Burma Related News - Nov 13, 2007.

*************************************************************
BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOVEMBER 13, 2007
*************************************************************
HEAD LINES
*************************************************************
AP - 2 fugitive Myanmar dissidents arrested
AP - Myanmar authorities arrest monk who helped lead pro-democracy
protests: group
AP - Foreigners flock to Myanmar gems auction despite calls for a
boycott
AFP - Activist arrested as UN envoy meets Myanmar ministers
AFP - UN rights envoy to meet Myanmar ministers
AFP - Myanmar gem auction to top up junta coffers despite sanctions
AFP - Ban urges Myanmar parties to speed up reconciliation efforts
Reuters - Myanmar troops abduct Bangladesh fishermen
Rigzone - PTTEP to Invest US $1 Billion in Myanmar Gas Project
Asia Pulse - Bangladesh Begins Importing Rice From Myanmar
IANS - Human Rights Watch calls for total ban on Myanmar gems, jade
IANS - Myanmar junta and opposition ready for dialogue: UN
IANS - UN envoy to brief council on Myanmar
IANS - Myanmar leader asks India to arm anti-junta groups
PTI - 8 Myanmar nationals arrested on Indo-Pak border in J-K
Asia Times - India stands by Myanmar status quo
Asia Times - Mixed messages from Myanmar's junta
Sin Chew Jit Poh - India: Asean To Hold 'Family Meeting' On Myanmar
PD - Assembly President urges concrete results in Myanmar dialogue
The Daily Reflector - Myanmar refugees killed in crash
CNA - M'sia hopes Myanmar issue will not overshadow ASEAN Summit
Globe and Mail - How Myanmar spins its grip on power
DVB News - NLD charges continue despite moves towards dialogue
*************************************************************
2 fugitive Myanmar dissidents arrested
Tue Nov 13, 11:05 AM ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A leading dissident on the run since escaping a
crackdown by government thugs two months ago and a Buddhist monk who
helped spearhead recent pro-democracy demonstrations have been
arrested, exiled activists and an official said Tuesday.

The dissident, Su Su Nway, was detained Tuesday as she tried to put up
the leaflet near a Yangon hotel where a visiting U.N. human rights
investigator has been staying, said the official, who insisted on
anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press. Stanley
Aung, of the dissident National League for Democracy-Liberated Area
Myanmar in neighboring Thailand, confirmed her arrest.

Aung said dissidents arriving at the Thai border also confirmed the
arrest of U Gambira, a leader of an alliance of monks established to
support pro-democracy protests after small demonstrations began in
August.

Other dissident groups also reported U Gambira's arrest, though
details differed. Some said he had been arrested on Nov. 4, the same
day he had an article published in The Washington Post in which he
vowed to continue the struggle against the country's military regime.

Su Su Nway was active in protests in Yangon in August against an oil
price hike and dramatically escaped arrest when a demonstration was
crushed on Aug. 28. Video filmed at the time and broadcast around the
world showed her comrades protecting her as the pro-government thugs
tried to pull her away.

The September demonstrations, which attracted as many as 100,000
people at their height, grew out of the smaller August protests, which
were attended by a relative handful of political activists such as Su
Su Nway.

The U.N. investigator, Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, arrived Sunday on a five-
day visit to investigate human rights conditions in the wake of
September's violent crackdown by the ruling junta.

The government acknowledged detaining almost 3,000 people in
connection with the protests, but says it has released most. Most of
the prominent political activists who were arrested remain in custody.

After the Aug. 28 confrontation, Su Su Nway, 35, said she had a heart
condition and could not take part in street demonstrations, but wanted
to show solidarity with other prominent activists in jail.

Since then she has been in hiding, but there have been reports of her
occasionally surfacing for more protest activity. She had regular
contact with the media until her mobile phone was disconnected early
September.

The Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based radio station run by
Myanmar dissidents, reported that on Oct. 27 she laid lay flowers at
the spot where Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai was shot dead by
government security forces while covering the demonstrations in Yangon
a month earlier.

Su Su Nway served nine months in prison in 2005-2006 for her labor
activism when she was convicted of defamation after she won a
conviction against four officials for using forced labor.

She is also a member of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy party.
*************************************************************
Myanmar authorities arrest monk who helped lead pro-democracy
protests: group
Tue Nov 13, 10: 11 AM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped
spearhead pro-democracy protests in Myanmar that were crushed by the
military junta in September, has been arrested by security
authorities, exiled dissidents in Thailand said Tuesday.

U Gambira _ also known as U Gambiya _ was a leader of the All-Burma
Monks alliance, a group established to support pro-democracy protests
after small demonstrations began in August.

Activists who have just arrived at the Myanmar-Thailand border
confirmed that the monk has been arrested, said Stanley Aung of the
Thailand-based dissident group National League for Democracy-Liberated
Area.

Other dissident groups also reported U Gambira's arrest, though
details differed. Some said he had been arrested on Nov. 4, the same
day he had an article published in the Washington Post newspaper in
which he vowed to continue the struggle against the country's military
regime.
*************************************************************
Foreigners flock to Myanmar gems auction despite calls for a boycott
AP - Wednesday, November 14

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - More than 1,500 people from over 20 countries
have registered for a major gems auction in Myanmar opening Wednesday,
despite calls from human rights groups to block the purchase of
precious stones from the military ruled country.

Myanmar is one of the biggest jade and gem-producing countries in the
world, and international auctions are a major revenue earner for the
regime.

Myanmar has held gem emporiums since 1964. The sale that runs from
Wednesday through Nov. 26 is the first since the junta's bloody
September crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that sparked
international outcry.

"The trade in these stones supports human rights abuses," Human Rights
Watch said in a statement. "The sale of these gems gives Burma's
military rulers quick cash to stay in power." Myanmar is also called
Burma.

The state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise said it generated sales of
nearly US$300 million (?206 million) in fiscal year 2006-2007, Human
Rights Watch said.
Merchants from China and Hong Kong usually constitute the largest
contingent of buyers at the auctions.

This auction includes 5,140 lots of jade, 274 lots of gems and 259
lots of pearls that will be sold both by the government and private
dealers, said the Myanmar Gems Enterprise, which has organized the
event.

So far, 1,500 merchants from more than 20 countries have registered
for the sale, but more than 3,000 people were expected to attend
overall, the state-run body said.

Due to U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar in July 2003, which
froze all U.S. dollar remittances into the country, international
business transactions are done in euros.
*************************************************************
Activist arrested as UN envoy meets Myanmar ministers
Tue Nov 13, 11: 15 AM ET

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar police Tuesday arrested a labour activist as a
UN rights envoy held talks with members of the junta, which drew
international criticism for its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy
protests.

Making his first visit to the country in four years, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro is investigating the death toll from the bloody suppression
-- put at 10 by the regime but thought by diplomats and rights groups
to be far higher -- and other rights abuses.

The United Nations said Pinheiro was expected to meet with some of the
regime's political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for most of the last
18 years.

Pinheiro met with junta officials Tuesday as police arrested prominent
labour rights activist Su Su Nway as she distributed anti-government
leaflets, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

"She was arrested this afternoon while she was trying to put some anti-
government pamphlets in place," the source, who did not wish to be
identified, told AFP.

Su Su Nway, 35, had been in hiding since leading a protest in Yangon
in late August over soaring fuel prices.

Dozens of protesters were detained after that August march, one of a
series of anti-junta rallies that began over the price hike and later
snowballed into the biggest anti-government demonstrations since 1988.

Pinheiro arrived on Sunday, allowed back in for the first time since
2003 by the junta, which is under pressure to make steps towards
democracy after its handling of the demonstrations.

He met Tuesday with the religious affairs and national planning and
economic development ministers in the isolated capital Naypyidaw, a
Myanmar official said. No details were immediately available.

Pinheiro is expected Wednesday to meet the foreign and information
ministers and Labour Minister Aung Kyi, who was appointed to liaise
with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the official said. He is also
due to brief foreign diplomats.

Human rights groups have called on Pinheiro to pressure the junta to
release all political prisoners.

Amnesty International has estimated that 700 people arrested over the
recent protests were still in detention, although the government said
only 91 of the 3,000 originally rounded up were being held.

On Monday, Pinheiro visited the notorious Insein prison as well as two
monasteries which were at the centre of the democracy protests, as
part of his probe into rights abuses connected to the crackdown.

During Tuesday's meeting, the junta assured Pinheiro, the UN's special
rapporteur on human rights, that he "will be able to interview
detainees, before the end of his mission, as requested," the UN said
in a statement.

The UN expert is also seeking to investigate claims of abuses against
ethnic minority groups before leaving the country on Thursday.

Pinheiro's visit comes just days after a mission by UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari. The United Nations afterwards said some progress had
been made towards establishing a dialogue between the junta and Aung
San Suu Kyi.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged both sides to
redouble their efforts to achieve national reconciliation.

Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst based in Thailand said the
international pressure and scrutiny, as well as protests and
sanctions, "have played a major role in forcing the military to
express that they will come to the table."

Other analysts say the generals have allowed the UN visits to deflect
criticism ahead of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, which opens in Singapore on Sunday.
*************************************************************
Ban urges Myanmar parties to speed up reconciliation efforts
Mon Nov 12, 7:34 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Myanmar's
ruling junta and opposition to redouble their efforts to achieve
national reconciliation and full respect for human rights.

Meanwhile Human Rights Watch on Monday appealed to China, Thailand,
the United States, and other countries to slap targeted sanctions on
Myanmar's gem business ahead of the opening of a major gem auction in
Yangon this week.

In a statement, Ban again described a return to the status quo that
existed prior to the current crisis as "not sustainable."

He pressed the "government and all relevant parties to redouble their
efforts towards achieving national reconciliation, democracy and full
respect for human rights."

Ban, currently on a South American tour, was briefed Monday by phone
by his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his recent six-day visit to
the restive southeast Asian country.

The UN chief "looks forward to (Gambari's) early return to Myanmar as
part of an open and regular process of mutual engagement" and voiced
hope that the process launched as a result of Gambari's mediation
"will lead to a meaningful and substantive dialogue with concrete
outcomes within an agreed timeframe."

The Nigerian troubleshooter, who is back at UN headquarters, on Monday
conferred with the president of the UN General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim.

Kerim stressed that "this process must achieve concrete results and a
clear commitment on the part of the government of Myanmar is required
to work constructively with the special advisor (Gambari)."

Tuesday afternoon, Gambari was to brief the 15-member Security Council
on his latest mediation between Myanmar's ruling generals and
opposition leader Aund San Suu Kyi.

Last week, Aung San Suu Kyi voiced optimism after meeting with a junta
official and said she believed it was time for the "healing process"
to start.

The pro-democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate also huddled
with members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) for the first
time in more than three years amid hopes of a thaw in relations with
the generals who crushed street protests against their rule in
September.

The meetings followed Gambari's six-day mission to Myanmar, which he
said had led to progress towards establishing a dialogue between the
junta and the country's pro-democracy movement.

The New York-based rights group meanwhile called for a ban on the
purchase of gems from Myanmar, arguing that it helps finance military
abuses there.

"Burma's rubies and jade are prized for their beauty but the ugly
truth is that the trade in these stones supports human rights abuses,"
said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program
at Human Rights Watch.

"The sale of these gems gives Burma's military rulers quick cash to
stay in power," he added.

The auction, at which large numbers of precious and semi-precious
stones will be on offer, is scheduled to run from Wednesday to
November 26 at the Myanmar Convention Center in Yangon.

Myanmar produces a variety of gems but is most famous for its rubies
and jade. More than 90 percent of the world's rubies originate in the
southeast Asian country.

The ruling junta controls most mining activity in the country and has
a direct ownership interest in many mines, in some cases through joint
ventures with private entrepreneurs, Human Rights Watch said.

Last month, European Union foreign ministers approved new sanctions
against the Myanmar regime, including an embargo on the export of
wood, gems and metals.

The EU already had broad sanctions in place against Myanmar's
leadership and their families -- with 375 people on a visa-ban, asset-
freeze list.

In the US Congress, pending legislation would ban the purchase of
Myanmar-mined gemstones, closing a loophole in existing US sanctions
that allows gems from the country to be sold in the United States if
they have been processed in a third country.

Pro-democracy protests in Myanmar began in mid-August, after a massive
hike in the price of everyday fuel, but escalated into the biggest
threat to the ruling generals in nearly 20 years when Buddhist monks
emerged to lead the movement.
*************************************************************
UN rights envoy to meet Myanmar ministers
Tue Nov 13, 5:36 AM ET

YANGON (AFP) - A UN rights envoy was to hold talks on Tuesday with
members of the Myanmar junta, whose deadly crackdown on pro-democracy
protests has drawn criticism from around the world.

Making his first visit to the country in four years, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro is investigating the death toll from the crackdown -- put at
10 by the regime but believed by diplomats and rights groups to be far
higher.

The United Nations said Pinheiro was also expected to meet with some
of the regime's political prisoners, whose ranks include Nobel Peace
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, held under house arrest for most of the
last 18 years.

Pinheiro arrived on Sunday, allowed back in by the junta in the face
of fierce international criticism of its handling of the
demonstrations, which were led by the country's revered Buddhist
monks.

A Myanmar official confirmed that the UN envoy had arrived Tuesday in
Naypyidaw, the remote and isolated new capital which itself has been
seen as a sign of the junta's distance from the impoverished nation's
54 million people.

"Mr Pinheiro has arrived already and then he will meet with the
(government) Human Rights Commission at the Home Affairs Ministry,"
the official told AFP. Naypyidaw is 400 kilometres (250 miles) north
of the former capital Yangon.

The Brazilian envoy would later meet a pro-junta group, international
non-governmental organisations and the religious affairs and national
planning and economic development ministers, the official said.

On Monday, Pinheiro visited the notorious Insein prison as well as two
monasteries which were at the centre of the democracy protests, as
part of his probe into rights abuses connected to the crackdown.

Buddhist monks were at the forefront of the protests, which began in
August in response to a spike in fuel prices but swelled in the
following weeks into the biggest anti-government demonstrations the
junta has faced since 1988.

Pinheiro, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights, "is expecting
to interview detainees before the end of his mission and receive
further details on their records," the United Nations said in a
statement.

The UN expert is also seeking to investigate claims of abuses against
ethnic minority groups before leaving the country on Thursday.

Human rights groups have called on him to pressure the junta to
release all political prisoners.

Amnesty International on Friday estimated that 700 people arrested
over the recent protests were still in detention, although the
government said only 91 of the 3,000 originally rounded up were being
held.

The government maintains 10 people died during the crackdown but
diplomats and dissidents have put the number far higher.

Pinheiro's visit comes just days after a mission by UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari. The United Nations afterwards said some progress had
been made towards establishing a dialogue between the junta and
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Secretary General Ban Ki-
moon on Monday urged them to redouble their efforts to achieve
national reconciliation.

An analyst said the international pressure and scrutiny had helped.

"We have a lot of distrust, a lot of insincerity, everybody has
accused the Burmese military of being insincere, distrustful," said
Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst based in Thailand.

"But the circumstances, the internal protests, the biting sanctions,
the UN's involvement, the international (community) keeping a close
step on what is happening in the country, especially the military's
crackdown on peaceful demos, they have played a major role in forcing
the military to express that they will come to the table."

Some other analysts say the generals have allowed the UN visits to
deflect criticism ahead of the annual summit of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, which opens in Singapore on Sunday.
*************************************************************
Myanmar gem auction to top up junta coffers despite sanctions
Mon Nov 12, 11:09 PM ET

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar will on Wednesday launch its first auction of
gems and jade since its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests,
defying a tightening of sanctions and calls for a boycott of its jewel
trade.

The poverty-stricken country is the source of up to 90 percent of the
world's rubies, and each auction of precious stones rakes in more than
100 million dollars, making it a key source of revenue for the
military regime.

Myanmar's renowned "pigeon's blood" rubies can cost more per carat
than diamonds. Last year, an 8.62-carat Burmese ruby fetched a record
price of 3.7 million dollars -- or 425,000 dollars per carat -- at a
Christie's auction.

"With financial sanctions being placed, it is getting increasingly
difficult for the Burmese generals to move their money around," said
Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma.

"So gems are, in some ways, the perfect vehicle to do that because
gems are very portable, very valuable, and you can move them around
much easier than money. You don't need to go through banks," said
Turnell from Macquarie University in Sydney.

The junta's fifth auction this year will kick off Wednesday until
November 26, and is expected to draw thousands of merchants, mainly
from neighbouring jade-crazed China and Thailand, the top customers
for Myanmar gems.

"It will be bigger than our previous auction in August. We expect many
jade merchants from China and Thailand to come," said an official for
Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE) in Yangon.

MGE is Myanmar's third biggest state enterprise with sales worth 300
million dollars in the previous fiscal year to March 2007, according
to the Myanmar Times, a semi-official weekly.

Myanmar used to hold gem auctions twice a year, but has been holding
them with increasing frequency in a bid to raise much-needed foreign
currency. The military government held four auctions in 2006.

"A gem auction has become a very important source of income for the
junta, followed by natural gas and teak," said Win Min, a Myanmar
analyst based in Thailand.

The latest sale comes as Myanmar faces global pressure over its
violent clampdown on peaceful protests which began in August, with the
United States and the European Union tightening sanctions aimed at the
top generals.

The junta said 10 people were killed and about 3,000 detained, but
diplomats and rights groups put both figures far higher.

Even before the suppression, Myanmar, under military rule since 1962,
was already under US and European economic sanctions due to human
rights abuses and the house arrest of 62-year-old democracy icon Aung
San Suu Kyi.

In the wake of the violence, the United States froze assets of top
leaders including junta chief General Than Shwe, and last month
proposed measures aimed at stopping the import of Myanmar-mined gems
into the country.

Despite the US sanctions, which ban direct imports from Myanmar, its
gems are cut or polished in third countries, often Thailand, for
jewellers, and then shipped to the United States under a legal
loophole.

Jewellers Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari are among the few dealers that
refuse to sell Myanmar gems. An industry group of 11,000 stores,
including Cartier and Tiffany, asked US lawmakers last month to plug
the loophole under a new law.

But Dave Mathieson, a consultant on Myanmar to Human Rights Watch in
Thailand, voiced scepticism over the impact of such moves against
Myanmar-mined stones.

"It does not work as long as Indian, Chinese and Thai companies keep
working" with the junta, he said.

The New York-based rights group also called for a ban on the purchase
of Myanmar gems Monday, saying such sales give the ruling generals
"quick cash to stay in power."

Win Min agreed.

"The junta does not care about sanctions because it still has lots of
customers from China and Asia," he said.
*************************************************************
Myanmar troops abduct Bangladesh fishermen
Reuters - Wednesday, November 14

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Fourteen Bangladeshi fishermen
aboard two fishing boats were abducted in the Bay of Bengal by Myanmar
border security forces, officials said on Tuesday.

"The fishermen were captured late on Monday while they were fishing in
Bangladesh waters ... near the Saint Martin's Island," an official of
the Bangladesh Rifles border force said.

Saint Martin's is an offshore Bangladesh island, 550 km southeast of
the capital, Dhaka.

Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km border and generally have good
neighbourly relations, but sometimes quarrel over allegations that
fishermen stray out of their territorial waters.
*************************************************************
Rigzone
PTTEP to Invest US $1 Billion in Myanmar Gas Project
AFX News Limited Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Thailand's largest oil exploration firm, PTT Exploration and
Production (PTTEP), said Tuesday it will invest at least US$1 billion
over the next five years in developing an offshore gas project in
Myanmar.

This year PTTEP began exploring the M-9 block in the Gulf of Martaban
off southern Myanmar, working with Myanmar's top state-run oil
enterprise, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

PTTEP plans to drill more exploration wells and start installing
production equipment in 2008, said PTTEP spokesman Sitthichai Jayant.

"Our activities in the M-9 project so far have confirmed that the gas
reserve of this block is promising," Sitthichai said.

"PTTEP has already laid down a development plan for M-9 which calls
for an investment of at least 1 billion dollars, starting next year
onward. It usually takes five years for developing a gas project until
it starts production."

The M-9 project is not included in PTTEP's investment plans for
2007-2011, which require 8.3 billion dollars, Sitthichai said.

The block has been the focus of PTTEP's offshore work in the Gulf of
Martaban.

Thailand imports about 20% of its gas from Myanmar and is vying for a
bigger share of Myanmar's natural resources.

State media in Myanmar previously estimated the M-9 block contains 8.0
trillion cubic feet of gas.

PTTEP company is aiming to start initial production by 2011 for both
domestic use and export, Sitthichai said.

PTTEP owns all of the M-9 block but Sitthichai said it is looking for
investment partners.

"We have been in talks with a state-owned oil company from Oman [who]
are interested to co-invest in the project. We are likely to give them
a minority stake of less than 10 percent," Sitthichai said.

Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations, is subject to US and
European economic sanctions imposed over the ruling military junta's
human rights abuses and its recent crackdown on pro-democracy
protests.

But the impact of the sanctions has been weakened by energy-hungry
neighbors such as China, India and Thailand spending billions of
dollars for a share of Myanmar's vast energy resources.

According to 2006 official figures, 13 foreign oil companies are
working on 33 projects in Myanmar.
*************************************************************
Tuesday November 13, 07:22 PM
Bangladesh Begins Importing Rice From Myanmar

COXS BAZAR, Nov 13 Asia Pulse - Rice import from Myanmar started again
Monday after a one-and-a-half-year break under a crash course to bring
down the soaring prices of the staple in the domestic market.

Assistant Collector of local Customs and VAT Office Sikder Anwarul
Islam said 7,400 kgs of rice in 148 sacks were released on the first
day through the land port on Teknaf border.

Border sources said that as Aman harvest began in the neighboring
country, their government permitted the export of rice to Bangladesh.

Besides, the importers in the country have shown interest in importing
rice as the government made rice import duty-free, said one official.

The caretaker government has lifted import duties on nine essential
commodities, including rice, wheat, pulses, oils and milk, in the wake
of unprecedented price spirals, blamed on short supply as well as
market manipulation.

Also, reports said, recent restrictions on rice export from India
contributed, to some extent, to the upturn of the market.

Local importers here said huge quantities rice would be imported from
the rice-surplus Myanmarese market.
*************************************************************
Human Rights Watch calls for total ban on Myanmar gems, jade
By IANS
Tuesday November 13, 12:54 PM

Yangon, Nov 13 (DPA) New York-based Human Rights Watch Tuesday called
on China and Thailand to join the EU and US in banning imports of gems
and jade from Myanmar, where the state-run trade is allegedly
financing military rule and human rights abuses.

'The sale of these gems gives Myanmar's military rulers quick cash to
stay in power,' said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and
Human Rights Programme at Human Rights Watch in a statement made
available in Bangkok.

The call for a complete ban on Myanmar gems and jade has coincided
with the opening Tuesday of a government-run auction of precious
stones in Yangon, where more than 2,000 buyers have flocked for the bi-
annual event.

Myanmar -- also known as Burma - is the world's largest supplier of
rubies and jade. It earned an estimated $300 million last year from
its gem auctions.

Government-controlled gem and jade mines in Myanmar are notorious for
using forced labour and allowing atrocious health conditions, with HIV/
AIDS and tuberculosis running rampant among the labourers.

Myanmar's ruling junta is already under international censure for
cracking down on protests led by Buddhist monks last September.

'It is simply unconscionable for traders to help Myanmar's generals
sell off the country's natural resources for their own benefit while
average people are victimised and harassed,' said Ganesan.

'Trading in Burmese gems bolsters the country's military rulers at a
time when they are committing serious human rights abuses, driving
their people into further poverty, and rejecting calls for political
reconciliation.'

In the wake of the September crackdown, the European Union has imposed
new sanctions to block the import of Myanmar's precious and semi
precious stones.

The US Congress is considering legislation that would ban the purchase
of Myanmar-mined gemstones, closing a loophole in existing US
sanctions that allows gems from Myanmar to be sold in the US if they
have been processed in a third country.

Thailand is the largest importer/processor of Myanmar gemstones while
China is the main importer of Myanmar jade.

'Myanmar's jade, which is popular in China, is increasingly sought
after for use in products commemorating the 2008 Beijing Olympics,'
said Human Rights Watch.
India is another major importer of Myanmar gemstones, which are cut
and polished and exported.

'The governments and companies that have stopped buying Myanmar gems
deserve credit for not supporting human rights abusers,' said Ganesan.
'The rest have peoples' blood on their hands.'
*************************************************************
Myanmar junta and opposition ready for dialogue: UN
By IANS
Tuesday November 13, 04:40 PM

United Nations, Nov 13 (RIA Novosti) The military government and the
pro-democracy opposition in Myanmar are ready for UN-mediated talks on
national reconciliation, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said
Tuesday.

The UN chief encouraged the Myanmar government and all relevant
parties 'to redouble their efforts towards achieving national
reconciliation, democracy and full respect for human rights,' UN
associate spokeswoman Marie Okabe quoted him as saying.

The statement came following UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's six-
day mission to Myanmar, during which he attempted to promote talks
between the ruling junta and pro-democracy leaders led by detained
Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It was his second visit since
the military crackdown on anti-junta protestors in September.

Okabe said: 'As a result of Gambari's visit, a process has been
launched that will hopefully lead to a meaningful and substantive
dialogue with concrete results within an agreed timeframe.'

Recent protests in Myanmar, the largest in more than two decades,
began Aug 19 when the junta drastically raised the price of fuel,
leaving many people unable to afford even a journey to work.
Demonstrations rapidly took on a more general anti-junta nature.

The demonstrations that followed, including a 100,000-strong protest
march in Myanmar's capital Yangon, were headed and organised by the
country's monks.

Protests eventually died down after soldiers raided monasteries
throughout the country, beating and imprisoning large numbers of the
Buddhist holy men.

The ruling junta seized power in 1988, and although a general election
was subsequently held in 1990, the military authorities refused to
honour the results when the National League for Democracy Party won.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for a total of 12 years
since 1989.

Prior to this year's protests, the last anti-junta demonstrations in
Myanmar were led by students in 1988. Security forces opened fire on
crowds, and around 3,000 people were killed.
*************************************************************
UN envoy to brief council on Myanmar
By IANS
Tuesday November 13, 12:52 PM

New York, Nov 13 (DPA) UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is to brief
the UN Security Council Tuesday on the situation in Myanmar after his
six-day visit there.

Gambari, who returned over the weekend to New York, is to talk to the
15-member panel Tuesday afternoon, the UN said. The report is expected
to factor into the panel's deliberations over how it should react to
the political crisis triggered by violent repression of pro-democracy
demonstrations.

Gambari met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held by
the regime under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, and with
the new Prime Minister General Thein Sein, but not with the junta head
Than Shwe.

Myanmar's military government and opposition parties have agreed to
hold 'meaningful and substantive' talks to resolve the political
crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

'As a result of this visit, a process has been launched that will
hopefully lead to a meaningful and substantive dialogue with concrete
outcomes within an agreed timeframe,' Ban said in a statement.
*************************************************************
Myanmar leader asks India to arm anti-junta groups
Tuesday November 13, 10:06 AM

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) One of the top Myanmar opposition leaders in
exile has asked India to arm the country's pro-democracy parties with
military and financial aid while snapping all defence sales to the
ruling military junta.

Urging for a change in Indian foreign policy towards Myanmar, the
National League of Democracy's Tint Swe said he believed that 'If not
today, democracy will prevail soon'.

'If India is not going to change its policy then it will have to work
harder, maybe for a decade, for better ties with a democratic regime,'
said Swe, who had fled to India after he was elected a member of
parliament in the 1990 elections, which were not accepted by the
military.

Delivering a talk Monday, he drew parallels between India's cautious
policy toward Myanmar, as opposed to a bolder approach by China, which
had maintained contacts with both the regime and opposition groups.

'The Chinese ambassador was the first envoy to congratulate NLD in
1990, when we won the parliamentary election,' he said, adding: 'This
continues now with China's key role in facilitating the visit of UN
envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar. He was also received at Yangon
airport by the Chinese ambassador. The Indian envoy in Myanmar,
however, scrupulously avoids any interface with the Myanmar
opposition.'

He pointed out that India had issued its first official statement 19
days after China had reacted to the pro-democracy street protests led
by Buddhist monks that began in August.

'Burmese people did not understand why the mother of Buddhism did not
say anything when monks were being shot,' he said.

However, he did appreciate that External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee had spoken of 'inclusiveness and national reconciliation' in
that statement. Swe also said India had called for the release of NLD
leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from custody 'after a
silence of over a decade'.

Calling for Indian military aid for Burmese opposition groups, he said
that the 'message from the Burmese people' was to stop Indian arms
sales to the military junta.

'Short term commercial interest prevails over long-term national
interest,' Swe commented, referring to India's energy security needs
due to which it is treading sensitively in Myanmar.

Two interesting suggestions were that the Myanmar opposition should be
allowed to set up radio stations in India rather than broadcast from
Norway.

Further, he called for a revival of the Burmese broadcast of All India
Radio, which Swe said was the most relied upon news source during the
1988 uprising. 'Frankly, right now it is wasting tax payers' money,'
said Swe.

While advocating sustained violent and non-violent opposition to the
military junta, Swe asserted that Myanmar would not fall apart if
there were to be a regime change.

'The Burmese army will have a role to play in the transition and in
the future of the country,' he said.
*************************************************************
8 Myanmar nationals arrested on Indo-Pak border in J-K
Tuesday November 13, 10:43 AM

Jammu, Nov 13 (PTI) Eight Myanmar nationals were arrested today while
trying to crossover to Pakistan through International Border at R S
Pura Forward area in Jammu district, officials said.

Border Security Force troops spotted some people trying to exfiltrate
to Pakistan via A M K Border Outpost (BoP) in the district, they said.

The troops challenged them and arrested all of them after a chase,
they added.

The arrested people belonged to New Bazar area of Gadgoda district of
Myanmar, they said, adding they have been identified as Mohammad
Younis, Abdul Malik, Kamal Hussain, Mohammad Farooq, Masooda Begum,
Fatima Khatoon, Majib and Muneera.

Some Indian currency was also recovered from them, they said.
**************************************************************
Asia Times - Nov 14, 2007
India stands by Myanmar status quo
By Bertil Lintner

CHIANG MAI - Myanmar's principal foreign ally China has shown in the
wake of the military junta's recent armed crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators that Beijing is more interested in maintaining stability
than pushing for democratic regime change. So then could India,
Myanmar's other key regional ally, be persuaded to use its influence
to facilitate political change?

The United States, the European Union and even Myanmar exiles in New
Delhi, who have recently demonstrated outside the Indian Parliament,
have all appealed to what Indian politicians proudly proclaim is the
world's largest democracy to live up to those ideals and push for
change in Myanmar.

India and Myanmar share a complicated and delicate history, one marked
as much by mistrust as amity. In recent years India has shifted its
diplomatic support from Myanmar's hamstrung pro-democracy movement
towards the ruling military junta, driven by realpolitik imperatives
including greater access to Myanmar's untapped energy resources and
its support in putting down ethnic insurgent groups active in remote
border territories.

India's still delicate rapprochement with Myanmar means that New Delhi
will no time soon answer the West's call to take a more assertive
policy position with regard to the military junta. Indeed, India's
foreign policy has never been guided by promoting democracy in other
countries.

On the contrary, "democratic" India was the Soviet Union's main ally
in Asia during the Cold War, because it suited the regional security
interests of both countries. India has not even pushed for democracy
in one of its closest neighbors and allies, the Himalayan kingdom of
Bhutan, one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies.

India's relations with Myanmar are even more troubled and delicate
than China's. During the British colonial era, Myanmar, then known as
Burma, was made into a province of British India, which it remained
until 1937 when it became a separate colony. During that time, large
numbers of Indians migrated or were brought in by the British as
laborers. The railways, post and telegraph, the police and the civil
service were also staffed with people of Indian origin.

Just before World War II, the Indians numbered over 1 million of a
total population of about 16 million at the time and 45% of the former
capital Yangon's population was of South Asian origin - Hindu, Muslim
and Sikh. Their numbers were reduced when the Japanese invaded in 1941
and many of them fled to India. But many also remained until the war
was over, and even after independence in 1948.

The role Indians played as intermediaries between the colonial British
and the native population gave rise to sometimes fierce anti-Indian
sentiments. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the Myanmar nationalist
movement had strong undertones of communal tension. Even today, people
of South Asian origin are often looked down on in Myanmar, popularly
referred to as kala a Burmese language pejorative meaning "foreigner"
or "Indian". Curiously, Caucasians are still called kala pyu, which
translates from the Burmese to "white Indians".

Still, Myanmar's relations with India were in the main cordial after
independence. Myanmar's first prime minister, U Nu, was known to be a
close friend to his Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru and both
leaders were prominent figures in the Cold War-inspired Non-Aligned
Movement. Indeed, India helped Myanmar survive its first difficult
years as an independent state, including crucially when various
political and ethnic insurgent groups threatened to break the new
country apart. Without India's massive military and economic aid, U
Nu's government would most probably have collapsed.

Xenophobic backlash

However, Indo-Myanmar relations chilled after General Ne Win's
military coup and seizure of power in March 1962. After a few years in
power, his revolutionary council moved to nationalize privately owned
businesses and factories, of which an estimated 60% were owned by
people of Indian origin. Thousands lost their property and livelihood
and during the four-year period spanning 1964-68 some 150,000 Indo-
Burmese left the country.

Many leaders of the formerly democratic Myanmar also fled, among them
U Nu, who went into exile in India. The Indian government put him up
in a stately residence in Bhopal, where he remained for well over a
decade before returning to Myanmar under a general amnesty in 1980.
Bilateral relations between India and Myanmar remained more or less
stagnant until Myanmar's 1988 uprising for democracy, which was
brutally crushed by the military.

In an official statement issued in the wake of the violence, India
expressed its support for the "undaunted resolve of the Burmese
[Myanmar] people to achieve their democracy". The Burmese language
service of the state-sponsored radio station All-India Radio (AIR)
became even more outspoken in its criticism of Myanmar's military
government, which made it immensely popular with the population at
large.

In response, Myanmar's state-run Working People's Daily newspaper
began publishing outright racist articles and cartoons against AIR and
ethnic Indians in general, attempting to revive the anti-kala
xenophobia of the 1930s. But even then it was clear that India's hard
diplomatic stand was not driven by illusions of serving as a regional
guardian or promoter of democracy.

India shares a 1,371-kilometer frontier with Myanmar and ethnic
insurgents fighting against New Delhi have long used under-
administered territories in Myanmar as sanctuaries to conduct cross-
border raids into India's sensitive northeastern areas. Myanmar's only
reaction to this situation had been to mount half-hearted and
essentially futile military operations against the insurgents, mainly
ethnic Nagas.

It was widely believed in New Delhi in the late 1980s and early 1990s
that a new democratic government in Myanmar would likely take a more
tactful approach. India's sympathy for Myanmar's pro-democracy
movement was further strengthened by the fact that until December 1989
its prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was a personal friend of pro-
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Their acquaintance dated to the early 1960s, when her mother, Daw Khin
Kyi, served as Myanmar's ambassador to India. Suu Kyi's father,
national independence hero Aung San, had also known Rajiv's
grandfather, Nehru personally. But at the time it was also clear that
India's support for Myanmar's pro-democracy forces was also guided by
an Indian desire to counter its main regional rival China's growing
influence with Myanmar's internationally isolated generals.

About 1993 India began to re-evaluate its strategy due to concerns
that its policies had achieved little except to push
Myanmar closer to Beijing. The result was a dramatic policy shift
aimed at improving relations with Myanmar's generals, as it was also
becoming clear that the pro-democracy movement would not achieve power
within the foreseeable future.

At that time, Myanmar's military government had effectively cowed Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy party into submission and the
exile community seemed to have little to no impact on political
developments inside the country - even as some of them actually stayed
in the personal residence in New Delhi of senior Indian politician
George Fernandes, who served as defense minister from 1988 through
2004.

By January 2000, Indian army chief General Ved Prakash Malik paid a
two-day visit to Myanmar, which was followed with a reciprocal visit
by his Myanmar counterpart, General Maung Aye, to the northeast Indian
city of Shillong. The unusual nature of this visit, by a foreign
leader to a provincial capital, was accentuated by the arrival of a
group of senior Indian officials from the Trade, Energy, Defense, Home
and Foreign Affairs ministries to hold talks with the Myanmar
general.

In the aftermath of those meetings, India began to provide non-lethal
military support to Myanmar troops along their common border. Most of
the Myanmar troops' uniforms and some other combat gear now originate
from India, as do the leased helicopters Myanmar uses to combat the
ethnic insurgents who operate from sanctuaries along the two sides'
common border. In November 2000, the Indian government felt confident
enough about the improvement in bilateral relations to invite Maung
Aye to New Delhi, where he headed a delegation that included several
other high-ranking junta members and cabinet ministers.

In 2004, junta chief General Than Shwe also visited India, followed in
December 2006 by the third-highest ranking officer in Myanmar's
military hierarchy, General Thura Shwe Mann, who toured the National
Defense Academy in Khadakvasla, India's premier officer-training
school, as well as the Tata Motors plant in Pune, which manufactures
vehicles for the Indian military.

Leveraged cultural heritage

About the mid-1990s, AIR's Burmese language service conspicuously
ceased broadcasting its anti-junta rhetoric; it is still on air today,
but programming consists almost exclusively of Myanmar pop music. A
strange kind of "cultural diplomacy" followed.

In the early 2000s, the Indian right-wing Hindu organization,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) , renewed its presence in Myanmar.
The RSS first came to Myanmar in the 1940s to provide social and
religious services to the country's ethnic Indian minority, but it lay
dormant after the military took over in 1962 and commenced
nationalizing Indian private companies.

The renewed effort to build up the RSS's Yangon branch was made
apparently with the blessings of Maung Aye, a staunch Myanmar
nationalist who has been reported to frown on the country's recent
economic and military reliance on China. The RSS, which in Myanmar is
referred to as the Sanatan Dharma Swayamsevak Sangh, appears to have
convinced some of the Myanmar generals that Hinduism and Buddhism are
"branches of the same tree" - and that "the best guard against China
is culture", to quote a Kolkata-based RSS official.

Although the RSS is the parent organization of the Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party, which in alliance with several other parties
led the Indian coalition government from between 1998 and 2004. It is
not certain that the Hindu fundamentalists' new mission in Myanmar had
the blessings of the Indian government, but cultural ties between the
two countries have definitely strengthened in recent years.

So, too, has cross-border trade. Before 1988 there was scant
commercial activity along the two countries' shared border, apart from
smuggling activities. In February, Sanjay Budhia, vice president of
the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said in a speech in
Kolkata that India and Myanmar "have set a US$1 billion trade target
in 2006-07, up from $557 million in 2004-05".

He noted that principal exports from Myanmar to India include "rice,
maize, pulses, beans, sesame seeds, fish and prawns, timber, plywood
and raw rubber, base metals and castor seeds". In return, India
exports machinery and industrial equipment, dairy products, textiles,
pharmaceutical products and consumer goods. India-Myanmar trade now
rivals that of the booming cross-border trade with China, which has
been brisk for almost two decades.

India has also shown a competitive interest in purchasing natural gas
from Myanmar and to build a 1,200 megawatt hydroelectric power station
on the Chindwin River across from India's underdeveloped northeastern
region. New Delhi is also actively involved in several infrastructure
projects inside Myanmar, including major road construction projects.
Myanmar is viewed from India's perspective as a "land bridge" to
Southeast Asia and as such a vital link in its new business-driven
"Look East" policy.

In January, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee became the first
senior leader from a major democracy to visit Myanmar's new capital
Naypyitaw, where the junta moved its administrative offices in
November 2005. Even in the midst of the recent tumultuous anti-
government demonstrations in Myanmar, where soldiers fired on
protesters, senior officials from the Indian state-owned Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation, led by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister
Murli Deora, flew to Naypyitaw to sign an agreement to explore for gas
in three new blocks in the Bay of Bengal off Myanmar's southwestern
Arakan coast.

To be sure, India has successfully weaned Myanmar away from its near-
total dependence on China for economic and military support. And the
strong position the US, the European Union and Myanmar dissidents are
now calling on New Delhi to take would risk - to China's benefit - the
precious foothold it has achieved in Myanmar over the past decade.

Like China, India is unlikely to go beyond statements of tacit support
for the United Nations' latest - and likely futile - mission to push
the military junta towards national reconciliation with the pro-
democracy opposition. In essence, New Delhi's interests are also in
the preservation of Myanmar's political status quo.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic
Review. He is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services.
*************************************************************
Asia Times - Nov 13, 2007
Mixed messages from Myanmar's junta
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - Tentative talks in Myanmar between pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and the country's military rulers have raised hopes in
some quarters of a possible political breakthrough. At the same time
diplomats and others believe the only tentative move towards dialogue
is the latest of a long string of diversionary tactics by the junta to
deflect international criticism and maintain its iron-clad grip on
power.

The detained opposition leader, who has spent 12 of the past 18 years
under house arrest, met Labor Minister Aung Gyi on Friday,
representing the second meeting between the two since his appointment
last month as the government's so-called liaison minister and since
the September crackdown by the army on peaceful demonstrations led by
Buddhist monks.

More significantly, Suu Kyi was allowed to meet key members of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) party for the first time in more
than three years, raising new hopes among the party's faithful
members. "If the talks go well, she may be released soon," a spokesman
for her party told journalists on the weekend.

The gesture notably came immediately after the latest visit to Myanmar
by the United Nations secretary general's special advisor to the
country, Ibrahim Gambari. Yet diplomats in Yangon contend the visit
was not instrumental in bringing about any substantive new
initiatives, but rather was a way for the regime to deflect
international pressure to introduce political change.

"It is too early to tell whether the top generals are serious about
political dialogue with the opposition or whether as I fear they are
just using this to buy time while they press on with their own
roadmap, which will effectively exclude Aung San Suu Kyi and her party
from politics in the future," a Western diplomat said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

The crucial change that Gambari was able to achieve was that through
him Suu Kyi was for the first time in years able to have her views
heard. "In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with
the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and
welcome the necessary good offices role of the UN to help facilitate
our efforts in this regard," she said in a letter to Gambari, which he
made public at the end of his trip. "I am committed to pursue the path
of dialogue constructively and invite the government and all relevant
parties to join me in this spirit," she appealed in the letter.

There was notably no reference to any precondition for such talks.
Immediately after Gambari's previous visit to Myanmar at the end of
September, junta leader General Than Shwe had announced his
willingness to meet the opposition leader, provided she was prepared
to end "confrontation", her public support for Western-led sanctions,
and the "utter devastation" of the country.

Those conditions are a non-starter to some members of the opposition,
however. "These pre-conditions are unacceptable as it is tantamount to
admitting guilty to charges which are totally unfounded, just to meet
Than Shwe," a leading NLD member said, but declined to be identified.

Suu Kyi's position has long been that everything is negotiable,
provided there are genuine political talks between the military regime
and pro-democracy parties. Although she did not spell this out in her
letter, it is something which remains the bedrock of her position. She
has also made clear that she regards Myanmar's various ethnic groups
as an essential part of any dialogue process.

That's why some view optimistically the two meetings between the labor
minister Aung Gyi and Suu Kyi in recent weeks, which they hope could
be part of a new process that leads to fresh talks between the NLD and
the military government. "These are pre-talks rather than the start of
a serious dialogue process," independent Myanmar analyst Win Min,
based at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand, warned. "But in
any negotiation, both sides have to show goodwill - so far that seems
to be happening," he added.

Diversionary tactics
The release of several hundred political prisoners last week and the
meeting between the top four NLD leaders and Suu Kyi are clearly
confidence-building measures. This was something Gambari stressed
should be part of the process when he offered the UN's services to
help facilitate dialogue between the two sides, according to UN
insiders.

It's not an entirely new idea, however. Former UN envoy Razali Ismail,
who resigned from his role in January 2005, put forward a series of
confidence-building measures when he tried to broker talks between Suu
Kyi and the generals when she was held previously under house arrest
and before May 2002 when she was temporarily released.

Of course, the UN is keen to present Gambari's visit as a success in
starting a process that could lead to a genuine political dialogue.
"We now have a process going which will lead to substantive dialogue
between the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a key instrument in
promoting national reconciliation in an all-inclusive manner," said a
UN statement at the end of Gambari's visit.

Privately, however, UN officials admit his visit was anything but a
success. Gambari remained a virtual prisoner in the new Myanmar
capital Naypyitaw, situated 400 kilometers north of the previous
capital Yangon. He spent only a few hours in Yangon, from where he
entered and exited the country. "The regime kept him there because
they feared his presence in [Yangon] might spark fresh protests," a
Bangkok-based diplomat who covers Myanmar said.

To add insult to injury, Gambari met very few members of the
government - and notably none of its top leaders. "Than Shwe did not
want to see Gambari and used his usual delaying tactic - using low-
ranking ministers as shields to avoid meeting him," said Win Min, the
academic.

In fact, they made their position crystal clear when Information
Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan attacked him in the state-run
media after their meeting in Naypyitaw early last week. He even
accused Gambari of being superficial and ignorant of Myanmar history
and culture, and worse of being a stooge of the Western powers that
wanted to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs.

Kyaw Hsan was particularly upset by the UN envoy's suggestion that
they should start three-way talks with Suu Kyi and Gambari as
mediator. "Myanmar will never allow any outside interference to
infringe on the sovereignty of the state," he was quoted as saying on
state-run television. If Gambari really wanted to help Myanmar, "he
should play a leading role in organizing and persuading others to
relieve and lift sanctions," he demanded.

Such statements suggest that the skeptics are right, that the contact
and talks with Suu Kyi are a mere side-show intended to buy the regime
time. "While putting energy into the democratization process, the
government has been making efforts for the national reconsolidation,"
said the lead story in Saturday's edition of the government mouthpiece
newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar. The paper also reported the
meetings between Suu Kyi and Aung Gyi, and her meetings with members
of the NLD party.

These are just a few of the signs that the top generals are not
genuinely interested in the international community's efforts to
encourage democratic change and are intent on following through on
their plans to introduce a political system that will consolidate the
military's power in the future.

"Than Shwe and his hardline supporters have no intentions of including
Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD in talks about [Myanmar's] political
future. They are pressing on with their own road map and are certainly
not interested in having any UN involvement," a source close to the
Myanmar government said on condition of anonymity.

He said the junta wants to finish drafting the new constitution, which
effectively will legitimize its grasp on political power, and hold a
national referendum on the charter by early next year. The Myanmar
government also wants the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) leaders endorse it in Singapore in two weeks' time,
the government source said.

Myanmar controversially joined the 10-member regional grouping in
1997. Some ASEAN members made critical statements about the junta
after September's crackdown, but the grouping has failed to take a
unified approach in censuring the junta. "The only issue open for
discussion with Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy parties and ethnic
groups would be the acceptance of the constitution and support for the
planned referendum," said an Asian diplomat based in Yangon.
*************************************************************
Sin Chew Jit Poh
India: Asean To Hold 'Family Meeting' On Myanmar
News Myanmar Monitor
2007-11-13 13:58

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Asean leaders will meet informally next Monday (19
Nov) for a candid exchange of views on Myanmar before meeting their
counterparts from China, India, Japan and other nations at the East
Asia Summit.

"It will be a family meeting. I believe all the leaders will speak
frankly what is in their minds and their hearts," Foreign Minister
George Yeo said Monday (12 Nov).

"It is critical that we come to a common position. Then, at the East
Asia Summit two days later, there will be an important alignment of
views which will be very helpful to Myanmar and the region."

Yeo was speaking to The Straits Times after meeting his Indian
counterpart, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, ahead of next week's Asean and East
Asia summits. He said that he had briefed his Myanmar counterpart over
the telephone on Monday's informal meetings.

"He asked me a few questions. I would say the response was generally
positive," he said.

Yeo's visit to New Delhi completes a swing that has taken him to the
capitals of key East Asia Summit participants with interests in
Myanmar, including Beijing, Tokyo and New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the East Asia Summit.
Mukherjee himself will not be present because of the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, the same week.

An Indian diplomat is in the running for the post of Commonwealth
secretary-general.

With the Myanmar government's recent crackdown on monks likely to
steal the headlines from Asean's 40th-anniversary celebrations, the
issue clearly figured significantly in Yeo's discussions in New
Delhi.

Asean leaders have in the past found their leverage with Myanmar's
military rulers limited because of the jockeying for influence there
by China and India.

However, both Beijing and New Delhi have lately seemed willing to go
along with Asean's thinking.

"I am glad to say that at the meeting with Mukherjee, there was a
complete meeting of minds. India, Japan and China are all prepared to
take a common position with Asean," Yeo said.

Myanmar's icon of democracy Aung San Suu Kyi, in a message sent
through UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, had expressed readiness to
cooperate with the Myanmar government to make the dialogue for
national reconciliation a success.

She also welcomed the good offices of the United Nations, describing
its role as necessary to help facilitate this effort.

Suu Kyi's statement was released late last Thursday (8 Nov) night by
Professor Gambari, soon after he arrived in Singapore at the end of
his six-day mission to Myanmar, his second in more than a month.

Yeo described Suu Kyi's words as "very significant" for the national
reconciliation effort.

Suu Kyi herself was allowed to meet the leaders of her opposition
party last Friday (9 Nov) for the first time in three years.

Asked if all these could be a ploy by the junta to soften global
sentiments before the Asean summit, Yeo said that he believed there
could be no going back to the past.

"All countries are agreed that there can be no return to the status
quo ante," he said.

During the Asean summit in Singapore, the grouping's leaders will sign
the Asean Charter.

This is the first time that Asean, founded 40 years ago, will codify
its basic principles and organisational rules.

The final document, billed as Asean's new Constitution, will start the
process of transforming the region into a community and bolster its
ability to assert itself.

The signing will be a major milestone for the grouping, giving it a
legal identity and enabling it to facilitate negotiations and
transactions - globally and regionally.
*************************************************************
People's Daily Online
Assembly President urges concrete results in Myanmar dialogue
November 13, 2007

The President of the U.N. General Assembly Srgjan Kerim urged on
Monday concrete results in the process in Myanmar.

Kerim was briefed by the Secretary-General's Special Advisor Ibrahim
Gambari on the situation in Myanmar based on his most recent visit to
the country and the region.

In a statement released by his spokesman, the President welcomed the
inauguration of a process that may lead to substantive and
unconditional dialogue among the main parties.

He stressed the importance that this process "must achieve concrete
results and a clear commitment on the part of the government of
Myanmar is required to work constructively with the Special Advisor."

Kerim meanwhile appreciated and strongly supported the role of the
ASEAN countries as well as that of neighboring states to facilitate
the work of Gambari.

Gambari concluded his six-day mission to Myanmar Thursday. Shortly
before his departure, he met with Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary
of the National League for Democracy, for about an hour and got her
authorization to issue a statement on her behalf, in which she pledged
to cooperate with the government. Source: Xinhua
*************************************************************
The Daily Reflector
Myanmar refugees killed in crash
By Jimmy Ryals
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Greenville refugees from Myanmar are still absorbing the news of a
fatal automobile accident Saturday that claimed the lives of three
refugees who were traveling to New Bern.

The victims were killed in a car crash while returning to New Bern
from a dinner at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Greenville.

New Bern residents Eh Reelar Say, 27; Eh Taw Mer, 18 months; and Pawle
Na Wah, 47, died when the car in which they were riding struck another
vehicle on N.C. 17 near Vanceboro, The New Bern Sun-Journal reported
Monday.

Two survivors of the wreck - Reh Mer Su and 3-year-old Eh Law Cho Mer
- are in fair condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

The five refugees were among more than 40 visiting Greenville for a
dinner Saturday night at St. Paul's, said Kimber Roche, community
outreach chairwoman for refugee ministries at the church.

Like two families living in Greenville, they are Karen, members of an
ethnic minority driven out of Myanmar by the military government
there.

The dinner was an opportunity for refugees living in Greenville to
connect with the larger Karen community in New Bern, Roche said.

The Baw family, brought to Greenville by St. Paul's, responded
stoically, but sadly, to news of the crash, said Roche, who told them
Sunday of the wreck.

"They were of course very saddened, and they were very quiet and
basically didn't say anything," she said.

The Baws had met the New Bern family twice, Roche said.

Thay La Baw, a 22-year-old member of the Greenville family, was in the
caravan taking party attendees back to New Bern Saturday night, Roche
added.

Her return home was delayed because of concerns about driving after
the accident, Roche said.
*************************************************************
M'sia hopes Myanmar issue will not overshadow ASEAN Summit
By Channel NewsAsia's Malaysia Correspondent Melissa Goh | Posted: 13
November 2007 2200 hrs

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar is looking
forward to a fruitful ASEAN Summit in Singapore.

Leaders are set to sign the group's Charter as well as a blueprint
paving the way for a single ASEAN community by 2015.

Speaking to Channel NewsAsia, Mr Syed Hamid also expressed hope that
the summit will not be inundated by the Myanmar issue.

After ten years as Malaysia's foreign minister, he is well aware of
the scepticism the world used to have over ASEAN's effectiveness, with
its members' diverse economic, social and political backgrounds.

But the group, he said, has come a long way, especially with the
formal adoption of a Charter later this month in Singapore.

Mr Syed Hamid said: "No one thought that we could come up with a
Charter; we did. Nobody thought that we could agree on the
establishment of a human rights body; even though (that is) not
immediate, there is a commitment some time in the future that we will
establish a human rights body."

The Charter could come into effect late next year.

But some critics already have doubts over how it can help bring rogue
members into line.

The Malaysian foreign minister argued that the Charter serves a much
bigger purpose.

He said: "This is the biggest mistake, if you think that we drafted
the Charter because we want to discipline Myanmar. The Charter is not
made for Myanmar, the Charter is made to show how confident we are in
our regional organisation.

"The time has come for us to look at ourselves as one legal
personality, able to deal with new situations, new dictates. I think
that speaks well for itself rather than saying, 'Oh we don't have a
suspension clause; we are still at the old level'. I think that is not
quite right."

While he hopes that the Myanmar issue will not overshadow the entire
summit, Mr Syed Hamid insisted that the way forward with the military
government is through constructive engagement.

He hopes more countries in Asia, such as China and India, will
contribute further towards national reconciliation in Myanmar during
the East Asian Summit later this month.
*************************************************************
Geoffrey York on the junta spinning its grip on power
Don't be misled by appearance of Aung San Suu Kyi, analysts say: The
military junta still holds sway
GEOFFREY YORK
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
November 13, 2007 at 4:40 AM EST

BEIJING - Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader in Myanmar who has
endured detention for most of the past 18 years, has found herself a
sudden celebrity in an unexpected place: the propaganda media of the
military regime.

A photograph of Ms. Suu Kyi, smiling and shaking hands with a military
official, was published on Saturday on the front page of the official
government mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar.

It was the third time in a month that the state media have featured
the image of the woman who has led the struggle for democracy for
almost two decades.

But her surprising burst of fame in the state media is far from a sign
of progress, analysts say. Instead, it is the latest example of shrewd
tactics by the military junta to delay reform and maintain its grip on
power.

Six weeks after the junta ordered thousands of soldiers to crush
protests by Buddhist monks in the streets of Rangoon, the regime seems
stronger and more confident than ever.

A recent flurry of diplomatic activity in Myanmar - formerly known as
Burma - including meetings between Ms. Suu Kyi and a government
minister have sparked optimism in some circles about the chances for
reform. But those hopes are unlikely to be fulfilled.

Most analysts say the regime is still showing no willingness to accept
reforms or offer concessions to the monks and dissidents. Meanwhile,
international pressure is losing momentum and attention is shifting to
new hot spots such as Pakistan.

After 45 years in power, Myanmar's military rulers have become adept
at manipulating Ms. Suu Kyi for their own benefit, allowing her brief
periods of freedom or short appearances in the public eye to defuse
international criticism.

"Whenever the government is pushed into a corner, they always play the
Aung San Suu Kyi card," said Aung Zaw, an exile from Myanmar who is
editor of Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based magazine with close connections
to Myanmar's democracy movement.

"They play it shrewdly and carefully," he said. "They've done this so
many times in the past, and nothing ever happened. I don't see any
progress at the moment. I don't think the government has changed any
of its policies."

Ms. Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party won a landslide victory in a 1990
election, but the military refused to recognize her victory. The junta
has kept her in detention or house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.

In recent weeks, the military has eased back on its campaign of
arrests of monks and activists. It appointed a general, Aung Kyi, as a
liaison minister to hold talks with Ms. Suu Kyi. She has met the
minister twice in the past three weeks, and on Friday she was allowed
to meet leaders of her own party for the first time in three years.
The regime also permitted a United Nations human-rights envoy to visit
Myanmar this week to investigate the extent of abuses in the country.

A spokesman for Ms. Suu Kyi's party said she was "optimistic" about
the prospects for dialogue with the regime. But human-rights groups
noted that her meeting with her party leaders was confined to a
government-controlled guest house, likely to be filled with
eavesdropping devices. The Nobel laureate is still under house arrest,
and the junta has insisted it will not negotiate with her unless she
abandons her support for international sanctions against Myanmar.

The regime has remained hostile to most diplomatic efforts. The UN
envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was not permitted to meet any of the top
military leaders in his latest visit to the country. The regime also
angrily rejected his proposal for negotiations between Ms. Suu Kyi and
the government under his mediation.

The government's Information Minister denounced Mr. Gambari as
ignorant and biased. Meanwhile, the regime ordered the top-ranking UN
official stationed in Myanmar to leave by the end of this month
because he dared to question the economic situation in the country.

"The generals aren't going to hand over power, no matter what others
want," said Ian Storey, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies in Singapore.

"The regime is still sitting pretty. They can circumvent the
international sanctions by trading with their Asian neighbours.
They're just waiting for the pressure to fizzle out and the attention
to move on."

The regime's decision to allow Ms. Suu Kyi to meet the liaison
minister and her party leaders last week was "something of a public
relations exercise," Mr. Storey said. "I don't see this going
anywhere. The government is doing the minimum necessary to assuage the
international concern. They don't lose anything by doing this. I
severely doubt it will lead to any breakthrough."

Myanmar is feeling no pressure from its Asian neighbours, which have
been happily doing energy deals and weapons deals with the junta. At a
summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next week,
Myanmar's officials will be permitted to attend and participate.

*****
Life under scrutiny
Almost since she set foot back in Myanmar, opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi's actions have been carefully proscribed by the ruling
military government.

1988: After a period of time overseas, Ms. Suu Kyi, the daughter of
former Burmese revolutionary and government leader Aung San, returns
to Burma to lead the opposition National League for Democracy.

1989: The military junta declares martial law and puts Ms. Suu Kyi
under house arrest.

1990: Her party wins landslide victory in general election, but the
result is ignored by the military.

1991: She is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1995: Ms. Suu Kyi is released from house arrest after six years.

1999: Her husband, British academic Michael Aris, is diagnosed with
cancer, but she doesn't visit him before he dies because the junta
insists she'll only be allowed to leave the country if she agrees to
stay away.

September, 2000: Junta lifts restrictions on her movements.

October: She begins secret talks with the junta.

2001: The junta releases about 200 pro-democracy activists, citing
progress in the talks.

May 2002: Ms. Suu Kyi is released after nearly 20 months of house
arrest.

May, 2003: She is taken into "protective custody" after clashes
between her supporters and those of government.

May, 2007: Her house arrest is extended for another year.

September, 2007: Ms. Suu Kyi is allowed to leave her house to greet
monks demonstrating before the protests are violently put down. It is
her first public appearance since 2003.

Oct. 2: She meets with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari for the second time
since the protests.

Oct. 8: The junta appoints a cabinet official to act as a liaison for
possible talks with Ms. Suu Kyi.

Nov. 9: She pledges to co-operate for talks with the junta and meets
with members of her opposition party for the first time since 2004.
Source: BBC, AP
*************************************************************
NLD charges continue despite moves towards dialogue

Nov 13, 2007 (DVB)-The Burmese military regime continues to imprison
members of the National League for Democracy, despite its public moves
towards engagement with the opposition.

According to an NLD spokesperson, Nay Win, a member of Kachin state
NLD, and Bhamo township NLD member Ba Myint were both jailed for two
years on 9 November after being tried secretly in prison courts in
Myitkyina and Bhamo prisons respectively, where they are now being
held.

They were sentenced under section 505 (b) of the penal code, which
covers causing public alarm and inciting offences against public
tranquility.

Family members of the NLD members were not informed that they were due
to be tried, and the two men were not allowed to hire lawyers.

When asked by DVB about the contradiction between the junta's claimed
commitment to dialogue and the continued detention of NLD members and
other political prisoners, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said that this
subject had not yet been raised in talks with the regime.

"From the news reports I have heard, these matters have not yet been
discussed at the preliminary consultations. In my opinion, I believe
that the two sides have not reached an agreement on the subject yet.
Had an agreement been reached, things would not be the way they are
now," Nyan Win said.
*************************************************************

.