed up political reforms despite pressure
from Western governments for the grouping to try to influence Yangon.

Mr Yeo said: "Their problem is this - that every time ASEAN is involved,
ASEAN becomes politicised internally and this creates unnecessary
complications."

To lay the groundwork for resolving such sensitive issues, the proposed
ASEAN Charter will consider matters of human rights and democracy.

It aims to give the grouping a more formal legal framework so that
agreements taken would be binding on all.

A draft Charter will be discussed by ASEAN heads of states at their
summit in the Philippines in October.
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The Jakarta Post - April 20, 2006
ASEAN faces tough test over Myanmar
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Ubud, Bali

Several ASEAN foreign ministers lined up Wednesday to express their
collective disappointment about one issue: Myanmar's lack of progress in
democratic reforms.

The ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) are in Ubud for their two-day retreat, with the question of what
to do about the secretive military junta continuing to overshadow other
issues.

The ministers, who have a number of important topics before them through
Thursday, including the follow-up to decisions taken at the Kuala Lumpur
summit last year and other previous conferences, admitted they had yet
to discuss the appropriate steps for dealing with Myanmar.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he was dissatisfied
with his recent visit to Yangon because he failed to meet opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- who has been under house arrest for most of
the past 16 years -- and other important figures in the country's
democratic reform process.

"I am not totally happy. There are still more things to be done. I think
our intention was to be able to engage with everybody...let's say in
respect to Aung San Suu Kyi and other stakeholders...we are not able to
do that," Syed Hamid told reporters when arriving at the retreat venue
in Ubud.
The special envoy to the country said the ASEAN ministers would decide
on a course of action after they heard the detailed report of his visit.

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon was even more blunt when
asked his opinion about Myanmar, which joined the grouping in 1997.

"We are disappointed. What we would like to do is to see movement in
Myanmar toward national reconciliation with a clear timeframe, and we
would like to encourage Myanmar to interact with our team so that we can
together move ahead."

Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo, meanwhile, said that he
would listen to the report first before giving his opinion.

It is highly unlikely that ASEAN would isolate Myanmar, with Syed Hamid
saying such a policy would be counterproductive and was not an option
for the grouping.

Many said that ASEAN's failure to get tough with Myanmar may be
considered backing off from the bold advocacy they initiated last year,
which induced Myanmar to withdraw from the ASEAN chairmanship.

At present, there is no sanction mechanism for wayward members, although
the ASEAN Charter, currently being drafted, is expected to provide
recourse for punishment.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong agreed that the best strategy to
deal with Myanmar was engagement.

"We always view the best strategy is to talk to them and understand what
is happening in their country, and more importantly, that what's
happening in their country affects the rest of ASEAN," he said.
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Khaleej Times
Editorial - Time to rein in Myanmar
20 April 2006

IN A rare outburst, Malaysia?s foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar has
slammed the military-ruled Myanmar saying the junta is holding the
entire Southeast Asian region hostage through its policies. Ahead of the
Asean ministers? meeting in Bali, Indonesia, an angry Albar said Myanmar
was dragging Asean nations down in terms of credibility and image.
Albar, who recently returned from an observation trip to Myanmar where
he was not allowed to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has
urged Asean nations to discuss the Myanmar question ?frankly?.

It is heartening to note that the Asean has broken its tradition of
non-interference in the internal affairs of member states to demand
action from the Myanmar junta. But discussions and pious intentions
alone are not enough. The Asean nations, being the neighbours of
Myanmar, have to take meaningful steps to make a difference. As the
Malaysian foreign minister has rightly argued, the situation in Myanmar
is not an internal problem. It is a constant source of embarrassment and
tension for the whole region.

Mere words are not going to force the notoriously arrogant junta change
its ways. Strongly-worded UN resolutions and appeals from organisations
such as NAM and Commonwealth have failed to elicit any positive action
from the inscrutable generals of the Stalinist state. What is needed is
concerted and effective action from the international community. While
the Western nations have been raising their voice over Myanmar, they can
do little else. They have little influence over Myanmar as they have no
economic or commercial ties with the country. It?s the big neighbours,
India and China, in addition to Asean states, that could and should play
their role in forcing the regime to fall in line.

Myanmar is a real challenge to the world community and its capability to
bring freedom and reprieve to a long tyrannised and persecuted people.
The junta has been taking the people of Myanmar and everyone else for a
ride with its so-called ?roadmap for democracy?. It?s nearly three years
since it unveiled the much-hyped reforms initiative. But all we have
seen so far is an elaborate exercise in public deception. Hundreds of
political activists including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remain
imprisoned, despite the fact that her alliance had swept parliamentary
elections held nearly 13 years ago. There is no freedom to speak of and
the country is a typical example of a police state that sees its people
as its slaves, not thinking citizens. How long will the world tolerate
this continuing insult to our collective humanity? When will the long
nightmare of the people of Myanmar end?
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Khaleej Times
'No Myanmar elections for at least two years'
(AFP) 20 April 2006

UBUD, Indonesia - Constitutional talks which Myanmar?s ruling generals
describe as a prelude to elections will last another two years,
Malaysia?s Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Thursday.

Asked about progress in the Myanmar regime?s widely-criticised talks,
billed as the first step on their ?road map? to democracy, Syed Hamid
said they were not expected to end for two more years.

?I imagine it will take them another two years on the completion as
Myanmar?s foreign minister informed us it will be when they have a
referendum to adopt the constitution,? he said, speaking at the end of a
day-long retreat of ASEAN foreign ministers.

?And after that referendum, they will be having an election.?

The minister, who visited Yangon in March as the special envoy of the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said that nine
chapters of the constitution had been completed with six more left.

The constitutional talks were suspended in January and no date was given
for when the 1,000 handpicked delegates would resume their work.

The sputtering process began more than a decade ago and has achieved few
tangible results.

The latest rounds have been internationally condemned for failing to
include the opposition National League for Democracy, which is
boycotting the convention to demand the release of its leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which admitted
Myanmar in 1997, have been squirming amid mounting international
pressure on it to nudge the junta into delivering long-promised
democratic reforms.

Myanmar agreed in December to allow Syed Hamid to visit the country as
an ASEAN envoy to check on its progress toward democracy, but he left
early after failing to meet Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
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TMCnet - [April 20, 2006]
5 bombs explode in Myanmar capital, no injuries+

YANGON, April 20_(Kyodo) _ Five small bombs exploded at five different
places in downtown Yangon early Thursday morning, causing minor damage
to the government's post office building and to some electric power
transformers, but no one was injured.

The bombs exploded between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., residents said.

The first explosion occurred at the entrance of the state-run Myanmar
Post and Telecommunication office building and broke the window panes on
the ground floor of the four-story building.

Three other bombs exploded at three state-owned electric power
transformers, they said.

The fifth one exploded on a rail tract near the Yangon Central Railway
Station in downtown area, with minor damage.

Authorities were not immediately available for comment.
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The Telegraph - Thursday, April 20, 2006
Myanmar gas heat on Delhi
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, April 19: When he was 10, Wong Aung was forced to carry
bamboo and build roads for Myanmar?s military junta. At 20, studying
electrical engineering and drawn into the democracy movement, he was
beaten by soldiers with rifle butts.

This week, Aung took a break from self-imposed exile on the
Thailand-Myanmar border to condemn India?s moves to exploit one of the
world?s largest deposits of natural gas discovered in the 1990s in the
Arakan sea off Myanmar?s west coast.

?The dollars that the military regime earns from gas will go into
bullets to kill pro-democracy students,? said Aung, president of the All
Arakan Students? Youth Congress. ?Their blood will make the colour of
the gas red.?

Aung is among Myanmarese pro-democracy activists, student leaders from
India?s Northeast, and international human rights watchers who have
gathered here to protest against India?s involvement in a proposal to
transport the gas from Myanmar to India.

The Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and the Gas Authority of India
Limited (GAIL) had recently bought 30 per cent stake in a gas deposit
from Korea?s Daewoo that owns exploration and ownership rights for
natural gas in the Arakan region.

The Arakan gas deposits are huge ? the block where ONGC and GAIL have a
stake alone contains over 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. But analysts
say it is uncertain how India will get the gas from Myanmar.

Negotiations with Dhaka to bring the gas via the Shwe gas pipeline
passing through Bangladesh have all but broken down, and a pipeline
through India?s Northeast, avoiding Bangladesh, is considered too
expensive.

While analysts point out that Myanmar has agreed to commit its share of
the gas to China through a pipeline that runs into China?s Yunan
province, activists claim that India is still evaluating other options
of transporting the gas to India.

Analysts have predicted that the Shwe gas pipeline will help the Myanmar
military regime earn an annual revenue of $2.86 billion for the next 20
years, a figure higher than Myanmar?s total current export earnings of
$2.13 billion.

?The gas is Myanmar?s wealth. But this is a wrong time to buy gas from
Myanmar,? said Aung. ?The pipeline will mean more military repression.?
He says the number of battalions in Arakan have gone up from 10 in 1990
to 45 in 2000 and 63 this year.

?Those who want Myanmar?s gas should wait until democracy is
established,? Aung said. ?It will happen some day.?
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The Telegraph - Thursday, April 20, 2006
Myanmar rail link on cards
Proposed multibillion project to connect Moreh with Segyi
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Silchar, April 19: The Indian Railways is toying with an idea to set up
a rail link with the neighbouring Myanmar through the Northeast.

This scheme is part of the ambitious Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
project, which was signed by six Asian countries ? India, Thailand,
Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia ? on November 10, 2000.

The scheme, which is yet to take a full shape, envisages bringing the
Asian countries to each other?s doorsteps by way of a durable and modern
railway network for spurring their economy by transporting goods and
passengers without much hassle.

Disclosing this, a senior official of the Northeast Frontier Railway
(NFR) said over phone from Badarpur railway junction in south Assam?s
Karimganj district that this rail link proposal was an initiative of the
ministry of external affairs.

The Railway Board is cooperating with the ministry in its implementation
in a phased manner.

The official added that the Rail India Technical and Economic Services
(RITES), an ancillary of the Indian Railways, had already completed the
drawing up of a preliminary feasibility survey to build a broad-gauge
track between Moreh, a border outpost in southeast Manipur, and Segyi in
Myanmar.

The project will cost Rs 13.39 billion.

He said the military junta in Myanmar had assured that it would build
the track in its own country for linking Segyi with Mandalay, a bustling
town in western Myanmar.

The official further said India and Myanmar had signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on July 29, 2004, under which this country would
made available a line of credit of US $ 56 million to Yangon authorities
to facilitate them to build a modern railway utility along the
northwestern and central flanks of that country.

Myanmar has also decided to refurbish the existing railway line between
Segyi and Myohaung at a cost of US $ 62.5 million as part of the scheme
to put in place a durable trans-Asian rail- way facility through its
territory.

The authorities are also pointing out that the Indian Railways had
already initiated the preliminary tasks to extend the broad-gauge track
from Jiribam in southwest Manipur and the state?s lone railhead to Moreh
via Tupul and Imphal in a phased manner.

For laying the broadgauge line from Jiribam to Tupul near Imphal in its
first phase, a scheme envisaging this construction had already been
drawn up by the RITES at an initial cost of Rs 800 crore.
*******************************************************
OutLook
Myanmar, Indian army stress on better coordination

DIMAPUR, APR 20 (PTI) The Indian Army and the military junta of Myanmar
today emphasised on better co-ordination and strengthening of the
intelligence-exchange mechanism along the international border to check
cross-border crimes.

At a meeting at Rangapahar cantonment near here, senior army officials
of the two countries also decided to strengthen border surveillance to
control narcotics smuggling.

A 20-member team from Myanmar, led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohm, arrived
here yesterday to hold discussions with Indian counterparts on issues
like cross-border militancy, narcotics smuggling and border management,
defence sources said.

The Indian side was led by 3 Corps GOC Lt Gen Z U Shah, the sources said
adding the meeting was a routine exercise held at a gap of six months to
review progress of coordination between the two armies on various
fronts.

The states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share an
international border with Myanmar and the deep jungles of the
neighbouring country are used by militant outfits from Assam, Nagaland
and Manipur as hideouts.

Difficult terrain coupled with poor infrastructure came in the way of
Myanmar's operations against militant groups.

The long porous border also serves as the major route for smuggling in
narcotics from South East Asian countries, particularly from the Golden
Triangle bordering Myanmar.
*******************************************************
People's Daily Online - UPDATED: 11:26, April 20, 2006
Myanmar airline to open air routes to Cambodia

The Air Bagan, a Myanmar-based domestic airline, will stretch its wing
to Siemreap, Cambodia, as part of its plan to extend its regional
destinations, private airline sources said on Thursday.

The Air Bagan, a joint venture (JV) between the Ministry of Transport
and the Htoo Company of national entrepreneur, will fly the
Yangon-Siemreap-Yangon route and the Yangon-Siemreap-Nyaung U- Yangon
route up to twice a week on a charter basis, the sources said without
confirming the date on which the flights will start.

The flight to connect Siemreap and Nyaung U is seen as bridging the two
main cultural centers in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

The airline will also add destinations to Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and
Thailand in addition to domestic ones, the sources added.

The Air Bagan, inaugurated in November 2004, has been flying between
Yangon and 14 domestic destinations including Mandalay, Nyaung U, Heho,
Thanthwe, Kengtung, Tachilek, Myeik, Kawthoung, Sittwe and Myitkyina,
using one 108-seat Fokker-100 aircraft, two 70-seat ATR-72 aircraft and
three 46-seat ATR-42 aircraft.

The Air Bagan stands as the third domestic JV airline after Air Mandalay
and Yangon Airways, while the Myanma Airways remains as the state-run
domestic air carrier. Of the two prior domestic JV airlines, the Air
Mandalay has extended its flight to Thailand's Chiang Mai as a regional
one.

Meanwhile, there has also been three Myanmar-foreign JV airlines flying
on international routes, namely the Myanmar Airways International (AMI),
the United Myanmar Airlines (AMA) and the Air Myanmar. (Source: Xinhua)
*******************************************************
The Nation
Bangkok joins censure of junta
Published on Apr 20, 2006
Supalak Ganjanakhundee, Ubud, Indonesia

Thailand yesterday joined other Asean members in expressing their
disappointment over the slow pace of national reconciliation and
democratisation in Burma.

"I am disappointed with the development of the situation in Burma over
the past year," Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamong-khon told reporters
yesterday at the Asean retreat in Bali's resort town of Ubud.

The political stalemate in Burma raised tensions at the meeting last
night and again today after Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar,
Asean's special envoy to the country, said he had failed to complete his
fact-finding mission in Rangoon last month.

Syed Hamid said yesterday he was not happy with his recent visit as the
junta only allowed him to see the government's side and failed to grant
him access to all political stakeholders, as planned. He cut short his
visit from three to two days after he failed to see opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I am not totally happy ... there are still more things that need to be
done," Syed Hamid told reporters upon his arrival in Ubud.

Kantathi yesterday privately met Syed Hamid and their Burmese
counterpart Nyan Win to discuss the matter and explore ways to speed up
political reform.

The Asean ministers are expected to produce measures to engage the junta
and move national reconciliation and democratisation forward, he said,
hinting that a second visit to Rangoon by the Asean envoy is possible.

Official sources said Nyan Win came to the Asean meeting in a defensive
mode and is unlikely to make any commitment to speed up political reform
at home.

Nyan Win was quoted as saying to many Asean ministers he met that Burma
is ready to receive any visitor and listen to any suggestion, but that
political reform is a domestic affair, which the junta reserved the
right to implement on its own.

In a bilateral meeting with Nyan Win, Kantathi offered to help Burma
fight the bird-flu outbreak that has spread rapidly across the central
part of the country.
*******************************************************
ASEAN to take action on Burma?

Apr 19, 2006 (DVB) - The foreign ministers of the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are still discussing informally on how to
take action on one of its members, the stubborn military government of
Burma, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

A report on purported moves towards democracy in Burma will be the focus
of talks during a two-day informal meeting of the 10-member bloc?s
foreign ministers at the Indonesian resort island of Bali, and a
decision could be taken on Burma tomorrow, according to reporters at the
meeting.

The foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar visited Rangoon in
March as the ASEAN?s special envoy to check the alleged moves towards
democracy and a decision could be taken after sharing his experiences
with his counterparts. Burma has proposed a seven-step "roadmap to
democracy" and the junta says step one, drafting a new constitution, is
under way but its ASEAN neighbours think the process has been too slow.

Syed Hamid said Burma had become an issue hanging over ASEAN and Rangoon
should show more progress in bringing about democracy. "Give me a chance
to speak to the foreign ministers. I think I am not totally happy," Syed
Hamid said when he arrived for the meeting.

But "There is a feeling that Myanmar (Burma) is dragging us (ASEAN) down
in terms of our credibility and image," he said on 18 April in Malaysia.
"ASEAN must discuss this matter frankly." Some ASEAN legislators
including Djoko Susilo from Indonesia went as far as to suggest that the
bloc should issue a statement saying the Burmese delegates are not
welcomed to Bali.

On the other hand, ASEAN Secretary General Ong Kim Yong insisted that
the best way to bring about change in Burma is through the cooperation
of neighbouring countries including India and China.

Mario Aguja, a lawmaker from the Philippines and a member of ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), told DVB that the true
colour of the SPDC became more obvious after the visit of Hamid Syed to
Burma and that the junta has no intention to carry out democratic
reforms. He also added that the current policy on Burma is not working
as it will continue to allow the junta to slap the bloc in the face.

U Lwin, the spokesman of Burma?s main opposition the National League for
Democracy (NLD), on the other hand, expressed his doubt as to whether
ASEAN will take real action on the junta, pointing out previous examples
of the grouping?s failures to shift the junta. But, he also accepted the
comment of Ong Keng Yong who argued that India and China should push the
junta harder for reforms.

Apart from Burma, ASEAN also groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.
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